A/N: Hello! So you guys might or might not notice, but in this chapter, only Clarke's thoughts will be in italics while others' thoughts would be normal. Why? You will find out.

P.S. So that wasn't fair, you guys weren't supposed to do that. When I said that I would post a new chapter if I get 20 reviews, I wasn't actually expecting it so I wouldn't have to follow through. But I just slept overnight and you guys have already done it. I salute to you guys, I won't ever underestimate that anymore.

Disclaimer: Only mistakes are mine.
Warning: Written at night, might have more mistakes than usual.

BIG BIG WARNING: BADASS CLARKE AHEAD!

I can read you like a book

Chapter 8: Princesses Don't Get Divorce!

The next morning, Octavia and Clarke woke up around noon. Octavia felt like her head had been hit by a hammer, from all the crying, her eyes felt raw, her cheeks puffy and she felt dehydrated. Clarke had started to feel much better... physically. On the inside, she felt like someone had taken away the love of her life and left her brokenhearted, or wait, it did. Apparently not knowing when, Lexa and her had been divorced, not sure for how long. Lexy had gone missing and couldn't be found.

Today was Monday and school was cancelled for the high school students so that they could rest after the test. Not that either of them even thought about school at all.

Clarke had regained all of her motor functions now so she could do everything by herself. She felt so lifeless though, divorced and now forced to move back to her mother's house. That's just sad, and she's supposed to be 25 now… wait, she looked into the mirror while brushing her teeth. She didn't look like a 25 year old at all. If anything, she looked like a teenager, to be precise, she looked like a 17 year old in junior high. She shrugged indifferently, maybe she just didn't age much, although she was sure the last time she looked in the mirror, she looked more mature. She shook herself of the thoughts.

In the back of her mind, it was telling her that she WAS a 17 year old in junior high. Octavia was beside Clarke, also in her own world, thinking about Raven.

They spent the day with Bellamy and Abby at the hospital. Raven's condition had stabilized overnight and moved into another ward. Octavia spent most of the visit sitting by Raven's right side, holding her hand and talking to her, unsure if she could even be heard. She just kept the chatter by herself, Bellamy chimed in once in a while but otherwise he just stood to the side and watched their interactions. Abby worked around the hospital and Clarke had crawled into bed with Raven and curled up by Raven's left side. Clarke didn't say anything at all to Raven, she just occasionally ran her hand along Raven's cheek and sometimes brushed that stubborn hair that somehow kept escaping from behind her ear.

In the back of her mind, she noticed that Raven already looked much healthier than the last time she saw her. Raven no longer had the pasty sick vampire look, her cheeks were flushed with transfused blood… someone else's blood. The thought somehow sickened Clarke, that she had almost lost her sister, her best friend, she felt like she wanted to blame someone but she knew she shouldn't… she couldn't do that to Octavia. She was guilty enough as is, she didn't need more heat on her.

Meanwhile in the forefront of her mind, she wanted to talk to Ray-ray. She wanted to tell her about Lexa and all the horrible things that she had done to her after their sudden divorce, announced to her by her mother a… few months ago? The horrible thing that Lexa did after she found out about their divorce was radio silence. Lexa did not even call her in the months that went by to explain herself, she did not come back to apologize, she did not say one last 'I love you', no, she was just gone and left Clarke to live a dull life back in her mother's house. She wanted to ask Ray-ray if what she told Lexa before was true, that she would make Lexa regret it if she ever break Clarke's heart. She was conflicted, she didn't know if she wanted Ray-ray to hurt Lexa or not, even though she broke her heart.

The next day, school restarted without Raven. Clarke had to walk to school alone even though she had no idea why she was returning to high school. She argued with her mom in the morning, telling her that she had already completed high school once and did not need to return but her mom forced her to do something with her life or so she was told. She knew that she was a housewife and technically didn't have much qualification to work by herself but going back to high school, really? She was pretty sure she could easily pass all the tests, seeing as how she had done them all before. Then again, she thought about it, she actually couldn't remember whatever she had learnt from junior and senior years of high school yet she could remember the things she learnt before that. In the end, she reasoned with herself that she had got nothing better to do and her mother made enough money to care for her until she found a job.

When she finally got to the front of the school gate, she wondered what her classes were before she reached into her bag to find her schedule. After going through her schedule, she wondered briefly why it looked so familiar. Again, she shrugged and moved on. She still remembered her high school fondly and knew where she needed to go to find her classrooms. But what confused her the most was the familiar faces. Weren't these the people who went to high school with her before? She was almost certain of it, it was either that or all of the people who went to high school with her had younger siblings with almost the exact same face. She shook her face, her day was getting weirder by the second. She sighed tiredly, high school again. Maybe it's because all high school students look the same with all the clichés.

She began walking to her homeroom class, she started wondering if people were staring at her, she couldn't read any people's mind at all no matter what she tried. She wondered if she lost her ability, if people just saw her and knew she was 25 years old and coming back to high school; it was highly embarrassing, she was the wife of the Supreme Commander and now she's back to high school, what a joke.

Before she reached homeroom, someone appeared beside her and walked with her. Curiosity piqued, she glanced at her intruder and saw that it was Octavia. To say that she was surprised was an understatement. She was absolutely flabbergasted, speechless. What the hell was Octavia doing in high school again too?

She must have left her mouth hanging open, standing stock still for a while because Octavia had stopped walking and was watching her concerned.

"You ok, Clarke?"

Clarke shook her head again, yeah, she was certain that her day was downright getting out of hand. She wanted to ask what Octavia was doing in high school with her again. However she realized that she had no need to ask, she knew it must be her mother's schemes and all her friends were in it. They must be worried about her returning to high school by herself, seeing as how she was 'just' a mind reader. She scoffed internally and thought about how she would prove them wrong so that they could get out of high school and return to their jobs. They were supposed to be busy. Octavia was supposed to be Corporal in Lexa's army, Bellamy was supposed to be her advisor, Raven was the royal technician… Raven was in the hospital now, and maybe Lexa had fired them because they were related to her? But that didn't explain why they would be here in high school with her. This must be some sort of elaborate joke, well don't matter, she would prove to them that she didn't need to be protected any longer. She would make Lexa regret the day she divorced her and begging to be taken back.

Throughout Clarke's inner dialogue, Octavia was watching Clarke worriedly, she chewed on her bottom lip. She knew that Clarke was sort of living in an alternate world and the reality, but she didn't know the extent of it, or just what sort of alternate reality she was living in. Sometimes she wished that she was the mind reader and not Clarke so she could know just exactly what was going in that blonde head of hers. Clarke never liked to share too much.

Finally the silent contemplation was broken with Clarke's "yeah I'm ok, let's go. I assume you have all the same classes as me again?"

"Yeah…" Octavia wanted to ask what she meant by again, but she didn't.

After they entered homeroom, Clarke was about to sit in one of the empty seats when Octavia grabbed one of her arms and directed Clarke to her original seat. Clarke didn't understand the gesture for what it was, other than that was probably the only empty seat.

After they had settled down in their own seats, more people slowly started to file in. Clarke wondered why they all looked so freakishly familiar.

No matter how familiar everyone looked to Clarke, she just put it aside, telling herself that she was thinking too much and everyone always looked the same anyway. That was until Lexa entered the room, Clarke had to do a double take to make sure she wasn't seeing things. This was definitely Lexa, she didn't remember Lexa having a younger sister who looked exactly like her. She still had the same shade of eyes, that tiny almost imperceptible scar right below her left ear, this was her Lexa… but she needed to actually confirm her suspicion.

"Lex...a?" She wanted to call her Lex like she always used to, but she didn't know if she was still allowed to, seeing as how they completely lost contact after the annulment of their marriage.

Lexa took the seat beside me and stared at me like she was studying me.

"Clarke, how are you?" She asked softly. I shivered at the husky quality of her voice, she always had this way of calling my name, having not heard her for so long I couldn't help my reaction. The next thing that registered in my mind was that it was really her, Lexa, my wi- ex-wife sitting beside me, in high school again. I felt like I was missing something, my brain just couldn't get it right. Why is everyone so familiar? Why is everyone I know attending high school now with me? Am I in an entirely different universe?

"Clarke?" Lexa's voice snapped me out of my inner turmoil.

"What are you doing here, Lex?" I asked with a confused frown on my face.

She had this odd look on her face before it's gone completely, "The same reason you are?" With the light lilt at the end of her sentence, it was as if she was asking a question.

I furrowed my brow even more, "I'm here because I can't find a job… and my mom's forcing me to do high school again."

Lexa blinked slowly twice and then a look of understanding crossed her face. That was when she realized that Clarke might look normal now but she was still fairly confused about the reality. Lexa wasn't sure about the protocol of this situation, did she need to indulge in Clarke's brand of reality or was she supposed to set her right into her reality? She took the plunge and went with it.

She gestured for Clarke to come closer and with a confused frown, she did. Lexa whispered carefully, "Clarke, don't tell anyone. I'm undercover here as a student."

"Why?"

"I can't tell you the reason."

"Okay… Lex, why?"

Lexa looked at me expectantly for me to finish my question.

"Why do you… not love me anymore?"

Lexa drew backwards with eyes wide and eyebrows raised and a harsh whisper of "What?!" escaped her lips.

"My mom told me that you divorced me and you haven't ever explained yourself, you don't even talk to me anymore. And then suddenly you're here, sitting beside me in high school again. What do you expect me to feel?" Clarke could feel her eyes brim with tears but she couldn't control her emotions or stop her tears.

Clarke was still slightly leaned in Lexa's direction, head low but big teary eyes looking up at Lexa, she looked at Lexa as if she just bought her a new kitten and stomped on it or something equally cruel.

"uh...I…um… That- we- you-"Lexa couldn't find the right words to say and in the end she just groaned in frustration.

The bell rang, signaling the start of homeroom, Lexa's only thought was saved by the bell. She gave Clarke one last apologetic look and informed her that they would talk about it later. Clarke was disappointed but she nodded nonetheless.

Throughout the day and classes, Lexa would catch Clarke's hurt looks every now and then. She still had no idea how to deal with what Clarke told her. So in a boring history class, she decided to set the story right. She thought of all the things she had learnt from Clarke since she woke up Sunday morning, made a list and tried to reach her conclusion.

The conclusion she came up with was that: Clarke thinks she's older than 17, married and divorced, no job so gone back to high school, was she a house wife? Is her cat still missing? Wait, her cat is not real. Maybe I should buy her a cat after all. Not the point, but what was the point?

The point was what was she supposed to do? It would be awkward if I pretend to be her wife. It would be even more awkward if I pretend to be divorced to her. If I pretend to be her wife, when she's fully recovered, it would be awkward. If I pretend to be divorced with her, and she's recovered, it might not be awkward and Clarke would be hurt? Put off by any further advancement of a relationship with me if I ever chose to? If I ignore everything, Clarke would also be hurt but there could be no awkwardness, cause she's ignored…

In the end the question is: what exactly do I want to happen with Clarke? She is nice and cute. She is bold and actually dared to read my mind, no other mind readers in this school had even tried. She acts like a princess sometimes but still absolutely adorable. She's not like any other I have met before. And the hurt look that she's giving me now is actually hurting me. If I keep ignoring her, this would really hurt me physically.

After Lexa's inner monologue, she heaved a deep sigh and readied herself for when she would talk to Clarke later at lunch or any other free period.

When lunch finally came around, Lexa had been avoiding Clarke's sad look for as long as she could. Clarke was really disappointed, Lexa had never been able to voluntarily make Clarke upset before. Now that she kept doing it without any remorse, Clarke knew that they were really over. Lexa no longer loved her and she had no other choice but to give up. Clarke gave a deep sigh of relief. As soon as the lunch bell rang, she had everything packed up already and was almost the first to leave the classroom since Jasper was always first with his super speed.

After Lexa had packed up her things and ready to face Clarke, she realized she was too late and Clarke had left already. She thought that Clarke would wait for her to talk. She needed to get to the cafeteria as soon as she could to find Clarke.

Clarke was in the cafeteria at record time, she thought about her school days from before and never once had she been here so quick. She left Octavia in the dust too! She got her lunch and sat at the table she used to sit at during her high school days.

As she was about to dig into her delicious sushi roll, a massive shadow suddenly loomed over her. That was when she realized yes, I can't read mind anymore… Why? She tried to see if she could control the person behind her to walk away and it didn't work too. She gulped loudly and a brief thought went through her mind I lost my mind abilities, was that why Lexa divorced me? Because she thinks I am truly Disabled now that I can't even read minds anymore?

A booming voice rang out behind her, "Oy, princess." It sounded more like a snarl than a greeting. Clarke didn't recognize the voice and when she turned around, she saw a solidly built guy and another smaller guy flanking him. It took her a moment to realize who they were… Quint and his panther shifter friend.

What do they want?

"I can't say I am surprised that you are still alive. Although I really hoped otherwise," Quint taunted.

His un-named partner pitched in, "No thanks to you, of course. I'm sure it was all the Commander's. You can't even lift a sword properly for all you're worth."

Clarke wasn't entirely sure what they were talking about but she knew that they were not here for a friendly chit-chat. She nervously glanced around the place and didn't see Lexa, Octavia, Bellamy or Wells. She looked up at the imposing figure, she wanted to step down and back down. But no, even though divorced, she was the Supreme Commander's wife, she didn't show fear or back down from others.

"What do you want, Quint?" Clarke asked with her head held high and chest puffed out.

Having taken Clarke's posture and tone as a challenge, Quint quickly grasped onto Clarke's throat firmly, not enough to cut her air supply but enough to hold her up. He easily picked her up with one arm as if she was nothing but a tiny feather. Clarke gasped loudly from the hold, she had no more powers, she was afraid.

Something screamed at her from the back of her mind, she concentrated on it. She heard it, wait, I still have one more power, if it's still there.

The hold on her throat slowly constricted and no one saw it fit to help Clarke, some afraid of Quint, some couldn't be bothered enough, some plainly enjoyed seeing Clarke being put in her place.

No, Clarke can't read mind anymore, she can't control mind anymore. But maybe… she reached out for someone. She found it, that thing that saved her in the stimulation room, that thing always there for her, her brightest star on a moonless night, her strength when she was weak. She grasped it, it was still at a distance where the power thief normally couldn't reach, but she still held it easily. Always there for her…

Just as her throat was just constricted enough where no air was allowed to pass through, Clarke stopped gasping for air, she looked down at her opponent and smirked. Quint frowned and opened his mouth to say something.

Fire blazed the hand that was holding Clarke, Quint withdrew his burnt hand. Clarke took in a big gulp of air when she was finally let down.

"What's wrong, Quint?" Clarke snarked with a wide smirk, "You let go so fast, it almost look like you burnt your hand on a kettle."

"Fucking bitch, where is that baby O?" He yelled to the crowd around them. Some people looked around for Octavia but couldn't find her anywhere. Although they did notice the older Blake just walked in with Wells.

"I'm sure she's getting here now, Quint. Miss her?"

"Who is helping her?" He yelled at the crowd again. When no one responded, he fixated back onto Clarke, "I'm gonna kill you, bitch!"

As soon as Bellamy heard the commotion, he was in front of Clarke, standing in between the two.

"Bellamy, move. I can do this." Bellamy looked hesitant, Clarke wasn't in her right mind after all. But he trusted Clarke's judgement, he always did and always would. He moved to the side, and if anything did go wrong, he would charge in again.

"C'mon, muscle brain. So brainless you forgot how to walk?" Clarke taunted him.

He growled before he charged her and yelled, "I don't even need my power to finish you."

"Really?" Clarke smirked.

Just as he was almost on to Clarke, a huge chunk of ice materialize in front of him. He rushed right into it and fell back onto his butt with his forehead pounding painfully.

"I don't think so," Clarke smirked smugly.

"What the hell?"

The crowd was getting thicker by the seconds that ticked by. Bellamy was watching in awe, Wells equally shocked with the crowd. Eventually Octavia joined them and wondered aloud what happened but no one answered her.

Clarke slowly crossed her arms as Quint charged at her again, "This is getting boring."

This time, when he almost had his hands on Clarke, he got himself a huge shock… literally. His body jumped in spasm from the current running through him.

"I am really shocking, ain't I? I know," Clarke moved back a little while moving her chair in front of her. She straddled the chair and crossed her arms on the backrest of the chair then slowly she rested her chin on her crossed arms.

Quint growled, "Is the Commander saving your ass again?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

He looked around the crowd for the culprit when Lexa finally arrived at the scene, looking confused.

He thought about Lexa and how beautiful she would be in his bed, writhing in pleasure. He smirked and thought about how he could easily remove Clarke from the equation now, if he would be faster than the Blakes'. The princess had too much undeserved spotlight for doing nothing at all. It should be his turn to shine now and then Lexa would see how amazing he was.

A sharp rock spike quickly and easily formed about six inches in front of Clarke's chest, hidden behind the chair. It was in motion before Bellamy thought to react, before anyone else saw, before Lexa understood what was happening. But most importantly, it was not before Clarke already knew what was going to happen. Clarke may not be able to read mind at this moment or control them, from her mind reading skill, she had learnt to read people's expression and their eyes.

The spike stopped right before it touched the back of the chair, a lot of emotions were riding high in that moment. Anxiousness, relief, shock, disappointment and others from everyone around them. But most of all, it was Quint's surprise that topped them all.

When you are using an elemental control on your given element and someone else tried to override your control on that element, you just knew who the power user was. And the one who stopped him was Clarke, no one else but CLARKE! The supposed-to-be-Disabled, The Useless Powerless Princess that always needed to be rescued, The Better-than-Thou Clarke Griffin! No, it wasn't possible. It just wasn;t possible.

Everything was at a standstill right now. The spike in front of the chair, the wide-eyed gape look on Bellamy, the fear on Octavia, the relief on Wells, the realization on Lexa, the crowd. No noise or movement was made for a few seconds.

Until it was broken by Quint with a booming snarl that rained spit, "You have power!"

"You caught on... slow, muscle brain," Clarke's bored face turned back into a smirk.

All at once, noise was louder than ever, movement was fidgety and stilted, it was as if a bubble was burst and everything went back in motion. The only things still unmoving were the spike and the spit frozen in motion so as not to land on Clarke's face.

Everyone caught on that the elemental attacks on Quint was made by none other than Clarke herself, it was the shock of the century. Clarke having power was one thing, but multiple elements? That wasn't possible, it's the power of the Supreme Commander. Power thief could steal powers, yes, but they shouldn't be able to mimic the environment control. Clarke has ENVIRONMENT CONTROL? Was the big question going around.

Bellamy, Wells and Octavia finally learnt that Clarke has two powers, mind reading and environment control? And as for Lexa, she picked up that Clarke was also an earth spinner (the power to control rock, mud, sand and any other earth particles).

"But how? How?! It's not possible, one cannot just have powers overnight!" Quint shouted.

"Pfttt!" Clarke tried to cover her amused laughter, "No, muscle head, people don't. They were born with it."

"You… you can control more than one element!" Quint sounded as if he was accusing Clarke of hiding a criminal.

With a smirk firmly in place, the spike disintegrated in thin air, Clarke moved to stand from her chair. "I'm sure all of you are thinking about this…"

She did an exaggerated curtsy with an introduction, "Clarke Griffin, power thief. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

More chatter sounded around them, they were wondering how was it possible for a power thief to steal more than one power at once to use different element control. But what they didn't know was that they were wrong, she only mimicked one power and it was more than enough. Her brightest star on a moonless night, her strength when she was weak, her Lexa always there for her.

After the announcement, Lexa was shocked, not for the same reason everyone else was thinking about. But that feeling, the fleeting feeling she once had when Clarke was in the stimulation room that was now shooting through her from a while ago. It was then that she knew it was her power that Clarke was borrowing. People weren't supposed to know when their mind was being read or when their power was being used. Even more so when you are the Commander or Supreme Commander, your power was generally not ever 'stolen' because people normally couldn't mimic your power because it was too much for them. Lexa had a ring, a belly ring piercing – it was an ancient artifact made to allow its user to know when someone reads your mind, controls your mind, mimics your power and so on and you would be able to stop them (most of the time). The artifact was strong, but sometimes it wasn't strong enough to stop strong influence like mind control but limit it maybe, while mind reader was easy to block out. To know that Clarke was a power thief was shocking, to know that Clarke was able to use her power was even more shocking, so to say.

"Now, if you know what's good for you, Quint. Run along before you hurt whatever brain cells you still have left," Clarke beamed innocently at him. He growled in response but knew that he couldn't do anything to Clarke, not now but maybe one day in the future, he would get another chance. He walked away with his panther shifter friend. Most people settled back onto their seats even though the excited chatter was still going around.

Only after Quint was out of Clarke's line of vision did she relinquished her power. The tingly feeling in the pit of Lexa's stomach went away when Clarke did. Octavia was suddenly beaming with excitement, she jumped over to Clarke in a huge bear hug, "Oh my God! Clarke, you were holding out on us! You never told us you could do that! Freaking awesome!"

Clarke laughed into the hug and returning the favor as her arms encircled Octavia's waist.

"Good job, kid," Bellamy ruffled Clarke's hair with a smile when he reached their side.

"Woah, Clarke. That was so bad-ass!" Wells exclaimed and he thought that it was also really hot even though he would never voice it out loud.

Clarke broke the moment when she questioned them, "So then. Would you guys stop following me to high school now that you know I can protect myself?"

Three confused looks directed at her and she had no idea what they were thinking. They looked to be at a loss of words from Clarke's odd line of questioning. Someone cleared their throat behind them.

They turned to find the Commander, "Clarke, can we talk?" Lexa looked at the others and continue, "Alone?"

Clarke gulped inaudibly and nodded. Lexa then led them out of the cafeteria.

The three left behind watched them leave before they resumed their seats. They commenced eating in silence before Octavia finally asked, "What was Clarke talking about?"

The other two shrugged, having no idea themselves.

A/N: Well, that was fun :) I like bad-ass Clarke, she's awesome. I like confused Clarke, she's funny. I like Clarke, period. Anyhow, reviews and favourites always welcomed, love you guys :D

Next chapter: Oh no, what did Lexa decide in the end? What are they gonna talk about? Pfttt, don't pretend you don't already know. This is a Clexa fic for God's sake, I know you guys know what will happen in the damn discussion. Warning: More Clexa ahead, fluffs overload (not really). And moreover, OH NO, did Clarke really lose her other powers? Mind-related powers? Is she ever gonna get them back? Or will she be a permanent power thief (only) now? Maybe she will only gain back her mind reading because she abused her mind control! OMG, WHAT WILL HAPPEN :OO

... Actually I know what will happen, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna tell you :) Oh wait. I shouldn't have said those things, cause they would not even be in the next chapter. But wait, we might see Raven next chapter, yay :) Anyways, until next time :D *sigh heavily* I love these teasers :) Quinn (from Glee): It's all about the teasing, not the pleasing.