"Lexa! Alexandra Woodsman!"

The shouting tore Lexa out of her sleep rather abruptly, and she groaned, pressing the palms of her hands to her eyes, as if that would stop the pain pounding in her head. "What?"

"It's eleven! Did you just decide that today would be a good day for you to skip school, or what?"

"Shit," Lexa hissed flinging into a sitting position. Her hands fell to the mattress next to her, but one of them landed hard on Raven's midsection, causing the other girl to grunt and wake up.

"Yeah, shit is right. What the fuck were you doing last night?"

"Fuck," Lexa groaned again, her head falling into her hands. "I'll go late, alright, just give me a minute!"

"Oh please, take your time!"

Lexa's mom was not the most agreeable person who had ever existed, nor was the she most caring or understanding. Lexa mostly tried to stay out of her mom's way, which was pretty easy considering that she woke up after Lexa typically left for school and didn't get home from her job until roughly three in the morning. "Get up, Raven, we have to go to school."

"Can't we just skip the rest of the day?" Raven groaned.

"No, my mom is going to kill me, get the fuck up. I told you that we shouldn't drink, and it was your bright idea to bring over a bottle of vodka last night. You probably left it in the fucking kitchen too, so my mom's going to end up killing me a second time. If you want me to live, we have to leave."

By some will of the universe, Lexa and Raven managed to get out of the house fifteen minutes later, dressed and somewhat cleaned up, and didn't end up having a run in with Lexa's mother. "Can you drive?" Lexa demanded.

"I can, but I'm not sure it's the smartest move I'll ever make. Can you?"

"Probably better than you can." Lexa started toward the driver's side of Raven's car, and her best friend didn't question it, handing over her keys. Once they were on the way to school, Raven let out a long breath. Lexa already knew to expect the apology.

"Okay, while I am like, so sorry… I do have to say that you didn't have to drink with me."

"Don't even, Rae."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. Seriously. I didn't meant to get you into shit with your mom, obviously. Especially since things have been going like, well between you two recently."

Lexa sighed, staring straight ahead at the road. After a few moments of silence, she spoke. "I know you didn't mean to. And it's fine, I probably won't even see her around for a while. Hopefully she'll forget about it by then."

"Also, we can totally get wasted at my house next time," Raven offered lightheartedly, although caution was still evident in her voice. "My dad totally wouldn't care."

"How about we stick to not getting wasted for a little while?"

"That works too, yep."

Direct Message With princess_blondie

C – Raven isn't answering her DMs… checking to make sure that you two are alive after last night lol.

That message was from eight in the morning, and by the time Lexa had bothered to open Twitter, school had already let out. Raven was nowhere to be seen, although she probably had a test to make up from that morning, so Lexa was laying on the bleacher's behind the school. The cross country team was running on the track, and occasionally there were shouts and whistles, but Lexa didn't mind them.

Lexa – Shit sorry, yeah we lived. Barely, though. My mom might kill me because we woke up late and missed half of school.

Lexa – How about you? I guess you made it home from your date alive.

C – I did do that, yes. Wasn't the most pleasant thing ever, though. IDK, my friend's date was happy to have me go home. She also didn't show up to school today, but she texted to let me know that she's okay, so I guess she had a fun night.

Lexa – Damn. Well, at least someone had a good V-day night then.

C – Haha yeah.

C – She actually just got back to school for her soccer practice, so I'm waiting for her right now. She owes me a major apology :-)

Lexa – Haha well I hope that goes well. I'm in the same boat, though, waiting for Raven. I think she missed a test this morning and is making it up. If she's not, I'm going to have to kill her for not answering her texts. She's my ride home, and after this morning, the last thing I need is to be stuck here.

C – Do you not drive?

Lexa – I do, but we just carpooled this morning because Rae's car was behind mine, and we were trying to get out fast, and her hangover was like 10x worse than mine lol.

Lexa – So, I've been thinking.

C – Yes?

Lexa – Courtney? Claire? Cassandra? Charlotte? Cynthia?

C – Are you trying to guess my name? You're failing, lol.

Lexa – Damn it. Chloe? Christina? Chelsea? Camille? Crystal?

C – Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

Lexa smiled a little, enjoying this game but also immensely frustrated that she couldn't think of the right name. She wondered if C would actually admit her name if it was guessed correctly, or if she would just say that Lexa was wrong either way.

Lexa – Man, this isn't fair. I don't know enough about you for your first name to give me any extra insight on you, you know? There are thousands of people with most names. Unless you have some really unusual name, it'd make like, no difference.

C – Haha, but it's so fun to have you try and guess it.

Lexa – Maybe I'm taking the wrong approach. You seem to be pretty sure that I won't guess so…

Lexa – Maybe your name is not traditionally a girl's name.

Lexa – Cameron? Caleb? Cody? XD

C – All wrong, LOL.

Lexa – Can't you give me a hint? How many letters?

C – Six or less.

Lexa's eyebrow lifted with interest. She hadn't expected the other girl to give her anything, and though it didn't really narrow it down, she felt somewhat flattered that she was being trusted with any information at all.

Lexa – First one off the top of my head was Carlos lol.

C – You got it.

C – Just kidding. XD

Lexa – Screw you :(

Lexa – Cora? Camila? Carly? Ciara?

C – You're never going to guess, Lexa.

Lexa – Oh no, no, you're not allowed to use my name until I know yours.

C – Oh really? How do you plan on keeping me from using it, LEXA?

Biting down on her lower lip, Lexa kept herself from responding. She wondered how long without a reply the other girl would go before giving in, and since Lexa had no real attachment to the Twitter app, she knew that she would have enough self-control to keep from messaging.

At least, she thought she did.

After two, slow minutes had passed, she felt the urge to type something back. Why was that? It wasn't like it mattered, right? This girl was nameless, faceless. There was absolutely no reason for her to be interested in keeping up this friendship, or whatever it was. It made no sense – their conversations had been so surface level that they barely even counted as friends.

But even that was bullshit, Lexa knew.

Somehow, the princess started messaging back before Lexa succumbed to her own urge, but it wasn't to give in.

C – Lexa, Lexa, Lexa.

C – You can't ignore me forever just because I use your name.

C – Lexaaaaaa.

C – It's actually a really pretty name, btw.

C – Mine isn't lol.

C – Come on, Lexa, you know you can't ignore me. (:

Lexa – Fine, ugh. Why isn't your name pretty? Is it something like Connie?

C – That was offensive to Connie's everywhere.

Lexa – Oh, I bet it's like, Candy or Cherry or something totally slutty. (that was a joke, I'm not slut shaming or name shaming anyone)

C – It's not LOL.

"Hey, Lex!" Raven's voice called. "Sorry, I had to make up a quiz, Hanson was pissed about me missing it. He almost never gives makeups either. So I guess that was my karma."

Lexa sat up as Raven climbed up a few steps of the bleachers to where Lexa was. "But you did get to make it up."

"Yeah, well, it took a lot of convincing, so my karma was the effort. What are you doing?"

"Trying to guess princess blondie's name."

"It's not like she'd tell you if you guessed right."

"Yeah, she said she would," Lexa said snootily, causing Raven's jaw to drop in disbelief. She was already reaching for her phone in her pocket.

"What! I want in on this game!"

Lexa scoffed. "It's not a game."

"I bet I can guess it first."

"Uh, no, because she gave me a hint already."

Raven smiled slyly. "Loser has to drive the full way to Venice beach for spring break?"

"What? No!"

"Okay, then we can take separate cars."

"Raven, that's ridiculous," Lexa growled.

"So are you up for the challenge then?"

Lexa clenched her teeth tightly, and then let out a breath of exasperation. "Fuck, fine."

Lexa – Apparently Raven's making this a competition now.

C – I see that, she just messaged me lol.

Lexa – You better not give that bitch any hints.

C – But then it's not fair XD

Lexa – You seem rather not upset with the fact that she made figuring out your name into a game lol.

C – Maybe I just really don't think you'll guess it.

Lexa – Cacey? Caela? Cait? Cali? Camile?

Lexa – You'll count it if it's not spelled right, right?

C – Maybe, but you haven't guessed it at all yet, so.

Lexa – Chandra? Carin?

C – You're never going to guess, Lexa, and neither is Raven lol.

Lexa – I have an idea! Give her a fake hint ;)

C – XD You're awful!

C – Six letters, it's a misspelled version of a normal name, won't say if it's a guy or girl name.

Lexa – Ooh, does someone want ME to win?

Lexa – (Seriously if I win because of that I might have to swear fealty to you or something because you would save me like two hours of driving Raven for spring break and I hate driving for that long)

Lexa – Caelyn?

Lexa – Actually, this made it no easier, because I can't think of any names that fall into that category and isn't one of the names I've already guessed lol.

C – Raven's doing no better than you, lol, but she's made it through most of the names you've already guessed.

Lexa – Fuck, she's fast at guessing.

"Oh my god, this girl must have a foreign name. I literally can't think of anymore," Raven muttered suddenly. "I'm going onto one of those name search sites."

"Raven, that's totally cheating."

"It's my game, and I say that's not cheating."

"You can't just make rules all the sudden!" Lexa groaned when Raven didn't reply.

Lexa – Well, Raven's cheating now and turning to the internet, so I might as well accept defeat.

C – Lol your efforts were truly impressive, though, I'll give you that.

Lexa – Thanks :( Who knows, maybe she won't guess it even with the wide expanse of the internet. She probably still thinks I'm guessing. LOL. Anyway. How are you? XD

C – I'm doing alright lol. Glad that last night is over.

Lexa – You and me both.

Lexa – Raven's furious typing is keeping me from being able to concentrate on actually thinking of conversational topics.

C – It's Clarke.

Lexa's fingers froze above her phone screen, staring down at the message. Yeah, she probably never would have guessed that. Her mind was racing for half a second, trying to think of how to reply quickly so that the girl – Clarke – didn't wonder why she wasn't answering.

Lexa – No wonder you were confident we wouldn't be able to guess.

Lexa – Also, I think you're wrong – it is a pretty name.

C – No, it's not. XD

Lexa – Think what you want, I know that I know the truth ;)

C – I should probably tell Raven so that she stops messaging me names.

Lexa – Oh no, let me.

"Guessed it!" Lexa lied excitedly, causing Raven to look up in disbelief.

"No you didn't? How? What is it? Ugh! I do not want to drive two hours to Venice!" Raven whined. "What the fuck is her name?"

"Clarke." When she said it aloud, something about it made her skin tingle. She felt a smile come to her lips – Clarke had told her even though Lexa had literally given up. Why?

Clarke's heart was pounding as she stared at her direct message conversation with Lexa. She didn't know why she did it. She'd known Lexa – online – for all of four days. There was really no reason to tell Lexa – it wasn't like she needed to know in order for them to talk online. Wasn't that the whole point of Clarke using Twitter anyway? Anonymity? And she was so willing to throw away part of that for Lexa, why?

Locking her phone, and let the device drop into her lap and leaned her head back against the tree she was leaning on, her eyelids falling closed. Her mind was raking through its deepest thoughts, trying to figure out what was so special about Lexa.

Maybe it was because Lexa seemed to care about her wellbeing.

Maybe it was because Lexa seemed so real, even if Clarke had only seen stills of her face and typed out versions of her words.

Maybe it was because during every conversation they'd had, Clarke ended up captivated in it so much so that when it was over, it felt the way it must feel for little kids to have their dessert taken from them and replaced with peas.

Maybe it was because after last night, Clarke had pulled out her phone six times during school to see if she had a new message from the brunette.

Maybe it was because she felt more like herself talking to Lexa than anyone else.

"Clarke, hey!"

The voice surprised the blonde, because Wells was never around the fields after school. "Hey, Wells, what are you doing back here?"

"I was actually looking for you," Wells admitted. "I figured you might be back here waiting for Octavia, and I accidentally took your textbook in class today." He dropped his backpack on the ground and produced said textbook.

"Oh, thanks." Her voice was rather flat as she took it back.

"You doing alright? How was your date last night?"

Clarke shrugged. "It was good."

"Who was it with?"

"Nathan, uh, from the football team?"

Wells raised an eyebrow. "Really? He must like you then, he doesn't go out with people often."

"How do you know?"

"Harper knows him," Wells offered up vaguely.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that's not why he went out with me. I think that Octavia's date was using him to get me to go out so that Octavia would even go out at all," Clarke admitted with a sad laugh. "It's fine, though. Can't say I was really interested in Nathan anyway, and he was very clearly not interested in me."

"So it wasn't good then?"

Clarke just shrugged, not really wanting to talk about it anymore. "How are you?"

"Not bad," Wells replied. "I've been kind of wrapped up in school, though –" Later, Clarke would probably feel bad about zoning out, but she felt her phone buzz at her in her lap, and was immediately distracted. It took all of her willpower to keep from checking the message, and she mentally chastised herself for being apparently so addicted to the app and talking to her online friends.

Thankfully, there wasn't a chance for Wells to realize that Clarke was absolutely not listening, because all of the sudden, Octavia was running over from the field. "Hey C! And hey, Wells. Long time no see. How've you been?"

"Pretty good," Wells answered, glancing between the two best friends. "I was just about to head out, though, so I'll see you around. Bye, Clarke." Wells started off toward the parking lot as Clarke stood up, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and pocketing her phone – acutely aware of the fact that she had multiple messages waiting for her.

"He still hates me," Octavia stated.

"Come on, we're going to your place so you can take a shower, and then you're taking me out for ice cream."

Octavia raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because you owe me after last night."

"What do you mean? I got you a date!"

"You got me a date with someone who was so clearly not interested in me, and who was only there so that you would go with Patrick, so that you two could hook up," Clarke insisted, but she wasn't really mad, and her words came out bluntly rather than in annoyance. "So you owe me ice cream."

"Fine, deal, let's go to my place."

The shower was running in Octavia's bathroom, and Clarke was sprawled across Octavia's bed, lying on her front and propping herself up on her elbows. Finally alone, the blonde was able to take out her phone and check her Twitter messages. She opened the ones from Raven first.

Raven – DUDE HOW DID LEXA GUESS?

Raven – Also your name is Clarke, that's totally sick, I love it.

Raven – You can't just disappear like this, princess, where'd you go :(

Clarke smirked, choosing not to reply until she'd replied to Lexa.

Lexa – (I lied and told her I guessed it, please don't tell her the truth. I really don't wanna drive all the way to Venice)

Blinking, the blonde wondered for the first time where Lexa was in California. Clearly it was a decent drive to Venice, but that didn't say much, considering how big the state was. Plus, she could be north or south of LA. Clarke lived in a small town near Santa Barbara, so she wasn't too far from Venice – just an hour or so. Where was Lexa?

C – I won't tell her. You're lucky I like you, or else I would think that's totally cheating despite your excessive complaining over Raven's cheating lol.

Lexa – Is it really cheating if she doesn't know ;)

C – Yes, it is. :P

Lexa – Where'd you disappear to btw?

C – Was talking to a friend and then my best friend got out of practice and now we're at her place. She's taking me out for ice cream after she's showered off to repay me for last night, so that's exciting.

Lexa – Can't go wrong with ice cream!

Lexa – Unless it's like, rocky road - I'm not a fan.

C – WHAT. You're a monster, rocky road is my favorite.

The sound of the shower running disappeared, but Clarke knew that she had a least another minute or two before Octavia's bathroom door would fling open.

Lexa – Oh btw, you're lucky that Raven is driving right now, because she would be bitter AF that you're messaging me and not her. Although, I think she's happy that I'm actually spending time online now.

C – Haha I don't know whether to apologize or say you're welcome?

Lexa – Neither are necessary lol.

As soon as the bathroom door opened behind her, Clarke locked her phone, glancing over her shoulder to look at her best friend. However, by the time she was able to register anything behind her, Octavia was already by the bed, flopping down on top of Clarke. "Hey bestie!"

"You're in a good mood, I see," Clarke said, after letting out a grunt at the surprise tackle. "I guess your Valentine's Day night was good?"

"It was, I'm so glad that I didn't try to hook up with that guy I was texting last week, because it would've been so awkward trying to converse in person after all of that. And Patrick was so nice, and he was actually good in bed, too. And I actually orgasmed last night too, which rarely happens for me if it's not me doing the work," Octavia explained with awe. "I'm sorry Nathan and you didn't get along well…"

"It's not your fault, he just didn't seem interested, and I can't really say that I was interested in him. He seemed nice… but maybe more as a friend, you know?"

Octavia hummed in response. "I guess. I just really wanted us to have a good Valentine's Day. I'm sorry if I fucked it up."

"Don't apologize, O, I'm not mad… it just wasn't what it could've been, I guess. Now, can we go get ice cream?"

Rolling off of the blonde, Octavia grinned. "Of course!"