Hi so umm… This is my first fanfic so be nice. No flames, please. Bunnies and cookies however would be appreciated. And on with the story!

I laid my head on the window pane of my mom's minivan, watching the undeniably saddening rain whip by. I still couldn't believe we had to travel to Montana this time! I mean seriously, we couldn't move to California or even Texas, really.

"Mom, when are we going to get there? I mean, I love this whole silence dynamic thing we got going on here but I cannot wait for too much longer to see my bed again," I practically whined to my mom, Jocelyn Fray.

"You're whining about a silly day-and-a-half trip when we've been driving 3 weeks straight before? Your mind will never cease to confuse me," came the answer.

So alright, maybe this was one of our shorter trips, but my mom wouldn't even let me turn on the radio because she "needed time to think". For all I cared, she could think later. I needed my music and without an iPod or even an effing MP3 player the radio was a godsend. A godsend put on hold for a day and a half.

"Can we at least turn on the radio?"

"No."

Okay, now I was in full toddler-rampage mode. She's had days to "think" and all I get is a no? Telling her this may have been a bad idea however, for the next thing I knew she had pulled over for another of her lectures. Here it comes:

"Clarissa Fray I will not sit here and listen to your complaints about the radio's status! We are running away from the man who will murder us if he finds our trail and all you can think about is silence! If you want music so bad, you can start singin' 'cause this radio will not turn on for the rest of this trip – which is only another hour…"

And it went on and on.

So to fill you in on my life before this soggy car trip I was born on New Year's Eve to Jocelyn and the one and only, Valentine Morgenstern in Idris, MT. You've probably heard about how he almost killed his wife (mom) and child (me!) on my thirteenth birthday! Imagine waking up a week after your special day to hear your mom whispering, "Clary baby, we have to go now. I have your clothes and we need to hit the road. C'mon baby, let's go!"

Yeah, I didn't get any presents that year.

You see, Valentine almost killing mom and I wasn't as sudden as the neighbors think. When I was about eleven years old he started hitting me and mom as well as forcing my mom to have sex with him while he was drunk. Before that he'd just be gone for weeks drunk at the nearest whore house and mom would tell me he was just on a vacation while we pretended everything was normal. Those were the good days.

See Jocelyn thought she was protecting me from the truth but honestly, I was probably getting the worst of it. Valentine brought home some of his drunken friends after every one of his "vacations". While my mom was asleep, they would wake me up and force me outside, covering my mouth so I couldn't scream and raping me in the garden against the scarecrow. I was nine years old when I was de-virginized so painfully. Valentine would threaten to have them do the same to mom if I ever squealed. Long shirts and pants were common after days like this, mainly to hide the bruises but also to hide my body from others.

Unfortunately, the whole time these awful things were happening to me and Jocelyn, Valentine was "falling" for a prostitute at one of his vacation spots. When things got serious, he started planning ways to kill mom and me to collect not only the insurance but the prostitute to marry.

That said, my third grade teacher had my sent to counseling every day for the whole year based on my "terrifying drawings and completely unrealistic stories about her lifestyle". She was the only person in the whole newspaper article who denied commentary when Valentine was put in Idris County Jail and escaped three nights later.

Ever since that night at the hospital, mom and I have been on the run and bouncing from city to city – in fact, I think this is the 15th town. Today we were heading to Idris, Montana to stay with my mom's best friend, Luke. Luke's son, Simon, and I used to be as close as brother and sister until a few years ago when mom and I disappeared from Valentine. It almost killed Mom to be away from Luke. So when he tracked us down in Boston and told her he loved her and she must move back to Idris with him since it was finally safe, she caved. Big time.

"…You aren't even listening to me, are you Clary?" finishes mom in a bored tone.

"Wha-at? Nooo… Of course I am, Mom. Something about no radio and running away…" I answer, quite lamely I might add.

"Oh, fine. You can turn the radio on now. I guess I've lectured you enough, even if you didn't listen to that particularly impressive one," sighed mom as she turned back onto the highway.

"Nah, it's fun just hangin' here with you. So, do you think Luke'll ask you to marry him?" I questioned a sly grin on my face.

"Turn the radio on, Clarissa…" groaned Jocelyn as we both cracked up. I loved my mom even if she irked me a lot.

"Drive faster, mom!"

"Why? You excited to see a certain golden boy?" winked mom.

That was another factor that kept from complaining about the lack of McDonald's. Jace Wayland. I just hope he hasn't changed much since we were friends years ago. He was so sweet back then; it was kinda natural for me to crush on him.

Oh, Jace. Didn't you know I love you?

Cliff hanger! Anyone want to guess whether Jace has changed yet? ;D

Review with love!

-ninar77