Chapter Eight: Moving Up the Totem Pole

"So what did you two do in school today?"

Clarke looked up from her phone which she had concealed in her lap. Her mother had her elbows on the table, hands laced together expectantly. Clarke set her fork down on her plate as she slowly chewed the hunk of steak that had been setting in her cheek. "Not much."

Abby rolled her eyes while Marcus stifled a chuckle. "Something interesting must have happened," she insisted.

Clarke looked to Jasper for help, her eyes warning him to speak up instead of her. He shook his head and Clarke's features stiffened threateningly; she didn't want to engage in conversation so as far as she was concerned, he should take one for the team this time.

She was perfectly aware of the exasperated expressions of her mother and Marcus as they watched them, but she was more focused on getting Jasper to say something. Every time she silently scolded him, he'd shake his head violently and then fork mashed potatoes into his mouth.

"Jasper," Marcus said after what must've been a minute of silent glaring, "anything new in school?"

Clarke grinned, satisfied that she didn't have to answer. Jasper sat up a bit straighter in his chair. "I signed up for a robotics tournament with Monty. Prize is ten G's plus college scholarships," he said proudly.

"That's great, sweetie." Clarke watched her mom's eyes light up in delight. "What kind of project are you and Monty planning on making?"

Jasper shrugged. "Not sure yet. I think Monty is drawing up some ideas tonight."

"Well that's great, Jasper." Marcus turned toward Clarke, a twinkle in his eyes. "And what're you doing in student council, Clarke? Anything interesting?"

Clarke clutched her phone in her lap, forcing herself to ignore the text messages waiting to be read. "Um, we have to finish planning homecoming and our next project is putting together a Quiz Bowl team to compete for the school."

Marcus grinned brightly and Clarke tried for a small smile. She had always had a rocky relationship with Marcus—the divorce between her parents had been hard enough on her, but when her mom started dating again Clarke didn't want anything to do with Marcus or Jasper.

In the years since, she'd gotten used to Marcus being around and grew to develope a strong affection for Jasper. Even though she made it very clear that she didn't hold a grudge against Marcus anymore, he still continued to try hard to win her over.

He always made sure her favorite cereal was in the house, he made Jasper do the majority of the chores around the house, and he tried to take an interest in her career choice as a doctor. Not that she was complaining about having an endless supply of Special K, but Clarke wished he didn't try so hard all of the time.

"Quiz Bowl?" Jasper asked around a bite of steak. "What's that? A bowling game?"

Abby said, "It's an academic-type tournament."

"So it's like Jeopardy?"

"Very similar."

Clarke's leg vibrated suddenly and she tuned out of the conversation to read the last few texts that had come through.

6:32pm.

haha i don't know about that.

Finn.

6:45pm.

Clarke? You still there?

Finn.

6:49pm.

Did you do the math hw?

Harper.

6:53

I'll be there in five.

Finn.

A breath caught in Clarke's throat as a small smile settled across her face...then it faded as she heard the doorbell ring. He was here already?

"Who could that be?" Abby mumbled to herself, but before she could even push her chair back, Clarke was already standing up.

"That's for me," she said, slipping her phone into her back pocket. She hoped jeans and a sweatshirt qualified for whatever Finn had in mind because she didn't have any time to prepare.

"Who are you going out with?" Marcus steepled his fingers together.

"Finn. You know, my history project partner."

Jasper's eyebrows shot up, but he didn't say anything further which Clarke was grateful for. Last thing she needed was for Jasper to get a big mouth and tattle on her.

By habit, she grabbed her wallet and keys on her way to the door so she slid them into her sweatshirt pocket. "I'll be home in a few hours."

"Back by ten," Abby's voice called from the kitchen before she materialized at the kitchen doorway.

"Okay, fine." She finished slipping her shoes on, then flung the door open. Finn looked casual, almost more casual than she did which was reassuring. Maybe they were just going on a drive. That'd be a nice surprise. "Hey."

"Hey," Finn smiled. "You ready to go?" He stepped down the porch steps, leading the way to his truck parked in the driveway.

Clarke closed the door behind her, then jogged after Finn to keep up. He was already in the driver's seat by the time she reached the passenger's door. "Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

Finn started up the engine, and pulled out on the road in the general direction of the high school. She hoped he wasn't taking her on a walk around campus. "You were probably just eating dinner," he commented, drawing Clarke's attention from the window, "but did you wanna stop and get something? Coffee maybe?"

Clarke rested her hand over her stomach; she'd eaten quite a bit back at home and she was feeling pretty content as it was. Coffee didn't sound like it would settle well at the moment either. "No, I'm good. Thanks, though."

Finn raised his eyebrows, casting her a playful smile from his seat. "Are you sure?"

Clarke forced down her blush. "Yeah, Finn. I'm fine."

"O-kay," he laughed, dragging out the first syllable.

"So you've got me all curious. Where are you taking me?" Clarke sat forward in her seat.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Yes, I would."

"I guess you'll have to wait and see."

Bellamy stared down at his blank notebook sheet.

He was fully aware that staring at it intensely wasn't going to write his essay for him and that he should get to work, but he just couldn't bring himself to picking up his pencil. He was tired, irritated at life in general, and his two best friends and little sister were being obnoxious in the same room.

"Can you turn that down?" Bellamy hissed from the table. Murphy, Miller, and Octavia all had Wii remotes in hand and were doing their best to follow along to the dance mannequin on the screen.

"No can-do big bro," Octavia answered in a singsong tone that matched the harmonies of Lady Gaga's Born This Way.

"She's right," Miller huffed, sounding out of breath as he tried to match dance moves. "We've got a five dollar bet going right now and Murphy is kicking our asses."

Bellamy's eyebrows shot up. "Murphy?" he asked incredulously. "He's beating you guys at your own game?" Sure enough, when he glanced up at the TV, Murphy was scoring nearly all 'perfects' while Octavia and Miller struggled to get 'okays.'

"Can it Bellamy," Murphy growled, but his threat came off as barely intimidating since he was mid-dance move that reminded Bellamy of a child pretending to be a pony.

"Can't you guys be quieter? I'm trying to write a paper."

"It's a Friday night," Octavia said, "live a little."

"No it's not," Miller huffed. "It's Monday, O."

"Live everyday like it's a Friday night," she amended.

"Getting wasted every day doesn't sound so bad…" Murphy mumbled.

"Hey," Bellamy grunted sternly, "impressionable seventeen year old is present."

Murphy rolled his eyes, but fortunately enough Octavia had been too distracted by the TV and her score catching up to Murphy's to even bother herself with chit-chat.

He looked down to his notebook paper that was empty except for a few doodles of spears, shields, and Greek warrior helmets. He always found the ancient Greeks and Romans interesting, even so far as reading the Iliad and the Odyssey on more than one occasion.

Maybe he could write his English paper on them...all he had to do was compare and contrast two topics using the essay structure they reviewed in class.

With a new vigor, Bellamy started brainstorming everything he knew about each civilization. He only stopped once when Octavia broke out in an excited cheer, telling him that she managed to whoop Murphy in Just Dance at the very end.

Clarke would admit, she was very surprised when Finn parked the truck in the parking lot of Trikru Union.

Of all places, it would never had occurred to her that Finn might take her to one of the biggest rivaling high schools to West Arke. She knew he went there for the previous few years, but he seemed hardly the sentimental type.

The door on Clarke's side of the truck jerked open, making her jump. Finn had a chipper smile on his face, but she was still too startled to even think about how attractive he looked. She hadn't even noticed him slip out of the car so she needed to put her observations pants on.

"What are we doing here?" she asked, staring up at the ancient looking building. Other than Mount Weather, Trikru Union was the oldest building in the district so the big, ominous windows and brick features were a bit unsettling.

Finn glanced up at the building and then shook it off. "We're not here for that." He nodded toward a faint path leading into the woods. "That's where we're going."

Even though every instinct in her told Clarke that this was a bad idea and to run, she still found herself keeping pace with Finn as they approached the woods. "You're not planning on killing me and making a human sacrifice are you?" she asked in a teasing tone.

"The thought did cross my mind," he conceded in an equally joking tone. Clarke watched as his composure broke and a smile overtook his face again. Then she felt something intertwining with her fingers only to find he had slipped his hand into hers.

He led her down the path about twenty-feet where the trees thinned out into a small flat field full of blue, iridescent flowers. "Woah," she breathed, leaning in close to one of the flowers. "This thing is actually glowing."

Finn fell to his knees beside her, so close that they were touching. "Yeah. Pretty neat, right?"

"These have to be toxic with, like, radiation or something. How else would this happen?"

"I've looked 'em up, actually," Finn said, crouching his face ever closer to the blue petals. "They're a predatory plant from Brazil and the iridescence helps them catch their food. They smell really nice too, but don't eat them. They're also poisonous to the human body unless bitten by a specific breed of Brazilian anaconda. In that case, it's the antidote."

"Invasive species?" she asked slowly.

Finn nodded. "More likely than not. How plants that traditionally survive in the humid Brazilian climate are growing in eastern New Jersey is beyond me though."

Clarke sat back on her heels, watching the boy before her with new eyes. She had always thought of him as a delinquent when he first started going to school with her, but then this project ordeal had given her the chance to glimpse his softer, more strategic attitude on things.

And here he was again, keeping her on her toes with glowing plants and information to actually back up his findings. It was a turn on if she was being honest with herself.

Everything about him was just so immensely attractive, she just wasn't able to fight her feelings for him anymore. Clarke Griffin had a ginormous crush on Finn Collins and she was about ready to scream it to the world.

Fortunately, Finn caught her soft stare and his eyes fell to her lips. He leaned in closer to her, and Clarke eagerly followed suit until they were sitting with their noses brushing each other's cheeks and their lips less than an inch apart.

"Clarke?" His voice was husky.

"Stop talking," she whispered, and then closed the gap between them herself.

...

some flarke on valentines day, but don't worry. things are about to get a bit (or alot) more complicated

2/14/16