West Ark High

I Remember Why

Raven hadn't planned on starting school until the following week.

Everything about the move had left her feeling discombobulated—between having to pack up all of her things to move thousands of miles down the coast for the second time in the last year and a half and the fact that she wasn't fully moved into her new house was enough to leave her feeling stressed.

But after the ordeal at the restaurant the other night with Finn and Clarke, Raven felt that it had been best to start school a few days earlier than expected. The previous day, Clarke had been out sick which apparently is a big deal because rumours about her absence were spreading like wildfire throughout the senior and junior classes.

Raven's personal favorite so far was that Clarke was called away to help interrogate a pair of Russian spies who had entered the country from Canada using underground tunnels. None of the rumours she heard so far had been negative to Clarke's reputation so Raven figured that she held a relatively high status among the student body.

She might've even been impressed and willing to forget the ordeal the other night if it hadn't been for how dazed Finn had acted all day. At first he had been blatantly upset by her absence, though he tried to hide it. As the day progressed, his anger melted into never wavering concern. When Bellamy, who Raven was introduced to earlier, disappeared around lunch, Finn became visibly more upset again and remained that way until Bellamy was back in class for fifth hour.

Raven tried to ignore it, but her gut told her that his behavior was all off—something had gone on between Clarke and Finn behind the scenes and Raven knew for a fact that she wasn't going to like it when she uncovered the truth.

The following day, Clarke was back in school and things at West Arke seemed to get back to usual; the rumours died off the moment someone spotted Clarke in the halls. Finn became much more pleasant to be around as well, though Raven forced herself to look away from it.

By the end of the day, Raven had re-established friendly terms with the blonde, though she could tell that it was strained on Clarke's side just as much as hers. Fortunately, they only had one class together and Finn was in four of hers, meaning Raven could keep an eye on him.

She was hoping that Finn would stop looking to Clarke like a puppy, but when Finn said that he had to stay after school she snapped. "What do you mean you're in student council? When have you ever been interested in stuff like that?"

Raven watched his eyes stray, and she followed his gaze until she saw Clarke and Harper enter the room that was meant to host the council meeting. His eyes flicked back to her, but the damage was done; her eyes hardened.

"I've always thought about joining," he said in the low tone he used whenever he was serious, "but there have always been things that got in the way. By being in a new school, I was able to get a fresh start at things I haven't been able to do in the past."

Raven leveled her gaze, arms crossed. "Can you look me in the eye and tell me that it didn't have to do with Clarke being in it?"

Finn sighed. "Okay, I'll admit that her being in it gave me the extra incentive to actually join in." When Raven opened her mouth to cut him off, he placed his hands on her shoulders comfortingly and continued, "But can you blame me, Raven? She was my only friend up until joining student council. At least now I have Wells and...Bellamy."

Raven knew that Finn was grasping when he mentioned Bellamy's name, but as much as she hated to acknowledge it, he was right. Air deflated from her lungs as her body released it's tense stance. "Okay, I believe you."

Finn smiled at her tenderly, and suddenly Raven remembered back to when they were kids splashing in the pond in his backyard and catching frogs, all of the robotics competitions he had gone to to support her, all of the nights she stayed up late tutoring him over the phone for important science tests. She remembered all of the reasons why she loved him in the first place as he placed his lips on hers.