Hey guys!
I'm back with a new story. Pick Your Poison will be put on a hold for a teensy bit because I can't get this story out of my head.
As pyp, this story will be edited by TMI. If you get the chance please thank her for her work, she really does an amazing job.
But before we move on, I'd just like to say this story is going to be very special to me, largely because it's heavily based off of my own life. The memories that will be littered throughout the story will almost always be real memories of mine, altered to fit Jace and Clary better.
Also, it's the first story I'm writing that doesn't really have an action genre. So if you absolutely need that dose of kick ass fighting, this story may not be your cup of tea.
All human. Slightly OOC. Probably going to be fluffy.
But it's a story about Jace and Clary, nothing more, nothing less.
Enjoy!
I squinted against the bright sunlight.
I glanced back at my mother, who had her easel situated underneath a tree and was painting with heavy concentration apparent on her face. I considered dashing over to have a look at her art, but a flash of color in a nearby bush quickly distracted me. I ran quickly over to where I had spotted the bright flutter.
Looking back now, it was probably just a butterfly or a piece of colorful paper, but my six-year-old overactive imagination turned it into a magical creature sighting. Gleaming with joy, I whirled around and yelled to my mother, "Mom, I saw a fairy!"
Broken out of her painting daze, she chuckled and let out a sigh. "Fairies don't exist, Clary," was her gentle but firm response. She had never fed into my love for the supernatural, even going as far as to reject the existence of any sort of magic, yet it never ceased my fascination. Undiscouraged, I went back to playing mindlessly in the grass. My imagination created hundreds of magical opportunities, not bending in the slightest to the force of my mother's denial.
That day in Central Park is one of the few memories I have of that time period. The edges of the memory are dull and the rest of details are long lost, but I can remember one thing very clearly.
Jace.
I was kneeling in the grass, pawing around for what I was sure was a pixie, when I felt a hard tug at my ponytail. With a yelp of pain, I bolted up as quickly as my 6 year old self could to face my attacker.
A blonde boy who looked around my age was standing behind me, smirking, with his hands crossed over his chest. My little hands balled into fists at the sight of his arrogant smile and I had to resist the urge to hit him. "What's wrong with the color of your hair?" he asked impudently, clearly feeling no shame about yanking the ponytail in question mere seconds before. The blonde boy tilted his head as he stared at my hair. "It looks like rust."
Mom says hitting people is mean, I reminded myself, my mother's voice in my head being the only thing stopping me from turning to violence. Instead, I resorted to insult. "Oh yeah, well what's wrong with your…"
And I found nothing. From the tips of his golden hair to the confident golden eyes down to his well-dressed body, he was perfect. Even my six year old self could see that.
I can still feel the blush that had flared on my cheeks that day when I ran away from that awkward situation back towards my mother. I couldn't confide in her yet though, because she had ceased painting and was having a conversation with an unknown lady. Upon seeing my return, my mother got up from her seat at the easel and called me closer.
"Clary, I'd like you to meet Mrs. Lightwood." She put a hand on my shoulder and gestured to the lady, who was dressed all in black. "Mrs. Lightwood is a very important customer of mine."
The lady smiled at me. I stared back, wondering where on earth she had sprung from. "Your mother has great talent Clary. And I see you've already met Jace?"
Jace?
I turned around to see the blonde haired boy standing a few feet away. When our eyes met, he waved cheekily at me. "Rusty!" he greeted me gleefully. I glared back.
That's how my friendship with Jace Lightwood began. I'm still not sure how to feel about that day.
"What in the world are you staring at Clary?" a voice broke out through my daydreaming. As Central Park disappeared along with the seven-year-old Jace, the decade older Jace came into focus. The same golden eyes from the memory were staring straight at me. He was leaning down with his arm propped up on my desk, his casual breath rustling the hair at the top of my head.
My heart stopped; he was much too close.
"Nothing Jace," I mumbled and scrambled to get up and away from his piercing gaze, nearly smashing my head into his in the process.
"Really? Because from the looks of it, I'd say you were having a rather vivid dream about your trulys," he teased. "You've really got to keep your imagination in check, Clary." He winked at me and broke into a huge smile. I blushed furiously; partly because his wink had sent my heart into strange flutters and partly because he was right on the mark.
With a delayed recovery from my momentary lapse of sanity, I spat back at him, "If I had been dreaming about you, Jace, I'm sure it would have been a nightmare." I glared at him, much in the same way as I had in that day in the park ten years ago.
"Whatever you say, Cherrydrop." He smirked at me and left, swinging his bag over his shoulder just as the bell ending homeroom rang. I scowled at the use of his favorite nickname for me and watched his back as he sped up to meet some of his other friends. I suppressed a sigh.
Why did he have to look cool around the clock?
It was safe to say that we were on much better terms now than at our fateful meeting in Central Park. His being the adoptive son of my mother's biggest fans meant we had begun to see each other much more than I had originally liked…
…but the sucker grew on me.
I gritted my teeth as I made my way toward my locker, thoughts of Jace swirling through my head. It was strange to think that someone I had hated with all my heart in the beginning could have become some sort of a friend to me in a few months' time. Somehow, Jace had managed to do it.
However, that didn't stop him from being an asshat whenever he could. The sensible part of me told me I could break off our friendship whenever I wanted to, but there was this other part of me that screamed bloody murder at the thought of losing Jace.
Once I had all my books out and on the floor, I slammed the locker shut and watched as it vibrated at its hinges. I wasn't entirely sure where my sudden anger was springing from, but I knew it had something to do with Jace.
"What wrong did that locker ever do to you, Clary?"
Isabelle was striding towards me from the other end of the hallway, an amused expression lighting her face. The clicks her heeled boots made came to a stop and she leaned against the locker next to mine. I opened my mouth to make a sarcastic retort about the locker, but thought better of it. Given this random anger, I'd probably sound a lot harsher than intended. Isabelle's eyes narrowed, most likely sensing that I was forcibly making myself behave.
"Let me guess, Jace managed to rub you the wrong way this early in the morning?" She snickered, "In the ten years I've known you, I don't think I haven't seen you guys fight. You two are like an old married couple I swear."
"Not helping, Iz." I grabbed my books off the floor and hurried away from Isabelle and her remarks. Her snickers and the incessant clicking of her boots followed me through the hallway toward the first period class we shared.
If anyone understood my frustration with Jace, it was Isabelle, Jace's adopted sister and my best friend. She had the pleasure of dealing with Jace's ridiculousness at home, so we were mostly on the same boat. But whether she knew it or not, Jace doted on Isabelle; the full brunt of his asshattedness usually fell onto me.
Oh, the joy.
The cafeteria was alive with sound as we sat at our usual table. I looked down at the glop in my plate that had been labeled as meatloaf and shuddered. School food was not to be trusted.
"Look everybody, our shining prince is back!" Isabelle called cheerfully. I glanced up from my lunch to see Jace sauntering towards us. He pulled out a chair and sat down, one foot propped against the edge of the table.
"Miss me much?" Jace asked with a lopsided smile.
Simon scoffed to my right. I looked towards one of my oldest friends with affection amd slight disapproval; I could see the annoyance on his face at Jace's carefree and overall arrogant attitude. To give him credit, he did a fairly good job of putting up with Jace for my sake.
Isabelle glanced between Jace and Simon nervously, sensing the usual tension between the boys. "Anyway!" she chirped, trying to sweep away their less than friendliness, "It's Friday today. Want to do something tonight?"
"If Golden Boy is going to be there, then no thanks." Simon muttered, shooting a glare at Jace.
Jace narrowed his eyes at Simon in response, but quickly returned to his usual smirk. "Don't worry about that rat boy," he replied smoothly, "I already have plans with Aline tonight. Can't make it."
As if on cue, Aline's high pitched voice called across the cafeteria. The unwelcome sound was soon followed by the pattering of heels that meant she was coming this way. The sight of Jace's plastic girlfriend made me want to barf.
"Jace there you are!" Aline slowed down as she got closer and slinked an arm around Jace's shoulders. Her jet black hair dangled to cover their faces as she leaned down to kiss Jace full on the mouth. I snorted, raising my eyebrows at Isabelle and trying to hide my disgust.
At the sound of my discomfort, Aline gave me a victorious smile and sat down on the chair next to Jace. "Don't forget we have dinner plans tonight, Jacey," she purred. "My father will be very upset if you don't show up again." She pouted at him and he chuckled.
"I won't, don't worry," Jace assured her.
Giving him a bright smile, she hopped out of the chair and pulled on Jace's arm to lead him to her usual table "C'mon, I wanna go talk to Shelly," she whined. With a quick wave at me and Isabelle and a semi-friendly glare at Simon, Jace let himself be pulled across the room with her.
A flicker of jealousy flashed through me, making me pause for a second in shock as I identified the emotion. What in the world was I thinking? In the year Jace had been dating Aline, it was true that I never really liked her. But lately, seeing them together made me want to break something.
Before I could get my hands on something to destroy, Isabelle's brother Alec came crashing down into the chair Jace had occupied seconds before.
"You just missed our golden boy's presence." Simon said sourly.
Alec ran a hand over his face. "I get enough of that at home," he dismissed. "Speaking of home, aren't you guys doing something tonight at our house? It's Friday again."
Isabelle nodded eagerly. "I think Simon and Clary are coming over to watch a movie. Are you staying with us?" Isabelle leaned closer to Alec, eyes bright with mischief. "Are you going to bring Magnus?"
"Magnus?" I asked. I hadn't heard of the name before. "Who's he?" I turned to look at Alec with curiosity.
"Don't listen to her Clary. She's talking nonsense." But Alec's pink cheekbones told me there was something more there.
Isabelle gave me the I'll tell you later look, and quickly dropped the subject. I giggled at Alec's uncomfortable expression and turned to Simon. "You're coming though right? Or will you be too busy playing Dungeons and Dragons?" I teased. Simon had always tagged along with me and Iz from when we were kids. Before I had met Isabelle and Jace, Simon had been my closest friend and I still owed him a lot for it.
"Of course I'm coming." He gave me a small smile, finally dropping the sour glare he always wore around Jace. I smiled back.
Isabelle cleared her throat, looking between me and Simon with a blank expression. "Now that that's settled then, I'll see you guys tonight?"
We nodded at her as she picked up her trash and walked over to throw it away. The stiffness in her back told me that she was annoyed at something, but I couldn't exactly figure out what. You never knew with Isabelle, anyway.
Unconsciously, the eyes drifted to where I knew Jace would be sitting, surrounded by Aline's friends. He was picking at his sandwich, not really listening to what was going on around him. I knew that he didn't really like her friends; why didn't he just sit with us? I watched as Aline turned to Jace laughing, retelling to him something her friend had said. He automatically smiled politely in response. The smile didn't reach his eyes, but Aline was appeased and she turned back towards her friends while Jace turned back to not paying attention.
Jace's hands, which had been playing with his sandwich, suddenly froze and he looked up, directly at me. When he saw that I had been staring at him, he gave me his trademark smirk and waved.
I felt my face heat up. I stuck my tongue out at him and turned back to my own table, before he could catch sight of my blush. What in the world was I blushing for though? I wasn't staring at some stranger, I was staring at Jace, someone I had been friends with for ten years.
Simon pulled me out of my thoughts. "Come on, we're going to be late for class." I looked up at him and saw that his eyes were tight, the smile he had given me before completely vanished. I got up and followed him carefully, unsure of what to say.
What was wrong with everyone today?
And there we have it, the first chapter! Holy moly, it's hard to write that first chapter. But at least it's out of the way :D
Review, and tell me what you think! What do you expect, do you like that it's based off of my own experiences.
But review!
Yours,
~A.W.W