Okay, so just to clear some stuff up, I hate disclaimers. Honestly, we all know that Cassandra Clare owns this whole series (kinda greedy if you think about it) and that's why we've come to this website. So that we can make Jace as hot as we want to, without the consequences of asking lawyers for rights. I mean, that's just boring. So yeah, CC owns my entire story (basically). I'm not going to write another one of these stupid disclaimers, or rants, again. Sue me.
Actually, don't sue me. Just read my story.
"Finally!" I cry in exultance at the sight of Simon and Luke's house. Or should I say Simon and Dad's house. Actually, no I'm not going to call Luke 'Dad'. That would just be weird for me and him.
My mom cracks up and I stare at her in awe. I didn't think she could laugh. When I told her this, she just laughed harder.
We accelerated down the long driveway, searching the end of it for Simon and Luke. Mom saw them first and pointed. Sure enough it was my soon-to-be bro and stepdad.
They ran up to the car, excitement showing on their almost twin-like faces. Honestly, it was kind of creepy but don't tell Simon that. When I last saw him, every time I told him that he came close to tears. Simon was probably the most sensitive person I've ever met, and trust me being new to a school attracts a lot of sensitive people looking for fresh faces to befriend before the badasses started realizing I was one of them. Moving from place to place and having an abusive father & friends tends to need a shield – my armor just happens to be the best.
"Jocelyn, sweetheart! Welcome, home! Come on in, Clary, and make yourself at home. Simon, you wouldn't mind helping her find everything would you?" Luke said.
"But I wanted to-"
"Come on, Simon, I want to see my new room!" I interrupted Si. Even I knew that what Luke said was code for 'let the grown-ups make-out for a while before we compose ourselves enough to actually say hi'. My mom's really pretty. 'Nuf said.
"Okay," Simon finished lamely.
He took my one suitcase while I took my duffel up to the house. It was a long way before we actually made it there, but the ranch was beautiful.
It had stained-glass windows on every one of the four floors, with stained oak siding and a porch wrapped around the main floor. But my favorite part was the barn next to it with one circular window at the very top and real horses grazing on their hay inside. My hand was itching for the charcoal and oils that were currently taking up most of the space in my suitcase. Shadows and sunlight harmonized the sweet melody of the simple barnyard, waiting to be filled in on my imaginary canvas.
I stood there, shock probably written on my freckles. This was my dream house, so much different than the shabby, run-down condos mom and I tended to inhabit. There was three acres of a backyard and kitchens the size of the Great Hall of Idris here and I got to live in this amazing place? I dropped my ass onto the ground and just ogled the land. How could I deserve this, with these people? I was a nobody, a rapist's daughter who had to run from him just to survive.
I recovered quickly though and immediately put my mask of arrogance back in place. "What the hell are you looking at?" I sneered at Simon before realizing who I was talking to and apologized.
I was too late, though. Simon immediately set a furious pace for the house, an angry blush dusting his cheekbones. I ran to catch up to him and caught his arm, pulling him around.
"No, Simon, wait! I'm so sorry I didn't realize who I was talking to; I was wrong to do that! It's just I got teased so much for doing stuff like that in middle schools and so I get defensive and-" I blurted out. My mouth needs a much firmer disciplinarian if this was going to keep happening today.
He interrupted me with a hug, which was very unusual from Si, and a "Welcome back home, sis."
We both cracked up, breaking the sentimentality of the moment. "I know, right? It's going to be so hard to call you bro, even though we're already really close," I chuckled.
"Dude, can you believe I had a crush on you for the longest time before you left? I knew you liked Jace, so I never said anything, but I thought that would make this," Simon gestured to the air in between us, "sooo awkward."
"Wait you knew I was crushing on Jace?!"
"Well, yeah it was kinda obvious. In between our gaming sessions, you would always look out the window at Jace and his parents' house across the way from your condo," he explained.
"Is Jace still there? Oh god, I hope he hasn't changed as much as I have. I was so wimpy back then."
"Ummm, yeah. He definitely changed while you were gone. More for the worse than the better like you," Si muttered the last part under his breath.
What? But he was so nice and stuff. What happened to make him so much? When I told Simon this, he looked at me with weariness apparent on his face and raked a hand through his hair.
"Luke'll tell you guys at dinner. It's kind of a long and depressing story."
"Even worse than mine?" I snorted. No one's life could have gone as terrible as mine had so far. I mean, honestly, a parent/rapist on the loose after you and your cynical mother. Yeah, my college essay was going to be awesome.
"Pretty close," Simon whispered before pulling away with the suitcase back towards the house. "You know, it's going to take a while to get used to you being all badass and not the innocent Clary I used to know. But hey, anything for my sister, right sis?" He winked at me, using a much louder tone this time.
I realized he was trying to change the subject from Jace, so I went along with it, and we cracked jokes for the rest of the hike to the house. When we reached the fork of the house's walkway and the path to the farm Si turned towards the barn.
"Wait, why are we taking my stuff to the barn? My art supply needs to be held at normal to cool room temperature!" I demanded.
"Wait until you get there before you ask for your room to be changed," Simon said, a sly grin on his face.
"Nuh-uh!"
"Yes-uh!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Okay you know what, traditional methods aren't going to work, sooo…" Si turned slowly and before I could land a good kick in the nuts, he sprang at me and hefted me over his broad shoulder.
"Let me go, Si! Let me go! Hey did you work out over the last 4 years? 'Cuz you're much more muscular than last time this happened," I asked.
"Clary, it's our senior year versus our eighth grade. No duh I'm more muscular. Puberty, genius! Plus, you're only like 100 pounds and the same height: 5'2"," he reasoned with me.
"You ass-hat! Put me down! Put me back onto the friggin' ground!" I beat at his back.
"Okay-ay, But you asked for it!" retorted Simon as he dropped me like a bag of potatoes onto my ass. I remembered what he had said about his "puberty, genius!" so I looked at Si with fresh eyes for the first time.
And wow, was I glad I did. I mean, for Luke's son he was pretty sexy. Like 6 feet-ish, pretty muscular with deep hazel eyes. He was still skinny but not as scarily as he had been four years ago and he had gotten rid of the dorky hipster glasses and traded them in for contacts. His face, however, looked almost exactly the same. Pale.
"See anything you like, sis?" asked Simon, a blush coloring his abnormally white face.
"Huh. Nope. But you do look different. Much more, um, different," I answered, struggling to speak through my giggles at his attempt at being a player. "Do any girls at school like this new you?"
"I don't know. I just grew over this summer, so no one has really seen my stylish new bod other than the cashier lady at the Mobil," Simon replied, but the hope in his eyes gave away the fact that he wanted at least one girl to look twice.
"So… who is she?" I questioned, sidling next to him with a sly grin on my face.
"No one," he answered but the red creeping all over his face gave him away.
"Do I know her?"
"Probably – no, wait! I don't like anyone."
"Is it Maia?"
"Nope."
"Is it Aline?"
"Nope."
"Kaelie?"
"Ew."
"Izzy? Please don't say Izzy… Aw! You like Izzy don't you?" I finally asked. The way he immediately fell into a coughing/chocking fit kinda gave it away.
"How'd you know? Actually, don't answer that. And why shouldn't I say Isabelle? She's just so perfect…" he replied, a dreamy look etched onto his face.
"And you'll never get her? Come on, Si, Izzy was like family to me! I don't know if she'll recognize me, but even then she was known as the tease! You shouldn't have to go through that," I pleaded but we were close to the barn so he changed the subject.
"So anyways," he tugged me towards the inside of the antique barn but his anger at my disapproval was evident, "this is going to pretty much be your living space. There were only two big enough bedrooms in the main house, so we redid the upstairs of this place. I hope you don't mind, but the main floor of this place is still hay-filled for the horses and stuff."
We entered the barn and I immediately could tell that there were horses inside. Horse shit really isn't that picky about who smells it. The lights weren't turned on so I couldn't see much. "The only windows are upstairs and we normally keep the doors open but we didn't want all the horses to overwhelm you guys, so we shut them in here. I'll go find the matches," called Simon from what sounded like across the room. I turned and started walking towards where his echo had made its debut and bumped into something big and furry. Even though I knew it was probably a horse, I immediately jumped back onto my ass and screamed.
"Clary! What is it? Are you hurt?" shouted Si as he lit the lanterns around the room. As I looked around for the first time, I could immediately see the charm of the place. It had huge stalls, big enough for at least two horses. I had bumped into a horse, and boy, was it beautiful. All of the horses were.
I wasn't a huge horse person, but I knew great horses just like anyone else out there. There was a mixture of ponies and full-grown mares, but my favorite was the horse I had crashed into the side of. She had a huge white spot on her nose, but the rest of her was completely black. I got up to pet her silky fur when I heard Simon snort from behind me.
"What's your fucking problem, Si?" I retorted.
"You have, uh," he giggled like a little boy, while I kept fuming, "Uh, horse shit on your, uh, ass."
My face turned a mottled shade of purple in embarrassment and anger before I growled at him, "One more friggin' word about my ass had better happen while you leave so I can change into a clean pair of pants."
He quickly learned to shut his mouth and leave the barn for a second while I changed and threw the shitty pants into a basket in the corner. When I called him back in he led me up the stairs to my new room, all the while with a smirk on his face.
As soon as I entered the upstairs I literally almost started crying. I mean, there was no way in hell that I could live in a place as magnificent as this. The stairs reached a small living room with a love seat and crazy insane LA-Z boy recliner. They faced a sweet plasma TV about the size of my mom's old printer on top of a cabinet that was currently housing an xbox and a ton of wicked games. Honestly, Resident Evil? How the hell did they know?
There was a stocked mini kitchen with a toaster oven and microwave and stuff, as well as cabinets full of my favorite cereals and super rare junk food. The room was square, with no walls or dividers, except for the bathroom's (which had a gigantic bath and shower, just waiting to be used), so in the sunniest corner catty-corner the kitchen and TV was my all-time favorite place ever. The art studio.
Already they had put in an easel, which was fantastic since I didn't have one. A locker-sized thing was next to it, filled with any and all the art supplies I could think of, including at least ten really good quality canvases. Immediately my fingers itched for my well-worn charcoal and pencils, but Simon tugged on my elbow towards the final spot: my bedroom.
The first thing I noticed was a gigantic closet, which worried me since I'm not exactly a fashionista and I despise makeovers. Luckily, it was empty except for some hooks and hangers. Once I turned to face the bed, I almost fainted. My dream bed was literally sitting in front of me. A black sleigh bed was brimming with colorful pillows and blankets that popped in the otherwise monotone living space. I lamp sat nearby, along with a huge library of books, waiting for me in glass cases.
I think I screamed a few times, but Si just chuckled and left it at that. He helped me empty my suitcase and duffel bag, staying quiet the whole time and leaving me to my wonder-filled thoughts. We finally finished when Simon turned to face me and asked, "Ready to see the main house?"
Uh-oh. I think I had just fallen in love. With a house.
OMG! So what did you guys think? Too swear-y? This is probably going to be the longest chapter but the least meaningful so sorry! But the next chapter will be when Clary hears Jace's story and the chapter after that is: the meeting. Boo-yah!
So special shout-outs to my BFF AmberDevil and my new fanfic friend MagnusBanelover! They rock! Read MagnusBanelover's story Complicated just cuz it rocks! Sorry this took so long guys but I'm prepping for school & stuff so yeah… Blech. Bye love you review!