Clarke's first week back at Arkadia University was mostly uneventful. She sat in her final lecture of the week, listening to her professor drown on about some form of Conceptual Art which she probably should be listening to in more detail. However her mind was wandering to tonight, her first party of this year, Raven had been totally on board straight away as Clarke had expected.
"A party sounds like a perfect way to christen the new flat!" Raven had said, Clarke remembered. "Oh, and Finn will be down so I can introduce him to everybody." Raven had met Octavia, Jasper and Monty at spare moments throughout the week, but this would be the first time she and her boyfriend Finn would hang out with the whole gang.
"Sweet, I'll tell Octavia that she's good to invite people." Clarke grinned at her roommate, Octavia was much better at party planning than either Clarke or Raven.
"Ok class, that's it for this week, remember to do the reading for next week!" Clarke was jerked out of her thoughts by the sudden scraping of chairs as her class began to leave the lecture hall. Oops, she thought, Clarke had completely missed the last twenty minutes of her lecture.
On her way back home she popped into The Dropship to grab a quick coffee and to meet Octavia, who was coming over early to make Clarkes' house 'party ready' or something.
"Hey O, how's it going?" Clarke walked straight up to the bar to talk to her friend. The Dropship always had enough customers to keep it running, but it never felt crowded and Clarke almost never had to wait to get served.
"Hiya Clarke, coffee?" Octavia moved around the bar to hug Clarke, before turning the coffee machine on. "To go of course, as we have a flat to decorate!" Octavia practically squealed, Clarke had never met such an enthusiastic person in her life.
"Thanks, Octavia, when do you finish?" Clarke leant over the bar, trying to spy the timetable that Octavia's manager kept around somewhere.
"Now! My shift officially ended at five, but I was waiting for you to come in before I clocked out." Octavia handed Clarke two coffees, before taking off her apron and walking out from behind the bar. "I'm just going to grab my stuff, and tell Kane I'm leaving." Kane had been her manager for the three years Octavia had worked her, he was kind hearted but strict enough to make sure The Dropship stayed successful, Clarke remembered.
Barely five minutes had passed before Octavia reappeared, pulling her hair out of the high ponytail she kept it in for work. "I'm just going to say bye to Lincoln, and remind him to swing by tonight," Octavia said, grabbing her coffee out of Clarke's hand and bounding back over to the bar. Clarke laughed and rolled her eyes, it was hard to keep Octavia focused on one thing for too long, she was always flitting between different friends, and Clarke couldn't keep up half the time. If they hadn't been friends since high school, Clarke probably would have faded into the background of Octavia's life by now.
"Ok ready?" Clarke asked when Octavia finally walked back towards Clarke, who had been standing by the door for the last fifteen minutes waiting for her friend to finish talking to Lincoln.
"Yes, shall we pick up some food on the way back?" Octavia asked, opening the door for Clarke.
"Sounds perfect." Clarke smiled at her best friend, as they walked down the high street.
—
After what felt like an eternity of Octavia shoving various party foods into Clarke's hands, they had finally made it back to Clarke's apartment, bags full of as much crisps and dip as any normal person could want. They dumped their shopping bags on the kitchen table and heading into the living room to put up the strings of fairy lights and other decorations Octavia had brought over a few days, insisting that the flat needed brightening up.
"Hey!" Clarke heard Raven shut the front door.
"We're in here.' Clarke yelled to Raven.
"How's it going in here?" Raven leant against the door, surveying Octavia's decorations.
"Apparently our house wasn't 'party ready'" Clarke laughed as Octavia stuck her tongue out at both of them.
"Damn does that mean I'm going to have to shower too?" Raven grinned evilly at Octavia.
"Yes." Octavia said, "and I'm ignoring your sarcasm."
"If I have to wear something other than pyjamas then you have to shower," Clarke added, looking at Octavia who was nodding eagerly.
"Guys if you don't do this properly then there's no point." Octavia moaned, sticking her bottom lip out.
Raven and Clarke laughed at Octavia's pout. "We're just messing with you O, I promise we're taking this seriously." Clarke hugged her best friend, who immediately cheered up.
"Good! Then I'm leaving you to finish up here, I need to go and get ready, we only have an hour until people start arriving!" Octavia waved, grabbed her bag and walked out of Clarke and Ravens flat.
"That was her plan wasn't it?" Raven asked as soon as the front door had shut.
"Yep, should have seen that coming." Clarke rolled her eyes and stuck the final decoration up. "You go and shower, I'll finish setting up here and in the kitchen."
"Sweet, have fun," Raven said, turning and leaving the room.
Clarke moved around the living room, picking up random shoes and other things that the two of them had left around the room. She dawdled into the kitchen and began to put all the food she and Octavia had brought into bowls. Luckily she had cleaned the kitchen the day before so it there wasn't much to do here. Hearing Raven get out of the shower Clarke looked at her watch and saw that she only had half an hour before guests started arriving, and she could bank on the fact that Octavia would be early, to make sure Clarke and Raven hadn't messed up all of her hard work. As Clarke walked into her room she saw that Octavia had laid out an outfit on her bed, a short black skirt with a sparkly blue top. Clarke sighed, why couldn't she just wear her pyjamas? But her fight would be in vain as if Clarke wasn't wearing what Octavia picked out for her, as soon as her friend arrived Clarke would be marched back into her room and made to get changed. So she put on the outfit picked out from her, feeling glad she had shaved her legs only a few days ago. Being an artist meant that she was stupidly good at putting on makeup, on the off occasion that she wore some. Looking in her full-length mirror she saw that she actually looked good for once, the top made the blue in her eyes stand out, accentuated by the way she had done her eye makeup, and her hair was falling in light waves down her back. Plus the best part about having a party at her own him meant that she didn't have to wear shoes, and she refused to let Octavia persuade her to put on any. Just as she put on a final bit of lipstick, she heard the doorbell ring, it was that time already? Clarke thought to herself.
"I've got it." She yelled to Raven. Opening the front door she saw that her porch space was filled up by Octavia, Jasper, Monty and his boyfriend Nathan Miller. "Hey, guys!" Clarke said, greeting her friends.
"Hi Clarky!" Octavia hugged Clarke and then held her at arm's length to get a good look at her outfit. "I'm so glad you liked what I picked out for you!"
"Yeh, thanks for that O," Clarke said sarcastically, and Octavia stuck her tongue out and walked past Clarke into the house.
"Hey Clarke," Jasper grinned and patted her on the head before moving past her, one hand full of what looked like a tin of questionable brownies.
"Ok then," Clarke raised her eyebrows questionably at Monty and Miller.
"Don't ask," Monty hugged Clarke and motioned to Miller. "We've got a keg to bring in, can you grab the door while we bring it in?"
"Sure." Clarke stood back to let the two boys squeeze the huge keg into Clarke's flat. "Oh and Monty you should introduce Miller to Raven, I think she's in her room." Monty nodded his head to Clarke above the keg and proceeded to trudge into the kitchen. No sooner had Clarke closed the door and gotten half way to her living room, the doorbell rang again. Standing on her porch were two guys who she didn't recognise at all.
"Who are you?" She asked bluntly.
"Is my sister here?" Said the man on the right, he was tall, tan and muscular with floppy brown hair the exact same colour as, "Octavia" He said interrupting her thought as he pushed past her and hugged her friend.
"Hey, I'm John Murphy, most people just call me Murphy." The other man held out his hand to shake Clarkes, before following Octavia's brother into her flat.
"Ok," Clarke said under her breath. That was weird, she had known Octavia had an older brother but in her six year friendship with Octavia Clarke had never once met him. Clarke shut the door and moved towards Octavia, pulling her away from her conversation with Raven, her mysterious brother nowhere to be seen.
"Octavia." Clarke started.
"I know I know I should have told you that Bell was coming but I knew you wouldn't mind and I've known you for so long now I can't believe you've never met him!" Octavia interrupted.
"Yeh that's fine he was just rude that's all, he didn't even introduce himself." Clarke crossed her arms and pursed her lips.
"That's just him. I promise he'll warm up to you soon." Octavia said, grabbing Clarke's arm and dragging her into the kitchen, where Octavia's brother was standing in a corner with a beer in his hand.
"Clarke, this is my big brother Bellamy, Bellamy, this is my best friend Clarke who you rudely barged past earlier. You've both heard enough about each other so it's like you're practically friends already." Octavia introduced them both before flouncing off so fast that they were both left gaping after her.
"Beer, princess?" Bellamy smirked at her, handing her one of his beers.
"I - uh, thanks, I guess." Clarke took a sip of beer, taking aback by his confidence. "Princess?" She said, swallowing her beer.
"Well that's practically what you are, isn't it? Perfect family, perfect education, perfect flat." He said, gesturing around her kitchen.
"What! No! What makes you think that?" Clarke pursed her lips, searching Bellamy's face for a sign of what he meant.
"Please princess, everybody knows that your mother is the warden here and that she's close to the Mayor." Bellamy was still smiling, and his eyes felt like they were boring a hole into her brain.
"Well yes, but why do you care?" Clarke took another sip of her beer and crossed her arms.
"It doesn't, of course. Don't you want to know why I'm here?" Bellamy raised a single eyebrow at her.
"I - well uh, yeh I guess so. I thought you were studying abroad?" Bellamy was completely flustering her. And she hated it.
"I was, in Athens, but now I've finished my first degree I enrolled at Arkadia University as a doctoral candidate." Athens, Clarke thought, what an incredible place to study.
"Athens wow." She breathed, thinking back to the stories in The Iliad and The Odyssey.
"Yep that's in Greece, princess," Bellamy responded.
"No shit Sherlock." Clarke scoffed, "I'm not some sort of idiot."
"Ah, of course not," Bellamy smirked again. "Here I was thinking you were some sort of art student." Clarke's jaw dropped.
"What's wrong with art?" She snapped.
"Nothing, it's just not particularly difficult is it?" He said, reaching across her to grab a Dorito from the bowl behind her.
"Of course it is!" Clarke snapped, her temper rising.
"Now now princess, don't get your panties in a twist," Bellamy muttered, one corner of his mouth twitching.
"Ugh if you're just going to stand here and insult me in my own kitchen, then I'm leaving." Clarke narrowed her eyes and Bellamy, "thanks for the beer." She spat before flouncing out of the kitchen. How could someone as awesome as Octavia have a brother as insufferable as Bellamy?