a/n: so i continued this. raven plays matchmaker, octavia owns a sword, it's all cool. anyone who knows me from the kumirei coffeeshop au will know that there are few things in this world that i love more than snarky text conversations, so there will be plenty of those as well.

the literal bomb: so

the literal bomb: lexa woods, huh?

Clarke: What about her?

the literal bomb: easy there with the question marks, griffin.

the literal bomb: i don't have a ton of facts about her, if that's what you're looking for.

Clarke: I wasn't really looking for a ton of facts about her.

the literal bomb: other than that she's absolutely loaded

the literal bomb: and in line to inherit some obscure computer company founded by her relatives or something.

Clarke: Cool.

Clarke: I don't really know what to do with that information.

the literal bomb: monty's probably heard of it.

Clarke: Raven.

the literal bomb: yeah?

Clarke: Why did you ask me about her?

the literal bomb: well

the literal bomb: word gets around, my pal, and it gets around even faster than usual at the beginning of the year, when everyone's talking about who did what and who made out with who.

Clarke: . . . okay, but what does that have to do with me and Woods?

the literal bomb: the lovebirds were there when the fight broke out the other day.

Clarke: Who, Lincoln and Octavia?

the literal bomb: clarke

the literal bomb: do either of us actually know anyone else in this school who could be referred to as "the lovebirds."

Clarke: Good point.

the literal bomb: anyway, O said that you were standing right behind woods when she was arguing with that freshman.

the literal bomb: why do people call 'em freshmen anyway

the literal bomb: like why not just refer to them as ninth graders.

the literal bomb: why are the men fresh? the world may never know.

the literal bomb: but about woods

the literal bomb: she's in my calculus class

the literal bomb: doesn't talk much, mostly keeps to herself

the literal bomb: she seems pretty badass though.

the literal bomb: not as badass as me, of course.

Clarke: Obviously.

the literal bomb: there's something about her that just kinda screams "i've killed a man."

the literal bomb: maybe it's the way she wears that sweater like a cape.

the literal bomb: all i'm saying is that she seems dangerous and sort of aloof.

the literal bomb: so . . .

Clarke: Raven, I'm not interested in her in . . . that way. She's just a cool person, that's all. Not a Potential Girlfriend or anything like that.

the literal bomb: keep telling yourself that, clarke-o

the literal bomb: oh crap i think something's burning

the literal bomb: bye

Clarke set down her phone with a sigh, hoping that Raven's house wasn't currently in flames while also hoping that the "rumor mill" (as her friend liked to call it) wasn't spinning some fantastical tale involving her and Lexa. She tried to rationalize it as purely an attempts to look out for someone she was starting to consider a friend - being the subject of baseless gossip wouldn't be a welcome start to a new school for anyone - but she knew that deep down, somewhere in the far reaches of her mind where she'd never even admit it to the confines of her nearly-full, doodle-filled diary, she was looking out for herself just as much as she was looking out for Lexa. If there was one bad thing about attending a tiny school in the middle of nowhere, it was that everybody knew everybody. She wasn't looking for attention, she wasn't looking for gossip. At the moment, all she was really looking for was her pencil, which had somehow managed to roll off of her bed during the duration of her text conversation with Raven and fallen into the space behind her bed that she affectionately called "the void." Clarke grumbled a string of swear words that would've probably made Aden run for the hills - there I go again, thinking about that kid and his sister - before getting up and beginning the search for another pencil, the words "lexa woods, huh?" turning around and around in her head.

Raven Reyes (math class): yo

Raven Reyes (math class): woods

Raven Reyes (math class): are you there?

After the third doot-doot-doot of her phone, Lexa gave up on resisting its siren call and set down her book (a somewhat battered copy of The Price of Salt) to see who was texting her with such intensity on a Sunday afternoon.

Lexa: The answer to the third question is 214

Raven Reyes (math class): what

Raven Reyes (math class): i wasn't asking you that.

Lexa: oh

Raven Reyes (math class): dude i finished that thing yesterday.

Raven Reyes (math class): anyway, do you know clarke, by any chance?

Raven Reyes (math class): y'know, vice principal/unofficial nurse griffin's daughter? blonde? might've been standing behind you during with the ninth grader?

Lexa: you mean freshman

Raven Reyes (math class): listen woods we can talk about the terminology for the high school equivalent of a fetus some other time.

Raven Reyes (math class): this is about clarke griffin.

Lexa: griffin

Lexa: so that's her last name

Raven Reyes (math class): well that wasn't creepy at all.

Raven Reyes (math class): but i digress.

Lexa: i've talked to clarke a few times

Lexa: nothing else

Raven Reyes (math class): sure jan.

Lexa: my name is lexa, not jan

Raven Reyes (math class): did they not have memes where you're from or something?

Lexa: i just don't spend very much time online

Lexa: i know what a meme is

Lexa: who doesn't

Raven Reyes (math class): you'd be surprised.

Raven Reyes (math class): but memes aside, is it true that clarke griffin /bravely rescued/ your brother from /certain doom/ at the hands of a ninth grader?

Lexa: what

Raven Reyes (math class): i'm just pulling your leg, woods. clarke just stood there, that's what the more "reliable sources" have been saying.

Lexa: please get to the point

Raven Reyes (math class): okay, okay. geez.

Raven Reyes (math class): i'm just telling you that she's not a person you should take lightly, alright?

Lexa: how do you know her?

Raven Reyes (math class): eh, you know how it goes. she accidentally steals my boyfriend, said boyfriend turns out to be a human pile of garbage, we bond over the experience while said boyfriend moves away. pretty cliche story, if you ask me. in any case, we're friends. and i think she likes you.

Lexa nearly dropped her phone, fumbling for a reply as gears whirred in her thoughts.

Lexa: oh

Raven Reyes (math class): that's all you're gonna say?

Lexa: what were you expecting

Raven Reyes (math class): something more than "oh."

Lexa: you've known me for a week and you already apparently know me better than i know myself

Raven Reyes (math class): i'm good at reading people, woods. anyway, i need to go. i might have unintentionally built a bomb in the garage.

Lexa: what

Raven Reyes (math class): bye.

Lexa reread the "and i think she likes you" until it was seared in her brain, the bright digital letters burning her eyelids. No need to be dramatic, Lexa, she reminded herself, eventually kicking the phone off of her bed and flopping over onto a pillow. The device clattered to the wooden floor, and Lexa cringed at the noise.

"Who's there?!" Aden yelled. The boy soon appeared at the entrance to Lexa's room, armed with an orange baseball bat. "Are we getting robbed? I'll beat 'em up if we are!"

"I dropped my phone."

"Never mind, then!" Aden ran back downstairs, still wielding the baseball bat. Lexa chuckled. She picked up her book and tried to lose herself again in the familiar story, but she couldn't focus, reading the same line over and over again until she eventually gave up and pushed the book away.

Clarke should have expected to see Lexa at school, honestly, what with the school only having a few hundred students, but she still found herself taken aback when she saw the other girl digging through her locker, the red sweater still draped over her shoulder.

"What're you looking for?" she asked.

"This." Lexa held up a folder filled with incomprehensible writing and papers neatly shuffled inside. "I forgot to take it home last week after the . . . disruption caused by Ontari. Thankfully, I didn't need it for homework or anything like that, but I was concerned for its well-being nonetheless."

"I'm glad you found it, then. It sucks to lose things. I don't know what I would do if I lost my sketchbook." Lexa stuck her head out from the confines of the locker.

"You draw?" Clarke scratched the back of her neck, shuffling her feet on the scuffed tile floor.

"Sometimes, yeah."

"Cool." Lexa turned around, beginning to stand, and Clarke quickly opened her backpack and looked around for her sketchbook. She quietly berated herself for forgetting to organize it over the weekend. "Do you need help?"

"Nope," Clarke grunted, finally pulling the sketchbook from the backpack, a triumphant smile spread across her face. "I can show you some of the stuff I've drawn in it, if you-" She was abruptly cut off by the bell, ringing and blaring into everyone's ears. Lexa sighed and picked up her bag, already heading to first period. Clarke could only watch her as she left without even a goodbye, regretfully shoving the sketchbook back into her backpack.

"Cool."

Lexa mentally cursed herself for not being able to come up with a better response. "Cool." She couldn't have said anything else, not a better question or compliment, just that stupid, god-forsaken "cool." The word was still looping itself in her thoughts, dipping into every corner, when she ran into none other than Raven Reyes, grinning like she had just learned the secrets of the universe and wanted to share them with whoever she happened to see.

"Hey, Woods!"

"Why are you still insistent on referring to me by my last name?" Raven shrugged.

"It's a formality thing, I guess. You're pretty uptight, it'd be weird to call you anything other than that." Lexa bristled at the comment, wondering how many people already saw her as some kind of intimidating figure when, in reality, she had just been trying to protect her brother from a bully who was in over her head. Most of the people in television and books and such tend to refer to high school as some kind of "fresh start." Perhaps that's true.

"It's fine. You can call me Lexa."

"Okay. I'll see you around, Lexa!" Raven flashed another grin as she hobbled away down the hall. Lexa allowed herself a small smile before remembering that she would be late for first period if she didn't hurry.

Clarke couldn't focus on any of the words written on the board that day, instead hiding her sketchbook behind a stack of papers and drawing anything her mind brought her to, which, at the moment, seemed to be Lexa's face. Great.

"Hey, who's that?" Octavia whispered, leaning over to peer at the drawings. Clarke snapped the book shut in surprise.

"Nobody!" she yelped. Unfortunately, this drew the attention of the bald man standing at the front of the room, whom Clarke had secretly dubbed "Mr. Chips" upon noticing how often he used metaphors concerning computer chips while explaining concepts. Nobody particularly liked him, and Clarke had heard mumblings among the students and teachers alike, whispered rumors that grew more ridiculous every time Clarke heard them. He ran a wealthy company. He sold illegal candles. He had been barred from several states on account of potentially engaging in other illegal activities. The list went on and on, and the only thing Clarke knew for sure was that he was not a generally likable person.

"Miss Griffin, you aren't attempting to distract your fellow students, are you?"

"No," Clarke groaned. Octavia snickered beside her, and Clarke shot her a glare.

"Well, then, I'll let you off with a warning this time. If you attempt to mock me again with your . . . delinquency, I will not be as kind." He turned back to the board. Clarke breathed a sigh of relief, putting the sketchbook back into her backpack for the second time that day.

"Okay, so then he said 'if you attempt to mock me again with your . . . delinquency-'"

"It's not that funny, Octavia," Clarke interrupted, elbowing her in the middle of the hallway as she, Octavia, and Raven made their way to their usual spot on campus for lunch, the clouds looming gray and ominous above them.

"That's because you were the one being called out by good ole' chip-dude himself. It's funnier when you're just watching."

"It is pretty funny," Raven admitted. Clarke sighed.

"You two are the worst."

"Hey, Clarke, you never told me who the mystery girl in the sketchbook was," Octavia noted.

"Mystery girl?" Raven repeated. Octavia nodded eagerly.

"I didn't see the picture for more than a few seconds, but it was a really good one."

"It wasn't meant to be anybody," Clarke lied, avoiding Raven and Octavia's excited faces. "It was just . . . a drawing of a girl, that's all."

"Are you sure it wasn't Wo- er, Lexa?" Raven asked. Octavia leaned in closer, and Clarke wondered if she actually understood the concept of personal space.

"Lexa? Who's that?"

"Oh, she's just Clarke's girlfr-"

"Nobody. Definitely not my girlfriend," Clarke interrupted. Raven smirked.

"Well, speaking of significant others, I'm going to bring my sword tomorrow," Octavia said. Everyone was aware of the fact that she was probably the only high schooler in town who owned an actual sword - mostly on account of the fact that she bragged about it at every opportunity.

"What does that have to do with Lincoln?" Clarke and Raven asked in unison.

"We're gonna train on the field. Together. It'll be romantic as hell."

"Isn't there some rule against bringing weapons to school?" Raven wondered.

"Probably. That's why I'm sneaking it in. Besides, weren't you the one who created fireworks in the science lab last year?"

"God, don't remind me. Abby wouldn't let me hear the end of it."

"Clarke's mom?"

"Yep. She talked about how dangerous it was for two hours, at least. I remember the stars were out by the time I even got out of the school building. It would've been great firework weather if, y'know, they hadn't taken the fireworks." Raven wistfully glanced up at the sky. "It's definitely not firework weather now, though. Looks like it'll rain soon."

"That's why we should stop talking about my mom and who has the deadlier weapon and just go inside," Clarke muttered, walking a few steps ahead.

"Geez, what's her deal?" Octavia whispered. Raven shrugged.

Lexa had found a rather secluded place to eat lunch - a spot on the roof, surrounded by hanging plants and the occasional bird. It provided a spectacular view of the rest of the school, and there was something comforting about the coziness of it all, the plants and the small platform hanging over them to protect them from most of the elements. The elements, at the moment, seemed to be doing their best to try and force Lexa from her current spot on a bench. The cold rain struck her face like a thousand tiny icicles, the wind nearly blowing her papers away.

"I'm not going to leave," she muttered aloud, ignoring the fact that nobody else was actually there and that she was really just talking to a bunch of plants and the weather. It wasn't as if she really could leave, anyway. The rain had gone from a light drizzle to a straight-up downpour in just a few seconds, and Lexa knew that the run from her spot under the platform would end up soaking her through, and she didn't fancy the idea of showing up to fifth period dripping like a rather miserable cat left outside by its owners.

Five minutes passed, then ten, then twenty, and before she knew it, lunch was over and the rain still hadn't stopped. Lexa stood up with a sigh and prepared to make a run for it, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she held the sweater over her head as a makeshift umbrella. The rain, needless to say, felt like a cold fire pelting her, chilling her to the bone.

"This roof is unnecessarily large," she said to nobody in particular, stopping in the middle to catch her breath. She reached the stairs quickly enough, wringing out her sweater and trying to stay as close to the radiators as she could on her way to class. It didn't stop her from arriving to the classroom sopping wet, shuffling her feet on the floor as she plopped down in a chair next to Raven.

"What happened to you?" she snorted. Lexa glared at her before pointing to the ceiling, and then out the window. "I know you can talk, Lexa. We had a conversation this morning."

"I eat outside," Lexa said, unwilling to really start a conversation at this point, and even less willing to give away her secret spot. "It's calm there. Usually, the weather manages to hold up fairly well, but today I wasn't quite as lucky." She bent down to find her math homework, trying to make her lack of interest in the subject matter apparent. Raven shrugged.

"Hey, maybe you should-" Whatever she was about to say was immediately cut off by Jasper and Monty's rather loud, boisterous entrance, quickly followed by the teacher and the rest of the students. Lexa sighed.

The day drew to a close, and Clarke found herself perched on her bed, looking through her sketchbook at the drawings of Lexa - "mystery girl," as Octavia had called her. She hadn't meant to draw Lexa, it had just happened. That's a garbage excuse, Griffin, and you know it. Clarke tried to will the thoughts away, tried to think about something (anything) else, but Lexa's face was there, always there, and Clarke wasn't even sure if that was a bad thing. She eventually ended up tossing the book across the room, hitting a stack of old photos. They fluttered to the floor like a whirlwind of inky flower petals, and one in particular landed at the foot of her bed - ripped in half, her own younger, smiling face staring back at her with her arm around someone else. Even without the other half of the picture, she knew just who it was, and she dropped the photo like it was on fire. If that's not an omen, I don't know what is, the same voice in her head whispered, and Clarke simply let it stay there, flopping over onto a pile of stuffed animals with a soft thunk.

Stupid brain-voice.