-o-
Clary POV
Clary clears her throat. "I gathered you all, my closest friends, today to discuss something important." She grins darkly. "Revenge."
Alec, Magnus, Isabelle, Jonathan, Maia, Jordan, and Simon sit around her formal dining table looking at her, bewildered; Jace just grins at her and she feels her cheeks heat up. He then raises his hand. "What do you have in mind?"
"Um. I don't know. That's why I gathered you guys. What exactly does one do to get revenge?"
Isabelle stands, slamming her hands on the table. "I have been waiting for this. I seriously been waiting. "
Magnus perks up. "No way! You're gonna use-"
"Oh hell yeah, I am!" She gestures to the rest of us. "NOBODY moves a muscle. We'll be right back." She grabs Magnus' hand and they rush outside.
Jordan blinks. "Okay, so I'm think-"
He gets interrupted when Magnus and Izzy come rushing back to their seats. They're faces look giddy. Clary glances down and sees that Izzy is holding a thick, black binder, which she slams down on the table. "This is my binder of revenge tactics. This baby has the perfect plan, or plans, for any retaliation situation." She hands it to Clary, then gestures to the boys. "You guys better watch out."
Clary, cautiously takes the binder. There are tabs that separate very thick collections of paper. Cheating, April Fool's, Revenge these tabs go on and on. She flipped to the Cheating tab and scanned through some surprisingly elaborate schemes. "Iz, I don't know which one to choose."
Jace slides the binder towards him. He reads several entries, whistles and slides it to Maia. He looks at Iz with newfound respect. "Wow, Izzy. Did you do this by yourself?"
"No. Magnus and I started this since 8th grade. We've built it up ever since. I," she says sliding the binder towards her," recommend doing more than one." Grabbing scrap paper, she quickly scribbles several ideas:
Ideas to Piss Sebastian Off:
- date his worst enemy, Jace
- get a makeover (makeup+clothing)
- sneak into his room and cut the crotch section off ALL his pants (and leave one embarrassing one)/cut off all his pockets (so his phone will fall and break)
- put his number on Craig's list
- sneak into his room and hide several alarm clocks (in an unknown area) and have them alarm at 3 a.m.
- cover an uncooked egg in chocolate and give it to him for Valentine's Day (anonymously)
- remove eyebrows
- replace shampoo with Nair
- haunt his house
Clary looks at Izzy with amusement in her eyes. "I'm happy that you're my best friend!" They pass the list around. "All in favor to do these, say 'HELL YA!'"
"HELL YA!"
She grins. Sebastian, prepare yourself to meet New Clary. "Let's do this."
-o-o-o-o-
They make a plan: the girls at Clary's house, the boys at Izzy's house. After eating dinner and settling down, the girls "prepare for bed".
Clary glances at the clock: 12:00 a.m. "Girls, get ready. We have an hour to prepare." They all shift and, lightly stepping on the ground, begin to change into black clothes. As she laces up her combat boots, Clary's heart beats rapidly. Opening a container full of hiking gear, she hands each one of them a headlamp. She grabs her small, black hiking backpack and fills it with essentials: her wallet, phone, and some extra headlamps.
Maia whispers, "We should put eye black."
Izzy looks confused. "What's that?"
"It's the line that football players put under their eyes. For us, it'll just look dramatic."
"Yes! Let's do that!. Clary, do you still have face paint?"
Clary nods. "Yes." She walks over to her closet and pulls out a bin full of Halloween themed items, including face paint. After painting the lines on their faces, Clary checks the time: 12:58 a.m. "We should signal them."
"Wait, we have to set up the doubles." They rearrange their sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets to the shapes of three sleeping girls.
Maia takes out her phone, but Izzy pulls out a flashlight. Maia questioningly looks at her. Izzy sighs, "Knowing them, their phones aren't on vibrate and my parents room is right next to where they're staying. If you call or text them, then we're dead. Plus, signaling with a flashlight is way cooler. She aims the flashlight to the window facing Clary's. She watches as Izzy flicks the light on and off twice. After several seconds, it feels as if the boys had forgotten the plan. Relief fills Clary when a light responds from the opposite house. They watch as the boys open a window and climb out using a tree; they, too, are dressed in black.
The girls look down. Jace flashes the light at them from the ground. Opening the window, Izzy climbs out and latches on to the nearest tree branch; she slowly climbs down and successfully reaches the ground, no injuries. Maia does the same and Clary sees Jordan watching nervously. She smiles, then feels her eyes tear up. That's how I thought Sebastian cared about me. Shaking the thought out of her head, she climbs onto the windowsill and grabs on to the thick branch. She shuts her window as gently as possible. Slowly making her way down, her foot can't find a placement. Curse these short legs!
She's about to panic, when Jace whisper-shouts. "Jump. I promise I'll catch you."
She nods. She sits on the branch she's on; it's a six-foot jump into Jace's waiting arms. You better catch me, you idiot! Her heart racing, she pushes of the branch. She shuts her eyes and clenches her teeth to hold back a scream. She waits for Jace to miss and for her to injure herself, but the impact never comes. Jace catches her by the waist and gently sets her down.
His hands linger on her waist as he gazes down at her. "Told you that I'd catch you." The moon is full, but Clary prays that it's dark enough so Jace doesn't see her blush. She looks up at him and sees his smirk, making her blush even harder.
Someone clears his throat and Jace removes his hands. Jon, Clary thinks fondly. She turns to the group. "What two cars are we taking?"
Jordan volunteers, along with Maia. They split into groups of two and push the cars a block away from the houses. Once they're far enough, they start the cars and drive.
Clary texts the others in a group message.
Clary: We'll going to Bob's 24/7 store on West-port street.
Sitting in the front passenger seat, Clary rolls down the window. The fresh air feels nice and she watches as they begin to enter the urban New York City. She looks at Jordan's car, a couple lanes away. Jace sits at the second row; he waves as soon as he sees her, then rolls down the window. When Jordan's car shifts a lane closer, Jace and Clary high-five.
Both cars stop at a red light. "Jordan!" Maia calls across Clary's lap to Jordan's open window. He looks at her. "Race ya!" They both grin like idiots and hit the accelerator when the light turns green. They tear through the nearly empty streets, but Jordan cuts right in front of us. She grins deviously and turns right.
"Maia-!"
"Don't worry Clare. I know what I'm doing." After several more turns, the store comes into view. Maia enters the parking lot with Jordan on her heels, but the girls still beat them.
After parking, Maia grins victoriously at Jordan. He rolls his eyes (but smiling) and gives her a kiss. "Nice driving, babe. I can't believe you beat me."
"Well, stop being surprised or else I might have to whip your ass all the time."
Jace grins at a pink-eared Jordan. "What an offer! You're so whipped!"
"I-I'm not!" Jordan stammers, but the entire group laughs.
Izzy shushes us then looks at us all seriously. "Remember what we came here for let's go inside." In the front of the store she stops them again."So the list I made, we can only accomplish a certain amount." She turns to Clary. "Is Sebastian a heavy sleeper?"
Clary feels her face warm. "You don't have to worry, he's at his dad's house in New Jersey and according to what he told me several weeks back his mom's at a buisness trip. We have an empty house."
They all exchange glances. Izzy grins mischievously. "Now that we know that, we can do four: haunt his house, replace his shampoo with Nair, hide alarm clocks, and the cut his pants thing. We'll split up into four groups. Jace and Clary are in charge of the alarm clocks; Simon, Me, and Jon are in charge of the haunting stuff; Magnus and Alec are in charge of the Nair; and Maia and Jordan are in charge of the scissors. We'll meet in 15 minutes, okay?" She looks at the group and they nod. "Hands in. Team...What name?"
"Team Sebastian Slayers?" Jon suggests.
"Okay. Team Sebastian Slayers! 1-2-3 break!"
They all split up. Jace grabs Clary's hand and drags her around the store. Surprisingly, they find small alarm clocks.
"Jace, how many should we-?"
He sighs. "Clary, you can stop pretending."
"Pretending...what?" Her heart is beating fast, strangely.
"Pretending that doing this isn't hurting you. You smile and laugh, but you aren't fooling me; it just doesn't looks the same. Just admit to me that you're in pain and don't lie about it."
She nods. "You're right, Jace. I'm very hurt about what he did, but something like this will distract me. That bastard deserves it! I mean, come on, he's been cheating on me for three f*cking months. " She stops herself when she feels the familiar ache in her throat that signaled tears in her eyes. Tracing her fingers on the clock, she regains her composure and turns to Jace again. "Thank you for caring, but trust me I'll be fine. Trust me-"
He hugs her and she buries her face against his chest. "I know, I trust you. Just don't be afraid to tell me, okay? I may not seem as understanding as a girl, but we still have a close relationship. You know that I love you."
"And I love you too." Clary looks up at him, his golden orbs staring at her intently. She watches as they travel down to her lips, feeling that strange feeling of satisfaction. Red-faced, she pulls away and randomly grabs several alarm clocks then walks toward the cash register. "Come on, Jace."
Clary shudders slightly when she feels the heat of his stare. She sped into a brisk walk, nearing a jog. Daring, she glances back to Jace, but he isn't there.
"Need help?" She yelps when he suddenly appears beside her.
"Don't do that, Jace!" Trying to calm her palpitating heart, she dumps the alarm clocks on him. Leaving him, she walks toward the front of the store, but Jace catches up to her. I swear, these short legs! He walks beside her, slowing his pace to match with hers.
"Clare, what brought the idea of revenge?"
She blushes. "I, um, actually read it in a book. Paper Towns by-"
"Let me guess... John Green?" Jace grins.
Clary's eyes widen. "How did you know?" She leans close to him. "Did you read it?"
He scoffs. "Do you really think that I, the golden god, would read a John Green book?"
Silence.
"Fine, I did read it. It looked interesting! Plus, the movie was pretty good. But don't you dare tell my friends!" His cheeks are as red as Clary's hair.
She grins and is about to respond, but get's interrupted. "Don't dare tell your friends what?" They whirl around to see Jordan and Maia walking towards them.
Jace clears his throat. "Nothing."
They all laugh as Jace's face turn a very bright red.
-o-
Later That Night
Jace POV
Jace left in charge of the air horns, so naturally he accidentally presses one of them; the sound echoes throughout the street. The entire black clad group cringes, then turns to glare at him. He gives them the What? look.
"Shut up! You might disturb the neighbors." Clary hisses at him. As if to prove her point, the second story light flickered on at the neighbor's house. She gives him a pointed glare. The group notices the light and is on the verge of panic.
Izzy literally begins to hyperventilate. "What if we get caught?"
Rolling her eyes, Clary leads the entire group to Sebastian's backyard. They all take their time, attempting to be stealthy.
"Who's out there? We heard that! If you don't show yourselves, we're calling the police." A voice threatened. The neighbor's second story window was open and a middle aged man was looking around, nervously.
They all look at Clary. She puts a finger to her lips, and when the man isn't looking, she motions for them to follow. She runs lightly over the grass, barely making any noise, and heads towards a tall, white fence. Jordan make a move to open the fence, but Clary frantically motions for him to stop. She points to her ear. It'll make noise, he realizes. She motions for everyone to give her their bags. He watches as she throws the backpacks over the fence backs up. Concern bubbles in the pit of his stomach. She wasn't able to climb down a tree, so how is she going to scale a fence?They watch as she runs, and kicks off the fence. She grabs the top of the fence and uses it to pull herself up. When she reaches the top, she swings herself over the top and disappears to the other side. They all follow in suit, quickly jumping over the fence. Unfortunately, Jace hears what sounds like a duck. That distracts him momentarily and he falls hard on the grass.
Thankfully, Clary is. there to help him. You okay? She mouths. He nods in reply. She hands him his bag and they run to where the group is hiding in the shadows.
Although they're all hunched over and panting, they grin. Jace slings an arm around Clary's neck and rubs a hand over her hair. "Damn Clare, that was bad-ass!"
They all nod in agreement. Clary smiles, embarrassed and attempts to fix her messed up hair. "Thanks."
"Yeah, where did you learn to do that?" Maia says. She freezes and gives them a look like a deer caught in the headlights.
She clears her throat. Though Jace can't see her face too clearly, he can imagine her blushing. "Learn to do what?"
"Scale a fence like that."
"I-um-I...I did gymnastics." Everybody knows that she isn't telling, but they don't bother to interrogate her. Jace and Jon look at each other. They're thinking the same thing: She did that when she would sneak in with Sebastian. Just thinking about him makes Jace angry.
Clary leans forward. "Once we hear that window shut, we'll pass in through another way. When I used this method, I passed through the other side because there's no fence-"
They look at her incredulously. "Then why the hell did we have to scale that fence?" Jon asks.
"Well, his front lawn is clear, with no trees or bushes. We were supposed to enter through his front porch, but someone," she smirks at Jace," decided to wake up the entire neighborhood."
Jace holds his hands up. "I'm sorry, but I can't help if I attract attention. I mean, who do you know who's as hot as I am?"
"Well thanks to you, we have to enter through a window."
They just sit there for a while, waiting for that window to close. After what seems like hours, it does close and Clary immediately sets of to work. Jace watches as she goes to a window big enough just for her. She grapples with it, trying to pry it open.
"No. It has to be locked. What kind of sensible pers-" It slides open. "Well, I guess I don't know anything anymore. Before I know it, I'll find out that I'm not as good looking as I think I am."
Shaking her head, Clary throws her bag in then jumps in following it. They all rush to go inside, but she slams it shut. We weren't going to fit in it in the first place. They suddenly hear a door open, and whip their heads to the back door. Clary. She motions for them to come. Jace picks up his bag and runs along with the others. The house is dark, but Clary has a flashlight on. She unzips her bag, pulls out head lamps, and hands one to each of them. After turning them on, they begin their revenge. This is going to be fun.
-o-o-o-o-
**(New Section Starts HERE)**
Clary POV
"Okay, which one do you guys want to do first?" Clary asks.
"Why don't we do the split into groups thing again?" Simon suggests. They all agree.
She begins to assign tasks. "We'll use the same groups we did at the store, but before we act we should plan what to do for each plan. Follow me." Clary leads them up the stairs to the first door, Sebastian's room. She shows Alec and Magnus his bathroom. "The 'Axe' shampoo is his. There should be some more under the sink top. You can do whatever you want to the contents Dump it down the drain for all I care." She tosses them the Nair.
Walking out the bathroom and beckoning Jordan, Maia, and Jon, she shows them his closet. "This is his pants shelf. Remember: cut off the crotch, and pockets. Oh, and leave this," she pulls out the scissors and cheetah print pants," but still cut off the pockets."
"Hell yeah, we will!" The three of them laugh.
Grinning, Clary brings Simon and Izzy to the center of his room. "Do WHATEVER YOU WANT! But only one condition." She grins even harder. "Make sure it'll scare the shit out of him."
Izzy rolls her eyes, biting back a smile. "Duh!" She hands them the bag full of "goodies" and they begin their work.
Jace follows Clary to one of Sebastian's random drawers. Opening it, she pulls out a crowbar.
"Whoa,whoa. Clary, what are you doing?" Jace cautiously asks. He reaches for it, but she tugs away, rolling her eyes.
"You'll see. Can you push the bed to the side?" He nods and, with surprisingly not that much effort, pushes the bed aside. "Thanks." She kneels down and pulls the rug, revealing the hardwood floor. She places her hand on the floor and searches for a rift. I remember it was here. She feels it. There it is. Using the crowbar, she tugs on the slightly raised floorboard. But it doesn't budge.
"Need help?"
She sighs. "Yes, please." Jace kneels next to her. She points to the proper board. "It's that one." He nods and uses the crowbar to pry the wooden plank. The plank budges and he pulls it off.
Clary looks into the secret compartment. It's a narrow, boxed area, about 4 inches wide. Inside, a small box rests. This is the compartment that she originally made for their future two year anniversary. Reaching in, she takes the box; nostalgia fills her chest and spreads throughout her entire body. She opens the box to reveal a watch. This is the most expensive thing I've ever bought for someone. Sebastian, the bastard. Shutting her eyes, and closing the lid, she breathes in and out. When she opens her eyes, she's not surprised to see her vision blurring from tears.
Jace notices this. "Guys. we'll be right back. We're gonna get something from the kitchen."
-o-o-o-o-
(Song: "Aubrey" by Bread. Sad/From a guy's point of view, but sounds perfect for this situation.
Also: "If" by Bread. Sweet yet melancholic)
He takes her hand and leads her downstairs to a random room. He closes the door behind sit down on one of the couches, just sitting there in silence, not touching. I've reached my limit. One touch, and he'll break me. She clenches her fists, pressing her thumbs on top of the sides of her pointer fingers (a trick she learned to control emotions). Tentatively, Jace slides his arm around her shoulder and pulls her towards his body. That was the it. I-I can't take it anymore. I just can't do it. The tears slip from her eyes and she begins to sob into his shirt.
"I thought he LOVED me." She begins to strike his chest. "HE SAID HE LOVED ME! That BASTARD. IT'S ALWAYS THAT BITCH SEELIE QUEEN. IT'S ALWAYS HER. SHE TAKES MY BOYFRIEND AWAY, AND EVEN YOU. WHY CAN'T PEOPLE LIKE ME? AM I THAT UNDESIRABLE? WHY CAN'T I KEEP A GUY, FOR ONCE?"
She rests her forehead on his chest, her fists clenched, but lowered. "Why can't I? Please. I want a person to love me. What's wrong with me? I'm an ugly piece of shit. I'm just...just not good enough, am I? And for three months. With the 'it girl'." Her throat constricts, and she pours her heart out through her tears. She shuts her eyes, sobbing, and sobbing. The tears flow, nothing stopping them.
Jace sits there, silently supporting her. Like an anchor. He's my anchor.
-o-