Chapter 9
Gabriel
Gabriel was not paying attention to his lessons. It was half past 1 and the whole class was waiting for the day to end. It had been two weeks since he'd gone back to school and he had not gotten used to it. He was on his third coffee of the day and still couldn't focus on what the teacher was saying. Next to him, Chris was doodling little stars on his English notes.
"Gabriel, what was your takeaway from this chapter?" the teacher asked.
Gabriel blinked in shock. He had no idea which chapter they were on, let alone what he was supposed to take away from it. Two rows behind him, he could hear Will Herondale snickering. Gabriel looked at his copy of the book, as if the answer would be written on the cover.
"Some offers are too good to be true" Chris whispered to him, obviously he'd paid more attention than Gabriel had given him credit for.
"I think the chapter taught me that some offers are too good to be true and you shouldn't trust them easily," said Gabriel.
The teacher looked disappointed, as if she wanted Gabriel to admit he wasn't listening.
Fair enough, thought Gabriel.
The lesson continued and Gabriel went back to looking out of the window absentmindedly.
Once the lesson ended, Gabriel was up and gone sooner than he'd ever been.
He was out of the school in a matter of seconds.
It was colder outside than the last two weeks and Gabriel bundled his coat tighter around himself. Gabriel started walking towards the underground station. He usually enjoyed walking, but when it got cold, he took the tube every now and then.
"Hey, Lightwood!" Someone shouted. Gabriel stopped and turned around. Cecily was hurrying towards him.
"Cecily," Gabriel was surprised to see her. She usually went home with her brother.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
Cecily smiled, her blue eyes lighting up as she did.
"I thought I'd take the tube home with you." She said. Gabriel frowned. It made no sense for her to take the same underground line as he did.
"Okay, Will went to Jem's house and I don't want to walk on my own." She confessed.
Gabriel smiled. He enjoyed spending time with her, even if his stomach felt as if it was twisting.
"Well then, I'll bring you home." He said.
On the tube, they whispered about other people, making up stories. They laughed a lot, too. Cecily did a little snort when she laughed, which Gabriel thought was adorable. Sooner than he liked, they reached Cecily's stop and Gabriel went off with her to walk her to her house.
"You don't have to walk me, you know." Cecily said. She sounded a bit annoyed, but Gabriel figured she wasn't really mad.
"I don't have anything better to do." He said. As a matter of fact, he had to do quite a lot of studying for his final exams. He told himself that he needed a break and walking Cecily home would clear his mind.
Cecily shrugged and they walked on.
"Your brother's moving out soon, right?" she asked.
Gabriel felt his heart beat painfully.
"Yes, in a week."
Cecily nodded. She had a strange look on her face.
"Why do you ask?" he pried.
Cecily shook her head. "Oh, just out of general interest…" Cecily stammered.
Gabriel knew she was lying but he didn't know whether to press her on it or not.
"Why do you really ask?" Gabriel was curious now.
Cecily let out a long breath. She hated talking about her emotions.
"It's just that… Will is moving out soon, too. He's going to move in with his fiancée, which is great for them, but… I don't know how to feel about it. I don't want him to move out and I feel bad about it, because it's normal. So, I should be happy for them, but I'm not." She confessed. Gabriel nodded. "I know how you feel." He said.
He wanted to say something to comfort her, but he felt like he would only make the situation worse. After all, he was leaving for Uni soon as well.
They walked in silence and sooner than Gabriel would have liked, they had reached Cecily's house.
"Well, you know, even when we're not here anymore, you'll still be able to talk to us." Gabriel said.
Cecily smiled. "I know that. And I am grateful for it."
They exchanged goodbyes and Gabriel made his way over to his house on foot.
