Seven minutes.

It took exactly seven minutes to get from the apartment my father and I lived in to where the boring classes I was forced to take part in were located. Three times a week, my extremely annoying alarm would go off at seven o'clock, and my dad had to practically drag me out of bed to get ready, but no matter how hard he tried, he never could get me to leave the apartment on time. Being punctual was never one of my strong suits, especially when I was heading somewhere I didn't want to go in the first place.

"I don't understand why you hate it so much," My dad would say as I complained about my classes for the millionth time. "You used to always love to learn about Earth and history."

I would always respond with the same answer, "I do love to learn about those topics, Dad. It's the people I can't stand, not the subjects."

It was true. I loathed almost everyone in my class. Most of them were the exact same. Maybe it was the fact that they were all moody teenagers with raging hormones, or maybe all of them were just naturally irritating drama queens that didn't know how to shut up. Out of the twenty teenagers I was shoved into a room with for two and a half hours, I liked exactly three of them.

Person number one was Clarke Griffin. She had been one of my best friends for a long time, and her mother worked in medical. She was the doctor that saved my dad's life when he got really sick, and Clarke was there for me when I thought I might lose him.

Then there was my life long best friend Archie Smith. He was the funniest person I knew, and he could always make me laugh even when I was in one of my worst moods. He was the kind of guy with a nice heart and goofy smile, but if you messed with someone he cared about he wouldn't be afraid to deck you. Basically, he was there for me through everything in my life; the good and the shitty.

Lastly, there was my boyfriend, Wells Jaha, aka the Chancellor's son. I would be lying if I said that I was in love with him, or whatever it was all those lovesick teenage girls said about the guy they were obsessed with. To be completely honest, I only started dating him because I knew what it would do for my family. Dating Wells meant getting invited over for nice meals and being thought higher of. It even got my dad a seat on the Council.

My mother died of cancer when I was ten, and it broke my dad in every way. He stopped showing up for his job, all he did was drink, and I was forced to try and provide for us. I managed to get him back on his feet, but we were still living in a pretty poor part of the Ark. Then, one day I ran into Wells, got close to him, and my dad ended up meeting the Chancellor. Wells's dad helped us and eventually got us into a better living situation. He and my dad became best friends, and before I knew it, Jaha was offering my dad a place on the Council. So, maybe love wasn't what mattered in a relationship. Maybe it was all about loyalty, duty, and benefiting from circumstance.

Besides, living in a floating space station as everyone was waiting for the earth to be survivable again after a nuclear war had left it simmering in radiation didn't exactly boost my hopefulness for an amazing life or anything. What was the point of going to a class to learn about this wonderfully intricate and beautiful planet when I was never going to get to see it anyway? What was the point of learning how to survive on the ground if I was never going to use any of the skills I learned?

What was the point of anything on the Ark?

"Miss Winters, how great of you to bless us with your presence."

My hazel eyes flicked up from the metal floor to meet the she-devil standing in the middle of the classroom in front of me. All of the seats were filled but one, and all heads were turned right where I was standing with my arms crossed over my grey, leather jacket.

Mrs. Garcia, aka Satan, was the new history teacher. I was so thankful I was almost finished with my classes, but especially this one.

Satan stood with her glasses over her dark eyes, and her grey hair pulled back into a tight bun. Wrinkles were starting to show on her face, and a hard frown was plastered on her chapped lips. She gave me a look of utter disappointment that I returned with a look of burning hatred and dread.

I straightened my back as I stepped into the room that was slightly chilly, "Sorry, I'm late. I didn't want to come."

There were a few chuckles from the other students. Satan didn't seem amused, "Take your seat, Harley, and try to keep your mouth shut before you get yourself detention...Again."

"Another day in paradise," I muttered as I sat down between Wells and Clarke with Archie behind me.

Wells was giving me an all too familiar stare. It was a stare that said 'You need to change how you act and be a better person because I don't want my father to disapprove of you.' His brown eyes were full of judgment, and I knew we would probably be getting into another fight later.

Mrs. Garcia began her lecture on Ancient Greece as I looked away from my boyfriend and got out my notebook and a pen. On the other side of me, Clarke was focused on the lesson. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight braid and her blue eyes were full of concentration. She was always super committed to school and helping her mom out in the medical center. Clarke was extremely smart, but sometimes I felt like she was strung too tight.

In the past few months Clarke, Wells, and I had begun to clash. Most of the time it was about my behavior, or Wells's refusal to have fun because he's afraid to get in trouble with his daddy. We were just too different, much like Sparta and Athens were. They were doomed for war from the start because their values and ways of life were complete opposites. One of them valued knowledge and reason, while the other was impulsive and valued strength. War was inevitable.

The class period passed by slowly, and although I was intrigued by the lesson, I still couldn't wait to get out of that classroom. When we were finally dismissed, I practically jumped out of my seat and grabbed my bag.

Wells was waiting for me by the door, but before I could take one step towards him, I heard someone speak up from behind me.

"You know, Winters, it's hard to fathom how you show up late almost every day and hardly ever get punished like the rest of us do," I whipped my head around, to find John Murphy standing in the middle of the room with his posy of dumb lumberjacks beside him. His lips curved up into an evil smile as his dark snake-like eyes looked at me like I was some kind of prey. "Now, why is that I wonder? Oh, right, your daddy is on the Council. So, you can get away with everything."

My fists clenched. John Murphy and I had been enemies since we were little and he pulled my pigtails making me slap him in the face in return. We both ended up in time out for a good long while.

"Shut up, Murphy. You don't know what you're talking about," I practically spit out with narrowed eyes. My anger was growing with every passing second.

That evil smirk didn't fade from his pale face, "Tell me, Winters, how exactly did screwing the Chancellor's son earn you a trip up to the first class?"

"That's it you little butt faced rat-!" Before I could make one move to put a good dent in his already messed up face, I felt Wells grab my arm. Completely outraged and breathing heavily, I turned my head to meet his calming stare.

"Harley, calm down. He's not worth it."

My eyes flickered from Wells to Murphy, and I let out an exasperated sigh. I jerked my arm from Wells's grip, and my attention returned to Murphy, "Next time you say something like that to me, Wells may not be here to save your sorry ass."

"I'm counting on it, Winters."

My rage was only growing, and Wells noticed, so he put his arm around my shoulders and led me out of the room. We stepped into the hallway as the door closed behind us and guards passed by doing their routine patrol of this section of the Ark.

Wells and I walked for a while. We passed the medical center which was more crowded than normal because some kind of virus had been going around Alpha Station. We stopped in front of the door to Wells's apartment, and before we went in, Wells spoke up.

"You can't keep doing this, Harley."

Yep, there it was, "Doing what?"

I kept my eyes on the floor as I heard Wells let out a long sigh, "You can't just go around doing whatever the hell you want. There are rules here on the Ark, and if you keep this up, my father won't be able to keep you from getting arrested."

I let out a scoff as I glanced up at him, "I didn't know someone could get arrested for stating their opinion." Wells raised his eyebrows. "Wells, I'm not like you. I can't just keep my mouth shut when someone ticks me off or says bad things about my father. You should know that by now."

"I do know that, and your honesty is something I really love about you, Harley. I'm just asking you not to do something stupid. I'm asking for you to forget about Murphy, and to just relax for once, ok?"

His brown gaze met my hazel one, and I gave in reluctantly, "Ok fine, but if Murphy pisses me off again, which will likely happen in the next twenty-four hours-"

Wells gave me a smile as he interrupted me, "Harley, relax." I shut my mouth, and Wells held out his arms. "Come here."

He pulled me into his embrace, which used to be comforting and warm, but now it only felt like a cage I could never get out of.

Being with someone that I didn't really love was getting harder and harder. I didn't know how much longer I could keep the act up, but if I broke Wells's heart there was no guarantee that the Chancellor would continue to protect my father and me when one of us did something stupid.