A Condemned Haven

Chapter 30

Today was the first day that Jack finally got to drive himself to school and he was beyond excited. He played all of his favorite songs loud enough that he couldn't even hear himself singing. Having a car made him feel so free, like he was finally starting his adult life. He couldn't believe his mom had gotten it for him without him knowing. In all honesty, he had completely forgotten about it with everything going on. Walking into school knowing he had a car, made him feel more confident. He didn't know why, and he knew that it was stupid, but he felt it all the same.

He saw Clarke talking to Sammy and then Sammy walking away quickly like something was on fire. He wondered what they were talking about. Sammy had made it pretty obvious that she didn't really like her. Clarke looked frustrated with her eyebrows crinkled. She looked like an adorable confused child. They were always running around trying to solve a crime that he never really got to see her from afar. She was so pretty with her straight brown hair that curled just a bit from sitting on her shoulders. The sides had a bit of a wave to them that framed her face perfectly. She was wearing dark jeans and hoodie. The hoodie was right at her pant line and if she raised her arms it would expose her torso. She always wore that exact outfit, but she looked good in it every time.

When Clarke turned, she made direct eye contact with Jack. He gave her a smile and there was this look in his eye, something she couldn't quite recognize. She didn't know whether his stare made her feel uneasy or not. He looked good today. He had a black V-neck on with dark wash jeans. Jack wasn't some scrawny kid; he ran a lot and so he had very defined muscles. His hair was a little disheveled, like he just rolled out of bed and it was a good look for him. Jack and Clarke kind of just stared at each other across the room for about a minute. Something was different today. Jack grew nervous for some reason as he approached her.

"Hi." It came out a little more breathless than he would've liked, but the way she was looking at him right now, he wasn't sure how to feel.

"Hey." Clarke wasn't sure what to say, the only thing she was sure of was just how fast her heart was beating.

"Can we do something after school today?" He knew the way he worded it was weird, but he wanted to spend time with her that didn't include the cops.

"Um yeah what were you thinking?"

"My mom will be out of the house tonight because she has a shift at the hospital, so I was thinking movie night. We can start early so that we can fit in all the movies we want to watch. I figured after everything that's been going on, we could use a day off of no thinking." Clarke had no clue where any of this was coming from, but who was she to argue with it? He was right, they had been spending so much time searching for a murderer that they hadn't spent any time together in a normal situation, like normal teenagers. She was excited to just have a normal night in.

"That's sounds really nice." Clarke was smiling, a big genuine one, which is something she hadn't done in a long time. They were doing more communicating with their eyes than they were with their words. The air around them was supercharged and they were both smiling like idiots.

"Well I have to go to my class and finish some of my homework I forgot to do last night, but I'll see you later. At lunch?"

"Yeah you will." Clarke let out a little laugh and waved goodbye as she made her way to James' locker. She wanted to talk to him about Sammy. See what her relationship with the football team was like. She was never known to be subtle, but she needed to be about this.

He was standing in front of his locker looking at his phone. He seemed distracted, almost concerned. She was just about to go up to him when Emily Robinson interrupted. James got a flirtatious smile and began talking to her. She was touching him here and there and he was eating it up. Clarke had never seen James with anyone in the little time she had known him. He bent over and whispered in her ear. She got a big smile on her face and giggled. Whatever he just said was very dirty by the look on the girl's face. Clarke was a little weirded out by it. When the girl finally walked away, she decided it was time to talk to him.