The 100 Academy

Chapter 17

Lincoln

Today was the day.  The big date with Octavia, the thing I've been waiting for for three days already.  I looked in the mirror in my dorm and took a deep breath.  I pushed a wrinkle out of my t-shirt and smoothed it down, trying to look as perfect as Octavia always did.  

I had cleaned up my room just for her, shoving the piles of clothes into the dressers and my sketches on my desk.  On the walls hung some pictures from home and Grounder High.  There was one of Anya, Lexa, Indra, Ontari, and me, all slinging our arms on each others shoulders and smiling like there was no tomorrow.  Maybe at the time we thought that was all we would have.  Each other.  

A knock came from my door, sharp and loud.  Not loud enough, though, to quiet my beating heart, which was pounding rapidly in my chest.  The sight that was Octavia didn't help anything.  She wore a green top that showed off her figure and tight jeans that emphasized her beautiful legs, each curve prominent and smooth.  She smiled at me excitedly, her green eyes bright and beautiful under the hallways bright lights.  Her long dark hair, instead of its usual down do, had little braids coming from her temples and back in a sort of half-up with the top of the half-up poofed up.  It was how girls at Grounder High School usually wore their hair, including Lexa, Ontari, and Anya.  

"I love your hair, Octavia." I said, staring at her in awe.  I couldn't believe that she did her hair like that just to join me in Grounder traditions.  No other girl would ever do that for me, I was sure.  

"Thank you.  Lexa and Indra did it for me." Octavia smiled and moved past me into my room.  See, that's what I loved about Octavia.  She was beautiful, smart, sarcastic, honest to a fault, and she always did what she wanted, no matter how difficult or wrong it seemed.  

I closed the door behind Octavia with a click and stared at her as she made her way towards my bed and sat down, creasing the black sheets underneath her body.  

"So what did you want to do?" she asked, her lips playfully smirking, the red corners lifting up.  At that moment, she was the most beautiful I had ever seen.  Her hair was splayed out across the bed, blending in with the black, and the sunlight coming from the window brightened her creamy skin.  Her eyes were running all over my room, as if she were trying to take in everything, trying to remember every detail of this moment.  

"I thought we could stay in." I said, causing Octavia to raise an eyebrow in my direction.  "I would like to draw you, if you don't mind." I suddenly felt nervous, as if I were asking for her hand in marriage.  This wasn't anything important, just a drawing to her, but in my eyes, drawing her was the next milestone in our relationship.  She would see how I see her, in all of her glorious beauty.  

"Sure." Octavia chirped, sitting up quickly.  "Do I pose?" Octavia joked, laughing while striking a glamorous pose that I took a mental picture of to draw later on.

"No, you just have to talk to me while I draw." I winked, Octavia winking right back.  God, I loved her.  She sat down on the bed, leaning against the wall, and smiled uncertainly.  She looked uncomfortable for a moment, but, since it was Octavia, she quickly launched into conversation.

"I didn't know you could draw." Octavia said, glancing towards my desk at all of my drawings.  I blushed, surprisingly as a small smile donned her lips.  "They're beautiful.  I hope I look decent in your eyes." she joked, but her eyes were sincere.  On the outside, Octavia seemed like a confident, brave girl that wasn't afraid to put herself out there, but, in that moment, I could see the real Octavia.  The one that was nervous of what others thought of her.  Scared, uncertain, questioning.

"Octavia, I can only hope that I do your beauty justice." I said, with more affection than I ever thought possible.  In her eyes, I saw something I couldn't quite place.  Love?  Affection?  Sadness?

I sat there for the next fifteen minutes, just drawing and having small talk with Octavia.  However, in the moments of silence, we both felt as comfortable as when we were talking.  

My charcoal pencil drifted smoothly against the rough parchment, creating lines and patterns.  The long eyebrows that arched at the ends.  Her heavy lidded eyes with their long eyelashes.  Red lips that quirked up at the ends whenever she heard something funny.  Her upturned nose that was thin then wide.  Her face was unique, unlike anything I had ever seen.  She was beautiful, yet mysterious.  Hard, yet smooth and soft.  Dreamy, yet lovely enough to wake anyone up from a dream.  She was, in fact, a dream in her own way.  

As I finished up the drawing, I stared at it from an arm's length away.  It was beautiful, with smooth curves and lines, but it wasn't exactly Octavia.  It didn't capture Octavia's beautiful qualities, no matter how lovely the drawing was.  Octavia walked over to me and took the drawing from my hands.  I heard her give a gasp of surprise.  Was that good or bad? 

She ran a finger along the line of her jaw on the drawing, leaving a hint of gray charcoal on her finger.  

"It's beautiful." Octavia whispered, her eyes wide with awe.

"Thank you.  But it still doesn't capture your beauty." No matter how many times I try to, I add in my head.  I would never admit to her that ever since I met her, I had been trying to draw her, trying to capture the exact moment when the light hit her hair, turning it red.  The moment when she would smile slightly, yet still look serious.  When she was angry and you could just see the emotion wafting off of her.

Octavia immediately turned towards me and looked into my eyes, now only a few inches away.  She quickly closed the distance, her lips pressing against mine in the most beautiful way.  It was a wonder to me how our lips fit perfectly together every time we kissed, as if we were two pieces of a puzzle that were designed to fit together, to share this kiss.  We both leaned into it, my hands roaming her hair and her arms around my neck, pulling me in deeper.  And that was how we stayed, kissing deeply, only coming up once in a while for a breath, then going back down again.

Best.  Date.  Ever.