some notes: i didn't want this to be multi chapter, but here we are. don't know how long this will be, or if i'll even continue it. but i love the idea of these two nerds as RAs, so here ya go.

Clarke smiled, watching as the swarms of jittery freshmen and their families poured into the dorm, laden with boxes and duffle bags. She remembered her own orientation fondly, all of the hopes and dreams she'd had first coming into college; now she was a junior, and just trying to make it to graduation.

School was stressful. Clarke was pre-med, and the pressure to excel was overwhelming. But, deep in her gut, she knew that this year nothing would compare to the stress of being the only RA in her dorm who actually gave a crap.

Arcadia Hall was the smallest dorm on campus; housing one hundred students, it sat between the library and Clarke's favorite coffee shop. Arc was the perfect dorm to be a residential advisor – or so Clarke had thought, before RA training.

The other three RAs in Arc were seniors, and absolutely could not care less about providing for the new students. Lincoln, at the very least, had been nice to Clarke during training, if not a little quiet. Anya had completely ignored her. And Bellamy, well-

Bellamy Blake was the biggest asshole Clarke had ever met. Cocky and rude, Bellamy resented any and all of Clarke's directions and advice during their "team building" activities, and took to arguing with her at any chance. There had been a particularly nasty incident with a trust fall that had ended with both bruised tailbones and egos, and Clarke found herself hating – no, not hating, just resenting – Bellamy with a deep, burning passion.

"Hey, RA lady!"

Clarke was startled from her thoughts by the sudden appearance of two freshmen, both wearing large, exhilarated grins on their faces. One wore a pair of ridiculous goggles, like the kind Clarke had used in high school chem class. "Hey, yourselves. I'm Clarke," she said, holding out her hand.

"I'm Jasper," goggle boy said. "This is Monty." Monty gave Clarke a warm smile. "We're in room 206."

"Nice to meet you two," Clarke said. "Do you need help with something?"

"Nah, just wanted to say hi," Jasper said, voice a little too nonchalant for Clarke's comfort. She stared at him calmly, until he twitched.

"A-a-and," Monty continued for his friend, stretching out the word slowly. "We wanted to know your stance on in-dorm parties."

Ah. There it was. "Well," Clarke said. "I guess as long as you keep the noise down and don't have alcohol, a party is totally fine with me."

Their faces fell a little, but Monty quickly recovered and gave Clarke a sweet smile. "Good to know."

The two boys scampered off, waving goodbye, and Clarke meandered down the hall a little, introducing herself to the new students and consoling worried parents. At the end of the hall, she saw her least favorite person in the world leaning on a doorframe, talking to one of the new students. Clarke huffed.

"Bellamy," she greeted coolly. "Flirting with the freshmen already? I know you have a reputation to maintain, but you're starting to look a little desperate."

"Clarke," he said, smirking. "You jealous?"

Clarke scoffed. "Of your weekly conquests? Right."

Bellamy looked like he wanted to retort, but instead just wrapped his arm around the freshman's shoulders and pulled her close. "Clarke, this is my little sister, Octavia."

In Clarke's defense, Octavia was very pretty – no, rephrase that: smokin' hot – and that seemed to be Bellamy's type, if his infamous list of hookups and flings was anything to go by.

"Nice to meet you, Clarke," Octavia said, and there was a hard edge behind the words and cold steel in her smile. "Bell has told me so much about you."

"Oh, great," Clarke murmured. "Well, welcome to Arc, if you have any questions, uh, just ask your brother, I guess."

She turned and sped away quickly, face burning as she heard the Blake siblings' laughter follow her down the hallway. As if it wasn't bad enough that she had to be co-RAs with Bellamy, but Clarke had a sneaking suspicion that Octavia was going to make her life a living hell.

As if on cue, a dreaded figure appeared at the end of the hall, right near her room, clutching a box of possessions. Wells Jaha, a childhood friend and perhaps the only person higher on her shit list than Bellamy Blake, was in her dorm, on her floor, on move-in day. As she neared him, he looked up and caught her eye.

Clarke frowned as Wells approached her. He smiled tentatively, setting down the boxes he was carrying.

"Uh, hey," he said. Clarke felt her blood boil.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, trying to keep her voice calm and even.

His faltering smile told her that she hadn't succeeded. "I go here. You know that, you were there when I got my acceptance letter."

"That's not what I meant, Wells." Clarke said, frown deepening. "Why are you here, in Arcadia Hall?"

Wells shrugged. "Just got assigned here. Random luck, I guess."

"That's bullshit and we both know it," Clarke said. "Arc is the smallest dorm on campus, one of dozens of residential buildings, and you just happen to get assigned a room on my floor?"

The forced blank look on Wells' face told her she'd hit the nail on the head. He took a step towards her. "Clarke-"

"Don't." Clarke stepped backwards. "I don't want to hear it. Just move into your room and don't speak to me again unless you've set something on fire or your roommate's bleeding to death. Got it?"

Clarke turned and stormed through the crowd of families, not hearing whatever it was that Wells shouted after her.

"Hey, RA!"

Clarke, blood still boiling, rounded on the person who called out for her, brows furrowed, lips stretched thin in a grimace. "What?"

A freshman guy stood behind her, hands raised in mock surrender. He had a funny sort of face, with dark, sunken eyes. "Hey, hey, just thought you might want to know that my dumbass roommate is trying to climb onto the roof."

Clarke sucked in a gasp, then ran past Dead Eyes to the open window and stuck out her head. Above her, a boy was climbing up to the ledge of a fourth floor window, egged on by the cheers of a crowd below.

"Get down here!" Clarke shouted. "What the hell are you doing?"

The kid readjusted his grip so he could look down at her. A shit-eating grin spread across his face.

"Taking a walk!" He shouted back. "Wanna walk with me, Princess?"

Clarke huffed. "I'm not a princess, I'm your RA, and if you don't get down here right now I'll report you to the Dean's office."

The crowd below booed as she said this. Behind her, Clarke could hear Dead Eyes laughing. She turned back to him and asked, "What's his name?"

"Finn Collins," Broken Nose said. "And I'm Murphy, thanks for asking."

Clarke rolled her eyes. "Didn't ask since you're not the one I'll be reporting."

Murphy shrugged. "What's the big deal?" He asked. "He's just showing off."

"It's a big deal if he falls and breaks his neck." Clarke stuck her head back out the window, and was met by uproarious cheering. Finn had made it to the roof, and was pumping his fist victoriously.

Suddenly, the crowd below groaned, and Clarke watched as the campus police strolled up to the dorm. Clarke ran from the room to meet them.

When she reached the first floor, Anya was already talking to CamPo, motioning upstairs. They left quickly, headed to the fourth floor roof access. Anya then turned and faced Clarke, giving her a steely glare.

"Don't try to negotiate with freshmen, Griffin," she said. "Not worth it. Call CamPo next time you lose control of your advisees." Then the older girl marched away, ignoring Clarke as she tried to argue that she hadn't lost control.

Finn was shortly marched from the building, the shit-eating grin never leaving his face. He winked at Clarke as he passed, and though she was deeply annoyed with him, a little butterfly flurried in her stomach. She'd be lying if she said he wasn't cute.

Later that evening, after the freshmen had been herded around, forced into playing icebreaker games, and properly lectured about fire hazards and alcohol safety, Clarke gathered all 26 of her advisees in the second floor common room. The freshmen all looked worn out from their long day, but the room still buzzed with a frenetic energy. Classes started tomorrow, and the expressions on their faces all ranged from excited to fearful.

Clarke stood in the middle of the group, who were all lounging on the couches and bean bag chairs that littered the room. Jasper and Monty had already rigged a hammock in the corner that looked like it was on its last leg. Beside them sat Octavia, who gave Clarke a frigid smile, and Finn, who winked at her. She ignored the fluttering in her stomach, and began speaking to the group.

"Okay guys, I hope you've all had a good day and met a whole lot of new people. I know it's all a little overwhelming, but I promise that once you start classes, everything will fall into line." She clasped her hands together, smiling at the crowd in front of her. "Now, I know you're all probably a little tired of icebreakers, but I was hoping we'd get to know each other a little bit. So let's go in a circle, and say your name, your intended major, and your favorite color. Who'd like to start?"

It should have been a warning sign when Octavia raised her hand, giving Clarke a smirk that rivaled her brother's. But Clarke called on her anyway, and Octavia stood and said, "I'm Octavia Blake, I'm going to major in International Relations, and my favorite color is 'this is fucking stupid.' There's a party at the Deke house tonight, and I'd rather be there than getting patronized by Princess Stick-Up-The-Ass here. Anyone else with me?"

Clarke knew she was gaping, but she couldn't stop as most of the freshmen stood up and followed Octavia from the common room. She eventually found her voice, and called out after them, "But you all have classes tomorrow! You need to get a good night's sleep!"

This caused most of the people left in the room to laugh, stand, and leave, until the only people still sitting were Jasper, Monty, Finn, and Wells. Clarke buried her head in her hands and groaned.

"Already lost control of your flock, oh wise one?"

Bellamy stood in the doorway, watching the freshmen file out with a smug look on his face. Clarke clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "I haven't lost control, smart ass."

Finn crossed the room and squeezed her shoulder, smiling reassuringly. "Don't worry, Princess, you'll win them over."

"Yeah, Princess," Bellamy said, raising an eyebrow. "One day they'll see the light and become your anal-retentive control freak disciples."

Clarke stood, pushing away from Finn and approached Bellamy, poking his chest with her finger. "It's all your sister's fault they left, you know." His smirk only grew as she said this. "She's leading them down to the Deke house as we speak."

Bellamy's face paled, and then it was Clarke's turn to smirk. Delta Kappa Epsilon was notorious for its out-of-control parties and spiked drinks. Clarke had never been to a DKE party, but Bellamy had, and he knew exactly how dangerous it could be for a freshman girl.

"If you're lying to me, Princess," he hissed, eyes suddenly dark and steely. Clarke crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why would I lie about your sister pied piper-ing all of my advisees down to the Deke house? I don't want them partying tonight any more than you want your sister anywhere near that house."

Bellamy looked like he was going to argue, or insult her, or make any sort of snide comment, but instead he just looked at her for a moment, then stormed from the room, chasing after Octavia and her gaggle of freshmen. Clarke sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Wow," Jasper finally said, breaking the silence. "That was..."

"Kind of hot," Monty finished, looking taken aback.

Both Finn and Wells didn't seem to know how to respond to that, and Clarke just shook her head in exasperation. "Alright, boys, head off to bed or whatever. Just try not to be too tired for your classes tomorrow, okay?"

Jasper and Monty nodded, and bounded off down the hall, whispering conspiratorially about something. Clarke heard her name once or twice, but chose to ignore the Wonder Twins and whatever they were up to. Finn and Wells both approached her, looking equal parts concerned and eager, but she just waved them off to bed.

As soon as the common room was empty, Clarke trudged back to her room and slid to the floor the moment the door closed behind her. The past few months had been rough; her father's arrest still weighed heavily on her mind. And now she was RA to a bunch of ungrateful, ill mannered, asshole freshmen who disregarded everything she said, the best friend from home who had betrayed her trust was suddenly living down the hall, and she had to interact with Bellamy Blake on a daily basis. It was all just too much, and for the first time in months, Clarke began to cry.

It was a hard, ugly cry. Snot ran down her chin, and she curled up into a ball beside her laundry hamper, chest shaking violently. Her mother had always said that she had been born eager to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders; now it felt like the world was breaking her back, and her spine was crumbling into dust as everything fell to pieces around her. Everything just really, really sucked.

She cried for about ten more minutes, then rose slowly, wiping the mascara from her cheeks. It wasn't Clarke's way to wallow in her sadness. All she needed was a plan, something neatly organized, color-coded, and well thought out.

Clarke did not give up easily, or at all, really. Things may have been looking grim, but she wasn't going to let the Blake siblings get in her way. She was going to guide and care for all those stupid freshmen, even if it killed her.