Sometimes, I feel the past and the future pressing so hard on either side that there's no room for the present at all.

Evelyn Waugh

They were in the cafeteria when it happened. Everything was normal, at least, Clary thought so. They were surrounding their usual table. Jordon was arguing with Maia, his voice loud and clear for all to hear. The veins on his neck were bulging. He was accusing her of something. Maia was sitting near a guy named Bat. He wasn't in their circle of friends, but nobody gave a shit about him. He wasn't a friend or a threat. Maia tried to talk, but kept getting cut off by Jordon. Her cheeks were flushed from embarrassment and her shoulders shook visibly. Lily tried to comfort her, placing her right arm around her waist. Then Jordon stormed off and the second Clary saw him leave, she ran after him.

Nobody followed them.

Whenever Jordon was angry, it was Clary he silently called for.

x

Clary didn't know anything about what had happened. Jace had picked her up from her house just after third hour. When they arrived in the cafeteria, she saw Jordon's figure disappearing down the hall. She forgot about Jace and took off, following him.

She found him upstairs, in an empty freshman english classroom. He was sitting on a desk, the legs teetering slightly under his weight. He was smoking a cigarette, not caring that a teacher might walk in at any moment. The smoke lingered in the air and she inhaled the nicotine gingerly, her steps slow and deliberate.

"What happened?" She asked, standing in front of him.

He rolled his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you I'm not a fucking puppy, Clary?"

She grinned, knocking his chest with her small, fisted hand. "Move." She instructed and he did, putting out his cigarette. The desk was small, but to say Clary wasn't smaller was a lie. She placed half her leg on his and his muscular arm went around her body, securing her there. He smelled good. Like charcoal and cinnamon and sweet honey. "Tell me."

He released a breath. She felt him tense. "Maia and I-uh, we've been going out for a few months." He sent her an apologetic look.

Clary nodded, trying to take in the information. Everyone knew that Jordon flirted with Maia occasionally. Nobody knew they had been actually dating. "Alright."

Jordon looked relieved that she didn't snap at him for keeping his relationship details a secret. "We were okay, I guess." He shrugged. "I thought so anyway. These last few weeks we've been fighting on and off. Back and forth, y'know?" She grabbed his palm, squeezed it twice. The outlines of his eyes were red. He didn't show emotion easily. She felt herself frown.

"And then I get into the cafeteria and she's sitting on Bat's lap. I couldn't-I mean..." He faltered, shaking his head. "I asked her what she was doing. She told me she sent me a text message the night before."

"Oh, Jordon." Clary cooed softly, tracing her fingers on his chest.

He cleared his throat. "Fuck, man. Clary, I already go through so much shit at home. I don't need it here." The bell rang, piercing their ears. They jumped, almost falling to the ground.

"Come on. I ditched most of my classes anyway. Let's go." Clary watched as he walked beside her, his strides lazy and careless. She didn't miss the rigidness in his back and the fixed set of his forearms.

In her distress to comfort Jordon, she didn't realize the whispers in the school. Or the pair of nosy orbs that trailed the two of them like predators. Or the way news would spread to each and every student, particularly Jace.

x

Jordon drove around with no destination in mind. He passed streets and roads and restaurants and hotels and motels. Clary didn't complain. Her window was let down entirely and her head was sticking out in the wind. Her auburn hair looked like a wildfire in the midst of the blue sky. He put the radio on, enjoying whatever was on the station. He needed to forget and Clary was good at that.

He stopped at the parking lot of a broken down dollar store. "Thanks."

Clary glanced to him in surprise. "For what?"

"You know." He replied, running his hand through his hair.

She grinned, dimples displaying. "We're one, remember?"

He laughed, pushing himself upwards on his seat. "I can't fucking believe you said that."

Her face reddened considerably. "Shut up. You're the one who came up with that phrase."

Jordon furrowed his eyebrows. "We were eight. Eight, Clary. How the hell was I supposed to know we were going to be like this?"

Clary let her head drop a little, so that her curls hung idly above her lap. "Just say it, Jordon."

He was silent.

She continued for him. "We're kids who go nowhere. We're the kids nobody gives a shit about."

x

They didn't go back to school. It was too late anyway. The day was over. Jordon dropped her off at home and Clary quickly entered through the back door, her breaths short and rapid.

x

She texted Jace that night, tucked underneath her blanket.

Sorry I didn't get to see you today. Missed you.

She hoped he'd response.

He didn't.

x

Simon went to sleep with his lights on. He left his door wide open. He kept his phone beneath his pillow, fully charged at all times. He had a switch knife in his cabinet. He even had a pistol in between his mattress and the box spring.

Before everything had happened, he didn't believe in weapons and fighting and bullying. He was just another boring guy going to another generic high school.

It took him awhile to slumber. He still had nightmares, still thought about the vicious faces that humiliated him. His eyes were always dry, but it was like he was crying somewhere nobody could see.

x

Clary actually woke up early that morning. She dressed silently, glad that her father had collapsed from a night's worth of heavy drinking. I hope he got alcohol poisoning, she thought darkly, slipping her feet into her boots.

She had already texted Jace. He hadn't replied. She was worried that he wouldn't pick her up. That something was wrong.

She slipped out of her window and flounced to the street, a few houses away from where she had escaped. To her astonishment, Jace was there, his truck parked at the end of the block. Clary felt her lips quirk upwards and she darted towards the vehicle, reassurance flooding her.

x

When she got in the passenger's seat, she leaned towards him, prepared to kiss him on the cheek in greeting.

He moved away at the last second. She sucked in a breath and slid backwards, confusion taking over her pale features. She forced herself to speak, unable to look at him. "What the fuck?" She tried to make herself sound demanding, but her words came out trembling and afraid.

His hands clutched the steering wheel firmly. His knuckles had turned white. He was staring out of the windshield, golden eyes void of any emotion. "Where'd you go yesterday?"

She blinked. "Is this what this is about?"

"Answer the fucking question." He was hard and brutal. His mouth had twisted angrily into a scowl.

Clary unclicked her seatbelt, her chest pounding. "You're shitting me, right?" She laughed humorlessly. "What bitch talked to you? You're doubting me over someone who probably flashed you her boobs?"

Before she could even think, she was crushed against her window. She choked, trying to swallow. Her wrists were held above her and his face was inches away from hers. His fingernails were digging into her flesh, making her blink briskly. She finally spoke, able to spit out, "You're acting just like him! Get the hell away from me!" She realized she was screaming and crying. Her body stung under his weight and her skin burned from his pressure.

He flung himself back to his seat. There was something like disbelief in his gaze. Clary unlocked her door, her hands fumbling, and tumbled outside. She walked along the sidewalk, shivering. Her eyes glistened. She tried to silence her sobs.

x

Review.