Grace Marlowe was a bitch. A beautiful, golden haired bitch. They thought she was flawless, but later they would know that she was anything but. Frankly, she was vain. She was selfish. She was cold. She have never had any friend and she thought she...
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FOR ONCE, OCTAVIA BLAKE STOOD there without her shadow—a tall, muscly shadow named Bellamy. Grace always wanted to put the pretty, brunette girl under her wing. Right now seemed to be the perfect chance to do so, if not for the fact that the girl was obviously still upset with her and currently fuming over her brand new shadow, whose name was Atom.
"Hey," Grace called out to black haired guy, "I got her. Run along now, the camp won't build itself."
Atom rolled his eyes but walked away after a moment, shooting another glance towards his leader's sister as he passed her. Grace moved so she was standing in front of the girl and smirked. "Why the long face, Honey?"
Octavia shot her an irritated glare. "Don't call me that. I'm not a child."
"Yeah?" Grace raised an eyebrow. "Whatever you say, Honey."
Octavia crossed her arms over her chest, looking somewhat defensive. "What is it with you and nicknames? You're just like Bellamy."
"Honestly?" The older girl shrugged nonchalantly. "It's easier than remembering all of the real names."
Clearly, her answer had offended Octavia as the girl instantly narrowed her eyes.
"Well, at least for most cases," Grace continued and her award worthy smile appeared. "Trust me, Octavia, I remember you just fine."
"Why is that?" asked her suspiciously.
Grace looked her dead in the eyes. "You're the girl under the floor."
Octavia visibly flinched, as if the words just punched her leaving her shook with barely contained rage. Before she could respond with her own punch that involved less words and more hands, Grace stated firmly, "That's not an insult."
Octavia paused, still wearing a deep frown and fire in her eyes. "It's not?"
"God, no," Grace shook her golden head, her smile so gentle it actually looked genuine. "You basically broke one of the biggest laws on the Ark and gotten away with it for sixteen years. What you did was a big fuck you to the council's face and I want to thank you for that."
The brunette hesitated, her anger starting to disperse. "You're welcome, I guess."
"Listen here," she put her hand on Octavia's shoulder, her tone serious and her voice low, but Octavia heard her as clear as day. "There's no shame in being the girl under the floor. It means you're strong and brave. It means you're not just a mere illegal second child, but a force to be reckoned with. It means you're a survivor."
It was just a twitch of her lips at first, but then she smiled, until there was a full blown grin on Octavia Blake's face.
"Now, that's much better than the murderous look," Grace teased.
