Note: A guest reviewer asked if I had a pairing planned for Hanna. Great question! I realized I've been playing up my favorite pairings more than others. Here's the plan, if you're interested:
-Spencer/Bellamy
-Emily/Clarke (eventual Clexa endgame)
-Lexa/Paige (eventual Clexa endgame)
-Abby/Raven (I'm team DoctorMechanic all the way!)
-Hanna/Lincoln (eventual Octavia/Lincoln endgame)
-Caleb/Octavia (eventual Octavia/Lincoln endgame)
-Aria/Ezra (but I'm not that into them, honestly)
Spencer was deep in thought as she walked to her first day of senior year.
And by 'deep in thought,' she mused, she meant 'stressing like hell, as usual.'
She had woken up, unsurprisingly, to an empty house. Peter had moved out months ago, and Veronica often headed to work before Spencer got up. At least she'd made the coffee, though.
Well, when you feel out of control, make a list, Spencer thought. She began to mentally compile a list of things that were currently making her feel out of control:
-Her valedictorian status was in doubt. Who knew what kinds of grade inflation went on at the other schools?
-She would have more competition for captain of the field hockey team.
-Probably more competition for her extracurriculars, too – academic decathlon, et al.
-Basically, everything on which she currently hung her hat had the potential for interlopers to ruin everything.
Spencer sighed as Rosewood High came into view. Senior year and she felt more out of control than ever.
Just then, Emily pulled up on her bike. "Hey!" Emily said, smiling as she chained up her bike. "Wait – I know that face. That's your 'compiling a list of things that are making me feel out of control' face."
Spencer had to chuckle at that. "You know me so well," she said, nudging Emily's shoulder with hers.
Emily linked arms with her. "Spence – whatever this year brings, we'll face it forever. We always do."
They spotted Hanna and Aria waiting on the steps and Emily waved to them. Spencer unlinked their arms. "You go ahead. I'll catch up in a minute." Emily looked at her, concerned. "I'm fine, Em. I just need a minute to process." Emily nodded and hurried off to catch up with Hanna and Aria.
Spencer scanned the grounds. She saw a lot of familiar faces from her years at Rosewood: Lucas slouching against a wall, Caleb walking in a side door alone, Noel Kahn and Mike Montgomery and their lacrosse buddies joking loudly. She didn't see Mona or Alison, but they tended to make an entrance on their own time.
She also saw some new faces from the assembly the other night: two girls she thought were from Arkadia Academy, a short girl with long dark hair and a taller girl with long blonde hair, piling out of a car that looked old but well-tended-to and yelling something to their friend as she peeled out of the parking lot, flipping them off good-naturedly as she went.
She saw the two Polis High students who had held court from the back of the room: the tattooed guy with the muscles, and the captivating brunette who had made the speech that turned the tide of the whole conversation. They were walking from the direction of the bus stop.
As the two girls from Arkadia walked up the steps, the tall blonde nodded to Emily, and Spencer could see Emily's shy smile and the way she nervously tucked her hair behind one ear. Oh, Em, she thought, another one? Emily would never admit it, but she was kind of the biggest player of all of them.
Then the two from Polis reached the stairs, and this time it was Hanna who flirted, waggling her fingers at the tattooed guy. Spencer couldn't see his face, but he must have acknowledged her because after they walked past, Hanna pretended to swoon. Aria shook her head and rolled her eyes, and Spencer saw the brunette from Polis smack the tattooed guy on his arm with the back of her hand.
A loud noise from behind Spencer startled her, and she whirled around. Someone was pulling up on a motorcycle, and for a second her heart stopped as she thought 'Toby?' But of course it wasn't Toby, and Spencer couldn't help rolling her eyes as he climbed off the bike and took off his helmet – it was the cocky dark-haired guy from the assembly.
He caught her eye right away and grinned, then walked over to her confidently.
"Are you kidding me?" said Spencer. "A motorcycle? Do you even realize how much of a cliché you are right now?"
"I could ask you the same thing," he retorted, gesturing to her outfit. "Did you come here straight from a fox hunt?"
Undeterred, she pressed on. "Do you know the statistics about motorcycle deaths? They account for –"
"Thirteen percent of all motor vehicle deaths, over 4,000 deaths a year, yes – I know," he interrupted. "My little sister made sure I knew all the statistics. She hates the bike, won't even let me give her a ride to school, insists on catching a ride with her friends." He shrugged. "Her loss."
Then he held up the helmet. "Did you know that helmets are 37% effective at preventing deaths, and 67% effective at preventing brain injuries?" He took a step closer and said, slowly and deliberately as he patted the helmet, "And that's what this is."
Spencer refused to back down even though he was in her space. She tried and failed to think of a clever rejoinder, but she was finding his proximity and his assertiveness…distracting. And she hated it.
"So, you see, princess – I've done my homework." He grinned, seemingly aware of the effect he was having on her. "Maybe if you're nice, I'll help you with yours sometime."
And he sauntered off, leaving Spencer standing there gaping.
This was shaping up to be the worst first day of school ever.
She balled her hands into fists, composed herself, and went inside the school, noting absently that her friends were long gone from the steps.
One thing Spencer was actually looking forward to this year was the ability to set her own class schedule more, now that her basic requirements were out of the way. She was taking mostly AP classes and had even allowed herself a study hall.
The bell was just ringing as Spencer slipped inside her first classroom of the day. It was AP Calculus, and as she looked around the room she was unsurprised to see Andrew Campbell, Mona, the usual honors crowd.
There was only one seat left in the small classroom, and it was next to the tall blonde girl from Arkadia. Spencer sighed inwardly – she'd had about all the 'meeting new people' she could take for one day already, but she had no choice and headed over.
"Hey," said the girl with a half-smile as Spencer took her seat. "I'm Clarke."
"Spencer," she replied politely.
"Oh – you're Emily's friend, right?" said Clarke. Spencer nodded, remembering how Emily had done that hair-tuck thing on the steps this morning as Clarke walked by.
Her instinct was to say something protective, to explain what an amazing, damaged, strong young woman Emily was growing into, to threaten Clarke if her intentions were less than pure.
But then she looked into Clarke's blue eyes, and some instinct Spencer couldn't name told her that she could be trusted.
Interesting, Spencer thought, and she catalogued that thought for further examination later.
"Well, it's nice to meet you," Clarke was saying. "Other than Emily, the Rosewood students haven't been super welcoming."
"Emily's special that way," Spencer said, allowing a tiny hint of protectiveness to creep into her voice. Then she softened a bit. "But the rest of them – us – will come around. Just give it time. It's like that girl in the back of the gym said: we're all part of the same crew now."
Clarke looked especially pensive at that. Spencer wished she could read minds because she would have loved to know what Clarke was thinking about in that moment.
But then their teacher started class, and the moment was lost.
The rest of Spencer's morning classes were fairly uneventful, and she found the rhythm and the return to academic rigor comforting.
It was still warm enough to sit outside, and she saw that her three best friends had already grabbed a table. Hanna waved her over, and Spencer sat down with a sigh.
"How's everyone's morning going?" she asked.
"Better than yours?" Hanna guessed. "What?" she said when they all looked at her. "Spencer only sighs like that when she's had to deal with too much change. Or when one of her nerd shows gets pre-empted for sports."
"It's the change thing," Spencer confirmed. "I mean, overall it's fine, but I still don't see how this is all going to play out."
"You mean, how it's going to affect your GPA?" Aria teased. Spencer shot her a look, and she held up her hands in a mocking gesture of peace.
"So, speaking of changing the subject," Spencer said, "Emily, I sat by your new friend in AP Calc today."
"Um, which new friend?" said Emily, all innocence even as her shy smile betrayed her.
"You know, your new platonic friend with the blonde hair and the blue eyes and the long legs?" Spencer teased, nodding in the direction of Clarke's table where she sat with Octavia.
"God, Spencer, it sounds like you have a crush on her," said Hanna, grinning around a mouthful of yogurt.
Aria chimed in. "No, I think someone else has captured Spencer's attention."
Emily snorted. Hanna looked confused for a moment, then said "Oh yeah! Toby 2.0!"
They all looked at her. "What?" she said. "Oh, come on. The motorcycle, the dark hair, the chin dimple?"
"ANYWAY," Spencer said firmly, "at least to Clarke, I'm now officially just 'Emily's friend.'"
Emily grinned and looked down at the table. "She's…nice," she said.
Suddenly, Hanna reached out and grabbed Aria's arm. "Oh my god! There's Caleb!" she said. Aria said, "Ow. Fingernails. And Han – he does go to this school, you know."
Hanna's eyes were locked on Caleb like a laser as he walked by the table where Clarke and her little dark-haired friend were sitting. Her grip on Aria's arm tightened when he flashed a pearly white smile at Clarke's friend, who nodded curtly in return.
"Seriously, fingernails!" said Aria, prying Hanna's hand from her arm and rubbing the spot where Hanna had grabbed her.
Hanna looked around until her eyes fell on the tattooed guy from Polis High, who was sitting alone on a bench at the outskirts of the courtyard. "If you ladies will excuse me," she huffed, "I have a date." She strode over to the bench and flopped down next to him.
"Don't worry, we'll get your tray for you!" Spencer called after her.
Emily looked at Spencer and Aria. "You don't think she actually had a lunch date with that guy, do you?" All three of them burst out laughing as Spencer and Aria said "Noo!" in unison.
Spencer looked at her watch. "Shoot, I have to run!" She had figured out a way to cram one more class in her day, but it meant that she had a shortened lunch period.
Emily was already stacking up Hanna and Spencer's trash on her own tray. "I got this, Spence," she said with a smile.
"You're the best!" said Spencer, and she hurried back inside.
Her afternoon classes went fine. She was still enjoying the familiar feeling of running from class to class, feeling slightly overwhelmed but letting her brain stretch and wake up after the languor of summer. She saw Clarke in a couple more of her classes, and they sat by each other, striking up an easy rhythm like two old friends.
After school, the field hockey team had their first practice of the season, including tryouts to see who would be on the varsity team this year. Spencer went to the locker room to change, and she paused right inside the door as she saw how many girls there were. The usual Rosewood crew was all there, and Spencer nodded to her teammates. There were also several girls she didn't recognize – they must be a mix of Polis and Arkadia students.
"Hey, Spencer!" said Clarke, who was already halfway into her clothes for practice. She nodded at the girl beside her. "Have you met Octavia yet?"
Octavia nodded at Spencer. "Hey."
"Hi," said Spencer. She found the smaller girl's intensity a bit unsettling, which for Spencer Hastings was saying a lot. Spencer found an open locker and started to get her gear out.
Then the locker room door swung open again, and a hush fell over the previously buzzing room.
Spencer's back was to the door, but she was facing Clarke, and she saw Clarke swallow hard as she looked at whoever had just come in.
She turned and saw the girl from Polis who had made the speech in the gym the other night. Spencer was struck by her poise, her commanding presence as she surveyed the room.
"Is this…field hockey tryouts?" the girl said.
Spencer decided to take some control of the situation. "Yes," she said confidently, extending her hand. "I'm Spencer Hastings."
"Lexa," said the newcomer, walking over and shaking Spencer's hand as she fixed her with a piercing gaze. Spencer noticed that Lexa's eyes flicked over her shoulder once, looking at someone behind her.
"You can grab any open locker," said Spencer as the other girls slowly returned to their conversations. She noticed that Lexa didn't have a stick or pads. "Do you have your own gear?"
Lexa shook her head. "No. I've never played field hockey before. But I hadn't selected another fall sport, and this one looked…fun."
Spencer grinned. "Oh, it's definitely fun. Let's go to the coach's office and get you set up."
She introduced Lexa to the coach, then went out on the field to warm up.
Ninety minutes later, Spencer slammed her locker angrily after the most frustrating field hockey practice of her life. She stomped out into the hall, almost colliding with Emily.
"Hey, Spence!" said Emily in surprise. Her hair was still wet from swim practice. "How was practice?"
Spencer grunted. "God, it was awful. Reminded me of the old days, with Alison and Paige." (She shot a glance at Emily.) "Sorry, Em, but they were brutal back then. You remember?" Emily nodded, caught a little off-guard by the reference to her ex.
"But they were nothing compared to that Octavia girl!" Spencer said. "She was unbelievable. She's tiny, but so quick – and she hits like it's ultimate fighting or something, not field hockey. I kept having to remind her that it was a practice, that we're all on the same team now, but she just laughed at me and hit even harder!"
They heard a snort of laughter behind them. Spencer spun around, ready to confront whoever it was. And – of course – it was Motorcycle Guy, the one she'd been trading jabs with since the first time they saw each other.
"Sounds like O is handling herself all right, then," he said with a smirk.
"O? Ah, of course you know her, the little b–" Spencer snapped. Luckily, Emily clapped a hand over her mouth before she could finish that thought.
The guy's face darkened. Spencer shrugged Emily off. "Let me guess – she's your girlfriend?"
"No. She's my sister," he said coldly. "And I hope she taught you a lesson out there today. Seems like you could use it." He walked away without another word.
Emily wordlessly linked her arm with Spencer's, as she always did when she could sense that her friend needed her. "Spence…tomorrow is another day," she said gently.
"Great," Spencer grumbled. "I can't wait."
Next chapter: Clarke!