Chapter Twelve: I Remember Why I Loved You
Raven hadn't planned on starting school until the following week.
Everything about the move had left her feeling discombobulated—between having to pack up all of her things to move thousands of miles down the coast for the second time in the last year and a half and the fact that she wasn't fully moved into her new house was enough to leave her feeling stressed.
But after the ordeal at the restaurant the other night with Finn and Clarke, Raven felt that it had been best to start school a few days earlier than expected. The previous day, Clarke had been out sick which apparently is a big deal because rumours about her absence were spreading like wildfire throughout the senior and junior classes.
Raven's personal favorite so far was that Clarke was called away to help interrogate a pair of Russian spies who had entered the country from Canada using underground tunnels. None of the rumours she heard so far had been negative to Clarke's reputation so Raven figured that she held a relatively high status among the student body.
She might've even been impressed and willing to forget the ordeal the other night if it hadn't been for how dazed Finn had acted all day. At first he had been blatantly upset by her absence, though he tried to hide it. As the day progressed, his anger melted into never wavering concern. When Bellamy, who Raven was introduced to earlier, disappeared around lunch, Finn became visibly more upset again and remained that way until Bellamy was back in class for fifth hour.
Raven tried to ignore it, but her gut told her that his behavior was all off—something had gone on between Clarke and Finn behind the scenes and Raven knew for a fact that she wasn't going to like it when she uncovered the truth.
The following day, Clarke was back in school and things at West Arke seemed to get back to usual; the rumours died off the moment someone spotted Clarke in the halls. Finn became much more pleasant to be around as well, though Raven forced herself to look away from it.
By the end of the day, Raven had re-established friendly terms with the blonde, though she could tell that it was strained on Clarke's side just as much as hers. Fortunately, they only had one class together and Finn was in four of hers, meaning Raven could keep an eye on him.
She was hoping that Finn would stop looking to Clarke like a puppy, but when Finn said that he had to stay after school she snapped. "What do you mean you're in student council? When have you ever been interested in stuff like that?"
Raven watched his eyes stray, and she followed his gaze until she saw Clarke and Harper enter the room that was meant to host the council meeting. His eyes flicked back to her, but the damage was done; her eyes hardened.
"I've always thought about joining," he said in the low tone he used whenever he was serious, "but there have always been things that got in the way. By being in a new school, I was able to get a fresh start at things I haven't been able to do in the past."
Raven leveled her gaze, arms crossed. "Can you look me in the eye and tell me that it didn't have to do with Clarke being in it?"
Finn sighed. "Okay, I'll admit that her being in it gave me the extra incentive to actually join in." When Raven opened her mouth to cut him off, he placed his hands on her shoulders comfortingly and continued, "But can you blame me, Raven? She was my only friend up until joining student council. At least now I have Wells and...Bellamy."
Raven knew that Finn was grasping when he mentioned Bellamy's name, but as much as she hated to acknowledge it, he was right. Air deflated from her lungs as her body released it's tense stance. "Okay, I believe you."
Finn smiled at her tenderly, and suddenly Raven remembered back to when they were kids splashing in the pond in his backyard and catching frogs, all of the robotics competitions he had gone to to support her, all of the nights she stayed up late tutoring him over the phone for important science tests. She remembered all of the reasons why she loved him in the first place as he placed his lips on hers.
But all of the memories flooded away in a rush as his mouth moved from hers. Quickly, Raven looped her arms around his neck and pulled him back to her as she tangled her fingers in his hair. "Wait," she whispered between kisses, "can I join student council with you?"
His body froze momentarily, but he didn't hesitate when he said, "Yes. Yes of course. I'd want you too."
Raven smiled, lowering her lashes enticingly as she laced her fingers with his. "Come on, Spacewalker," she whispered, "lead the way."
"As you wish," he said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
As they entered the room, Raven couldn't help her smug smile when she saw Clarke glance away nervously at her entwined hand with Finn's. The princess may rule the kingdom, but this knight was hers.
…
Wells regarded the new girl.
It had been a process, and the meeting that had been scheduled to be forty-five minutes was now being pushed back to being an hour and a half thanks to the sudden decision of the new girl to join just because her boyfriend was.
Boyfriend. Boyfriend.
The word made Wells's stomach boil and it only intensified whenever he would glance to his left where Raven was sitting in Finn's lap. She seemed perfectly content, twirling the end of her ponytail while she watched Clarke with a smug grin. Finn also watched Clarke, but with longing more than nothing else.
Wells hated Finn. He had always disliked the guy, but that was out of jealousy of Clarke's interest in him. But after this stunt, Wells truly hated him. Finn was supposed to take of Clarke, and even if Wells wished it had been him that she chose, all he wanted was for her to be happy and loved at the end of the day—if that meant being with Finn, then Wells was willing to accept it. After all, he had started leaving her alone to be happy with Finn, hadn't he?
But Finn had lied and cheated her. Wells may not be proud of the things he had done in the past, but it had been out of good intentions that happened to go south. He didn't intentionally betray her the way Finn did by harboring a second lover.
Wells turned his attention back to Clarke.
"—homecoming in two weeks and our Quiz Bowl deadline is shortly after that and we still haven't gotten one person to sign up yet," she was saying. She looked to Harper and Monroe who had taken up homecoming as their main project. "How's it looking on that warfront?"
Monroe folded her hands on the desk. "We should be all set except for selling the tickets, which we plan to do next week."
Clarke nodded, seeming to find this idea acceptable. Bellamy regarded her, ignoring Clarke. "So everything with the catering is good too then?"
"And we have the budget for decorations," Fox affirmed, glancing over a clipboard. "You're and Clarke's idea for that bake sale last week was genius."
Bellamy nodded to himself proudly. Clarke rolled her eyes.
Raven sat up, catching Wells's attention. "What about this Quiz Bowl thing?" She asked skeptically. "From the sounds of it, you guys aren't doing too well on that front."
Clarke offered a pained smile. "We still haven't reached a successful angle on how to get people to sign up for it," she admitted.
"Flyers don't work," Bellamy added.
Wells pursed his lips. "As much as it pains me to say this, but we might have to suck it up and do it ourselves, guys."
Several people in the room shot him hard glares. "Keep it to yourself, Jaha," Miller murmured, looking annoyed.
Clarke shot him a look and Wells had to do a double take. Did she just defend him? "It may come to that," she conceded, loud enough for everyone to hear, "and I hope everyone is ready to step up if it does." She looked to Bellamy.
"Clarke's right," he agreed. "Look guys," he made a point of glancing at Miller and Monroe, "we chose to be in these positions and sometimes we're going to have to do stuff that really sucks. Trust me, I don't want to have to be in this stupid ass Quiz Bowl anymore than you guys do."
"And the king has spoken," Raven applauded. Bellamy narrowed his eyes at her.
If looks could kill, then at least half of the people in the room would have been dead by now, Wells thought.
"We really need to figure something out on how to get people to do this competition though," Finn interrupted the glaring, placing a comforting hand on the small of Raven's back.
Clarke's jaw tightened. "We'll do what we must. Well, I think that just about wraps up this meeting." She turned to Bellamy. "Anything else you have to say on the matter?"
Bellamy grunted, massaging his temples. Wells noticed that he shot a sneer in Raven and Finn's direction, but he didn't know who it was aimed at—it could have been at both for all he knew (and suspected.) "No. I think that about sums it up. We're basically in the same place as we were the last three meetings."
"Meeting dismissed," Clarke said.
Fox and Sterling were the first to leave, quickly followed by Harper and Monroe who were still busy chatting about the homecoming preparations. Finn looked like he wanted to hang back, probably to talk to Clarke, but Raven pulled him out the door with her. Bellamy left with Miller.
Wells packed his books into his bag slowly, purposefully taking his time. Clarke was pushing the desks back into their original positions. Getting up, he shuffled up to the desk that was beside the one that she was pushing. "Hi," he said awkwardly, digging his palms into the side of the desk as he pushed it across the carpet.
"Uh," she looked surprised, but her eyes didn't flash with unmeasurable hate like he was accustomed to which was a good sign. "Hi, Wells. Can I, uh, help you with something?"
"Um," he didn't know what to do with his hands so he returned to the remaining few desks and pushed it back as he said, "I just wanted to let you know how, uh, sorry I am. About what happened with Finn I mean."
Clarke's cheeks tinted pink, but she still didn't look angry. So far he hadn't crossed the boundary. "You heard about that, huh?"
Wells shrugged. "Bellamy told me when he got back to school yesterday. But even if he hadn't, I'd've figured it out myself based on the way Raven hangs on him."
Clarke sighed deeply, sitting down on the top of the nearest desk. Wells leaned against it, their bodies less than a foot apart. It was the closest he had been to her without her raging since their break-up. "It hurts, but I'll manage," she said quietly.
"If it's any consolation, you're handling it a lot better than what most people would do. Color me impressed."
Clarke smiled half-heartedly. "It's a pretty sucky situation, but I have a pretty good support group to fall back on." Her features dimmed slightly, as if she finally realized who she was talking too. Wells picked up on it straightaway. "But I—"
"—I get it," Wells cut her off. He inched away from the desk, giving her more space. "By support, you mean Jasper, Harper," he paused, "maybe Bellamy. I know you still think of me as your enemy."
Clarke opened her mouth as if to say something, closed her mouth, opened it, and then closed it again. Her dimmed expression was replaced by a look of mild confusion, her eyebrows knit together. "I...don't think of you as my enemy."
Wells's eyebrows shot up. Boy, he was making progress today! "You don't?"
She shrugged, pursing her lips to one side. "I was really angry, yeah. I mean, my dad means so much to me and I only got to see him so much already so to have him ripped away —yeah, I was angry."
"Understandable."
"But the truth is," she paused, her eyes darting between her hands and Wells a few times before continuing, "I've been talking to my dad recently...and I know you didn't do what you did with intentions of what happened. I know you were trying to help...and I let my anger blindside me."
Wells felt his heart beating faster in his chest. In his wildest dreams, he had expected to at least be on friendly terms with Clarke and maybe she's re-follow him on Instagram. Never did he imagine that she would actually forgive him!
"I'm still really sorry that things worked out the way they did," he apologized.
Clarke smiled slightly. "I know you are. It's kind of funny, but I think my dad likes California better than New Jersey anyway. He's already planning a trip for me to come out and visit him."
Wells returned her petite smile. "Well, I'm glad that my stupidity didn't ruin everything."
Clarke regarded him with wandering eyes. She seemed to be studying every inch of his person, from his face down to his toes. It was like she was memorizing him, or perhaps, remembering him. Remembering when she held ownership to him. "Let me get something straight, Wells."
Her hard tone made his stomach drop like a jar of dirt. "Go for it."
"I'm not looking to rekindle our old relationship, alright? That ship has sailed and sunk and not even Davy Jones's magic could resurrect it from the sea, okay?"
"Okay." He should've seen this coming.
"But," Wells perked up at the small remorse in her voice, "I do miss this; I miss talking to you."
"I miss talking to you too, Clarke."
"There's no way I can just go back to being best friends with you. My secrets are my secrets and stuff like that."
"Understandable." Dare he get his hopes up?
"I wanna just start over. Fresh start. We'll wipe the slate clean. I know that's what my dad would want and I want it to." Clarke stuck her hand out to shake. "Hi, there. My name's Clarke—Clarke Abigail Griffin. And you are?"
Wells accepted her hand, her skin soft against his own. Staring into her green eyes, blonde hair framing her face, Wells remembered the moment he first saw Clarke back in middle school. Confident and fierce, she had a way of capturing his heart back then the same way she did now.
"Wells Gregory Jaha. Nice to meet you."
...
i wonder how long Raven is going to be willing to put up with Finn and his shenanigans
and Clarke forgave Wells! But will Bellamy forgive Clarke for snapping at him for being concerned for her?
What's going to happen with Homecoming just around the corner?
Where's Octavia, Jasper, and Monty been?
If you weren't asking these questions before, they're going to be eating at your brain now!
3/15/16
