After passing through the towering Disneyland gates with the cast member badges that were handed out by Marcus, the head cast member, Bellamy began to look at the map while his group of new friends all piled around him. "That's where my animation classes are." Clarke said pointing the middle of the map at Cinderella's castle. "How fitting … princess." Raven smirked, knowing that the others wouldn't pick up on their inside joke. Clarke rolled her eyes and then glanced over at Lexa hoping she wasn't reading too much into the nickname. "Anyways, that's me." Raven added, pointing to the Astro Orbiters ride. "Hey, we're pretty close. Maybe you can slide down your long blonde hair and come have lunch with me sometimes." Raven said, not letting the princess shtick go. Lexa let out a noticeable laugh which made Clarke whip her head around like an owl. Changing the subject, Bellamy pointed to the very far left side of the map and said, "well at least you're not all the way over here." Octavia scowled at her brother's comment recalling that her assignment wasn't even on this map. Bellamy continued, "And that's you Lexa. Looks like we are pretty close to each other too!" Lexa gave off a polite smile.
Lincoln glanced over at Lexa. He had been noticing her body language subtly tense up throughout the day. Growing up in rural Washington was no small feat for the two of them. Being homeschooled left Lincoln eager to learn about other cultures and keen to go and experience something other than farm-life. But he knew that Lexa was not as easily impressed. Her family had gone through a very tough year. It was only a week before they left for this trip that she opened up to him about how bad it really was. After the loss of her father, her family was only a few bad seasons away from losing everything. At only 16, her family looked up to her as a leader and Lincoln knew that her decision to leave for this trip was already starting to take its toll on her.
"Well, what do you guys want to do?" Bellamy asked, trying to organize some sort of plan. "I was thinking we hit up some rides for a couple hours and then watch the fireworks at 10:00pm." "I want to go on Space Mountain," added Lincoln. "Why don't you leave the space exploration for the real adventures," Bellamy chimed in, tapping Octavia on the shoulder with bravado. Octavia laughed, "Yeah, us Blake kids were practically born to ride Space Mountain." Lincoln turned to Lexa who was quietly studying the map, "What about you, think you can handle some extraterrestrial excitement?" Lexa shook her head, "No. I'd definitely rather keep my feet on the ground. I'm actually kind of hungry." Clarke's heart began to race again, "Yeah, I'm hungry too. How about this place." She pointed to a spot on the map called Café Orleans, "It's close to your Indiana Jones ride. We can check it out after we're finished." Lexa nodded in agreement and Clarke felt her heart race even faster. "Good I'm starving!" added Raven, "I'll join you two." "Well then it's settled," Bellamy said, "Lincoln, Octavia and I will go ride the big kid rides and you three will get your lunch break. We can meet up by the castle at 9:00pm to get a spot for the fireworks." Clarke shot Bellamy a stare for insinuating that she couldn't handle the rides and Bellamy smirked back. Knowing that they would never eat if Clarke and Bellamy kept throwing witty responses at each other, Raven put her arm around Clarke's neck and began walking her in the direction of the restaurant.
Clarke, Raven, and Lexa made their way to the restaurant which was only a 10 minute walk from the main gates. They stood in line looking at the menu on the wall before making their way up to the front to place their order. Man I wish I was actually hungry thought Clarke as she saw the huge portion sizes of the people receiving their food. Raven approached the cashier and ordered a french onion soup, followed by Lexa who ordered a tomato sandwich. Clarke walked up to the front of the line still frantically scanning the menu and ordered a kids mickey meal not knowing what it entailed. The three girls sat at a nearby table and waited until the food was delivered to them. "So," Clarke started trying to use take advantage of her 'almost' alone time with Lexa, "you're from Seattle right?" Lexa stared back at Clarke still chewing on a large bite of her sandwich. "Well, kind of. Lincoln and I are from a small town about an hour outside of Seattle." Lexa responded after finally swallowing her mouthful. "Are you excited about working here this summer? Raven here thinks it going to be a complete waste of time but I don't know, I have a good feeling about this place." Clarke added trying to keep up the conversation. Lexa looked down at her plate not knowing how to answer her question. She was ashamed that she was excited about this summer. She gladly took on the role her mother and sister needed her to play but she longed for a few days of not having her family depend on her every decision. She wanted to be free from her duties and just be able to act like a kid her age. "Yes." Lexa said succinctly. Clarke admired Lexa's confident answers. She didn't need many words to get her points across. The girls exchanged a few stories about their hometowns. Raven and Clarke both took turns telling Lexa embarrassing stories about each other, each one getting a bigger and bigger laugh. "I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back." Raven said as she slid her chair back and stood up.
Lexa sat quietly as Clarke finished up the rest of her kids mickey meal which turned out to be some sort of chicken breast and spaghetti concoction. She looked on at the blonde's hands manipulated the fork and spoon to curl the pasta into a ball. Lexa wasn't blind, Clarke was obviously the prettiest girl in the restaurant. She was probably the prettiest girl in every restaurant thought Lexa. Clarke looked up from her plate as a large piece of spaghetti fell from her fork onto her white t-shirt. The two girls laughed and Lexa offered Clarke her napkin. "Wait to go, princess," Raven said returning from the bathroom. "Now you're never going to get a second date." Lexa shifted in her chair uncomfortably as Clarke shot an embarrassed and threatening look to Raven. "Oh wow, we've been here for two hours already. It's almost time to meet up for the fireworks." Raven said avoiding eye contact with the obviously angry Clarke. Lexa got up from her chair and walked ahead to the trash can to dispose of her tray. As soon as Lexa had turned around Clarke punched Raven hard in the arm. Lexa looked back and the two girls quickly smiled and followed her out of the restaurant.
The three girls walked back to the castle where they found Lincoln, Bellamy, and Octavia waiting in a nearby grassy area. "How was the food?" Lincoln asked Lexa, trying to gauge how Lexa was taking her first day. "It was good" Lexa replied, "How was space?" Lincoln's laughed recalling the nauseous feeling the third time the Blake siblings convinced him to ride Space Mountain, "Overrated! I'm sticking to the ground from now on."
The gang walked towards the roped off area in front of the castle. "Look, there is a spot over there." Raven pointed, "We can all fit if we squish." They walked over and started filing in to the free area between two families with matching mickey ears. "Can you see anything from back there" Lincoln asked Octavia who had gotten trapped behind the group. "Here come stand in front of me." Octavia smiled and pushed her way through Bellamy to stand in front of Lincoln. "Thanks." She responded. They waited in anticipation for 20 minutes until suddenly, the first firework went off. The loud bang jolted Lexa who immediately stepped in front of Clarke and raised her hands as if to protect her from an attack. Bellamy let out a lough cackle as Lexa looked around embarrassedly and lowered her hands. Luckily, more fireworks began to go off and the gang turned to watch as the music started blaring from the speakers. I knew this was going to be a good first day, thought Clarke as she watched Lexa look up with amazement to the sky.