I'm back bitches! France was amazing! Absolutely beautiful and tasty! And I got to spend the time with some of my best friends and classmates. If you ever get the chance to travel to a new place, no matter where it is in the world or just around the corner, take the time to enjoy yourself and learn something new about where you are or where you're going. Anyway, with that nugget of wisdom out of the way, here is the next chapter. I hope this was well worth the wait and more will be sure to follow, promise. As always let me know what you think or if I made any mistakes. Love you guys for all of the support and well wishes you guys have given me! Sorry this was a little late. I got really sick on the plane home and spent all of yesterday reliving what I ate for dinner on the plane. Anyways, hope you guys like this chapter and it will hold you over until I get the next one out. (Which should be within 12-16 hours or so)
I make it in just as the bell rings and hurry over to my seat next to Octavia and Raven.
As Professor Kane starts to explain the financial troubles of Russia and Germany pre-World War I, Raven, Octavia, and I start talking about the whole Cage mess. Turns out him and his goons got detention for 2 weeks while Lexa and I get off free. Apparently getting the shit beat out of you and stitching up your new roommate is punishment enough. The bell eventually rings and we head to P.E.
When we enter the locker room, it's dead silent which is really weird considering the place echoes more that the Grand Canyon and considering Raven, Octavia, and I had to come from the third floor of the main building all the way down to the girl's locker room, there must be people in here already.
We discover the source of the silence when we turn the corner. There standing by her locker is Lexa in her unbuttoned Oxford, tie hanging around her neck, gym shorts already on. She looks up at us with the sound of the locker room door closing and I manage to catch a flash of relief cross her features before it's quickly replaced with her typical mask of indifference. But it was there, it was definitely there.
"Lexa, what the hell are you doing? There is no way that you can do P.E. And we already talked about this. Why are you even changing?" I question while walking over to her so that I'm standing right in front of her.
"Clarke, don't worry, I'm not going to participate, but Indra said I still need to get changed. Something about the uniform being a part of our grade." She tells me in a cool calm voice. It only irritates me more.
"Can you even finish getting changed? You got your pants off and shorts on, but can you get this off," I tug her unbuttoned Oxford, trying to ignore the huge bruises I see underneath, "And your t-shirt on?"
"Um, well no. I was going to ask if you could maybe help me with that part. And uh, if you happen to have some pain killers, I miss that morphling." Lexa says this very quietly into my ear so no one else hears, and when she mentions painkillers I look closely at her eyes, and they betray her controlled exterior. I can see the pain she is feeling throughout her whole body displayed on the surface like a huge neon sign, well for me. If you were anyone else not used to looking for any hint of emotion, you wouldn't notice.
I reach into my purse and pull out an orange bottle of large white pills. I check the label making sure it's the right one, the hand it to Lexa. "Take 2 of these every 8 hours as long as you're not on the morphling drip. I want to hook you back up to the IV again tonight to make sure you stay hydrated. I can attach the drip then if you want. And I suppose I can help you with your shirt." I sigh, but send her a quick wink. "Just let me change real quick."
"Thank you Clarke. I appreciate it." Lexa says as I get my own P.E. clothes on.
"Sure. Wouldn't want to piss off Indra anymore than necessary." I catch a small twitch of her lips and it makes my own rise. "All right, hold as still as you can." I instruct Lexa as I pull her Oxford off. I grab her t-shirt and carefully pull it over her head, gently guiding her arms into their proper holes.
Lexa and I end up being 5 minutes late to the weight room, but when we finally do show up Indra just nods in our direction and turns back to the class.
"All right ladies, obviously we're doing the weight lifting portion of our test today. We will be doing 4 lifts today, same as last year. Pair up and claim a platform, we'll be starting with deadlifts, then cleans, squats and last will be bench press. I want you to do as much weight as possible, but you need to warm up first. Don't start with the heaviest weight possible, work your way up. Be smart and be conscious of your partner." With that, Indra leaves us to partner off. Lexa and I walk over to where Octavia and Raven are standing.
"Clarke you're with me since these two are crippled." Octavia's snide remark is rewarded with a slap from Raven* and a glare from Lexa.
"Fine, if I have no other choice…" I mutter sarcastically.
"Like anyone else could handle your crazy ass Griffin." Octavia snaps back.
"Just shut up and help me put these damn weights on the bar Rainbow." Octavia flinches at her nickname.
"Clarke! You swore not to use it in public!" Oops. But I really don't get why she cares so much. There are far worse things to be called. It's pretty funny how she got that nickname in the first place.
Growing up, Octavia never liked pink, she detested the color and most bright colors. For some reason that all changed in 6th grade. Every opportunity Octavia got she wore bright colors and had tons of rainbow accessories. She still hated pink but would wear everything else. So after a while, Raven and I started to call her Rainbow. It pissed the shit out of her, but it stuck. Beginning of 7th grade year is when Octavia told Raven and I she was gay. We both just kind of laughed, elbowed each other, and asked Octavia if that's what was up with the rainbows. She had looked sheepish but nodded just the same. That night we all went out for ice cream to celebrate O coming out and we all got rainbow sprinkles.
Someone's calling my name and I'm snapped out of my day dream.
"Hey Clarke you in there?" Raven asks while she waves her hand in front of my face.
"Yeah sorry, just kind of zoned out."
"Well you better get in the zone. I plan on beating you this time Griffin." Octavia calls as she sets up at the bar to start her deadlift warm ups.
"Please, you couldn't beat me even in your wildest dreams Blake." I call back, moving over to Lexa as I watch O do 5 warm up reps with 135lbs.
O finishes her reps and I take her place, setting my feet a little more than shoulder's width a part, setting my feet right under my knees. I roll out my shoulders and take a firm grip on the bar, hands directly under my shoulders one hand turned up, one not. I then squeeze my abs and drive through my legs, standing strait up, pausing, then slowly lowering the bar back to the platform. I do this 7 more times, pausing in between each rep.
When I finish warm ups, I help O put more weight on and move back to Lexa.
"You have good form Clarke. Who taught you?"
"Indra taught all of us how to lift freshman year, but I came a couple of times after school so she could give me more personalized instruction. I'm a base for all of our routines so I have to be strong enough to hold our flyers up. It really helped too, lifting."
Lexa nods her head, small smile on her lips, as we turn back to Octavia who just finished her second warmup set.
The rest of class goes by smoothly. I end up beating Octavia in all of the lifts. I got 225lbs for 2 reps in the deadlift while O got 205 for 2. I got 115lbs for 2 reps for the clean, O got 105 for 2 reps. I got 185lbs for 3 reps on squats while O got 165lbs for 3 reps. And lastly for the bench press, I got 115lbs for 2 reps and O got 115lbs for 1 rep. She wasn't too happy about that.
"It's okay O. I've been in the gym all summer, nothing better to do anyways."
"Well you better watch out Griffin, in 8 weeks I'm gunna kick your ass." We take the tests again every 8 weeks, to mark our progress and see if we actually try in class.
"Whatever O." By now we're back in the locker room. I quickly change and go over to Lexa who has her pants and shoes on, but holding her Oxford and tie.
"Need a hand?" I ask coyly.
"I really need two, but if you only have one…" She quips back. I snort and take the Oxford from her and set it on the bench next to me. I then carefully pull the uniform t-shirt over her head, dropping it to the floor, and picking her Oxford back up.
"Hold still, yeah?" Lexa hums as I gently pull the shirt back over her arms. I then button it back up and take the tie from her hands, loop it around her neck, and quickly, deftly make the knot. I finally finish, pulling it snug against her neck and it's not until she breathes out a low sigh that I realize how close we are. But neither of us make move back.
"Clarke…" I hum in acknowledgment. "We need to get to class, but I don't really want to go…" I nod slowly in agreement.
"I know," I whisper, not wanting to break this moment, "I'm meeting Bellamy for lunch in the library to talk about what was said at the meeting, I want you to come with me. What class do you have before then?"
"I have War and Tactical Strategies. It's on the 3rd floor, second room on the right."
"Okay, I'll come get you. I have drawing so I'll be a couple of minutes." I say. Lexa nods, but then I watch as her eyes close and she heaves a few times. I grab her around the waist and sit her down, but Lexa collapses to the ground on her knees and starts to dry heave.
"Shit, shit, shit! God damn it!" I swear as I pull back her hair and rub her back. Lexa empties the contents of her stomach onto the locker room floor, but she doesn't stop heaving.
"Fucking Shit!" I yell. "No, no, no. Come on Lexa, don't do this to, not now. This can't be happening…" I mutter under my breath. I quickly check her vomit, and yep there are several small clots of blood floating in it.
"Fuck!" I scream into the empty locker room. Thankfully the next class started to come in just as I let my most recent string of curses out. The girls, freshmen by the looks of them come running over.
"You two! Go get Indra and bring her back now!" I scream at the two closes girls. They take one look at Lexa and sprint out of the locker room. I then turn Lexa so she's looking up at me. I pull her tie off again and rip open her shirt and peel it off of her. I lay her down on the floor away from the vomit as Indra comes barreling through the door, chest heaving, short hair flying around her head.
"Clarke, what the hell is going on?" Indra calls out quickly making her way to the other side of Lexa.
"Something's wrong, something's very very wrong…" I mutter.
"What Clarke, what's wrong?" Indra asks, her voice full of concern, her face pulled into a grimace at Lexa's state.
"I don't know Indra! I don't know!" I yell back at her, starting to panic.
"Okay Clarke, it's okay. Just take a deep breath and think about everything that you've learned…"
I do as Indra says and take a couple deep breaths. Once I've gotten myself back under control, I quickly run my hands up and down Lexa's chest and abdomen, feeling for something and I finally find something. "There's something surrounding her stomach, here." I say pointing to a particularly bruised section of her abdomen where an old scar happens to be as well. The white of it standing out against the dark black blue of the huge bruise.
"I think it might be the cause of the blood in her vomit." I gesture to said pool.
"What do we need to do then?" Indra asks, looking a little more composed.
"She needs to go see Nyko. He'll know what to do. You need to tell him that he should also run some tests because this shouldn't be happening." I run my fingers over the old scar that's at the center of this new mess.
Indra nods getting up and telling the freshmen to get the stretcher on the wall. They do as she says and I watch as the gently place Lexa on it, but before they leave, Lexa grabs my arm.
"Clarke…" She croaks out.
"Sshhh, I'm here Lexa. They're going to take you to Nyko and you're going to be okay, I promise." I whisper in her ear, gently running my thumb over her stitches.
"Clarke, Clarke… It hurts, it hurts really bad, please don't leave me. Don't leave me Clarke. It hurts!" Lexa whimpers and I feel my heart both shatters and goes ice cold. I'm gunna kill Cage for making Lexa feel this pain.
"I'm sorry Lexa, I have to stay. They won't let me go with you." I look up at Indra and she nods. "I'm so sorry Lexa…" Indra says something to the freshmen and they start to walk out, Lexa crying out as soon as she loses her grip on my arm.
"Clarke. No! Stop! Clarke! Clarke…" She cries as they walk out the door and I can feel the tears falling fast down my cheeks. That's when the bell rings again and I grab my stuff, Lexa's stuff, and run out of the locker room and I don't stop running until I reach the art room. There I grab my notebook, tears still falling, and start to sketch. No one says a word and I'm thankful.
When the bell rings, signaling lunch, I look down at what I drew. It's a beautiful sketch of Lexa in her football practice gear, like her first practice, arm cocked back ready to throw the ball in her hand, muscles tense, sweat shinning, determination set in her brow and her eyes clear, calculating. Her face is unmarred by the large gashes that now cover her face. Her muscles are unaffected by giant bruises, her body whole.
I slam my notebook closed, grab my stuff and run to the library.
When I get there, Bellamy is already waiting for me with 2 brown sacked lunches and a couple of water bottles. He leads me over to a secluded section hidden amongst the shelves. I flop down, scooting up against a shelf and looking up at him. He sits down across from me and hands me a bag and a bottle.
I open the bottle and am happily surprised to find that it's vodka instead of water. I then open the paper bag. There's 2 sandwiches, an apple, and a bag of weed. I grunt as I take out the bag of weed and throw it back at Bellamy.
"You know we can't do that until our seasons are over you ass." He laughs and shoves it in his own bag.
"Now tell me," I say after taking a gulp of the harsh alcohol, "What happened at this meeting Bellamy?"
He sighs and takes his own sip. "Coach Gustus sat us all down, went over the basics of what happened to Lexa and what you did. We were all in an uproar calling for Cage's head and you could see the look of agreement on Gustus' and Indra's faces. But then Coach Gustus said if any of us touched Cage, it would be a 2 week suspension from the team. Of course as soon as Gustus and Indra left, telling us practice would be at its normal time, we all sat together and came up with a plan. There are quite a few of us who have P.E. with the bastard and we're planning something big. I can't tell you in case we get in a shit ton of trouble and you get pulled in. Wouldn't want the Princess to get in any trouble, now would we?" That gets him a punch to the shoulder and a pout at me.
"Well I more or less assumed something like that must have happened, But I wanted to hear it from you."
"Now, Clarke, I know I said we would talk more about last night, but I think there are much more important things that we need to discuss, like maybe what happened during your P.E. class?" I take a long pull from the bottle in my shaking hands before even coming up with an answer.
So I tell Bellamy the whole thing, starting from when we got back into the locker room. He looks like he's about to kill someone, but instead he moves over next to me and wraps his arms around me. I turn into his chest and cry and cry and cry long past the bell for next period, and it's the bell for trig that I finally pull my face out of Bellamy's chest, but neither of us make a move to leave our sack lunch, vodka nest in the Russian history portion of the library.
"Bellamy?" I croak.
"Yeah Clarke?"
"I really like her, and I'm scared Bellamy. I'm scared she's going to be taken too." My voice cracks and I feel the tears coming back, but somehow I manage to swallow them.
"Hey Clarke," he says pulling me into a tight hug, "Everything is going to be okay. Lexa is going to be fine in a week or so and she's going to stay that way. And honestly Clarke, I think she's scared too. Of losing you, of being left alone, but also because she has feelings for you and she doesn't want to lose you. I really think she likes you Clarke and I think you need to tell her sooner rather than later that you feel the same way."
"Okay. Okay." I say nodding my head trying to convince myself. "Maybe at the party Saturday if she's even able to go." Bellamy nods as the last bell rings.
"I really should go to one of my classes today, and I need to talk to Gustus anyways. I'll text you later, after I check on Lexa." We finally manage to get up. Bellamy grabs his bags of weed and shoves it in his lunch sack. I take his half empty bottle of vodka and dump it into my own mostly empty bottle.
"Don't drink all of that before dinner Clarke." He calls out over his shoulder.
"I have class with Cage I'll do as I please Bellamy Blake." I snark back. I can hear Bell snort, but he doesn't turn around again.
