AN: Hello, Clexakru! For those of you who have read my stories before, welcome back, and for those of you reading my writing for the first time, I hope you like the way I write. I've had the idea for this story in the back of my mind for a while, so I'm really excited that I'm finally getting to share it with you! Thank you to anyone who is willing to take the time to read this fic, and I hope you all enjoy the first chapter! :)

Clarke Griffin stood back to admire her work. She had transferred to Polis Boarding School for her junior year of high school, and she had just gotten all of her stuff settled at Arkadia House, where she would be living for her next two years at this school, assuming she stayed. She hadn't wanted to come here. At the beginning of the summer, her mother told her that she would be attending school here due to her recent behavior, and try as she might, she could not get her mother to budge on the fact. She had been dreading coming to the school for a while, but she had recently started to feel better, and so she began to think that maybe the school might not be so bad for her after all. She did need to get away from her old school and the group of people that she had been hanging out with, so she was hoping that she would be able to start fresh at Polis.

Her start was not going as planned. Her flight into the city of Polis got delayed, and so she missed the first day of classes. However, this only upset her a little, since she knew that the only thing teachers tended to do on the first day was go over the syllabus and give a brief introduction to the class. Clarke felt better when she was greeted by the head of Arkadia House, a kind man named Mr. Kane and led upstairs to her room, which she would be sharing with an Alexandria Woods. After giving her a brief overview of the rules and wishing her a warm welcome to the house, Mr. Kane left her to unpack her stuff and get settled in.

Once Clarke was finished, she found that she was actually kind of excited to meet the other residents of the house, and upon glancing at her clock, she noticed that it would only be another half hour before the students should start returning. The blonde pulled out her phone to play a game or go on her social media accounts while she waited for everyone to return.

When the door to her room burst open, she stood up from the bed to greet her roommate, but the brunette simply stormed over to the bed across the room from Clarke's, throwing herself onto it, not even acknowledging that Clarke was there. Clarke's brows furrowed in confusion, and she wondered if maybe the other girl hadn't seen her. She decided that must be the case, so she chose to introduce herself. "Hey, I'm Clarke. You must be Alexandria."

The brunette's head turned to the side, face morphing into an angry expression. "It's just Lexa. Who the hell are you?"

Clarke was taken aback by the hostility in the girl's tone, and she wondered if perhaps Mr. Kane might have accidentally shown her into the wrong room. "I'm your roommate."

"I don't have a roommate," Lexa snarled immediately, standing up from her own bed. "You must have the wrong room."

Clarke wondered what this girl's problem was, but she felt herself getting angry at the unfair way that she was being treated by this girl who she had just met. "No. This is definitely my room. Mr. Kane showed me in here when I arrived."

"Then, Mr. Kane has some explaining to do," Lexa said angrily, eyes never straying from Clarke as she took a step forward.

Clarke didn't back down, stepping up into Lexa's space, their noses inches away, as she glared at the brunette. "Maybe you should take this up with Mr. Kane then."

Lexa's lips pulled down in a scowl. "Oh, I will, but for now, you need to get out."

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Clarke's voice began to rise. "This is my room, and I'm not leaving."

"Who the fuck do you think you are, blondie?" Lexa returned. "Please don't tell me you're one of those bitches who thinks they're better than everyone and can do whatever they want."

"I'm not," Clarke said, eyes sparking with fury, "but I can clearly see that you are. Maybe you ought to take a look in the mirror before you go hurling around accusations."

Lexa looked taken aback for a moment before a look of absolute rage washed over her eyes, and Clarke might have been afraid if she wasn't so angry herself.

"Get out of my room." Lexa's voice was low and threatening, but Clarke still could not see past the loathing that she was already feeling for the girl in front of her. In fact, she was two seconds away from telling the brunette to leave herself.

"No," Clarke said, and she didn't miss the way Lexa's nostrils flared.

Green eyes were wild with fury as she reached around Clarke for the picture that rested on her nightstand, smashing it on the edge before throwing it to the ground and screaming, "Out!"

Clarke might have punched the other girl in the face if she was still angry, but the minute that picture broke, she felt her fire go out. Clarke felt numb as she dropped down beside the mess on the ground. The photo of Clarke and her father was fine, but the frame was shattered into pieces on the floor. She had given that frame with the picture in it to her dad for Father's Day three years ago, and now it was ruined, broken just like everything else in Clarke's life. Tears streaked down her cheeks, and she turned her gaze back up to Lexa, rage washing over her again as she pushed back to her feet. "How could you break my picture? That frame was special!"

Lexa huffed, and Clarke could not believe how cold this girl was. "I'm sorry, okay? Don't be such a baby. It's just a stupid picture frame."

Clarke wanted to wrap her hands around the brunette girl's throat and squeeze hard, but before she could even respond, the other girl was brushing past her and out the door, leaving Clarke all alone with the broken glass.

After Clarke had finished cleaning up the picture frame and tucking the photo safely into her nightstand drawer, she tried to stop thinking of ways to murder Lexa as she made her way down the hallway with the intention of sitting in the living room and maybe watching some TV. However, before she could even begin descending the staircase, her phone began to ring. She grabbed the device from her pocket, and upon seeing that it was her mother, she wanted nothing more than to hit the ignore button. Her mom was surely calling to check up on her, and she hated lying to her mother, but she knew that that was exactly what she would have to do if she picked up that phone. She couldn't let her mother know how horribly her day was starting off. Clarke sighed, knowing that her mother would only keep calling until she answered, so she decided to get the conversation over with, leaning against the rail at the top of the stairs as she answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, sweetheart, how's your first day going?" Abby asked in a warm voice.

Horrible, Clarke thought, Not only did I miss the first day of classes, but my roommate is a colossal jerk, and the picture frame that I got Dad is broken. Clarke didn't say any of this though, wanting her mother to believe that going to this school was really going to be better for her. She swallowed thickly before adopting a happy tone. "It's great. Even though I missed classes, the house is really nice and homey feeling. Everyone here is really welcoming."

"I'm glad to hear that." Clarke could practically see the smile that was most likely adorning her mom's face. "Do you like your roommate?"

Clarke closed her eyes, feeling her rage bubble up at just the mention of Lexa, and she had to take a moment before answering. "Yes. She's really nice. We're getting along quite well so far."

"It sounds like you're going to have a lot of fun there." The overjoyed tone of Abby's voice caused tears to fall from Clarke's eyes, no matter how hard she tried to stop them. She wished she could just tell her mother the truth and go back home. Abby's voice was making her even more homesick than she had been before she answered the phone, but she wanted her mom to be happy, and the only way that would happen was if Clarke herself pretended to be happy.

"Are you still there?" Abby asked, and Clarke snapped to attention, realizing that she had just been standing there quietly, lost in thought.

Clarke wanted to sniffle, but she stopped herself, knowing that she needed to sound happy for her mother. "Yeah. It's just that it's almost time for dinner. I really should be going."

"Sure. You go ahead. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye," Clarke said, clicking off the phone.

She sniffled as she headed into the living room, even though she really wanted nothing more than to collapse onto her bed. Since she knew that Lexa could come back in at any moment, and she had no intention of talking to the brunette anytime soon without strangling her, she figured that it would be best if she stayed in the living room. Clarke was surprised to find that the living room was not unoccupied, as she had previously thought. A pair of brunettes was sitting on one of the olive green plush couches, watching something on the television. The blonde tried to back away and head back upstairs, but the other girls had already seen her, clearly noticing the way that her eyes were red from crying. Clarke hoped that they wouldn't say anything as she sat down in one of the chairs, but she barely even had time to settle into the cushions before the girl who had her hair in a ponytail began speaking. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just really despise my roommate already, and we've barely even met," Clarke explained, deciding to tell the truth and hoping that these two weren't the same way as Lexa had been.

"You're rooming with Lexa," the other brunette deduced easily, and Clarke was glad that this girl clearly did not like Lexa either. "You must be the new chick."

"Yes. Lexa is the worst person I've ever met. I don't think I've ever hated someone so much after two seconds of knowing them," Clarke said bitterly.

The ponytail girl looked at her sympathetically. "What did she do?"

"She yelled at me to get out of her room, and when I refused, she broke my picture frame. A picture frame I had given to my dad for Father's Day before he...before he died." Clarke tried to keep her voice from shaking, but she knew that she was unsuccessful.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I promise you that no one else is like that. Lexa's just…kind of horrible," the girl said, and Clarke found that she had to keep herself from scoffing at the way that Lexa was described as kind of horrible. "It really sucks that you have to room with her, but you are definitely welcome to crash with us any time, or all the time. Anyway, I'm Raven, and this is my roommate, Octavia."

"I'm Clarke," the blonde introduced herself as well.

"Nice to meet you." Octavia smiled at her. "I'm assuming Lexa is the only one you've met here so far?"

Clarke nodded. "Yeah. I just got here a few hours ago."

"I promise you that the rest of the residents in this house are really nice," Octavia assured her. "Would you like me to tell you about them?"

"That would be nice, thanks. I'd at least like to know their names," Clarke told the girl. She figured it would be nice not to go into dinner without knowing anything.

"Okay, well, I'm sure Mr. Kane has told you that the boys live downstairs and the girls live upstairs," Octavia said, pausing for Clarke to nod before continuing, "So downstairs, in the first room, there is my brother Bellamy and my boyfriend Lincoln. I can tell you now that they're both super nice. Lincoln wouldn't hurt a fly, and as long as you don't provoke Bellamy, he'll be welcoming too."

Clarke nodded, filing away this information for later. Bellamy is Octavia's brother, and Lincoln is her boyfriend. Clarke quickly turned her attention back to Octavia as the other girl continued talking. "In the other room downstairs, there's Jasper and Monty. They're the resident pranksters. Both of them are sweethearts, and luckily for us, Mr. Kane has banned them from pranking the residents of the house, so they carry out their pranks at school on members of the other houses."

Clarke gave Octavia a skeptical look. "He'd rather them pull pranks at school when they're supposed to be learning rather than here in their free time?"

Octavia raised an eyebrow. "Who said he knew about their pranks at school?"

Clarke couldn't help but laugh at this new information, happy that some of the residents were actually nice. Octavia and Raven were both welcoming enough, and the way Octavia described the boys seemed good, so it seemed that it was unfortunate that Clarke got stuck with the only mean one in the house.

"So, is that everyone?" she asked. "The four boys, me, you guys, and Lexa?"

Raven shook her head. "Nope. Each house holds ten residents. Some have an extra girls' room, and others have an extra boys' room. Arkadia has an extra room for girls, and that's where Anya and Emori live. They're sisters. Anya's the older one, and she's the quieter of the two. She has a more reserved personality. Emori's much more loud and open. I get along better with her, but the two of them normally hang around each other and sometimes Lincoln. Lexa used to be really close with them, but well, she's not anymore."

Clarke nodded slowly, puzzled by this last piece of information. So either Lexa wasn't always such a horrible person or Anya and Emori used to be. Clarke hoped that it was the former because she didn't want to take the chance that these other girls might be anything close to Lexa. Or more likely, Lexa had put on a fake persona at first, and they had stopped hanging out with her once she had showed her true colors. Clarke certainly wouldn't put that past her.

"Are the two of you juniors like me, or are you seniors?" Clarke asked, remembering that Mr. Kane had told her that each house was home to either freshman and sophomores or juniors and seniors.

"Juniors. Both of us." Octavia replied. "Most of us are in this house. Lincoln, Bellamy, and Anya are seniors."

Clarke nodded, content with the information she had received. "I'm glad everyone else here sounds nice."

"Oh, I almost forgot. Our house mother, Indra is the sweetest person ever. If you haven't met her yet, you will at dinner. She cooks all of our meals, and her food is fantastic. I wonder what she's making tonight," Octavia said excitedly.

Octavia talked on about life in the house, and Clarke smiled because the way that the brunette described it gave it a homey feel again, the way Clarke had assumed it would be before she met Lexa. If Lexa was the only jerk in this house, then Clarke would just have to avoid her. She wanted to have a good time, so she would, for herself and for her mother.

Marcus Kane sat in his office, filling out paperwork and getting things ready for the new school year. When the door of his office opened, he wasn't surprised to see Lexa storming inside with a furious look on her face. He knew she would be paying him a visit tonight.

"What can I do for you, Ms. Woods?" he asked, although he knew very well what this was about.

"You can tell my 'roommate' to pack up her stuff and leave. I don't have a roommate. That was the deal," Lexa seethed.

Marcus took a deep breath before explaining as calmly as he could. "I promised you wouldn't have a roommate last year, and I kept my word. It just wasn't possible this year. We have many students who apply each year, and we are a small school already, so we needed the space. I have given you plenty of time, Lexa. It's time for you to get over this."

Lexa's eyes blazed. "Get over what? The fact that I don't want a roommate? There's nothing to get over. That's just how I am."

"No one is forcing you to remain at this school." Marcus tried a different approach, keeping his voice gentle.

Lexa looked surprised at hearing his comment, and Marcus thought he could detect the beginning of tears in her eyes as she said her next words. "But I want to. I don't want to leave."

"Then, you're going to have to make peace with the fact that you are going to have a roommate this year. You don't have to like her, but you will be living with Clarke until the end of the term," Marcus told her.

Marcus understood what Lexa was going through. Or at least, he had at first, but this had gone on for long enough. He had to pull so many strings just for her to have a room to herself last year. This year, the headmaster of the school would not allow it, and Marcus wished that Lexa could just accept that. He had been hoping that by having a roommate again, Lexa would start to act more like herself, but he wasn't so sure about that anymore. Still, he hoped that maybe Clarke would be able to get through to her. Lexa simply glared at him before leaving his office, slamming the door behind her. Marcus dropped his head into his hands. If Lexa was going to continue to act like this, it was going to be one hell of a year.

When dinner rolled around, Clarke was introduced to all of the other inhabitants of the house. She would be lying if she said it wasn't overwhelming to meet them all at once, but she was honestly just relieved that they were all so nice, a stark contrast from the welcome that she had received from Lexa earlier. Clarke was surprised to see that Lexa didn't even show up for dinner, but the others barely even noticed she was missing, giving Clarke the impression that this was something the other students were used to. The only acknowledgement of Lexa's absence was when Anya commented that she was probably off brooding somewhere, but Clarke of course preferred that her roommate not be there, as she was sure that the atmosphere was much more amicable without the feisty brunette.

Clarke felt as if dinner went by in a blur, but even so, she found that she got along well with the other members of the house, and she was grateful that they kept her in the conversation, even though they weren't used to her being there. When she had finally accepted that she was going to boarding school, she had mainly been agreeable for her mom's sake and a bit because she wanted to start over, but now she was finally catching on to the reasons that her mother might have decided to enroll her in the first place. It kept her around people who she might be able to form bonds with, rather than pushing all the decent people away, and it kept her thinking about something other than her father, a topic that had come to frequent her mind all too much lately.

When it was getting late, Octavia explained to Clarke that they needed to head back to their rooms because Mr. Kane liked for all lights to be out by eleven o'clock. Clarke complied, seeing the sense in that rule, especially for school nights, and followed the other girls up the stairs. Raven offered to let Clarke stay with her and Octavia that night, and Clarke really wanted to take her up on that offer, but she didn't want to intrude on her first night there, so she politely declined and made her way into her own room, hoping that she would not be met with more harsh words. Lexa didn't even turn her head when Clarke stepped inside. She was simply lying on her back in her bed, glaring up at the ceiling. Clarke rolled her eyes, grabbing her toothbrush and pajamas and making her way down the hall to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

When Clarke returned to her room, she was not surprised to find that Lexa had not moved, and she simply ignored the girl, climbing into bed. However, she couldn't help the fact that she had noticed that her roommate's eyes looked a bit puffy, as if she had recently been crying. She knew she shouldn't care because the brunette had made her cry mere hours ago without a second thought, but Clarke couldn't help but feel a bit curious as to why the girl she was rooming with seemingly hated everyone. She knew it was against her better judgement, but she decided to ask anyway. "I didn't see you at dinner. Is everything alright?"

Lexa's face set in a scowl, and instead of responding, she simply turned on her side, facing away from Clarke, and clicked off the lamp on her bedside table. Clarke rolled her eyes again, wondering why on earth she had to get stuck rooming with such an awful girl. She had only been trying to check up on the other girl, after all. She turned off her own lamp before lying down to go to sleep. The last thought on Clarke's mind that night was that everything just might be perfect if Lexa weren't here.