Chapter 4
Clarke was to meet her friends at the crossroad that leads to the beach at nine but she decided to get ready earlier and go for a walk around town. She liked walking by herself, with just her music. She knew every nook and cranny of this place, everyone in it too. But during summertime their little scenic town filled with new faces. Clarke loved walking amongst them, seeing their big eyes fill with awe looking at views and places she had been so used to seeing every day. Their holiday vibes and smiling faces renewed her love for the place she had grown up in, but also fueled her desire to get out, travel the world, be the one with the amazed eyes.
Even though it was not a very hot night, she was craving a nice, big cone with her favourite ice cream, cookie dough, so she headed to the ice cream shop. Apparently she was not the only one with a sweet craving since there was a big, old line of people there, even stretching outside the shop. Clarke decided to wait; she still had time to kill before meeting the others anyway. Perfect opportunity to partake in one of her guilty pleasures as well, people- watching.
After a while she caught herself staring at a girl who was ahead of her at the line for the shop. She had dark hair, cut in an asymetrical bob. Clarke really liked that hair cut and had wanted it since forever but she guessed it would never work with her curly hair. The girl was wearing white overalls with a fitted, black crop top. When she turned to the side to talk to her friend, Clarke noticed the delicate, stunning features of her face, as well as her toned abs. At one point, the girl tucked her hair behind her ear and Clarke saw a tattoo of two intertwined female gender symbols, on the right side of her neck, just behind her ear. At that exact moment the girl turned and looked at Clarke, who did not manage to avert her eyes quick enough. The girl's eyes travelled her from top to bottom and then she simply smiled and winked, turning her attention back to her friend straight after, in the most seamless way. Like nothing had happened. Clarke looked to the ground, her face turning into an impossible shade of red. She was the worst at flirting in general but when it came to girls especially, she felt like a fish out of the water. She blamed it on not having a lot of experience but really, she was just plain horrible at receiving, as well as clearly showing people, that kind of attention.
"Last time I saw you blush that hard was when I kissed you for the first time." a guy's voice startled her. She looked up, with stunned blue eyes which she rolled at the long-haired, young man.
"Shut up, Finn!"
"I'm just saying. Who's the lucky dude?" he looked around, searching. "I don't see anyone who looks like me." he said seriously.
Clarke smiled a bit. She was equal parts annoyed and jealous of Finn's self-esteem. He had a kind of confidence that she had only seen in one other person, Raven. She envied how they could pretty much charm the pants off anyone they wanted but was terrified at the mere thought of too much unwanted attention. Both Finn and Raven had to turn people down all the time, something they did skillfully and which rarely affected them. But Clarke was a different story. It had taken her weeks to "break up" with her "boyfriend" in second grade because she did not want to hurt his feelings by telling him she didn't really like him. Of course, when she finally found the courage to do it, he had just said "Okay." and started holding another girl's hand during the breaks the very next day. Little Clarke had been so confused.
"Don't flatter yourself!" she smiled at Finn.
"Ouch, woman." he dramatically put one hand over his chest as if his heart had been hurt. Clarke laughed and playfully punched him on the shoulder. "What are you up to?" he asked moving into the line with her.
"I'm getting ice cream." Clarke smiled sarcastically. She had dreaded this question. She had not called Finn to invite him to the bonfire as Octavia had suggested because she did not feel like dealing with him tonight. Finn could be a bit of a trouble-maker at times and she wanted to make a good first impression to Lincoln's friends. For Octavia that is.
"Very funny, princess. I mean later tonight."
"I'm going to a thing with O." she stated and tried to will people into moving faster, in hopes that Finn would drop the conversation if it was her turn at the counter. By some kind of divine intervention, just as Finn was about to talk, the girl she had been staring at earlier -who had now just gotten her ice cream and was leaving- approached them and gave Clarke a big smile.
"Hi! I'm Angel." she said, acknowledging Finn with a nod of the head but clearly focusing on Clarke.
"Yes. You. Are!" said Finn in his deep, flirty voice. He immediately run his hand through his hair, pushing them back and out of his face, flexing a little at the same time. It was his signature move with the ladies. Clarke shook her head at his remark and stretched her arm out for a handshake. She regreted the idea when she realized that her palms were clamy and she was shaking a bit from nervousness, but before she could pull her arm back Angel took her hand.
"I'm Clarke." she said shyly. "This tool is Finn." she pointed a thumb at her friend and relaxed a bit when she got a loud, hearty laugh from the girl.
"Heeey..." Finn protested but neither one of the girls was paying much attention to him.
"Hi, Clarke." Angel looked into her eyes and shook her hand.
"Hi!" Clarke smiled, holding her hand a bit too long, mumbling an apology when she realized and let go.
"Oh, it's quite alright!" Angel giggled. "But I should probably not hold the line up. People want their ice cream.". She leaned closer to Clarke. "And they're looking sugar-deprived pissed!" Clarke smiled to the ground and blushed a little at the closeness.
"This is my number." the girl said, handing Clarke a napkin with the shop's logo and a phone number written in red pen. "Text me?"
"Yea, sure!" Clarke said trying to play it cool.
"See you soon." Angel winked at her. "Bye, Finn!" she called out before exciting the shop. Clarke stared at her until she was out of sight and then looked at the paper with a stupid smile on her face. Finn's hand on her shoulder scared her and she jumped a little while turning to face her friend who was holding a cone of ice cream.
"So, that's who you were blushing at!" he mused at her. "It's cookie dough." he said and gave her the ice cream he was holding.
"Thank you!" Clarke took it, avoiding Finn's eyes. She was feelings embarassed that he was there for that whole scene. They left the shop and walked down the street a bit together. Clarke was eating her ice cream in silence.
"This is me." Finn said when they reached his place of work.
"You're working tonight?"
"Yea! Picking up some extra shifts. Need the money." he shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, have fun at the bonfire." he winked at her.
"You knew about that, huh?" she looked at him apologetically and Finn nodded his head.
"I know everything, my dear." he faked a british accent.
"You do indeed, good sir!" Clarke laughed and matched his accent, playing along. They gave each other a quick hug and she started to leave.
"Oh! By the way..." Finn's voice stopped her. He walked over to her. "Angel is like a perfect ten! High-five, bro... Sis!" he said and lifted an open palm.
"You're such a goofball!" Clarke smiled and high-fived him.
She walked to where she was meeting the others and rested against a wall, finishing her ice cream. When she was done, she took the napkin with Angel's number out of her pocket and debated whether she should text her now. Or at all. Should she invite her to the bonfire? No, this was Octavia's night. Besides, did she really want her around Raven? She was no match to her friend's flirting abilities. Wait, what if Raven had already slept with her? If Angel is new or a visitor, she probably hasn't yet but what if? Clarke's mind was racing.
"What the hell am I doing?" she whispered to herself. Octavia was right, she did tend to overthink everything. Maybe she should just go with the flow, have some fun. She heard a distant laugh and recognized it as Octavia's. She looked up to see her and Raven walk towards her. Of course tonight is the one night Octavia is actually on time. A second later, Clarke saw Monty come from the opposite direction, waving an arm at her. She carefully put the napkin back in her pocket, patting it a couple of times as if to make sure it was safe. She exhaled slowly. She was glad to have a bit of a distraction tonight, she could go crazy over this again tomorrow.
Clarke exchanged quick greetings with her friends, with Octavia being as excited as a kid on Christmas morning, and they made their way to the beach.
"That's probably them!" Octavia said cheerfully when she saw some shadows around a pile of wood, only to be proven right a second later when they lit the fire and someone raised their arm to greet them.
"Here we go..." whispered Raven and Octavia picked up her pace with the others following.
