#I’ll reblog this later with my own class schedules I drew up for these kids based on the state requirements I grew up with | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

craniumhurricane · 6 years

Text

let’s see what develops

For @kindclaws

Basically Sara reblogged this picture and I loved her tags.

On AO3!

Arkadia Elementary wasn't a prestigious school but it was one of the better ones, one of the ones trying to make a difference. It accepted kids from all walks of life and even had a few programs to help the less fortunate. It was initiatives like these that drew Bellamy to want to work at the school in the first place.

And Bellamy loved being a teacher at Arkadia Elementary. People may not think second grade is that exciting but Bellamy loves it. He, generally, likes his students even if some have been a little challenging over the years.

With all the great things going on at the school, sometimes he forgets that at its base it’s still part of the education system. It’s still driven by money and revenue and praise from the community. And sometimes that means money saving decisions he doesn't agree with.

“Picture day is next week,” Jaha says on Monday during the mandatory staff meeting. “The company we used last year will set up Tuesday morning and be here through Wednesday.”

Bellamy looks around the room before saying, “Wasn't the guy last year...inexperienced?”

Principle Jaha gives him a confused look, as if wondering what this statement has to do with anything.

“I just mean,” Bellamy went on, sitting up a little straighter, “a lot of my kids didn't find him... friendly. He wouldn't tell them when he was going to actually take the picture so a lot of them ended up looking scared or not even paying attention in their photos.”

Jaha shuffled through his papers, clearly ready to move on, “The company is giving us a discount for using them again, Mr. Blake. Besides, I don't think the kids will really care, it's more for the parents anyway.”

“But-”

“You'll all receive the schedule with your assigned picture times by the end of the day,”Jaha continued to the room, used to these types of outbursts by now. “Next on the agenda we have…” and the meeting moved on to other topics as Bellamy slumped back in his chair with a frown.

Unfortunately, it’s apparently still bothering him later that night when he's having dinner at Octavia’s.

“He claims it's for the parents but come on, how many parents want pictures of their kids looking traumatized?” He's saying to her, gesturing wildly with his fork.

Octavia frowns and wipes at some sauce that had flung onto the table. They try to get together every other week for dinner to catch up although Octavia insists that if he ever logged into his Facebook account he would already know what was going on with her. He stands by his claim that the face to face is better. Even if he is too worked up to actually listen.

“Probably not-”

“And, I mean yeah,” He continues, “I get that in the long run the kids probably don't care about elementary school photos but still, shouldn't they at least have a little bit of fun with it?”

“I think-”

“Nobody else dares to speak up in those meetings but I know other teachers would agree with me,” he heaves a frustrated sigh as he reaches for his beer.

“Why don't you hire another photographer?” Octavia says quickly while he's taking a drink.

“The school won’t listen,” he sighs as he rubs his thumb along the edges of the bottle’s label, picking at it a little. “Plus I think a deposit has already been made so,” he shrugs.

“Yeah but you could hire someone,” she says and now she’s gesturing with her fork though not enough to fling any food.

Bellamy pauses, waiting her out. When she doesn’t say more he just gives her a look, “You do realize we're talking about photos for elementary school kids. As in, I am an Elementary school teacher. I can’t afford something like that.”

“I know the perfect person!” she goes on, smiling to herself as if he hadn't said anything. “One of my parents; her kid is in my karate class on Thursdays, I bet she would do it.”

“O, I can't just hire a stranger-”

“She's not a stranger! I mean not technically,” she shrugs, “I'll probably see her this week, actually.”

He sighs again, “It's fine, O. Maybe I can just... stand behind the photographer and wave a stuffed bear around or make silly faces or something. That still gets kids to smile, right?”

She snorts, “Oh yeah, cause every seven year old wants to be treated like they're two.”

To be honest, Bellamy sort of forgot about the whole conversation with Octavia until he receives a phone call later that week on Thursday when he's working on lesson plans. He doesn't recognize the number but he pretty much has this constant fear that somebody could need him and are calling from the first phone they can get their hands on so he answers it.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Blake?”

“Um, yes?”

“Your sister gave me your number? She said you wanted to hire me to take pictures of your kids?”

Bellamy stops tapping his pen and sits up straighter once it clicks, “You’re the photographer.”

“Clarke Griffin, yeah.”

He rubs at his eyes, dislodging his glasses. “Sorry about O, she really didn’t-”

Clarke cuts him off, deliberate, “She explained the situation and I think it’s a great idea.”

He pauses, “Really?”

“Really,” she says simply. “Why don't you come by my studio tomorrow? After you get off?” she suggests, “See my work?”

Bellamy thinks it over but he really doesn't have anything to lose. It's not like he's agreed to higher her. Checking out her studio doesn't mean he's agreeing to pay her.

“Ok, sure. I’m on bus duty but I can leave school at 4.”

So after school on Friday Bellamy makes his way to “Historic” Downtown Arkadia. He finds Polaris easily enough and parks on the street out front. It’s a little storefront but it’s right off the main strip through downtown so she must get good business to be able to afford such a prime location.

There’s no door chime when he walks into the waiting room but there is a desk and a wall behind it that he assumes is to separate waiting room from studio space. There’s a young girl sitting at the desk, leaning over a textbook and scribbling notes in a binder. Bellamy would guess her to be somewhere around 10 or 12.

“Hi,” he greets her with a smile. “I have an appointment with Ms. Griffin?”

The girl looks up at him with a critical eye, giving him a once over. “The way Octavia talks about you I thought you'd look way older,” she says, still staring at him warily.

He blinks a few times, unsure of what to say but is luckily saved by the woman coming around from the studio side.

“Mr. Blake?”

“Bellamy, hi,” he shakes her hand. She’s cute, younger than she sounds on the phone. “And you're Clarke?”

“That's me,” she says with a smile. “And this is Madi.”

“We just met. Sort of,” he says a little awkward.

“Uh-oh, I know that can't be a good thing,” she throws a teasing glance at her daughter who shrugs and goes back to her book. Clarke turns around and waves him on, “Come on back.”

Madi glances back up and he gives her an awkward wave as he follows.

Clarke walks him through the space which has various different scenes and equipment set up on either side against the walls. They keep heading toward the back where she opens a door to an office. One wall is a floor to ceiling bookshelf filled with what look like binders of various colors.

She starts pulling some out, seemingly at random, and lays them on the small conference table he assumes she uses to meet with clients.

“Go ahead, have a look,” she gestures and takes a seat.

He sits down in the chair next to her and flips open the one on top and can't help but smile. The picture is of a little girl, maybe around five or six, dressed in warrior clothing as she shoulders a sword and stands next to a miniature horse.

“Now to be completely fair, I didn’t provide the horse,” Clarke mock whispers which makes him chuckle.

Bellamy flips to another one and it’s of an older boy dressed like Clark Kent with a Superman shirt under his button up and big hipster glasses.

“Not all of them are so fanciful, I promise,” she taps another portfolio and flips it open at random, “I’ve got doctors, astronauts, hell even a lawyer. And of course general family photos. But I do like to work with props. If the kids are up for it, of course”

He’s still flipping through the books but glances up at her over his glasses, “No these are great. I know some of my kids would love to do something like this.”

“That’s what Octavia said you wanted to hire me for,” she nodded, all business, “To take photos of your kids?”

“Technically not my kids but my class. I'm a teacher.”

Her lips twitch on what he thinks is a smile, “What grade?”

“Second.”

She does smile this time, “Cute.”

“Only some of the time,” he smirks, “How old is your daughter?”

“Twelve.”

He looks at her, doing some calculations in his head. He’d place her at around Octavia’s age which is a little young to be the mother of a twelve year old. He can tell by the look in her eyes that she can sense his next question. Probably one she gets all the time. So he doesn't ask it.

“O was terrible at that age.”

Clarke blinks, the statement throwing her off but only for a second. She replies with a smirk of her own “Why do you think I enrolled her in karate?”

He laughs at that, “Smart.”

“So what do you say Bellamy?” she asks, getting them back on track.

He glances at all of the open portfolios, at all of the smiling faces looking back at him and sighs. “Sorry, but I really don’t think I can afford you. Your work is amazing though.” He makes to stand up and she speaks again.

“What if we make a deal?”

“I don’t want charity,” he says a little too quickly.

She snorts, “Not that kind of deal. You think my work is good?” When he gives her a confused nod she continues, “Then how about this; you pay me a deposit, I’ll come to your school and take pictures of your class. I bet you that parents buy more of my prints than they do of the official school pictures. If they do then you get your deposit back.”

He’s still confused, “What do you get out of it?”

“Publicity for one,” she tosses her blonde curls over her shoulder, “Never turn that down. Plus I think I would win and could make a killing off your parents.”

“Uh-huh. And what if more parents buy the official school photos?”

“Then you’re only out the deposit,” she shrugs, “But the kids get to have fun with their pictures.”

He thinks it over and glances back at the photos on the table. He did his research on her, knows what she would charge for a deposit. It’s still steep but... It would be something fun to do for his kids if anything. And he does genuinely think that she’s really good.

He sticks out his hand with a smirk, “Ok, deal.”

She slips her hand in his, “Deal,” and adds with a saccharine smile, “And, again to be completely fair, I always win.”

The school’s official picture day comes and goes and to no surprise from Bellamy the story he hears from most of his kids is that they didn’t enjoy the experience. One student even told him that the photographer said their smile was too big! Which of course causes him to go into this whole underground, black market photography thing with extra vigor.

He’s been texting Clarke since they met under the pretense of organizing their “event” but somehow it’s devolved into him complaining about how his administration and faculty handle other school situations. It started with the school pictures thing and sort of expanded to other things that get on his nerves. He’d be embarrassed about it but she seems to be enjoying his grumblings.

For the week after the one with the school’s official picture days, Bellamy schedules his lessons around a day and time that Clarke can be there. He even signs up to have a teacher's aide that day to help wrangle the kids.

Clarke arrives a little after 7:30 am, following Maya, one of the teaching assistants, into his classroom. She's got a large thermos of what he assumes is coffee and a cart full of equipment.

“So, career day?” She says by way of a greeting, taping at her visitor’s badge.

He just shrugs, “I had to tell the front desk something to let you in.”

She hums and takes a sip of her coffee.

Maya and Bellamy move some of the tables out of the way so Clarke can set up a studio space in the back on the room. She’s handing him a backdrop to hang when Maya reaches for what looks like a children’s toy chest on the bottom of her cart.

“What’s this?”

Clarke replies with a smirk, “I did warn Mr. Blake that I like working with props.”

The kids start filing in after that. He had told them throughout the week that they’d be having a visitor but they seem too distracted by the set up to pay Clarke any attention.

“Mr. Blake?” one of the girls asks as the rest of the students make their way to their now rearranged desks. “Didn’t we have picture day last week?”

“This is going to be like a second picture day,” he explains. “And Ms. Griffin is also going to explain a little of what she does,” he glances over at her and she, thankfully, doesn’t seem phased. She actually looks like she was already gearing up for a little show and tell. Which he’s grateful for. He does need to try and keep up the career day pretense in case any of his students are questioned.

Ultimately though, he didn’t need to worry. The kids love all of it. Clarke actually does make it interesting as she shows of some of the different settings on her camera and things you can do with lighting. She even lets them take a few pictures; as long as the camera stays on its tripod of course.

Once they switch gears, however, Clarke gets down to business. Bellamy and Maya open up the toy chest and the kids are totally enraptured by the box of props. A few dibs are called and Bellamy has to remind them that they’re doing this one at a time and can share.

There are more than a few Wonder Womans and other superheroes that they can piece together but some kids do go for firefighters and police officers and such. One kid actually runs over to the animal station in Bellamy’s room and grabs a toy horse so he can be a cowboy. Clarke catches his eye and they can’t help but share a laugh.

Bellamy would like to say that a smile does not spread across his face when he receives a phone call from Clarke over the weekend but then he’d be lying.

“Hey!” she greets and seems as happy to be talking to him as he does to her. “I’m at the studio. I've got a few of your photos edited. Want to come over and check them out? Tell me if I should change anything?”

He doesn’t think she needs anyone to tell her how she’s doing but he’s not going to say no to seeing her. “Uh sure,” he glances at the time, “I'll bring dinner.”

“Thai sounds great. See you soon!”

She texts him what she wants and he picks up the food on the way. She said she’d leave the backdoor open for him so he drives around to the back and lets himself in.

Clarke’s sitting at her desk; eyes squinted at her computer so she doesn’t notice him until he knocks on the doorframe.

“Thank god. I’m starving,” she says as she stands to stretch. She’s wearing a skirt and Bellamy tries not to be distracted by her legs and her, well, everything. He busies himself instead with taking the containers out of the to-go bag and setting them out on her conference table.

“Working hard?” Jesus he sounds so lame.

“Just catching up on some e-mails. Booking some other appointments,” she shrugs. He starts to open the containers and she interrupts him, “Let’s do business first.”

He looks up at her, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Come look at the pictures first and then we’ll eat,” she gestures for him to come sit at her desk.

He does what she asks and Clarke stands behind him, leaning over so she can drive. He tries not to get caught up in how close she is.

She pulls up the first photo and immediately he can’t help the grin that takes over his face, much like his reaction to seeing her other work. Except this is a kid he knows so the happiness feels mixed with a sort of giddiness. His kids are definitely going to love these.

“I’m going to take your silence as a good thing,” she sounds smug and honestly she should be. She clicks over to another photo and Bellamy laughs. “Yeah, this was probably my favorite so far.”

“These are amazing Clarke,” he turns so he can look at her. She’s still standing close as he looks into her eyes, “Seriously. These are great; the kids are going to love them.”

They stare at each other for a minute before she stands up and clears her throat. Immediately Bellamy feels like he crossed some kind of line but then she speaks.

“So what if we alter our deal a bit?” she asks and he thinks he sees a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

“Alter it?”

“If I sell more pictures than the other photographer and you get your money back, you have to use some of that money to take me on a date.”

Bellamy’s a little speechless and ok she’s definitely blushing but then he laughs and she starts to frown.

“Sorry,” he says once he’s composed himself. “But I did kind of already buy you dinner tonight,” he gestures at the table of Thai food. “So maybe we could call this a date? I’d be pissed if I lost because of my fucking parents.”

She laughs then and takes a step towards him, hands going around his neck while his find their way to her hips.

“I already told you, I always win,” she says before she leans up to kiss him.

In the end Clarke does win the bet. Parents do buy more of her photos than they do of the ones from the school’s official picture day. She rubs it in his face of course but Bellamy can't say he minds.

He hires her to do it again for his class the next year and then the year after that the school hires Clarke outright to do all of the photos. She can’t do the costumes and can only use approved props but at least she’s better with the kids than any of the previous photographers the school has had.

“You don’t tell them their smile is too big,” Bellamy tells her when it’s time for his class to have pictures taken and he’s just waiting behind her.

She snorts because of course she remembers. “Well if that’s the only thing that makes me a good photographer…”

He kisses her on the cheek; they are at work after all so some professionalism must be displayed. Though it is very hard.

“How many parents have made appointments at the studio?”

She grins as she snaps another photo, “I’m booked for the next two weeks.”

He wants to kiss her again but reigns it in. “Which conveniently puts you out of helping me unpack.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she says before turning her attention to the kid on the stool. She directs them and takes a few shots and then continues to Bellamy, “Besides, that’s what Madi’s for.”

Bellamy just rolls his eyes but again he can’t say he minds.

#no one cares ashleigh #bellarke fanfiction #bffnet #my fanfiction #i'm going to post this and run away because omg #i don't think i did this justice but it was still fun #hope you like it!#also apparently my standard time to post fic is after midnight

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