Disclaimer: Characters are not mine (unless you don't recognize the name, which likely means they are not part of the show and all part of my imagination).

AN: I was working on a separate Clexa story altogether, but this Clexa Modern AU wanted to be written. It is loosely based on a 2010 film about a girl moving from her small town to Los Angeles. If you can guess it correctly, I will name a character after you (real name or handle). ;-)

I hope you enjoy it. And I apologize for any mistakes in advance.

Life in Arkadia, Virginia was not exhilarating, it was not challenging, and it was not satisfying. Life in Virginia was just life.

As a kid, it could be fun, and it certainly was for the small blonde who lived to play with her neighbors and paint the sidewalks with chalk. She went to school and performed exceptionally well often topping every classmate in every grade, including high school. Clarke was proud of that, but not long after graduation and getting accepted into college did she realize it was no longer enough.

Waking up day in and day out to attend eight hours of lecture, and rushing home to dress for work was just not as rewarding as she had imagined. The money left over after paying for books and supplies was not worth replacing her true love for the career she was predestined to achieve.

Clarke had given it time, hoping she would learn to love what she was doing. Yet every night she fell asleep wondering what life could be like if she just picked up and left, and every morning when she gathered her book bag she felt the rise in her courage.

She had nothing left to tie her down to the small town. And the truth was not even a career as a doctor, which had basically been secured for her pending her graduation from medical school, was ample reason to keep her rooted to a place she felt she had outgrown.

So one morning as Clarke stuffed her bag with her assignments from the night before, she stopped to look at the family photo that sat on the foyer table. She had been happy once, but things changed and time ticked away her childhood and the life she once had.

Clarke hurried down the terminal at Roanoke Regional Airport grateful for her light packing as she avoided the baggage check-in counter. Her hair bobbed up and down in a messy bun as she walked briskly at the sound of the last call for her flight.

With one final look to the tarmac at the plane that waited for her, she sighed and handed the airline employee her boarding pass.

A gentle voice over the intercom roused the sleeping girl from her dream as it requested she sit up and ready herself for touchdown. The reality of what she had done hit her like a ton of bricks and she buckled her seat-belt nervously. She exhaled to alleviate her anxiety and spared a nervous glance at the fleeting buildings below her.

"We know that you have many choices in airlines, and we appreciate you choosing us to get you to your destination. Welcome to Los Angeles." Clarke smiled at the way the flight attendant let the name roll so nicely from her mouth. It was as inviting as the blonde had hoped, and it did a lot to help sooth her newcomer nervousness.

With fumbling fingers she undid her safety belt and stood as much as she could in her seat. Her curious eyes skimmed over the other passengers before she settled on the older woman beside her. They both smiled courteously at one another before Clarke sighed.

"First time in Los Angeles?" The woman asked as she situated her purse and readied to deplane.

Clarke smiled and let out a small chuckle. "First time away from home, period."

A grin graced the woman's features as she nodded. "Been there. It took me four years to get used to being away from everyone and everything I knew. Hang in there dear, you are in for one heck of a ride."

She feigned a confident smile and nodded, but deep down Clarke was a bundle of nervous energy. She was truly on her own now, and that excited her as much as it terrified her.

The girl did her best to push away the apprehension she felt when she stepped foot off the plane. People bustled to and from every direction, and her eyes wandered around in search of her next step.

When she decided looking visibly lost was no longer a viable option, Clarke headed for an exit.

Eagerness overtook her as soon as she walked through the double doors. Her eyes instinctively closed against the warm sunlight and her lungs called for a deep breath of fresh air. She laughed out loud when she realized the air was anything but fresh. It did little to hinder her happiness just then, however, and she smiled as she walked to the nearest cab.

With no particular endpoint in mind, she instructed the driver to head towards downtown. Clarke had spent some time perusing the wanted ads back home, but the distance limited her effort and success at finding a place to stay in. And when she walked out her front door she had done so with little else but one bag of clothes, her laptop, and her last paycheck. Everything else fell by the wayside.

It was something she felt slightly regretful about, but she concluded that being in town and asking in person would likely lead to her finding a place in no time. At least that's what the blonde hoped for as she watched the passing skyscrapers from the backseat of the cab.

The drive ended with Clarke asking the cab driver to leave her at Union Station. She sighed as she watched the car drive away and fixed her duffle bag over her shoulder before she walked inside in search of a friendly face. Her eyes took in every detail of the place inside. Modern art and architecture met retro designs and furniture. It really was a beautiful building she could examine for hours.

She smiled when she approached the counter and was grateful when the clerk handed her a visitor's brochure and pointed her in a general direction.

In the end she settled for a hotel near the transportation center that was highly over-priced and less than aesthetically pleasing. She convinced herself it was temporary as she repeated it before bed and again in the morning as she dressed to commence her hunt.

Job first, apartment second. She thought.

Faces passed her by as she made her way up and down the city sidewalks. Some smiled, some were nose deep in cellphones, others nearly snarled, but she kept her spirits high as she searched for any job opening signs she could spot.

She was relieved to see signs taped to restaurant windows, but unfortunately the positions available required her to be a chef not a waitress. Her face had fallen slightly as she smiled politely and walked out. Clarke could boil water and cook a mean omelet, but that was the extent of her culinary skills. The third restaurant she walked into seemed a sure way to earn some money while she settled down and found a school where she could refine her passion. So the blonde sat in a booth, ordered a coffee, and filled out her application on the spot. When she handed the paper to the lady at the register she felt a small sense of accomplishment. That was until she saw a less than neatly stacked column of already submitted applications out of the corner of her eye.

It was past midday when Clarke decided to walk around the downtown streets simply to sight see. Her eyes wandered the tallest skyscrapers as she painted stories in her mind about its inhabitants. She stopped by a few small shops where trinkets caught her attention and she examined them with great detail. Time passed as she took in what the city had to offer, and soon her feet ached from all of the walking. By the time she realized she was quite a distance away from her hotel, the sun had set.

An exasperated sigh escaped through her parted lips as she rushed to make it back to her hotel room before dark.

Her routine was almost identical for a few days, and little by little her hopes for the big city began to diminish. It was beyond her how such a grand place could seem so small in terms of promise and opportunity.

Clarke ventured further and further from the center of the city with hopes that less people would go out of their way to look for a job. She doubted that was the case, but she did so anyway.

She looked at her latest application with near disdain as she signed it and handed it off to the store manager with a small smile.

"You'll hear back from us in three to four days. Thanks for coming in." The man extended his hand and she shook it with feigned gusto.

"Thank you." She replied as she walked out of the electronics store and stopped outside of the exit. Her eyes moved from one end of the street to the other before she fixed her bag and looked straight ahead.

A flashy sign blinked in the daylight across the street and she knitted her brows with curiosity. It hung haphazardly on rusted bolts and the building was not the best kept, but she shrugged and walked across regardless, careful of any approaching traffic.

She listened from the outside at the beats of music that played from within. It was the only sign that the building was in fact not abandoned. So she pushed cautiously on the door and stepped through it.

Her eyes struggled to adjust to the change in lighting, the darkened space only lit sparsely by deep red and blue light bulbs. She allowed the door to swing closed behind her and stood awkwardly at the entrance as several faces turned to look upon her.

Clarke smiled reservedly sensing she had walked in on a moment that was somehow sacred to those partaking in it.

"We're closed." A voice spoke from her left and she turned towards it.

Her gaze narrowed in on a pair of deep green eyes that looked up from the glass they were fixated on.

TBC…

Any ideas on who the person is? Hint: you know the person really well. So far so good...bad...meh? Stay tuned.