Kings // c. griffin

Chapter Eighteen

Clarke Griffin, so it happened, was inhumanly incredible at pretending something had never happened. 

Isaac, however, wasn't as talented. 

Unity Day was upon the camp (as well as the Ark) and everyone was bustling about, thanks to the festivities. Monty was holed up in his tent, making more moonshine, or, as Jasper had dubbed it, 'Unity Juice'. The only thing uniting about it is that they'd all wake up with hangovers together. Not the greatest bonding experience, but Isaac supposed it was better than a few other things he had no doubt in his mind people were trying to plan. 

But the point being, not the interesting side effects of bitter drinks, but that while everyone else was off having fun and preparing for a great day of partying and laying back, Isaac was sat brooding around the back of the drop ship, just out of sight but close enough to be heard should he have any reason to scream for help. 

He felt pathetic. Weak, a bit useless, and definitely pathetic. He had no idea what had happened in the tent the other day, but he was completely aware that it meant more than the simple brush of fingers against skin. It was intimate, in a way, whether Clarke wanted to acknowledge it or not. He hadn't been able to convince her of that, and now he was having trouble convincing himself. They hadn't even kissed and she was breaking his heart with her words. 

In simpler terms, having a crush sucked ass. 

"My friends, this is a historic Unity Day. Every year, we mark the moment our ancestors of the 12 stations joined to form the Ark, but this is the last time we do so aboard her. Next year, on the ground." Chancellor Jaha's voice drifted faintly around the sides of the dropship. It was static-y sounding because of the bad connection (but they were in space, so it was to be expected). The sound of applause came through, and then the sarcastic scoff of a familiar teen.

"Yeah, right, after we did all the work," he groaned loudly. "Someone shut him up." 

"You shut up, Miller," Raven shot back, seeming annoyed. "No one's forcing you to watch." 

Chancellor Jaha continued speaking. "For 97 years we have eked out an existence, hoping that someday our descendants would return to earth..." Isaac turned his head, resting his cheek against the cold metal of the drop ship. He let out a sigh and watched as his breath left a foggy mark against the metal. He was bored out of his mind and his refusal to go back into camp was a bit counterproductive of his plan to act as casual as possible. But at the moment he didn't care, because he was feeling less than festive at the moment. 

Isaac had just begun to tune out the background noise of the party when suddenly a loud voice cut through the faint buzz of talk and laughter. "Woo!" Jasper shouted triumphantly. "Yeah! Monty strikes again!" He paused, probably to wave Monty's creation above his head for all to see. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "Call this batch unity juice! Who's thirsty?"

The prisoners cheered loudly, and then voices melded together, everyone talking at once. No doubt they were all crowding around Jasper to get some of this Unity Juice. Isaac sighed, knowing that it was just about to be a watered down repeat of the nut rations incident. He really hoped that some people would stay sober, at least, to keep the others in line. A bunch of drunk, criminal teenagers on Earth running rampant with guns and no adults was a bit -actually, a lot of a nightmare. 

"What are you doing back here?" 

Isaac turned his head, opening his eyes as he looked at Raven. "Hey, Raven," he said tiredly. He pressed his lips together, turning his head back so he was staring straight ahead of him and into the forest. 

The girl walked over to him, putting a hand on the side of the dropship so she could lower herself down, sitting in the grass next to him, resting her back against the metal wall of the ship. "Not in a festive mood?"