It's been an hour, and Clarke has been doing a pretty good job of avoiding conversation with anyone. Even when Jordan and Green beg to sit with them and they've crammed in six people in seating meant for four, Clarke just plugs her earphones in and thanks goodness that she's sitting near the window with a view.
It's not that she doesn't want to make friends. It's just that she knows she's going to be awkward with this group. The Blakes are party people, Jordan and Green smoke and drink like it's going out of style, and Raven Reyes . . .
Well, Clarke knows her tangentially, in that the first guy she ever kissed was going out with Raven when he'd kissed her. They'd broken up since, though, and Clarke doesn't feel the need to let her know what happened, but it's still unnerving to be sitting across from her.
So she's got her earphones in instead, listening to one of her dad's old rock albums at full volume. She's gotten a few songs into the London Calling album when someone rudely rips out one of her earbuds.
"C'mon, Princess. We're starting a game of Never Have I Ever, and you're playing with us." Of course, it's Bellamy Blake with her earbud in his fingers, loud music still blaring from it.
"I don't drink," she says, glancing around at the others before tugging her earphone back from him.
"Hold on a minute!" Green says right before she puts the earphone back in. She hesitates as he digs through his backpack before pulling out a juice box and holding it up proudly. "We drink whiskey, you drink apple juice. It's basically the same thing."
The others roar with laughter, and Clarke can feel herself flushing, just slightly. A part of her wants to say no – a large part (probably the majority part) – but she reminds herself that it's supposed to be fun. It's a game, after all. And she won't be drinking. So she turns off her music and nods, trying to give the others a smile. "Sure. I'm in."
"Great," Jordan responds as he pulls out red Solo cups from his backpack, and as he pours out alcohol for the others, Clarke briefly wonders if Green and Jordan have any hiking supplies at all between the two of them. Judging by what she's seen, she wouldn't be surprised if their bags were filled with bottles and weed.
"Alright, who's going to start?" Octavia asks as Green pours Clarke's juice into a cup.
"I've got one," Bellamy offers, leaning back in his position with a smirk. "Never have I ever fallen in love."
"Starting off with the real tough ones, huh?" Jordan asks with a grin, but he doesn't take a sip. Green and Reyes lift their cups to their lips, and Octavia's eyes widen immediately.
"Raven, you were in love with-?"
"Shut up!" the girl protests, rolling her eyes. "I was a kid, and I was into him. You don't do things by halves when you're a teenager."
"I managed," Bellamy says mischievously, and Reyes rolls her eyes yet again.
"Yeah, that's because you're a heartless jerk." Weirdly enough, the words sound affectionate to Clarke's ears, even though the girl is aiming a kick at Bellamy's shins as she says it.
"Alright, okay, my turn," Jordan says, raising his glass. "Never have I ever had a boyfriend."
"Damnit, Jasper," Reyes protests after she takes another sip, along with Octavia and Green. "That's foul play. You can't use your lack of ability to get consistently laid against us like this."
Clarke's grin is a little tight as everyone else laughs, but no one seems to be looking at her. Ducking her head, she stares down at the beverage in her cup as Green clears his throat.
"Here, let's do something more fair. Never have I ever met a celebrity."
Bellamy and Jordan immediately trade looks and groan before both taking a sip. Of course, Octavia's on them immediately.
"Who have you two met?"
"We ran into this comedian at the supermarket. Demetri Martin," Bellamy explains.
Jordan adds on, "we're… not actually a hundred percent sure that it was him, but it's a good story, so let's just pretend we totally talked to him and got autographs or whatever."
"You two are fucking ridiculous," Octavia says with a laugh. "Alright, my turn, right? Never have I ever smoked weed."
"And you call ours unfair?" Jordan asks playfully as all the boys take a sip. Clarke bites her lip and abruptly gets to her feet.
"I… need to go make a call. Um, sorry. I guess I quit or whatever," she says nervously before setting her cup down and leaving their booth, stepping out into a different compartment.
Leaning against the wall, she sighs, blinking back the stinging at the corner of her eyes. She hadn't realized that playing a simple game would make it so obvious that she hasn't done anything with her life. With a long sigh, she takes out her phone, unlocking it to find a barrage of notifications from her mother and Kane. She snorts roughly before texting her mom.
On the train. Sorry this was so abrupt. Be back in a couple weeks.
And before she can turn off the phone, her mom texts back. She pauses for a couple seconds, then hits the notification with her thumb to read the text.
Have fun. 3
If only she knew how to.
Ten hours is a long, long time, but with a combination of napping, listening to music, and studying – yes, studying, despite the incredulous look on Bellamy's face when she pulls out a neuroscience textbook from her backpack – she manages to make it.
It's been a tiring day, having to interact with and talk to and smile at people she barely knows. Once they get to the hotel and her suitcase and backpack are neatly put away in the room she shares with Reyes and Octavia, she's ready to curl up on her bed with a good book.
Which is the exact moment, of course, the two other girls enter the room, arms slung around each other's shoulders. "Clarke!" Octavia yells, far too loudly for the small room they're in. "We're hitting up the bars in town tonight. You want to come along?"
"We know you don't drink," Reyes says immediately, holding out her free hand placatingly. "But you can have fun without drinking, per se."
"And you need a designated driver?" Clarke asks pointedly. Judging by the way the two girls start laughing, she's hit the nail on the head.
"Please, will you? It'll only be fun if you come."
"Right, because if I come, all of you can get drunk." She's about to say no – after all, there's a very interesting Agatha Christie mystery waiting for her on her bedside table – but this trip isn't about saying no. Despite how disappointing the train ride was, she can't give up on having fun now. "Alright, let's go. Where are the rental vans?"
"Yes!" Octavia crows, pumping her fists in the air. "They're right in front – you go with Raven and I'll get the boys." She scampers off, and Raven gives her a smile. Clarke can't quite smile back – this was exactly the one-on-one situation she wanted to avoid with this girl who had once dated Finn – so she brushes past her out into the hallway.
"So Clarke, you were pre-med in college? What was your major?" she asks, and Clarke's thrown back to all of the freshman forced bonding activities she'd had to attend in her first year.
"I double-majored. Neuroscience and biology. There was lots of overlap, but it was interesting," she explains, shoving her hands into her pockets.
"Same here! I mean, not the science part. I don't have a head for that sort of thing. But I'm double-majoring mechanical and electrical engineering. It's killer – I haven't actually graduated yet, gotta finish up my fifth year this fall and next spring – but I love the work."
There's something endearing about the way she talks about her passion, Clarke notes. Studying something and really loving it are two different things altogether. Not to say that she doesn't like her own major – she's certainly excited to be a doctor. It's been her dream for her entire life. But Raven looks like she's had a lot more fun with her dream than Clarke's had.
"Thanks a lot for driving us, by the way," the other girl continues. "I know it's no fun to be the one sober person, but we'll try not to get too bad. It's just been a while since the six of us were together.
"I totally understand," Clarke is quick to assure her. "I don't want to intrude or anything."
"You're not intruding, idiot. We all want to get to know you. Even Bellamy, and he thinks he's better than everyone when he meets them for the first time." Her tone is matter-of-fact as she reaches the rental, unlocking it with the keys in her hand.
"How can you tell?" she asks as she slides into the driver's seat, waiting for Raven to sit down next to her and pass her the keys.
"You mean, that Bellamy wants to know you? I don't know," she says with a shrug. "I'm just getting this vibe." After a short pause, she adds on, teasing, "oh, and he said he'd only come out with us tonight if you came too."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's because he wants to make fun of me," Clarke says exasperatedly as she backs the car out. "I suppose we have to pick the rest of them up, hmm?"
Raven gestures extravagantly at the windshield. "Lead the way."
The bar the six of them end up at is dark, a little grimy, and exactly the sort of place Clarke would've stayed far away from usually. Instead, she's leaning against a wall, watching as Bellamy misses the cups for the fifteenth time in a row. Green and Jordan groan, the girls cheer, and Clarke finds herself actually smiling as Bell takes another drink, visibly moving from tipsy to drunk.
"I can't believe you're losing when you have more people on your team," Octavia chuckles, pressing the back of her hand to her lips to stifle her giggles.
"You gave us the worst guy in the room, please," Jordan protests, rolling his eyes.
"How is this even so hard?" Clarke asks Bellamy playfully, raising her eyebrows at him.
"Shut the fuck up, Griffin," he slurs, shooting her a grumpy look. "As if you've ever played this before."
"Come on, then, Blake. Let me play," she says boldly, approaching their team. "If I miss, you can drink for me. And it's not like I'm going to miss any more than you would've."
"Fighting words, Griffin," he taunts. "And anyway, this is the guys team."
"Actually, at this point? We'll take anyone," Jordan cuts in quickly. "I don't think you realize how badly we're losing, Bell." Green's puppy dog eyes only affirm his words, and Clarke laughs as she takes her place at the table.
"You're going down, Clarke," Raven calls from the other end of the table, easily sinking a ball in one of their cups. Jordan drains it before handing her the ball, and she takes a deep breath before aiming.
A flick of her wrist, and the first ball lands cleanly in the middle cup of Raven and Octavia's arrangement. The two boys yell loudly and thump her on the back as Bellamy crosses his arms in the periphery of Clarke's vision.
Another ball is pressed into her hand, and she narrows her eyes before letting it fly. This one bounces off the table before landing in another cup, and the two girls groan.
"I take it back," Raven complains after downing one of the drinks. "I want Clarke on our team."
"Seconded," Octavia says with a pout.
"The early bird gets the worm," Monty says proudly, slinging his arm around Clarke's shoulders. This sort of casual touch is unfamiliar to Clarke, but definitely not unwanted. "Or, well, the terrible team gets the unexpectedly good player."
Instead of trying to be eloquent, Jasper just sticks his tongue out before downing a cup, even though no balls have been thrown. Clarke glances at Bellamy, unaware of exactly how wide she's beaming, and she sense something like approval in his gaze.
Not that she's looking for it. But it's good to know that it's there.
Mornings at the base of the Appalachians are incredibly peaceful.
This is what Clarke discovers, sitting on the balcony of their hotel room with a hot tea and a notebook with physiology definitions. The air around her is quiet and peaceful, though she suspects that has more to do with the hangovers that everyone is nursing rather than the morning itself.
Last night was… surprisingly fun. Even without drinking alcohol, clinching a win for the boys had made Monty and Jasper worship her – and Blake had ruffled her hair, though she wasn't sure whether that was because of her performance or because he was so drunk he didn't know where his hands were landing.
But when it came down to it, she was still happy to sit here quietly and go over her work. It had been a good experience, but it hadn't changed her.
As time goes on, people slowly begin to stir, and she can start to hear murmurs of movement in the hallway. And by noon, lunchtime, the only person of the six in their group still asleep is Octavia.
"We're here to wake a certain Blake up!" Monty and Jasper announce as Clarke opens the door for them after they knock.
"Good luck. She's face down in bed, still in her outfit from last night," Clarke says with a little laugh as they traipse into the room, making a beeline for Octavia's single bed.
"It's okay, we got this," Monty assures her as Jasper grabs Octavia's phone, going through her music. Finally, he seems to find a song, as he smirks at the other two before plugging the phone into portable speakers.
A heavy drum line begins to play, and he sets the speaker and phone down on the bedside table in favor of jumping around with Monty as Octavia groans. Clarke immediately recognizes the song that's blaring when Monty and Jasper start singing along. Chelsea Dagger, the Fratellis. Only one of the most played songs on her own phone.
"Oh my god, shut up," Octavia protests, trying to tug her covers over her head as they simultaneously pull them off her. In the midst of their flailing, the girl knocks the speaker off the sidetable into the wall, causing the song to abruptly stop and Jasper to drop to his knees in horror.
Monty slowly trails off with his singing, and the two boys look at each other in surprise when they both realize they've forgotten the words without the Fratellis to back them up.
Clarke looks between them in surprise before continuing. Her voice isn't great, but this song is iconic. How could anyone forget the words? "Gave me gear, thank you dear, bring your sister over here…?"
"You know this song?" Jasper demands incredulously.
"Who doesn't, idiots?" Octavia asks, having finally sat up in bed. "Let her dance with me just for the hell of it." Clarke grins and nods in response, and Octavia smiles back.
Before throwing one of her pillows and hitting Monty straight in the face. "That's for waking me up." Jasper isn't fast enough to dodge the second pillow that comes his way. "That's for forgetting the words." Octavia jumps out of bed, stretching slightly before she reaches out to take Clarke's hand and pull her along beside her. "Come on. Get ready and come with us."
Even if Clarke wanted to refuse, she couldn't argue with the iron grip that the younger Blake has around her wrist. And she's surprised to find that the voice inside her mind that usually warns her against silly things like, say, hiking up a mountain, isn't piping up to give her useless scoldings today.
"I'm coming. And I think you're the one who needs to get more ready than me," Clarke teases Octavia, "starting with your outfit. These clothes stink."
"Point taken," the girl says, opening her suitcase and retrieving a shirt and pants. "Wait for me, then, okay? Don't leave without me."
"We'll wait too," the boys claim, sitting on the edge of her bed and watching her as she slips into the bathroom.
"Don't care. You can go. Clarke just has to stay," the girl calls before slamming the door shut.
"I will," Clarke calls back, a stupid kind of smile on her face as she retrieves her notebook from the balcony and puts it away. Hearing Octavia say something like that is way nicer than expected. And for the first time since she booked this ticket, she feels that maybe, she's more excited than nervous about what's going to happen next.
