The (Bill)ionaire

Chapter 3: Finance

When Clarke woke up the following day she looked at the clock noticing it was only 5 a.m., but knowing that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep anyway she decided to get up early and make herself some pancakes. 2 hours later Clarke received a text from one of her two best friends Raven, who asked if she wanted to meet up before school. Clarke quickly replied yes and got ready to leave. She grabbed her backpack and put on her jacket, then headed out the door.

She walked to the bus stop, where Raven was already waiting for her. "Griffin! You look surprisingly awake this early in the morning". Raven shouted while Clarke was walking towards her. "Ray, 8.30 is not early." "Oh I know Griff, but you and I both know that everything is too early for you. If you could you would never leave that bed of yours," Raven said with a smirk on her face. "Actually I got up at 5 this morning, thank you very much," Clarke answered smirking back at Raven.

Before Raven could answer the bus arrived and they boarded together. They sat in the back and chatted about their plans for the weekend, which consisted of going to a party thrown by one of their classmates. Clarke felt happy to have a friend like Raven by her side, it always makes her shitty life a little better knowing that Raven would always be there for her, no matter what. They had been friends since kindergarten and they shared everything. Clarke trusted Raven more than anyone else in the world, she was like a sister to her and Raven feels the exact same way. Clarke also knows that Raven understands the pain she is going through as Jake was like a father figure to Raven as well.

Once they arrived at school and got off the bus. They walked to their lockers and put away their stuff, then headed to their first class. Unfortunately, they didn't have any classes together but in all honesty, they were already lucky that they went to the exact same building since they both studied completely different things. Whereas Clarke is studying Arts, Raven is a complete tech nerd. That's also probably one of the reasons Raven and her father could get along so well, they were always chatting about new technology and their ideas, which was exhausting to Abby and Clarke, but now she would do anything to sit down and eat dinner with the four of them, hearing Raven and her father discuss those boring or well at least that's what they were to Clarke, subjects with each other.

Clarke sighed as she walked into her art class, feeling a pang of loneliness without Raven by her side. She loved her best friend, but sometimes she wished they had more in common. She wondered what Raven was doing right now, probably tinkering with some gadget or hacking into some system. Clarke smiled, thinking of how smart and talented Raven was. She wished she could share her passion for art with her, but Raven didn't have the same passion for art she has, her father despite him being more of a technician also loved to paint and draw, that's something they used to do a lot together.

Clarke took her seat and looked at the canvas in front of her. The teacher had given them a free assignment, to paint whatever they wanted. Clarke felt a surge of inspiration as she was thinking about her father, so she decided to paint something that represented him. She picked up her brush and started to paint, using bright colors and geometric shapes to create a portrait of her father. She tried to capture his spirit, his energy, his intelligence, and his courage.

As she painted, she lost track of time and everything around her. She didn't notice the other students glancing at her work, some with curiosity, some with envy, some with admiration. She didn't notice the teacher walking around the room, stopping at each canvas and giving feedback. She didn't notice the bell ringing, signaling the end of the class. She only noticed when someone tapped her on the shoulder, making her jump.

She turned around and saw Niyla standing behind her, smiling. Niylah is one of her friends from school. Just like her Niylah was doing de art program, but they didn't share classes because Niylah was only in her third year, while Clarke was already in her last year. "Hey, Clarke," she said. "What are you doing here?". Clarke blinked, confused. "What do you mean? This is my art class." Niylah laughed. "I know that silly. I mean, what are you doing here now? The class is over. Everyone else has left."