"I've never seen someone cram that many pancakes into their mouth at once. And I've lived with you literally my entire life, so I don't even know why I'm surprised."
If Bellamy could have stuck his tongue out at Octavia for that, he probably would have. But he had to settle for kicking her under the table. She yelped.
"Octavia, don't pick on your brother," their mom Aurora said from near the sink, where she was cleaning up the skillet. "And Bellamy, don't kick your sister." She blew a strand of hair out of her face and tried to hide a smile. "I swear, if I didn't raise you myself I'd think you were born in a barn."
"You know you love us, Mom," said Bellamy, as he stood and gulped his orange juice. He put his dishes in the sink and smacked a kiss to their mom's cheek. "I'm going to brush my teeth and get out of here."
"God help me, I do love you two," Aurora said to Octavia as Bellamy hustled out of the kitchen.
"I know you do, Mom," Octavia said, smiling. "Now why don't you sit down and eat something? I'll take care of the dishes."
But her mother waved her off. "Don't worry about it, I got these. I need to leave for work in a few minutes anyway."
Octavia cleared the table and stacked the dishes in the sink as neatly as she could. She knew there was no point trying to argue, never mind the fact that her mom had gotten home from her second job 6 hours ago, crashed for a few hours, and then woken up early to make their favorite breakfast.
"So, is he rushing out of here every morning to see that girlfriend of his?" Aurora said, turning to face Octavia for a minute.
Octavia shrugged. "I guess so."
"Is she nice?"
Octavia shrugged again. "Nice enough. She's kind of…"
…"awesome," Bellamy finished for her, flying back through the kitchen and grabbing a pancake for the road. "Spencer is awesome, Mom. You'd like her. See you!" And he was out the door.
Aurora and Octavia looked at each other, and both shook their heads in that "gotta love him" way they always did.
A little later, Octavia was waiting for Raven right inside the front door. Her mom had just dashed out the door to catch the bus to Job #1, giving Octavia a quick hug as she left.
Raven honked, and Octavia went outside and got in the passenger side. "Hey, kiddo," Raven said with a grin.
"I'm like four years younger than you," Octavia said. "And why are you grinning? It's creepy how happy you are these days."
"I think it's more like five years," said Raven as she drove out of their apartment complex. "And I'm not grinning."
Octavia almost let it go. But not quite. "Is this because of the new "guy" you're seeing?" she said, sounding a little grumpier than she meant to.
"What's with the air quotes?" Raven said. "If you have something to say, just say it."
Octavia wished she'd kept her mouth shut now. "It's nothing," she grumbled, and looked out the window until they got to Clarke's house. Luckily, Raven didn't pursue it (you never knew with her, sometimes she just wouldn't let stuff go).
Octavia slid into the back seat so Clarke could take shotgun, observing their unspoken hierarchy. The three of them had met at Arkadia Academy when Octavia was a freshman, Clarke was a sophomore, and Raven was a senior. They'd instantly connected, Octavia thought probably because their lives were such shitstorms.
Which is why it was so weird that over the past year, Raven seemed to have developed a crush on Clarke's mom. Her MOM! So weird. Octavia wished she could un-notice it, but she always noticed more than people gave her credit for. And lately, signs were pointing to maybe something actually happening there.
It's not that she had a problem with it, exactly – it was more like, Clarke was her best friend, and Raven was her other best friend, and if one of them had the hots for the other one's mom and everyone knew it, that would make things super weird between the three of them. Had to, right?
But whatever, they were at school now, so except for maybe lunch she wouldn't see Clarke at all, and definitely not Raven. The day's weirdness was over.
"You guys need a ride home after practice today?" Raven was asking.
"Yeah," said Clarke. "Do you mind?"
"You know I don't," Raven said. "How about you, O?"
"No, I'm good," Octavia said. They both looked at her. "Why? Are you staying over at Caleb's?" Clarke asked.
"What? No. We don't – we don't do that," Octavia stammered. "I'm just going to take the bus to this gym over by Polis, thought I'd try out a kickboxing lesson and some kid in my econ class recommended it."
"Great," said Clarke, rolling her eyes. "Because you SO needed to be even more intimidating."
Raven laughed as Octavia smacked the back of Clarke's seat. They piled out of the car and Raven drove off, calling "Later, Griffin!" out the window.
"Doesn't she seem happier these days?" Clarke said absently as they headed up to the school.
"Hadn't noticed," mumbled Octavia. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Clarke give her a funny look. Then Octavia saw someone she knew: "Hey, Paige!" she called, escaping the soon-to-be awkward conversation. "See you, Clarke," she said, hurrying to catch up with Paige. She'd pick rude over awkward any day, and she figured that with things getting weird on the Safety Committee, Clarke wouldn't try to keep up.
She was right. But the look on Clarke's face as she rushed off made Octavia feel a little guilty.
"Hey," said Paige as she caught up to her. "Did you just want to talk some smack about how field hockey is so much harder than swimming?"
"No," said Octavia. "I feel like I've already explained that to you like a thousand times. Just thought I'd come say hi, see what's new." She actually had a lot of respect for Paige as a fellow athlete, but they hadn't hung out much.
Paige looked a little surprised. "Um…not much, I guess. Swimming, school, Safety Committee, that's about it for me. I usually get here early to swim in the mornings, but I wasn't feeling it today."
"Does anything fun ever happen around here?" Octavia said.
Paige thought about it for a minute. "Well, the Halloween Train is coming up – have you heard about that yet?" Octavia shook her head. Paige continued, "It's a Rosewood tradition. Sometimes there are bodies in the ice cooler, and I doubt Aria will be going – she had a pretty rough time last year – but I'm sure Caleb would be up for it if you guys wanted to go."
Oh yeah, Caleb! thought Octavia. She hadn't seen him that morning. Usually he was waiting for her on the front steps and they walked in together.
"Halloween Train sounds cool," she said to Paige, pulling out her phone. "See you at lunch maybe?" Paige nodded and headed to her first class.
Octavia paused by the lockers and texted Caleb:
Ravenswood?
Since the first time he'd mentioned his mysterious trips to Ravenswood, Caleb hadn't brought it up again and Octavia hadn't asked. Of course she'd been curious – who wouldn't be? – but she wasn't really the prying kind, and he wasn't really the sharing kind. So it just sat there, this unspoken thing between them, this secret place.
The hallway was almost empty now – the first bell had already rung, and the second one would ring any minute. Octavia leaned against the wall for a minute in case Caleb texted her back before class started.
The front door of the school banged open, and Bellamy and Spencer ran in, hand in hand, cheeks rosy from the October chill. "Are we late?" Bellamy panted, seeing Octavia. She shook her head. "Almost, though."
Then she gave him her best judge-y look. "Question: if you left before me…why are you guys getting here so late?" Bellamy actually flushed a little at that and muttered, "It's not what you think," and Spencer laughed at his response.
Octavia turned to her then. "So, will this be the first time Spencer Hastings has ever been late for class?" Spencer seemed to think about it for a minute. "Maybe…the second time." Then she ducked her head a little and grinned up at Bellamy. "Okay, it actually is the first."
Octavia had to admit, that was pretty cute. Things had started out a little rough between her and Spencer – Rosewood High seemed to have far more than its share of alpha females this year – but lately, they'd been thawing a bit. Spencer and Clarke had a bunch of classes together and had become good friends, and of course she was dating Octavia's brother. So there were reasons to make an effort.
Also, Spencer had held her own when Octavia grilled her about Bellamy at The Brew one time, and (although she would never admit it), Octavia had been as surprised as anyone when she got field hockey captain over Spencer. The girl had mad skills on the field.
So, all in all, things between them were a little complicated but mostly okay.
"What are you doing out here, O?" Bellamy was asking, even as he grinned at Spencer's admission that she'd never been late to school before.
"Waiting for a text," said Octavia. "But I don't think it's coming, so I'm just going to head to class. See you guys later." She walked off, mentally high-fiving herself for not rolling her eyes when they kissed each other goodbye.
The second bell rang as she slid into her seat, still in a thoughtful mood. She was glad to see Bellamy so happy. He'd always had a way with the ladies (as he loved to remind everyone) – he'd even hooked up with Raven one time, she remembered suddenly – but she'd never seen him in a serious relationship before. It brought out a different side of him, a side no one but she and her mom usually got to see, the side where he secretly liked to read books by dead philosophers, the side where he was really sweet.
Their dad was out of the picture. He'd barely been happy with one kid, and as soon as Aurora told him she was pregnant again, he split. Octavia had never even met him, but she was sure it wouldn't have helped if he'd known she was a girl.
Bellamy helped raise her, even though he was only a little more than a year older. Their mom had always worked multiple jobs to support her family, so it was just the two of them a lot of the time. And when they both got scholarships to Arkadia, it brought them even closer – even though Octavia knew it wasn't true, at times it felt like the Blakes vs. the rich kids whose parents were paying for them to go there.
So they got along better than most siblings. You couldn't help but like Bellamy, even if you were his little sister and he was sometimes overprotective.
That reminded her: maybe Caleb had texted her back. She checked her phone. He hadn't.
And Octavia was not a needy person in any sense of the word, but that kinda pissed her off.
The rest of the day passed pretty uneventfully, and Octavia got swept up in the rhythm of class-class-class-lunch-class-class-class.
At field hockey practice, she and Spencer were unstoppable, and when their coach complimented them on their teamwork they shared an exhausted grin.
Octavia didn't bother showering after practice since she'd just be getting sweaty again at kickboxing. She threw her pads in her locker and went out to catch the bus.
When she got to the gym, she had to double-check the address in her phone. It was a nondescript, kind of run-down brick building. But inside, it was well-lit, a little shabby, maybe, but the equipment looked like they kept it up well. A man and a woman were sparring in the center ring, but Octavia didn't pay them much attention.
A bearded guy came over and greeted her. "I'm Gustus," he said in a friendly, booming voice as Octavia shook his hand. "Octavia," she said, taking an instant liking to him.
"Ah! You're my kickboxing lesson!" said Gustus. He gestured for her to set her backpack down, clapped her on the back (laughing when she apologized for being sweaty), and guided her over to where a bag was hanging. "You know what to do with one of these?" he asked.
In response, Octavia planted her feet, put her hands up, and threw six quick punches at the bag. Gustus threw his head back and laughed. "Not bad!" he said. "You're quick, and there's some power there too. I can see that you know how to throw a punch. You know how to kick, too?"
Octavia shook her head. "That's why I'm here."
Gustus said, "All right, let's get you started on a workout." Just then, someone came in the door. "Excuse me just a second," Gustus said. Then he called "Hey! Lincoln!" and now Octavia finally looked to the middle of the room, at the couple who'd been sparring. Sure enough, it was two kids from her school – Lincoln and Hanna.
Octavia was a little surprised – not to see Lincoln, he looked like he lived in a gym, but to see Hanna. Hanna was the kind of girl Octavia had no opinion about. They just didn't seem to live in the same world. But there Hanna was, waving at her now that she and Lincoln had put their gloves down. (Which was weird, right? Why would she wave at Octavia happily when Octavia was dating her ex?)
Lincoln came over. He nodded to Octavia.
Gustus said, "Can you please show my new friend Octavia here our first bag workout while I go help the gentleman who just came in?"
Lincoln nodded again. "Five low, five high each side, jabs, hooks, knees?"
"You got it," Gustus said. Then he walked over and greeted the new customer, leaving Lincoln and Octavia alone.
They looked at each other for a second. Octavia could see a thin sheen of sweat from Lincoln's workout with Hanna. She was suddenly aware of how she probably looked (and smelled), too. And she felt, rather than saw, Hanna watching them from the ring in the center.
Lincoln broke the moment by clearing his throat. "Okay," he said. "Did you catch all that?"
Octavia cracked a smile. "Five low, five high…then you lost me after that." She thought she saw an answering smile in how his eyes crinkled.
While Gustus talked with the other customer, Lincoln demonstrated each move for her, getting Octavia to repeat his actions and quietly giving her feedback. When she could do all the moves to his satisfaction, he listed the combo for her again and had her give it a try.
Hanna cleared her throat loudly, and Lincoln looked over and gave her a tiny shrug. "Gustus," he said. "You ready?"
Gustus came over. "How's it going, Octavia?" She grunted in response, throwing her whole body into each punch, each kick. She vaguely noticed as Lincoln went back to the ring, heard Hanna say something to him but didn't much care. This felt GOOD.
She worked out with Gustus until the hour was up. Lincoln and Hanna had left at some point. Gustus shook her hand again and said he was looking forward to working with her. They agreed that Octavia would come by twice a week and some Saturdays.
Octavia left feeling better than she had in a while. She'd forgotten all about being mad at Caleb, so when he texted her:
Yeah, I'm so sorry, things here got crazy. You okay?
She had to take a minute to remember what he was talking about. Then she smiled, thinking back to her time at the gym, and tapped out a reply:
Yep. I really am.
Next chapter: Hanna!