Not All Fun and Games

Chapter 40

"Clara's back?" I ask stupidly. "But we banished her." Not to state the obvious, sneers a sarcastic voice inside my head.
I roll my eyes at my own comment as I break into a run for the dropship. I hear Bellamy's footsteps behind me.

What the hell was Clara thinking? We banished her for attempting to kill one of our own. It was the least extreme measure we could take. And she came back?
I burst through the flap doors on the dropship. It's packed with people. I shove through them, some of them moving aside. Alex is still in her cot, propped up on her elbows, a good distance away from Clara.
Clara sits at the other side of the room with another girl. I think her name is Hailey. She's very tall. She's got short blond hair, shaped into a pixie cut, and blue-grey eyes. Clara's left cheek is red. That's where Chloe must have hit her.
"What are you doing here?" I demand.
Her eyes widen at my harsh tone. To be honest, I don't know why I seem so mad. I'm not that angry, mostly just surprised and confused . In fact, I felt bad about banishing her in the first place. But it had to be done, and I know she shouldn't have come back. "It's a long story, and-"
"I've got time," I cut her off.
"Okay." She looks at me with no hatred or anger. Instead, her eyes are pleading. "Can we at least talk in private? And I want Hailey to come."
I sigh but nod, beginning to make my way out of the dropship. Why does she need someone else there while she explains to me her reason to come back?
As Clara follows me, a few people in the dropship spit insults at her, tell her she should never have come back. Clara ignores them, but not Hailey. Hailey shoves some of them, telling them to back off. At every mean glare Clara receives, Hailey gives a meaner one in return.
An idea pops into my head. What if Hailey is the reason Clara came back? I remember seeing Hailey hanging around Clara and Chloe when those two were friends. Hailey and Clara seemed especially close. Hailey was the most upset out of everyone in the camp when Clara was banished. I remember seeing her cry when I explained the news to Camp, and then the only times that she'd come out of her tent after that were to get food and water.

We make our way to Bellamy's tent, because it's closer than mine.
Someone grabs my wrist and I turn around to see Octavia. Bellamy is limping towards me, too.
"Where have you guys been?" questions Octavia.
My cheeks grow hot as I try to think of a way to explain Bellamy's and my absence for the past 8 hours.
"Um...Bellamy will explain it to you," I say just as he reaches us, and then I disappear into the tent after giving him an apologetic smile.

Clara and Hailey are sitting inside the tent, holding hands. Hailey gives what I assume to be her girlfriend a reassuring smile.
I decide to just jump right into things.
"Clara, why did you come back?"
Clara bursts into tears almost immediately, taking me by surprise.
Last time we were in here was the day we banished her, and she didn't shed a tear.
Hailey wraps an arm around Clara's shoulders and we wait for her to calm down. It takes a few minutes for her to stop crying, and then she's finally ready to talk.
Clara had stayed close to camp, careful not to run into any grounders. She could barely sleep, it was so cold without a sleeping bag or a tent. When she did manage to fall asleep, her slumber would be filled with nightmares: mostly ones of Hunter and Alex, both furious at her, hunting down Clara together to get revenge. Some were of Hailey, too. She was worried about her girlfriend-yes, it was confirmed they loved each other that way. But most of all, she was guilty for what she did to Alex. Clara had always blamed her for Hunter's death, even though she knew, deep down, that it wasn't fair.
"Asleep or awake, the guilt of what I did to my friend haunts me. I wish there was something I could do to apologize. If I could take everything back, I would. But I can't live out there anymore, all alone," she concludes, looking a Hailey with fresh tears in her eyes.
I want to forgive her. I want to un-banish her. But the image of Alex hanging from the tree, covered in blood, is making it very difficult for me to do that.
"I'll be back, just... wait here," I tell them and exit the tent, hoping some fresh air will help me think.
Almost everyone has come out of the dropship. Many of them are looking at me, others are having heated conversation, most likely discussing why they think Clara came back.
Bellamy is standing with Octavia, right beside me.
"Hey," I say awkwardly. Bellamy narrows his eyes at me and crosses his arms. I know it's because I left him to explain to Octavia why we were gone, and I force myself to hold in my laugh.
"So why did she come back?" asks Octavia anxiously.
"Clara?"
"No, the five-legged wolf." She rolls her eyes and I chuckle.
"I think she mostly came back for her girlfriend, but she says she had a lot of time to think when she was out in the woods. She wishes she could take back what she did to Alex. The guilt is eating her alive," I explain. I do feel sympathy towards Clara. I just wish it wasn't this complicated.
Octavia and her brother take a moment to think over what I just said.
"I think we should give her another chance," says Bellamy. What?
"It's not really that simple, Bellamy." I'm shocked by his quick decision.
"I know. Of course it isn't," he says. "But the grounders have done much worse to us, and we're trying to find a way to make peace with them. Are we going to forgive them for the deaths and the fear they've caused in our camp?"
I think his question over and realize he has a good point. If we want to make peace with the earthborns, we're going to have to forgive and let go of what they've done.
I nod slowly.
"If we can give these vicious people another chance, I think Clara deserves one too," Bellamy concludes.
I know he's right. He almost always is. He deserves more praise for how reasonable and smart he is.
"I'll go back into the tent to break the news to Clara and Hailey," I tell them.
But before I do that, I bring Bellamy's face to mine and kiss his soft, wise lips.