Sorry it's a couple days late! I went to Venice with my class this weekend and it left me with not a lot of time! So there's a lot of notes at the bottom of tonight's chapter, so BE SURE to check those out :)
Thanks to everyone who reviewed (I love you all!): SkepticalBeliever, Green Eyes, heidi1245401, Vicky Tzalachani, Academy Addict, SquidaQdaloo, MissMaximumWho, flaminginfinity, and kymmi55.
Green Eyes: Thanks so much!
Vicky Tzalachani: Well, I suppose you'll just have to keep reading to see what Shumway's all about! And the last question wasn't creepy at all! Check the bottom AN for info about my Instagram :)
Seven Years After Start of Project
"Streamers? Where did you dig up these things, girl?" Raven asked, pulling out the colorful paper rolls from a box Clarke had just thumped on the table.
"Family heirloom," She said, although she was only half-joking, "But no, seriously, rip these and my mother will never let me borrow anything again." She said in a more tense tone.
Murphy had a strand in his hand, perfect position to just rip it down the center, until Raven sent him a nasty glare. He seemed to still consider it, but rolled his eyes and threw it back into the box.
"99 cents." Jasper wiped off the grime off the packaging and chuckled, "That was like nothing back in the old world, huh?"
"Yeah." Monroe nodded, "Seriously, that would be like getting these things almost for free!" She said, unraveling a pink one with a sigh.
"And now they're passed down from generation to generation like an expensive watch." Monty finished, "Weird."
"Who do you think brought these on originally? The world is ending, but hey, let's bring some streamers, right?" Harper joked, and a couple people chuckled.
"Maybe it was someone's birthday soon?" Clarke shrugged, "Hell if I know."
"What do you use these for anyway, other than like once a year for a birthday or something?" Raven asked, standing on a chair to carefully loop the streamers around the poles, without breaking them, of course.
"I don't even know. Last time I remember seeing these was like at my eight birthday party." Clarke chuckled, "But I get the sentimentality. They really do make a room." She stepped back to admire the handiwork of her friends.
It was the last day of the year cycle, meaning that in two weeks the second round of their friends would be choosing jobs as adults, and also that today Bellamy's position in the guard would be secured. It wasn't even a question he'd be in the top 20, no matter how much he worried. Clarke knew he'd be fine. Once you were in that group, you would really have to break a big law to be let go from the guard. He'd been holding his breath the entire year, as if expecting that when he let it go, it would all fade away. He was one of the best cadets they had, Chief Miller talked about his achievements often. His worry was stupid.
It was cause for celebration for the rest of their friends that had chosen jobs this year as well, since now that the first year of their training was done, they would likely get to do fun things instead of grunt work. To be relieved that the ten people who had left the school group and rarely had time to come to the after group anymore could breath a little easier was always cause for a celebration. And Clarke was going to give them just that.
"Where do you want this food?" Roma asked. Everyone had pulled a little something together and let Roma go and barter for it. She was well liked in the kitchen, and it was cheaper to get raw items than fully made items, and she had the ability to transform them.
"That looks delicious, Roma." Jasper said, gravitating toward it. She slapped his hand as he went for a mini-sandwich.
"Paws off, Jordan." She said, holding the plate above her head, "Wait for the party, okay?"
"Set it here." Clarke instructed. She'd taken hold of his project from the get-go, since she'd been the one to bring the idea up. There were obviously older people that could have been in charge, and maybe it was because she was an alpha and had connections or maybe it's because everyone recognized she wouldn't let it be shitty anyway, but they let her take the reigns of it with little complaint.
And, if she did say so herself, it looked amazing in here.
"Wow! I didn't even recognize this room!" Sterling said as he came in, and she let a happy smile curl on her lips. Exactly the response she was looking for.
She couldn't wait until everyone was here having a good time tonight.
Across the Ark, Bellamy stood stiffly in line at the graduation ceremony. There were still 25 cadets and only 20 spots; so 5 cadets would be let go today during the ceremony, which was possibly the worst way to go. They had no idea what their rankings were, and Shumway would read them off. Knowing your ranking that got you into the Guard was a source of great pride, everyone recalled theirs. It helped the older members of the guard chose who they wanted for squads or special positions. It was a point of bragging for parents with children within the guard.
He saw the men close the doors, and tried to discreetly look out of the corner of his eye to the crowd. They weren't supposed to break the line, but he needed to see his mother there. She sat, looking happier than she'd see him in quite a long time, and he was relieved she'd chosen to come. There was an empty seat next to here that had not yet been filled, and that was a punch in the gut. It was as though it was Octavia's seat, or meant to be, but it could never really be filled. Guilt filled Bellamy in an instant.
He caught Ana's eye as he moved his eyes back forward. She gave him a slight quirk up of a smile, and he was glad she was there. He wished Clarke was here, in a weird sense, but maybe it's because he wanted those he was closest to and she for sure qualified. Other than his mom and Octavia, his closet friends were Clarke, Miller, Ana, and Benny. Ana was obviously on the stage, Miller was here like he was every year because his father was the chief, and Benny had his own graduation ceremony he was currently attending. He hadn't told Clarke, so there was no reason for her to be here, and he was sort of regretting it now, as he stood on the stage, the hot lights flushing his face. Seeing her reassuring grin would have made him feel a thousand times better.
Why didn't he invite her, he mused as a guardsmen stood to deliver some opening remarks about this year's cadet class, pretty standard stuff and all. Why hadn't he?
He realized he didn't really have an answer. Why should he also came to mind, as a rebuttal, and as he stood ahead, focusing on a dot in the metal wall, he found he had a thousand reasons to. None of which had apparently entered his mind hours before, that is.
"And now…the rankings." He snapped back into focus.
They started at number 20, which was a painful way to do it, in his opion. While it held anticipation for those watching, it only aggravated him on stage. As the numbers ticked away, he had to reconcile the fact he was either higher up, or not in it at all. He could imagine the feeling now if number one was reached and his name wasn't called at all…it was a feeling he frankly didn't want to face.
Keith, the kid that had helped him after his spar, was awarded 14th spot. It was respectable, since every spot was valuable and a number 20th placed guard was still a guard.
Ana received number 5; something that Bellamy could see irked her. Her jaw clenched as she accepted a little plaque with her name and title. By all means, if they really were judging them, being in the top 5 was a stupendous number. She really could be set for any job she wanted within the guard, or at least better shifts than Marc Scarlett, Number 20.
And his name still wasn't called. He had thought he'd made it in, but now, as number three was called and it still wasn't him, all those nasty doubts that kept him up at night haunted his mind. Worst, he imagined Octavia's tone when he'd lose about how he should have chosen a teacher and he'd never be choosing between being a janitor or factor worker.
"And our best cadet, who has jumped leaps and bounds each week, and dare I say possibly one of the best we've had in years…Bellamy Blake!"
His legs felt like jelly as he went to accept his plaque. Someone whistled loudly in the background; he was pretty sure it was Miller. He not only accepted his plaque, but Shumway pulled him into a photo with him, something that right away rose him to that category of 'special'. Getting a photo with the commander meant you had friends in high places, so to speak.
And he was honestly surprised. He was sure he wasn't going to be called at all, and somehow he'd pulled the number one spot. It wasn't like he didn't work hard for it, but he just never assumed he was good, and maybe that's what got him here to begin with.
"So you're Shumway's favorite now, huh?" Ana asked, looking angrily at his plaque, "I guess if someone besides me has to get it, it should be you." She admitted after a tense second.
"Thanks, Ana. I thought you should have at least been 3," He said, and shrugged, "And I mean, what will it hurt to have his favor?"
"He's creepy! I wouldn't like it." Ana shook her head, "He watches people…he seems to collect them more than forge connections, you know? Latches on to people that will be useful to him. If he wasn't the Commander, he'd just be weird."
Bellamy actually had no idea what she was talking about, and maybe thought she was a tiny bit bitter.
He stopped at home with his mom to drop off his plaque and get out of his uniform into something more comfortable, and for a moment, he got caught up in his excitement of getting the first spot, as he rambled to his mother excitedly.
"-And Clarke's setting up this whole party, they'll be food and cool stuff and I just-,"
"Sounds like a blast." Octavia said dryly from where he sat, bouncing a ball against the ceiling, "Another party I'll never get to attend."
"Octavia," Their mother said sharply, "Let your brother have this moment and be happy."
"He would have been happy as a teacher, you know. But he chose the guard for me. Because that's all he does are things for me. Except, you know, take me out to see the Ark. If he really loved me-,"
"Octavia!" Their mother's voice held a warning, "There is no reason to act like a child."
Her words ruffled Bellamy the wrong way. He stood behind his mom as she lectured his sister, guilt oozing from his heart. He wished he could take her out. For a second, his need to make Octavia happy overrode his common sense, and he nearly said 'screw it' and dragged her outside before their mom could do a damn thing.
"Bellamy." His mother said, patting his shoulder, "Why don't you just go to your party? Don't let Octavia get you down, she's just a little grumpy." She tried to hold her voice steady.
"A little grumpy, sure…" She muttered. He almost protested, but his mom had shoved him outside and locked the door before he could make an excuse not to go. He patted his shirt and realized his spare key was inside.
He was in pretty low moods when he arrived at the party, and almost just turned around to sulk in some corner, until Clarke appeared at his side, grinning. Her smile was infectious.
Moments before, Clarke had been having a half-hearted conversation with Sterling and Fox, but her eyes were always scanning the doorways, waiting for Bellamy to appear. What was taking him so long? She hoped he didn't stay in, because while this party was for 'everyone', if she was being honest, it was mostly for him. She saw him appear, and start to turn around, and she almost threw herself through the crowd to stop him.
"Bell! Miller told me you're first in your class! I'm so proud of you!" She nearly went in to hug him, but hung back at the last second, very aware of a couple people looking at them.
"I'm a little surprised, to be honest." He said, "I thought I wasn't going to get a bid for sure." He chuckled.
"And I've been telling him he's crazy." Ana seemed to appear from nowhere, "Like seriously, Bellamy? I didn't think he'd get first, but he's good."
Clarke's grin faltered a bit, but she quickly regained it. In truth she was a little jealous that there was someone else that seemed to know him so well, which was ridiculous, because she should be glad he had made friends in his job. She was being crazy, and this made her force her smile back. And why should she care that she didn't have a monopoly on knowing him?
"I know, I know…you both told me." That small acknowledgement made her feel better, "So…there's food here?"
Clarke's smile was genuine as she led him to the food table.
"Sorry, all the finger sandwiches are gone. Blame Jasper." She said, pointing to where Jasper had most of them in his shirt, stuffing them into his mouth every couple seconds.
"It's okay." Bellamy said, and she often forgot that even the smallest of things was impressive to him, "These are good enough." He assured, grabbing a cookie.
Clarke felt a tug on her shirt, and turned to see Jovana behind her. She looked happier than she'd been in a long time, since, well…
"Jo!" Clarke said happily, and went in to hug her, "I'm glad you came, really."
"You know, thought it was time to stop feeling sorry, you know? Marv would hate it if I didn't just live. And this is a safe place, with safe people." She gave a trembling smile.
Clarke stayed by Jo for a little bit, and by the time she got a chance to turn around, Bellamy was gone. She found him in a group of people his age, chatting it up, and she let it go. He looked at lot more peaceful than when he'd come in.
About two hours later, after going around and at least talking with everyone for a little bit, she thought maybe she should seek out Bellamy again, and talk to him. They'd been so busy at his job, and whenever he came over despite his best efforts he fell asleep, that she only got little snippets of his life. He'd have today and this weekend off, and she wanted to hear all about his first year of being a guard.
She couldn't find him, not at first, until she saw someone near an alcove with few people, and went to investigate. She only saw Bellamy and Stasia Huron kissing before she spun on her heels sharply and turned away. She felt as though she'd been intruding on something very private, and didn't want to stay a moment longer.
She had a weird feeling in her gut. It wasn't a broken heart, because she didn't love him like that, but it was still something she wasn't sure if she could identify. Disappointment, maybe? Betrayal? Something entirely different? She wasn't sure, but all she knew is that the image left a bad taste in her mouth, and she just wanted it gone.
But, Bellamy was a big boy, and even though he was far over the age that kids started kissing, she wasn't even sure he'd done any of that yet, and she didn't want to take away his freedom to do such. It was natural, really. Expected. He was five years older, she reminded herself, and in this moment…since she wasn't keen on kissing anyone, the age difference was obvious.
She let it go, mostly. She enjoyed herself, but her mind kept flashing to Stasia, especially when she saw her dancing with Monty near the music. Was this a thing that had been going on awhile? If it was, why didn't Bell tell her? Why did she even feel like she was supposed to know this?
"Something's biting you!" Wells yelled over the music, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She hissed, because, really, she had thought she was doing a good job at hiding it. It wasn't 'bothering' her…okay, it was. Just not in a jealous way, but in a questioning sort of way.
She decided to avoid Bellamy and not bring it up until she'd figured out her feelings.
In the moments leading up to that spied-upon kiss, Bellamy was exchanging funny stories and complaints with other kids his age.
"If I had been told the first year of being a large animal vet was being a glorified farmer, I don't know if I would have signed up for it," Marisha sighed, rolling her wine around in her cup. Someone (name anonymous just in case) had been distilling wine in their house, just waiting for a party to use it on. Bellamy was extremely grateful that they thought this was good enough.
"What did you have to do? Put down a kitten?" Brad rolled his eyes. Bellamy knew that he was a sort of inconsiderate person (Clarke had told him; he was a doctor-he was good at his job though), but everyone kinda knew that too, so Marisha just rolled her eyes.
"No. I was just like cleaning out stalls." She scrunched her nose.
"So, you take care of the animals that we use for milk, and eggs, and most importantly meat, right?" Benny asked.
"Well, my job is to keep them healthy so they can fulfill their fullest purpose, and butchers are the ones that kill. But yes, take care of, being the key word." She said.
"So do you get free meat? Because if they'd told me that, maybe I would have applied for that vet job. Free bacon, mhh!" He nudged Bellamy, "Am I right?"
"Not all the time. I've only gotten a hand out once." Marisha shrugged. Benny gave a pfft.
"Lame."
"So how's your job, Hendrick?" Sarah asked, tilting her glass toward him, "Because I just seem to get coffee for the analysts. And I mean, we're both in science type things that are more desk jobs than Mr. Rewire the Entire Ark here," She tilted her head toward Benny.
"I thought I was the only one!" Hendrick laughed, covering his heart, "I am at the beck and call of the guys working. I mean, I don't go in a ton, and some of them do actually teach me stuff, but you know how it is." He shuffled his feet, "Being a meteorologist isn't a job that needs a lot of people, just takes up a lot of your time. Guess I should be grateful. When they decide I'm competent enough to watch the monitors instead of sending flirty messages to people's wives or girlfriends at different stations, I'll be on five 12 hour rotations a week, with only one other guy at most. I mean, sometimes there's something exciting, but usually it's not much."
"Staring at a screen for 12 hours a day?" Benny stuck out his tongue, "Sounds awful!" Tom nodded in fierce agreement.
"One day I might save the Ark." Hendrick defended his job, "From a giant meteor or something!"
"So no one's regretting their jobs, right?" Sarah asked, "Because what if you do then?"
"Do you hate your job?"
"I don't think I will when I'm actually doing work but-," She stopped short, "I dunno. I feel like I could make just as good money being a finder, but that's not a sanctioned job on the Ark."
Bellamy was about to assure her that she was going to be great, but a girl stumbled into their circle.
Ah, Stasia Huron. He didn't know her very well, just that she was a year older than Clarke and all her clothes seemed to be pretty ill fitting, as in she looked like what she was wearing was three sizes too small or it was tragically shrunk at the washer's.
"Whoa, Huron." Marisha caught her, "How much wine have you had, girl?"
"Not that much." Staisa hiccupped, "I can still talk in full sentences, right?" Everyone eyed each other and shrugged. She was, and it wasn't really a crime to drink on the Ark unless it interfered with your job. She was 13, and she didn't have that problem. Besides, someone else's stupidity wasn't Bellamy's concern, unless it was Octavia's and that very often was his concern.
"So…" She said, pointing at Bellamy, "Clarke told me to give you a message." She said.
"Oh…" Bellay furrowed his brows. She probably was looking for him. He wanted to tell her about his job, but figured they had the weekend for that, and he should try to socialize. But he did feel a little bad just wandering off, even though Benny pretty much dragged him over here.
"It's something…" She leaned in, "Private."
"It is?" He was surprised. Someone snickered, but he wasn't sure who. Benny patted him on the back.
"Oh, get off." He mumbled, "I'm sure it's not like that." He rolled his eyes. Benny had a one-track mind.
"Come over here." Stasia led him away from the group. He followed her, a little confused. She brought him over to an alcove, which he thought was really out of the way, even for a 'private' message.
"So…the message?"
"You know, men in uniforms are kinda sexy."
"Cool." Bellamy furrowed his brow, "I'm not currently in uniform, though." He looked down at his plain blue shirt.
"It's just a phrase, not quite literal." She said, frowning, thinking hard.
He was about to ask if she was sure that she was fine, when she surged forward and kissed him.
His first thought was that she was far too young to be kissing anyone, and his second was that this probably wasn't her first. These happened at rapid fire, and he shoved her away as soon as these traced through his brain.
"What the heck?" He demanded.
"I find you attractive. Don't you find me attractive?" She asked with wide, innocent eyes that in reality were not so innocent. He frowned, and looked at her. Well, yeah, he supposed she was what some called attractive, but he hadn't really ever noticed himself before. Despite this realization, it didn't make him any more okay with the situation.
"That doesn't matter, okay?" He growled, "You can't just…you…"
"Oh my stars!" Her eyes widened with an odd glimmer of triumph, "That was your first kiss?"
"What?" He said.
"That's why your upset, you feel like I took away some 'choice'." She said, waving her hand.
"I'm leaving." He grumbled, walking away. Maybe she was right, but he wasn't ever going to admit it to her. Benny came up, holding up his hand for a high-five.
"I saw that lip lock with Stasia. C'mon, dude! She's hot! Think you could hook me up?" He asked.
"She's thirteen!" Bellamy growled.
"For now! Everyone grows up eventually. Don't leave my hanging! And I mean, one day she'll be real catch and it won't be as creepy. Gotta keep that option open for yourself, right?"
Bellamy gave him a look that roughly translated somewhere in between 'what the hell' and 'you really need to stop talking', and Benny sighed and lowered his hand and didn't talk about it the rest of the night. He didn't see Clarke until the party was long over, and he helped her back to her house, carrying one of the heavy boxes of supplies. She was acting a little jumpy, never fully meeting his eyes. He thought that she wasn't going to bring it up, whatever it was that was eating her, but on second though, he knew Clarke better than that.
He started timing it. It took Clarke an hour to finally decide to say something, after her parents were asleep.
"I saw you. Kissing…Stasia." She winced. Bellamy wanted to hit his head against a brick wall. Of course Clarke saw that, because the world just couldn't give him a break. Then, he had to pause a moment, considering why it upset him that Clarke saw. Probably because she took it totally the wrong way. She probably thought this was something he did regularly, because if she'd been there to see him push her away, she likely wouldn't have been mad.
In fact, he'd done a damn good job of not thinking about it the whole night, because his sister could ruin his night, but no one else had that sort of authority. So he'd compartmentalized it, boxing it up and shoving it to the back of his mind. In truth, he just wanted to pretend his first kiss had never happened, not with a girl he hardly knew that didn't even ask if he wanted it.
"You know, you can date or kiss or fuck whoever you want," Clarke's tone was a little too airy for her to just be 'okay' with it, and he winced at her swear, "But I wish you'd just tell me. Not who you sleep with," She amended, "But I just wish I'd known."
He drew his hands over his face.
"Clarke…it wasn't…I didn't ask her to kiss me. She kind of just accosted me." He admitted, blushing because of course he should have seen it coming! Benny probably had wet dreams imagining that sort of crazy scenario occurring, and he had just followed blindly, really believing that Clarke had given Stasia-a girl she hardly talked to- a message for him when Raven, Jasper, Monty, or anyone else would have made more sense.
"Oh." Clarke's eyes widened, and she seemed more at ease. Her back relaxed, and she smiled.
"I didn't know what was going to happen next." Bellamy said, mortified, and relayed what happened to her. He wasn't even offended when she started laughing so hard she was crying.
"Anyone could have told you Stasia was…well, forward with guys! She's been kissing them since 11, and doing more than that since six months ago. I'm surprised you, a teenage guy, really didn't see that coming?"
"I had no idea." Bellamy was shocked, "I…I never noticed she was really all that hot…and really, she's already sleeping with guys? Jesus…" He dove into that 'protective older brother' mode, even if this had been about the girl that attacked him with her mouth. Clarke quirked an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Totally gross." She agreed, "She can't get a chip because she doesn't have her period yet, but it can't be far off. Murphy thinks she'll end up pregnant one of those times."
"Has she been with Murphy?" Bellamy was almost afraid to ask.
"She tried. He just was a little more observant that you." She teased, pushing his shoulder, "I won't tell anyone, since you're red as a tomato, but I reserve all rights to tease you for eternity."
"I hope your first kiss is just as bad then." Bellamy declared.
"And if it is, would I tell you? Make us even? Give you blackmail material? No way, dream on." She said. He felt a little sigh of relief that she hadn't had her first kiss yet. Maybe it was because she was so young, but it was a stronger relief than if he imagined his sister kissing someone (which made no sense, because if she was kissing someone, it meant she was out of the room, which should terrify him…but it didn't. Not as much).
"I think I should probably get home." He stood, feeling much better about the events that had happened, "It must be like what, four AM?"
"You're coming over for lunch though, right?" She asked, standing too.
"Wouldn't miss it." He assured. He was at the door when Clarke stopped him.
"Oh Bellamy?" She asked. He turned, tilting his head; "I have an urgent private message for you…"
"You do? What-oh, goddamit Clarke!" He said, almost falling for it. She giggled, and gave him a quick hug.
"Rest of eternity!" She reminded him, "Night Bell."
He felt a stupid grin on his face, rolling his eyes. "Night, Princess."
Aww, Bell had his first kiss! Although...not the first kiss he was quite expecting...
So, I have quite a few things to talk about here!
1) bellarkefanfiction on Tumblr is currently holding their annual fanfiction awards! It's a huge deal and would really put my stuff out there to get nominated (Not even won, just nominated would be awesome). So please, go and vote for me on there :) I need at least 4 nominations on any one story to be considered eligible. They have a category for Ark AU's specifically, and while this story would fit into others, I think that's the safest bet! Two of my other Bellarke fanfictions are also able to be nominated, 'Cant Touch my Poker Face' and 'Prota' (The Hades/Persephone AU) and also I could be voted for Best Author. So, if you really like this story or any other ones I've written, please go nominate me!
2) A couple people have inquired about an Instagram account to see my pics from Italy! I just got one! My username is FrostedGemstones22
3) The photobucket for this story has been updated with the earliest set of kid's jobs, and will now be continually updated for each year that goes by/when kids start getting married and having kids. If you don't have the url on hand, here it is (Take the spaces out)
s61 . photobucket user / frostedgemstones22/Project%20Iphigenia/story
4) Still accepting kid's names, up until the first kidlet is born, or I say otherwise :)
We only have 9 reviews to 100! Do you think we can do it? I CAN!
