Hi, everyone! My name is Clary (I swear on all the books in my bookshelf I've had this nickname since birth) and this is my first fanfiction! I'm a little bit nervous, but I think I've read enough of these to get the gist of what to do. I'm going to try to post new chapters every week, but I'm kind of busy… so don't judge. I really hope you guys like it and please please PLEASE leave a review because tips on how to improve are always great. Sorry for the longish intro, it won't be like this every week. Enjoy A Long Road to Happy!
-Bookescape555
Unfortunately, I do not own The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. All rights go to the amazing goddess herself.
Chapter 1: Golden Princes and Overbearing Brothers
The prince, with his luminous golden eyes and matching head of hair, strode toward me with a confident strut. I blushed as red as my rose-colored hair, wondering how I could have found someone as perfect as he. The prince smirked, utterly aware of my awkwardness.
"Clary," he murmured lightly. "Wake up. Come on, asshole." Did the prince just call me an asshole…?
I was jutted out of my fantasy as a pillow smacked into my face.
"Honestly, do I have to get some ice cubes or something to wake you up every morning?!" My older brother asked.
"Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern! What the hell are you doing in my room?!" I shrieked.
My immature older brother, Jon, shook his head with a slight smile on his face.
"You did this to yourself, Shortstuff. Mom has been calling you for like 10 minutes."
Still hazy from the somewhat familiar prince, I groan and rub my eyes. I sidelong glance at my clock to see it reads 7:00 and I-
"7 O'CLOCK?! Thanks for giving me enough time to get ready; I only have a half an hour now!" I manage to scream as I scramble around my bedroom, gathering my things.
Jon just laughs and lazily walks out, sidestepping the pillow I viciously threw at him. I raced over to the bathroom connected to my room and looked at myself in the mirror. Momentarily I forgot about the rush I was in and dreamt about what life would be like if I had gotten my mother's grace or my father's powerful stance. But no luck. I got my mom's curly red hair, green eyes, and petite frame while my brother was basically an exact replica of our dad- blonde, almost white, hair, striking black eyes, and a slightly muscular and tall frame.
I sighed, combing my hair and applying some mascara and eyeliner. I didn't wear as much makeup as the girls at my school, but I wasn't as slutty as them either. Realizing the time, I raced out of my room and threw on the first thing I saw in my closet, which just so happened to be my favorite pair of boyfriend jeans and a black t-shirt. I flung my hair into a pony-tail and sprinted downstairs.
My parents were seated at our glass table in the dining room. They were calming sipping their coffee as I tripped down the long set of stairs, desperately trying to shove my dark blue sneakers on. My mom giggled and my dad shook his head with shame.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Clarissa-" I interrupted my dad abruptly.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I need to get my act together so I can 'revive the Morgenstern name after Jonathan ruined it,'" I stated. My father nodded and my mother sighed.
"Better get going before Jon leaves without you," my mom reminded.
Absentmindedly, I nodded my head. Where have I seen that prince before? I wondered.
I waved goodbye and stumbled outside toward my brother's bright red Lamborghini. Yes, my family is insanely rich. My dad is the head of a high-selling business dealership and my mom has been selling her painting to world-class museums for years. But really, I don't care. My parents are never home and I don't like all of the attention I get, so being rich isn't really all I thought it would be. I slipped inside the car and Jon started it up.
"So are we picking up any sluts today?" I questioned.
"Sure, if you consider Jace a slut… which I do in some sense." Jon replied.
Jace Herondale. My brother's best friend ever since elementary school and eternal pain in my butt. I never knew why he annoyed me so much. He's just so...Jacey… He plays around with girls for a week, then breaks their heart. Even though he's a man-whore, there's always been something about him that I could never decipher that draws me to him. With his arrogance and good looks… I honestly don't know what I see in him. It's not like it's a big deal anyway.
I'm drawn out of my thoughts when the car door opens and slams shut. Jace plops down on the seat and smiles at me.
"Good morning, Rosebud," he says as a greeting.
I glare at him, then give him a passive-aggressive smile. "Morning, man-whore."
Jace laughs and faces Jon.
"Hey, man. You excited to get some action with Aline and Kaelie today?" Jace asks enthusiastically. Jon grins maniacally and fist-bumps Jace whilst paying attention to the road. I close my eyes and smack my hands over my ears.
"If I wanted to listen to someone talk about 'getting some action', I would have talked to Sebastian!" I said.
Both of the boy's eyes darken and Jon responds, "That's funny if you think we're letting you anywhere near him after what happened this summer."
"And it's also funny that you think I would want to. It's called a joke, dumbass. Get a dictionary and look up the meaning."
None of us talk for the rest of the ride. Jon pulls up to our school; Idris High. I grudgingly unbuckle my seatbelt, until a hand shoots out in front of me. Jon looks hesitant, but he starts anyway.
"I wasn't kidding when I said we aren't letting you near him," He says seriously.
I scoff and respond, "I think I can take care of myself, thank you very much." I pull on the door handle until it opens and I run out before either Jace or Jon can muster another word.
Realizing the boys couldn't have seen me, a short sophomore, in this large crowd of people, I slow my pace and begin to look for Isabelle, Simon, Magnus, Alec, Maia, or Jordan. Our group of friends began in middle school history class when we pranked our teacher by pretending to be mannequins (my friend's class actually did this...). We've all been close ever since. I finally manage to see over the sea of heads and spot them. I rush over with my backpack in a small, red tow.
Izzy is the first person to recognize me.
"Clare-bare! I haven't seen you in, like, 2 days!" Izzy shouts excitedly.
I chuckle. "It's called the weekend, Iz."
She frowns for a moment then goes back to hugging her boyfriend and my best friend, Simon. After the group greets me, we head inside to our first period classes. My schedule goes as followed: art, science, French, lunch, math, history, English. Since we all decided to change our classes so that we have them all together, we all headed to art.
Art. My favorite hobby. If I were being held captive by a killer dolphin with 6 heads and it forced me to do something of my choice for the rest of my life, it would be art. The only problem was my annoying teacher, Mr. Serepella. He's only there for the money; not the actual concept. I don't really know how he got the job considering the best thing he has ever drawn was a stick figure holding a fork. But at least all we do is free draw. We walk into class and Mr. S greets us will a grimace. I roll my eyes and begin to sketch my base drawing. I eventually decide to draw my dream from earlier today; maybe it will trigger something inside me to realize what made it seem so familiar.
At the end of class, I had come up with the main components of the body- I was satisfied for this class. My next two classes went by in a blur and before I knew it, I was sitting at my lunch table. In my school, all of the grades have the same lunch period together, so lucky me; I had to face the two most idiotic boys I know.
"Iz, I'm trying to avoid Jon and Jace. Please hide me?" Izzy looked confused at first, but eventually gave in. We speed-walked into lunch with my other friends at my back. We quickly found the table located the farthest possible place from my brother's football team. I thanked Izzy and began to unwrap my sandwich as two girls in high heels, short skirts, and tank tops strutted past our table.
"Well lookie here. If it isn't little Strawberry!" The taller and blonder of the two commented.
"Thanks, Kaelie. I just so happen to love strawberries," I smiled cheekily at the queen slut herself. "And also, you're not at work, so maybe save the stripper outfit for tonight." I winked at her.
"Oh really? Because I just so happen to like my strawberries," the shorter and darker haired girl, Aline, replied while looking me up and down. "a lot thinner. And at least she'd be making more money than you." The girls laughed in high-pitched voices as Kaelie noticed my sketchbook hidden in my bag. She stopped laughing and swiped it up before I could take it away. She opened it with disgust.
"You were right, Aline. She won't make any money with trash." I blushed and Kaelie threw my sketchbook on the floor and walked over it with her petty heels. I yelped and grabbed it before any real damage could be done. I looked over at my fuming table.
"I freaking hate those two," Alec seethed. "They think they're so much better than everyone else."
"And her makeup was all over the place," Magnus stated critically. The whole table murmured in agreement. As I glanced around the cafeteria, I noticed two pairs of eyes stuck on me like glue. I flinched and cursed silently. Jon started to stand up, Jace already standing. Before they could make their way to me, I darted to the girls restroom with Izzy, noticing the tension in my shoulders, close on my heels.
I pushed the door open and Izzy immediately began consoling me.
"You know how stupid they are. They don't even know what they're talking about and you're definitely not fat and you're an amazing artist and-" I cut her off from her rambling.
"Yeah, Iz. I know how stupid they are. I'm fine," I stated. Izzy looked hesitant to give her affirmative, but I put up a convincing fake smile which seemed to ease her nerves.
"Let's wait here until lunch is over. I can't take anymore drama for one day," I explained. Izzy nodded her head and made her way over to the mirror to fix her makeup while I slumped down on the wall. My thoughts began to overwhelm me as I ran over the previous scene again and again.
I know Izzy said I'm not fat… but she has to say that. Whatever. Their opinion doesn't even matter, Clary. Be confident and all that crap.
But it wasn't that simple. After Sebastian- did what he did… I haven't been the same. People's views on my appearance actually started to matter. However, I pushed those thoughts aside and put up my fake smile. Just keep smiling, I thought to myself. No one will know the difference.
Izzy and I talked for the few minutes that were left of lunch, then headed to the rest of our classes. Every other class was uneventful and boring, so I was half excited to go home. The other half of my brain drifted to Jace and Jon, who no doubt are going to try to talk to me about this morning. I decided to ignore them and keep my chin up.
Swiftly, I packed up by bag and slipped into the car parked in front of the school. I clicked on my phone which buzzed with some notifications.
A text from Mom
Four texts from Jon
And one twitter notification from… Kaelie.
Yeah, I tried my best. Sorry if the ending wasn't as suspenseful as it could have been, but I'm proud of myself for my first chapter! Anyway, I have a vague idea where this is going and if you aren't comfortable with eating disorders, then a few chapters might not be for you. I will put a warning for the chapters that contain them, but I don't want that to be the main focus of this story. Please remember to REVIEW, FOLLOW, AND FAVORITE! The reviews are what I'm most concerned about, so if you guys want this to keep going, then I really need some reviews. Thank you so much for reading, until next week!
-Bookescape555 (Clary)
