A/N. I can't believe that the first time I post a chapter; I forgot to put the disclaimer. Oops ;)
Disclaimer: I do not own the Mortal Instruments, only my own little plot bunnies.
"Suck on that, bitch!" I taunted my older brother, after owning his bulky ass in a game of CoD. His best friend, and in turn one of my best friends, Jace Herondale, laughed at my immature display of manly-ness.
"You cheated!" he yelled at me, pouting. I smirked.
"Did not! Oh and dude, pouting? Really? 5 year old girls get away with that, not 15 year old jackasses." I informed him, sharing a smirk with Jace before both of us burst out laughing.
"Yeah yeah, laugh it up, but I'll kick your skinny little butt on Guitar Hero." He snapped.
"Bring it on, monkey slut." [A/N. kudos if you know where that's from!] I was still smirking as he tossed me a guitar, flipping the right CD into the slot.
"What song?" he asked me. I thought for a moment.
"Smooth Criminal – Alien Ant Farm." I ordered. He rolled his eyes.
"You always pick this one!" he whined.
"Would you just do it and stop being a whiny bitch, I want to play her after." Jace had obviously also lost his patience with Jonothan, as well. I couldn't help but look over Jace. He was possibly the most beautiful person I'd ever seen, with his tall, lean frame under tanned skin, honeyed curls that fell just below his ear and into his tawny eyes. His face was angled and pretty and his hands were a pianist's hands with his long, calloused fingers. Every girl in Glass High was completely in love with him, and that, unfortunately, included me. When I had figured that out for the first time, I'd hated myself for weeks. Sure Jace was awesome and everything, when he knew you well, but with the girls he dated? I'm surprised they didn't all just slap him repeatedly then kick him in the balls so he didn't reproduce mini asshats to continue on his legacy of being a man-whore.
Jonothan, Jace and I finished in the games room and decided to go outside. We were all thoroughly bored so we ended up just sitting in the gravel and talking, whilst throwing small pebbles at each other. Alec, Jace's adopted brother came and sat down with us, joining in with our sad little game of catch.
"Clary? Just to warn you, Isabelle's on the war path, since you ran off before she could dress you up." He warned me. Jace and Jonothan both started laughing.
"It's not funny, fuckers. She puts me in dresses and curls my eyelashes. Do you know how painful it is to be poked in the eye every time you laugh at her?" I snapped at them.
"God forbid you, being a girl, get put in a dress." Jonothan teased me. I eyed him, feeling my anger rising.
"What's that meant to mean, Fairy?" I ground out. He obviously didn't noticed the danger he was putting himself in. Jace seemed to though and he edged slightly away from Jonothan.
"You're a girl, Clary. You're meant to get dressed up, and you're meant to enjoy doing girl things. How do you think Mom feels when you go ahead and act like you're her son rather than her daughter?" he asked me. Now, I was beyond pissed. I stood up and he stood up with me.
"Think about it, Clare." He urged me. I snapped, lashing out and punching him in his stupid little mouth.
"Thought about it, Fairy, and I've come up with the conclusion that you're a sexist mother fucker." I snarled, pulling my hand back again to punch him in his stomach. Jace had jumped to his feet, and he put his arms around my waist, restraining me.
"Calm down Pippi. He didn't mean any harm." He whispered soothingly into my ear. I calmed slightly at hearing my nickname before yanking myself out of his arms. I immediately missed the warm embrace, but didn't stop as I turned and stormed into the house and up into my room. I tore down all the posters of the New York Yankees before pulling my plain black suitcase out from under my bed and throwing random clothes in. I know what you're thinking, harsh reaction, much? But I've had enough of Jonothan and his quips on my tomboy attitude. He's been like that ever since I've started High School, and honestly, I'd reached the end of my already freakishly short tether. I stopped packing abruptly and ran back out of my room.
"Mom?" I called through the house. I heard her reply from inside her studio and I quickly ran upstairs, to the third floor and I tumbled into her little getaway from the real world.
"Can I move to Dad's for the summer?" I blurted. She whipped around to face me.
"Why, sweetie?" she asked.
"I don't know Mom," despite how angry I was with Jonothan, I wouldn't get him into trouble. And anyway, I didn't want to get into trouble for hitting him. "I just want a break from here." She nodded.
"Okay, I'll call him tonight, to sort out the details." I grinned and raced out of the room. I stopped abruptly when I heard Jace's raised voice from inside Jonothan's room. I pressed my ear to the door to hear better.
"Shut up, Jon! How can you think I like her? She doesn't even know how to be a fucking girl! She'll probably be a lesbian freak when she's older." I stepped away from the door, banging into the wall behind me. A picture frame fell from the wall, shattering loudly. Jonothan's answer was cut off and both boys were silent. I ran to my room and slammed the door shut, catching a glimpse of Jace's golden hair as he stood in Jon's doorway, looking at the picture frame sadly. I realized it was a group photo of all of us, Isabelle standing to Jonothan's left, Alec to Jace's right and me in the middle. Jonothan had his arm around Isabelle's waist, both of them grinning, Alec looked awkward as hell and Jace had his arm around my shoulders, sticking his tongue out at me as I stood on one of his feet. Neither of us paid any attention to the camera. I was glad I'd smashed it.
I continued packing, throwing in my IPod and keyboard, as well as my ballet slippers. I had hated ballet with a passion when I first started but I soon grew to love it, nearly as much as playing guitar. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to bring that with me. I decided then and there that, fuck Jonothan and Jace; I could behave like a girl. I could look like a girl for once and I could damn well enjoy being a girl. I would prove them all wrong.
"Sweetie?" my mom knocked on my door and popped her head threw.
"Oh Clary." She murmured sadly, as she noticed the posters lying torn on the ground. She came in, and shut the door behind her. "Come here."
"Mommy." I whimpered, running into her arms. I hadn't needed my Mom's comfort in years, as I had grown up quickly and had learnt to force back tears whenever I got hurt. I wasn't allowed hang around with Jonothan if I behaved like a cry baby. She wiped away the tears on my face that I hadn't realized had fallen, and rocked me back and forth.
"I'll drop you off at the airport tomorrow evening, and you're Dad'll pick you up at JFK, okay?" she asked. I nodded into her shoulder. We stayed like that for a few more minutes until I pulled back and smiled.
"Thanks Mom." I said, before going back to packing. She left the room, telling me she'd bring me up hot chocolate later.
I grabbed a duffle bag from under my bead and put my art supplies and portfolio into it. I put my bags in the corner and continued tearing down everything on my wall, and stuffed them into a rubbish bag. I opened up my closet and chucked all the clothes in there into a separate bag, for the charity shop. I turned away, to my mirror where I had photos of all my friends. Despite how hurt I was by Jace, I couldn't bear to throw away all the photos of us. I pulled all of the photos down from the mirror and the wall around it and slid them into a wooden box Mom had once given me for my non-existent jewellery. I stuffed that into the back of closet, along with my guitar and sighed, when I realized my room was blank. There were no clothes on the ground, or things on my desk. The orange walls glared angrily at me and I decided I wanted a completely fresh start when I came home from Dad's.
I left the room and walked downstairs, wary in case Jace was still here. He wasn't in the kitchen anyway, so I darted in.
"Hey Mom?" she looked up, from where she was boiling milk on the range. "Can I re-do my room? I'll draw a picture of what I want and pick out some furniture and stuff from a catalogue and you could get Jonothan and Luke to do it while I'm gone." She seemed to think about it for a few seconds before nodding.
"Okay, honey." I grinned at her, and took the hot chocolate she offered me before leaving and running back up to my room. I quickly sipped it down, before getting changed. I pulled the Dallas Cowboy shirt above my head before pulling my loose fitting sweat pants down as well. I stood in just a pair of plain white briefs and a plain white cloth wrapped tightly around my chest. The truth was, I had a very nice chest, but I was convinced I couldn't fuck around with the guys if my chest got in the way, so I squashed it down, and no one, other than maybe Isabelle, was the wiser. I slipped into bed and fell asleep, looking forward to tomorrow and my fresh start.
A/N. The 'monkey slut' reference was from a British T.V. series called 'Misfits'. If you've never seen it before, I suggest you look it up ASAP.