Work Text:
Clarke was, in a word, desperate.
It was late July, the school year was right around the corner, and Clarke still did not have a teaching position. She had applied to all the major school districts in the area, to no avail.
No one had even called her for an interview. She wouldn’t mind being turned down for a position, if she at least got the chance to fight for it. But no. At this point, she didn’t even have the opportunity to be rejected. And it was slowly driving her crazy.
“Maybe you should just email the principals directly. What’s the worst that could happen?” Raven shrugged. She had gotten a job teaching physics at Arkadia High School a month earlier through her student teaching gig in the spring. Clarke thought it over.
“You know what? You’re right. If nothing else, they’ll either just ignore me or say no.” Clarke nodded to herself. She pulled out her laptop and opened her resume.
“Hey, will you look over this one more time? I want to make sure there’s nothing wrong with it before I send it to over two dozen people.”
Raven gave her a side-eye, but eventually took the laptop from Clarke’s hands.
“The things I do for you, Griffin. Now load up Nexflix so we can watch Okja.”
After graduating from college, Clarke couldn’t find a job in her field, so she took a position at a second-hand bookstore. Fast forward three years, she had received her master’s degree in teaching and was ready to mold the minds of Arkadia’s teenage population. Unfortunately for her, the district she completed her student teaching in, Polis ISD, was going through a budget crisis and was laying off teachers rather than hiring them. So Clarke was forced to look elsewhere.
Clarke opened her email and began drafting a message that she would send to all the secondary principals in the area. At this point, she didn’t care whether she taught middle or high school. She just wanted a job.
She pulled up the school website of each campus in her home school district of Arkadia. Her alma mater, Arkadia High, listed Thelonious Jaha as its principal. She toggled over to her email and copied her message into the body of the email, making sure she changed all the personal information.
Hi Mr. Jaha,
My name is Clarke Griffin. I was a student in Arkadia ISD for 13 years and am currently looking for a teaching position in the area. I am certified to teach Science 7-12.
I would love to come back and teach in Arkadia because it’s like family to me. I have so many good memories in this district, especially during my time at Arkadia High. If you have any openings in your science department, I would love to be considered.
Thank you so much for your time,
Clarke Griffin
Well, Clarke thought, here goes nothing. She made sure to attach her updated resume and hit send. Clarke emailed the rest of the principals before closing her laptop and heading to the kitchen for a snack.
Thirty minutes later, she pulled her email back up and saw an incoming message from the principal at Trikru High School, Indra Woods.
Good afternoon, Ms. Griffin,
Thank you for reaching out to me. We have a possible opening in our science department. Are you available to come into Trikru for an interview tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m.?
Thank you,
Indra Woods
Clarke couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. Finally, she had a chance to get a job. She quickly responded to Ms. Woods before going back to her inbox. There was also a message from Thelonious Jaha.
Hi Clarke,
Hope you are well. Thanks for reaching out, but I’m completely staffed in the science department. I will forward your name on to a few of my colleagues in case they have openings.
-Thelonious
Clarke mentally shrugged. Even if there wasn’t an opening at her former high school, she still had a chance to teach in the same district. She responded back to Mr. Jaha thanking him for forwarding her name and closed out of her email completely.
Six hours later, she checked her email again to confirm the time for her interview at Trikru the next day. To her surprise, she saw an unopened email from Mr. Jaha.
Hi Clarke,
I had a teacher resign today and was wondering if you wanted to come in for an interview. I passed your name on and Ms. Woods informed me that you are interviewing at Trikru tomorrow. Would you like to interview at Arkadia tomorrow as well? Let me know and we’ll set up a time.
Thank you and how quickly things change!
-Thelonious
Clarke stared at her phone for a good minute. There was no way she was reading her email right. Arkadia suddenly had an opening? What were the odds?
She quickly responded back to Mr. Jaha, hoping to catch him before he went to bed. Lucky for her, he emailed her back after only a minute or so. She set up an interview with Arkadia for 9:00 a.m. and plugged her phone in to charge.
Before falling asleep, she stared at the ceiling of her bedroom for a few moments, contemplating the crazy turn of events. She went from having no interviews to two in the span of a few hours.
Here’s hoping that one of the schools will hire me.
And with that thought, she rolled over and attempted to fall asleep.
Her alarm clock blared too early in the morning for summer. Vaguely, she tried to remember why she was getting up so early before it all came back to her. Right, she had two interviews with Trikru and Arkadia this morning. She had told Raven about the quick developments, and Raven had told her to kick ass and make them fight over her. Clarke chuckled thinking about it and then got up to get ready for her first interview.
All in all, she felt confident about both interviews. Ms. Woods was a bit intimidating, but still welcoming. And it felt surreal to be back at Arkadia High. The secretary, Diana Sydney, kept asking her questions about her time as a student while she waited for Mr. Jaha. Honestly, if Clarke could choose between the two schools, she would choose to teach at Arkadia. Not only did the school have a better graduation rate, test scores, and accountability rating, but it was also Clarke’s alma mater. There was just something comforting about teaching at one’s alma mater.
Clarke sighed before opening her email once again. Earlier in the day, she had emailed both Ms. Woods and Mr. Jaha, thanking them for their time and the opportunity to teach at their schools. Now, she found that she had an unopened message from Ms. Woods.
Good afternoon, Clarke,
Thank you for coming in. It was a pleasure to meet you. We were very interested in having you join the Trikru team. When I went in to recommend you for the position, I noticed that Arkadia had beat me to it. I wish you the best of luck there.
Thank you,
Indra Woods
For the second time in two days, Clarke sat shocked and stared at her phone. She immediately pulled up her text messages and sent a text to Raven.
Clarke [4:20 p.m.]: So I just got an email from the principal at Trikru. She said she went to go recommend me for their position but Arkadia beat her to it. Does this mean what I think it means?
Clarke only had to wait a moment before she got a response.
Raven [4:21 p.m.]: It means that you and I are going to be CO-WORKERS GRIFFIN.
Raven [4:21 p.m.]: !!!!!
Raven [4:21 p.m.]: We need to go out and celebrate. Dropship in a few hours??
Clarke [4:22 p.m]: I don’t even have the job yet. Not officially, at least.
Raven [4:23 p.m.]: Trust me. You have it.
Raven [4:23 p.m.]: You just have to wait for HR to call with the official offer. But since they’ve all gone home, you’ll probably get it tomorrow.
Clarke [4:24 p.m.]: I hope so! I’m also down for Dropship if you are.
Raven [4:25 p.m.]: Awesome. Meet up at 8? I’ll invite Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb to join us.
Clarke [4:26 p.m.]: Perfect. See you then.
Clarke weaved her way through the crowd on her way back to the bar. She saw Raven ordering drinks with Monty and Jasper, two of Arkadia’s chemistry teachers, standing to her right. They both turned and yelled as they saw Clarke.
“Hey! It’s our new favorite co-worker!”
“Look it’s Arkadia’s new science teacher!”
Clarke laughed and hugged both of them before sliding in next to Raven. She passed Clarke a shot and held up her own for a toast.
“To new beginnings. And working with friends.”
Clarke smiled.
“To new beginnings!”
Raven made Clarke promise to post the good news to Facebook the minute she got an official offer.
“I need the world to know of my best friend’s accomplishments. Duh.”
The call from HR came right around 10:30 a.m. Clarke had been in the shower but had brought her phone into the bathroom in case HR called. And of course, they called when she happened to be shampooing her hair. She shut off the water and answered the call with suds dripping down her back. After a few minutes of accepting the position at Arkadia and setting up a time to sign her contract, she finally hung up the phone. Blinking back a few tears, she took a deep breath and turned the water back on to finish rinsing out her hair.
After calling her mom to share the good news, Clarke opened up her Facebook app and began typing a new status update.
Clarke Griffin
Good news everyone. I’ve accepted a position at Arkadia High and will be teaching science at my alma mater! Thank you to everyone who believed in me. I can’t wait for the school year to begin!
Like Comment Share
Raven Reyes, Octavia Blake, Jasper Jordan, and 50 others like this.
Raven Reyes Congrats girl! Can’t wait to have you as part of the team!
Abby Griffin Such great news! I’m so proud of you, honey.
Jasper Jordan Yaaaassss
Clarke was in the middle of watching a rerun of Friends when she heard her phone chirp with an alert from the Facebook messenger app. Curious, she swiped to open the app and saw a message from someone she hadn’t talked to since high school.
Octavia Blake
Hi Clarke! Long time no see! I saw that you just accepted a position at Arkadia. Congrats! I’m just messaging to let you know that my brother teaches history at Arkadia. You should hit him up! It would be like a blast from the past haha.
Clarke and Octavia had been in the same graduating class at Arkadia while Octavia’s brother, Bellamy, graduated three years earlier. While Clarke and Octavia weren’t the closest of friends, they still had several classes together throughout their time at Arkadia and hung out after school sometimes. As for Clarke and Bellamy, they knew of each other, but weren’t necessarily friends. Bellamy had been a senior when Clarke was a freshman, and their paths just never really crossed. Honestly, she only remembered him as Octavia’s hot older brother.
Clarke searched Bellamy’s name on Facebook. His profile was set to private, but she could still gather a couple facts about him. Graduated from Mount Weather University with a degree in history. Taught U.S. history at Arkadia High School. Lived in Arkadia.
She scrolled through the few pictures she could view of him. If anything, he had only gotten hotter since high school. He used to slick back his hair with a pound of gel every day, but it seemed that he now sported his natural curls. He also had facial hair that he definitely didn’t have in high school. Not that it mattered, but Clarke could admit that he was attractive.
She decided not to dwell on it. Arkadia was a big school. She might see him every once in a while in the copy room or at staff meetings, but she highly doubted that she would see him that often.
Besides, she had more important things to worry about. Like setting up her classroom. And buying school supplies. And planning lessons.
Yeah, she should probably start planning lessons.
A week later, Clarke headed up to Arkadia to pick up her keys. She had just found her classroom when she saw a figure unlocking the door down the hall. A very familiar someone.
Bellamy.
She got so flustered seeing him that she dropped her keys on the ground. The crash caused him to immediately turn his head toward the sound. He did a double take and began to make his way over to her room.
“Clarke?”
She grinned at him sheepishly.
“In the flesh.”
Bellamy grinned back at her.
“Wow, I didn’t know you got a job at Arkadia. That’s awesome.”
Clarke nodded and moved to pick up her keys. He slid in next to her.
“Do you need help unlocking your room? Sometimes these keys can be stubborn.”
“Sure.” She stepped to the side and waited as Bellamy slid her key in the lock. With a little jiggle, he got the door to open.
“Here ya go. Careful, this door is heavy.” He propped it open and allowed her to walk inside. She flipped the lights and looked around. It looked exactly like the science classrooms she remembered from high school. White board along the front, desk and computer set up in the corner, lab stations along the sides. And a huge group of desks stacked on top of each other in the middle of the room.
Clarke took one look at the room and exhaled a slow breath through her teeth. She knew it would take her a while to get the room how she wanted it.
“You have a nice room. I’m jealous of the windows, to be honest.”
She turned to look at him.
“Really? You don’t have any?”
He chuckled.
“Not unless you count the ones in the spine lab. I’m surrounded by white walls.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I did make it a little more lively, though. I put up this huge world map during my first year that takes up an entire wall. It’s pretty cool.”
Clarke smiled.
“That does sound cool.”
Bellamy hesitated, but then looked back at her.
“Would you like to see it?”
If Clarke didn’t know any better, she would swear that he was blushing. But she couldn’t really tell under the fluorescent lights. Plus, what reason would Bellamy have to blush?
“Sure, I’d love to.”
Bellamy ushered her back out into the hallway and led her to a classroom a couple doors down. He unlocked the door and held it open for her.
“After you, princess.”
She froze in the middle of the doorway and looked up at him. He seemed to have a similar look of confusion on his face.
“Sorry. It just slipped out.”
Clarke gave him a small smile.
“No, it’s okay. I just haven’t heard that nickname in a while. Since high school, actually.”
Bellamy followed her into his room and dropped his keys on the table by the door.
“Yeah, trust me. I don’t still think of you that way. Old habits die hard, I guess.” He pointed toward the back wall. “Anyway, here’s that map I was talking about.”
Clarke looked up at the wall in awe. He wasn’t kidding when he said that the map took up the majority of the wall. She saw shades of pink, yellow, orange, and green, all representing different countries around the world. Moving closer, she noticed pins sticking out of some countries.
“What do the pins represent?”
He came closer and fingered a pin sticking out of Italy.
“They’re all the places I want to visit. One day, when I’ve saved up enough money.”
Clarke glanced at some of the pins across the map. Greece. The Philippines. Australia. He wanted to go to so many places.
“That’s really cool. I’ve been to a couple of these, but not nearly all of them.”
He shrugged.
“Like I said, one day.”
After spending a couple minutes in Bellamy’s classroom, they both made their way back to Clarke’s classroom, where he helped her set up the desks to her liking.
“No, move those three in line with these two. Well, actually scratch that. Maybe they should go over here.”
“Clarke, there’s only a certain amount of space in here. You’re kinda limited with what you can do with them.”
She sighed.
“Okay fine. Just put them back the way you had them and we’ll call it a day.”
Clarke gathered her stuff and waited for Bellamy to step into the hallway before shutting off the lights. She locked her door and began to walk toward the main hallway. Bellamy fell into step with her.
“Where did you park?”
“The teacher parking lot. Isn’t that where we’re supposed to park?”
Bellamy chuckled.
“Oh yeah, but some of the teachers on this side of the building park near the gym. I parked in the teacher lot, too, so I’ll walk with you.”
They made their way across the school, catching up with each other on their time since they last saw each other. Clarke found out that Bellamy was in his fourth year teaching at Arkadia and his sixth year teaching overall.
“You’ll like Arkadia, I think. It’s way better than the first school I taught at. We had no support from the administration. It was basically you doing your own thing every single day with no backup from anyone. I suffered through two years before I finally called it quits.”
By the time he had finished, they had made it to their cars.
“So I guess I’ll see you around then?” Bellamy asked as he tilted his head. Clarke nodded.
“Yeah, see you around.”
Before Clarke knew it, she was knee-deep in prep work for the school year. She had a week of first year training that was informative, but also a bit overwhelming. The trainers threw a bunch of information at the new teachers and expected them to remember everything. Clarke felt like she was drowning.
A week before school started, the entire Arkadia staff came up to the school for in-service training. Before each day began, the cafeteria staff provided breakfast for the teachers. Clarke had just finished going through the line and was waiting for Raven, Jasper, and Monty to arrive when someone dropped into the seat next to her.
“Morning, Clarke.”
Clarke turned and was about to greet Bellamy before she stopped. One of the requirements of in-service days was business casual dress, and Clarke had to admit that Bellamy cleaned up nicely. He had on a light blue button-down shirt with a dark blue tie and dark slacks. Clarke couldn’t help but ogle for a second before she schooled her features into something more appropriate.
“Morning, Bellamy. You ready for these in-service days?”
Bellamy scoffed.
“Hell no. We could easily consolidate these trainings into maybe 3 days, tops, but instead they drag it out to a week. Trust me, you’ll be dying by the end of it.”
Clarke raised an eyebrow.
“I dunno. They are providing us with free food.”
“Yeah, that’s the best part. The only good part, really. Honestly, I just want you to be prepared. They’re going to throw a lot of information at you, and you aren’t going to remember half of it. And that’s okay. They shouldn’t expect you to know everything on the first day.”
Clarke shrugged before motioning at him with her fork.
“Well, that’s what I have you for. You can tell me everything I forget.” She then went back to eating her breakfast, feeling his eyes on her.
“Yeah, you’re probably right about that.”
Not only did Bellamy eat breakfast with her each morning, but he also started walking with her to the parking lot at the end of training. It became a daily thing, one that Clarke couldn’t complain about. In fact, if she were being honest with herself, it was a nice way to start and end her day.
She found herself growing closer to Bellamy, even after only a week. They had a lot of common interests, and when they weren’t bickering over tv shows, they were recommending books and movies to each other.
He even calmed some of her fears toward the end of the week when the information given to her during in-service days threatened to consume her.
Bellamy found her crying softly in her classroom at the end of the day on Thursday.
“Hey, Clarke. Woah, what’s wrong?”
Clarke shook her head and tried to wipe some of the tears from her eyes.
“Oh it’s nothing. I promise. It’s just all a bit much.”
Bellamy came and sat down next to her in an empty chair.
“It’s definitely not nothing. You know...it’s okay to be overwhelmed, right? No teacher in their right mind knows everything right out of the gate. That’s why we have professional development training and staff meetings and all the other obnoxious things they make us go to.”
Clarke huffed and looked over at him.
“I guess you’re right.”
“Of course I am. Now let’s head out. You can work on this stuff tomorrow.”
As always, they made their way to their cars together, and Clarke felt the load on her shoulders lighten ever so slightly.
The first semester passed by quickly. Clarke was teaching five classes of biology to a bunch of freshmen, and while some days were better than others, she genuinely enjoyed it. Plus, it helped that she liked the people in her department. Oh, and Bellamy. She liked seeing Bellamy on a regular basis.
Bellamy wasn’t kidding when he said that he was jealous of her windows. Both of them had their conference period at the beginning of the day, so Clarke would find Bellamy wandering into her room and spending the period there. Most of the time, he brought stuff to work on, but occasionally he would just come in to annoy her. More than once, she had to shoo him out so she could focus on setting up the day’s lab.
Before Clarke knew it, she had reached the end of her first semester as a teacher.
“So, how does it feel?” Raven grinned.
“It feels awesome. I honestly can’t wait to sleep. And have the energy to do stuff.”
“Me too. Speaking of doing stuff, why haven’t you started doing a certain history teacher?”
Clarke choked on the slice of pizza she was eating.
“Raven.”
“I’m serious. He walks you to your car every day. You text each other all the time. You even spend time together outside of school. How are you not a thing yet?”
Clarke shrugged at her helplessly.
“I don’t know. Maybe because men and women can be friends without being romantic.”
“Okay, one. Weak excuse. And, two. Who said anything about being romantic? I just meant that you should bang him.” Raven raised both eyebrows obnoxiously before Clarke shoved her shoulder.
“On a serious note, I really think there could be something there. Romantic or otherwise.” At Clarke’s stare, Raven continued. “Okay, okay, I’ll drop it. But I think you two could have something really good. And before you throw the “he’s my co-worker” excuse at me, remember the Pikes? They were married and they were able to work with each other just fine.”
Clarke slumped back in her chair and grabbed the remote. She set up season 2 of The Crown and pointedly ignored Raven’s murmurs of only watching this show to impress him . Clarke could be friends with Bellamy without developing feelings for him. After all, he’d given no indication that he wanted to date her. And Clarke did not do friends with benefits. So it was either date or be friends. And she was fine with being friends. Really.
The spring semester flew by just as quickly as the first. Now that they were in the thick of February, Bellamy had started staying at the school later to finish grading APUSH essays.
If there’s one piece of advice I can give you, Clarke, it’s this: don’t bring work home. You’ll convince yourself that you’ll work on it, but it just sits in your bag until the next morning. Then you become stressed because you can’t separate your work life from your home life and you start on this downward spiral until finally you can’t take it anymore. Trust me. Keep work and home separate. You’ll thank me for it later.
As a result, Bellamy no longer walked Clarke to her car. She had protested one day, telling him that she didn’t mind waiting, but Bellamy had gently pushed her out the door, claiming that he would feel too guilty by forcing her to stay at the school any longer than necessary.
Clarke knew that as a teacher, she would sometimes have to put in extra hours at the school. It just came with the territory. It was fine.
Unfortunately, tonight was one of those times. As the two new science teachers, Clarke and Raven drew the short straws and had to represent the science department at Arkadia’s annual Freshman Night.
“I don’t even know why we’re here. It’s not like they even have a choice for what they’re taking next year. ‘Hi, welcome to Arkadia. You’re taking biology next year.’”
Raven chuckled.
“At least you’re the bio teacher, so you’re actually relevant. They won’t take physics until their junior year.”
Clarke sighed. Raven was right. They just had to survive the next hour and then they were home free.
Before long, timid 8th graders and their parents made their way through the cafeteria, occasionally dropping by the science table. Some were intrigued with the double helix model Clarke had provided, but most just stayed for a minute or two, asking about biology and then leaving. One girl actually stopped to have a conversation with Clarke, wanting to know the rigor of the class, if they used the textbook, and how many dissections they would do.
“She wants to be a nurse one day,” her mother beamed. Clarke smiled.
“That’s great. My mom is a doctor, and she always tells me how valuable her nurses are. I really hope that you like my class next year.”
About an hour later, the night was wrapping up when one of Raven’s students came up to the science table.
“Hi Ms. Reyes! What are you doing here, scaring off all the new freshmen already?”
Raven rolled her eyes.
“Yes, Madi. Because that would be exactly what Mr. Jaha wants. Hey, let me introduce you to someone. Madi, this is Ms. Griffin. She’s the new bio teacher.”
Madi’s eyes lit up as she looked over at Clarke.
“Oh you’re Ms. Griffin. I’ve heard all about you.”
Clarke looked from Madi to Raven and back to Madi, dubious.
“Oh you have? How so?”
Madi opened her mouth, but Raven beat her to it.
“Yeah, Madi, tell Ms. Griffin how you know her,” Raven smirked. Madi’s eyes took on a twinkle.
“Well I have Mr. Blake 3rd period and he will just not shut up about you. Ms. Griffin this and Ms. Griffin that. ”
Clarke felt her face heat up. She looked to Raven for help but she still had that smirk on her face. Clarke coughed.
“Oh. Well, Mr. Blake and I are friends. And our rooms are down the same hallway, so…” she trailed off. Raven snorted.
“Madi, why don’t you ask Ms. Griffin what you asked me in class today?”
Madi’s grin couldn’t get any wider.
“Oh yes! Ms. Griffin, do you have a crush on Mr. Blake? Because I think he might have a little one on you.”
Clarke sputtered.
“N...no! No. It’s not like that. Mr. Blake and I are just friends.” Stares. “Seriously, we’re friends! That’s it.”
Madi shrugged.
“Alright Miss, if you say so. Bye Ms. Reyes!” And Madi skipped off before Clarke could get another word in. Clarke stared after her.
“What is she even doing here?”
“Oh she’s representing the swim team. Gotta recruit them early,” Raven chuckled. “And on that note, I think we’re done for the night. We can finally go home and sleep.”
Raven gathered up the extra flyers and double helix and started off toward Clarke’s room. She stopped and turned around once she realized Clarke was still standing at the table.
“You coming? This stuff goes in your room after all.”
Dazed, Clarke pulled out her keys and led the way down the hall. Walking past Bellamy’s door (and resisting the urge to look inside), she finally stopped in front of her own door. She and Raven made quick work of the stuff and locked up for the night. As they headed to their cars, Clake couldn’t help but turn to Raven.
“So, you and your students are gossiping about me and Bellamy?”
Raven turned up her nose and continued walking.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Raven turned around once she reached her car.
“Maybe you should get your head out of your ass and just ask him out already. Then we’ll gossip about something else. Just a thought.” She quirked her eyebrow and then waved before getting in her car. Clarke stood dumbfounded in the middle of the parking lot.
Yeah, maybe she should.
The next morning, Clarke got to the school early to make copies. Normally, she preferred making copies after school when most of the teachers had left. However, preparing for Freshman Night had cut into her after school time, so she was forced to get to Arkadia before the sun came up. Just as she was loading up her paper, a familiar voice greeted her from behind.
“Fancy seeing you here.”
Clarke turned her head to meet Bellamy’s grin. Her conversation with Raven came to her in that moment, so the most she could do was give a soft “Hey.”
“You’re here early. Most of the time you just barely beat the students.” He chuckled and grabbed his ID from his pocket. Clarke found that she couldn’t look him in the eye.
“Yeah, well I was here late last night for Freshman Night, so I didn’t have a chance to make my copies yesterday.”
Bellamy hummed in acknowledgement and proceeded to load up his documents. From what Clarke could tell, his students were reading about the Great Depression. They fell into an almost awkward silence. Not knowing how to break it, Clarke cleared her throat.
“Well I have to go get ready for the day, so I’ll see you around.” She then bolted from the room and up the stairwell to her classroom. Once inside, she shook her head to rid her thoughts of her conversation with Raven.
“Maybe you should get your head out of your ass and just ask him out already.”
Oh, if only it were that easy.
Clarke was not used to being the one who had to make a move. Her previous relationships happened because Finn and Lexa had shown interest in her first. But up until that point, Bellamy hadn’t given her any indication that he was interested. Now Raven was telling her to make a move on Bellamy? No way. What if he didn’t feel the same way? What if he rejected her? She wouldn’t be able to look at him, and considering their classrooms were down the same hallway, that would be impossible. No, she would just have to continue on as normal and pretend that things were fine.
If she kept telling herself that, she might actually start to believe it.
A month passed, and Clarke was no closer to making a move on Bellamy than she had been at Freshman Night. Truth be told, she wasn’t quite sure where she stood with him. They hadn’t been hanging out in each other’s rooms as often, and with AP tests coming up, Bellamy was constantly busy tutoring his students on the main ideas of U.S. history. While she had no doubt that they were still friends, Clarke still had no reason to believe that Bellamy might have feelings for her.
It was a Friday night, and Clarke found herself up at the school to watch the cheerleaders and dance team put on their annual Spring Show. While not rhythmically gifted herself, she still enjoyed watching all the different routines. Plus it was a Disney theme, and she had several students performing in the show. All in all, it was a good way to pass the time.
As she was looking for a seat in the theater, she found an unoccupied one next to a familiar face, her old biology teacher, Charles Pike. She made her way over to him and asked if the seat next to him was taken.
“Oh, Clarke Griffin! Wow, good to see you. Please sit.” He motioned for her to cross over him into the empty seat. Once she sat down, he began firing question after question at her. How was she? Did she enjoy teaching? Were any students giving her trouble? Clarke answered them all with a smile before the house lights dimmed, signalling the start of the show soon.
The first half of the show flew by, and before Clarke knew it, they were at intermission. Pike excused himself to use the restroom, leaving Clarke to play on her phone. After checking her social media, she began looking around the theater to people-watch. During her second pass of the theater, she spotted a certain history teacher leaning up against the railing along the side. Before she realized what she was doing, she had already sent him a text.
Clarke [8:20 p.m.]: You’re doing a nice job propping up that railing lol
Bellamy’s head shot up from his phone, and he began looking around the theater. When he couldn’t find her, he went back to his phone. A couple seconds later, her phone dinged with an incoming text.
Bellamy [8:21 p.m.]: Where are you?
After a bit, Clarke decided to put him out of his misery and waved to him. Once he spotted her, he pushed off the railing and headed her way.
As he got close enough, he greeted her with a “hey.”
“Hey,” Clarke smiled back. “Did you enjoy the first half of the show?”
Bellamy shook his head. “Oh no, I just got here. I was actually just waiting to see where the empty seats were.”
“Ah, that makes sense.” Clarke nodded and looked around. “Well, you’re welcome to sit with me. Unfortunately, there aren’t any seats here, but I don’t mind moving.”
“Oh no, I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
Clarke smiled. “No, really, it’s fine. I was just sitting with Pike, but I can move. Where to?”
She got up and followed Bellamy back to the side of the theater. After hovering for a minute or so, Clarke made a decision and sat down in two seats near the end of the row.
“I assume that these aren’t taken. And if they are, then we’ll move.”
Bellamy chuckled and slid into the seat next to her. “Thanks. For moving, I mean. You didn’t have to.”
“Seriously, Bellamy. It was no trouble.”
They both checked their phones one last time before the second half of the show started.
An hour later, she received a message from Pike on Facebook while heading to her car.
Charles Pike
I saw you sitting next to Bellamy Blake for the second half of the show. Is he your boyfriend? I always liked having him as a student. Good man. I hope you two are happy together. Don’t forget to keep in touch.
Clarke blushed deeply before putting her car in reverse. Did everyone see something she didn’t?
Monday found Bellamy sweeping into Clarke’s classroom early in the morning.
“Help me, I just yelled at a student because I’m stressed about AP testing.”
Clarke looked over at him from her desk. “Okay, stop. Breathe. What’s got you so stressed?”
Bellamy slumped onto one of the student desks and raked a hand through his hair.
“I don’t know. I mean, this is my first year teaching AP. What if they don’t do well? What if they fail miserably?”
Clarke laughed, and Bellamy turned to glare at her.
“This isn’t funny.”
She held up her hands in a placating manner. “Of course not. I’m only laughing because you’re freaking out over nothing.”
Bellamy gave her a withering stare. Clarke came to sit on the desk next to him.
“Bellamy. They’re going to do great because they have you as their teacher. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of them get fives on their tests.”
“Probably not. It’s really hard to get a five on the APUSH test.”
Clarke smiled.
“Maybe so. But still, don’t sell yourself short. You’re a great teacher, and even if your students do poorly, which they won’t , it’s all going to be okay. They love you. Madi was in here the other day raving about you.”
Bellamy quirked an eyebrow.
“What was Madi doing in here talking to you? Don’t you teach freshmen?”
Clarke tried not to blush.
“We met at Freshman Night. It’s a long story.”
Bellamy gave her a small smile and moved toward the door.
“Well, if you ever want to tell it, you know where to find me.” With that, he walked out the door before popping his head back in.
“Thanks, by the way. I needed that.”
Clarke’s eyes crinkled.
“Anytime.”
The end of the school year was fast approaching. All Clarke had to do was give her biology final, enter in final grades, and attend the end of the year picnic the day after school let out. While Clarke would have loved to get a head start on her summer break, she figured she could try to enjoy the free food and the company. After all, Bellamy and Raven were also going to be there. They could all suffer through the picnic together.
As Clarke made her way through the food line, Mr. Jaha, approached her.
“Hello, Clarke. Excited to be done with your first year of teaching?”
Clarke grabbed an extra roll from the tray (sue her, the bread was good), and then turned to Jaha.
“Yeah, I can’t believe how fast it went. It feels like I just started yesterday.”
Jaha chuckled.
“Well, I saw nothing but good things during my observations. You should be very proud of yourself. Keep up the good work.” With that, he moved onto the next unsuspecting person, who happened to be one of the English teachers, Nathan Miller. Clarke made her escape and headed over to the rows of picnic tables. She snagged the seat next to Bellamy and across from Raven. After about a minute or two, Miller came practically running toward the table.
“Man I love my job, but I would love it even more if I didn’t have to see Jaha. When do you think he’s gonna retire?”
“Not gonna happen. The guy’s been here forever. It’ll take a miracle for him to leave,” Raven speculated. The rest of the group chuckled before digging into their food. They reminisced about the school year, sharing horror stories and funny moments alike. One of Raven’s stories had Clarke laughing so hard that a few tears fell from her eyes. She looked over to see Bellamy staring fondly at her. Looking down at her plate, she grabbed a cookie to occupy herself.
After the picnic, Clarke headed back up to her classroom to start packing up for the summer. Arkadia was hosting summer school in the coming weeks, and she didn’t want anyone stealing her valuables. As she was putting away some of the lab equipment, she heard her phone go off with an incoming text.
Raven [2:35 p.m.]: You might want to check the school’s Twitter. Just saying.
Puzzled, Clarke pulled up the Twitter app on her phone. What could the school have posted that Raven wanted her to see?
She scrolled through Arkadia’s profile for a few seconds before stopping at a post from an hour ago. Someone had posted a couple pictures from the picnic earlier that day. Clarke swiped through the first two and landed on the last one. Her heart stopped.
The shot was one of her and Bellamy. She had her head tilted back mid-laugh with her eyes closed and her smile wide. What shocked her was not her face, but Bellamy’s. He was looking at her with such a soft expression on his face. Thinking back, she had never seen him use that expression before. At least, not with her.
Her phone buzzed with another text.
Raven [2:38 p.m.]: You going to do anything about it? Or do I have to do it for you?
That was all the push Clarke needed. She marched out of her classroom and across the hallway toward Bellamy’s. She saw him stacking U.S. history textbooks into a cabinet by his desk. His shirt was untucked, his sleeves were rolled to his elbows, and his tie was loose around his neck. In a word, he looked hot. Clarke allowed herself to feel everything she hadn’t let herself feel until this point. Bellamy then turned and gave her a small smile.
“Hey, what’s up? Are you done packing your room away?”
Clarke could do nothing but stare. After a moment, she shook her head and pulled up Twitter on her phone. Turning her hand, she waited for him to see what was on the screen. Bellamy’s smile faltered, and he took a step back from her.
“Wow, I guess you could say we really faked it for the camera. They totally believed that we were having fun out there.”
He ran a hand through his hair, and Clarke realized he was nervous. Running his hand through his hair was one of his tells. With a newfound confidence, Clarke stepped forward and forced Bellamy backward. He kept backing up until his legs hit the front of his desk. He placed his hands on top of the desk to keep from falling over. Clarke continued to move forward until she was only inches away from him.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
Bellamy looked down, suddenly fascinated by the tile on the ground.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Clarke rolled her eyes.
“Seriously? Everyone saw it but me. Even Madi could see it! And I didn’t even have her as a student!” She threw up her hands before tentatively placing them on his shoulders. Gathering courage, she took a deep breath.
“For the record, I like you. And I think you like me, too. For a while now.” She looked into his eyes, his warm brown eyes, before starting to pull away.
But Bellamy didn’t let her go far.
He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her in until his lips were on hers. Clarke froze before her body began to respond. She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.
After a few moments, she pulled back and pressed her forehead to his, breathing heavy. To her delight, he was breathing heavy, too. He closed his eyes before giving her a quick peck.
“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that.”
Clarke smiled.
“Believe me. I think I do. Everyone was trying to convince me to make a move for months, but I was scared. These types of things don’t normally work out for me, and I didn’t want to lose what I had with you.”
Bellamy looked at her with the same fond expression from the photo.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He then proceeded to keep kissing her.
They made out for a while before Bellamy stiffened and pulled back. Clarke immediately tried to stop him.
“What’s wrong?”
Bellamy snorted and looked at her.
“Our students are never going to let us live this down.”
A giggle escaped Clarke before she could reign it in. She grinned up at Bellamy before pulling him back to her.
“Lucky for us, we won’t see them for at least a couple months. By then, maybe the novelty of kissing you will have worn off and they won’t even be able to tell.”
Bellamy quirked an eyebrow at her.
“Oh, I highly doubt that. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of kissing you, Clarke Griffin.”
A couple months later, Madi caught them kissing in Clarke’s classroom.
“Ha! I knew you two had a thing for each other. I just knew it.”
Clarke hid her face in Bellamy’s shoulder while he whispered in her ear.
“Told you.”
She lifted her head to smile at him.
“Worth it.”