Let It Roll

@ lorna morello.

Clarke sighed as she grabbed her schedule from the rude office lady, muttering a small 'Thanks' as she made her way out of the office and down the halls. Her eyes scanned over the page in front of her as she looked for what her locker number was and her combination. Going to a new school sucked, but it needed to be done. The bullying at her past school for getting pregnant was becoming over the top, and her mother was embarrassed that her own daughter had even allowed herself to get knocked up so what did her mother do? Ship her off to her dads house and that was the end of that. Not that she minded living with her father, he was a lot more laid back than she ever was. Then again, he had always been like that before they got divorced too. But Clarke decided she wouldn't let that spoil her day, because her precious baby girl, Sophia, turned one today. Clarke couldn't wait to get home, she just had to survive her first day at a new school. Once she finally managed to find her locker, she put in the combo and started putting some of the books she didn't need to make her backpack a little less heavy on her back.

--

"I totally whooped your ass in Call of Duty last night," Jack laughed as he shoved his best friend in this whole school, Alex, playfully. "Just admit it, I'm the king of CoD. Bow down, Gaskarth, and kiss my feet while you're there." He smirked, leaning back in the bench and folding his arms behind his head. It wasn't unusual for the two to spend most of their nights at each others houses, which resulted in them two going at it at a game of Call of Duty or whatever video game the two of them wanted to play. To be fair, Jack did only win the match by like one or two kills but still, a win was a win no matter what and he was proud of that win!

[ sorry the first one for Jack is so effing short. ]

Rachel rubbed her eyes, yawning as she waited at Jack's locker. He was late, like he was normally when he spent the night at Alex's. Her eyes brightened when she saw her two boys. "Hi, guys!" She smiled, waving enthusiastically. Once they were in reach, Rachel threw her arms around Jack's neck and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Hi, baby, I missed you." She gently put her hand in Jack's and led the way to her locker. Alex and Jack kept their shit in there, considering most of their classes didn't have books. It was convenient, really. As they approached Rachel's locker, she saw someone new with a confused look on her face. "Hey," Rachel spoke as she opened her locker. "My name's Rachel...are you new here? I've never seen you before."

--

Alex shook his head as he followed behind Jack and Rachel. "You guys are gross." He said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. Alex had to admit, he was a little jealous of his best friend. Despite the fact that Jack and Rachel were corny as all hell, they were still one of the cutest couples he had ever seen. And they were happy, which was a plus. Ever since Lisa had dumped him before moving to California, he had been in a funk. Alex snapped out of his thoughts when Rachel mentioned a new girl. He looked up from his shoes and smiled slightly, waggling his fingers at her. "Hey, I'm Alex... nice backpack."

@ lorna morello.

Jack turned his head and stuck his tongue out at his best friend before turning to Rachel and returning the kiss to her cheek. "Hey, sugarplum." He said sweetly, grasping her hand in his as they walked to where her locker was at. They had pulled another late nighter last night because of very important things (video games) and didn't hit the hay until around two or three in the morning. "Come on Alex, I bet there's a girl waiting for you right under your nose." Jack tried reassuring his best friend, knowing it had been a little tough on him since his girlfriend had dumped him before she had to move. Not even a few seconds after saying that, Rachel mentioned a new girl and his eyes rested on a pretty blonde. Nudging Alex with his arm, he snickered lightly. "See, what did I tell ya? Right under your nose," he whispered. That was it, Jack was going to become a psychic.

--

Clarke was in the process of dumping most of the contents of her backpack into her locker when someone, a female, spoke to her. Looking away from the metal container, she came face to face with a really cute looking girl and two boys. This school didn't seem like it was fairly big so of course people were going to notice right away she hadn't always gone here. Maybe that was why people had been staring at her like she had something in her teeth. Clarke gave the trio a nervous smile, shrugging her shoulders. "You caught me, I'm the new girl." She tried joking, but it just sounded so lame. Smooth, Clarke.. real smooth. She hadn't been here more than ten minutes and she was already making lame jokes. Turning her attention to the other boy, the one who was waving at her and had this gorgeous smile, she returned his smile and felt a helluva lot more confident than she had a few seconds ago. "Hell yeah, gotta represent Blink around this place. I'm Clarke," It didn't seem like many people shared her music taste, so it was nice to find someone who did.

Rachel smiled slightly, grabbing her English folder. "Oh, my God, that's Alex and Jack's favorite band... I swear, it's like Jack loves Blink more than me." She teased, gently bumping Jack's hip. "Well, Clarke, it looks like we're locker buddies. If you need any help or have any questions about anything, let me know, okay? I promise, everyone isn't like these dorks here." Rachel laughed, poking Alex in the chest. "You can sit with us at lunch, if we have it at the same time. Ours is after fourth hour." Rachel knew she was probably being overly nice, but she didn't care. She remembered what it was like to be the new girl in school. It's fucking terrifying on her first day. And all she wanted was for someone to reach out and offer to be her friend.

--

Alex swallowed and laughed awkwardly at Rachel's comment. "Yeah, Blink kicks ass." He ran his hand through his hair, struggling for something to say. He elbowed Jack hard in the side and cleared his throat. "Can I see your schedule? Maybe we have some classes together." Alex held his hand out for the piece of paper, scanning it over once Clarke handed it to him. "Hey! We have first hour together, and you have lunch with us! Awesome." He nodded his head and handed Clarke her schedule back. "Want me to show you where it is? It really isn't far from here."

@ lorna morello.

Jack pouted. "You make it sound like I'm a bad boyfriend," he said with a small pout, folding his arms across his chest. "Don't listen to Rachel, me and Alex are the best and most awesome people in this whole entire school.\Jack watched his friend as he interacted with this new girl, a wide grin breaking out on his face. As much as he wanted to stand here and get to know this girl, Clarke, a little bit more it was time he stepped up like the best frined he was and play wingman. God know's Alex's single ass needed it. "Well, me and Rachel should be getting to our first class, we have this big test and need to cram before school starts. It was nice meeting you, ta-ta!" He waved his hand, shutting Rachel's locker and grabbing her hand, leading her down the hallway.

--

Clarke smiled brightly, giggling as Rachel talked about the two boys. Boy, did they seem like a handful. She watched as Alex's eyes scanned over he paper, pointing out a few classes they had together and lunch. She light out a sigh of relief, glad she wouldn't have to face sitting at lunch, alone. "Um, bye Rachel bye Jack?" She said, but it was more like a question. "Is he always like that?" Clarke asked with a laugh, shaking her head as she closed her locker and slung the backpack over her one shoulder. It was kind of awkward, being with someone she had just met, but maybe that was mostly because he was hella cute. "That would be awesome, thanks for being my tour guide." Clarke smiled happily, glad she was making some friends here.

Rachel rolled her eyes as Jack dragged her along. "Jesus Christ, babe," She spoke as they walked into their first hour class-- Algebra 2. Rachel knew that within minutes Jack would be passed out, possibly drooling on his notebook. "You could have made it just a bit more obvious that you were trying to hook Jack up with Clarke. I think you scared her!" She patted his hand as she sat in her desk, slinging her bag over the back. Rachel pulled out her notebook and assignment, she being the member of the couple that actually did the work. "You know, babe, one day you aren't gonna be able to coast by with your amazing good looks," She teased, turning her attention to the front of the class when the bell rang.

--

Alex felt like kicking Jack in the nuts. He loved his best friend, but holy SHIT, he was fucking annoying sometimes. "Ha, yeah." Alex spoke as he ran a hand through his hair. "But he's my best friend, so I kinda gotta put up with him." Alex grabbed his English textbook from Rachel's locker and gently shut it. He smiled at Clarke. "Absolutely no problem, Clarke! I know that this school can be pretty confusing as first, but once you get used to it you'll be able to make your way around blindfolded." Alex pointed out people to talk to and avoid as they walked through the hall. "You're gonna meet our other friends Rian and Zack at lunch time, by the way. They're dorks, but not as bad as Jack."

@ lorna morello.

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "I thought I was being pretty sneaky," he said with a slight pout as he followed her into the classroom, taking his seat right beside her. Jack didn't mean to be annoying and hoped his best friend wasn't angry with him, he just wanted to see Alex happy. He'd been in kind of a funk since Lisa left, so maybe this new girl could be the perfect distraction for how bad he's been feeling. Alex seemed to take the break up pretty well, but you could tell he was still feeling the aftermath of it. Jack could only imagine how he'd be if him and Rachel broke up so he tried to understand how his friend was feeling right now. But as Alex's best friend it was also his job to play wingman, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

--

Despite how weird Jack seemed, she did like him and thought he was pretty friendly. Especially his girlfriend, Rachel. It warmed her heart to see how nice people were being to her compared to how things were at her old school, but then again these guys didn't know the truth about her. And to be honest, Clarke didn't want them to know because it would just change how they viewed her. She'd had it happen before, her supposed friends turned their backs on her the second she said she was pregnant. Why she had no idea, but oh well. No way was Clarke ashamed of her precious baby, no way in hell. Sophia was the best thing to ever happen to her and she wouldn't trade her daughter for anything in the world.

Rachel shook her head and gently patted Jack's arm. "Babe, you are the farthest thing from sneaky. Remember when you tried to sneak into my house and you accidentally tripped the alarm?" She laughed, remembering the experience. It had been about three in the morning, and Jack completely forgot about the alarm Rachel's parents had installed. Rachel had almost peed herself laughing when she found out. She handed her assignment up to the person in front of her before turning to face Jack. "Speaking of my house, sleep over tonight." Rachel pouted.

--

Alex smiled as he walked alongside Clarke. "Do you have any plans after school?" He asked as they reached their English class. "Because if you don't I could show you around town. The library, the mall...you know. It isn't a complete shithole." Alex sat down in his desk and patted the empty one next to him. "Come on, Clarke. Pop a squat." He spoke softly, his signature grin on his face.

@ somethingsgottagive

[ LOL IM SO BAD I REALIZED I FORGOT TO HAVE CLARKE TALK IN MY LAST REPLY. im done. ]

Jack flushed slightly. "I remember I just bolted out of the house like my ass was on fire," he said, chuckling softly. Back at that time, Jack hadn't thought it was funny, in fact it had scared him because if her parents had caught him he would be a dead man, mostly by her father. He was a nice guy who liked Jack and all, but he was also the man who said he'd cut Jack's dick off if he found out he hurt or impregnated his daughter. "I remember the next time I came over for dinner they were saying someone broke into their house and I could literally feel my face turning fifty shades of red." He said, kicking the back of her chair when she was laughing at him. "Miss Rachel, are you asking me to break your parents rules and sleep at your house?" He said, placing a hand over his heart and looking apalled.

--

Clarke smiled gentlye at Alex as they reached her first classroom, sitting down in a chair right next to him. She could feel people's eyes on her but chose to ignore them, knowing people were going to stare at the new person. And after enduring people's dirty looks after she had her baby at her old town, she got used to the staring pretty damn quick. "Um, I do kind of have plans with my dad." She murmured, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. It was mostly the truth, right? She could only imagine how Alex would react when he found out she had a child, and she didn't think she was ready for the whole world to figure that out here. But then again Alex seemed like a decent guy and all, maybe he would be alright. "I just moved in with my dad so I still have some stuff to unpack. I mean, you could help if you want, maybe bring Rachel and Jack too if you'd feel more comfortable." She said with a shrug. "Maybe it would go along faster if I had some friends helping me out."

"You have no idea how hard it was to keep myself from laughing." Rachel spoke, giggling slightly. It had been damn near impossible to keep herself together while her father talked to Jack about the 'lowlife' who had broken into their house. "My window was on the first floor, babe. You could have just opened it." She said gently. Rachel rolled her eyes and scoffed at Jack's next comment. "Why yes, Mister Jack, I am. Are you up to the task?" She spoke in a British accent, wiggling her eyebrows at him. It had been awhile since Jack had slept with Rachel in her room...the last time had been a week or so before the alarm incident.

--

Alex nodded his head. "Yeah, no problem! I'd be happy to help! I'll have to talk to Rachel and Jack at lunch, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't mind helping either." He spoke as the bell rang. Their English teacher, Ms. Crock, started to take attendance. Mercifully, she didn't make Clarke stand up and introduce herself to everybody. She did that with the class at the beginning of the year, and Alex hated it. It was awkward and weird, nobody should have to go through that. Alex pulled out his notebook and wrote down the assignment, which was to look up their vocab words. Easy enough. "This class really isn't difficult...the idiots in here just make it seem difficult."

@ somethingsgottagive

Jack looked like he was thinking about it, hand stroking his chin and foot tapping on the ground. "Well, I just might have to accept you on your offer, but only if you promise we can watch Home Alone," he asked with a puppy dog pout to match, knowing she couldn't say no to his absolutely adorable face and it was his favorite movie in the history of movies. "And if you promise to help me hook my boy Alex up with that new girl, Clarke. He's been sitting around for far too long, pouting about being single. As his best friend it is my job to make sure he gets laid."

--

Clarke nodded her head as she flipped open her notebook, beginning the assignment. Alex was right, this class was way too easy already. Back at her old school the first day was the roughest, teachers had already piled up the hard assignemtns and they were just freshmen! As if they hadn't already been scared and confused enough... but here, she liked it here. Everybody seemed a helluva lot more chill than her old school. At least the few people she met seemed like that, anyway. Oh, dammit! Sure she had gotten out of leaving her daughter at home alone on her birthday, but now she was bringing them to her house. How was she going to explain that one? No, maybe she should just tell him. How hard could it be? "Hey, Alex, I--," What was she, stupid? Telling him around all these people, someone was bound to hear and right now she didn't want that trouble happening again. "Actually, could you just maybe come over? Like, alone." And now she sounded way too forward, way to go Clarke.

Rachel rolled her eyes again. She and Jack had watched that movie fifty million times. But it made him happy, so she chose to keep watching it with him. "Of course, baby." She whispered, patting his arm. Rachel rolled her eyes again at his next request. "Fine, I'll help. But you have to not be so obvious about it! You embarrassed the shit out of both of them!" She whispered, yawning slightly. Rachel copied down the assignment, deciding to do it later. She never did her math at school, always preferring to do it at home. "I can even order us a pizza, if you like. But only if you promise to let me have more that two pieces, you fucking bottomless pit." Rachel teased. Jack's appetite was almost unbelievable.

--

Alex was surprised at what Clarke said, but decided to go with it. "Yeah, no problem." He spoke as he did the English assignment. "I can grab us some Taco Bell or something to eat while we unpack. Moving is hungry work." Alex ran a hand through his hair before closing his notebook, deciding to finish his homework at Clarke's place. He had a nagging feeling that she wasn't telling him something, but he shook it away. They had only met about 45 minutes ago, so she naturally wasn't going to go spilling out secrets to him.

@ somethingsgottagive

Hearing the bell ring, Jack was pretty much the first one to bolt ouf of that classroom and hurry up to where Rachel's locker was located. It was Jack's only class without his grlfriend and the time always semed to drag on when he was sitting in that damn desk in art class, bored out of his mind. It wasn't a horrible class or anything, he just hated not being without Rachel, as cheesy and clingy as that sounded. Jack hadn't been too much of a honest guy before he'd met her, Jack had his share of numerous girls and done a lot of partying. What could he say, Jack was a party boy. But after meeting Rachel, it was like nothing else mattered but her. He dropped the girls, he dropped the partying (well, most of it) and anything else unless it involved her. "Rachel, oh Rachel! Where for art thou?!" He shouted down the hall, making his way towards her.

--

Clarke was sitting outside on the hood of her car, soaking up the warm sun while she waited for Alex, having told him where her car was located at. Right now she was mentall cursing herself, really hoping she hadn't given Alex the wrong impression of her when she asked if he could just come over by himself. Not that Alex wasn't super adorable and all around perfect, because he was, but she didn't want to give him the impression she was easy or anything. Clarke had only had sex with one guy, and that was Sophia's father. But, he didn't want anything to do with her or the baby after she told him which really broke her heart. Not only because she had thought he would turn out differently, but because her baby would grow up without a father figure. Sighing softly, she rubbed her head gently, feeling a headache coming on. Could she trust Alex with something like this?

[ slipped in a little time skip, if you don't mind~ ]

Rachel shook her head and laughed as she stuffed her phone in her purse. "I'm right here, relax." She stood on her tippy toes to give Jack a kiss. Rachel opened her locker and grabbed the things she needed for her homework before slamming it shut. She stuffed her items in her backpack before slipping her hand in Jack's, following him out to her car. Rachel tossed him her keys and climbed into the passenger seat. "You can drive, babe." Rachel spoke, knowing that Jack loved to drive her car. She buckled her seatbelt and tossed her schoolbag in the back. She began fiddling with the radio, eventually stopping when she found a station that she wanted to listen to.

--

Alex smiled when he saw Clark sitting on the hood of her car. "Hey, you." He smiled, wiggling his fingers at her. "Ready for unpacking and Taco Bell?" Alex climbed into the passenger seat once Clarke unlocked the door. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw a carseat, his eyebrow raising. "Is that for your little sibling?" Alex asked softly as they began the drive to Clarke's place. "I'm an only child. Well, I had an older brother...but...he's gone." Alex spoke, his heart breaking as he mentioned Tom again.

@ nope-

Jack chuckled. "Just had to make sure," he returned the kiss, walking outside with her hand in hand to her car. Catching her keys, Jack pressed a kiss to the side of her face before walking to the drivers side and starting the car, tossing his own bag back there with hers. Jack knew they most likely weren't going to do homework tonight, not that he was complaining of course. Peering around the parking lot, Jack smirked when he saw Alex and Clarke before pulling out of the parking space, leaving the school lot. "Maybe we don't need to help Alex." He said with a raised brow.

--

Clarke stiffened in her seat, swallowing thickly. "You still have a brother," she said suddenly, reaching over and placing a reassuring hand on his heart. "He's right in there, and I'm sure he wouldn't want you to be so sad, would he?" She said softly, patting his chest gently with a small smile. God, she felt so bad. Clarke was an only child so she didn't know what it was like to lose a sibling, but she could only imagine if she lost her child. Sophia was the most important person to her.. Clearing her throat awkwardly, Clarke quickly removed her hand and put it on the steering wheel, starting her car up. "Right, the car seat." Exactly what she wanted to talk to him about. "You'll see about that,"

Rachel nodded her head as she looked out the window. "Huh," She mused, moving to sit back in her regular position. "I guess we don't have to help...he's doing just fine on his own." She continued to fiddle with the radio until she found another station that she liked. "Ooh, babe! Let's get pizza now. I'm hungry." Rachel pouted, feeling her tummy rumble. She never ate school lunch, because the food there was fucking disgusting. "I'll buy." She smiled in satisfaction when Jack turned and began heading towards their favorite pizza place. It was a little local out of the way place that they had gone too on their first date, about a year and a half prior.

--

Alex nodded his head, smiling sadly. Clarke was right-- Tom wouldn't want Alex to wallow in self pity, he'd want him to grow up and be happy. "Yeah, you're right." Alex whispered, running a hand through his hair. He raised his eyebrow as Clarke abruptly changed the subject of the carseat. "Alright," he said gently, his concern growing. But he ignored it. Clarke said he would find out, so he'd just have to wait. Alex just hoped that whatever was bugging her wasn't too bad. She seemed too nice for something like that. "How about Chinese takeout instead of Taco Bell? I'll buy."

@ cinderblock garden.

Jack sighed. "I'd rather you take something to school than starve yourself, it's not good for you!" He whined, turning in the direction of their favorite pizza place anyway. While Jack didn't like how she just skipped lunch, he could agree the food they served was nasty. Jack was pretty sure one day he saw his meatloaf moving that's how bad it was. But still, couldn't she at least bring something to school and eat it? Then again, Jack was a big worry wart despite his carefree attitude, Especially over people he cared about. And Rachel was no exception to that rule, in fact she was probably the one person he cared and worried about most.

--

Clarke nodded her head, feeling her nerves beginning to get the better of her. There was so many different scenes playing out in her head of how Alex was going to handle the situation. Most of them didn't end too well on her part, but she was really hoping that she was all wrong about that. Alex seemed like a sweet guy, so maybe she was all wrong about how he'd react to this. Well, one could only hope. "Sounds good. My house isn't too far from here, so we can order when we get there?" She shrugged a shoulder, just wanting to get this over with already.

Rachel rolled her eyes, leaning her head against the window. "Babe, I had a snickers and a red bull. I was fine." She had to admit, she found it adorable how much Jack worried about her. It was one of the many things she loved about him. "Trust me, I don't starve. I just refuse to eat the bullshit they try to serve us at school." Rachel yawned and rubbed her eyes, not caring about messing up her makeup now. She was with Jack, for fuck's sake-- the boy who'd seen her naked, with no makeup, hair not done...the list went on. "The quality of meet they give us at school is below the quality of the shit they give us at McDonald's." Rachel spoke, rolling down her window a little bit.

--

Alex nodded his head, grinning. "Alright, cool." He spoke. "The place we're gonna order from is just a few minutes away. They have the absolute best Sesame chicken!" Alex could practically feel his stomach rumbling in anticipation. He bit his bottom lip and watched Clarke out of the corner of the eye. "You seem tense, are you okay?" Alex spoke, concern lacing his voice. He didn't want Clarke to be nervous around him, even though they had just met. Alex hoped that Clarke didn't think he was going to try and get in her pants.

@ cinderblock garden.

"A snickers and a red bull does not count as a balanced lunch," he spoke, reaching over with his hand and poking her on the nose with it, a slow smile creeping up on his lips. Though it wasn't like Jack could really say much because he hate just about every hour, and most of it was Taco Bell. Jack was the kind of guy who would go to Taco bell three times in one day, all for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Of course, he couldn't miss the most important meals of the day. "What kind of pizza do you want, love?" He asked her as the began nearing their destination, Jack could feel his stomach rumble because yeah he skipped most of his lunch too. Rachel was right, it was downright nasty.

--

Clarke could feel her own hunger arising, her stomach making a low growling sound. She had sat with Jack, Alex, and Rachel and some other boys she couldn't remember their name for the life of her, and they had warned her about the schools nasty food. Which she was greatful for, because that had to be the worst chicken she had ever had in her entire life. Where the hell did this school get their food? Shaking her head, she licked her lower lip as she pulled into her driveway, shutting off her car. "Look, you're.. a nice guy, Alex. I just don't want this to scare you away so I'm pretty nervous." She admitted, softly and ran a hand through her hair. "Come on, I got somethin' to show you." She said, getting out of her car and leading the way to her front door.