Clarke stretched best as she could, legs hitting the seats in front of her. The backseat of Raven's car was crowded, Clarke the lone passenger amongst a mountain of luggage and homegoods. In vain, she shifted a duffle bag to free up some space to try and get comfortable. She had spent the last few hours in relative silence, listening to Raven and Octavia laugh and sing along to the radio, taking mental pictures of crumbling rock and towering trees lining the sides of the highway. She checked her phone more out of habit than curiosity, and was silently relieved when there were no new messages.

"Since when is Clarke this quiet?" Raven asked Octavia, presumably trying to annoy Clarke into joining the conversation. She was right though, Clarke normally wasn't quiet. There was just a lot on her mind.

"Since never." Octavia laughed, turning around in the passenger seat to face her.

"What's the deal, Clarke?"

"No deal, just taking it all in." Clarke shrugged. It was the truth, mostly. She was taking in the scenery more as a distraction from the knot in her stomach. The summer was over. She was on her way to a new school with her best friends, miles away from home, from her mom from all the people who wanted something from her. She knew in her mind that she should feel good, but apparently the message didn't make it to her body.

"So are you going to tell us, or what?" Raven asked plainly.

Clarke furrowed her brow. "Tell you what?"

"Tell us about your mysterious summer hookup, duh." Octavia said. "And don't try to deny it, because I know you started reblogging a bunch of romantic shit for a reason." She laughed, looking at Clarke expectantly.

"Are you going to acknowledge how creepy that is, or should I?" Clarke chuckled. It was weird to think about now, those few weeks of calm in the middle of her shitstorm of a summer.

"Oh whatever! I wouldn't have to be creepy if you would just tell us things." Octavia huffed, slumping dramatically in her seat.

"Seriously Clarke, talk, because if I have to hear one more time about how gorgeous Lincoln is, I'm going to drive us right off the road." Raven said.

"Hey!" Octavia pouted. "You're both just jealous that I went to orientation and got a boyfriend and you guys didn't."

"Why would I have gone to a freshman orientation?" Raven chuckled.

"Not the point, and anyway, he is gorgeous!" Octavia shouted.

"That's it!" Raven shouted, laughing as she intentionally swerved into the empty right lane, threatening to move even further.

"Oh my god Rae stop! Stop!" Clarke couldn't help but join Raven in laughing at Octavia's shrieks. "That was so not funny! You could've killed us!" Octavia said, breathless and clutching her chest.

"It's not like I didn't warn you." Raven laughed. "Anyway, Clarke, don't think I forgot about you. Come on, spill."

"Yeah, spill!" Octavia joined in, momentary terror suddenly forgotten.

"It wasn't serious, if that's what you're wondering," Clarke shrugged. She had been debating on whether or not to tell her friends about her coffee shop romance when it had started, eventually deciding the fling wasn't worth coming out for.

"That's not what we were wondering and you know it, Clarke," Octavia said flatly. "If you don't give us deets, Raven really is gonna drive us off the road, right Rae?"

"No, that's reserved for you and your obsession with your new boyfriend," Raven said.

"Hey!" Octavia punched Raven on the shoulder, "you're supposed to be my bad cop!"

"Sounds kinky," Raven smirked. Clarke stifled a laugh at Octavia's expression. "Anyway, why do I have to be the bad cop? You're the one bullying poor Clarke," Raven teased.

"Do you or do you not wanna know who Clarke's been secretly hooking up with?" Octavia asked.

"Are you ever going to drop this?" Clarke asked.

"Nope," Octavia grinned. "I'll ask you about it every single day if I have to."

Clarke groaned. "Fine," she said. Octavia looked as surprised as she was elated. Clarke could only roll her eyes. "She was just some girl who worked at a coffee shop I hug out in." Clarke said finally. She went there every day, sitting in the same corner spot, ordering the same caramel latte, staring out the window as she sketched. And every day, the girl would bring her free refills when her father left. It was innocent, but undoubtedly flirty. After a while Clarke realized she was spending less time sketching the park across the street and more time sketching her barista.

"I didn't know you liked girls." Raven smirked, hands draped loosely over the steering wheel.

After they had found themselves intertwined in storerooms, bathrooms and alleyways, it was undeniable. Clarke liked girls. She liked them alot. "I guess I didn't either." Clarke shrugged from the backseat.

Octavia turned to look at her, grinning as she lifted up her sunglasses. "I totally knew." She said, proudly.

"What?" Clarke asked, blinking hard in disbelief, trying to fight the warmth creeping up her neck. "How?"

"You're always staring at pretty girls." Octavia said plainly.

"Everyone stares at pretty girls. And anyway, it's not like I don't stare at guys too!" Clarke defended.

"Plus you had such a crush on Raven when the three of us first started hanging out." She said.

"Seriously?" Raven laughed, quickly glancing into the back seat at Clarke.

"I did not!" Clarke blushed a shade darker.

"Oh, hell yeah you did." Octavia laughed. "Everything was all, Raven's so pretty, Raven's so smart, Raven's so funny-"

"Oh god." Clarke groaned, covering her face with her hands.

"And here I thought you didn't like me." Raven said, tone low, teasing. Clarke peeked out from between her fingers to look up at Raven, catching half a smirk.

"You guys are the worst." Clarke said, muffled by her own hands.

"You love us." Octavia laughed.

"This reaction was not at all what I was expecting." Clarke said, unsure of whether that was a good or bad thing.

"What'd you think? We'd disown you or something?" Raven teased.

"Seriously, what do we care?" Octavia agreed.

Clarke smiled at her friends. Sure, in her head she knew that her friends wouldn't treat her being bi as big deal, but there was something comforting about having that reassurance. And yet, the knot in her stomach was still here, heavy and distracting.

They arrived on campus in surprisingly good time, despite Octavia's protests to slow down. From what Clarke could tell, it looked a lot different than her last school. Sprawling lawns of lush green lined neatly paved walkways. Young people with backpacks and cigarettes were everywhere, smiling, laughing, strolling across the grounds.

Octavia grinned, pointing out anything she thought looked cool. "Look, there's coffee! And is that a cupcake shop?" She asked. "Ooh! He's cute! Hey there!" She yelled as they passed a boy with dark hair. The window was up, he couldn't hear her. Raven and Clarke laughed at their friend's excitement.

Moments later, Raven pulled into the parking lot of what was apparently their dorm. It was the largest building they had seen so far, towering over the short shops and houses in the small town, looking too new for everything else.

"You guys wait here." Raven muttered while exiting the car.

"Worried we'll slow you down?" Clarke asked.

"Absolutely." Raven laughed before disappearing through huge glass doors.

Clarke stared up at the tall building, examining the way the early afternoon light reflected off the paneled glass. Second time's the charm, Clarke thought darkly. She sighed, frustrated with herself. She should feel good. She should be happy about this. But as much as she tried to convince herself, she felt worse. She looked down at her phone again, nothing new. She really should relax. "I can't believe the summer is already over." Clarke sighed, breaking the silence in the car.

"I can't believe I'm actually starting college." Octavia grinned. Clarke couldn't help but feel a surge of pride for her friend. She had worked so hard to get here. To prove to her family that she could, that she was independent. Clarke was happy to be a part of it, but she was worried about her friend's expectations.

"It's a lot less fun than it sounds." Clarke said.

"Yeah, but that's because you were doing all that crazy science-y shit, holding people's lives in your hands and all. That doesn't sound fun." Octavia teased.

"How many times have I told you that no one's life was ever in my hands?" Clarke sighed, shaking her head.

"Uh, then why is it called pre-med if you don't do anything medical?" Octavia asked obviously.

A moment later, Raven reemerged with what looked like a cardboard box on wheels. Both girls got out of the car, meeting her by the trunk.

"What is that thing?" Octavia asked, pointing to the box.

"This is how we're getting all of your shit up to the room." Raven said, opening the trunk of the car. Clarke couldn't help but laugh at the contraption. It was exactly what it looked like. An oversized cardboard box sitting on a wood frame with wheels. She joined Raven in the back, loading bag after bag into the makeshift dolly.

"You didn't make this, did you?" Clarke asked her.

"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult." Raven laughed. "Nah. I didn't. But I'm sure someone in engineering did."

It didn't take long for them to unload, despite Octavia's insistence on watching instead of helping. They followed alongside as Raven took the lead, pushing the box in a way that kept it from slipping off of the wheels.

"This is really cool." Octavia grinned as they entered the building, watching the hustle and bustle of students loading in, waiting for elevators. It was one of the larger dorms on campus and it showed, students traveling in effortless packs, all smiles and high fives and cigarette breaks. "Lincoln lives in this building, too." She beamed. "On the fourth floor."

"We know, you've only mentioned it seven thousand times." Raven said, smirking.

"Leave her alone." Clarke laughed. "She's happy."

"You know it's annoying." Raven said.

"It totally is-" Clarke started.

"Hey!" Octavia exclaimed. "Whatever, you bitter single people can think whatever you want."

"I'm not bitter." Raven said, through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I definitely am." Clarke said, making her friends laugh.

They stepped on to the elevator, Raven shoving in the box despite the limited space between the additional passengers. "Excuse me." She huffed until the doors shut.

"You're amazing, you know that?" Octavia laughed.

"Someone around here's gotta get things done." Raven said, sticking her tongue out.

Six floors up, they stepped out, dragging the dolly along the hall to room 614. "Key?" Raven said expectantly. Clarke fumbled with hers more quickly than Octavia could and managed to open the door first.

"This is so cool." Octavia said, grinning as she stepped into their room. Normally, Clarke admired her friend's extraordinary talent for appreciating the mundane, but now she envied it. The room was about as standard as you could imagine, a small gutter of floor space between the two sets of everything pushed against the white walls. Two long and skinny waist height beds, with low dressers shoved beneath them, two desks, and two sets of chairs tucked into the corner. Somehow, despite not expecting much, she was still let down. It was no bigger or better than her last dorm. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if she had made a mistake. Clarke sighed, looking back out toward the hall. Across it was another room, 615, and it had an apparently makeshift sign above it that read: RA. Clarke sighed again. Of course she would be directly across from the RA. The only thing that would be worse is if they shared a wall.

Octavia was busy poking and prodding everything, opening drawers, squeezing mattresses and looking out the window. Raven and Clarke both watched her, amused. "Why would you ever move out of the dorms? It's so cool here!" Octavia asked, still peering out the window. "And look, we're so close to everything!" She said, beckoning them both to the view. Clarke took the bait. The window was surprisingly large, and unsurprisingly didn't open. She watched as other students crossed campus and made a mental note that it would be a good angle to draw from.

"Trust me, one year in the dorms is enough." Raven laughed. "You'll see what I mean." She pulled an orange flyer from its position taped against their door and held it out, as if it was evidence.

Octavia took it, scanning with squinted eyes. "What the fuck is a floor meeting?" She laughed.

"Oh god." Clarke groaned.

"Aren't you so happy to live in a dorm again?" Raven teased.

"What?" Octavia asked, now very curious. "What is it?"

"It's just this dumb thing you have to go to. It's like dorm orientation. You meet your RA and they make you watch videos about fire safety and like, not bringing home strangers and shit." Raven said.

"RA?" Octavia questioned.

"They didn't tell you about RA's at your regular orientation?" Raven asked.

"Me and Lincoln might've skipped a few events," Octavia said with a scandalous eyebrow motion.

"Oh my god, wasn't he working at orientation?" Raven laughed. "You're bad. Anyway, they're students that get paid by the school to make sure everyone on their floor follows the rules."

"Like a babysitter?" Octavia asked, brow furrowed.

"Can't we skip it?" Clarke groaned again.

"Nah, here they make you sign something at the end so they know everyone goes. It sucks" Raven said, quickly helping empty the dolly of her friend's belongings. Clarke joined her, thankful for the busywork.

"Alright." Raven clapped her hands together once it had been emptied. "I think you guys can take it from here."

"Aw, boo. Leaving already?" Octavia pouted. "You didn't even wait to see me and Clarke fight over who gets which bed."

"And she won't need to, because I'm taking this one." Clarke chuckled as she hoisted herself up onto the bed on the left side of the room.

"Glad that's resolved." Raven teased. "Anyway, yeah, I gotta go back to the apartment, I'm sure Bell's there by now and he's been plotting to steal my room for the last year," She huffed.

"Now that you mention it, he did say something about finally getting a bigger room when we were packing last night," Octavia said.

"That motherfucker!" Raven sprang up and toward the door.

"Wait! Are you going to come hang out later?" Clarke asked. "We've gotta break this room in."

"Yeah." Raven said. "I'll grab us some beer and we can chill. Later." She gave them both a little nod and shut the door behind her.

Now there was one less distraction. Typically, that would be a good thing, but in this case, it gave Clarke a twinge of anxiety. Soon, she would run out of things to do. She would have nothing left but to sit and think. She shook that thought away and resolved to deal with it when the moment came. For now, she had a room to unpack and a friend to catch up with.

Six thirty came far more quickly than Clarke had anticipated. It felt like only moments had passed between their arrival and the present as she sat on the floor of their hallway next to Octavia. She giggled nervously amongst the chatter, nudging Clarke and pointing every time someone potentially attractive came out of their room.

"You okay?" Octavia asked quietly. "You seem kinda off today."

The sincerity caught Clarke off guard. "Uh, yeah. Fine. Just a little, overwhelmed I guess." She stared down at the carpeted floor, a little guilty for half lying. Octavia didn't seem to notice though, Clarke watched from the corner of her eye as her friend turned from side to side, trying to take in everyone and everything in the hallway. Clarke wished she could share in her excitement, but she couldn't help but feel like there was something inherently sad about doing something for the first time all over again. She picked at the carpet, hoping no one aside from Octavia would try and talk to her. She just wasn't in the mood.

Suddenly, the hall fell silent, Clarke's curiosity got the better of her and she looked up to see what was going on. Standing across from her, was a tall, thin girl with cascading waves of brown hair. When she noticed her face, Clarke understood what had gotten everyone's attention. She looked intense and deeply focused, an air of superiority with sharp cheekbones, light eyes and full lips. Clarke might have been intimidated by her if she wasn't so curious about her.

"Hello everyone." The girl addressed the crowd, sounding self-assured. Clarke had decided she looked like a model. A very angry, intense model. "Thank you all for being on time, this shouldn't take long." It was then that Clarke realized the girl didn't have everyone's attention because of her looks. It was because she was the RA.

"For those of you who haven't yet checked your campus email-" She paused to glance up and down the hall, meeting eyes with Clarke who immediately shifted her gaze to the floor. "I'm Lexa, and I will be your RA for this year." She turned her head to make sure everyone along the hall understood before continuing. "Show of hands, how many of you are freshmen?" Lexa asked. A good amount of people including Octavia had their hands raised, some looking more excited than others. "Welcome." She said without smiling. "My job is to make sure that you all have the best possible experience here. Which means that you can come to me with your questions and problems, and I will do my best to resolve them. In the email with your residence life handbook, you will also find my open hours, which will be the block of time that I will regularly be available to voice your concerns. I'll also have them posted outside of my door."

Lexa went on to talk about the dorm rules, about how drugs and alcohol can get you kicked out, how having any pets other than a fish could result in disciplinary action, but Clarke was more interested in how Lexa's moving lips looked soft. She didn't realize she had zoned out until the face that she was staring at stared back. Lexa gave her a look. It was confident, and curious, almost questioning. Clarke nearly coughed, immediately tearing her gaze from the girl to the floor.

"Alright. That's my speech." Clarke could hear Lexa sigh, but didn't dare look up. "Please stand and make your way to the common area on the second floor, there are safety videos we need to watch." People on all sides began to stand, and make their way to the stairs at either end of the hall. Octavia who grabbed Clarke by the arm, hoisting her up. As she stood, she caught Lexa eyeing her again. It made her stomach feel weird, a different feeling than the one she'd had all day. In a sudden surge of confidence, she met the RA's gaze.

"Hi." Clarke said, tone friendly. She smiled and held her hand out to Lexa. "I'm Clarke." Lexa took it and shook. Her hand was cold on Clarke's warm skin, and she tried not to notice how her long fingers tickled at the base of her wrist.

"Good to meet you." Lexa said. She was all business, almost dismissive, and it only made the strange feeling worse. Lexa turned her head, apparently watching as the hall emptied.

Octavia pulled on Clarke's hand, trying to lead her to follow everyone else out of the hall, but Clarke didn't move. Instead, she turned to face their door and opened it, beckoning Octavia to follow. She wasn't interested in sitting on the floor of a too crowded common room while poorly produced videos explained things that should be common sense.

"Where are you going?" Clarke heard suddenly, her body involuntarily gave a nervous jolt. She turned to face Lexa, who's expression had gone from curious to combative.

"We were just going back to our room." Clarke said, sounding more confident than she felt. She glanced over at Octavia who was staring at her, wide eyed.

"Clarke-" Octavia started.

"It's not optional." Lexa said. There was something in her voice that made Clarke almost give up right away. She spoke like someone with authority. But it was that tone that made Clarke want to test her even more. She always did have a problem with authority.

"I've been through all of this before." Clarke said. "This isn't my first time in college." She laughed, but stopped short seeing Lexa's glare.

"It's not optional." Lexa said again, looking Clarke in the eyes.

"Can't you make an exception?" Clarke asked, meeting Lexa's gaze. It was intense. Serious.

"Even if I could, I wouldn't." Lexa said in a low voice, taking a step closer to Clarke. She cocked an eyebrow, and gestured toward the stairs.

Clarke opened her mouth to speak, but before she got the chance, Octavia pulled on her arm. "Let's just go." Octavia muttered. Clarke glanced backward, to see Lexa following them, apparently not trusting they could make it to the second floor on their own. A sudden surge of irritation coursed through Clarke. Who did this girl think she was, anyway?

The next hour was excruciating. Clarke sat cross legged on the crowded floor, supporting her head in her hands as yet another video played about how hot plates are absolutely not allowed in the dorms. Her eye wandered across the room to where Lexa was standing, surveying. She looked effortless, and it made Clarke angry all over again. Why were people able to be that attractive and have their life together, too? It didn't make any sense, and it only made Clarke feel worse about herself. Her life was a mess. She transferred schools just to have an undeclared major, she had hardly spoken to her mom before she left, her ex-boyfriend kept trying to call her from unknown numbers, and now here she was, staring across the room at a girl who she wished she was like. The angry model. Clarke looked her over again, taking her time to examine the tight jeans over long legs, long fingers resting comfortably near her thighs, serious face temporarily at peace. The longer she looked, the more frustrated she became. Normally, if she saw a pretty girl she might've stared, wondered how they did their makeup, what they used in their hair, wishing they could be friends. But ever since her first kiss with the girl from the coffee shop, she started noticing more. Wondering how their lips might feel against her neck. How their hands would feel in her hair. She didn't want to be wondering these things about Lexa. She had already decided that Lexa was her enemy. But that didn't stop Clarke from imagining Lexa's cool hands on her skin for the rest of the meeting.

Raven and Octavia entered the room after the latter excitedly volunteered to sign her into the building. Clarke opted to sit on the floor in front of her bed, not having put the sheets on yet.

"So, how was it?" Raven asked Clarke. She immediately dropped her bag to the floor and unzipped it, revealing a pile of beer cans.

"Brutal." Clarke said, reaching down for a beer.

"Yeah, our RA seems like a real hard ass." Octavia said, tossing herself on the floor in front of her bed. She held her arms out, and Raven tossed a beer to her.

"Who is it? I might know them."

"Her name is Alexis or something." Octavia said.

"Lexa." Clarke interjected.

"Oh." Raven said, eyes wide. "I hope it's not the same Lexa that Monty and Jasper had last year."

"Why? Was she bad?" Clarke asked, opening her beer and taking a sip.

"They said she was a nightmare. Way too strict." Raven explained, cracking a beer for herself.

"That sounds like her, she looked so serious the whole time." Octavia said, taking a gulp of her beer. "I don't think Clarke minded, though." She snickered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Clarke asked incredulously.

"I mean duh, I saw you staring at her." Octavia said. Raven suddenly looked a lot more interested in the conversation and took a seat on the floor between them.

"Obviously I was looking at her, she was talking." Clarke said, cheeks heating up.

"Was she talking while we were watching the videos, too?" Octavia teased.

"Ooh! You've got it so bad!" Raven laughed, pointing to mock her.

"I've seen the girl once!" Clarke defended.

"But you definitely liked what you saw." Raven wiggled her eyebrows.

"I mean yeah, I guess she's kind of attractive-" Clarke feigned nonchalance, trying to keep her mind from thoughts of her RA's long legs.

"Ha! I knew it!" Octavia laughed. "You totally were staring."

"I was not! Plus she seems like an asshole." She sighed. "I knew I never should've told you guys I like girls too." Clarke groaned, covering her face with her hands.

"Oh come on, we're just fucking with you." Raven said, reaching out to shove Clarke.

"Yeah, yeah." Clarke huffed, gulping down her beer.

"Come on Clarke, there are so many positives now that we know." Octavia beamed.

"Like what?" Clarke asked, half annoyed.

"Like we can wingman for you." Raven said. "You would not believe the things girls get up to at parties around here." She tilted her head and looked up at Clarke, devilishly.

"Plus, now that you've got another whole gender worth of people to explore you and Raven don't have to worry about dating the same guy again." Octavia laughed. Both Clarke and Raven glared at her. "What, still too soon?" She asked in mock concern.

"It'll be too soon for as long as he thinks he still has a chance with Clarke." Raven said, taking a few more gulps of her beer than usual.

"He doesn't." Clarke said seriously, reaching to put a comforting hand on her friend's leg.

"Especially not with girls in the mix!" Octavia laughed again. A light smile pulled on the corner of Raven's lips as Clarke rolled her eyes.

"So are we getting drunk or what?" Raven asked as she crushed the empty beer can in her hands and reached for another. "Let's shotgun some!" Clarke looked from her to Octavia, knowing in that moment that the semester would be nothing but trouble.

They had been drinking for a while, a few hours had slipped by unnoticed once they had turned on some music. For a moment, Clarke wondered if they should be out meeting new people instead of sitting on the floor of their small room, talking shit on all the people they grew up with. She felt good though, tipsy, finally rid of her ominous sinking feeling.

"Jasper is totally losing his shit." Raven shrugged.

"Over that girl he's been seeing?" Octavia asked.

"Yeah, he's all bugged out because he told her he loved her and she didn't say it back." Raven sighed.

"I mean, wouldn't you be?" Clarke asked.

"First of all, I wouldn't have told someone I loved them after knowing them for two weeks." Raven said. The other two girls couldn't help but laugh. "Did he ever tell you he loved you back when he was obsessed with you?" She asked Octavia.

"Aw, leave him alone." Octavia defended, laughing lightly. There was a knock on the door, barely heard over the sounds of music and laughter.

"Hey Clarke, I think that's Lincoln. Can you let him in?" Octavia asked, pointing to the door.

"Yeah." She said, standing so quickly she almost fell. The girls laughed in unison at the mishap and Clarke continued to the door, now aware she was a little more drunk than she had realized.

"Just so you know," Clarke turned to Octavia, "there is a strict no fucking while I'm in the room rule, okay?" She shouted while opening the door, so Lincoln could hear her, too. When she turned, though, it was not Lincoln in the doorway. "Oh, uh, hi." Clarke said, coughing awkwardly as she came face to face with Lexa. Clarke tried to bite back her momentary panic when she realized it was her RA. The very RA who she had been accused of staring at. Suddenly, she couldn't figure out where to look, worried to be accused of checking her out again. She settled on her face, which was hard, because while under the influence, her intense gaze was that much more unnerving. There was a knot in her stomach that felt a lot like she was in trouble. She could hear Raven and Octavia in the background, laughing at her discomfort.

"You need to keep it down." Lexa said, expression cold. Her eyes flickered in the fluorescent hall lighting, either blue or green, Clarke couldn't tell, but she knew that she liked them.

"I- uh- we- sorry." Clarke said. "I didn't think we were being that loud."

"You are." She said, expression unchanged.

Clarke turned back to her friends, quickly making a face that they both understood to mean kill the music, because it immediately went off. "Sorry about that, again. We'll keep it down." Clarke said. Her voice didn't sound like her own, a strange mixture of fearful and flirty. Lexa nodded curtly and turned to leave before Clarke blurted out, "do you want a drink?"

Lexa stopped and looked at Clarke, examining her in a way that made her shift uncomfortably. It gave Clarke time to regret saying anything. She watched as something like a smirk appeared on the corner of Lexa's lips. "What do you mean by that?" She asked, tone even.

"I mean, you know I-" Clarke stopped herself before she accidentally said anything else. The knot in her stomach only grew, worse and more guilty by the second, worried she would get her friends in trouble.

"Because I hope," Lexa paused to examine Clarke once again. "That you're offering me a water. Or a soda, maybe a juice." Her eyes were piercing. "Anything, other than alcohol." Clarke tried her best not to look guilty, but the booze already in her system made her want to laugh.

"Nope, definitely not alcohol." Clarke said nearly giggling with nerves. Lexa watched her intently, and Clarke couldn't help but watch her lips as she spoke.

"Because if you paid attention at all in our meeting-" Lexa continued. "You would know that alcohol is strictly prohibited in the dorms."

"What about outside of the dorms?" Clarke said, feeling like she had no control over her speech. Dumb things kept slipping out. For a second she wondered if it was because of the alcohol, or because Lexa made her nervous.

"Are you asking me about the legal drinking age? Or if it's okay to get drunk in class?" Lexa stared at her in disbelief. Clarke may have imagined it, but it almost looked like Lexa wanted to laugh, too. "Either way I think you know the answer." She said.

Clarke saw Lincoln enter the hallway, she recognized him from the pictures Octavia showed her. He was an impressive sight, all tall and fit, but she almost felt like she needed to warn him to turn back, to protect him from Lexa. It seemed Lexa had noticed him too. By the time he had reached them, he and Lexa made eye contact and exchanged a knowing nod. "Your friend has a rule she wants to tell you." Lexa said, corners of her mouth turning up slightly. Lincoln looked curiously at Clarke, then back at Lexa. "Make sure they keep it down." She said to him before turning her back and entering the room across the hall.

"You know her?" Clarke asked him as they re-entered the room. Lincoln nodded.

"Who, the RA?" Octavia asked.

"Her name is Lexa." Lincoln said, mostly to Octavia. "We grew up together."

"Seriously?" Octavia asked.

"Has she always had that stick up her butt?" Raven laughed.

"You weren't kidding about your friends," he chuckled, taking a seat on the floor next to Octavia.

"Okay, what lies has she told you about us?" Raven asked.

"You don't have to answer that," Octavia laughed, pressing a kiss to Lincoln's cheek. Clarke joined them on the floor.

"It's nice to meet you both, I've heard a lot about you over the last few weeks," Lincoln said. Clarke was surprised at how soft spoken he was.

"Let's not change the subject," Raven said. "What's the deal with your RA friend?"

"Don't mind Raven, she has no filter," Clarke said.

"Don't mind Clarke, she's got a huge crush," Raven teased.

"I do not."

"I heard last year, Lexa got a bunch of people kicked out of their dorms." Raven said.

"Were they breaking the rules?" Lincoln asked seriously.

"Well, yeah, they got caught with a bunch of pot and molly during inspections, but still. Pretty messed up." Raven said, taking a gulp from her beer.

"Rules are rules. What else should she have done?" Lincoln shrugged. Raven scowled in response.

"You wouldn't have turned me in, right babe?" Octavia asked, laying in his lap.

Lincoln half-smiled down at her. "No."

"See!" Raven said, holding out her beer. "Now why's that any different?"

"That's his girlfriend." Clarke shrugged, picking up her drink from the floor.

"You protect your own." Lincoln said, reaching to push a strand of hair from Octavia's face. "That's what we were taught."

"I like that." Octavia smiled at him.

"Again-" Clarke cut in, "just to make it super clear, please, no fucking each other while I'm in the room. And that includes while I'm asleep!" Octavia laughed and something like a blush crept over Lincoln's tanned cheeks.

"Aw, don't be jealous of them, Clarke." Raven teased.

"I'll be jealous all I want." Clarke laughed.

"So anyway, Lincoln, Clarke thinks Lexa is super hot. You should put in a good word." Raven smirked, teasing her friend again.

"I did not! I only said she was kind of attractive-" Clarke said, trying in vain to suppress her reddening cheeks.

"What do you think her chances are?" Raven asked Lincoln.

He looked at Clarke, eyes soft, but dark. "There is no chance." He said quietly.

"Why not?" Clarke asked indignantly, before she could stop herself.

"It's not my place." Lincoln said quietly. It was obvious he was through talking about her, but questions continued to plague Clarke. What could have possibly made him so sure? Was she a homophobe or something? Did she have something against blondes? Was she just too involved in school? It made Clarke want to dash across the hall and ask. She hated suspense. But she knew that would be a bad idea, because intrusive drunk girls from across the hall are not the kind of people you reveal your secrets to. As she wondered about what the mysterious RA could be doing behind the sets of closed doors it occurred to her that yet again, her friends were right.