I woke up the next day at 5 in the morning. I groaned obnoxiously, and threw my face into the pillow. I silently cursed my body for being used to waking up at five to go practice. I didn't need to work out or train today, since it was Friday, the day of our first game of the year. We were playing Florida at home, and I still hadn't asked Jace if he'd be there. He probably has practice. I think. Right then, my phone buzzes.
Good morning Clare-Bear (; J
Hey Jacey-Wacey _ C
No, Clare, I'm a man. Men don't have cutesy nicknames. Only our girlfriends do. J
I smiled at the text. Girlfriend, so the date tonight was special. Oh, crap! I have a date! With Jace! I mentally freaked out.
Where r u taking me tonight? C
I dunno. I got practice til 7. U have a game til 6, plenty of time to get pretty for me ;p J
I thought men didn't do girly stuff. WTH is with the ";p" x3 C
I make exceptions for you only. Gotta run, see ya tonight honey buns.
Jace, we aren't eighty years old. Chill with the honey. C
With that I turned off my phone and fell into a deep sleep, only to be woken up by a squealing Izzy standing over my bed. "Izzy it's seven in the morning! Shut your mouth!" I nearly screamed.
She just beamed at me. "You, missy, have a day off, and a date with my ass of a brother!" she said.
I raised an eyebrow, something Jace recently taught me. "So?" I asked.
She grinned evil like. "So, my friend, we need to make you look so sexy, you'll knock the confidence out of his-" she began.
"Izzy," I warned, though my face was probably redder than my hair. Now I'm going to think of things that I shouldn't be thinking while we're out. Oh god, I have a date with Jace. My heart soared, and my face chilled down to a nice pinkish color.
Izzy threw my clothes at me, and turned her back to pick her own outfit out. "You know you want him Clare." She said. I could almost feel her smirk.
We went out shopping, and apparently Izzy knew where Jace was taking me for dinner, so I was surprised when she made a sharp turn into a formal dress store. It was like she knew what dress to get me, as if she had already picked one out. Turns out, she had. "I knew this was the dress for you when we came shopping the last week of summer. You just needed a date to be able to see you in this." She explained when I stepped out of the dressing room.
The dress was three words. Short, tight, and sexy. It was a much fitted, dark emerald green, strapless dress. The only thing besides it being fitted that held it up, was a single strand of thick silver beads, that ran from the center of the neck line of the dress, circling around my neck, and ending right where the strap started. It had a single hook in the back of the neck, holding everything together. Great, it's one of those dresses. I thought. "It's… Different." I said.
Izzy laughed. "Oh, Clary, innocent, naïve, Clary," she trailed off. "You're in for a little lesson from Jace. These types of dresses have boys falling at their knees…Along with the dress." She added with a smirk, causing me to blush.
I swallow, "I don't know Izzy…" I say unsure if this is my style.
Izzy frowned, then. "Maybe with the shoes!" she exclaimed.
I gulped, than followed her over to the shoe rack in the dressing room. In the rack held everything from sandals, to ballet flats, to high heels. I could predict which would be in my future, and groaned.
Izzy didn't hear she was too focused on the long sigh slash squeal that came from her mouth. "These! These are the ones!" she screeched. She held silver strappy stilettos.
I sighed, having no choice but to agree. I really did want to see Jace's reaction. "Fine, Izzy, but if I can't play in the next game, you're in for it!" I threatened. Something dawned on me, making me check my phone. We got here at twelve, it was now three, and in one hour we had to be in the gym warming up for the two hour game. "Iz, we have to go!" I squealed.
We checked out, and then made a mad dash for my car. We arrived at the dorms, parked, and were getting ready to enter the dorm, when a hand grabbed my elbow. I turned around and smirked. "Hey, Blondie," I greeted.
Jace looked at the bags and then smiled a genuine smile. "Do I get to see?" He asked.
I shook my head. "We have an hour to be at the gym, and I want it to be a surprise for you." I said with a wink.
He grinned again, and kissed my cheek. He hesitated afterward, his cheeks turning pink again. He had never kissed me, ever. "Right, well, I'll let you go get ready. Come say bye to me when you're leaving." He said and walked away.
"Will do," I mumbles and touched my cheek, the feel of his lips still on it. Izzy called me from out our window at that moment.
"Clary, he kissed you, yes! Now hurry up, we have thirty minutes!" she shouted from across the small lawn.
I made a mad dash upstairs. "What's today's color, Iz?" I asked slipping on my black spankies.
She made a rustle, and then pulled out her white jersey. "We're wearing white, which is stupid since Labor Day was last weekend!"
I just nodded and pulled out my burnt orange jersey with the longhorn on the right shoulder. Number 6 stared me right in the face. It was my lucky number since I could remember. I pulled it on, the long sleeves warming me up, and I grabbed my white knee high socks and white kneepads. I slid them on, and then added on my white and black volleyball shoes, with the white ankle braces. College volleyball was always intense with the gear.
Izzy did a five strand French braid on us, and I threw on my athletics headband. I grabbed my duffle bag with the game ball and my water and energy bars, and we headed out. I went into the guys' dorm and in the lounge area sat Jace.
He smirked at me and stood to meet me in the middle of the lounge. "Good luck today Clare-Bear," he said giving my hand a squeeze. He then looked at his adoptive sister. "Iz," he said with a nod.
Izzy groaned. "Come 'ere you little weenie," she smirked and grabbed him by the neck, ruffling his hair. It was a funny sight, since usually the older sibling did that to the younger. Jace was only 5 months older than Izzy and 3 months older than me.
Jace grimaced, then grabbed both of our bags and began walking to the door, to throw our gear and clothes in the trunk of my royal blue Audi TT RS. He then threw me back the keys, and Izzy went to climb into the passenger seat. Before I could reach for the handle though, he stopped me. "I'm sorry I can't make it tonight." He said with a look of disappointment. I'm sure he would miss watching girls run around in thin, short clothing as much as the next guy, but I said nothing. Besides, if we were going to try this boyfriend thing out, I had to learn to be nicer.
So, instead of retorting, I smiled at him and put a hand on his arm. "It's alright. I'll just watch you practice when we finish the game. I'll give you a lift back to the dorm." Our conversation ended with a hug, and I slid in the driver's seat and sped off down the road. Looked like we'd be a few minutes later than usual. So worth it, I thought and cranked up the stereo.
The room spun around me, little black dots obscuring my vision, mixed in with white fury. If I wasn't just coming gaining back consciousness, I would've banged my fists on the ground. I blinked a few times, and the court nurse along with coach knelt beside me. The nurses offered me water, while the actual medical team checked me for head injuries. I laughed it off. "I'm quite alright, no need to stop the game. I just didn't see it coming." I said. And I hadn't. The gym lights had manipulated my vision, so with the white light in my eyes, I didn't see the big white ball fly down from Florida's outside hitter. I didn't even register what had happened until I suddenly flinched, and felt an ugly pain on my nose.
Izzy was currently talking to the ref, none too kindly, demanding that they take away the point that they had scored on us. I wasn't dealing with this crap, so I called to her from my spot on the floor. "Izzy! I'm perfectly fine!" I explained. She seemed to die down a little. I rested my head on the ground, but not before I saw a flash of green and white. There stood the tall, outside hitter of the Florida Gators. She offered me her hand, and I took it. "Thanks," I said as I brushed myself off. "Nice hit too," I said with a laugh.
Everyone in the stands chuckled. I hadn't realized it had been so deathly quiet. It brought back a memory of the game I had seen Jace play in high school. He had been playing, and the other team tackled our linebacker, and down he went. I remember how it was silent for twenty minutes before they finally decided to get the ambulance out there, hoist poor Jacob McCall onto a stretcher, and take him to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a giant concussion, and later, a brain tumor.
I took a deep breath, and agreed with coach that I could use some bench time for a recovery. I picked out my phone, to see a new message from my dearly missed brother, John. He had been accepted into NYU and decided that someone had to take care of our mother.
Mom and I were watching the game, what the heck happened? JO
I guess I got a little distracted… C
:\ By what? JO
I have a date… C
Clare! Details! ASAP, stop trailing off! JO
I have a date with Jace tonight. He asked me out on Wednesday, he's a good kid now. C
I think I should call him right now, something tells me Maryse never gave her adopted child The Talk… JO
JONATHAN CHRISTOPHER FRAY U BETTER NOT! Dont u want me to get married 1 day? C
xD yes, but not to that asshole. JO
:( I told u he was a good kid now. C
Once a man whore, always a man whore. JO
John, please. I go to school with him. I know how he is. He admitted something to me. C
? Ur gonna make me beg, huh? JO
Clare… JO
Clarissa Adele Fray do not make me show this stuff to mom!
She's getting pretty suspicious of my texting.
3
2
1
Shut up John! Fine, he told me he was waiting til marriage to… loose… his… C
Now, was that so hard sweet pea? ;) and good, u better hold off too! I can barely handle one Clary right now. JO
I groaned, and slid my phone back into my bag. I went up to coach to check if she needed me, but she just marked the point we just made onto her clip board, turned to me, and declined with the excuse of over exertion. I trudged back to my seat, just as Izzy joined me on the bench. "Is coach calling secret weapon time?" I asked.
Izzy nodded, still watching the game. Maia, who was subbing for Izzy on our game point, went up to attack the ball, hitting it straight down the side of the net without an inch between the two. She landed with a huff, and a "Daaaaaammn, girl," from Izzy. I chuckled and we both made our way out to the court, high fived the other team, and group hugged around Maia. She was a little fire ball tonight.
Izzy checked the time after a while. "Come on Clare, the guys should be warming up for pass routes now!" she squealed excitedly.
Pass routes meant that Simon Lewis would be catching all of Jace's throws. I smiled at the new appreciation of watching Jace practice. We were really going to try this whole dating thing. It wasn't a bad idea. I just hoped that it'd never get awkward between us. Izzy pulled me out of the gym, not even giving us the chance to change, and pushed me into the driver's seat. I threw my gear into the back seat, started the car, and peeled off, driving the mile to the football practice house.
Inside the guys' practice, they were running bleachers, warming up for the throw. I nudged Izzy, and we sat on the edge of the middle bleacher row, Izzy on one side of the isle, me on the other side. We simply held out our hands, and each guy that ran by gave our hand a slap, and some muttering out a simple thanks. Coach Herondale, or as I called him, Jem, didn't mind us being there, in fact, he enjoyed having us watch. Once, he had come over and said that our presence had encouraged the boys not to slack off. I chuckled at the memory, but froze when I felt a hand tap my butt. I growled, about to go off on the boy, but when I saw Jace coming down the other side, meeting my eyes and winking, I knew it was his hand. I rolled my eyes. The next time he came around, I snuck his water bottle into his hand, which he was grateful for.
Izzy almost squealed when they began pass routes. Jace would stand, slap the ball, and throw a nice high arching ball, and Simon would take off down the field like a Labrador retriever, initiating spins past dummies, jumps over hurdles, and any other obstacle courses.
By the time practice was over for them an hour later, I was finally used to the stench of the sweaty men. I stood with Izzy by the locker room door, and when I saw Jace submerge from the steamy room, with low riding jeans and his sneakers, I handed him his now refilled bottle.
"How'd the game go?" He asked as we walked hand in hand back to my car. Izzy explained the win, and didn't let Jace go unaware of my injury. He stared, wide eyed from the back seat, as Izzy explained. "Crap, Clare, I'm sorry." he said.
I smiled. "It's fine, I'm alive, no concussion. Not like it never happened before." I muttered.
Jace said his goodbyes as me and Izzy went up to the dorm to get me ready for my date tonight.
An hour and a half later, I was wearing the green dress, the shoes, and makeup. My hair was straight and free flowing, as I made my way to my lounge where Jace told me he was. When I arrived he smiled, took my hand, and whispered. "You look amazing." He raised his voice to a normal tone and added, "It's amazing that you'd let Izzy do this to you for me."
I slapped his dress shirt covered chest, and he took his keys to his 2013 silver mustang convertible. "I think I'm in love." I sighed when I got in the car.
Jace's breath hitched.
I giggled. "I love the car, baby, don't worry." I said, buckling in. I missed his disappointed look.
Jace sighed, put the key in, but didn't start the car, until a minute or so later. We talked about the usual, home, football, volleyball, Izzy, our childhood, and it surprised me how easy it was to do so. We finally arrived at the steakhouse called Taki's, and we settled down at a booth by the window of Lake Travis. The stars were out by now, and there were a few white sail boats out on the lake. "I never thought of coming around here. Not since freshman year anyway," I said, turning back to Jace.
His eyes were intently locked on mine. "I don't think I saw much of you that year." He admitted.
I shrugged. "We were always busy with whatever." I said simply.
Jace sighed. "I've been such an ass." He said. He clarified when he saw my confused face. "I could feel our friendship crumbling when I started sixth grade. I had the need for fitting in, the need for freedom. I just didn't think of anyone else." He laughs bitterly. "I don't even know where half of those people are today." He said.
I chuckled. "That's an easy one, prison." I said with a wink.
Jace smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm serious Clare. What happened to us? I changed for the worse. I remember when I used to care about you more than myself." He admits shyly.
I smile. "I miss that too. People change, Jace, I was fine once I got over you." I said, then my breath caught, and my eyes widened.
Jace looked confused. "Clare? What do you mean got over me?" He asked.
I gulped. "I had this, infatuation, in middle school and most of high school. Okay, all of high school. But, I didn't want to be a bother, so I let you hang out with your friends, and me with mine." I said. "I thought that was what you wanted."
He shook his head. "I'll only ever want you, Clary. As my best friend, or as more, all I know is that I want you, until one or the other dies. And I'm not being sappy, and proposing right now. I wanted to give us a chance, because the concept of more is more…endearing right now. I really like you a lot, Clary." He says.
I smile a real, pleased, genuine smile. "I like you too Jace Christopher Wayland. You, my dear, have changed for the better." I say.
He shakes his head. "High school was an act. I never have changed. I'm just not afraid to go after what I want or who I want to be with. And that, little Red, had been you since third grade, when you fell on my damn ankle during the Third Grade Soccer Match." He says.
I can't help but laugh. "That was so embarrassing." I say.
Jace smirked, all of his sappy side gone. "Not as embarrassing for you. You fell on top of a very attractive boy, while I got tackled by my crush since the beginning of the year!" He practically roared.
Our dinner was filled with uncontrollable laughter, and stories from the past. A few touchy subjects, like making the team in 8th grade, came up, and he apologized over and over for being an ass. I forgave him every single time. By the time we pulled back up to the dorms, he steered me back to his dorm, where we watched movies in his dorm. We watched The Great Gatsby, Man of Steel, and World War Z. Finally, a few hundred yawns later, I kissed Jace goodbye and headed back to my dorm. When I arrived, Izzy laughed. "How was my brother?" She asked.
I smiled. "He's changed, Izzy, I'm proud." I said.
She shook her head. "He'll only change and be that way for you. It's how it's always been. It's how it always will be." She said, and turned out the lights once I finished getting ready.
One word was on my mind that night.
One word made my dreams happy.
One word changed me.
Four letters, one syllable.
Love.
Jace.
They were both the same definition in my book.
