Author's Note:
Hello. I've finished this chapter earlier than I thought I would. If you are wondering, which you probably are not, Joshua Shadewalker and, in this chapter, Lydia Aldertree, are my own characters.
Disclaimer: I most definitely do not own "The Mortal Instruments". It's awesome. I wish I did. But if I did, it would be horrible, so I'm glad it belongs to Cassandra Clare.
Quote: "True friends stab you in the front." ~ Oscar Wilde (This is another random quote that's only partially related.)
"You're Hodge Starkweather," the statement was phrased like a question.
Hodge turned to see the boy he had been in line with. Joshua Shadewalker, was his name.
"Yes," he replied, his voice coming out higher than he'd intended, out of surprise. He cleared his throat. "Sorry. Yes, I am Hodge Starkweather."
His name sounded funny to his own ears. He wondered whether it sounded funny to Joshua, too. Hopefully not. His mother had told him that first impressions counted for a lot and he certainly didn't want this boy to dislike him, especially since Joshua already knew his name.
The other boy stuck out a hand. "Joshua Shadewalker."
His voice was deep, almost silky. He'd be a good Clave member, one that you'd want on your side. Hodge thought. Even through those two simple words, one could tell that his voice was one that made you want to listen to it, one that slowly coaxed you into believing whatever he said, prompting you to agree with him.
Hodge slid his hand smoothly into his, griping it firmly to prevent the shaking of his hand that always came with meeting new people. Joshua pumped it up and down a few times.
"We're roommates in 112 on the third floor," Joshua informed him.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, then, roommate," Hodge said with a small smile, trying the word out on his tongue. It felt nice, being able to call someone his roommate. At least it was someone like Joshua, and not Valentine, who was his roommate.
"Nice to meet you, too."
As soon as the words left Joshua Shadewalker's mouth, Hodge spotted someone walking, if it could be called that, towards them. In reality, it looked as if the girl wasn't able to walk straight, despite the fact that she was wearing nice black and white sneakers. It had to be said that, even at the young age of twelve, certain people, especially girls felt the need to dress in a way that could, unfortunately, only be described as slutty and revealing. Some of those girls also felt the need to wear makeup, without actually knowing how to apply it, of course.
The girl walking towards the two newly acquainted roommates, was one of them. She wore a pair of white shorts, so short that they barely covered the lacy, black underwear which she wore underneath. And, it hardly needs to be said that the same lacy black material was used to make a tiny bra for the girl's breasts which spilled out the top.
It wasn't that either Hodge, or Joshua were perverts, the matter was just too hard to miss due to the terribly thin, threadbare material which hung off her narrow shoulders, barely covering her midriff. One shoulder of the same material, I'm afraid it cannot be called a shirt, was also, in a deliberate move, fell off, revealing the thin, lacy, black strap of the aforementioned bra.
She had on, what Hodge thought, was makeup. Mascara caked on her short eyelashes, clumped awkwardly. Lipstick smeared above and below her lips. Eye shadow, way to brightly coloured and thick, contrasted against her blue eyes, making her look like a clown. The obviously fake, bright crimson blush she wore had been put on in two, almost perfectly circular dots on the girl's face. It only served to further Hodge's observation that she looked like a clown.
The girl swung her hips as she walked, attempting to look seductive as she put one foot directly in front of the other, stumbling over her own feet.
Hodge gaped at the girl in surprise. He wondered what kind of parents would let their daughter look like that in public.
The girl, continuing her awkward stumble towards Hodge and his roommate, noticed Hodge staring, and mistaking the look of shock for lust, grinned wickedly. She knew the cute boy with the dreamy grey eyes would fall for her. She felt that the hour she spent painstakingly picking out clothing, applying makeup, and calculating every move she would make was totally worth seeing the look on that boy's face as he completely ignored his dark-haired, equally hot friend.
"Don't look now but there's a creepy girl walking towards us right now," Hodge told Joshua in a hushed voice.
Joshua tensed. "Define creepy," he told Hodge not looking behind him.
Hodge gave him a weird look. "Well, creepy means: causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or unease."
Joshua laughed, a deep, throaty sound. "No, I meant, what does she look like?"
"A slut." Hodge said simply. "In fact, if my calculations are correct, she will reach us in, about... three seconds."
"Hey, boys!" The girl stood, one knee bent, in an informal stance, twirling a lock of bleached blond hair with purple highlights around one finger.
Her head was tilted slightly to the side, the hand not tangled in her hair, came to rest on Hodge's right bicep. He noticed that her nails were painted blood red, the nail polish chipped and clumped in certain areas. He shuddered internally.
Joshua, also having noticed the colour of the nail polish, mouthed, sarcastically to Hodge, "How charming."
After a couple seconds, when it was clear that neither Hodge, nor Joshua were planning on returning her greeting, the girl merely shrugged it off, determined as to not be deterred from her mission.
"Anyway, I'm Lydia Aldertree." She said, leaning towards Hodge and batting her eyelashes in his face.
"Hodge Starkweather," he muttered, taking a step back.
"And you?" Lydia turned to Joshua.
"Joshua Shadewalker."
"Shadewalker," she repeated, the name sounding pretty stupid in her high pitched, nasally voice. "What a charming last name. It suits a cute boy like yourself."
Joshua didn't reply. He didn't want to appear rude, but neither did the words sound like a genuine compliment to him.
Lydia frowned. This wasn't going as planned. She took a step towards Hodge, this time placing both hands on his arm, the nails digging into the soft flesh on the underside of his arm.
"So, are you excited for Shadowhunter training, Josh?" She leaned against Hodge, making him increasingly uncomfortable, his face twisted into a grimace, portraying his discomfort.
At that moment, a teacher walked by.
"Young men," the teacher addressed Hodge and Joshua. "Are you two roommates?"
"Yes, ma'am." They replied in unison.
"Do you know where your room is in the Academy?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"And you young lady, leave these two alone and go find your roommate," the teacher's voice was cold.
"Whatever." Lydia was disgusted. Just when she was about to make her best move, the teacher just had to appear and ruin it. She stalked off.
"What are you waiting for?" the teacher's voice was now stern. "Get to your room and start unpacking!"
"Yes, ma'am," Hodge stood up straight. "Thank you." his voice was sincere.
All the teacher said was, "Why are you still here?" but both boys could swear they saw the ghost of a smile appear on the teacher's otherwise impassive face.
Author's Note:
Thank you all for reading the second chapter of my story!
Short preview of next chapter: "Entreat me not to leave thee,
Or return from following after thee—for whither thou goest, I will go,
And where thou lodgest, I will lodge.
Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.
Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried.
The Angel do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me."
As I mentioned before, this chapter has come faster than I expected, but, just in case, I should say that perhaps, the next chapter may not come as fast. If you look at my stories, you would find that I have another story that's incomplete, and I really want to get around to updating it, and I should, but it's kind of hard when this story is so much easier to write. So please bear with me. Thank you.
Please follow, favourite, and/or review! It means so much to me if you do! Thank you!