Hey babes! Back again with a new chapter!
Enjoy!
When the bell rings for lunch, Clarke heads out of her class on the second floor and down to the cafeteria on the first, doing her best to duck and weave through the crowd of students. For the most part, they're all heading toward the same place, except for the few students who are going to another class or another area of the building to simply wait out the lunch period.
As soon as she steps into the cafeteria, she cranes her neck just enough to see what the options for lunch are as she makes her way toward them. The usual options are pizza or burgers, and a salad bar, but they have a fourth option that changes out every few days. And at the current moment, it's Mediterranean food.
She makes a beeline for the salad bar, falling in line behind the few students who are already there. She doesn't have to wait too long for the line to start moving, and she's able to get her food quickly and pay when she reaches the end of the line.
She smiles kindly at the lunch lady as she walks past her and toward the tables, heading straight for their group's usual table at the other end of the room. Bellamy is already there, talking with some of his football teammates while he eats. Two teammates in particular, who also happen to be a couple of her closest friends for nearly as long as she's known Bellamy.
When she's nearly halfway to the table, she gets knocked into from the side, causing her to stumble. Fortunately, she manages to stop herself from falling over and dropping her tray completely. That would have put a dent in an otherwise pleasant first day of school.
When she recovers from her almost tumble, she turns toward the source, finding a wide-eyed brunette watching her, a lunch tray held tightly in her hands.
"Hi," Clarke says, doing her best not to startle the girl. "Are you okay?"
The girl jumps, despite Clarke's best efforts. "I'm so sorry. I should have been paying more attention to where I was going."
Clarke smiles softly. "Hey, it's okay. No harm done. You seem a little on edge, though. Are you okay?"
The girl nods. "I'm fine. I'm just...this is my first time at a public school and someone was supposed to be showing me around, but I think they might have ditched me."
Clarke frowns at the girl's words. She'll have to try and get to the bottom of that later. She turns her frown back into a smile. "I'm sorry you got ditched, that shouldn't have happened. But if you want, I can do my best to help you out and explain anything that might be confusing to you. You can even come and eat lunch with me and some of my friends if you want to."
The girl hesitates. "Um, okay. I'm Maya, by the way. Maya Vie."
"Clarke Griffin. It's very nice to meet you, Maya. I hope other than getting ditched, you're enjoying the school."
Maya offers her a small smile. "I think I am. It's still taking some getting used to after being homeschooled my entire life. But uh...you said I could eat with you and your friends?"
Clarke's eyes go wide for a split second. "Right! Of course. Follow me." She gestures with her head and then continues on her path to the lunch table. Bellamy, Nate, and Murphy had sat at it the first day of their freshman year, and then the following year when Clarke and the others started school with them, it became their table. It's more of an unspoken thing, though. No one else sits there unless they're a freshman or new to the school and have no idea how things work. Thankfully, there's never too much trouble if someone else sits there by accident.
"Hey, guys," she greets her friends as she falls into the open chair next to Bellamy, setting her tray on the table and hanging her backpack off the back of the chair.
Bellamy smiles at her. "Hey. What took you so long?"
"I made a new friend. At least, I hope she's a new friend." She turns to Maya and offers her a smile.
Maya smiles back and nods. "Yeah, I think we're friends now."
"Great." She looks back at the small group gathered. "Everyone, this is Maya Vie, she's new. Maya, these are some of my closest friends." She shifts a little in her seat. "This is Bellamy Blake, one of my best friends in the entire universe and on the varsity football team. Next to him is Nathan Miller, another one of my best friends and also on the football team. Then John Murphy, unfortunately also on the football team and the school's resident asshole."
"Screw you, Clarke," Murphy bites out, though there's no real anger or malice in his tone.
She smiles sweetly at him. "You wish I'd let you." She clears her throat and continues her introductions. "Last but certainly not least, one of the sweetest guys you'll ever meet, Monty Green, vice president of FFA as well as one of the best in the A/V club."
"Um...it's nice to meet you all," Maya says with a shy smile.
"It's nice to meet you too, Maya," Nate speaks up. "We're glad you're here."
"Thanks."
"Hey, guys!" Harper greets them all excitedly as she joins the group. She sets her tray down and sits in the open seat next to Monty, pressing a kiss to his cheek as she does.
Monty smiles. "Hi."
Clarke's eyes go wide at the exchange between her friends. "Hang on. When did this happen?" she asks, gesturing between them. "And why didn't I know?"
A sneaking blush creeps onto Monty's cheeks but Harper just smiles wide. "We just started dating last week," Harper explains. "We were supposed to meet up with Jasper to hang out together, but he got sick so it was just the two of us. We started talking and realized that we've both had a crush on each other for a while. So we decided to give it a shot."
Clarke smiles brightly. "Well, I'm very happy for you both. I've been waiting for this to happen and I'm so glad it finally did." She reaches out to grab one of the carrot sticks from Bellamy's lunch, taking a bite out of it. "Seriously, I thought it was never going to happen. But it explains the more intense than usual heart eyes Monty was giving you this morning."
A throat clearing beside her has her turning to find Bellamy looking at her incredulously. His eyes dart to the carrot in her hand and then back to her eyes.
"What?"
He sighs. "Clarke, you took my carrot."
She shrugs. "I wanted a carrot. I forgot to get some."
"Well, then you should have just dealt with it for today. Those are my carrots, Clarke."
"And for as long as I've known you, you've never had a problem with me taking some of your food every once in a while. Especially when it's something healthy like a carrot." She emphasizes her words by taking another bite of the carrot stick, smiling the whole time.
Bellamy just watches her wordlessly and it takes everything in her not to laugh at the look on his face.
"Mom and Dad's first squabble of the school year, everyone," Murphy's voice breaks her out of the near-staring match she'd been having with Bellamy. "Who had lunchtime on the first day of school? Oh wait, that was me. Fork it over."
Clarke turns to see the others at the table, minus Maya, mumbling to themselves and pulling their respective wallets out.
Murphy's grinning as he collects the cash from their friends, counting it all as he takes it. "Best first day of school ever."
"Wait, you guys were betting on us?" Bellamy asks, his own eyes wide with shock.
Murphy nods like it should have been common knowledge. "Duh. We've got tons of bets riding on you two. Just...we can't share them with you until they happen. Otherwise, it could alter the outcome of said bets."
Clarke raises a brow at her friend. "And I'm assuming you're the one behind all these bets?"
Murphy scoffs. "Clearly."
"He keeps cleaning us all out," Monty complains, shoving his wallet back into his backpack and then slumping down in his seat. "It's not fair."
"I've known Bellamy since kindergarten, and I met Clarke the year after. It's only natural that I'm gonna win all these bets, I've known them the longest."
Nate's brows furrow. "Uh, I think I've actually known them longer. I've known Bellamy since we were three, and I met Clarke the summer before she started kindergarten and we started first grade. You didn't meet her until the actual first day of school. Therefore, I've known them longer."
"Okay. But I actually pay attention to the stuff they do, which allows me to make all these bets and win."
Clarke shakes her head, her eyebrows furrowed together tightly. "Are you guys seriously arguing right now over who has known us longest?"
Nate and Murphy share a look and then nod. "Yeah."
Bellamy laughs. "You guys are ridiculous."
"You're one to talk," Murphy shoots back, giving him a look that makes Clarke immediately confused.
She looks at Bellamy and finds him with narrowed eyes which just makes her confusion grow. There's definitely something going on there that she'll have to figure out later. But she doesn't have the patience for it right now.
"Jasper said he misses you guys," Monty speaks up, his eyes on the screen of his phone. He looks up at them. "He has second lunch and apparently tried to sneak out of class to come and eat with us."
"Did he get caught?" Nate asks.
"Clearly he did if he isn't here," Murphy says back.
Nate turns more in his seat. "You're just begging for someone to hit you right now, aren't you?"
Murphy sits up in his seat, squaring his shoulders. "Give me your best shot, Miller."
"Both of you knock it off," Bellamy says sternly and Clarke promptly ignores the way her stomach flips at the sound of it.
Murphy rolls his eyes. "Sorry, Dad."
Bellamy sighs heavily, shaking his head. "I don't know what to do about those two anymore," he mutters, though Clarke hears it.
Clarke laughs quietly. "You know they're just testing you, right? They know you aren't going to actually do anything so they keep pushing your buttons."
"So why don't you do something about it?" he questions.
Clarke rolls her eyes. "Please. They're not going to listen to me either. Not when I'm always giving them snacks when they get hangry. Though, the snack thing is mostly for Jasper's benefit." She sighs heavily. "It's my own fault, really. We're both too soft. We need to be tougher with them."
"And if we did that, it would probably make things worse because they're not used to it and wouldn't know how to handle it." Bellamy lets out his own sigh. "We'll figure something out."
She smiles, rubbing her hand over his back. "Yeah, we will."
There's a brief lapse of silence around their table, the various other noises from throughout the cafeteria keeping things from being completely quiet. Clarke doesn't mind the quiet, though. Sometimes she enjoys it. Usually when she's sketching and is trying to get whatever picture she's working on just right. And seeing as she's known everyone at the table—except Maya—since she was a kid, she doesn't ever feel awkward when there's a long silence between them.
"So, Bellamy, Clarke, how long have you two been together?"
As if she's been burned, Clarke removes her hand from Bellamy's back the second she feels him stiffen. He sits up and they share a look, then turn their attention to everyone else sitting at the table with them.
Murphy bursts out laughing a second later, Nate chuckling quietly. Harper and Monty are simply smiling. Murphy's laugh draws the attention of a couple of nearby tables for a few moments.
Maya's brows furrow together tightly. "What? Did I say something funny?"
Murphy, still laughing, looks at her. "You're new here so you obviously don't know, but Bellamy and Clarke aren't a couple. Despite everything about the way they are with each other, they're not a couple."
Nate shakes his head. "No, they are not. Clarke already has a boyfriend too. Guy goes to a different school, but they've been dating for several months now, I think."
"But," Murphy cuts back in, "despite all of that, they still act like an old married couple. It's disgusting."
"Shut up, Murphy," Clarke snaps, not quite sure how she feels about what everyone's saying about her relationship with Bellamy. "Bellamy and I are just friends. Best friends."
Murphy leans forward against the top of the table. "So you say." He leans back in his chair without another word, pulling his phone out and focusing on the screen.
"We are," Bellamy insists from beside her, though Murphy just ignores them, his mind clearly not going to be swayed. "We've been best friends since we were six," Bellamy explains for Maya's benefit.
"You were six, actually," Clarke corrects. "I was five, almost six."
Bellamy glances at her. "Is that really the most important thing right now?"
She just shrugs. "I wanted to be clear. Maya's new, she doesn't know us. Is it wrong for me to want to clarify?"
"Of course not. I just didn't think that the ages we were when we met were the most important things to share. All she really needs to know is that we were kids."
Clarke holds her hands up and leans back in her seat. "You're the one who mentioned ages in the first place. If you didn't want me to correct you, you shouldn't have brought it up."
"Is this going to keep happening the entire lunch period?" Murphy asks, rejoining the conversation as he leans forward again to look at them. "Because if it is, let me know now so I can leave so I'm not subjected to this again. For what feels like the millionth time."
Clarke sighs heavily, turning her head to look at her best friend. She tilts her head and gives him a small smile. "Do you forgive me?"
He smiles back. "Always. Do you forgive me?"
"Of course." She looks back at Murphy. "Happy now?"
He deadpans. "Immensely."
"Wow," Maya's quiet voice speaks up. "I'm...I'm really sorry for asking now. I wouldn't have asked if I knew it was going to cause a problem."
Nate shakes his head before either Clarke or Bellamy can answer. "It's not your fault. They're always like this. It's just who they are."
"Seriously, don't worry about it," Clarke tells Maya. "Last year, my first year here, Bellamy and I hung out every chance we got, and apparently it was often enough for people to assume we were dating. They were always asking us. Took most of the year for people to actually believe us when we said we weren't. It helped a little when I started dating Finn."
"It's because the two of you are always glued at the hip whenever you're in a room together," Harper points out, finally throwing her two cents into the discussion. She usually tends to stay out of these conversations. "And you're always touching each other, too. If it weren't for the fact that you already have a boyfriend, it makes sense that the two of you would be together."
"Well, that's never going to happen," Clarke says, letting out a deep breath and stealing another one of Bellamy's carrot sticks.
"She's right," Bellamy says, nodding. "Clarke's my best friend. I love her, but in a platonic sort of way." He looks at Clarke and smiles softly.
She simply smiles back, ignoring the way her stomach twists at his smile.
"Okay, you two," Nate says with a few claps to break them out of their 'moment'. "Enough with the eye sex, please, we're all trying to eat here."
Clarke quickly turns away from Bellamy, scooting her chair closer to the table and focusing on her food, but out of the corner of her eye, she can see the high-five Murphy gives Nate. She ducks her head down as far as she's able without being obvious, hoping no one will see the blush she can feel slowly creeping up her cheeks.
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Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!