This is the fixed chapter, just fixed it, if u don't know what the problem was, just ignore this and keep reading, but if u saw the other version of ch. 1, sorry, read this one to understand it better :/... anyway, please review! :3
The bass pumps through the car, a fast but steady heartbeat. I laugh at the girl sitting next to me, bobbing her head and lip syncing like a fan girl alone in her room. Her red hair is straightened to perfection and currently slapping me in the face. "Clare!" I laugh.
The girl stops and grins at me before whipping her hair at me again. "You told me to leave it down." She defends.
I run a hand through my blonde curls and settle it back on the steering wheel. Un-like Clary's classy clothes, I wear a white T-shirt and black basketball shorts with my black running shoes. Clary wears a baby blue tank and peach colored jeans and flats. Like usual, I'm only her chauffeur, delivering her at the door of wherever she wants to be. Jace's Taxi Service is what Clary calls it, and I've been in the business for three years, the moment I got my drivers' license. Clary didn't want to start driving anytime soon. "I'll get my license when everyone I know dies." She had said teasingly, almost two years ago. That was also the year she'd started dating Simon Lewis. Yes, I say Simon Lewis in more of a Simon Lewis way. I don't like the kid. What so ever. He's dated six girls within the last year, and no doubt has hooked up with at least four of them. But, as a good best friend since birth, I keep my jaw clamped and a smile on, supporting Clary whenever, and whatever, she needs it for. People, like my adoptive sister, Izzy, call my attitude towards him jealousy, but I call it being protective of my friend. Would I date Clare? Sure, if she needed someone to be there for her in a more-than-friends way, but other than that, I try not to think about any of that. I've ruined a lot of friendships because of unwanted feelings from either side. And not necessarily only the girl gender conflict.
I shake away the memory of my adoptive brother, Alec. It wasn't because I was his adoptive brother, because technically we weren't blood related, it's just; I'm not into that type. Alec was heartbroken and a little angry, and now we avoid each other as much as possible.
Clary punches my arm. "It's green, loser." She shouts over the music.
I turn down the main street to Simon's loft. That was another thing. Clary didn't need to go to a boys loft that he owns by himself. Clary told me it was a gift for graduation, which was used well since he quit college. I sigh. I can't judge, I'm just getting a basic education with Clary at the community college, but at least I'm furthering my education.
Clary reaches over the center console and rubs the spot between my eyebrows. She knows I get wrinkles when I'm stressed or worried. "Jace, what's wrong?" she asks, turning down Maroon 5's Lucky Strike.
I sigh. "I don't have a good feeling about him Clare. Could you at least encourage him to go to a college, or get a job and stop depending on his mother?" I ask.
Clary sighs in reply. "Jace, you know about his learning disability." She says softly, as if he might actually be in the back seat.
I nod with a huff, holding my tongue. When he was a junior, he got permission to only taking the four basic classes instead of all eight class periods, because he told his mother that when they moved too fast in class, he got migraines and started jumbling words up. I thought it was funny how in Language Arts Senior year, he got all the lead roles in the school plays. I glance at Clary's doe eyes, like she's about to cry just thinking about her boyfriend's "disability". "It must've slipped my mind." I mumble.
Clary shifts back in her seat and smiles. She's always positive and smiling. "Besides, he says he got an offer to be on the waiting list to get into the auditions to be a manager for a band." She says.
I snort. "He's on the waiting list to get into an audition? Just so he can be a manager?" I ask.
Clary nods. "Yeah! He'd get paid like ten grand a month!" she exclaims.
I smile and nod, but on the inside I'm screaming and begging my hands to get the nerve to turn the car around and forbid her to see Simon. I get ten grand every other week by working at my adoptive father's football club. I teach the seven year olds, and apparently my father thinks I'm going through the third level of hell, so he gives me five grand extra. My hands might as well be in a pool of stress sweat by the time I roll up to Simon's building. "Here, you go, need me to walk you up?" I ask.
Clary shakes her head, leans across the center console and kisses my cheek. "Simon will bring me home. Thanks for the ride, Jacey." She says with a grin.
I smile weakly. "Make sure he has you home by midnight." I scold. Little does she know I'm dead serious. She grins back and hops out of the car, grabbing her phone. I roll down my window and shout across the small lawn. "No shenanigans!"
She turns around and sticks her tongue out. "No promises!" she says.
I can only pray that she was joking.
It's two days later that I notice Clary is acting strange. Usually when she winces at random turns, I offer to grab a movie and ice cream, to head over to her house and hang out with her. In other words, when she winces, I know it's her killer period cramps. But this time, when I offer she declines.
The next day we're sitting at a café and she shifts in the booth and winces. "Alright, what's up?" I ask her.
She clears her throat and acts like she didn't wince. "Nothing, what's up with you?" she asks casually.
I roll my eyes. "Clary, don't play stupid." I say.
Clary bites her lip. "It's nothing Jace, don't worry, I talked to Izzy about it." She says.
I roll my eyes again. "So it's girl talk. Alright, well I know that it's not your period, since you turned me down yesterday, and I know everything already, so that leaves the unmentionables." I say.
She looks at me sheepishly, and that's all it takes for me to go pale and choke on my coconut pancake. After I get it down my pipe, I huff. "Clare, please tell me you didn't give your virginity away to- to Simon." I say. When she doesn't answer I push my chair back and stand up. She grabs me by the wrist as I turn to leave. I turn back. "I'm sorry, but I can't support you on this one milestone." I say with a gulp.
Clary frowns. "Why? Izzy was supportive." She says.
I roll my eyes and sit back down. "Izzy supports anything that has to do with that." I say gently.
Clary grimaces. "That's not fair, and you know that Jace Wayland. Who are you to judge when you took Bailey's virginity two years ago?" she shoots back.
I roll my eyes. "Clary, I dated her for five years, and we both had protection." I say. "Plus, we had talked about it, and we planned." I add.
Clary crosses her arms. "So? Simon used a condom when he needed to." She says.
I go rigid. "You didn't use it the whole time?" I ask.
Clary shrugs. "So, it did its job." She says.
I scoff. "Is he even clean? Don't act like you haven't heard Emily, Jamie, Paxton, and Marissa talking about their time with him." I say, counting the names off on my fingers.
Clary shakes her head, looking at me incredulously. "I asked, of course. He said he got tested." She says.
I look at her skeptically. "And was this before he was ready to go, or a split second before you were taken?" I ask.
Clary frowns at me. "Lay off, Jace. You don't usually have a problem with him." She says.
"I have always had a problem with him! Especially when he goes defiling my best friend!" I nearly yell.
Clary scoffs. "Thanks for warning me of your opinion." She says.
"Oh, what difference would it have made? You're too deep in your relationship with him anyway." I say.
She laughs humorlessly. "It would have been the difference between me not being your friend anymore." She says coldly before wrenching herself out of the booth and through the café doors.
I rest my head on my hands. Why couldn't it have been a period?
I don't talk to Clary for three weeks and it's driving me nuts. I hear Izzy on the phone with her almost every night, and she sounds perfectly fine. They talk about everything, and one time Clary even asks her to bring the ice cream and movies over. I can't help but think that it's me who's supposed to be at her house, under her avengers blanket sharing ice cream and popcorn. It's supposed to be us who are falling asleep on the makeshift cushion pallet, with the soft glow of the television lulling us into a dream stage. I'm the one who should be getting up before sunrise to get her an Advil and making her pancakes. But it's not my job anymore, I guess.
The worst is when I accidentally get sucked into their conversation by Izzy's giggling.
"Was it as painful?" Izzy asks.
"No, it finally went away by the fifth round." Clary replies.
"Ooh, five. Get it girl."
Clary giggles on the other end. "I am Izzy, what have I been waiting for?" she says dreamily.
Izzy laughs. "I was beginning to think you'd become a nun. Or maybe Alec!"
I walked away during the giggle fits and had to lean over the sink for a minute. My poor innocent Clary-Canary was being defiled and corrupted by not only Simon, but Izzy as well.
Tonight, I splash my face with water and turn out the lights. I walk by Alec's room, and hear the usual music blaring from his speakers. I'm tempted to knock on his door and make amends. I'm desperate for some sort of distraction. I sigh before walking downstairs to go on my nightly run. Hopefully it'd work, and I'd be able to focus on my own life now.
But as I run I can't seem to run away from her. She's there, at Jump Land where we shared an eighth birthday party, she's there in the baseball field parking lot where I attempted to teach her how to drive a year ago. She's in the outlet mall where I spent five weekends straight when she went through her awkward years and didn't like clothes for more than a week. She's in Mrs. Petrel's house where we returned her dog after it got out. She's in the park where we carved our names in our secret language when we were six. I sigh as I turn back up my road, my heart heavier than when I left.
Four, five, six, seven weeks pass and I remain shut away from Clary. She's moved on, and I heard her talking with Izzy about Simon being supportive of some big issue between them. She was gushing about how he always called her to let her know he loved her, and how he'd come over if she needed something. That got me to thinking that I'm like Simon in a way. I know I'd always be there for her, and I do love her, I just can't afford to be in love with her.
By week twelve I'm ready to pull my hair out. We've never had a fight this big, especially not over something as stupid as sex with a guy I hate. Of all the times I was supportive of her, she chose the one time to turn away from me. Maybe it was a sign of her personality. Maybe she was one of those girls who was looking for a guy who would support them, even if it was asking for trouble. I can't sleep, and I had long given up by two a.m. I was about to flip on my lamp and study for finals before summer break, but a knock at my door sounded that second.
I open my door to a crying Izzy. I let her in without question. I love Izzy as if she was my blood sister. I let her in my arms, and when she calms down I stroke her hair gently. "What is it?" I ask.
Izzy sniffles a little. "It's Clary. Oh, she needs me, but I can't go over there like this. She won't get better if she sees Me." she cries.
I tense up. "What's wrong with her?" I ask, my heart rate going up a mile a minute.
Izzy shakes her head. "It's not my place to tell you, but all I can say is that Simon left her when she needed him most." She says.
I stand up, adding anger to my confusion and worry. "The bastard." I mutter. I begin to walk out of my room, but Izzy stops me.
"Jace, she's expecting me, tell her that I knew she really needed you. You'll have more patience to hear her out. Just, fix her. Please." She says.
So by three fifteen in the morning I'm knocking on her first floor window. I see her broken face first. The tears are streams, pooling at the notch of her collarbone that sticks out a bit. Her unusually messy curls sit frizzing around her face. Confusion is pooling on my face as she lets me climb in. I take one look at her in her huge bathrobe, and baggy pajama pants, and I open my arms towards her.
She sobs when her face hits my chest, and I squeeze her tighter. I release her, but not before I feel an abnormal firmness to her figure. My heart leaps out of my chest, and I feel nauseous again, but I don't say anything. I'm here to listen to her.
She starts out with one sentence that breaks my heart. "I need you." She whimpers.
I embrace her again, and she mumbles a sentence that breaks my heart into a million pieces, but in a different, much worse way. "I'm pregnant." She breathes.
