Chapter Text
Lexa walks into the building, carrying her tote bag and a steaming mug of coffee to get her through the night. She says hello to the research assistant as she makes her way to the front desk where Lincoln is packing his stuff already.
‘You’re early.’ He quips when Lexa drops her bag on the counter and slides into one of the high chairs across from him.
‘You too. Aren’t you supposed to be here until eight? It’s barely 7:30.’
‘Yeah, I asked Diyoza and she said I was okay to leave. It’s the first week, not many people around anyways. Octavia and I have a date tonight.’
‘Are you two official now? I thought you weren’t sure.’
‘I visited her this summer in California, we spent a week together in August while her parents were away on vacation. It was amazing, and we decided to just take the leap.’ The bulky young man grins, and Lexa shoves his arm in playful outrage.
‘Linc’! Why didn’t you tell me?! We texted almost every day!’
‘Well, we were kind of busy celebrating…’ He wiggles his brows and Lexa shakes her head, smiling. ‘How was your summer?’
‘Mexico was good. Anya met a local guy at the beach during our first weekend there and he took us on a tour of the Gulf coast for a few days. And then they spent the whole second week of our vacation banging in the room next to mine. So, you know - fun times.’
Lincoln bursts into laughter. He shoves the rest of his things into his backpack before giving Lexa a bone-crushing bear hug.
‘I have to go. It’s good to see you again, Woods. Let’s hang out this weekend?’
‘Sure. Have a good night and say hi to Octavia for me.’
After Lincoln takes his leave, Lexa settles at the front desk and takes her laptop and books out of her bag. Her shift isn’t supposed to start until another fifteen minutes, but she has nowhere else to be and wants to get a head start on the reading for Pr. Kane’s Constitutional Law class. This semester is going to be a busy one and she might as well dive into it as soon as possible.
It’s the very first week of classes and most students are not yet ready to leave the bright evening light of a late summer day behind. As a result, the library is mostly empty, save for a handful of students who are leaving one by one. By 8:30, there is only one person left, which is all the better for Lexa who can get started on her work with low chances of being interrupted.
Her eyes skim over the lines of the PDF file, growing tired by the minute. She is on page twenty-six of a fifty-page article and she’s already getting bored. Pr. Kane does have a reputation of assigning difficult and lengthy articles, and Lexa knows if she slacks off on her reading she will be called out in class for not taking part in the discussion. Her phone buzzes and Lexa does not have the willpower to ignore it; she unlocks it to a text notification.
Costia (9:12pm)
Hey. Wanna come over? ;)
Lexa sighs before typing out a quick reply, saying that she is in the middle of her shift and asking for a rain check.
Costia (9:13pm)
Too bad… I was hoping to get my workout in tonight.
Costia and Lexa have been sleeping together occasionally. It started last semester, during a party at one of the frats on campus. Costia is just as much of a lesbian as Lexa is, and she is also very single, which is what led to them meeting for casual hookups. There are no strings, Lexa likes Costia as a friend - they are both members of the LGBTQ+ club on campus, Lexa as vice-president and Costia as treasurer - and casual sex is always a nice way to relieve some tensions.
Lexa tries hard to refocus on the task at hand and attempts not to think about all the orgasms she is missing out on. The sole occupant of the library right now besides Lexa is a blonde with shoulder-length beach waves sitting at one of the tables close to the magazine aisle. She has her headphones on and is scribbling something on a piece of paper with her laptop open in front of her. At least, Lexa thinks, she isn’t the only idiot willing to hole themselves up in a library on September 10th.
Two more hours fly by and Lexa makes it to the end of her reading assignments. She stretches in her chair and closes her laptop, getting ready to check all the floors before closing for the night. The only person left on the ground floor is the blonde, who appears so engrossed in her work that she did not notice Lexa checking the windows and turning off the computers.
‘Hey, I’m sorry to interrupt your work but I have to close.’ Lexa tells her, approaching from behind.
‘Hm?’ The blonde takes off her headphones, questioning.
‘I said I have to close. I’m sorry.’
‘Oh, shit, I didn’t realize it was so late!’ The blonde frets, hurrying to shove her heavy books into her backpack.
She has fair skin which makes her bright blue eyes pop, and Lexa can’t help but notice the cute dimple on her chin.
‘You’re fine.’ She assures. ‘It does feel like a bubble in here. You don’t notice how fast time flies.’
‘I have so much shit to do already, I can’t believe I’m swamped this early in the semester.’
‘What’s your major?’
‘I’m pre-med.’ The blonde sighs, hoisting her bag onto her shoulder. ‘Majoring in biology and hoping to graduate at the end of the year. You?’
‘I’m a senior too. Political science. I plan on applying to law school.’
‘Great. A lawyer might come in handy when I inevitably get arrested for stabbing my biochem professor.’ The blonde grins, and then grows serious again when Lexa lets out an awkward chuckle. ‘That was a joke by the way. I’m not gonna do that. I don’t stab people… usually. I mean, I never stab people, that was also a joke. Ugh, sorry I’m rambling. I’m a nice, normal person.’
‘Got it.’ Lexa smiles, nodding. ‘I’m Lexa, by the way.’
‘Clarke. It’s nice to meet you.’
‘So, this semester will be dedicated to fundraising for Campus Pride.’ Echo says, looking all business with her square-rimmed glasses and blazer. ‘We need to organize an event that will take place right before Winter Break and that will be dedicated to gathering donations. Any ideas?’
‘A queer film festival?’ Nathan suggests. ‘We could select a handful of movies that talk about LGBTQ+ topics and charge a few dollars for a ticket.’
‘That’s not a bad idea, but between buying the rights to the movies and paying the local theater, we wouldn’t have much left for the actual fundraising. Or we’d need to charge over ten bucks for each ticket.’ Lexa chimes in.
Echo takes note of every suggestion, and when Costia pitches her idea to organize a drag show on campus, she is met with murmurs of approval.
‘I was thinking of cheap entry tickets, and then people will have the opportunity to donate more if they want. If we select performers among the students and introduce it as a contest for a good cause, we’d probably be able to get a few people to sign up. It’s more about the association and the money than about the competition.’
‘Yeah, but we also can’t let it become an occasion to make fun of drag as a discipline. We’d have to select the people who participate.’
After more debating and more suggestions, the drag show is adopted as the club’s main focus for the semester. When Echo announces the end of the meeting, students start to filter out of the room one by one, exchanging playful banter and summer break stories.
‘So, you were busy last night.’ Costia asks, coming up to find Lexa as she shoves her notes in her tote bag.
She smiles, tucking a strand of her own dark hair behind her ear while waiting for Lexa to answer.
‘’Yeah, sorry. I was working at the library.’
‘I don’t get why you would willingly take on the evening shifts.’ Costia shakes her head, incredulous.
‘It’s just twice a week. Plus they pay more than regular shifts, and it’s not like there’s much to do anyway. I can study in peace most of the time and I get money for it.’
‘Well, I hope you don’t have plans tonight… because I was hoping we could meet?’
There’s a hopeful glint in her eyes coupled with a mischievous smirk that makes Lexa cave in easily - she wouldn’t admit it to anyone but herself, but she does need to get laid, and sooner rather than later. Spending a week hearing your sister get railed in the next room will do that to you.
‘That could be arranged.’ Lexa concedes, not that it’s a hard thing to agree to.
‘Great! 9pm at my dorm, you know the drill. You won’t regret it.’ Costia winks and Lexa shifts uncomfortably in her seat.
Costia leaves the room with an extra sway in her hips after throwing one last sultry glance at Lexa.
‘Guess I’m not seeing you tonight?’ Echo asks with a playful smile.
Aside from being president of the club, Echo is also Lexa’s roommate. The girl has been one of her best friends since freshman year and they have been sharing a dorm since their second year of college. They bonded a lot over the fact that they were both foster kids, brought up in a religious household where they had to tiptoe around their sexual orientation for a long time before being accepted.
‘’I guess not. I’ll probably be back late.’
‘Have fun!’
Lexa hops into her jeans, awkwardly balancing herself on one leg and pulling them up to her hips.
‘You sure you don’t want to stay a little bit? Round four?’
Costia lays on her side, her naked body wrapped in the white bedsheets with one leg out to entice Lexa back into bed. Her dark hair is all mussed from their activities.
‘That was great, but my jaw is cramping and I think my clit might fall off.’
‘You’re losing your touch, Lex.’ Costia snorts. ‘I recall you having much more stamina last spring.’
‘I do need to get back into shape.’ Lexa concedes, tucking her shirt into her jeans. ‘Haven’t been to the gym much this summer.’
She assesses the damage with her phone camera and makes an effort to comb her hair with her fingers before retrieving her bag from the floor.
‘I’ll see you around then?’ Costia says, biting her lip.
‘Of course. Good night, Costia.’
Lexa closes the door behind her and exits the building, stepping out into the warm night to make her way back to her dorm. She never stays the night after their hookups. Costia and her are not like that. They sometimes chat about their respective days, as friends do, but they never linger after the deed is done.
‘Hey, this is cool! I didn’t know we had a club like that on campus!’
Lexa looks up from her stack of flyers and finds herself staring into a pair of bright blue eyes. It takes her a second to put a name to the face, but she recognizes the girl from the library. She’d seen her several times since they first met but they had never had a chance to talk some more.
‘Hi! Clarke, right?’ Lexa nods politely.
‘Yeah, and this is Raven.’ She gestures to the friend accompanying her. ‘We saw you guys from the cafeteria.’
‘It’s bisexual awareness week so we’re handing out flyers and stickers and flags and all that. You want some?’
She gives them a stack of papers about coming-out, bi-erasure, and safe sex.
‘Thanks.’ Clarke says, inspecting the flyers handed to her. ‘So what do you do around campus?’
‘We organize events for LGBTQ+ students and allies, we hold discussion groups where students can come in and chat about queer topics in a safe space without fear of being discriminated against. We also have a student newspaper called Queer View. Here’s a copy of this month’s issue if you’re interested. There’s an article I wrote on page 3.’
‘That sounds fun!’
‘It is. It gets busy this year, especially with all the classes I’m taking, but it’s a good way of meeting people. You can find us on instagram. We usually post about upcoming events and stuff.’
‘I’ll check it out. Raven here is a grump who doesn’t like to mingle, but you might see me around.’ Clarke playfully elbows her friend in the rib.
‘I do like to mingle. I just don’t like to do it while sober, that’s all.’ Raven grumbles, and Lexa laughs as she watches the pair walk away.