As far as partners for group assignments go, Clarke is certain she could have a worse one than Bellamy Blake. From what she's seen of him in class, he actually does the readings and participates in class discussion. Also, he actually goes to class, which isn't always a given when the class is at 8 in the morning.

She knows who he is because a) Bellamy isn't exactly a common name, and b) he's gorgeous. It would be hard not to notice him. Plus there's the fact that he always makes an effort to argue with her in class, no matter the topic. The professor claims the pairings were randomized, but Clarke is pretty sure she's been put with Bellamy purely for the entertainment of the professor.

It's not that she doesn't like Bellamy. In fact, she thinks she could like him quite a lot if he bothered to actually get to know her instead of jumping down her throat every time she so much as asks a question in class. She's pretty sure he has something against her just because her mom's the Dean, which means he thinks she gets special treatment. Which isn't true. She got in entirely on her own merit. She's pretty sure.

Anyway, as if he wouldn't take advantage of having a parent on the faculty if he had one.

She catches him after class the day they find out who their partner is for the assignment, which isn't exactly an easy feat, considering it looks like he's trying to get out of there as fast as possible. If she didn't know better she'd think he was trying to avoid her.

"Bellamy," she says brightly, because maybe if she's friendly he'll see that she's not actually a bad person.

"Clarke," he says defeatedly, which makes Clarke think he'd been trying to avoid her after all.

"We're partners for the assignment," she tells him, and she can't say he looks overly impressed with the notion.

"I know. I was also in the class," he says patronisingly. In the interests of getting along, she ignores him.

"We should start right away. Meet me in the library tomorrow?" He makes a big show of rolling his eyes and sighing before he answers.

"Fine. What time?"

"Is ten okay?"

"Perfect," he says, though his tone suggests otherwise. "See you then." He pushes past her then and Clarke can't help feeling that maybe she does dislike him after all.

Clarke is almost worried Bellamy won't show up, given his attitude the previous day, but he does, and he's even on time and everything. He doesn't say anything to her, just gives her a look to let her know he's seen her, and strides past her into the library, leaving her to follow. She heaves a deep sigh before going after him, only to run into the back of him when he stops dead without warning.

"What are you doing?" Clarke huffs.

"Looking for somewhere to sit," Bellamy shrugs. The library looks pretty full, and it isn't exactly a large library but she's pretty sure they aren't going to find somewhere just by standing in the doorway. Clarke glares at him, not that he pays any attention to her. He then keeps walking, and Clarke follows him again as they both glance around for a spare area.

"Is it always this crowded?" Clarke asks. She doesn't exactly come to the library that often. She still lives at home with her mom, high speed internet and access to whatever academic journals she needs without having to leave the comfort of her room. And books are overrated.

"Never been to a library before?" Bellamy says scornfully.

"Look, can you just stop being such an ass?" she snaps. "I've obviously been to a library. This assignment will go a lot better if we could try to get along."

Bellamy studies her as if he's trying to work out what kind of trick she's playing on him.

"Fine," he says finally. "What about over there?" Bellamy gestures vaguely and Clarke looks around, finally spotting a small opening at a table she thinks they can squeeze into. Bellamy follows her, somewhat reluctantly, and she pulls out her macbook.

Surprisingly, they don't argue that much. They have a few differing views on a couple of things about the presentation, but all the things he normally disagrees with her on in class aren't even an issue. It's almost as if he actually agrees with her, and only argues with her in class to wind her up.

But every time he agrees with her, she has to double check to make sure she's hearing correctly, just in case.

"You're not always wrong," he tells her on the third time she asks him if he's sure, and she's pretty sure he's trying to hold back a cheeky smile.

"Okay, well I guess that's everything we need to go over today," Clarke says finally. "We can work on our individual parts and meet again next week if you like."

"Alright," Bellamy nods. He watches her for a moment but makes no move to leave. "Aren't you going?" he asks.

"I thought I might stay here and do some study," Clarke shrugs. "I thought I'd make the most of it. You know, since I've never been to a library before." Bellamy raises an eyebrow at her, and he doesn't laugh at her joke, but she's pretty sure he thinks it's funny.

"Suit yourself," he says finally, and he pulls some kind of notebook out of his bad and starts scribbling, so Clarke guesses he's staying too.

They stay mostly silent as they study, apart from when Bellamy surreptitiously pulls a packet of chips from his backpack and offers her some. She supposes that's his way of forming a truce, so she graciously accepts and then goes back to studying.

She's aware of him the whole time though, and she quite enjoys his presence as he alternates between reading a book and scribbling in his notebook. She's actually disappointed when he gets a phone call from his sister and says he has to go.

"I said I'd meet her for lunch," he grimaces as he shoves his books into his bag. "I'm surprised she didn't call me sooner."

"I'll see you in class," Clarke smiles, and Bellamy hesitates, like he's going to say something, but then he just nods and strides out of the library. Clarke only stays another ten minutes after he's gone, it's just kind of not the same without him there.

It isn't until she's packed up all her own things that she notices Bellamy has dropped his notebook under the table. She picks it up and puts it into her bag, figuring it's better if she picks it up and gives it to him in next weeks class, rather than risking someone else finding it.

She gets home and decides to email him, so he knows she has it, and as she types out the email she flicks through the notebook absently, not really paying attention to the words on the page, that is until she spots her name. She does a double take, sure she must have misread, after all, this is for a class, right?

Except that upon closer inspection, it's so clearly not. In fact, it almost seems like… a diary. The entry in question, the one with her name on it, is dated a few months ago, and seems to be centred on his dislike for her, and how he's annoyed she gets everything handed to her. She's only briefly offended, all it really does is confirm what she'd already expected. Plus, it's an old entry, and although she knows his opinion probably hasn't changed, she kind of wants to know what he's been writing about her recently.

She knows she really shouldn't read anymore, but she remembers he'd been writing in this diary today at the library, and curiosity gets the better of her. She flicks to the page with today's date written on it and begins to read.

I knew there was a reason I didn't want to work with Clarke Griffin on this assignment, and I was right, because it turns out she is actually nice person, which I'd been TRYING to ignore and now it's going to be hard to find an excuse to hate her. I bet the professor did this on purpose. And now she's just sitting there studying, looking stupidly pretty and I feel like jerk.

Clarke slams the diary shut before she lets herself read any more. Her heart is thrumming and he head is reeling. It's one thing to read that the person you think hates you actually does hate you… but to read that he actually likes her? It's overwhelming to say the least.

Now she doesn't know if she should message him to tell him she has his diary, because what if he can tell that she read it? Maybe she should just take it back to the library and pretend she never saw it.

She shakes her head. She's being ridiculous. She'll just send him a quick email to let him know she picked it up and then hand it back to him in class next week. He never has to know she read it.

Hey Bellamy, you left your notebook at the library so I grabbed it for you. See you in class. Clarke.

There. Short and to the point. No indication that she even knows it's a diary. Now if she could just forget the information she read, that would be great.

Obviously she can't forget, though. Mostly because she's practically memorised that paragraph, despite not opening the diary again, so it's safe to say it's been on her mind. The worst part is, whenever she thinks about it (which is a lot), she gets these ridiculous butterflies in her stomach, which doesn't make any sense because she doesn't even like him like that. But he's hot and he's smart and it turns out he's actually not bad company. And he thinks she's stupidly pretty.

Okay, so maybe she likes him a tiny bit. As a concept. But if the diary is to be believed, he seems pretty determined to never let her find out he actually likes her. She can't actually figure our why this is. It's not like she's ever given any indication that she doesn't like him, as, you know, a friend. Which she thinks they could be, if Bellamy talked to her like a normal human, instead of just ranting about her in his dumb diary.

She brings the diary to class with her, and sits in her normal seat. She'll give it to him after class. But then, to her surprise, when Bellamy walks in a minute later, he bypasses his usual spot and plonks himself next to her. Her heart rate picks up as soon as he enters the room, so, yeah, okay. She likes him a little.

"Hey," he says.

"Oh," Clarke swallows. "Hey." She reaches for her bag to pull out his diary, but he stops her.

"You can give it to me after class," he says.

"Okay," Clarke nods, a little confused. She's about to ask why she shouldn't give it to him now, but then the professor starts the class and the words die on her tongue.

Bellamy barely argues with her at all throughout the class, and even the professor seems put off by his strange behaviour.

The class ends and the other students file out of the classroom, while Clarke fishes Bellamy's diary out of her bag and hands it to him.

"Thanks," he says. He hesitates and Clarke can feel the question coming, already feeling guilty. "Did you, uh… did you read it?" Bellamy asks, licking his lips, looking a little uncertain.

Clarke wants to lie. She's pretty sure that would be the best course of action. But she doesn't think she can live with the guilt. So she tells the truth.

"Yeah," she admits. "I mean, only a bit," she clarifies quickly. "I didn't know what it was at first and I saw my name and I-," she rambles, before Bellamy cuts her off.

"Clarke, it's okay," he assures her. "I get it." He picks up his things and the two of them make to leave the classroom. "Did you… what part did you read?"

"The part where you hate me," Clarke says, glancing at him to see him looking a little sheepish.

"Sorry, I-," he starts.

"And the part where you secretly like me and think I'm pretty," she smirks, and Bellamy turns instantly red.

"Okay, well you know you're pretty," Bellamy snorts, and his face is still bright red but it's a nice recovery.

"True," Clarke says, trying her best not to laugh. "What I don't know is why you were trying so hard to hate me." Bellamy sighs, and they stop in the hallway so he can turn and look at her.

"You have to understand that this is very embarrassing for me," he says.

"Noted," Clarke nods, forcing herself to keep a straight face. She's enjoying this way too much.

"I just… I like you, I guess. And I knew you were out of my league and I didn't know how to deal with it, so I just thought if I tried to keep hating you it would make it easier," he shrugs. Clarke stares at him in disbelief.

"You think I'm out of your league? Why?"

"Come on, Clarke, it's obvious. Your mom is the dean, and you guys are rich and I'm here on a scholarship," he shrugs again. "Not hard to figure out."

"You are an idiot," Clarke huffs.

"Thanks," Bellamy scowls.

"My mom and I don't care about stuff like that. I'm pretty sure my mom would like you a lot," Clarke tells him. Bellamy raises an eyebrow.

"And you?"

"Hmm?"

"It's great that you think your mom would like me Clarke, but she's not exactly the one I'm trying to date," Bellamy rolls his eyes.

"So you're trying to date me now, are you?" Clarke says, teasingly. "You aren't making it obvious enough."

"What, my anti social behaviour and strategic journal leaving weren't clues enough?"

"Are you going to ask me out or what?"

"Maybe I don't want to anymore."

"I'll tell everyone about your diary."

"Fine," Bellamy grins. "Do you want to go on a date with me?"

"No."

"Clarke!"

"Okay, fine. I'll go on a date with you," Clarke rolls her eyes, before she can't hold back the smile any longer. "Now go home and write in your diary about it."