Knock-Knock-Knock
"Honey, it's time to wake up. Get ready for school," Jocelyn said through the door. I lazily got up and walked over to the bathroom. The freezing cold water woke me up and I cleaned myself with soap. First day of your new school, Clary. I dry myself and blow dry my hair so that they fell in their usual ringlets down my shoulders. I put on a light blue-green jacket over a white tank top and white shorts.
I walk over to the kitchen and take a plate full of breakfast that Jocelyn had already cooked. I was so excited to go to the new school and see how it's like. I have a fresh new start and I can focus on art. I heard the doorbell ring and I got up from the table to check the door. I looked through the peephole, but no one's there. I opened the door to make sure they didn't leave already.
"Good morning!" Izzy screams from the side. I almost scream out in surprise but she gives me a tight hug before I got to do anything. I returned the hug and pulled away.
"Hey, why are you here so early?" I asked. I noticed that Jace and Alec were standing behind her.
"Didn't Simon tell you? We're here to carpool to the school," Izzy said. I welcomed them inside the apartment and into the dining room where breakfast was. "So what was up last Tuesday? Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, my mom just came back early from LA. Nothing big," I said. Simon came in and greeted the others. We all ate breakfast quickly and went out to the car.
We arrive at the Idris and I am in awe at the building. It's got a tall multi-floor building in the heart of the school and other buildings surrounded it. I was definitely going to get lost here. We walk into the huge building in the middle. The first floor had the school office in it. There was a receptionist in the middle of the room.
"Hello, how may I help you?" she asked.
"Hi, we're new to this school. My name is Simon Lewis and this is my step sister, Clary Fray," Simon introduced us.
"Oh, good morning. Welcome to this school. I'll go get your schedules from the computer," she said. She typed and clicked the mouse and the printer near her began to print some papers. She handed us our schedules and a map to the school.
"Here are your schedules. If you ever get lost, you have the map with you. The schedule shows your classes and lockers. Have a good day," she flashed us a warm smile and we walked out of the building. Izzy was waiting for us outside of the building.
"Hey guys!" she snatched away our schedules and scanned over them. "Sweet! We have some classes together. Simon and I have the same homeroom," they hugged each other and I suddenly felt left out. I took our schedules and looked over them. I had two classes with Izzy and one class with Simon.
"Yeah, thanks for leaving me out of it, guys," I said with a scowl. They laughed and pulled me into their group hug. The bell rang throughout the humungous school signaling us to go to our classes. I waved good bye to them and turned to walk to my class. Like I predicted, I did get lost. I was turning the halls and I saw that people started to disperse already. I found my locker and tried to open it. I twisted the dial with my combination, but the stupid thing just won't budge. After the fifth time, I finally got it to open and I threw my things in there, also getting the things I need for the next class. I shut the locker and turned when I finally noticed a tall stature. I screamed and noticed that the person was somewhat familiar.
"Clary?" he said.
"Sebastian?" we both laughed and hugged each other. I had been texting him and talking to him over the phone ever since we exchanged numbers. "Hey! Do you mind showing me where my class is? We're already kind of late and I'm already lost."
"Sure, let me look at your schedule," I handed him my schedule and he scanned it. He suddenly had a big smile on his face and looked at me. "We have like three classes together! Who would've thought you were such a brainiac. Follow me, we have homeroom together." We hurried to the class in a light jog. By the time we entered the class, we were both panting like dogs and the bell had just rung. We smiled at each other and took seats at the back of the class.
"Okay, everyone, take your seats. My name is Mr. Hodge, but you can just call me Hodge. I would prefer it over Mr. Hodge and any of your nicknames. So, summer is finally over, which means that it's a time of learning once again…" he continued to talk about this and that about the class, the usual things that teachers say on the first day.
I took out my sketchbook from my backpack and opened it to a fresh page. I opened my pencil pouch and started drawing random doodles on the page. Sebastian stole a pencil from my pouch and started to draw on the opposite page. I put the sketch book on the middle of our desk and we started a doodle war, him using stick figures and me drawing intricate figures. We were snickering quietly at the small war on the two pages.
Suddenly, a crumpled up piece of paper lands in front of us. I look at Seb who shares the same confused expression as I did. I unfolded the paper and read the note that was written inside it.
Drawing in class? Shouldn't you guys be paying attention to teacher? ;) ~Jace
We look simultaneously at Jace who was a sitting next to Kaelie a row in front of us. We scribble our response and tossed it back to him.
We're having an intense doodle war. ~Seb
Currently kicking his stick figure ass right now. ~Clary
Seb crumpled it and threw it, making it hit Kaelie's jaw and falling on top of her cleavage. Seb and I tried to stifle our laughter but came out it struggled gasps. The note was thrown back and I caught it just as it hit me.
Watch where you throw your trash, uncoordinated bitch. ~Kaelie
Sorry about this one, just PMSing like usual. Mind if check out that doodle war? ~Jace
Seb's mouth formed an O and I giggled at his expression. We wrote our message, tucked it on the page of my sketch book, and then surreptitiously passed it over to Jace.
She just called me uncoordinated. :( ~Seb
It's okay, Seb, it's natural. And anyways, doodle wars are much more productive than listening to useless things like what the teacher expects of us this year. :) ~Clary
I started to twirl my pencil between my fingers while Seb attempted to do the same, but failing miserably. I chuckled at him and shook my head. I looked back at Jace and it looked like he had been scowling at Sebastian. He handed me the sketchbook with the note inside it.
You're a really good artist. The pictures in the book are really detailed. I especially like the drawings of me on this one page. You really catch my inner sexiness ;) ~Jace
If it was Sebastian, then I was just kidding ;) Doodling during class is really immature, Clary. Artists are such snobs. ~Kaelie
I scoffed at Kaelie's note and glared at her. I felt Seb's hand on my shoulder and calmed down a little. Oh God, Jace saw the whole page filled with sketches of him. Seb took the sketchbook and flipped through it, stopping at that exact page. He smirked and started to laugh quietly at me. I shall now rot in embarrassment. I blushed and quickly snatched the book away from his hands. The bell rang and the teacher dismissed us to our next classes.
"Why Clary, I didn't know you had such a big crush on Jace," Seb said winking at me. I groaned and facepalmed myself.
"I do not have a crush on that guy. He's just a friend. You do not know how it feels like to be an artist, constantly wanting to draw anything that catches your eye," I say. He didn't seem convinced.
"Suuure. Whatever you say," we walked to our next class which was across the campus. Inside the classroom, the desks were placed in rows. We took seats next to each other in the middle of the class. I found a seat next to Izzy, who was also in this class.
"Hey! How's your first day of school so far?" she asked. She looked next to me and saw Seb, who I had walked in with. "And is that the Seb guy you mentioned before?" she whispered not too quietly. I looked back at Sebastian, who had a big smirk on his face and narrowed my eyes at him.
He chuckled and said, "I've been mentioned? How honored I feel." I smacked him in the arm and introduced the two. They just nodded and said a quick greeting.
"I had homeroom with Seb. Apparently we have three classes together. Joy," I said sarcastically and rolled my eyes. "Oh, and I saw Jace there, too. He was sitting to this girl named Kaelie." Izzy's eyes visibly widened.
"You mean that bitch, Kaelie? Is he still having a fling with that slut?" she said angrily.
"I'm taking that you don't like this chick, am I right?" I said. This time Sebastian piped in.
"She's notorious for sleeping with half the guys in the school. I hate to say that I'm one of those guys," he said shamefully. I patted him on the shoulder for reassurance. "Jace happens to be the one that she goes back to most often."
"I would recommend staying away from being in any type of relationship with both of them. Jace is my step brother and all, but what a player he is," Izzy said. I couldn't say that I was surprised. They both seemed to be picture perfect on the outside. I could imagine them being together.
The next few classes passed by like a breeze. Each class, all the teachers gave the same old introduction speech. When lunch came, I sat with the usual gang, Izzy, Simon, Sebastian, Alec, and Magnus. They all kept a conversation that I wasn't listening to that much. I think it was something about abducting cows, or something really random. I commented a few times and smiled whenever they laughed, but I couldn't help but let my attention wander to the other tables. Everything seemed to be in their own category or rank in school. Our table was like a mix of people, totally unique from everyone else.
I couldn't help but stare at something that caught my eye. I saw Jace sitting on the opposite side of the lunch area with a random brunette girl sitting on his lap. Sudden anger and jealousy boiled deep inside of me and I struggled to refrain from marching over there and slapping that girl off of him. Instead, I made an excuse to the group that I had to leave.
"Uhh, I forgot, I need to help a teacher with some tutoring sign ups. See you guys later," I said. Seb gave me worried eyes and I shot him a reassuring smile. I gathered my bag and threw away my lunch. I made my way out of the cafeteria, making sure that I had my back turned to Jace. Let's see, I have thirty minutes of lunch break left, and there was a café five minutes away, so I'll just sneak out and walk over there to clear my head.
I walked in the small café and went to the cashier. "Hi, what would you like today- Clary?" I noticed a certain dark skinned brunette behind the counter.
"Maia? Oh my gosh, hey!" we hugged each other over the counter for a while until we both pulled away. "I never knew you worked here."
"Yeah, I just started about a week ago. So, how's your first day of school?" she asked.
"Remember that guy I met at the club last time, Sebastian?" she nodded brightly. "Well, he goes to my school and it's like we've known each other forever!"
"Do you like him? Are you gonna ask him out?" she said suddenly. I grimaced at her and raised my eyebrows. Yes, I got that down.
"Of course not! I don't have those kind of feelings for him. But it's like we've been best friends forever. Anyways, there's this other guy…" I looked at the floor not knowing what I should have said.
"OHMYGOSH! My little Clary's growing up," she said proudly. "You have to tell me all the details. Hold on, what do you want first?" I looked up at the menu and immediately found what I wanted.
"A blueberry muffin and tea, please," she nodded and got me my order.
"JOHN! I'm taking my break now!" she yelled to the back of the café. I heard a muffled 'okay' and Maia hurried to take off her apron and uniform. She took the seat opposite of me and leaned over with her elbows to prop her up.
"Okay, now talk about this boy. Is he cute?" she asked. I thought hard at first and then sighed.
"He is far from cute. He is… the epitome of hotness," I said. Maia's eyes bulged out of her head and her jaw dropped a couple of inches.
"Clarissa Fray, when you say something like that, it's legit. Spill, girl!" I told her about how I met him and what happened when I slept over at his house. I left out the part about the dream I had, I still couldn't figure that out.
"He's so amazing, so charismatic, so… not for me. What's a guy like him gonna want from a girl like me? Today I saw him with a bunch of Barbie dolls practically shoving their tata's at him. I just left during lunch and ended up here," I said. I rubbed my temples and exhaled after my story. I looked back at Maia, who was rubbing her chin with her index finger and thumb.
"If he doesn't recognize you through that crowd of girls, then you could obviously get someone better. If you really want this guy, I would try to befriend him first. Remember Clary, baby steps. Don't rush into relationships before starting the actual friendship. If that doesn't work, you could stick with plan B." she said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"And what is this plan B?" I asked slowly and cautiously.
"Make him jealous," my eyes widened and I gasped involuntarily. "I would suggest using a guy that knows you're using him and doesn't mind teasing him. How about that Seb guy? You can really show him what he's missing with that hunky piece of man meat," I thought about it for a moment. Would I really go that low for Jace? I don't want to cause anything bad to happen. Maybe I'll just stick to befriending him first. That shouldn't be too bad.
"Okay, I'll try that out. Becoming his friend first, of course. Thanks for the advice, I really needed it," I smiled at her and stood up with my belongings.
"No problem, anytime. Call me whenever and I'll always be here," she said with a big grin. I waved goodbye to her and left the little café. I arrived at school just in time and exchanged my things at my locker. I took out my art supplies and headed toward the visual arts classroom. I had learned that all of the special art classes were held in the tall building in the center. Everything including visual arts, fashion, theater, music, and dancing rooms were all in that big building. The building was specially constructed so that all of those classes were able to get their own floor and make the learning areas compatible with each other. The only exception was the auditorium, where the theatre students practiced or performed on the stage.
The visual arts classroom, or shall I call floor, was on the top floor. They said that it was there so that the students were given a good view of the surroundings from the windows, which were tall and huge and covered three fourths of the wall. When I got to the room, I was truly amazed. I was so excited to start painting here. I took a seat near the transparent window wall and waited for the bell to ring. The teacher walked in and started class.
"Good afternoon, class. My name is Mrs. Lynn. I'm glad to have a new class filled with talented students. By the end of the year, you will be expected to present me with a portfolio filled with art projects that you will be working on. If you are new to this school, then let me inform you on the showcase night that the school holds at winter and another one at the end of the year. They gather all the students and make them present artwork or perform according to the type of art category they're in," she explained all of the projects that we will be doing for the year and gave us a quick preview of the supplies we are given.
Finally, the bell rang and we were dismissed from class. I met up with everyone at the parking lot and we jumped into the car. We chatted about the events of our first day on the way home. My eyes kept wandering to Jace and thinking about the talk I had with Maia. Getting a guy to fall for you wasn't that hard, was it? Later that night, I thought of the first steps to my plan which was to get close with Jace. Boy, this was going to be far more complicated than I expected.
H-hey, guys! Overdue chapter, I know. Please don't be mad at me. I know this is a small chapter, but I'm trying to condense things and make them less tedious. It makes it way easier for me to just get straight to the point instead of writing about every single thing that Clary does. Thanks to all the followers, favoriters, and reviewers! All the support just makes my day :) Hope you like it!
Comments, questions, and suggestions are deeply appreciated! If there's an idea you would like me to add to the storyline, I would be glad to include it if it fits. Until next time, my lovelies …