Catch me, I'm falling. (Lexa/you)

Chapter 4

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Your POV.

You had thought, coming into the year, that english was going to be your favorite class.

How could it not be?

You shared the period with two of your best friends, who amused you endlessly with their antics, and everyone with eyes had to admit that Niylah Crewe was hot. That, and you would get to spend the year reading some of your favourite books and just generally enjoying literature.

But then Lexa Woods had waltzed into your life and ruined it all.

Perhaps the statement was a bit overdramatic, but you couldn't find it in yourself to care.

For a person who craved routine, you'd  been dealing with a lot of change recently, and you didn't quite know how to cope with it. You were already under a considerable amount of stress, what with your father's passing, having to work to make ends meet, and the looming challenge of a competition for art scholarships on the horizon. You didn't need anything to make your life even more difficult.

But, alas, fate was not on your side and, for whatever reason, you'd been cursed with the company of one Lexa Woods, Arkadia's new darling superstar.

Perhaps you'd done something horrible in another life to deserve this sort of treatment.

It must have been something awful, like genocide of an entire people.

And, as though life wanted to torture you even more , she'd brought Costia fucking Greene into the classroom as well, a final "fuck you" to your mental stability and happiness.

Of course, Lexa Woods, the new football superstar, would be dating Arkadia's head cheerleader, and your self-assigned archnemesis. Of course. As if she'd be dating anyone else.

Most people didn't understand the level of loathing you possessed for the cheerleader, and you didn't expect them too, because sometimes you didn't even understand it yourself.

It had originated in preschool, which was an odd place for a rivalry to start, because more kids in preschool were just worried about snack time and squirrelling around when they were supposed to be sleeping. But not you. No, you had always been an artist, throughout the entirety of your life, so you had spent ever available moment in preschool painting. In the beginning, you and Costia had had a tentative friendship, bonding over your mutual appreciation for bright colors and mutual distaste for drooling little boys.

But then, Costia had committed a betrayal of the highest offense.

She'd smeared paint into your hair, and, while the (y/h/c) had been rushed off to try and clean it, the other girl had taken you painting and ripped it to pieces, effectively sabotaging your art and taking the gold star sticker for the day.

It seemed insignificant, and Costia probably didn't even remember it, but you never forgot, and your burning hatred for the girl only grew from that day onward, especially after the incident freshman year that you refused to speak of, because you couldn't seem to escape each other. Wherever you went, Costia was bound to follow, because the universe just loved to make your life hell on earth.

So, you weren't  particularly interested in spending time with the girlfriend of the girl you hated, educational or not, especially when said girlfriend had insulted Jane Austen. Jane Austen .

What a stuck-up bitch.

"Whoa, there, who shit in your cereal this morning?" You sent a withering glare in Raven's direction, causing your friend to flinch slightly, before grinning apologetically up at you. "Hey, Octavia and I already apologized for conveniently forgetting you were a person, but Crewe would've paired you with Lexa anyways, in the spirit of peace and unity."