The Wild Youth
Author's Note: Before you ask, yes the title is heavily inspired by the song, Youth from Daughter, as it is the perfect upbeat song, with a sad truth to the song itself. This story, is purely inspired by a thought that occurred to me while playing the final season and I've been debating thoroughly to write this or not. Hopefully, you'll enjoy it and eventually, you'll see more and more drama and moments between Louis and Clem, which is what we are all seriously here for, aren't we? Anyway, I'm going to keep this mini author's note short and sweet, the same way Louis likes it and I hope you stick around to see this story unravel. It's going to be one hell of a roller-coaster, so buckle up and get ready, this is about to get heavy.
Chapter 1: Allow Me To Make It Formal...
~Flashback~
Tap. Tap. Tap. Thunk. Sat within her seat, the little girl was worrying over just who would be coming to visit her today. It was someone important, seeing as she was dressed in her best and she smelled the cleanest she had in a long time. Normally she was clean but today, it was like she didn't have the slightest grain of dirt on her, in case something didn't work. Tap. Tap. Tap. Thunk. Clunk. Her heel would hit the leg of her chair, wishing for the meeting to be over, so she could go back to her colouring.
"Yes, she's a sweet little girl. Always got her nose stuck in her drawings," the dark haired, chestnut coloured eyed girl had heard a woman approaching, the muffled voices no longer were muffled as it became apprehensively clearer. The voices got louder as girl could identify two sets of footfalls had landed closer together. The second set of footfalls, were louder than the first, heavier, the girl noted mentally. With a gasp, she sat up straight and her eyes were wide with fear. When the door creaked open and swung shut, out from the office, emerged a woman, in her mid fifties, with bifocal glasses on the bridge of her nose and in a long black dress, her hair was black but was turning to the colour of ash from the many years she tried to hide from the world. She had been leading a man, tall, dark and neatly trimmed, he crouched down beside the little girl and his eyes were warm.
When the little girl looked at the man, she wasn't alarmed by him, or afraid of him. In fact, she felt safe around him and as unsettling as it should have been, being face to face with a stranger, she felt relieved to see a friendly face. "Hi, Clementine," the man's voice was deep, warm and soothing to the little eight year old girl. "I'm Lee," the man introduced himself, keeping himself crouched beside her seat, staying eye level to her. A smile began to grow on the girl's soft rosy brims, as her eyes met with Lee's and she felt calmed, just by the sound of his voice and his friendly face.
~Present day~
"Clementine?" a voice broke her from her memory, forcing the girl to blink away her frozen stare into the distance and slowly reanimate herself back into the moment. "Clementine, come on in," the man politely gestured her to enter his office and to make herself welcome. Removing her butt from the seat, she strolled into the office and saw the headmaster close the door behind them, leaving her and him alone in the room, to give them privacy as he would discuss matters at hand. "Sit," he encouraged, gesturing towards the seat for her to take, in front of his desk, whilst he would sit behind it, in a huge brown leather chair.
He held onto a folder, which had her name freshly written into the side of the flap, where it would indicate the child that the folder belonged to. Already, she was starting to feel tense at the thought of staying there, along with what was written so far in that folder that bared her name. She was wondering, just what she might find in a school filled with misbehaved and misunderstood kids. She would have to learn to tell them apart, and quickly, if she wanted to survive in this school. She was a long way away from Georgia. "So, Clementine. You already know why you are here," the headmaster stated the obvious as he flicked through her fresh and new file, undoubtedly saying plenty about her between the lines. Glancing at the name plate on the table, the name carved into it, was R. Ericson. "So it is in our best interests to help you change, to become a better version of yourself and be a proud example of a troubled youth, that transitioned into an exemplary and passionate adult," the man gave her the prep talk that any headmaster would when meeting the new arrivals to a school this small.
The school only roughly held at least 50 students, 60 was supposed to be its fullest capacity and even then, it wasn't as full as everyone expected it to be. The number of teachers, were roughly 14, and staff were unknown that lingered around, cleaning, cooking or keeping watch of children causing trouble. Clementine, unluckily, had arrived half way through the school week. This had meant, she would need to adjust quickly and attend classes for roughly three days, until the weekend arrived, for her to do as she pleased and catch up on homework that would be given. "I'll try and not keep you here long, Ms. Everett. Only that, for the first week, we will be monitoring you very closely, in case you do anything that isn't exemplary behaviour. And I will be meeting with you, once you settle in more next week, I will alert you of the time when it comes closer to the day. We hope your stay here, is as beneficial to you as you make from it," Richard spoke with a stillness, with a monotone that made Clementine believe that maybe, this man had said this speech far too many times, in order to do anything to excite himself with it anymore. It was like he tried saying those words in many ways but eventually, it stopped being fun as he eventually turned out blank from the amount of times it had been said, in this version, that or the other.
Handing her an envelope, she peeled the piece off and inside, it held a map of the school, then another sheet, which had her time table throughout the week and then, it had a leaflet on everything she needed to know about Ericson's boarding school. On a smaller piece of paper, showed the room number she'd be staying in, along with a key and the number locker she was going to have to use that key on. "You may leave your belongings with Janet, as I will have one of my members of staff take it to your dorm room. You shall have plenty of time to settle in then. But only once your lessons are done for the day," the headmaster warned, before Clementine slipped all the sheets of paper she'd been given with all the information she needed. Taking her backpack, at least, that had all her colours and books, ready for the lessons she was going to have throughout the day, she went to the door but the headmaster rushed to open it for her. "Welcome, to Ericson's."
Taking a step outside his office, she reached into her envelope and glanced between the map and the her time table. "There is no need for that," the headmaster reassured her, as her head rose to look up at the man who was supposed to be guiding her but had instead, left the girl to practically fend for herself as she tried to gather her bearings. "Marlon will lead you to your first class, he is going to be your guide, until you are fully settled in and familiar with the school," Richard was then directing Clementine to look to the boy who she would be joining, who would be showing her around the place. "Make sure to be in your classes before they start," he warned before he shut the door and returned to whatever he was doing before he met with Clementine.
Folding up the map and holding onto the timetable, she glanced up to the boy she had been left alone with. Marlon. He was tall, blonde, blue eyed and very skinny looking. What was odd though, was his haircut, as it was more mullet than hair and looked like it might of had two days without washing. "Clementine, right?" the boy asked her, as he offered a hand out to her, being amiable in greeting the new face around there. "Name's Marlon, I'm here to be your guide and most likely, your friend," he was introducing himself in a cool and collected tone. Perhaps he was a little too confident in himself, Clementine thought. "So, what is your first lesson?" he asked as Clementine glanced down at the time table, looked for the day of the week and what time it was.
"It's English Literature," Clementine responded after a brief amount of time passed between her glancing at the paper, then the clock hung up on the wall and back to the paper, once she knew what the time was.
When she was finished glancing at her time table, she knew she only had two classes after English Lit. The next one, would be History and the last one, would be Chemistry. Marlon had stepped closer to the girl, looking over her shoulder to see her classes and quickly mentally noted the classes she had and knew exactly where to take her, without her noticing. "Great, I think Vi and Brody are in that class," he nodded, his hands on his hips as Clementine shrugged the strap of her backpack on her shoulder gently, trying to get comfortable and ready to carry the weight of it around again. Mentioning names she didn't know, Clementine felt one eyebrow raise higher than the other in a questioning glance. "They're good people, friends, even," he tried to explain why the mention of them was so important to her. "You'll like them," he was sure of himself. "This way," he encouraged Clementine to follow him as he went to walk past the front desk, down the steps and out of the admin building.
Only, the boy had to stop before leaving the main office, to grab a green token for himself and the other for the girl he was supposed to be guiding around the school. "Here, take this," he offered one of the tokens to the brown eyed girl. "You use these outside, in the courtyard. They're tokens for calls outside of the school, it's for students that might want to keep in touch with their families back home," he explained. "Key word there, is might," which to Clementine, only told her that maybe, some people didn't want to know what was going on at home. Unlike those some, she was possibly with the wider majority, needing to know how Lee and the others were back in Georgia. "There are only three phones outside in the courtyard and only certain hours in the day you can call. Specifically, you can't call at night, the lines simply don't work anyway," he explained, shrugging as he lead her down the steps and out of the admin building.
Taking in all this information, was proving to be hard work for Clem, but she kept listening and tried to keep all the information in her head. "Be careful. You only get one token a day and the token only runs for fifteen minutes max during a phone call," he was giving her all the tips about the way the calling home system worked. Only one a day, for fifteen minutes, she thought she had those grounds covered, at least. "Now, English Lit is on the West wing, where the cafeteria area is," he was giving her a brief idea of the land as they went past the dorms building and towards a set of steps, that lead down to another part of the huge building. Towards the end, were two double doors, where she could only imagine the cafeteria would be.
As he lead her to the room, she could see the class had already started and students were all sat around, listening to their tutor and staring down at the pages of a book they were studying. Already, Clementine felt the nervous jitters stirring in her gut, making her wish she could just tell them to fuck off. Instead, she did as she always did, listened to hers and AJ's method of getting over fear. She would push through it, she wouldn't allow it to take over. Putting on a brave face, she went to put her hand on the door and smiled over to Marlon, appreciative of what he'd done for her. "Thank you, Marlon. For taking me to my first class," she was being nice, thankful, as she wasn't sure what she would of done if he hadn't been there with her.
"No problem," the overly confident boy had spoken with pride and a softness in his tone. Just before she could go inside to her first, official class at Ericson, a voice stopped her from going inside. "Oh. Allow me to make it formal: welcome to Ericson's Boarding School for Troubled Youth," he welcomed her, his hands raised to gesture to the place they were surrounded by. Walls and doors, a structure big enough to keep the amount of students it had there occupied with studies and many rooms, from what she gathered in the map she saw.
For a second, Clementine stood there awkwardly, not sure of what to say next as his theatrical gesture left her itching to get into class to get the embarrassment of being late over and out of the way, so the kids could gawk at her for being the new girl. "Ah...thanks," she kind of shrugged, not certain that the welcome was as warm or welcoming as she was to expect it to be. Even if she were dreading the next move she was about to make, she knew it was going to feel awkward. But it would feel worse if she waited any longer. "I'll see you later, Marlon," Clementine waved him off as she then took a second to gather herself. To gain strength, as she focused on her breathing and forced herself through her fears. As she got in, she felt her heart hammer but she didn't let it get the best of her. She couldn't let it get the best of her.
Entering the room, it was as awkward as she expected it to be. All the students spun around to get a good look at the new girl. Clementine did her best to ignore the stares and once welcomed by her teacher, Mr. Little, she took her seat and ignored all eyes on her, given a book, she was told to read the chapter they were on now. Everyone had been silent for the majority of the reading. Except, she felt eyes from all angles burning into her, so many were watching her, possibly trying to figure her out or see what she was like. Instead, she kept very still and kept her head down, not wanting to look to anyone, in case they tried to cause her any kind of trouble. She thought she would get lucky, that they would have to keep their heads down for the majority of the lesson but was proven wrong when they were told to discuss among one another the passage they had just read. Forced to analyse the chapter, paragraph by paragraph. Line by line.
From the corner of her eye, she had felt two girls staring directly at her from her table, one was trying to be subtle and brief, but the other was a little colder than the other. One was auburn haired, with sad blue eyes. The other, had pale blonde hair and soft green eyes. Both were quiet at first, neither ready to speak to the new girl as she waited for them to hopefully work on the project with her, so she wouldn't have to do it alone, like the embarrassing, lonely new girl she was. "Hi, Clementine...I'm Brody," the auburn haired girl spoke up first but the pale blonde girl just stiffly sat in her seat. "And that's Violet," Brody had gestured to the girl sat opposite her, the one who just crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the book in front of her.
"Hi," Violet seemed to be distant with her and Clementine didn't understand why. Did she do something? Did she smell funny? Was she just not cool enough? She wasn't sure what the blonde's deal was, with her hostile reaction to Clementine taking the seat at their table.
Brody already began working on the project, discussing the paragraphs with Clementine, as the pair tried to work together and Violet just sat around, not caring. For the longest moment, Clementine imagined Violet wasn't going to say anything to her, at all. That was until she saw the girl finally pick up her pen and start doodling in her notes. "So, Clementine. What do you think of Ericson so far?" Brody asked briefly, trying to remove all the tension and pressure on solely the work that they were doing.
A shrug to a shoulder should of been indication enough on what Clementine felt towards the school she was now stuck in. "I guess it's fine. It's just a school, after all. A special one but...still a school," she didn't know how to describe her emotions on it. There were all kinds of kids she could tell, although, something told her that this school was filled with those who were more misunderstood than an actual challenge to change. "I'm sorry..." Clementine then leaned in a little to talk to Violet, her brows were furrowing in concern and her position was somewhat challenging Violet beside her. "Did I do something to upset you?" Clementine openly wondered what could possibly be bugging the girl that couldn't stop glancing at her, who now no longer could keep her eyes on her.
"No," Violet was quick to answer. "I'm just not good with new people," she tried to explain her situation. It wasn't like Violet hated Clementine, it wasn't that. She just didn't know the girl. Even if she was pretty, to Violet, none were like Minnie and her big heart. Clementine was new, a stranger and no matter how much Violet could let people in, they always seemed to disappear and she was losing interest in making new people a part of her life, when all they did, was disappear. "Did your meeting with Ericson go well?" Violet tried to push through her own troubles, as she offered to give the girl a chance, to at least be civil and not so cold with her. Soft limes met with the brown eyed softness of Clementine's gaze.
Thinking over the chat she'd had with Richard, she felt a little unnerved by the thought that teachers were staring at her, watching her every move. "As expected. Strange. Boring," the brunette shrugged a shoulder, expecting the girls to say something but neither did. Brody's eyebrows rose in shock but Violet seemed to be hiding a smirk, as she tried to turn her head away from them. "What exactly is it they put in those folders with our names on them?" her curiosity got the better of her and she hoped that maybe someone knew what was in those folders.
Neither of them said anything, they only briefly looked to one another and exchanged a look that told Clementine that maybe, they knew something they shouldn't. "Well, I've heard from Marlon that they hold information about us," Brody began, her head turning to look at Clementine with a plain expression while she informed Clementine of what she knew. "From before we got here, why we're here and what goes on during our time here. In case you have any slip ups or if you're getting any better..." Brody was hesitant to keep going but did so anyway. "Becoming a better person and example of the school, I guess. It's a track record, in summary."
Violet kept still, until she growled softly to herself and began doing some of the work Brody and Clementine had done before. Lowering her gaze, Clementine's vision was instantly blocked of them from her baseball cap, covering her eyes from how inclined her head had been. "Oh..." Clementine only found it easy to say instead of forming any sentences to say just how she felt about this information. "Marlon? Wait. I was guided by a Marlon. And he had also mentioned a Vi and Brody," Clementine was putting pieces together but was finding herself needing to gather her puzzles together, before she was going to appear like she was unintelligent.
"Yeah...we're friends with him," Brody briefly glanced at Violet, who didn't care for the lesson but pretended to actually care about the work. Normally, Violet didn't enjoy any of her lessons but she needed to make an effort, if she was going to get the school off her back. "He's your guide then?" Brody wondered aloud what Marlon was to Clementine and for a second, Clementine assumed she thought they were more. Then, Clementine remembered that she was new, so having someone for herself, wasn't something she would do upon the same second she stepped into the campus. Flicking through the pages, Clementine got annoyed with herself and decided to glance into the contents of her backpack, to dig into it and look for the papers she had and found herself grumbling to herself. She'd forgotten to ask Marlon where her dorm room was. "What's wrong?" Brody asked Clementine after jotting down a few more notes she had been exchanging with Violet softly.
Shaking her head, Clementine looked at her dorm room, that was marked and numbered but she had no awareness of which way she was facing anything. Or even, how to enter the building nevertheless. "I forgot to ask Marlon how to get to my dorm," Clementine explained the situation she was in and Brody was quick to offer a hand.
"Let me see," Brody encouraged and Clementine then handed the corresponding pieces of paper that could somehow assist them in the muddle Clementine was in without her guide to funnily guide her. When Brody looked at the piece of paper, her eyes rose to look at Violet, a shocked look crossing her visage before Violet looked at her, confused as to what got her friend this way. Clementine got impatient, asking what was wrong. "Nothing's wrong, it's just that..." she paused for only a moment. "This is our dorm number," Brody pointed to the piece of paper before returning it back to Clementine. Folding the pieces of papers, tucking them back into the envelope, she slipped the information she needed back into her backpack.
A soft hum left Clementine, a smile graced thinly over her sweet lips. "Guess I got lucky then," Clementine commented as she was supposedly sat beside those who were in the same dorm room as her.
Brody side eyed Violet but the blonde was too focused on her work to be paying too much attention to Clementine and Brody's discussion, even if she had been listening in, she didn't wish to contribute to the conversation anymore than she needed to. "Really lucky," Brody agreed with her, shockingly enough, the three were all there and if Clementine possibly got there later than she was, she might have ended up not meeting the people she would be sharing a room with. "We'll take you to the dorm after class, it's not far and you'll have 20 minutes to get things ready before our last lesson for the day. It'll give you a chance to settle down for a few minutes."
Grateful, Clementine listened to Brody's kind gesture, to take her to the dorm, already throwing Violet into this deep end too but Violet didn't protest either. "Thanks," Clementine was quick to thank Brody for being kind to her this way. "I appreciate it," her words didn't feel forced but they did sound a little strained. "You know those phone calls home we can do? When do they start and stop being available to use?" already, Clementine was thinking about calling Lee and checking in to see how he and AJ were.
Coming up with an answer, Brody thought over an answer but Violet was quick to speak up before Brody could give her the information she was looking for. "Why would you want to call home? If they really loved you, they wouldn't of left you here in this shit hole," Violet gave out her opinion and as much as it might have hurt Clem, it was true. Except, Clementine knew better. She wasn't bitter, not towards Lee, no matter how blind he was to the truth, she couldn't stay mad at the only person that truly loved her.
"Not all of my family are to blame for me being here. It's only really one..." Clementine drifted, the subject was still a little sore to discuss as she let it die. Savouring the truth as she looked away and looked for anything to say or not to say.
Luckily, Brody chose to finally say what she had been trying to say, before everything turned darker than she expected between the three of them. "Phone calls can start from half seven in the morning, until half eight at night," Brody told Clementine the information she needed to hear. Great, she thought. Now, all she had to do was wait until after class to talk to Lee. He would be at home by five, she hoped. Clementine thanked Brody, before they continued their work on the chapter they read, focusing on that, so they wouldn't get into trouble with their teacher. As he was already watching Clementine closely, like Ericson had said earlier, they would watch her closely. And that was what they did, so to make her first day go off without a hitch, she did her best to stay under their radar. Especially during class.
Once their lesson was over, they had done plenty of work to keep Mr. Little off their backs. Or at the very least, off of Clementine's back. When it was time to leave, Brody and Violet waited for Clementine to get her things before they began making their way over to their dorm room. "It's actually quite exciting," Brody said unexpectedly out of nowhere after briefly discussing the homework Clementine had been given. She was told she needed to read the chapters she hadn't gone through and make notes. If she could, she could also compare them with either Brody's or Violet's notes, too. "Having a new roomie, I mean," Brody further explained what had excited her. "We haven't had anyone in our room since Sarah went back to be with her dad," Brody was mostly talking to Violet as she was a step ahead of them but stayed close to the side.
It had gone: Violet, Brody and Clementine. All three of them were making their way to the dorms and hopeful, was Clementine. That when she got in there, she would be able to see her suitcase in the room, ready for her to empty and keep her mind off of the itching need to call Lee. "Yeah?" Clementine felt a little excited to hear that Brody was accepting of Clementine being their new room mate. So far, Brody was really nice and Violet was...a little cold and distant, to say the least but like the school proclaimed, it was a school for troubled youth. "What was Sarah like?" there had the curiosity got the best of her again, as she wondered just what she was being compared with. Clementine wished to know, just how her and the ex dorm room companion would differ from one another in how they were described as.
Brody hesitated for a brief moment, like she was unsure how to word just what Sarah was like and how to say it, to not offend their ex room mate. "She was...anxious, a little too intrusive sometimes," Clementine had picked up on the traits that Brody had placed upon the girl she was now, supposedly taking her place. Unlike Sarah, Clementine was none of those things and was proud to think herself as none of those things. Clementine was many things but intrusive or anxious wasn't traits anyone would describe her as.
Only for a moment, the girls had kept quiet, as they got to the hall to where the dorm room was. Gesturing to the door, Brody and Violet waited for Clementine to join them, as she stood in front of her new room and glanced at the number. When they got there, Clementine opened the door and examined the room slowly. There was a desk, a chest of drawers, a book shelf, a closet and two bunk beds. From what Clementine could tell, she would need to hope she could put all her belongings in different areas to the girls, so this way, their belongings didn't get mixed up. "This place, it's..." Clementine was looking for the words to use but found nothing instead.
"Too small?" Violet quipped, putting in her own opinion possibly from the sounds of it. "Too poor for your taste?" another question of preference was thrown at the brown eyed girl, as Clementine tried to say something but instead wondered what had gotten into Violet since they met. Did she assume she was just some rich man's daughter? Lee gave her almost everything she wanted but she never took any of that for granted. "Or I don't know...maybe it's just not the five star room you had hoped for," every snarky remark from Violet made Clementine grit her teeth.
It wasn't like Clementine to get mad but she wasn't a snob and she didn't plan on making enemies before making friends. "No," Clementine disagreed, looking around before she stood in front of Violet, who had her back to her, leaning against the empty looking bed, that looked freshly made and perfectly made. Her body leaning against the ladder that lead to the top bunk. "It's not what I'm used to, sharing a room and all with people," she tried to put her point across gently. "But there are worse places to sleep," like the floor, came to mind for Clementine, or a train, now that she was remembering the really long journey she had to take to get there since very early in the morning.
"Yeah..." Violet mumbled softly, sarcastically before she raised her gaze to look into Clementine's eyes from under thin lashes. "Still doesn't mean this place isn't a shit hole," the comment didn't settle on Clementine like something she could argue against. Even if she didn't agree with everything, she knew there were better places she could be. Like at home, with AJ and Lee, with Vivian out of the picture, if she could do something about that. "I'm gonna go look for Minnie. See ya," was all Violet said before she disappeared from the room, shutting the door behind her with only very briefly looking back at Clementine.
Leaving Clementine and Brody alone in their dorm, Clementine got to work on searching for her missing suitcase, which she had hopes that it would be there before she had finished her class. Even if Ericson had informed her there would be plenty of time for her to unpack, once her lessons were over. "I'm sorry about Violet. She grows on you...I promise," Brody took it upon herself to apologise for the cold shoulder treatment she'd been given by Violet since the moment they'd met. She had searched all over the room, from under the newly made bed, to behind the door, under the desk and when she found it in the closet, she took out her suitcase and searched it, to make sure no one took anything from her suitcase.
Thankfully, everything was there, even the pictures of both Clementine with her parents, another photograph of Clementine with Lee and AJ had been safely kept within her belongings. Before Brody could see her photographs, she dumped them back into her suitcase and zipped it up. A knock on the door, followed by it swinging open with a loud creak, had appeared Marlon, followed by a boy, whom was tall, dark and handsome. The tall boy, wasn't wearing anything that made him seem like a member of the sports team, or the school, he was regularly dressed, in a brown trench coat, with a dramatic flare to its collar and the insides appeared to have a fur like wool interior. A green thin sweater was worn under it, as Clementine felt a little alarmed by the boy's intrusion. "Clementine?" Marlon's voice was just as surprised as her expression appeared to be in seeing them stroll in like they had permission to enter. "I was actually looking for you. You're staying in Vi's and Brody's dorm?"
Hesitantly, Clementine was speechless, glancing over to the boy who left her feeling a little unsettled and then, the boy she'd met earlier on her arrival to the school and to lessons. Nodding her silent response, Clementine couldn't look away from the boy with dreadlocks that looked so perfectly placed and his very friendly face. He had a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips, his dark eyes were warm and the freckles splayed across his cheeks lightly, gave him a sweet look about him. His hands gripping the flaps of his coat, as he gently tugged on it. "Great. That's good," Marlon responded to Clementine's hesitant form of replying to his question. "What lesson do you have now?" Marlon asked after a few moments of silence passed in the room, which only made the air feel more awkward and intense for the new girl who only wanted to settle in and call home.
Removing her backpack from her shoulders, she slouched out of it and dropped it on her bed, or so she assumed it would be her bed. As she opened her backpack and inspected the contents, pulling out the envelope she'd been given earlier, she took out her time table and saw what she had next. "Chemistry," Clementine then folded up her piece of paper, luckily, that was the last class she had, before she would need to get the rest she had been trying hard to ignore during her train ride to the school. "Where is it?" Clementine inquired, returning the little piece of paper to her envelope, before restoring all her original contents back into her backpack, zipping it back up securely.
"It's at the greenhouse," Marlon quickly responded as the boy beside him let go of his coat to rest his hands at either sides of himself. The boy's mouth had opened to say something but Marlon had beat him to it. "Louis and I will be there, too," Marlon hinted but as hastily as those words fell from Marlon's lips, it was recognised almost instantly that Clementine knew nothing of the name he just threw out there. "Oh, you two haven't met yet. Have you?"
This time, Marlon looked over to Louis, who stood beside him, now crossing his arms over his strong chest. Clementine on the other hand, was darting her eyes back and fourth between the boys, before her eyes fell on Brody. Brody was silent through this exchange but when she met Clementine's look, she offered a thin smile and a shrug of her shoulders. "I'm Louis," the boy she had yet to meet introduced himself. His voice was light and calming, almost soothing and as alluring as his features were. He presented himself as a friendly face she could probably grow used to, if he was as friendly as he was proving himself to be, exceeding her expectations.
"Clementine," was the brown eyed girl's soft and polite introduction of herself to him.
The room was deadly quiet for a moment, as a smile touched the boy's eyes whilst he gazed at her. Clementine was smiling back, unable to fight the friendly appeal the boy gave her, reflecting it back to him. Marlon briefly looked upon the two who were silently gazing upon one another, exchanging friendly glances. Turning his attention to Brody, she too, had witnessed the strange interaction between the two acquaintances and met Marlon's stare, which made her smile slowly fall. "Brody, I ah...I wanted to talk to you, about Saturday night," Marlon began, cutting Clementine and Louis from their awkward staring contest.
Brody stiffened on the spot, before she shut her eyes and opened them to look at Marlon again. Clementine felt awkward, like she was wedged between a couple that evidently needed their time alone to discuss whatever had happened or was to happen on a particular night they needed to make a topic. "No, it's fine, really," Brody tried to prevent Marlon from saying anything else, her voice firm but soft enough to not make her seem to overpowered in her own words. "We can talk about that later," she tried to get through it, without making the situation awkward for the people in the same room as them.
"I need to talk about it, Brody," Marlon was insisting.
Taking the hint, Clementine knew when it was the perfect time to leave. And this, had been a prime moment to leave Brody and Marlon to speak without an audience there with them. "I ah," Clementine interrupted, forcing herself to return her backpack to rest on her shoulders again, dusting off her knees from the dirt she felt like she was collecting from the hours she'd been awake and doing things. "I better go to Chemistry," Clementine gently brushed passed Louis, making her way to the door as she opened it.
Louis had seen the shocked look on Brody's visage, expressing her surprise to how Marlon wasn't dropping the conversation yet. He also noticed Marlon was focused solely on Brody, his lips were tightly pressed, creasing at the corners to symbolise just how serious he was about the chat they needed desperately. "I'll go with you," Louis spoke up, not wishing to be the third wheel in this mess. Approaching Clementine, he held the door open for her, as she left the room first and he followed shortly after, shutting the door behind them once they escaped the thick tension within the small room. The second the door clicked shut, voices were a little louder than before, even if they weren't shouting yet, they were possibly about to.
"Thanks, for taking me to my next class," Clementine was appreciative of him being so kind to lead the way. Both were walking side by side, Louis leading the way but he wasn't in a rush to get to class too early. The walk wasn't too far and he wanted to spend more time with Clementine. Already, Louis was intrigued by the brown eyed girl with a pretty face.
From the corner of his eye, he saw how she looked at him, a soft smile pursed her shapely lips and her brown eyes were wide, almost doe like, which left him feeling a little warm and fuzzy. Too intimidated to look at her fully, he kept his head forward but inclined slightly to glance at her from the corner of his eyes. "Glad to be of service," his words were soft, endearing, like he truly meant what he said to her. "Besides, I couldn't let you be a third wheel alone," he quipped, tugging on his coat collar once more. "Although, with me there, I would say we made a fully functional car back there," he joked, making Clementine huff out a laugh. "Or maybe a motorbike with four wheels on it."
"Yeah, I guess we did," she agreed with him and couldn't stop herself from laughing at the stupid joke he just made. Hearing her laugh, even if it was a brief little huff of one, was an achievement in Louis's books. A small grin crept up on Louis's features, proud he made the new girl laugh because of him.
Making their way over to the greenhouse, the walk was a short distance, possibly only taking them roughly five minutes to get there. Opening the door for her first, Clementine thanked him and went inside. The greenhouse had all kinds of plants in their boxes but no stools or tables, or anything to suggest this was where they studied chemistry. There was a woman, staring at the plants, cutting at dead stems and placing them into a bag for composting. "Who's that?" Clementine asked Louis, leaning in so only he could hear her but not too close to him, as she didn't wish to invade his personal space.
Glancing to the woman who was silently tending to the plants she was looking after, Louis's eyes focused on the woman and then glanced down to the girl he towered over. "That's Ms. Martin," he stated bluntly but with no explanation as to what she was to the students. When he finally noticed Clementine was waiting for more information, he then made a noise of recognition and continued. "She's the school nurse and she is sometimes our Biology teacher," he further explained just what the dark haired woman staring down intently at the plants with a small smile on her face was. Her soft blue eyes flickered over to Clementine and a smile appeared on the older woman's lips. So far, people were fairly friendly here, Clementine mentally noted to herself.
"Come on, losers," a boy with brown hair and light blue eyes gestured as he walked straight in and opened a door that lead to a back room. When the door opened, Clementine spotted that there was a room in there, with a black board and chalk stains over it, like a cloud covering the surface of it from the amount of writing done to it. Crossing her arms, she wondered who the boy was and what his problem was.
Louis, had spoken up, pulling Clementine out of her glare towards the boy who disappeared into the room, leaving Clementine and Louis still standing side by side in the greenhouse. Both 'losers' were in the same stance, arms crossed over their chests and looking in the direction the boy disappeared to. "That's Mitch," Louis was throwing out names but at least, this time, she knew who that boy was that called them losers. "He's...troubled," the jest was something that made Clementine raise a singular, perfectly arched brow at him as her head rotated to look at him.
"Aren't you all troubled?" she quizzed him for being so painstakingly obvious.
Only a second passed before he shrugged his shoulders at Clementine. "Yeah," he answered her question. "And now, you are included in that description," Louis pointed out and Clementine just rolled her eyes, shaking her head vigorously at his stupid remark. Leading the way, she didn't wait for Louis to open the door for them as she entered the school room. At a table, sat Mitch, the boy who just insulted them a moment ago, who had been sat with Violet. Three stools were available, one of which, Louis took and encouraged Clementine to sit beside him. The free one, she could only assume was for Marlon, who said he'd be joining them soon.
When Clementine took her seat beside Louis, Mitch's attention spun to the new girl the moment her butt touched the surface of the chair. "Isn't that Marlon's seat?" Mitch wondered aloud before he side eyed Louis for letting the new girl take Marlon's stool.
Clementine felt a shift in Louis, as he stiffened in his seat and Violet spun around enough to prop her arm on the desk and her body to both be capable of looking at the teacher and at the new girl, who appeared to be in every class she was in now. "Yeah," Louis agreed quickly but before anyone could protest, he spoke at lightening speed. "But I don't think Marlon will mind not sitting next to me, for one lesson," Louis guaranteed the others that Marlon wouldn't hold a grudge on it.
Suddenly, the door swung open softly and appearing out of it, was Marlon. When he peeked over to his table, he was a little shocked to see Clementine already took his spot. His eyebrows shot up but he then shook his head and offered a shy smile and wedged himself at the left hand side of Clementine. "So, where is Mr. Still?" Marlon wondered, his eyes danced across the room, in search for the professor that hadn't arrived yet from the break they must of had.
Louis shrugged a shoulder and tilted his head slightly to look beyond Clementine and to his friend. "Not sure," Louis was being serious but that didn't last for a moment longer. "He might be standin' still, somewhere," he jested, which forced Mitch to grumble out an annoyed 'Dude' and Marlon to let out a soft chuckle and a shake of his head. "Get it?"
Violet on the other hand, heard the joke, slammed her fist on the desk and rolled her eyes, which affected her whole body. "Oh, my God," she complained the second her fist connected to the desk, making it shake beneath Clementine's arms.
"What?" Clementine was confused as to why everyone either found it funny or incredibly stupid. Louis, had a proud smile on his face, his hands went to his coat again, a gesture she realised was something he did whenever he felt proud or comfortable, possibly, especially after a joke he just pulled on them.
Marlon was the one to clear up the confusion for Clementine, fairly quickly. "It's because, his first name is Stan. In full, it's Stan Still," Marlon tried to paint the full picture for Clementine, so she could understand the joke and as confusing as it no longer was, she still found the joke to be really stupid, but in a good way. A laugh left her briefly, as she shook her head and took out her belongings for the lesson. She needed to be ready, she needed to be exemplary, that way, she could get home and back to AJ as soon as possible.
"That, is so stupid," Clementine remarked about Louis's bad joke, after it sat in her head for a small amount of time.
Regardless of what she said, Louis only seemed prouder, now that he'd somehow made Clementine laugh at his hideous joke. "Maybe," he agreed instantly with her. "But it was funny," he was confident in himself and the stupid jokes he made. Even if they were terrible, they did amuse Clementine a lot and put a smile on her face occasionally. For him being labelled as a troubled youth, she wondered just what got him in there, with him being so friendly and all, he didn't seem to be troubled at all, or trouble.
Abruptly, their conversation and teasings had ended when the door opened and everyone in the room went silent. It was so silent, Clementine was sure she would be able to hear a pin drop. Mr. Still was fast to get to work, apologising for being a little late but had got the students to focus on the lesson almost instantly. As he began writing the aim for the lesson today on the chalk board, the loud clattering of chalk on the surface and strain against the material was a noise that was ringing in Clementine's sensitive ears. As the lesson continued and the tutor would explain the formulas they'd be trying to create the next time they were in class, Clementine tried her hardest to focus but briefly, she had felt Louis's leg bounce and lightly brush against Clementine's knee every time his nervous tendencies got the best of him.
"So..." Louis whispered softly, as the teacher was speaking over him loudly, Clementine's attention forcing itself to split awkwardly between Louis and Mr. Still. "How are you liking it here, Clementine?" Louis openly asked a question she'd been hearing almost all day and she had only been in the campus for only a few hours, to make a solid guess at how she felt about this place. It wasn't great but first impressions was decent, to say the least.
Mitch tried to shush them, paying close attention to the lesson. Louis pursed his lips and turned his head to squint at the boy beside him, giving him a kind of glare that hardened Louis's features a little. "You don't have to answer him, Clem," Marlon leaned in, propping his arm on the desk as she felt sandwiched between two boys who clearly were intrigued to hear what she had to say on this topic. "But, I too, would like to know how you're feeling about Ericson so far."
Clementine shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "I guess it's fine here..." there was nothing she could say to make it feel true or more honest than the blunt answer she'd given them. "Not really sure what else I can say about it," she was being honest, to say the least.
"Guys, shut the fuck up already," Mitch hissed.
Shocked, Clementine jolted in her seat at the harsh words that left the boy's mouth that was indirect to her. "Excuse me?" she whispered out a growl at him. Perfectly shaped eyebrows furrowed as her jaw clenched tightly at his scolding.
Silence followed, only for a few minutes. Like they had all been startled by how rudely Mitch had interrupted their conversation. "Don't mind him," Marlon comforted Clementine as he nudged her elbow gently with his own. "He just gets really into chemistry. I wouldn't be surprised if it was his favourite lesson," Marlon teased as he glanced at Mitch, who just clenched his jaw and had a scowl on his features, not looking at Marlon, as to not entertain him or his thoughts.
Violet finally was paying attention to the conversation they were having, or perhaps, she was just listening but not wanting to participate. For whatever reason, Clementine couldn't decide and wouldn't ask either. Turning to look at them, Violet gestured with her hand in a circular motion, directed at Mitch who was to her right but a little behind her as she sat opposite Clementine. "He makes bombs. That's why he's a 'troubled' youth," Violet explained how Marlon was putting the two and two together.
When Clementine heard this, her eyebrows shot up, stunned to have this new found information about Mitch. When she looked at him, he didn't turn to glance at her but there was a small smirk she could make out from the side of his face. "Yeah, I blew up my dad's garage at the age of eight," Mitch was proud of this life long achievement and Clementine was stunned but only lightly amused to know this. Why he'd openly admitted that, Clementine would never know or understand.
"I beg your pardon, am I disrupting your conversation?" Mr. Still stopped his lesson and glared at the table in the far back, at Clementine's table. Quickly, Clementine's gaze dropped to the desk and her lap, ashamed she was talking over the teacher, who was just trying to do his lesson. "Ms. Everett, I'm disappointed. Not even your first full day and you're already disrupting my class," the professor narrowed his eyes at the brunette. Her lips had pursed sadly, knowing she had done wrong but the others were quick to own up to their own mistakes. Violet looked upset that they had caused the new girl trouble. Louis was ashamed he encouraged this to happen in the first place. Marlon appeared to be mindful of Clementine and the emotions that filled her visage. Mitch, he was just disappointed in himself for ruining the only lesson he liked and annoying the teacher for it.
Clearing his throat, Marlon was the one to speak up. "Sorry, Mr. Still. I was just checking to see if she was adjusting to the school. It was my fault. My apologies," Marlon took the blame for them, for all of them. It was noble but Marlon felt he had the responsibility to look after Clementine, seeing how he was supposed to be keeping her under his wing.
Curving a brow as his lips were taut, his eyes glaring at the group of misfits sat at the table in the far back together. He knew the strange mix of children, of their pasts and their problems and he also knew the kind of young adults they were trying to be. Having heard Marlon, it was like he was quizzical on his choice to defend the new girl. Nevertheless, he took it and allowed it. "Fine, this is your first warning though. Make me stop again, I will be informing Mr. Ericson of your poor behaviour during class," Mr. Still warned them, mostly Clementine but it was all of them.
The lesson had gone by quickly after that, as none of them dared say another word and made notes on everything the professor was saying. Clementine was stiff in her seat, not willing to say another word, even as Louis's leg would bounce and he would shift in his stool throughout the lesson. He must have been nervous, as his leg was just the indication of it as he sat beside her. She wanted to tell him to stop, but she couldn't convince herself to and she didn't have the heart, or courage to do so. Leaving class, a boy, half the size of Mitch was waiting outside for him. Violet didn't wait for anyone, not for Louis, Marlon or Clementine as she went to walk away on her own.
When she got her things and walked through the greenhouse to get outside, the boys were waiting for her, both Marlon and Louis as they made her a wedge between them again. Louis was to her right and Marlon, to her left. "Hey. Clementine," Marlon called out to her as they caught up with her. "Dinner is going to be in around a half hour. If you need a guide or something, I can show you where it is," he was offering his services that were already at her disposal when he offered to be her guide around the school.
"It's the double doors, right? By my English Lit class," Clementine had always been observant but that only shocked Marlon and Louis was actually fairly impressed by how she could point things out quite quickly.
"Yeah, yeah it is," Marlon admitted she was right.
Louis had been very silent while they walked back to the gate and to the courtyard. A few kids were gathered around the picnic benches. Only two were at the phones, calling family, she assumed and one was available for her to use. She could feel that itch under her skin, a desire to pick up the phone and dial the number she knew off by heart. "What's your plan now, Clem?" Louis's voice pulled Clementine out from her deep thoughts of what she was going to do, of what she was going to talk to Lee about and her concerns for AJ with her being gone.
Adjusting her gaze to fall on the guy beside her, who was looking to her, sideways, his head inclined only enough so he could get a good glance at Clementine's visage. "Well, I guess I'm going to go make that phone call now," she could feel the token in her pocket weigh down on her, burning a hole in her clothes and doing nothing in reality, other than sit within the pouch of her pocket.
"We'll save you a seat at our table then," Marlon piped up when no one wanted to say anything or ask her anything, in regards to the phone call she wanted to make. With a soft 'see ya', Louis waved to Clementine and stayed close to Marlon as the pair of boys walked away, down the steps and towards the cafeteria, possibly so they could get their seats before anyone could take it. Promptly, Clementine went directly for the phone, sliding a token in and dialling the number as quickly as she possibly could. It took only a few moments for the phone to be picked up.
"Hello?" Clementine heard the rough, deep voice echo through the phone and felt her heart settle. A soft laugh of relief escaped her, as pure happiness was felt within her soul to hear the familiar and soothing voice of the man she considered her father.
"It's me, Lee," her voice was delicate, soothed by hearing his voice. On the other line, she could hear a smile form on Lee's lips.
"Clementine. How was the ride there? Did you get to the school safe?" Lee was always the concerned father but the second he said that nick name that sent her back to being the eight year old girl he adopted, she felt her heart hammer with elation.
Never hesitating, she was quick to talk to him, needing to let everything off her chest about today. "It was fine, long. But fine. Lessons are interesting and this place is huge, Lee," Clementine was shocked by how big it was compared to how small it looked on the brochure.
"That's good. Are you making any friends, sweet pea?" Lee's voice hummed through the phone as he listened to her and when she clutched the phone tightly, it was like she grasped onto everything that made her who she was. She missed them. Missed the men in her life, the most important men in her life. Her father figure and her baby brother.
A sad little laugh left her, nodding to herself, as tears began to build in her eyes. "Yeah. Yeah," Clementine became vocal, once she'd remembered that he couldn't see her and her words but he could hear her tears. "I'm making friends. There is Marlon, who is my guide. Brody, we share a dorm room and she seems nice. Violet, she's sharing the dorm room with us too but...I don't know if she likes me. And Louis, he is very friendly and makes the worst jokes," Clementine was summarising all the people she knew so far that made a big impression on her.
"Are you crying? Why are you crying, Clementine?" there was the voice of his concerns again, as he feared for the little girl he swore to protect and love. A girl who meant more to him than the whole world combined. Clementine was the daughter he never had, but was lucky to have now.
"I just miss you...so much," Clementine sobbed happily, her words were breaking as she tried to keep herself together for him. Wiping away her tears, she gathered her strength and made her voice harder, for the sake of Lee and herself. "How's AJ?"
"We miss you too, sweet pea. And AJ...he's been a little difficult since you've been gone. I think he misses you more than I do," Lee chuckled after his tone was saddened by expressing just how things had been without her there. "Someone here wants to talk to you," Lee said as she could already hear AJ's little voice and hands brushing against the microphone.
"Clem!" she could hear AJ's little excited voice yell through the phone. Erupting a heartfelt laugh out of Clementine that made her shoulders shake.
"Hey, kiddo," she greeted her little brother back. Her heart swelled at the sound of his voice. No matter what she might have done wrong, AJ looked up to her and loved her more than anything in the world. AJ, he was the only pure thing she had, other than Lee but even Lee was becoming tainted by the lies he had been fed. "How are you?" she voiced her concern and intrigue to hear how her baby brother was doing.
"I miss you," he was honest, to say the least. "How are you? How's the school? Did anyone bully you? Are you okay? Have you made any real friends?" AJ was asking too many questions, far too quickly for Clementine to answer any of them.
"I'm fine, kiddo," she tried to make him slow down on the firing questions that were thrown to her down the phone. "I'm making friends. Settling in okay," she shrugged to herself but her smile never left her.
"I really miss you, Clem," AJ interrupted her before she could say anything else to him. "When are you coming back?" he was curious to know just how long he'd have to live with her absence.
"I miss you too, goofball," Clementine sniffled her sadness, the lump was growing the more she talked to the people she loved with all her heart. "I don't know. But let's hope it's soon, okay?" Clementine tried to keep her baby brother hopeful of her return. She just needed to be good and hopefully, she could go back as soon as she possibly could.
"I love you, Clem," AJ's sad little voice echoed into her ear.
A sad laugh left her, her eyes creasing at the corners when she heard those little words being said to her. "I love you back," she meant it, everything she felt, it was real when it came to AJ. The men in her life, they were her weakness and since she could remember, she was the one looking after AJ, helping Lee to help AJ grow, to be the tough little five year old he was. Clementine felt more like a mother to AJ, than what Vivian should have been. "Hey, kiddo. Could you pass me back to Lee? I got to say goodbye," she forced herself to talk through the sniffles and stray tears that escaped her eyes.
"Yeah, talk to you soon Clem," AJ said softly, sadly as she could hear him begin to hand the phone over to Lee. "I love you," she heard his voice say quickly before he gave it to Lee. A little laugh escaped her parted lips that were tugged by a smile.
"You got to go?" Lee wondered why the call was so quick, hopeful they could spend another few minutes more talking.
Clementine wished she could speak to them for hours but the rules here, they were strict when it came to the phone call system. "Yeah," Clementine forced the word out, even if she pained to say it. "I've only got fifteen minutes with each token. I only get one a day here," Clementine explained how it worked.
Lee's voice hummed. "Stay strong, Clementine. We'll see you soon," Lee tried to give the girl courage. "Is there anything you want me to say to Vivian?" Lee asked, glancing at the time on her wrist watch, she knew there was no point in saying anything and she also knew Vivian wouldn't be back home for at least another couple of hours.
"No," Clementine was brief. In her mind, she wanted to tell Lee to tell Vivian she would see her in hell. But thought best not to. Clementine only hoped karma would knock that woman flat on her ass soon. "Goodbye, Lee," Clementine was ending the conversation and her heart sank at the thought of saying goodbye to one person she never wanted to have been separated from.
"Goodbye, Clementine," Lee's voice was equally as sad, both hearts were sinking at the thoughts that clouded their judgements. She made him happy and he chose to let her go. He was someone who was supposed to help her, not dump her to the other side of the country, just so she would change. He was meant to help her change. As bitter as she wanted to be, she couldn't. Lee had done so much for her, she could never be angry at him for long.
Hanging up the phone, she wiped the remaining tears with the back of her sleeve and returned to her dorm. Taking deep breaths, she tried to focus her energy on relaxing and making the tension in her muscles loosen. In trying to be strong, to put on a brave face and let others see she wasn't as weak as they might of believed of her. She was a new girl and everyone was bound to have their eye on her while she walked past them. When she returned to her dorm, she was strong again and she knocked on the door briefly to alert them she was coming in. When told she could enter, she was shocked to find a group of new faces in her dorm room.
The only familiar face, was Violet. There was a boy, playing with his toys, sat on the ground, his back to Clementine whilst she approached her bed. A red head, with long, straight hair that reached just beneath her shoulder blades, was sat at the desk, doodling something on a sheet of A1 paper. Another red head was sat with Violet on her bunker, their pinky fingers touched and both were gazing at the little boy. The difference with the red head beside Violet, was her hair was short, cropped shorter at one side while her bangs were swept to one side. Her features were a little rough but her eyes were wide, blue and calming.
As Clementine entered, they all looked at her and Violet stiffened in her seat. "So, guys...this is Clementine," Violet introduced Clementine without even reaching her bed. Removing her cap, Clementine rest it on the bed side chest of drawers and glanced at the girls and boy that were now looking at her. The red head in the chair had spun around to face them, grasping the back of the chair as they all looked to her. The boy had stopped playing with his toys, looking to Clementine with big, wide brown eyes. "Clementine, meet Minerva, Sophie and Tennessee," Violet gestured to each person in the order she had said their names.
"People call me Minnie," the short haired red head said with only a glimmer of a smile tugging on the corner of her lips.
"And people call me, Tenn," the little boy interjected, returning his attention briefly to his toys before putting them down. His hands went to his knees, smiling up at Clementine as big, wide brown eyes only reminded her of her baby brother, the one she had left back home.
Feeling like she was put on the spot, Clementine kept quiet for only a moment and then gathered her thoughts when she came up with something she could say. "It's really nice to meet you," Clementine tried to be vocal and polite, even when she didn't know what words to say.
Sophie had a bright smile, the two red heads, were evidently twins. Both sharing soft features, pale skin, pale blue eyes and pouty lips. Only difference was their hair length, if they both were exactly the same in everything, they would have been unidentifiable. Tennessee on the other hand, had a darker complexion and a sweeter face, one that was still full of wonder, compared to all the girls in the room, who appeared to have known a darker side of life. Perhaps, Tenn had been sheltered because of his sisters all this time. "We're a family, we're in the dorm room two doors down from you guys," Sophie finally said something to Clementine since she got in through the door.
Gathering this information, she was shocked to hear that the little boy shared the room with the girls. That, had been until she heard that because they were family, they were given permission to have the same dorm room together. Like her and AJ, she sensed Tenn was also adopted into this family of theirs.
Silence filled the room once more. For a second, Clementine had feared she was the one making today awkward for everyone. "We'd best get to the cafeteria, before Louis and Marlon get there," Violet said, with a hopefulness about herself that she wanted to get there to get away from the other two as quickly as possible. Or at least, it was the impression it gave Clementine with how she said it. "You coming?" Violet asked of Clementine, gesturing with her head to join them as they all gathered their things and got to their feet.
"Yeah," Clementine rose from her seat, grabbing her cap and returning to rest it on her head, where it belonged.
Sophie slowed down, to catch up with Clementine while Tenn was wedged between the girls. "We'll be going to the admin building after dinner. You should come join us, Clementine," Sophie was being nice, possibly too nice for what she was used to. So far, everyone she met was either cold, nice or in between, like Violet was.
Pondering why they would want her there, she didn't give an answer straight away but Sophie appeared hopeful while she looked at Clementine. "I'll think about it," she wasn't giving them a flat out no, but she wasn't saying yes to them either. "I hate to break it to you but...I think Marlon and Louis are already there," Clementine broke the news to Violet who's shoulders rose from the tension in them.
"Great," Violet huffed her response to this, earth shattering news.
Dinner had been fine, Clementine was just sat in her seat, beside Tenn and Brody, while the others all talked. Joking, laughing and just talking about regular things in general. Clementine sat back, enjoying her food and trying not to draw attention to herself. For the most part, it worked. She had an odd question here or there, asking for her opinion on things and oddly, she was capable of making them laugh, especially Louis or Violet. Marlon was amused by some of the quips Clementine had under her belt and Brody appeared to like her. It was only Minnie who didn't try to make much conversation with her, while Sophie was quite open and kind. Tenn was reserved but he was slowly beginning to warm up to Clementine as he would say a few words to her.
So far, it felt like she was becoming more welcomed to the group. It wasn't her group and she had a long way to go. But she was starting to feel like she could one day, belong, if all her plans failed.
"So, are you coming?" Sophie nudged her, pulling Clementine out of her dulling thoughts as she numbly tried to blend in with the scene played out in front of her. Teenagers, all having fun and being themselves. It was the kind of atmosphere Clementine wasn't used to but found joy in seeing. It all seemed so...natural and she was finally starting to be a part of that. Back home, the only friend she had, was Gabe or Duck and even then, they weren't as close to her as these were with each other.
At first, she was hesitant. Still uncertain of what she wanted. More importantly, she was debating on getting things put away in her dorm, which she hadn't yet made a start on and another thing she deliberated, was if she was ready to actually start trying to make friends. If her plan, was to leave as soon as she could, she would do what she had to but making friends, only to plan to leave them eventually. It frightened her to make bonds she wouldn't be able to keep once she was back in Georgia. Could she really risk having friends here, only to leave them behind? "I'm still thinking about it," Clementine told Sophie but she just hummed a little tune.
"Thinking about what?" Louis interjected, imposing himself into their conversation. Marlon knew what was up with Louis, same with Violet and Minnie. Even Sophie was grasping at what Louis was doing, how he was acting around the new girl. He liked her. They all saw it, as he was always keeping a watchful eye on her, would talk to her like an almost regular guy, if he wasn't always making awful jokes to see if she would crack a smile to at least one of them.
Sophie was the one who answered in Clementine's behalf. "About joining us in the admin building," Sophie stated what the conversation was about. "She's deliberating on if she should join us or not later," Sophie rolled her eyes before shaking her head.
Doodling beside her, Tenn was drawing a picture, it looked like all of them, happy, talking while they ate at a bench outside. Glancing down at the guy beside her, she was a little genuinely surprised when he spoke. "You should come," Tenn had spoken up, saying something no one expected but were decently surprised to hear him say something encouraging to the new girl.
Louis's gaze fell on Tenn, pleased that the majority of them were all in agreement when it came to Clementine having in on their little fun after school. "What he said," Louis agreed, gesturing to Tenn. Tenn had looked up at Clementine, while her eyes fell on him and she reflected a similar, sweet smile. "Join us, join us, join us," Louis began to chant, which made Marlon and Sophie chant the same with him.
A laugh fell past rosy brims. "Fine. Fine," she tried to stop them from getting any louder with their chanting. "I'll be there, just...I need to take care of something first," Clementine hesitated, only for a moment as she had an eagerness to at least get something done of her clothes out of that suitcase that had been packed with all her belongings for over two whole days. The clothes she had on, were her favourites but the rest of her wearable clothes would get completely creased the longer it was left in a jam packed suitcase.
"We'll see you there," Marlon counted on her to show up now and she was going to do her best to not disappoint. "And if you get lost, listen for the music," he gave her a heads up as to what to look for. As they all got up and left the table, Clementine finished her bite, wiping down her fingers against her jeans. Returning to her dorm, she began unpacking a few things. Violet had stayed in the dorm room for a few moments, before she went to get there early and take her spot. Brody was doing a few finishing touches to an essay she had due for tomorrow. Before Brody left, she had guided Clementine briefly to where she had to go to get to the admin building and meet them there.
Once Clementine was more or less content with her unpacking, she went for the door and made her journey to the admin building, trying hard to remember the directions to where Brody told her to go, she was beginning to get lost, until she heard what sounded like a piano being played. Listen for the music. Clementine remembered what Marlon warned her about, as she got out of her lost phase and followed the sounds. As it got louder, the door was open, just a crack and as she slid in, she leaned against the frame of the door. Louis was sat on the bench, playing the piano, a tune that wasn't perfect but to her, it could have easily been almost perfect. Violet and Minnie were laughing as they shared a snack together on the ground. Marlon and Brody were playing a game of what looked like 'go fish' and Tenn was helping Sophie with her drawing.
"You came," Tenn looked up at Clementine happily, nodding with his appeased eyes to see her.
The brunette's lips curled to form a sweet smile. "I said I would, didn't I?" she reminded him of her subtle promise to them. Her fear of disappointment was almost overpowering but when she finally got there, she felt relieved to agree to be there. Louis continued to play, too focused on the same tune he kept playing over and over again. Knowing everyone was a little too busy, she had talked briefly to Sophie, who was also happy to see she decided to show up. Returning to her drawing with the help of Tenn, she left them to do what they had to. Violet and Minnie were having their own little version of alone time and so was Marlon with Brody. The only person she could see herself talking to, was Louis, if she didn't feel nervous or worried she would only be ignored because of his focus on playing the piano.
Her footfalls felt heavier the closer she got to him, her boots clunking with the ground and eventually, he did something slightly unexpected. He stopped playing and shuffled over to allow her space to sit with him. "You decided to show up. That's good," he pointed out, sounding fairly excited to see she had the courage to come join them. Especially when it could have been easier for her not to have gone with them.
Carefully, she sank down on the seat with him, their legs gently pressed to one another as Louis began to play a tune. It was the same one, it seemed familiar but not quite either. She listened carefully to what he was playing, it was oddly, soothing. "What are you playing?" she wanted to know the name of the song but he shrugged and gave her a smile.
"A piano," he was blunt and it made her brows furrow, an angered look crossed those warm brown eyes she had. That kind of sarcasm, didn't really sit well with her. Of which, he noticed. "Sorry. It's a rendition of Chopin," he apologised quickly before he began explaining, possibly trying to get the tune and notes just right. It might of needed practice but at least, he was trying.
"If that's what you say so, Louis," Violet mocked the boy for his attempts to better himself with the piece he was playing. "Sounds like garbage to me," she complained but Louis didn't let it get the better of him.
Stopping, he turned to look at Violet who clearly made her opinions known about Louis and his musical abilities. "Just because your taste in music is garbage, Vi. Doesn't mean that all music is garbage," he then wiggled his fingers in front of the piano. "I bet your fingers couldn't do this kind of magic," he stiffened in his chair and then looked back at Violet. "Don't comment on that," he argued before Violet could make any kind of remark. Violet smirked and looked back to Minnie, already having a crude thought in her mind to that.
A shake of her head was all Clementine needed to say about this exchange. He then cracked his fingers and continued to let his fingers tickle the ivory's, except, it was the same tune, over and over again. "Don't you know any others?" Clementine asked him, to which he stopped and then stared at her, a look of deliberation in his eyes as a light-bulb could have flickered on above his head.
"Well, there is one..." he let his fingers hover over the keys and his his eyes focus in on the girl sat beside him. "But you might not like it," he pointed out. Clementine just looked at him, pondering the lack of a list of songs he could play that could annoy her. With a shake of his head, it was decided, he would play the song for her. As soon as he began playing the tune, Clementine listened carefully. "Oh, my darling. Oh, my darling...Oh, my darling, Clementine," he began singing along to a tune, to which everyone in the room fell silent to listen. Marlon, Violet, the others, were all shocked by how bold he was to belt out the song like it was his favourite thing to do. Sophie, thought it was charming to see Louis actually liking a girl who seemed to fit right in with their little group already. Tenn was grinning from ear to ear, happy to see Louis was doing his own attempt to get the girl.
Putting all his soul and passion into the song as his fingers played the tune, Clementine was actually stunned and flattered to hear a song, she never knew had her name in it. "You are lost and gone forever...Dreadful sorry, Clementine..." the way he sang and rotated his gaze to fall on her, it was as though he actually was apologising for playing this song for her. "Light she was and like a fairy. And her shoes were number nine. Herring boxes, without topses. Sandals were for Clementine..." he ended on the final note, which left Clementine fighting hard not to smile but instead, she let out a laugh.
How was it so easy going with him? She couldn't figure him out. "I've, actually never heard that one," she admitted to the boy who had just serenaded her with a song that included her name. As charming as the gesture was, she still found it funny. Like always, he was proud to at least put a smile on her face. Just that, was worth making himself look like an idiot to her.
"Never?" he was left shocked, that she'd never heard that song before. A short 'Never' was said by Clementine with one shake of her head. "I would of thought at least someone would of tried to serenade you off your feet with that one," he continued with his flirtations and it left Clementine feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. This boy had moves, more so than what Gabe had and Clementine felt pleasantly surprised by what he said.
Footsteps were heavily approaching the admin building, forcing all the kids to look towards the sound. Once the door opened, Ms. Martin was the one to catch them still in there. "All right. Fun's over, you kids have had your time in here," she was ushering the children to leave the room. Tenn and Sophie were first, followed by Minnie and Violet. Marlon and Brody went ahead of them, before it was ended by Clementine and Louis. "Go enjoy some fresh air or have an early night. Just don't try and break any of the school property, okay?" she was fearing of them getting into trouble, which was likely but when they left, she began cleaning up their mess that they left behind.
"Clem, where are you going?" Marlon wondered as he saw the back of her head going back to where her dorm was. Turning to look to the group of teens, they were all taking a seat on a bench. At least, it was Louis, Marlon and Violet who took a seat. Brody had already chosen to leave early, making a point that she had homework she needed to start working on, so she could at least sleep a little easier tonight.
Perplexed by what they were doing or what they wanted her for, she went to the bench and stood by it. "I was going to go get some sleep," she was exhausted from the day she had. The over 9 hour train ride from Georgia to there, was a long and tiring journey for her. She was sure the second her head would hit the pillow, she would have her lights knocked out instantly.
Taking out a packet of cards, Louis began shuffling them methodically. "Stay," he insisted she spend more time with them. "Play a game with us."
How could Clementine deny that? He was being friendly and friends, was what she needed if she was going to be able to hold onto her sanity. "Fine, one game," she grumbled, hitching her legs over the bench seats and planted her butt on the bench. Louis had flipped a chair around, so he was leaning against the back of the seat and straddling the chair. And, so that way he could be beside Clementine. All while Violet sat beside Marlon and Marlon was sat opposite Clementine. "What are we playing?" she wanted to know what game it would be they'd be playing, hopeful she might know it.
Putting a playful, yet serious face, Louis's eyes drifted to look at everyone sat with him at the table. "War," he declared. "The oldest game around. A game played by man and beast alike. The only game there is," he was playing it out to be as dramatic as possible, even if it was the most basic game there was for the kids to know.
Upon hearing the choice of game, Clementine was confused but took it as it was, a game. One she was sure the others would teach her, if they were willing to show her. "I don't know the game. The only card game I've played had less people," Clementine was being honest. The only card games she'd played, was a dumb one between her and Gabe. And another was one she'd play very rarely with Lee and AJ back home. Right now, it was her, Marlon, Louis and Violet sat at the table. All the while Minnie stood beside Tenn and Sophie was massaging the top of Tenn's head.
"We're not playing. Sorry, Clem," Sophie apologised.
Minnie gently rest her hand on Tenn's shoulder. "Maybe next time we can play. Tenn needs sleep, it's getting late for him," Minnie was showing only her concern for her brother. It was something Clementine could relate to tremendously.
"See you tomorrow," Sophie waved, Tenn mimicked his sister politely. As they waved off, before heading into the dorm building. Once they were gone, Clementine looked around and saw Louis had already began cutting the stacks of cards in fours even splits.
A little surprised, Clementine still didn't know how it was played but she did trust that they would tell her how it went. "Don't worry, you'll pick it up as we go," Louis was being nice, assuring her that the game was easy to pick up on as they played along.
Shrugging, Violet gestured to the stack of cards in front of them. "It's easy. Everyone gets a stack of cards, everyone flips one over. Highest card wins," Violet had summarised generously what exactly the game consisted of. As far as it concerned Clementine, it didn't sound difficult at all.
Keeping her hands in front of her, her arms propped up on the picnic table, Clementine nodded to the objective of the game. Her eyes fell on the stack she had in front of her. "And the winner gets to ask Clem a question," Louis averted her attention from the stack by saying this. A look of questioning coloured her features, her eyes squinting at Louis, trying to see what his game was here. "What? I want to get to know you. We all do," he argued.
For Clementine, she felt like he had more of a reason to get to know her, as he was kind of doing all the things a guy would typically do if they liked you. Technically. She'd seen Gabe's attempts at it but to her, it just wasn't working, not entirely, to say the very least. He was too much of a stubborn dork for Clementine to fall in love with. Not that she pictured herself falling in love with Louis any time soon either. "And what if I win?" Clementine propositioned for him, seeing as she too had a chance of winning a couple of rounds too.
"Then you get to ask us one. It's only fair," he adjusted the rules to her argument. She did have one fourth of a chance to get the highest card. It was only fair.
Gesturing to the stack of cards, Marlon had suggested Louis make the first flip. When flipping the cards over, Clementine's eyes scanned the area and witnessed that she had been the loser this round. The winner, had been Violet. "Way to go me," she was visibly happy about winning this one as a smile actually appeared on her face. It was something that Clementine had yet to see. "So, I saw how you looked at Tenn earlier today. Do you have any siblings?" this had been Violet's question.
How Clementine's eyes had fallen on the younger boy, was a way Clementine could empathise with Minnie and Sophie. Seeing Tenn, with his sisters, it reminded her of just how much she missed her little goofball. Sat in silence, Clementine laughed and looked down sadly. Blinking away the urge to let tears fall so early in the game. "Yeah. I do," Clementine's shoulders rose and tensed a little before they relaxed. "His name is Alvin Junior. AJ for short," it was only right she answered them honestly. "My little goofball..."
The nickname she had, slipped out without her even realising. Seeing his little face behind her eyes, it made her smile and wish nothing more than to have him there with her. If he were there, it would of made her life a little more easier here. Or at least, its what she liked to think. The others caught onto her nickname and frowned when they saw how happy, yet sad she got when she mentioned him. Shaking her thoughts from her head, Clementine flipped the next card over and waited for the others to do the same. "Hey! I win," Clementine was actually excited to win this round.
"Hey, you do. So what do you want to know?" Louis asked, whistling while Clementine came up with a good question to ask them. Nothing great came to mind, other than stupid things that only she could come up with.
Scratching the back of her neck, she looked to the others and wondered if she could ask a question so stupid. But it was too late now. She had to ask it. "Okay, uh...what's the grossest thing you've ever eaten?" she asked, wondering just what exactly everyone would say. Her own answer was something she never thought she would tell them but she was going to have to.
"It's pretty easy. Uh, horse eyeballs," Violet answered with hardly any hesitation.
"Slugs," Marlon gave his answer.
"Cantaloupe," it was Louis's turn.
"C'mon!" Violet argued, hating how he came out with such a stupid answer.
"Dude, I fucking HATE cantaloupe," Louis stood by his answer.
"I ate baby food once..." Clementine began, to which everyone gave her an incredulous look of mild surprise. "It's not the same when you're a baby, you have hardly any taste buds or know what you're actually about to eat. A lot of times, I had to pretend to eat AJ's baby food but he was never convinced. Not until I actually took the bite and since then, he ate it like there was no tomorrow," Clementine tried to give them the full picture so they didn't look at her like she had two heads.
"Definitely gross," Louis agreed, nodding and trying his best not to picture.
"Yeah," Violet second it.
Flipping the next set of cards over from our stacks, they all saw Louis lean happily against his chair when he saw he was the winner. "Booyah!" he made it known just how excited he was to win this time. Except, all of a sudden, that confidence and happiness was converted to shyness and fear the second he met Clementine's gaze.
Louis had removed his arms from leaning against the chair and gazed at the space between his lap and the chair. "C'mon, spit it out," Violet tried to hurry him.
All he needed, was a moment. "So, uh...ever, uh...ever have a boyfriend?" he questioned her relationship status, or at the very least, if she'd had that experience before. Her eyebrows rose from the surprise to hear Louis outwardly ask a question she was not expecting tonight.
Placing a hand on her forehead, Violet wiped it and shook her head. "Oh, my god," Violet was completely at a loss with how Louis had been so obvious in asking her this kind of question. Clementine only got there and he was already hitting on her. Violet's hand fell to the table as she couldn't bare to look at Louis.
"What? It happens. Perfectly valid question," Louis was standing by his question. From what Clementine could tell, Louis and Violet were usually always at odds with one another. Even if it was friendly, it was still a feud between them. "You can ask me if I've ever had a girlfriend," Louis kept talking, encouraging Clementine to not fear asking him those kinds of personal questions back. "I haven't, by the way."
All this stalling, was making the others all anxious to hear what Clementine had to say. "Oh, I'm sure she's real surprised about that one," Violet mocked her friend and was still left completely flabbergasted by how forward Louis had been just then.
"That stuff is for suckers," Clementine argued, knowing how love could make people blind or do stupid things for it. Her only important people that she loved, were her family and that was final. "Just causes trouble," Clementine made a point, feeling like all the relationships she had seen were either easily broken, manipulated or far too flawed for her to consider love an option for herself.
"Amen," Marlon preached with her.
Louis on the other hand, wasn't fully convinced by Clementine's coldness towards love. "Yeah, but the best kind of trouble, right?" he tried to argue, leaning back against the back of the seat.
Ignoring him, Clementine rolled her eyes and they all flipped the next card on their stacks. When they all saw who the winner was, it was their time to ask the questions. "Ha, I win," Marlon was pleased to have won this round, possibly because he had been holding his question back to allow the others to win their rounds. "So, Clem...you can't have been alone this entire time. Who used to take care of you? Before you got to Ericson's, I mean?" he littered her with questions. "Parents? Family? Friends of family?"
It had been like yesterday, she could remember the first time she laid eyes on Lee's face and somehow, she felt relaxed with him. From the moment she met him, she knew she could trust him. Taking a deep breath, she slowly let it go and met Marlon's quizzical gaze. "My adoptive dad...Lee," Clementine began, but she couldn't say much more. "He's the one who sent me here," she revealed part of the truth, knowing herself, there was far too much to this story. Flipping the next card from their stacks, Clementine was relieved to be the one to put the others in the hot seat. "I win again," she declared proudly of her victory.
"You do indeed. Ask away," Louis only further encouraged her to ask her question.
The question she had, wasn't that great but it was at least one she could answer. "You guys meet anyone famous before?" Clementine had made her question known. Knowing her own answer wasn't going to be the greatest one out there.
"No," Violet quickly responded.
"Too bad. You'd figure a movie star, or something would come along and talk to us about their rough childhoods before the life of the wealthy," Louis was making suggestions, seeing as some celebrities travelled to schools and would have an assembly with the children but by the sounds of it, no one ever came there.
Violet was listening but even she wasn't convinced that any celebrities would make their way to a school like theirs. "They have like a million dollars. Why the hell would they want to come to a school of troubled youths, only to give them some boring assembly about their amazing lives? When they can be sat in their gold plated tubs with butlers and water beds up the ass?" Violet made her angry point to him.
"True," Louis couldn't argue with Violet there.
Clementine gathered the courage she had to give her answer to this. "I met a guy who used to be a baseball player. Like, for money. Javier Garcia. I'm friends with his nephew, Gabe," Clementine asked. Louis was excited, saying how he loved baseball and asked if she ever got to see him play. "He was good with a bat, saw him in the batting cages once with Gabe. He tried to teach us how to hit a home run," Clementine smiled at the memory. "He's pretty cool."
"Baseball sucks," Violet made a snarky comment on the topic that was making Louis seem more enthusiastic with the new girl. Louis and Violet argued over what sucked more, her or baseball but the argument ended quickly. Quickly moving on, we flipped our cards and Violet seemed excited to win once again. "Victory, Violet," she spoke as though this win was more important to her, now that she'd been waiting to ask it. "Here's a question I like to ask when I'm in groups. Out of the three of us, who would you marry, kiss and kill?" Violet asked, leaving Clementine frozen on the spot.
She had been silent for too long and the others were noticing it. "I think we broke her," Louis whispered to the others. "Clem, you gotta answer. Those are the rules," he said, everyone edged closer, waiting to see what Clementine would say.
Settling in her seat, her hands on her lap, she tried to come up with the right route to go. "I would marry..." she deliberated briefly as her thoughts came to a conclusion by themselves. "Louis."
Nervously, he sat up in his seat and adjusted his jacket, both proud and a little stunned by Clementine's answer. "Wh-Marry? I uh, wow, uh..." he was trying hard to focus on what she just said and not freaking out about it. He was failing, miserably but it was still cute for her to see. "Thanks," he shied his eyes away, with a nod of his head and his gaze lowering as a smile lingered on thinned lips.
Continuing the game, Clementine was struggling to keep herself from wishing to dig a hole and bury herself deep inside it. "I would kiss..." glancing at the two last contenders, she knew that if she picked Marlon, Brody wouldn't be pleased and if she picked Violet, Minnie wouldn't be pleased. "Violet."
"Shit..." Louis whispered, glancing at Violet who awkwardly looked away and then back to Clementine. "That leaves you killing..."
Marlon placed a hand over his heart. "Ouch, why Clementine? Why?" Marlon teased, as though he was dealing with the pain in his chest. Like she'd just shot him down, straight through the heart.
Shrugging, Clementine knew her reasons and would stand by them. "I can tell you and Brody have a thing going on. I like Brody, I wouldn't want to piss off my new room mate on the first day," Clementine reasoned and they all respected that.
Flipping their cards, Clementine glanced around again and when it landed on Louis's card, she was already expecting something stupid, like maybe if she's ever slept with someone. Or maybe if she had ever been with a girl instead of a guy. Anything. "I am the greatest card player of all time," he sighed out his pride when he saw the results to the round.
"Just ask your damn question," Violet was becoming impatient the more Louis would open his mouth and hold off his question to Clementine.
Not looking her in the eyes, he was struggling to keep himself in check and under control as his emotions got the best of him. "What did you-" he stopped himself. "Actually, never mind," he ignored his own question, hoping that Clementine and the others would forget he ever said anything to her.
"What?" Clementine too was growing impatient. "Ask it," she pushed him to say what he was about to probe her information for.
He overthought his question and knew it was a hard one to get out of him cranium. "It's not a fun question," he warned her, shaking his head as his eyes rose to meet Clementine's waiting ones.
"Ask," she would keep pushing, but he was struggling to deny her anything.
Rotating his head to keep his eyes averted from her stare, he could already feel his heart hammering at the question he was dreading to ask her. One he knew was going to earn him a look he didn't want to see on her face. It was going to cause a rift between them and he couldn't back track now. "What did you do to get sent here?" he asked the burning question on everyone's minds.
Shot upright in her seat, it was like she'd been harshly slapped across the face with a question like this. She knew why she was there but the others, for asking her so intrusively, it frightened her and angered her at the same time. Perhaps, Louis meant nothing by it but it did hurt her more than she thought it would. Silent for a few moments, Marlon had scolded him for asking her that but Louis did point out that she was forcing him to ask it. "I was framed. Not once. Not twice. But three times," Clementine was desolate whilst she spoke her truth. When her eyes met the others, she shrugged her shoulders and her eyebrows rose in a way that showed her innocence in it all. "I'm not perfect, I'll admit that. I got into a few fights here and there. But what I was accused of, for being a 'troubled' youth, that wasn't me. It's not who I am or what I stand for in myself. It's not the example I ever would want to be," Clementine tried to give them the insight they craved, as they hung onto every word she said by a thread.
Shifting out of her seat, she stood up and took a step away from the others. "I think I'm done playing for tonight. It's getting late. I better get some sleep, it's been a long journey for me to get here," Clementine was trying everything she could to get out of this situation, wanting no longer to be part of their game. Louis had hit the hardest subject out of all the topics he could of picked and to face her truth, she knew no one that believed her. No one, except AJ. He believed in her and it was a story she wasn't ready to talk about.
"Yeah, that's probably for the best," Marlon agreed. The three that remained began bickering lightly. Louis might not have meant anything by it but it still was fresh wounds to open so early in her time there. When she was leaving for her dorm, Marlon chased after her and kept up with her walk towards the door. "Hey. Long day, huh?" Marlon had tried to make light conversation, which Clementine had of course, agreed to. "I hope you know Louis didn't mean any harm there. He's just the world's biggest bumbass," the blonde haired guide had apologised for his friend's question and how it had made her feel. "He's my best friend, so I can legally call him that," he teased, making Clem crack a small little smile.
Opening the door for her, she looked at him, shocked by how chivalrous he was being. "You should relax, get some sleep and try to forget about what happened with Louis tonight. In the morning, come find me, I can show you around the school and to your next classes if you want me to," he was being overly nice to her, while she went inside and slowly spun on the spot to face him.
"Thank you, Marlon," Clementine was always polite, with a soft exchange of goodbyes, she went back to her dorm. Brody was already fast asleep, which was a god send to Clementine. She wanted the silence, the peace of mind as she slipped into something to wear to bed. Pulling out her suitcase that was hidden under her bed, she unzipped it and pulled out the pictures she'd glanced at earlier. Her parents, with her, when she was eight years old. Her, with Lee and AJ. All the pain she'd been through, didn't hurt as much as it did now. She was alone, surrounded by strangers and left to deal with her life alone.
Her heart felt heavy, gazing at the pictures, she wanted nothing more to be taken back to every moment she missed. From her parents, to her birthdays with them before they were gone. To the day she met Lee, to the birthdays she spent with him, the memories they'd made. The day she met AJ, to the days she was looking after him, her sleepless nights feeding him, changing him, to what he was like now. She could only hope, one day, she'd get to go back home and everything would be all right. Like nothing changed, like they could pick it back up from where they left it. Placing the pictures to face her bed, she needed something to give her a boost when she woke up. Having those photographs, she knew it would give her that push to do what she had to, in order to get back to her loved ones.
Laying in bed, she was having trouble sleeping and shortly after she laid down, the door opened. It was Violet. Turning her back to Violet, giving her the privacy she deserved, Clementine could hear the rustle of clothes being removed and replaced by what was most comfortable for sleep. Getting into her bed, Clementine then laid down when she felt like maybe Violet was now comfortable and about to drift off into a deep sleep. Blinking, Clementine was keeping her hand underneath her head, under her pillow, the other resting over her stomach.
"Clem?" Clementine heard Violet's soft voice call to her.
"Hmm?" she hummed a response.
Violet could tell the new girl wasn't asleep, that she was struggling to catch the tiredness she felt earlier. The way she moved, giving her some privacy and turning, how her breathing wasn't loud at all, Violet knew that what happened outside, during their game, it had upset Clementine more than any of them wanted it to. "Louis can be an idiot sometimes but...he's harmless. I'm sorry if he upset you. He didn't want that. None of us did," Violet's voice would crack with sincerity as she said the right things to sooth Clementine.
Letting out a long sigh, she hadn't realised she'd been holding it for so long. "I know," she proven she understood their intentions but that perhaps, today wasn't the right time to find out about her and her past. Not yet. It was too fresh. "Goodnight, Violet," Clementine wanted to end on a fairly happy note.
"Goodnight, Clementine," Violet responded and before either of them knew it, they began to drift to sleep. Clementine took longer than Violet did but, eventually, sleep did take over and she succumbed to the drifting sensation that came with it.
~End Of Chapter~
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It took a good long while debating on if I should write this or not. When it comes to other characters that were in season 4 or past seasons, they will appear eventually. Give it time. As you are reading this, chapter 2 is being written. Let me know what you thought. I tend to ask for a count of reviews, hopefully 5 will do but if not, I'm still going to continue. As always, all criticism is good criticism to me.
Much love!
HeroJustInTime90