On any other day Jason would have thrown on his famous Wayland charm for Mrs. King and the new girl but not today, today he could give a rat's ass about appearances. He took a deep breath, trying his best to contain his anger. His green eyes shifting from the teacher to the student standing next to her, his eyes lingering on the girl for longer than he intended. It was clear that she was new, not only because she was standing next to Mrs. King looking more than a little out of place, but because there was no way Jason would forget seeing a girl that looked like her around the school. The girl was small, not tiny like his mother, but still she was small. She had long dark brown hair and startling light blue eyes that seemed to be staring back at his green. Jason quickly averted his gaze back to the teacher, gritting his teeth before he spoke. "I needed to see my mother."
"And you couldn't have handled this before my class?" Mrs. King pressed her lips together tightly as she waited for his answer.
Jason swallowed, balling his hands into tight fist at his sides. His patience was wavering with the woman standing in front of him. "Don't you think if I could've handled it before class, I would've?"
Mrs. King flinched at Jason's words. "Wh-what did you just say?"
"I sai-." Jason started to speak with a sure to be snarky remark, but stopped when the girl stepped in between him and the teacher. The girl's blue eyes stared up at him, giving him an icy glare before turning her back to him in order to face the teacher.
"Mrs. King, if I may?" Jason took a small step back, not liking being so close to the girl.
"Of course, go ahead Ella." Mrs. King looked down at Ella with a small smile.
"Well, I could have sworn that when we were in the office earlier you pointed out a teacher on the phone saying that would be my English teacher, Mrs. Wayland." Mrs. King nodded silently as she continued to listen to the girl standing in front of her. "I only remember because, you were telling me that Mrs. Wayland would be the perfect teacher to interview for my project that I told you about. I take your opinion to heart, Mrs. King." The smile on Mrs. King's face widened. "And if-." Ella shot Jason look over her shoulder before turning back to the teacher. "Jason needs to speak with her-maybe I can go with him, just to introduce myself. Please, Mrs. King, it would really make my day." Jason resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the obvious sucking up that the girl was doing, knowing that there was no way it was going to work.
"I think that is a splendid idea! Jason, you don't mind escorting Ella to your mother's classroom, do you?"
Jason blinked, opening his mouth and closing it several times. What the hell just happened?
"Jason?" Mrs. King spoke again, this time her voice sounding concerned. "Dear, are you okay? You're not having an episo."
"No, I'm fine. I'll show her where to go." Jason quickly regained his composure before the teacher was able to finish her sentence.
Mrs. King nodded but didn't look convinced. "O-kay. Off you go then. I will plan on seeing you both tomorrow in class." Without another word the teacher walked past the two teenagers, entering the classroom and shutting the door behind her.
XxXxXxX
"Luke, I don't understand what you're saying." Clary's eyes scanned the front office making sure that no one was eaves dropping on her conversation.
"You need to look at it from a lawyer's prospective. You're not the only person in this marriage, and a judge is going to look at both sides, not just yours."
Clary placed her free hand that was not holding the phone on her forehead, rubbing it lightly. How did things get so complicated? "This wasn't what I expected to hear."
"I know it's not, but Clary, it could turn out to be a good thing, for you both." The sincerity in Luke's voice was clear; he did want the best for them both.
"So, how does this work?" Clary dropped her hand from her forehead and leaned against the office wall.
"I will file a motion for a three month legal separation, during that time you will be required to attend marriage counseling, other than that you are free to live your life as you wish."
Clary's eyes glanced at the clock on the wall, seeing what time it was she decided it was time to wrap up the phone call. "I can't say that I'm happy about this, Luke. I've made up my mind, but if you are telling me that this is the road I need to take, then I trust you as my lawyer."
Luke was silent for a moment before he spoke. "Clary, I want the best for you, not just as your lawyer, but as someone that cares deeply for you. I know that Jace has made more than his fair share of mistakes, and no one would blame you for wanting to start over, if that's what you truly want."
"Yes, that's what I want! How could you even think otherwise?" Clary pushed herself from the wall and gripped the phone tightly in her hand. She caught sight of a few students looking her way, taking a breath she spoke again. "You know what, don't answer that. It doesn't matter, I'll do the three month separation and the counseling sessions, but after that I'm done. Also, I'd like to continue with the renovations to the manner, if that's okay with you." Clary held her breath fearing that Luke may say no to going ahead with the renovations.
"Of course we'll continue with renovations. I want you to know that no matter how I feel about Jace, I will always be on your side, no matter what."
Clary felt a small smile forming on her lips; it felt nice to have someone on her side no matter what she chose. "Thank you, Luke. I need to get to class, so we'll talk later?"
"Sure, sounds good. I'll have some papers for you to sign tonight, for the separation. Clary?"
"Yeah?"
"You should know, he's planning on fighting for you."
Clary felt her breath leave her, a tightness formed in her chest. "What did you say?"
Luke chuckled. Why was he chuckling? "Jace, he's going to fight for you, Clary. I just thought you should know. Go to class, we'll talk soon."
Her hands shook slightly as she placed the phone back on the receiver, she wasn't even sure if she said goodbye to Luke before she hung the phone up. Walking out of the front office, Clary couldn't help but wonder what Luke had meant. Jace, he's going to fight for you, Clary.
XxXxXxX
Jason stormed down the hallway not caring if the girl was trailing behind him or not. He wasn't in the mood for her today, in fact today was one of those days that he wouldn't be playing nice with anyone. Who did this girl think she was, stepping in like that, talking her way into tagging along with him? If Jason learned anything today, he learned he wanted absolutely nothing to do with this Ella girl.
"Excuse me? Hey jackass Jason, do you mind?"
Jason couldn't stop the smirk that crept on his face. He stopped walking and turned to wait for Ella to catch up with him. Raising an eyebrow, Jason looked down at her. "Jackass Jason, really?"
Ella pulled her head back, her eyes wide with anger. "Yeah, really." She lifted her hands in the air, her fingers making quotation marks in the air. "Jackass Jason." Ella dropped her hands back down to her sides. "What's your problem? You're definitely not the same guy I heard all about?"
"The same guy you heard about, huh? Where did you hear about me?" Jason had his famous Wayland smirk plastered on his face as he took a step towards the girl.
She glanced around the hallways nervously, taking a small step back. "Did I say, heard about? I di-didn't mean that-I meant. I meant-I don't know what I meant, but I can tell you this, I've never heard anything about you." Ella stood straight and crossed her arms across her chest trying to look unfazed by him.
Jason moved a hand to his chin, rubbing lightly. "You wanna know what I think?"
Ella shook her head. "N-no."
"I think." Jason moved to where he was standing right in front of the small girl. "I think, you're lying, Little-bit."
This time Ella raised an eyebrow. "Little-bit?"
"Yeah. You're short, small, Little-bit. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" Jason moved his hands to where they were hovering in Ella's personal space, clearly making her feel uncomfortable.
"God, you're such an ass!" Ella shoved him in his chest causing Jason to chuckle. "Ugh, I swear, you may have the rest of the girls around here fooled, but I see what you are." She tried to move to walk around Jason, but he grabbed her arm roughly pulling her back.
"Listen, it's just. It's just-I don't like to be talked about, got it?" Jason's hand was still wrapped around Ella's arm when he heard a new voice, his mother's.
"Jason Wayland, what do you think you're doing?" Jason dropped Ella's arm immediately and turned to face his mother.
His mouth dropped open as his eyes took in what she was wearing. "What the hel-what do you think you're wearing?"
His mother did not answer instead she continued walking until she stood directly in front of the two teens. "Good morning, son." Her green eyes darted between Jason and the girl. "Who's you're lovely friend?"
Jason growled. "First, she's not my friend. Second, what the heck are you wearing? Do you have any idea what people are saying about you?"
Clary ignored her son's ranting all together and stuck her hand out towards the girl. "Hello, I'm Clary Wayland." She tilted her head towards Jason. "This jerk's my son, and you are?"
Ella reached out and placed her hand in Clary's, shaking it lightly. "I'm Ella Blackthorn. I just moved here, I'm living with my two Aunts Helen Blackthorn and Aline Penhallow."
Clary eyes lit up when she heard the names of Ella's Aunts. "How is Helen? Aline? I haven't seen them in years?"
Ella released the other woman's hand, smiling. "They're good, really good. Aunt Aline's been begging Aunt Helen for kids, so they're using me as a trial run." Ella shrugged. "I guess if all goes well with me, they'll have one of their own."
Clary giggled, shaking her head. "Your Aunts are something else. I hate to tell them, raising a teen and raising a baby are two totally different things."
Ella joined in with Clary's laughter. "That's exactly what I said."
Jason furrowed his eyebrows, a frown forming on his face. "Hey, do you two mind?"
The two quit laughing and turned to look over at him. Clary glanced back at Ella. "Tell your Aunts that raising a baby is a piece of cake compared to raising a teen." She turned her attention back to her son. "Now Jason, what's going on?"
Jason cut his eyes over to Ella. "Do you mind?"
Ella took a few steps back, casting her eyes toward the ground.
"Come on Jason, I've got to get back to class. Coach Verlac is probably crawling up the wall."
Jason felt as if someone punched him in the gut. "Wh-what is he doing watching your class?"
"He, he who?" Jason's green eyes locked with his mother's green, letting her know exactly who he was. Clary laughed sarcastically. "Coach Verlac? You're here to talk about him?"
"Errr, no! No, I'm not talking about Coach Verlac." Jason covered his face with his hands, pulling them down slowly. "I ca-came here to find out what you were wearing, all these guys are talking about you like-like you're this hot piece they need to get with. So, I came to see for myself, and what do I find? I find you wearing that-and you have Coach in your class. What the hell, mom? What are you doing?"
Clary's face had paled, her hands moving around her as if she could cover herself. "I think she looks nice." Ella said, moving to stand next to Clary. "Who do you think you are, talking to your mom like that? Clary Wayland, isn't just your mom, she's also a beautiful, confident woman, and deserves to be treated as such. And what does it matter if this Coach Verlac is watching your mom's class? She had a phone call in the office; he was probably walking by and offered to watch her class why she took her call. Get a grip Jason, this isn't your world and we don't live in it to please you!"
"This conversation is between me and my mother." Jason stepped forward pointing his finger in the air towards Ella.
Clary stood silently, her head moving between the two as they argued. "You two just met today?"
"Yes!" The two yelled in unison.
"Oh, ok-ay then. I'm glad to see how well you're getting along." Clary moved to stand in front of her son, placing her hand on his shoulder as she spoke. "This." Her eyes moved down to the grey, skin tight pencil skirt she was wearing and then back up to her somewhat see through silk blouse, before turning her eyes back to Jason. "This, is your Uncle Magnus and Grandmother. My mother shipped my clothes off and went shopping for me, and your Uncle, well he did the rest." She moved her hand from Jason's shoulder up to her facial make-up that was applied darker than her normal. "You know he's always begged me to let him straighten my hair."
Jason reached out and picked up a strand of his mother's hair. "You like all this?"
"Yes, no. I don't know. Jason, is this really what you're upset about?" Jason dropped his mother's hair and shifted his body weight from one foot to another. "Jason?"
Jason shoved his hands into his jean pockets, closing his eyes. "I heard dad talking to Luke last night."
"Oh." Clary's voice was quiet causing Jason to open his eyes.
"Mom? Wha-."
"Clary? Jason?"
Jason stopped talking and looked toward the voice at the same time his mother did, both of them seeing the same thing. Jace Wayland was carrying a very large bouquet of red roses walking towards them.
XxXxXxX
Here is a brand new chapter for The Story of US – I hope you all enjoy it, especially AFOURADDICT!
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