Chapter Text
Lexa is 21 years old. She finished up her Bachelors degree a semester early and hasn’t quite figured out what the next step is. She thought that maybe teaching would be something she would enjoy. That is how she ended up being a substitute teacher. She got lucky when a long-term substitute teaching spot became available. She had done a few substitute-teaching jobs and the principle’s seemed to really like her work. So when one of the teachers at Polis High went on maternity leave, Lexa was offered the job. She was coming in two months late on the new school year, so she would have to figure things out and fast. It should be simple, she was well known for her routines and strict schedules. Her student’s usually listen to her, so she hopes this year would go just as smoothly.
Her cousin Anya decided to take her out for a drink to celebrate. After a long protest, she finally gave in to have one drink with her. They made their way to a small, low-key bar that she has never been to. She sat at the counter and her eyes caught sight of a beautiful blonde in front of her with piercing blue eyes.
“What can I get for you ladies?” the blonde asked, stopping in front of the two.
Lexa was mesmerized by the smile that took place on the girl’s face. It wasn’t a full-blown smile, but rather a polite kind one that Lexa was grateful for. If it was a full blown smile she wouldn’t have been able to function.
Anya got the impression that Lexa was not going to be giving the order any time soon so she took over. “Two whiskeys on the rocks please.”
“You got it.” The blonde stated before placing two cups in front of them and pouring their drinks. “It’s kind of busy tonight so just flag me down to let me know if there is anything else I can get you. Have a great night ladies.” And just like that the blonde was off to cater to the remaining customers.
Anya turned to Lexa, “What was that about?”
“What was what about?” she asks feigning innocence.
“You going all quiet on me when she came to take our order.” Anya said as if it were obvious.
“Nothing, let’s just get back to our drinks and you can give me more advice to prepare me for tomorrow.” With that Lexa stole one last glance over to the blonde before putting her out of her mind.
//
“Good Morning class. I am Miss Woods and I will be your teacher for the remainder of this psychology course. For the purpose of my first time in this class with you folks, I will take roll to get to know your names.”
“Hey our new teacher is way hotter than the last!” Raven smiled.
“Don’t even think about it Rae!” Octavia warned.
“Hey calm down, I just was stating a fact, don’t you agree she’s hot Clarke?” The brunettes turned their attention to their friend who did not hear a word they said because she was fast asleep with her head down on her desk.
They both gave each other a look of concern.
“She worked last night and I heard it was busy so she must have not gotten a lot of sleep last night” Octavia pointed out.
“I don’t know how she can work so much and still pass her classes. It’s our senior year, I wish she could just relax.” Raven sighed.
“We both know she can’t do that.” Octavia stated with a soft gaze towards the blonde.
“I know, but we will figure something out.” Raven said determined.
“Clarke. Clarke Griffin.” Lexa spoke as she called out roll.
No response.
Raven elbowed Clarke to try to get her to wake up to respond to roll call, but she may have done it a little too hard when it sent Clarke tumbling out of her seat landing straight on her butt.
“WHAT THE HECK RAE” She yelled before she realized all eyes were on her.
“Roll call” Raven shrugged while giving her an apologetic look.
Lexa could not see what had happened. She heard a loud noise and next thing she knew a student is on the ground. She saw that the desk was the one where a student was sleeping when she walked in. Unfortunately, the desk was blocking the student so she could not see them.
“Are you going to sit on the ground all day, Miss…” Lexa trailed off so that the woman would get the hint to state her name.
“Griffin”
Lexa heard as she came face to face with the girl from the bar. Her eyes grew bigger and she had to restrain her jaw from dropping to the floor. She could not let her student’s see her surprise so she quickly schooled her features and went on with roll. ‘The woman from the bar, well the girl from the bar is my student? How is she even working there? She is underage. OH my gosh! I checked out one of my students. Actually no, I didn’t I just appreciated her beauty for 3 seconds, that is all’
//
“Griffin” Clarke stated as she got up off the ground. She locked onto a green-eyed brunette. Clarke was mentally kicking herself. This woman was the one from the bar. ‘Shit she must be the new substitute teacher and she saw me working at the bar! No …no..no..no..no’
She started hitting her head lightly on the table.
“Clarke? What’s wrong?” Octavia asked concern evident in her voice.
“Our new teacher was at the bar last night. She saw me working!” Clarke whispered to her friends.
“Shit! Uhm maybe she got drunk and forgot? We’ll figure something out Clarke!” Octavia tried comforting her.
“Thanks O, but I only served them one drink so I’m pretty sure I’m screwed.” Clarke sighed, but inside she was screaming.
She usually did well in her classes or as well as she could. She needed to. Her father died 5 months ago. The house they lived in reminded her mom of their father so they rented an apartment instead. Soon her mother could not handle seeing her daughter and son everyday. They reminded her of him too much or that’s what the letter said. It has been three months and still no word from her. Clarke thought it would be just a passing thing, her mom would come back home, but each day a little bit of her hope died. She hasn’t told anyone except her friends. She could not let the word get out or they would take her and her younger brother away. Most days were lonely, so some nights she would spend at Raven’s or Octavia’s, but not a lot. She didn’t want their parents getting suspicious. So they all kept her secret and did everything they could to help.
Clarke would keep up her grades so that she could graduate and have legal guardianship of her 12-year-old brother. She also worked a lot to make money for food and supplies. They were just barely getting by, but so far they were surviving. She didn’t have a chance to properly mourn her father’s death because she had to always stay focused on her and Aden’s survival. Some days if she stopped to think about it she would get overwhelmed, thankfully most days she did not have the energy or time to do so. All the teachers here knew about her father’s death and therefore, let her just be. She hated their pity, but it got them off her back for the most part. She just hopes that the woman in front of her doesn’t decide to do something rash like call the police on her for being underage in a bar. It took everything in her to focus on the topic being discussed and not what laid ahead for her after the bell.
//
The students seemed to test her to see what kind of teacher she was. Most substitute teachers can be pushovers or not even care whether or not the students show up, but not Lexa. A few students made inappropriate comments and she assigned them each an essay to write as well as detention. She used her commanding voice to give them a lesson on maturity and this seemed to get the student’s back into focus. They tested her and she succeeded.
The rest of the class went smoothly. No one interrupted her or the class again. The students took her seriously even though she was young herself.
“I need you to purchase this book.” Lexa held up a copy of the book she mentioned. “It will be used for your next few homework assignments as well as projects. It is about $20 dollars, so fairly cheap. I expect it by next class with the first chapter read.”
The whole class erupted with a groan.
“Shall I make it two chapters?” She lifted an eyebrow in question.
The class fell silent.
“I thought so.” Lexa stated as the bell rang. Student’s started piling out of her classroom and the one who seemed to be tying to escape the fastest was the blonde.
“Miss Griffin, a word.”
//
Clarke was just about over the threshold of the door when Miss Woods summoned her. She looked over at her teacher then back at Raven and Octavia. They both shot her a sympathetic look before muttering a “Good luck. We will see you at lunch.”
Her friends quickly exited the room. She herself was in no rush for this talk so she slowly turned and made her way over. She was trying to think of a reason to leave, any. She needed to be as far away from this teacher. Just as she reached the desk where Miss Woods was sitting, she took in the woman’s appearance. She had brown hair with waves in them. Her hair seemed to be naturally curly, but she must have straightened it. Her jawline was sharp, but her most prominent feature was those green eyes. A part of her felt comfortable looking into those eyes and another part of her felt scared to death.
“I actually have to go..uhm.. to the..library..yah the library right now to ..get something before my next class.” Clarke tried to sound convincing, but failed ‘Stupid..stupid..stupid..the library?’
Miss Woods was not buying it.
“Sit down Miss Griffin.” Lexa said in a stern voice.
‘Well it was worth a shot’ Clarke thought.
Clarke took a seat on a chair by the desk. She decided it would be best to not make eye contact so she stared at her hands while she fiddled with her fingers.
“Miss Griffin…” Lexa started to say, but was cut off.
“Please stop calling me that.” Clarke said in a soft voice with her eyes trained on her hands.
“Excuse me?” Lexa said not seeming to understand.
“It feels like you’re addressing my mother.” Clarke muttered still soft, but with a little hint of pain in her voice.
“Very well, Clarke, Why are you working at a bar? You do realize it is illegal right?”
Clarke shrugged her shoulders still refusing to make eye contact. “I need the money and it tips well.” She clearly ignored the second part of the question cuz yes she did know it was illegal, but up until now she did not get caught.
“There are many other jobs that you could have. What do you need the money for?”
‘Other jobs don’t let you work till 4 in the morning. Other jobs don’t give you tips that are more than your paycheck. And yes! I know this because I already have another job at the coffee shop because even with the bar job I need more money because WE need the money. Rent isn’t cheap and we can’t even afford the electricity and water bills.’ Clarke wanted to scream all of this to her teacher, but she knew she couldn’t because most 17 year olds aren’t suppose to have these worries. So instead she had to lie, yet again.
“Shoes.” ‘Shoes? Really Clarke? That’s the best you could come up with?’
“Shoes?” Lexa questioned with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“Yah, uh I am sorta a shoeaholic and so I need the money to keep up with the latest brands.” Clarke said nonchalantly. She was hoping and praying that the woman would just drop it because she didn’t know how much longer she could keep this up.
Lexa pondered on this for a moment. “You were asleep during the beginning of class because I’m assuming you worked late last night. That is unacceptable, I will let it slide this time because I know the reason, but you are to quit the job at the bar. Am I understood?”
Clarke finally shot her eyes up at this information. ‘No ..shit..no!’ “No! Please! Can we just pretend you never saw me? Please?” Clarke was now pleading.
“No Clarke! I will not have a student of mine working in a place like that. You think I’m being harsh, but it is for your own good. I am also being very considerate because I could call the cops, but I’m not. Unless you would like me to get your parents or the police involved?”
At this Clarke’s eyes widened. She couldn’t afford to get the police involved because they would take her away from her brother, not to mention Bellamy would get in trouble for letting her work there. She couldn’t have her teacher call her parents because she currently had none and the woman would figure it out and call child services. She was defeated.
“Fine.” Clarke sighed.
Lexa sat there looking at Clarke. Seeming like she wanted to say something more, but didn’t. At that moment Clarke’s stomach growled and the blonde’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
“Very well, you’re excused. What class do you have next so I can write a note.”
“Art.” Clarke stated shortly. She was still very irritated that she had to quit her job because of this teacher.
Lexa handed over the note and added, “Maybe you should grab a snack before heading there.”
Clarke took the note and nodded. She definitely could not afford to snack. This teacher thinks she’s helping, but little does she know she just made her life so much more complicated.
With the note in hand Clarke headed out the door. Both women letting out a long sigh after their first, well technically second, encounter.