One
Isabelle is sitting on the bed's edge, eyeing me warily. She's not speaking, just watching. It's too late for words anyways. I sigh, slamming the bag onto the bed. Tears well up in my eyes, and I swipe at them angrily. Opening the closet, I grab my daggers, and whatever mundane money I had saved. I ruffle through the rest, only taking what's mine. By the time I'm done, the duffel bag is barely full. I never really bothered with much. Never needed it.
I leave what's not mine. A hoodie I had borrowed from Jace. A pair of heels Izzy gave me for a night out. A dreamcatcher Alec bought me when I first came here. A stuffed wolf that Max gave me to remind me of him when he left to Alicante with his parents. I guess I could've taken all of that, none of them would really miss any of it. Jace never bothered taking any of his hoodies back. Izzy had more heels than she'd care to count. Alec probably forgot about the dreamcatcher years ago. But it was easier this way, severing all the ties makes it easier to forget. A lesson that I learnt long ago.
Izzy is still silent, still looking at me with barely concealed concern.
"Anybody saw my stele?" Jace barges in, without knocking. As always.
"Don't you ever knock?" I ask, hoping he wouldn't notice the bag.
"Nope." He looks around. "What're you packing for? Got a new mission?" He retorts. Guess my wish went unanswered.
Izzy is watching with shifty eyes, alternating between looking at me and Jace.
"No, I'm…uh…leaving."
"Leaving for what?" He asks, bending to look for his stele under my bed.
"Nothing. I'm just leaving."
"Leaving where, Ash?" He asks, straightening.
"Leaving the institute, Jace." Izzy says.
"Is it because…I thought Alec told you, I swear. He said he did. I wouldn't have agreed to it otherwise." He looks guilty. "I wanted to wait for you to come back, but mom kept pushing, and I just-I just-"
"No." I stiffen. "I'm not that petty. I'm just…" I trail off, not knowing what to say.
Izzy does it for me. "Mom asked her to leave." That's putting it mildly, she kicked me out.
Jace looks puzzled. "Mom told her to leave?"
"Yeah, dumbass. Izzy already said that." I clear my throat. "I left your things here. Give Max his wolf back."
"But you can't just leave!" Jace tries.
"Really? Watch me."
Izzy looks helpless. "We could try talking to mom."
Jace is nodding along to her words wildly. "Yeah. Why did she even ask you to leave?"
I ignore his question. "Come on, Iz. You heard her. I'm not doing that."
"Why?" Jace asks, voice raised slightly.
"Because I'm not." I snap. I was not going to have this conversation. I was not going to let Maryse have another chance at humiliating me.
Izzy looks like she's about to say something, but Jace beats her to it. "Does Alec know about this?" He treads lightly.
"I don't know, and I'm not sticking around to find out," I say, keeping my eyes trained on the zipper as I close it.
"But Alec- He'll-" Jace tries again.
"Won't make a difference," I cut him off. "We both know it."
He looks away, not meeting my eyes. I walk to the closet, retrieving both the heels and the hoodie. "Here, they're yours."
Jace snorts. "Keep it. One more isn't going to hurt."
I protest, but a look from him silences me, and I nod at him in thanks. He's right, of course. I already nicked way too many of his and Alec's hoodies. Turning to Isabelle, I make to hand her the heels, but she gently shakes her head.
"Who knows when you're gonna need heels, right? They looked better on you anyways."
I laugh softly, holding back tears. "Some of his stuff is still in the closet, just give it back to him."
Jace nods, still refusing to meet my eyes. "We'll still go on missions?"
I shake my head. "Later. I'm thinking I'll lay low for awhile."
"I still don't get why she did that," Izzy voices her thoughts after a few minutes of silence. "I didn't understand what she said."
It wouldn't make a difference if she knew or not. It had happened long ago and nothing could change it. Sure, it wasn't fair I'm being punished for something that wasn't my fault, but nobody said life was fair. Stuffing the heels and hoodie into the bag, I shoulder it. I hug Izzy, and then turn to hug Jace. He holds onto me tightly, not letting go.
"I'm sorry." He whispers into my ear. "I didn't know. I'm so sorry, Ash."
"It's fine. It's over." It wasn't his fault, not really. He was lied to. We were both lied to. "Just be happy, alright? For me."
He tightens his arms around me one more time before letting go. I nod at them one last time, and walk to the door.
"Wait." Izzy calls.
I turn around, looking at her expectantly. "Yeah?"
"Do you have a place to stay at?" She asks.
"Probably."
"What does that mean?" Jace butts in.
"That means I might have a place to stay at or not."
"That's not what he meant and you know it." Izzy shoots back, exasperated. "What are you going to do? Sleep on the street?"
"If I had to." I wasn't lying, I would, but I knew it wouldn't come to that.
Izzy looks shocked for a second, before giving me a pitying look.
"Don't worry, Iz."
"Yeah, Iz. Don't worry." Jace mocks me. "It's not like Ash is going to be walking around alone where any demon can get her, not to mention, she has nowhere to stay. I mean, what's there to worry about?" He finishes, raising an eyebrow at me.
I punch his arm playfully. "Come on, Jace. I'm not the best for nothing."
"Whatever. Just give me a call when you have a place. Cause if you don't, I'm coming after you."
"I will."
"Promise?" Izzy prompts, she knew I never broke a promise.
"Promise."
Turning around, Izzy and Jace leave before me, each shooting me a sad smile and going their own way. It was for the best. At least that's what I tried to convince myself.
As I put my hand on the door's handle, I look at the room one last time. It was mine for years, and now it looked no different from another unoccupied institute room. Sighing sadly, I leave the room, closing the door behind me.
As I walk towards the institute's door, nobody notices. It looks like I'm going for another mission. Exactly the way Maryse wanted it.
I hoped luck would be on my side today, figures it isn't. Just as I thought I'd be out of the institute's door, I run into the one person that I couldn't stand.
"Where are you going?" I can't believe he's acting like we're still the same, we aren't. I thought he was smart enough to know it, but then again I was wrong about him when it came to many things.
"Out," I reply shortly.
"Where?" He asks. Again.
"I fucking told you already. Out." I'm so not in the mood to deal with him.
"I got that part, Ash. Ou-"
"Don't."
"Don't what?" He takes a step closer, and I step back.
"Don't call me that. Only my friends call me that." I say, fire in my words.
I watch as he flinches. "Ash, come on. I-"
"Save it, Alexander." He flinches again at hearing his full name. "I don't want to hear it," I sneer.
I push past him, and he grabs my arm. "Ashley, please. Just-"
I shrug his hands off, and brush past him to leave through the doors. The cold frosts against my face. He shouts my name one last time.
I don't look back.