The 100 Academy

Chapter 12

Bellamy

We sat in the farthest table from the entrance way, avoiding the crowd of people that had seemed to ignore the commotion just minutes before.  I sat in the middle of the table, Clarke to my right and Octavia to my left.  Lincoln sat in front of Octavia, Lexa next to him and the Hispanic girl across from me.  Jasper and Monty sat at the end of the table, not wanting to miss any of the drama, obviously.  I held Clarke's hands in mine, examining her wrists after finally convincing her to let me.  Her wrists were purplish-blue, bruises in the shapes of hand marks.  I felt rage boiling in my stomach as I saw that her lips were also bruised and swollen, as if Finn had been kissing her roughly.  Finn shouldn't have even been touching her!

"So what's your name?" Octavia blurted out, filling the silence at our table.  She looked slightly annoyed to be interrupted in the middle of her time with Lincoln, but she didn't object when I told her to comfort Clarke.

However, Clarke showed no emotion, like always.  Her beautiful blue eyes were serious and her bruised mouth was in a straight line.  Her cheeks were still flushed from before and her hands were shaking.  I rubbed her wrists affectionately as she stared at me and gave me a hint of a smile.

"My name is Raven.  Raven Reyes." the Hispanic girl said.  She placed her hands on the table, showing us that they were full of grease.  She caught me looking and she smirked. "Mechanic."   I nodded my head in understanding, but there were still some questions in my mind.

"Why weren't you sent here with the rest of us?" I asked her, looking straight into her hard set eyes.  She rolled them and cleared her throat.

"I wasn't supposed to come.  They said they needed me for 'maintenance purposes.'" Raven scoffed, clearly angry. "I couldn't stay away from Finn.  Before I found out he was a backstabbing boyfriend.  But I felt like I needed him.  My parents gave me away when I was born and I lost the feeling in left leg due to a car crash a few months ago.  Finn was the only person I had." Raven spat this out bitterly.  I could almost feel her words stab me in the chest as she said them.  Raven sure was a fiery spirit.  I turned back to Clarke, who was already getting ready to ask Raven another question.

"And how did you escape?" Clarke asked, her voice curious.  As she turned her head, the sunlight coming in through the window brought out a new bruise on her cheek, turning from pink to purple.  In that moment, all I wanted to do was hug Clarke and protect her for the rest of my life.  I know we had only known each other for about a week, but, in that moment, she was the only thing I could think about.  Her beauty, her fierceness, her sarcasm, her strength.  

"When the bus that was bringing food was loading, I hid and ran in.  Next thing you know, I'm here, just where I wanted to be.  Well, I also had help from Griffin." Clarke gave Raven a strange look, and Raven suddenly looked like she remembered something important. "Wait, you're the secretary's daughter?  Clarke Griffin?"

Clarke nodded, still looking weirdly at Raven.  

"Yeah, your mom helped me escape.  She told me to tell you that she loves you." Clarke had a smile on her face, but a despaired look in her eye.  I couldn't imagine how much she missed her mom.  I'm sure that if I had a proper mother figure, I would feel the same as Clarke right now.  But, I only had Aurora Blake, who I would never forgive for giving up Octavia.  

"How is Skaikru holding up?" I asked her, not really interested in what she was to say but wanting to steer the conversation to one that wouldn't make Clarke quite as sad.

"Its as boring as always.  Same old broken air conditioner and horrible lunch food." Raven took a bite of the macaroni we had made her upon entering the kitchen earlier. "I kinda wish I had come here sooner.  Just for the food." Raven kept digging into the macaroni, her fork piled up with the yellow cheesy pasta.  "So, how's the Academy?"

"It's pretty great." Lexa spoke up, for the first time in this conversation.  It must have been weird for her and Lincoln since they couldn't really talk about Skaikru with the rest of us. "No classes, good food.  Like you said, I wish we had come here sooner." Lexa ate a bit of her salad filled with lettuce and carrot sticks, with the occasional cranberry and tomato.  Lexa was a health machine, unlike the rest of us.  That was the reason she was so fit, though.  She diets, works out, and was always moving.  She literally had muscle all over her body, but not so much that it looked bad.  She's actually hot, which I'm not saying cause I liked her.  Its just a fact.

"I better go.  I need to find an empty dorm." Raven stood up from her chair, her plate completely empty.  Her mouth was in a thin line as she grabbed her plate and headed out of the kitchen, dumping it into the trash.  Her walk was a bit weird because of the boot, but she still managed to leave pretty fast.  

"I'm going to go talk to her, ok?" Clarke suddenly said, standing up not a second later.  I nodded my head, grabbing her hand and squeezing it, hard enough to show my affection, but not to hurt her wrist, which was really sensitive at the moment.  Clarke ran after Raven, her bomber jacket flying out behind her.  I hadn't realized it before, but her and Raven had the same jacket, but Raven's was red and Clarke's was blue.  Weird.  I turned back to my meal, talking with Lexa.

Clarke

I caught up to Raven in the dorm hallway.  She was checking the doors for ones without names, but she had been unsuccessful so far.

"Raven!" I yelled, causing Raven to turn around at the sound of my voice.  Raven looked angry and annoyed, but I don't think that the look was for me.

"Hey, Clarke, what's up?" 

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for everything.  Finn came onto me, and I really didn't want that to be your first impression of me." I stared at her apprehensively.  If I were in her position, I probably would've punched myself by now.  

"Clarke, it's not your fault that the son of a bitch decided to hurt you to get you.  I'm glad I came now, cause I would've never known what he was really like if it wasn't for today." Raven gave me a sad lopsided smile, as if she were trying to hold it together.

"You shouldn't be afraid to cry." I told her, wanting her to feel comfortable in front of me. 

"I'm not like that, Clarke.  I've only cried once in my life, and that was for my leg.  Something tells me that you're the same." I nodded at Raven's words, understanding her.  The light from above us cast a glare on her necklace, making me look closer at it.  It was folded metal in the shape of a raven.  I would recognize that craftsmanship anywhere.  Raven caught me staring and grabbed it with her hand.

"Finn gave it to me.  My last good memory of him." she laughed bitterly.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that Finn made one for me, too, but in the shape of a deer. 

"I don't know why I'm here.  I have no purpose here anymore." Raven shook her head, as if this were unbelievable.  

"You will always have a purpose anywhere you go, Raven.  You know why?  Because you're smart, and beautiful, and a kick ass mechanic." Raven laughed as I said this, showing me a slight smile.

"Thanks, Clarke." Raven started walking down the hall once again, leaving me.

"Oh, and the light in my closet keeps flickering.  You think you can come by and fix it sometime?" I said, wanting her to feel needed.  Raven just smirked as she kept walking away. 

"I'll be at your dorm tomorrow morning.  See ya." I could see her smile from across the hall and couldn't help but give one back.  Raven was a new friend, I could already tell.

Thanks for reading!  Please vote and comment!  Also, please check out my 100 art book.  It has a collection of my drawings, though I will publish more tomorrow.  And if you like the Shadowhunter Chronicles (The Mortal Instruments, Infernal Devices, and Dark Artifices), I have an art book for those series also.  Thank you!

-Syd