Chapter Text
Clarke
Clarke along with Bellamy and Octavia had been given sometime to settle into the house and get used to how things were going to be now however it had been a few days so that was over. There was still unpacking to be done as well as more things that needed to be sorted in terms of the house but in a sense they had now moved in so each of them had to go back to school or in reality start going to their new school.
Having gotten dressed into what was her new school uniform Clarke looked at her self in the mirror that had been inside her bedroom when she had picked a room and frowned. Clarke had known she would be going to a new school of course but she hadn’t quite expected this, her last school hadn’t had much of a dress code so looking at herself in the mirror now was something she found kind of jarring. It wasn’t that she looked bad, the plaid skirt Clarke had put on was flattering in terms of her hips which was a part of her body Clarke could be self-conscious about sometimes and the school skirt plus the jacket looked alright but it was more the impression the whole looked seemed to send in her mind.
A school uniform like this was the kind of uniform you wore when you went to a certain kind of school and that was what made Clarke want to frown. Her last school had by no means been some kind of dump but at the very least there had been some variety there as had been evident by Bellamy and the people he liked to hang around with so things had been kind of down to earth. Looking at herself now though Clarke did not have high hopes for Polaris high being the same, seeing herself in her uniform Clarke had a pretty good idea what kinds of kids would be hanging around Polaris high.
Standing back now but still with her eyes on her full length mirror Clarke tried to think of a way that the concerns she was having right now might not be something she needed to worry about but she was failing. As a pose to what Bellamy probably thought Clarke did not prioritise statis or the things that went along with that, she did not enjoy the sort of stuff a lot of rich kids seemed to enjoy, Clarke just didn’t see wealth as something to be lorded over other people. However looking at herself now Clarke did worry that she might now be going to a school that was full of kids that were actually like that and that concerned her.
Pulling her eyes away from her mirror now Clarke looked around the room that was now her bedroom which at this point she had more or less finished moving into. When they had all been picking rooms Clarke had found this one and being since it had a brass c on the door she had picked this one and so far Clarke was pleased with her decision. There was a lot of space for one thing, there was an on sweet bathroom and a walk in closet that was clearly meant for two and the room it’s self was a wide sweeping space so Clarke had been able to find a lot of places to put books and art stuff. The furniture was nice too, the room had already had things like an antique dresser, four poster bed and book case inside when Clarke had picked out the room, the room was clearly meant for two people but Clarke didn’t mind that.
Letting out a resigned sigh as she remembered what Bellamy had decided to say when he had seen the room she had picked out and what he would no doubt say about her in relation to their new school Clarke started to move out of her room. She was ready for school and all that now so as much as Clarke would have liked to just forget about today she might as well go and meet the day head on.
Trying to smile as she stepped out of her bedroom the idea being she could try and remain positive Clarke had to quickly ovoid several boxes that were almost right in front of her room. They had all managed to see to a lot of boxes over the last few days but there was still a lot to be done so as Clarke made her way downstairs she had to be careful to ovoid boxes that were currently sitting at intervals around the house.
Reaching the stairs and beginning to walk down them heading to the ground floor Clarke lost her attempt at a smile right away as she looked down and saw who was just ahead of her on the stairs. Clarke tried to slow down so she didn’t have to cross paths with Bellamy but no doubt sensing movement he turned and seeing her a few paces behind him he slowed down in turn so he was able to come alongside her.
As they slowly moved along side each other Bellamy openly looked Clarke up and down so as not to show weakness or anything like that Clarke did just the same looking Bellamy up and down. Like her Bellamy was ready for school and Clarke had to admit Bellamy looked annoyingly good in the boys school uniform, the trousers and jacket made him look every bit to tall dark and handsome guy he outwardly appeared to be. It was a shame that was all it was really, Bellamy Blake might look like a handsome guy who could be your night in shining amour but really Bellamy Blake was more like the black knight that would steal you away.
‘Well princess,’ Bellamy smiled as they ended up walking next to each other ‘don’t you look like something, you look exactly like the little rich girl we both know you are.’
‘Ha ha ha,’ Clarke said rolling her eyes as she responded to Bellamy letting sarcasm drip off her voice ‘you know your going to the same school I am, what exactly does that make you?’
‘Well Polaris high is a place where some rich kids go,’ Bellamy continued still mocking her as they walked down stairs slowly side by side ‘but not all of them are going to be rich, there are guys like me I’m sure at Polaris so I’m one of them.’
‘Already planning your take over I see,’ Clarke countered smiling seeing a way she could respond to that ‘aren’t you assuming a lot of things there Bellamy, you don’t know if your going to be able to find people to be in some possie of yours.’ Bellamy as long as Clarke had known him had always had a group of people around him he more or less led who did all sorts of stuff together but she doubted Bellamy could just recreate that instantly here with new people, friendship didn’t work that way.
‘I’m only going to be going to Polaris high for a year Clarke,’ Bellamy said shrugging as they got close to the bottom of the stairs now ‘I’m not going to be looking for super friends today, just friends.’ Having said that Bellamy paused for a moment seemingly considering something ‘besides Clarke,’ he added grinning slightly ‘I bet your planning on somehow doing that kind of thing yourself, what groups are you going to be joining here?’
‘I don’t have any plans of joining anything right now,’ Clarke frowned as they both reached the bottom of the stairs ‘I might look at what stuff they have but I don’t have any plans.’ It was the truth she probably would look what kinds of groups Polaris high had to offer but Clarke wasn’t planning on trying to replicate the sort of itinerary she had once had here she felt like to much of a different person for that.
There had been a time Clarke liked having a packed schedule, all together all her various groups cheerleading, art club, school council, med club and spirit committee had taken up a lot of her time and Clarke had liked it that way. With the exception of maybe cheerleading and med club which were both things her mum had made her take on Clarke had rather liked all of her group so there was that but also after she and Bellamy had been forced into a living arrangement it meant less time in the house. Things were different now though, Clarke would probably see if there was an art club or something like that but that was going to be it because in spite of everything she wasn’t looking to avoid home anymore if just because she wanted to spend time with Madi.
Clarke would have continued talking all this over with Bellamy and she was sure he would have done the same but just then her mum and Bellamy’s kind of dad both appeared to one side of the pare of them distracting them both. ‘Now don’t you to look the picture of a friendly brother and sister,’ Clarke’s mum said as way of greeting them smiling something of an aggressive smile as she acted like Clarke and Bellamy were blood even though they weren’t.
‘Stepsiblings,’ Bellamy said before Clarke had chance to say it her self-voicing the word she was sure they were both thinking addressing the so called adults in each of there lives. Both her mum and Marcus could have there moments but frankly Clarke did not really have a good opinion of either of them, she was supposed to be the teenager but sometimes she felt like she was the mature one.
‘Bellamy,’ Marcus began speaking in response to Bellamy’s use of that word neither he nor Clarke’s mum liked using ‘you and Clarke are siblings, you can call it whatever you like but that is the truth.’ His tone of voice was soft but there was an edge to Marcus’s voice that made it clear who was in control ‘we are a family,’ Marcus added keeping on with his rebuttal ‘and that is what your mum was trying to say.’
Upon hearing that Bellamy opened his mouth ready for a fight no doubt but sensing that Clarke quickly grabbed hold of his arm and started pulling at him to move towards the front door as well as saying they should start moving. Bellamy didn’t follow Clarke’s lead on much but it did happen sometimes and thankfully family stuff was a time it did tend to happen so he did move with her as Clarke pulled him out the front door.
Clarke didn’t care if Bellamy and his kind of dad argued after all it was as she understood it the kind of thing young men did when it came to their elders however things blowing up this mourning would not be a good start to the day so Clarke wanted to avoid that. Plus it had actually been decided that Bellamy would be the one to drive Clarke and Octavia to school today so the last think Clarke needed was the guy who was her ride getting in a bad mood.
Stepping outside and moving into the court yard with Bellamy at her side and there so called parents trailing behind them Clarke saw that Octavia and Madi were both already outside. Octavia for her part was just standing next to Marcus’s car which would be the one Bellamy would be driving them to school in playing around with her phone which was normal so Clarke didn’t pay her much attention, Madi on the other hand was a different matter.
Stepping out of the front door Clarke had a free unobstructed view of the fields around Griffin house so as she moved towards the car which was parked near the barn right now Clarke saw where Madi was and what she was doing right away. Currently Madi was walking around the field going up to each well in turn and looking down into them seemingly looking for something with a rather determined look on her face that really drew Clarke’s attention.
Saying about wanting to say goodbye to Madi Clarke started to move towards her eleven-year-old step sister walking across the field just as Madi stopped at a new well. This wasn’t actually new, Madi for some reason had gotten interested in all the wells that were dotted around the house and as a result she had spent a lot of time out here over the last few days exploring them. She had been asking about them too, asking questions such as why there were so many which beyond the obvious Clarke sadly didn’t have an answer for. When it came to the history of the house at best Clarke just knew broad strokes like how parts of the house went back hundreds of years so beyond that Clarke really didn’t know so there was nothing for her to tell.
‘What you looking for,’ Clarke asked now as she reached Madi who was still rather determinedly looking down one of the wells which was really just a mass of pilled up stones.
‘I’m trying to see if there is anything down there,’ Madi said in a rather matter of fact tone not even looking up to face Clarke as they spoke.
‘O really,’ Clarke nodded upon hearing that trying to hold back a smile, she would ask about what exactly Madi was looking for but she already had an idea. ‘Even if you really did see butterflies come out of one of these things,’ Clarke continued trying to be nice to the child ‘it wouldn’t necessarily mean that there is anything especially weird going on, bugs do strange stuff sometimes.’
This statement got Madi’s attention ‘do you really believe I saw butterflies come out of one of the wells,’ she asked looking at Clarke now her tone and expression pointed.
Clarke let out a sigh at hearing Madi’s question because honestly she didn’t, a few days ago now Madi had talked about how she had seen butterflies explode out of one of the wells one night which was honestly a little hard to believe. Clarke knew from her own experience that dreams could sometimes get you confused if things happened in the right way so she like everyone did think that was what had happened with Madi but that was a position Madi didn’t appreciate.
‘I think it’s possible,’ Clarke tried finally after some thought ‘but that’s not really why I came over here,’ she added quickly deciding that she would rather change the subject now. ‘I’m going to be off to school,’ Clarke continued looking down at Madi ‘so I wanted to come over here and say goodbye to you before I and the others go.’
‘Alright,’ Madi shrugged in response to this moving away from the well towards Clarke now ‘goodbye Clarke,’ she said wrapping her arms around Clarke in a rather pointed kind of hug.
Clarke hadn’t been expecting the hug so she just stood there her arms trapped as she and Madi embraced but once Madi broke away she returned the hug with one of her own where she leaned down and embraced Madi herself. There was a moment where they each just remained there embracing but they broke the hug soon enough and once they did Clarke left Madi to her own devices and started to walk back towards the court yard where the others were waiting.
Walking back Clarke could see that Bellamy was standing by Marcus’s car looking directly at her in an expectant kind of way which was not a sight Clarke liked to see, the prospect of Bellamy Blake driving her to school was not something she was looking forward to so as she walked towards him Clarke looked away. Getting close to the courtyard now Clarke looked all around her as she moved, all together there were six buildings that surrounded the house although to call some of them buildings was generous.
The garage and the barn were both sturdy looking buildings the garage especially but the other out buildings weren’t nearly as well maintained from what Clarke could see. The small in comparison to the other building green house for one still looked functional but what was inside was an overgrown mess of bushes and leaves so it wasn’t a pretty sight but it still looked good when compared to other buildings. There were two small brick buildings that Clarke would guess had once been workshops or storehouses of some kind but neither had a roof so they were each just a ruin of what had once been that and that wasn’t everything. Close to the main house there was what could best be described as a rickety shack that might well once have been something but that day had long since past and now it was just a puzzle of wooden planks.
If Clarke hadn’t already known she would have known Griffin house was old just by looking at the outbuildings that surrounded the house, each building was a sign of how long the house had been here. The ruined brick buildings for one looked to be at least a good fifty years old from what Clarke could tell possibly more so, looking around Clarke was sure that Griffin house really did go back as far as she had heard. Personally she wasn’t sure if she cared either way but Clarke would admit it gave her pause, it was something for her to think about which is what she wanted right now, a good distraction from Bellamy.
Getting to the car now Clarke stopped in front of Bellamy and just stared at him, she could have just gotten in but she didn’t want to leave herself open to some kind of princess comment which that could have done. Clarke didn’t say anything either though deciding to remain silent as she stood there looking right into Bellamy’s eyes, today was probably going to be tuff so she didn’t want to start it off with some blow up argument when it came to Bellamy. If he said something to try and get at her she would defend herself ignoring ones bully didn’t work but she wasn’t going to go starting anything herself today so Clarke remained where she was silently waiting for Bellamy to make the first move thinking thoughts she had in relation to the house over as she did so.
Bellamy for his part glared right back at Clarke but his stance quickly faltered, he didn’t say anything either but he looked from Clarke to her mum and Marcus who were both looking at them silently as well to Octavia who was inside the car. As he laid eyes on his sister Clarke saw Bellamy’s expression soften ‘you ready to go then Clarke,’ he asked looking back at Clarke now making an effort at smiling as he said this apparently trying to be nice to her right now.
Clarke could tell that Bellamy was only trying to be nice today because of his sister but she wasn’t really bothered by the why, if Bellamy had decided to be nice she would take it whatever. ‘Yes I’m ready,’ Clarke said making a point to smile opening the car door she was closest to now and getting in side closing the door behind her as she did this not waiting for Bellamy to say anything else.
Not saying anything either Bellamy got in side the car as well, there was a moment where they waved to Madi and there so called parents but then they were off with Bellamy driving away from the house that sat in the middle of fields in turn surrounded by trees. Looking around as Bellamy drove them away from Griffin house Clarke not for the first time wondered about the land that surrounded the house and what the story was behind all that.
The land that came a long with the house wasn’t super massive but it was big, the land was big enough that it made up a few good sized fields worth around the house and it didn’t end there either. There was a treeline that surrounded the fields that wasn’t by any means small and even though that was where things ended there was still supposed to be a bit of coast line to one side of the house beyond a certain tree line so there was quite a bit really. None of this land was currently being used though and it didn’t look like it had been used in any real way for a very long time except to dig wells so Clarke really had to wonder what was the story behind all this.
As the car moved along various isolated roads Clarke along with her step siblings remained silent which was something that was just fine by Clarke really however it proved not to be fine by Bellamy. ‘Well first day,’ he said from the drivers seat his tone making it clear he was making an effort to be positive ‘all three of us are going to be wanting to make good impressions today, with the right first impression we could all make friends here.’
Hearing that Clarke had to make an effort not to laugh, she knew Bellamy well enough to know he didn’t believe that, in fact he hated being here so it really was something hearing him making a show of pretending. ‘So your going to try not to be an ass,’ Clarke called at Bellamy smiling, after a statement as clearly forced as that a little light mocking was called for in Clarke’s mind.
‘And I guess your going to try not to be a stuck up rich kid princess,’ Bellamy countered, his voice was light though so Clarke could tell he was just mocking her in a light way as well. With this in mind Clarke opened her mouth to remark about Bellamy maybe being able to find other insecure little boys continuing there light mocking banter which was something they did manage sometimes but Octavia spoke first.
‘Whatever happens today,’ Octavia began sounding depressed looking up from her phone ‘it won’t be the same, this isn’t home you two, not while we are so far away from our people.’
Clarke didn’t have to guess what Octavia was getting at there, she was talking about Lincoln and getting all self-pitying about that fiasco again. As Octavia was fond of saying the age difference between her and Lincoln wasn’t massive but the man had been in his twenties and Octavia was still just a teenager so it was actually illegal in spite of how Octavia tried to justify it. There were a lot of ways Clarke disagreed with her mum and Marcus the move for example there were a lot of reasons for it Clarke did not see as good reasons but moving Octavia away from the grown man she had been having an affair with was one Clarke agreed with.
‘Part of why we are here is because of you O,’ Bellamy said apparently sensing what Octavia had been getting at as well ‘you didn’t really think people were just not going to say or do anything when they found out did you?’
‘Your to blame to Bellamy,’ Octavia said in response to that her voice getting louder now not even addressing Bellamy’s question directly ‘you being an idiot is part of why we’re here to.’
‘You can blame me if you like Octavia,’ Bellamy countered his voice stone ‘I don’t like being here either and I know I bare some of the blame here but you being away from that man is one of the few things I’m glad of.’
That ended up causing something of an argument between Clarke’s two step siblings that lasted for the most of the drive so Clarke was left to just observe the town as they passed by various buildings moving from the outskirts of the town to the main area of it. Like griffin house the town was old with a history that went back along way so looking around buildings as they passed by Clarke saw more than a few that looked really old, that was all though because there were also modern buildings.
There was money within the town thanks to a few things such as it’s place by the sea and tourism as well as other things so as a result new buildings had been built within the space the town occupied which in turn meant the town was a patch work of all kinds of buildings. As the car moved through the town Clarke saw buildings of just glass sitting right next to buildings that were a mass of stone work and that wasn’t it either there were all buildings that were built up of wood planking that sat next the house of modern brick work. All in all the town was actually a rather beautiful place that got Clarke’s artistic mind considering all kinds of ideas in terms of her art but sadly that did also lead to her wondering why her dad had never brought her back here for a visit growing up.
Clarke had been telling people that she didn’t know anything about her dads side of the family and that he hadn’t told her anything real for what felt like a really long time at this point without anyone really believing her but she really didn’t know anything. When she had been really young her dad had just told her fun made up stories when she had asked but as she had gotten older that had turned him in to changing the subject when ever she had asked and never giving her a real answer. Clarke had always thought he would tell her the real stories that were behind things like the house so she hadn’t really pushed it but now Clarke kind of wished she had because maybe if she had she might actually have something to say when people asked.
It took a bit of time for Bellamy to drive them all across town to Polaris high which was going to be there school now but he got them all there eventually and the moment he did Clarke was immediately drawn in by the site of the place. Clarke had been shown pictures of the place but they hadn’t done the place much justice, Polaris high was a collection of several large old stone buildings that had clearly been here for a long time so honestly it kind of had a bit of a magic school vibe that Clarke right away loved.
‘Things are looking up, this place actually looks rather nice,’ Clarke remarked as Bellamy pulled them into an empty space in the parking area that a sign said was for students really enjoying the site of Polaris high in this moment. She still had more than a few concerns about the place such as what her fellow students might be like but looking at Polaris high in this moment Clarke also had a little bit of a sense of wonder so as they all got out the car she tried to hold on to that wanting to start things off in a positive way.
‘Kind of place a princess is born to go to, hay,’ Bellamy remarked responding to Clarkes words locking up the car once they had all gotten out apparently deciding now was a good time to have a go at her.
‘Sure does,’ Clarke said turning to face Bellamy not prepared to turn the other cheek on that one ‘however it also looks like the kind of place self-righteous ass holes with a persecution complex go as well sadly, hay.’ Clarke knew that one was a low blow but frankly Bellamy had started it and with the anxiety she had about how to day was most likely going to go she was entirely ready to go lower if Bellamy wanted to fight her.
Bellamy opened his mouth to respond but Octavia spoke first ‘see you two later,’ she said quickly moving away from them both at a fast pace, probably wanting to get away from both of them while they were distracted Clarke would guess. Ever since Clarke and Bellamy had walked in on Octavia and that teacher, she hadn’t spent much time with either of them if she could ovoid it, she blamed them Octavia knew for her forced break up with Lincoln.
Unsure about where things would stand now Clarke turned away from watching Octavia go to look at Bellamy but he disappeared as well without even a word leaving Clarke to her own devices. ‘Bye then,’ Clarke called sarcastically watching Bellamy go feeling exasperated at having her step siblings just run off like that but honestly it was probably better for everyone that they did that.
Alone now Clarke looked around at all of what were now her fellow students moving into the school as the mourning got going wondering if any of them were worth getting to know or if they were just stuck up rich kids. Clarke was trying to be positive here in this moment but she did also know that a certain kind of person could end up at a place like this so looking for someone to maybe try and talk to in the vain of making friends was a challenge. As it turned out though Clarke didn’t have to look around for long because as she started walking towards the school Clarke heard a familiar voice call out to her by name.
Turning as she heard the voice Clarke saw a tall dark skinned girl coming towards her looking pleased to see her, ‘Raven,’ Clarke greeted hugging the girl who was her cousin. Up until right now Clarke had never been able to spend time with her cousin but things might well be different now so as she and Raven started walking in together Clarke found she actually had a good feeling about the day that was to come.
+++ It can only take a day for your life to change, seems a strange idea but sometimes that’s all it takes for your life to completely change. Day’s like that a rare but I know from experience when they come along they have a way of starting off in a strangely normal way, my first day at Polaris hight being a great example of just that. +++