"The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for." (Bob Marley)
He glanced around the fire nervously, his hands clenched together despite the warm weather. Mrs. Seelie had decided to have a bonfire inviting all the children along for a night of burnt marshmallows, laughter, and a story or two. There were lots of kids around him, sitting along the logs of old wood gathered. A few were shoving each other while several whispered words and stared at him in slight curiousity.
Placing his head in his hands, he waited for the caretaker to arrive. He had no choice but to come. Mrs. Seelie had practically begged him to make friends and that the event would be quite entertaining. Something leaned against him abruptly and he heard a sigh. Lifting his head, his tawny orbs widened at Clary who was heaving beside him. She noticed his gaze and waved, giving him a cheeky grin. "Where were you?" He found himself asking.
She pointed to a few kids in the back who were tackling one another with loud shouts. They appeared way older than she was and he quirked his eyebrows in question. She shook her head. "They wew wunning aftow me."
"What? Why?" He stared at the boys in slight disgust. What did they want from her?
"They say I'm weiwd because of my haiw." She shrugged, bright lips pursing. "But it's okay cause I'm fast. Raph can beat 'em." Jace nodded slowly, but kept his eyes glued to the bullies who were now approaching the fire.
Raphael joined them minutes later, an angry scowl plastered on his tan skin. He whirled to Clary and gave her a pointed look. "Why didn't you tell me they were making fun of you?"
Clary almost growled and Jace watched in amusement as she pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. "Leave me alone."
"What?"
Clary moved away from him and stomped over to Jace's other side. Raphael frowned but didn't say anything. Jace listened as she sniffled softly. He decided not to speak and dealt with the silence.
The ball of red, orange, and yellow grew as the crowd of children gasped and pointed in surprise. Mrs. Seelie laughed and told them to stay away from the blazing fire. Marshmallows were passed out and Clary refused to take any. She also refused the strawberry juice offered to her. Jace snuck a glance to see that she was curled into a ball, her emerald eyes staring at the fire. "Are you okay?"
She shook her head. "What's wrong then, Rissa?" Her lips parted at the nickname and he almost laughed.
"Rissa? What's that?" Her sadness momentarily forgotton. She even pronounced the r correctly.
"Rissa." He explained, voice just above a whisper. "Like Clarissa."
She smiled then even though some of her teeth were gone. "Rissa." She repeated, testing it on her tongue. "Thanks!"
He felt his dimples show and his cheeks redden at the comment. The time was short lived as kids began to tell their supposed scary stories. Some were about evil, big bears and some were about sleeping at night with a green monster under the bed. Jace wasn't afraid. Clary was giggling most of the time with her friend Maia who kept telling her jokes.
At the end of the day, Jace caught the sight of Raphael giving Clary a hug and saying something to her. He left to his room after that and the red haired girl nearly leaped to where he was. "I made a drawing of you, Jace." And she darted into the building so he followed, dumbfounded at her actions.
Jace found her room easily and slipped in seeing her small figure rummaging through wrinkled papers. He waited and studied her messy bed and pieces of clothes scattered on the carpet. "Oh!" She exclaimed and tugged at a paper before thrusting it at him.
His eyes widened and he scanned the sketch in slight awe. It was awesome! "You're really good." He commented, looking back at her face.
She mocked a military solute and replied, "Thanks, sir."
He folded the paper and tucked it into his shirt pocket for keeping. Taking a few steps towards the door, he heard her ask, "Awe you leavin' now?"
Jace turned and saw that she had a hopeful expression on her freckled face. "Aren't you going to bed?" She didn't nod and simply tipped on her feet from side to side.
He inwardly sighed and instead suggested, "I have a bed time story I can tell you."
She clapped her hands together and jumped onto the bed, pulling the covers over her body. "Okay. Go."
He sat cross-legged on the ground facing her. "There was a boy and he had everything he wanted. He had a funny dad and a nice mom. Even a cat." Clary smiled at that. "Then one day they all disappeared and he was all alone. He didn't have anybody or anything. They were gone. The boy was sent away to a strange world and he was never happy again."
The girl groaned and pounded her fist down. "That's sad. I hate sad stories." He smiled and pushed his hair away from his eyes.
"I don't know. Maybe good things will happen to the boy."
She released a breath. "Maybe."
Jace rose after that and told her he needed to head to his room before Mrs. Seelie did her room checks. "Okay. Bye Jace." He saw her arms widen for an embrace and he leaned forward so that her head rested on his shoulder for a second. She smiled and wished him good night.
By the time he reached his room thoughts of Clary erupted in his head. She was his friend and he liked her. He was happy with her. Maybe the story could change.
[A/N]: There you go! Please review!