Sunrise crept over the trees that lined the path Lexa took through the park as she ran her usual ten miles. Seeing that beautiful sunrise, she felt rejuvenated and pushed herself a little harder, a little faster as she made the last turn that would lead her home. It was going to be a beautiful day she thought to herself as the sky began its color changing spectrum. Fluffy white clouds dotting the sky. The air already warm but lacking the humidity of the last few days. The birds already voicing their wakeup calls to one another as she sprinted the last hundred meters to her front door.
Reaching the object of her destination, she skidded to a halt and immediately started walking with her hands on her head as she fought to bring her breathing under control and away from the heaving pants as she tried to bring much needed oxygen into her lungs. Lexa felt the heat of her body emit wave after wave as sweat poured down it. She knew her normally tan complexion was tinted red, her muscles quivering from exertion, but she wouldn't change any of it for the world. This is what she lived for. Breathed for. This was the result of pushing herself past her physical limits. She couldn't help the smile of joy that erupted over her face as she turned her head to face the rising sun. Breathing in the sweet smell of late blooming flowers and grass. In this moment, she felt connected to the earth. As if she was born from it.
The front door opening grounded her mind and she opened her eyes to see her older sister, Anya, leaning against the doorframe with her signature smirk plastered on her face.
"Good run, little wolf," Anya asked.
Lexa smiled at the nickname. Their father, Gustus Woods, had once compared her running style to that of a loping wolf and ever since, Anya had called her that.
"It was perfect," she replied, looking at her smart watch. "Beat my best time by twenty seconds."
Anya huffed and motioned her to come inside, "Is that all? Maybe you shouldn't have eaten all that ice cream last night."
"Hey," she snarked. "Twenty seconds is good. Great, even. One of these days I'll even beat that kid in Texas."
Looking over her shoulder as they walked through the front hallway towards the kitchen, Anya asked, "What kid?"
"Some high school boy in Houston," she explained. "10.22 seconds in the 100-meter dash. But I'm still two minutes behind some girl in the cross country 5K. She's just over 16 minutes."
"Well, at least you have goals and not just running to punish yourself."
"No, that's what school's for," she joked as she grabbed a coconut water out of the pantry.
"Speaking of school, we have to leave in a half hour or we'll be late," Anya reminded her.
"Shit," she exclaimed and took off towards the stairs, drinking as she walked.
"Make sure you wash every crevice," Anya hollered at her, snickering.
"Shut up, Anya," was the returned yell.
It was one of the quickest showers Lexa had taken since she started high school. A sophomore now, she thought she would have learned how to manage her time better by now. By the time she had made her way back down the stairs, their mother, Becca, had a breakfast shake ready for her. Lexa declared it delicious after she took a sip making Anya grimace in distaste. Becca laughed at the look and Lexa stuck out her tongue in a moment of childishness. The girls kissed their mother goodbye and were headed out the door. Piling into Anya's used black 2013 Infiniti G, they headed to school.
Their music of choice this morning was Pandora's shuffle of various radio stations. From one song to the next it went from classic hair metal to piano instrumental to an odd choice of The Chipmunks Christmas carols. The girls shared a look of horror and Lexa frantically hit next until they sighed in relief. Vowing silently to never repeat the near disaster.
Ten minutes later, they pulled into Polis High. Home for roughly five thousand hormonal teenagers during the hours of 7:30am until 2:30pm. Thankfully as a junior, Anya had gotten a decent parking space that put them just two rows back in front of a set of doors. They joined the crush of students making their way inside and with a parting wave went to their respective hallways.
The hallways were lined with lockers interspersed with doors that led to classrooms. This was the part of the day that Lexa hated the most. As a sophomore, her locker was on the second level in the mathematics department. Her first class was on the first level on the opposite side of the school. With just ten minutes before the bell would ring to announce the start of first period, she had just reached her locker. Rushing through her combination twice, she succeeded in opening it. She exchanged the books out of her bag that would carry through until the next time she could reach her locker, she slammed the door and took off at a near sprint nearly colliding with a teacher except for some fancy footwork and an apologetic smile. The teacher could only huff and shake his head as he watched the brunette disappear in the sea of students.
Lexa made it to her AP French II class with seconds to spare, making her way to her seat as the bell rung. Sighing in relief at having made it, she didn't notice the glance that a blue-eyed blonde threw her way. Grabbing her notebook and text out of her bag, she found herself searching in vain for a pen. Cursing her luck, she dug through her bag and was coming up empty. A polite cough and a tap on her arm had her snapping her head up to find herself staring face to face with the blue-eyed blonde better known as Clarke Griffin.
Confused, she arched a brow in question and Clarke giving her the signature Griffin grin waved the offered pen in her view. Lexa felt the uncharacteristic heat of a blush spread through her cheeks as she took the pen, their fingers brushing slightly and sending an electric current up her arm. Her mouth opened in a silent gasp, but she quickly snapped it shut when she met widened sky-blue eyes. The girl had felt something too. For a minute, their fingers lingered on the same pen as they stared at one another then reality came crashing down as the teacher began spouting off in French. With a jerk, the pen was now in Lexa's hand and both girls turned their attention to the front of the classroom.
During the entire forty-five minutes of class, Lexa couldn't help but steal glances at the girl. She knew who she was. A sophomore like herself, they shared several AP classes. It's just that up until now, they had never interacted with one another. Clarke Griffin was one of those girls that wherever they were, they drew the eyes of any passerby. An already ample chest that was currently being held captive by a tight navy blue t-shirt. Her blonde hair was the shade of early morning sunlight, wavy and reached just past her shoulders. The sides in braids that were pulled back leaving the rest to hang down her back. Her skin, smooth and blemish free, was barely sun kissed. From what Lexa could see of her lower half, it was currently encased in a pair of skintight faded blue jeans ending in a pair of beat up boots.
The girl obviously knew that her clothing only accentuated her figure and she seemed confident in her appearance. Lexa was floored by this blonde goddess and wondered how she had never noticed her before today. It wasn't until Clarke spoke that the world dropped and spun on its head. The raspy voice sent shivers down Lexa's spine and she questioned why her mind wanted to know what it would sound like first waking up or when the girl flirted.
Lexa shook herself mentally. She shouldn't be having these thoughts about a girl she didn't know. No matter how beautiful she was. She had learned last year that just because a girl was beautiful on the outside, didn't mean that the inside matched. Most beautiful girls she'd encountered were nothing more than vacuous, thoughtless, haughty, and mean. Just because she'd offered Lexa a pen doesn't mean that she was a nice person. Better to steer clear of the blonde bombshell and avoid any potential issues.
The tone of the teacher's voice changed, signaling the ending of the class, and Lexa braced herself to turn her attention to Clarke.
When the bell rang, everyone gathered their bags and began to make their way out of the classroom. After putting her books back in her bag, she turned to face Clarke and held out the pen, "Thank you for letting me borrow this."
Clarke smiled at her and said, "Keep it. I've got more than enough in my bag. You're going to need it for your other classes, don't you think?"
Surprised, her eyes widened, "Oh, I couldn't. It's your pen. I'll find another one. I'm sure that there's one in my bag. I just couldn't find it."
"Don't worry about it," Clarke insisted, standing up, "If it's gonna bug you, just give it back to me tomorrow. That way you won't have to go digging through your bag to find a pen that may or may not be there."
Lexa swallowed thickly, "Um, okay. Thank you."
Giving her a wide grin, "No problem. I'll see you in Lit, yeah?"
Blinking owlishly at her, it took her a moment to remember that they had Lit together. Then she was stumbling over her words, "Um, yeah. Right. I'll see you in Kane's class."
With a wave, Clarke made her way out of the classroom only pausing to look back at her before she was out the door. Lexa scrambled out of her seat and dashed out of the class remembering that she had AP Bio next and less than five minutes to get there.