Chapter Nine: Poor Me a Glass of Tall and Handsome
Clarke put on as big of a smile as she could muster without it looking totally fake.
"Hi," she stepped in front of the petite brunette heading towards the stairs. "Student Council is putting together a Quiz Bowl team to represent the school. Looks great on a college application." She held one of the flyers from the stack under her arm out to the girl.
The brunette smiled, pink tinge to her cheeks from nervousness. "Um, no thanks," she answered shortly, pushing the paper away.
Clarke took another step in front of her as she tried to make her escape. "It's a great way to make friends and, like I said, great for college applications."
The girl shook her head and dropped the smile, making her look less friendly. "I'm not interested so please leave me alone."
Clarke pursed her lips and watched as the girl walked off briskly, taking the stairs two at a time. Wheeling back around, she saw that Bellamy was sitting on the bottom most step with his stack of flyers beside him while Finn leaned against the railing. "Your method seems to be falling short, Princess," Bellamy quipped.
Clarke scowled, but didn't argue with him because she knew he was right. When no one offered any ideas on how to convince people to join the Quiz Bowl team, she decided the best course of action was to make flyers and simply spread the news about the event around the school.
She had recruited Finn and Bellamy to help pass out flyers with her that morning before school started (with much protesting from Bellamy) but it ended up being a bust and a waste of paper. At least five hundred kids had walked past them to get to the school within the half-hour they had been camped out at the steps and they still had most of the flyers Clarke had printed out the night before.
"Twenty dollars to print out two hundred copies and we've only given out six lousy flyers?" Clarke collapsed on the base step with a huff. She didn't even bother hiding her scowl when Bellamy raised an eyebrow.
"Geez, Princess," he muttered dryly, "I don't think I've ever seen you this bent out of shape before." Clarke gave him a hard look. "Over something so trivial at least," he amended.
"Think on the brightside." Finn set his stack on the ground and took a seat next to Clarke on the step. "We got six people to at least consider joining which is a start."
"Negatory," Bellamy murmured under his breath.
"Excuse me?" Finn asked, and Clarke picked up on the slight accusation in his tone.
Bellamy shrugged. "I saw one kid throw his away immediately after Spacewalker walked away and the redhead Clarke was talking too used hers as a napkin after she accidentally spilled her coffee on her skirt."
Clarke groaned, arching her back as she buried her face into her knees. "Well that's great. We're worse off than we thought." She felt someone's hand resting on the small of her back comfortingly.
"Don't waste time pitying us, Clarke," Bellamy said. The touch on Clarke's back tensed and she could imagine Finn shooting daggers at Bellamy.
"Not much luck today, huh?" Jasper's voice filled her ears.
Clarke finally looked up to see her brother and Octavia standing a little too close together for Clarke's liking. "You could say that," Bellamy grumbled, setting his face into his hands.
Octavia chuckled softly. "What's the matter, Bell? Giving up so easily?"
Bellamy rolled his eyes but said nothing. Jasper furrowed his eyebrows. "How long until your deadline again?" he asked.
"Four weeks," Finn answered. "Which is actually a lot of time when you think about it."
Clarke sat up straighter, eyeing Jasper's twitching hand. "So," she motioned between Jasper and Octavia, "are you two like a "thing" now?"
Bellamy perked up slightly, his gaze taking on a playful sneer. Jasper stepped away frantically from Octavia, giving her about a foot berth, but she just sidled up next to him again. "We're just friends," Jasper sputtered, face turning red.
Clarke shared a look with Bellamy. "But so what if we were?" Octavia said, putting her hands on her hips. "Just because you two can't stand each other doesn't mean that we can't get along. Come on, Jasper." She grabbed him by the upper arm and hauled him up the stairs with her.
Finn let off a low whistle. "Wow. So they're a thing?"
Clarke rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but I don't approve."
"Yeah. I don't either," Bellamy agreed.
"The one thing we can actually agree on." Clarke looked down at her phone for the time and a sudden jolt of panic washed through her as she realized how late it had gotten. "Oh great. I was supposed to meet up with Harper and Monroe ten minutes ago for homecoming stuff. I got to go."
Finn got to his feet and took Clarke's hand in his, helping up. He brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I'll see you later." He cupped her cheek in his hand and kissed her softly.
Clarke smiled against his lips, and if it were up to her, she wouldn't leave. She felt safe and loved when she was with Finn, something that she had been missing ever since her dad moved across the country.
Bellamy cleared his throat, forcing Clarke to focus back on reality. She had to help Harper. She broke the kiss and smiled up at Finn who was beaming down at her. "We're still on for later, right?."
Finn poked her on the nose playfully. "Wouldn't miss it."
Scooping up her pile of flyers and slinging her messenger bag over her shoulder, Clarke bolted up the stairs in the direction of the library.
…
Solar power would be the best source of energy for their robot. The only problem now was finding a solar panel small enough and cheap enough for them to afford.
Monty tapped the butt of his pencil against his cheek. He had quickly devoured his lunch he'd brought from home before making his way to the library where he and Jasper had agreed to meet at. Their plan had been to spend every free period in school together so they could work on designing their robot.
So far, Jasper hadn't shown up yet and wasn't responding to Monty's texts, but Monty wasn't worried yet. Their lunch hour was a little over an hour and close to fifty minutes still remained. He figured Jasper was off with Octavia, romancing her near the smelly locker rooms or something.
Less than ten minutes later, Monty's phone buzzed with a text.
12:37pm.
Hey, buddy, im sorry but i won't make it to the library today.
I totally forgot that i promised Octavia that i'd watch her rehearsal for her play.
i promise that i'll make it up to you!
Jasper
"Of course." Monty rested his head on the table with a sigh. Half an hour of genius robotic designs and he doesn't even get to tell Jasper about it.
He glanced up at the clock. There was still another half hour of lunch left. He could swing by the cafeteria and see what Clarke and her new boyfriend were up too.
Monty quickly packed up his notebooks and headed for the cafeteria, hoping that no one would give him a hard time for being in the halls without a pass while classes were going on. He spotted Clarke in her usual spot right away along with Finn, Harper, Miller, Bellamy, and...Wells?
Monty did a double take. It was hard enough picturing Clarke willfully sitting with Miller and Bellamy, but his brain was doing cartwheels at the sight of Wells. What was he doing there?
He was about ready to turn around and resolve to asking Clarke about it in private at some other time, but it was too late. She had already spotted him and was giving him a welcoming grin that pulled him to the table.
"Hey, Monty," Clarke said.
Monty waved awkwardly. "Hey, Clarke. Bellamy." His eyes zeroed in on Wells. "Wells," he said, and his tone took on a colder tint. Wells shifted uncomfortably.
Clarke cleared her throat. "Monty, this is Finn," she introduced, touching Finn's shoulder gingerly. Monty noticed Wells shift again and how he kept his eyes averted.
Finn held his hand out and Monty shook it. "Hey," Finn smiled.
"Okay, introductions aside," Bellamy glanced down at Harper, "move over a smidge so he can sit."
Harper complied and before Monty knew it, he was sandwiched between Bellamy and Miller. Clarke regarded Monty suspiciously. "So what's up, Monty? I thought you and Jasper were supposed to be working on your robotics thing during lunch."
Miller raised his eyebrows, impressed. "You're doing the robotics competition?" Monty nodded. "That's pretty cool dude."
"Thanks," Monty grunted. He realized that he sounded less than enthusiastic but his frustration was overwhelming him. "And yeah, I was supposed to be working with Jasper but he skipped out on me."
"I'd say you're a little short of pleased," Finn commented.
"It's just that he signed us up for this, you know," Monty looked around the table at each individual face, "and now he's blowing me off. Jasper hasn't done one thing for this project and it's already been four days. The first competition day is in four weeks!"
Clarke shook her head, frowning. "I'll talk to him. And if he does it again, just give him a good kick in the ass for me."
Monty grinned while the rest of the people at the table chuckled. It felt good to sit with Clarke again; he'd been so wrapped up in helping Jasper win over Octavia that Monty hadn't seen her a whole lot in the last few weeks.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news," Finn said. He chased a grape tomato around his bowl for a few seconds and then set his fork down. "But we have to figure out a way to get people to sign up for the Quiz Bowl."
"Don't remind me," Harper grumbled.
"What are you talking about?" Monty asked.
"It's the latest student council project," Wells explained. Monty regarded him curiously while trying to maintain his mild glare. "We have to put together a Quiz Bowl team otherwise we'll have to do it."
"Oh," Monty nodded, "no wonder you're all sitting together."
Miller frowned, eyebrows scrunched together. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Monty shrugged. "Well this isn't the traditional group."
Clarke nodded slowly. "True. The arrangement is a bit less than desired." Her eyes flicked to Wells, but Monty noticed that she didn't have the anger in her eyes that he was used to seeing whenever she looked at Wells. In fact, she looked mildly annoyed more than anything. It made him wonder what changed.
Then he glanced over at Clarke who was leaning into Finn and suddenly it made sense. Clarke would never have the same bond with Wells that she once had, but now that she was happy with Finn, there wasn't the same drive to constantly hate Wells. She might not be great friends with him anymore, but there was still forgiveness.
"So this Quiz Bowl thing; what're you gonna do about it?"
Bellamy looked to Clarke who sighed. "At this point," she said, "we have no idea."
…
The barista was taking forever, but Octavia didn't mind the wait.
The extra few minutes in line while she waited gave her enough time to check up on her virtual pets that she had been neglecting ever since soccer started. When she re-logged into the app, her dalmatian puppy's health bar had been on 12% and her tiger cub had had grown into an adult tiger.
She was right in the middle of giving Lorenzo, her puppy, a bath when the curly haired guy behind the counter came back with her hot chocolate. "O?" he called out uncertainly.
"That's me!" Octavia shoved her phone into her pocket and jumped up to the counter. "Thank you," she smiled at the boy.
He smiled, running a hand through his hair self-consciously. "You go by O?"
"It's just something my brother calls me. I'm Octavia."
"Theo."
"Well, it was nice talking to you."
Octavia hurried out of the café and started at a brisk pace down the cobblestone sidewalk. After school she was supposed to have meet up with Fox to study for a upcoming chemistry test, but she called and canceled almost fifteen minutes after Octavia had been waiting. In the end, she resolved to grabbing something to drink and then head over to Jasper's house to help him and Monty with their robotics.
Octavia approached a group of boys as she walked, all of which who had Trikru Union T-shirts and varsity jackets on. She didn't want to go near them, but it was the only way to her car so she kept her head down as she walked.
"Hey there, beautiful," one of them cat-called.
Octavia ignored him and kept walking, but this was exactly what she was hoping to avoid.
"Baby, come back!" a different voice pleaded.
There was a wave of footsteps and then their voices became significantly louder as they continued to call for her attention. The bastards were following her!
"Leave me alone!" she snapped, refusing to turn around.
"Oh honey, don't be like that."
Something clasped around her wrist and suddenly Octavia was facing a burly jock with a buzz cut and crooked nose, probably from being broken repeatedly. "You had better let me go," she growled. She tried to pry her arm away but his grip was too strong.
The boy chuckled and his friends egged him on by laughing with him. "Look hot-stuff, I don't want to cause a scene; I'm actually a pretty decent guy once you get to know."
"Oh good. Then you won't mind letting me go if you're such a nice guy."
"I'll let you go as soon as you agree to go out on a date with me."
"Um, let me think about that: no."
"Babe, I'm not letting you go until you agree to one date with me."
"Come on," one of the others whispered in her ear, "just one date."
"Unless you'd rather go out with me," a freckled kid in the back raised his eyebrows, probably trying to be seductive but Octavia found him goofy.
"I'm not interested," she spat. "Now let me go before I start screaming."
The boy's smirk deepened. "You're making this harder than一"
"Let her go, Eric," a new voice demanded. It was soft but stern.
Octavia turned to find an attractive African American boy standing at the back of the group of boys. They all parted like the Red Sea when they heard his voice, giving her a better look; he was tall and she could tell that he was muscular under his shirt.
The boy, Eric, stepped in front of Octavia but kept his grip on her wrist. "What are you doing here, Lincoln?"
Lincoln shrugged, nonchalantly stuffing his fists into his pockets. "I was on my way to my car when I saw you four bastards harassing this girl and decided to do something about it."
"We weren't harassing her," one of the boys said.
"Yes you are." Octavia held up her arm to show the meaty hand still firmly clasped to her wrist. "And I'd appreciate if you would let go of me, you big oaf."
Completely ignoring Lincoln, Eric wheeled around to stared down Octavia with hard eyes and a tight-lipped frown. "You're really beginning to wear on me, sweetheart."
"Don't worry," she smiled bitterly, "my bite is way worse than my bark."
"Let her go, Eric," Lincoln warned again. "I don't feel like hurting you today."
"I'd like to see you try." Eric dropped her wrist and then suddenly he was on the ground, catching blood in his nose with Lincoln standing over him. His friends had backed up significantly, fear in their faces. "Oh my God!" he howled.
Lincoln shook his fist. "I told you to leave her alone, bro."
Octavia couldn't believe that the kid went down so easily. All it took was one punch. Her eyes fell on her savior and her heart skipped a beat. He was really hot. "Thank you."
His eyes fell to the guy on the floor and then back up to her face. "Walk you to your car?"
Octavia nodded vigorously. "Yes, please." Lincoln stepped over Eric, falling into step with Octavia as they walked. "Thanks again."
"It was no problem."
Up close, she was able to admire just how tall he was; he had to be at least a foot taller and his arms were larger than both of her hands put together. How had she been lucky enough for a handsome guy like this to come to her rescue? "I'm Octavia by the way."
"Lincoln."
"I haven't seen you around before. Are you new?"
"Nah. I go to Trikru Union with those assholes unfortunately."
"Trikru, huh? I go to West Arke. You guys have a good soccer team."
Lincoln chuckled. "That's good to hear. I wouldn't know though. I don't do sports." Octavia's eyes widened in surprise and he laughed. "What?"
"You just seem so...built. You're sure you're not a pro-football player or something?"
"Just some martial arts."
She regarded him with a newfound interest. "So that's how you Judo-flipped that guy."
"Karate, but yeah. Martial arts is a good way to stay in shape both mentally and physically."
"That's really cool." Octavia stopped in front of her car even though she would have prefered to keep walking with Lincoln. "This is my car."
Lincoln smiled, brushing a wisp of hair behind her ear and Octavia's heart nearly stopped. Never had a boy had such an impact on her feelings, not even Jasper. "Well, I'm glad I was able to help out, Octavia." He let his arm fall to his side. "I'll see you around, I guess."
He turned to leave, but Octavia lunged for his hand. "Wait." He stopped and his eyes met hers. "Would you maybe, I don't know, wanna grab some food with me? I'd love to talk more about martial arts."
Lincoln grinned. "Sure."
...
currently unedited so sorry about that. I'll fix it but i wanted to post again.
Lincoln is in this now! it only took nine chapters lol but more is yet to come
2/21/16
