Bellamy felt mildly uncomfortable.

It was one thing to be on good terms with Clarke at school, but a few months ago he never would have pictured himself sitting in her living room with a bagel and glass of milk in hand. Then again, a lot had happened in the last few weeks that he never would have expected either.

One of those things, for example, being the reason why almost everyone from Student Council were piled on Clarke's couch so early on the day following Homecoming.

Bellamy had planned on staying in bed most of Sunday, catch up on his anime, and promptly ignore the lab report that was due on Wednesday. He was almost ready to skin Clarke alive when her phone call woke him up, but then she told him that there was a mandatory Stu-Co meeting at her house in half an hour and that there were going to be bagels.

He only ended up going because of the bagels; Bellamy figured that Clarke was just overreacting to some small mishap that happened at Homecoming or something. Imagine his surprise when he found out that the superintendent, Wells' dad, was planning on selling the school's property for a parking garage to be built.

Bellamy wiggled his way forward on the couch, shoving Miller in the side with his elbow. "Will you scoot over a bit?" he grumbled.

Miller shot him a look. "It's not my fault that Clarke's couch is so small! Tell Harper to scoot over!"

Harper growled their way from the other side of Bellamy. "I'm as far over as I can be! If you're not happy, then you can sit on the damn floor!"

"Could you guys knock it off?" Finn muttered from the recliner on the other side of the room. His eyes were heavy like he hadn't slept well and his chin rested on his fisted hand. "It's too early for all of this noise."

Bellamy regarded him with a hard stare, but Finn barely noticed. Not that Bellamy cared for Finn's well being, but he couldn't help but note that something was off with him. He had showed up to Clarke's last and had wordlessly dropped himself into the recliner over half an hour ago. Raven wasn't here either and she was always stuck to him like glue.

He shook his head, reminding himself that he didn't care, and took a massive bite out of his bagel. Clarke appeared in the doorway with Wells at her heels. Neither of them looked too good; Bellamy was pretty sure that he had never seen Clarke look so defeated.

Harper and Miller quit their squabbling when Clarke sat down on the floor, completing their circle. "Well, this totally sucks," she mumbled, pulling her knees up to her chest.

For a second, Bellamy was worried she might start bawling but she didn't. Wells cleared his throat. "So, what are we going to do about this?" He dropped the envelope on the floor in front of him.

Harper sighed, relaxing her muscles so that Bellamy could feel her arm pushing into his side. "I guess there's not much we really can do at this point. Didn't it say that it's scheduled for May of this year?"

"Right before graduation," Clarke murmured sadly. Bellamy wondered why his stomach did a somersault just by the sadness in her voice.

"That's still a long ways away," Miller traced his finger around the rim of his glass, "—there's gotta be something we can do to stop it."

"Like what?" Finn asked, perking up slightly.

"Seriously, there's no way. Do you know how many thousands of dollars we'd have to raise?" Harper shook her head.

Wells growled down at the carpet, surprising Bellamy. He wasn't used to Wells being so aggressive. Normally he just frowned when he was upset. "I can't believe my dad thinks this is a good idea."

"That's a good point, Wells," Miller's eyes locked in on Wells who suddenly switched back to the pacifist Bellamy was used to. "This is your dad's fault, so in a way, it's your fault too."

Wells' jaw dropped. Finn held up his hands in a T. "Miller, don't—"

"No, no," Miller snapped, scooting forward so that he was barely sitting on the couch anymore. "Why can't you talk to him? Get him to change his mind? You're the mini superintendent! Get your shit together and fix this!"

Wells scowled up at Miller. "It's not that simple."

"The superintendent is a dick," Bellamy turned his look to Wells for a second, "no offence. But even if Wells did try to get him to change his mind, he wouldn't. That letter said that Jaha was selling the school for two hundred thousand dollars so he needs the money. He's not just going to roll over and let that slip."

"Which is why Miller was right and we should raise the money." Finn sat up, making it the most amount of movement he had done since he got there. "We could get the school in on it."

Bellamy snorted in disbelief. "Have you met our school, Spacewalker? No one gives a damn about anything. No one wanted to join the stupid Quiz Bowl and no one is going to care that the school will be demolished. Hell, they may even welcome a new parking garage!"

Suddenly Clarke's head shot up, her eyes wide in a frenzy while her hair stuck up awkwardly. Her quick movements nearly startled him enough to jump. "Bellamy, say that again," she commanded eagerly.

"What?" he asked. "'Hell, they may even-"

"No, the other thing. You said Quiz Bowl."

"Yes. Don't remind me."

"Isn't the deadline, like, this Friday?" Harper gasped.

Clarke ignored her, a small smile starting to sprout. "Isn't the grand prize for the Quiz Bowl an impressive of money?"

"And scholarships," Wells added automatically, but then his face blanked for a moment before widening into a smile. "Oh my God, you're such a genius."

"Not really. I never would have thought of it without Bellamy."

Bellamy's eyebrows furrowed as his stomach flipped again. Why did that compliment strike such a chord with him? But Clarke had already forgotten her words and sat up on her heels, looking more and more lively by the second.

"Alright guys," Clarke rocked back onto her heels, "I have a plan." Color was returning to her pale face and that familiar stubborn gleam was back in her eyes. "It might be a little far fetched, but at this point we don't have a choice."

Bellamy munched on his bagel diligently as he and the rest of the council listened to the blonde's idea. Basically, they would be killing two birds with one stone— since at this point Stu-Co was going to have to fill in for the Quiz Bowl anyway, if they were able to some how manage to take first place, they may have a chance at saving the school.

"I hate to be the barer of bad news," Finn interjected. Clarke's eyes darkened as she nodded slowly, giving him permission to speak. Finn paused, keeping his eyes fixed on Clarke, then continued, "but even if we did win, we'd still be short. There's no way we can do this without some kind of fundraising."

Clarke's lips pursed to the side in thought. The storminess in her eyes dissipated slightly and for a minute, Bellamy was afraid that she might side with Finn. Her eyes shifted over to Wells who sat up straighter. "Wells," she hummed, "could you set up a meeting with your dad?"

Wells looked just as confused as Bellamy felt. "What?"

"If we could set up some sort of deal," she mused further, "then maybe we can convince him to quit the contract."

Harper perked up a bit. "Like dropping the total a couple thousand dollars?"

"That'd be the plan."

Wells scratched the back of his neck. "I can try talking to him. I can't guarantee that he'll change his mind but at the very least I know that I can set up a meeting. Besides," he glanced at Clarke, "you and my dad already know each other, so there's no way he'd pass up a chance to catch up with you."

Instinctively, Bellamy switched his primary attention from his phone to Clarke. He knew that she and Wells were starting to patch up their broken relationship, but that last comment of his had come off weird...almost like his tone was giving way to his longing for her. It Bellamy uncomfortable so he assumed she would be too, but Clarke merely flicked her eyes to the ground without any kind of reprimand.

For some reason, that really irked him. Judging by the hurt look that Finn was trying to mask, he was displeased too.

"Do you guys really think we can pull this off?" Miller propped his chin up in his hands.

The question caught Bellamy a little off guard. It wasn't necessarily addressed to him, but everyone seemed to be waiting for his answer, like he was the one who had the final say on the subject. The plan was flawed and he recognized that, but when he met Clarke's intense but pleading stare he found himself being sucked in.

Even if they did crash and burn, at least they'd go out with a bang. And no one would be able to say that he didn't try.

"I'm in."

Octavia was tired of PB&J.

And yet, she still found herself spreading peanut butter and raspberry jam on bread for her lunch. She really needed to learn how to cook. PB&J used to be her favorite after school snack but ever since Bellamy started going out of the house more, Octavia was forced to fend for herself most days.

Sometimes her mom or Bellamy would leave something hot for her to eat in the oven, but that was becoming rare. Even though it was a tad annoying, Octavia mostly felt exhilarated. For most of her life, Bellamy had always been breathing down her neck and hovering to make sure she was safe or getting good grades or filling some sort of expectation of his. But now that he was busy most of the time, she was left to her own devices.

Mostly that consisted of either practicing her newly acquired martial arts or making out with Lincoln.

Octavia grinned into her sandwich as she took a bite. Even thinking about Lincoln made her heart flutter and her stomach flip. Not only was he the hottest guy she'd ever met, but he was also the smartest and most mature guy she'd ever met.

Sometimes she got really fed up that she had to keep him a secret from Bellamy and her mom, but most of the time it seemed like a giant fairy tail— she was Juliet and he was Romeo, and Bellamy was Tybalt, always trying to ruin everything.

The sneaking around was fun and the martial arts training was paying off. Octavia had successfully been able to sneak out for hours past curfew on school nights right under Bellamy's nose a few times now. Lincoln warned her not to abuse her new talents, but she couldn't help herself. She had spent way too much time being cooped up in the house and now was her time to be free. Soccer had been how she had cut loose for the longest time, but she felt even more in control of her emotions and body when in a martial arts stance.

Keys rattled in the door from the main entry hall. Wiping crumbs off of her face, Octavia stretched her toes up toward the ceiling from her awkward position on the floor. Bellamy appeared a second later with a white bad in hand. "How was the meeting at Clarke's house?"

Bellamy regarded her with a smile that was a cross somewhere between amused and concerned. "It was eventful. I have work in half an hour and I need to shower, so I'll have to update you later." He set his bag on the counter.

Sitting up from her crunched ball position, Octavia peered over the couch and into the kitchen. "Bell, what's in the bag?"

"Thai rice!" he called from his room. He walked through the living room towards the bathroom a second later with a towel and pile of clothes. "Figured you'd be hungry."

"I am." Octavia pushed herself up, then bounded to the kitchen. That PB&J did very little to satisfy her gnawing hunger pains. "This smells good."

"It better," Bellamy scoffed. "Cost twenty bucks and a thirty minute wait just for that little take out box so enjoy it."

"I will, don't worry."

"Oh, and by the way, Jasper has been asking about you. You should probably take care of whatever it is you've been ignoring." Octavia stopped stuffing her face with food and turned to her brother, but Bellamy was already retreating down the hallway towards the bathroom.

What did he mean by that? She wasn't avoiding Jasper.

Sure, she may not have been hanging out with him outside of soccer as much anymore, but that was only because she had limited amount of time with Lincoln and didn't want to waste even a minute that she could spend with him.

Octavia bit her lower lip, suddenly not feeling so hungry. She was going to have to set things straight with Jasper. She was going to need to tell him her true feelings.

But first, she needed to talk to Monty.

...

finally the main plot gets introduced

11/8/16