Hello! As a quick note before the story, there's a shit ton of "texting" in this fic, especially at the beginning, so if that's not your vibe, I don't recommend reading this one, there's so much dialogue. I also have them texting as I text, as in fragmented sentences, very few like full on thoughts, lots of unnecessary cussing, self-deprecating humor or suicide jokes (if that's triggering for you), and occasional smiley faces :) because who doesn't use emojis when they type ? and this is the best i got. I didn't really know how to format text conversation in writing but I like it this way. If you couldn't tell, all texting will be italics with the names they have each other in their phones, for all parties, with time stamps of when they received the texts. Alright, hope you enjoy! Pretty excited about this one, so, if you want to, leave a review and let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: all (familiar) characters belong to Cassandra Clare, of course
Angelboy [3:07]: I just got murdered
Angelboy [3:07]: I have never sweat more in my entire life
Angelboy [3:07]: If this was how you saw me for the first time, you would run for the fucking hills
Sage [3:08]: you make me extremely grateful for the fact that I quit
Angelboy [3:08]: Anything for you, love
The butterflies in her stomach started beating their wings faster.
Sage [3:09]: are you done for the day?
Angelboy [3:09]: kind of
Angelboy [3:10]: we have team bonding in like an hour
Angelboy [3:10]: it's not like it's work or anything, I just really want to take a nap
Sage [3:11]: what is today?
Angelboy [3:11]: Dinner at Coach's
Angelboy [3:12]: he's got a daughter who goes to a different school and all the boys do is simp for her relentlessly
Sage [3:12]: lmao, I don't envy her
Sage [3:12]: can't think of a single thing worse than a football player simping for you relentlessly ;)
Angelboy [3:13]: :(
Angelboy [3:13]: that hurted
Angelboy [3:14]: I can't go five minutes without thinking of you and you don't even like me simping :,(
If Clary buried a squeal in her pillow, so what?
No one else was there to see it and she felt like she was going to burst with the army of fluttering butterflies racing in her chest.
Sage [3:14]: mhmm
Sage [3:14]: I obviously hate it sooo much, what with the way I text you 24/7
Sage [3:15]: I even let you fuck up my sleep schedule
Angelboy [3:15]: Hey!
Angelboy [3:15]: two way street
Angelboy [3:15]: mine's ruined too!
Sage [3:16]: look at us, already so toxic
Angelboy [3:16]: no
Angelboy [3:17]: everyone keeps telling me I seem happier lately
Angelboy [3:17]: I wonder why that is?
Sage [3:17]: you're never allowed to talk to me like this in person
Sage [3:18]: I'm an unattractive tomato
Angelboy [3:18]: is this you saying that might happen soon?
Angelboy [3:19]: i'd ditch the dinner right now
Angelboy [3:19]: run the mile for you
Sage [3:19]: let's not be rash
Angelboy [3:20]: rash would be hacking your chat profile, finding your email, and figuring out who the hell you are
Sage [3:20]: Oddly specfic
Angelboy [3:20]: my friend Alec talked me out of it
Sage [3:21]: Lightwood?
Angelboy [3:21} YOU KNOW ALEC?!
Sage [3:21]: yes
Angelboy [3:22]: you're shitting me, how?
Sage [3:22]: Spoilers, Angelboy
Angelboy [3:22]: don't play with me
Angelboy [3:23]: seeing him later, going to bring him one of those wanted posters I made
Sage [3:23]: lol
Sage [3:23]: let me know how that goes
Angelboy [3:24]: are you even curious about who I am?
Sage [3:24]: very
Angelboy [3:24]: then why are we still doing this?
It was an excellent question, one Clary didn't really have an answer for.
After nearly a month of constant texting, Clary was pretty positive she was hard core crushing.
Last school year, in an effort to promote inter school unity and positive experiences online, their high school had built chat rooms for their students to connect to classmates on. Like most things the school administration did, the majority of the school body thought it was stupid.
But, what they hadn't thought was stupid was the mandatory 15 points of extra credit every teacher was required to offer if their student signed up using them as their connection. For Clary, who was struggling to keep a C in chemistry, there wasn't really a choice in making an account.
Truthfully, it wasn't as awful as she had anticipated, it was kind of fun. There were several interactive games you could play with others. But, the hype for the chat rooms had only lasted a few weeks before it died down. There was only so many times you could play battleship before boredom set in.
It was a sign of severe boredom that Clary logged on over the summer. It had been the last week of July and all her friends had been busy or on vacation and Jon was with his girlfriend and there was literally nothing else to do. She had hit a wall in watching Game of Thrones for the second time and exhausted her artistic inspiration. So, she had logged into her school account and found someone to play a game of Connect Four with.
His penname had been Angelboy and he had immediately started teasing her in the chat. She could literally hear his sarcasm through his texts. Never one to back down from a competition, she had matched his sarcasm and flirting with equal fevor. They had spent nearly three hours playing games in the chat and had promised to come back the next day to play again because it was after 2 am and he had practice at 7 and she had work at 8.
After another night of playing games, Angelboy had asked for her number under the disguise of playing the Iphone games instead. The Chat didn't have pool, which, apparently, was his favorite.
Clary still thought that whole thing to be rather convenient, especially when she beat him the first 5 times they played one another in pool.
Occasionally, mainly during conversation lulls, they still played games but for the most part they just talked. The sarcasm was less frequent and the flirting was softer and more personal.
School was beginning tomorrow and he desperately wanted to know who she was. Before they had known one another, when it had just been harmless conversation among strangers in between or during games, she wouldn't have thought twice about giving him her name. But now, she felt like she was in too deep. They talked all the time, about things she wouldn't have brought up so soon in another way. The idea of their relationship changing was scary.
Besides, it was obvious that Angelboy was someone big at their school.
As long as he was telling the truth, and she was confident he was, Angelboy was about to begin his senior year of high school. He was a starter for their football team, their state champion football team. He was also always at parties, which she knew because his friends would always force him to put his phone down to play or talk and he'd apologize to her after the periods of silence.
Clary never minded that part, it wasn't like she wasn't hanging out with her friends most nights either, even if they weren't at parties that shook the whole street most nights.
They were pretty sure they were at the same party last weekend. Angelboy had been going on and on about it ever since, he was furious with himself for not putting the pieces together sooner and demanding her to tell him who and where she was.
But that was terrifying for her. It wasn't like Clary didn't have friends or know how to have a good time, it's just that she lived a fairly invisible life in the grand scheme of things. With class sizes of over 500, that was pretty easy to do. But Clary knew the name of most of their star football players and she had never even been to a game, two facts Angelboy complained about often. The odds were she already knew who he was, which was totally unfair, and he always got on her about her lack of school spirit. She'd already told him she'd go to his games this fall if that's what he wanted, just as long as he knew it had nothing to do with school spirit. Which was good, he had said, because him wanting her at his games had nothing to do with school spirit after all.
Not to mention the fear of rejection that constantly clawed at her. What if he thought she was ugly or had an annoying voice or a weird laugh? No matter how many times you told other people that stuff like that didn't matter, it was hard to manifest it within your own self. Self-love was easy as long as it wasn't yourself that you were trying to love.
Clary's phone buzzed again and she pulled herself out of her head, out of the thoughts she was constantly having these days, and back to the conversation she had been having.
Angelboy [3:32]: i wasn't trying to push or anything, don't ghost me please
Sage [3:32]: i was literally just staring at the wall
Sage [3:32]: i lose my head a lot
Angelboy [3:33]: thank god
Angelboy [3:33]: and i know, i'm not new here anymore.
Sage [3:34]: tea
Sage [3:34]: just keeping you on your toes, I guess
Sage [3:34]: but I didn't mean to dodge your question
Sage [3:35]: it's not like i don't think about who you are or wanting to meet you, it's just that I'm scared
Angelboy [3:35]: scared? why are you scared?
Angelboy [3:35]: it's against school policy to lie on our profiles, and impossible for other people to create accounts
Angelboy [3:36]: no secret 50 year old pervert here
Sage [3:36]: i don't know
Sage [3:36]: i know you like me now, but what if you don't like me in person?
Angelboy [3:36]: like the way you look? or just you in general?
Sage [3:37]: both
Angelboy [3:38]: I'm already positive I like who you are and i think i'll just like you more when i can actually see your expressions and mannerisms instead of just imagining them
Angelboy [3:38]: As for what you look like, it's not something I spend a whole lot of time thinking about, tbh
Angelboy [3:38]: i'm sure you're gorgeous, like i can just tell
Angelboy [3:39]: but it really wouldn't matter, i'm so freaking obsessed with you already, can't you tell?
She could.
She really really could.
But that's why she was scared.
She enjoyed talking to him and she didn't want something as stupid as meeting to affect that. Which didn't make much sense when you thought about if for longer than a second but Clary had a hard time doing that.
He was important to her already, she could only imagine what he'd come to mean to her if their relationship progressed even further.
Sage [3:42]: why don't you tell me who you are?
Angelboy [3:42]: you already know why
Angelboy [3:42]: you're just dodging
Clary winced.
It never felt good to get called out.
Angelboy was scared that she'd ghost him if she knew who he was, without giving him her name and no way of finding her. He also didn't want to scare her off, whatever that meant. It was why they hadn't introduced themselves during those first few days actually, he hadn't wanted to yet even if she had. Now the roles were reversed.
Sage [3:44]: i'm sorry
Sage [3:44]: i just can't give you the answer you want yet
Angelboy [3:45]: i can wait
Angelboy [3:45]: just as long as there's something I'm waiting for
Angelboy [3:46]: you don't have to give me anything more than a yes, i'm not backing you in a corner, i don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to do. I just really want you to trust me enough to be real with me
Sage [3:46]: i'm a tomato again
Sage [3:47]: but yes
Angelboy [3:47]: yes you'll tell me your name eventually?
Sage [3:48]: yes
Angelboy [3:48]: okay
Angelboy [3:48]: and if i figure out on my own, would you be honest with me?
Sage [3:49]: yes
Angelboy [3:49]: i'm going to hold you to that
Angelboy [3:50]: catch me grilling Alec tonight on every Junior he has ever talked to
Sage [3:50]: we didn't do much talking
Angelboy [3:50]: okay, so logically I know Alec is gay, but you realize how that sounded, right?
Angelboy [3:51]: and, i'd be beyond jealous because he's one of my closest friends
Sage [3:51]: lmaooooo
Sage [3:51]: that wasn't what I was saying at all
Sage [3:52]: just that Alec isn't one for talking
Angelboy [3:52]: fax no printer
Sage [3:52]: STOP.
Angelboy [3:53]: no :)
Clary's bedroom door burst open and Clary banged her head on her wall in surprise.
Jon strolled in, scowling at her.
"Stop!" Clary shrieked, putting one hand on her bruising head and using the other to push off her blankets so she could run. "What did I do?"
"You ate the last of the Chinese food!"
She was indignant. "That was Luke you dolt. And it was his!"
"But I wanted it," he grumbled, collapsing on the bottom of her bed. "What's wrong with your head?"
Clary glared. "Fuck you. You sacred me."
"Maybe if you weren't so focused on texting your mystery man all the time, you'd be more aware of your surroundings."
"That's rich," Clary snorted. "Luke only ordered the food last night and you already forgot."
Jon waved her off. "How was the bookstore this morning?"
She let herself fall back on her pillows again. "Slow. I miss working long shifts with you."
"I'd rather be there then at practice."
"Should've quit, too."
Jon shook his head. "I wish you hadn't quit, it's no fun waking up before dawn by myself."
"I like to remind you of how good a sister I am and how you take me for granted."
He snorted. "If you were a good sister, you would still be playing soccer so I could actually enjoy my last year."
"It's not like I was very good." Jon looked incredulous. "Just because I wasn't bad does not mean I was good."
"You started as a sophomore."
Clary sighed. "Our team is smaller than yours, it's not the same thing."
"Whatever," Jon said, moving himself around so he was leaning against her wall. "What time do we have to leave today?"
"Like 4:40, dinner starts at 5 but Simon needs picked up on the way."
"What? Why? He has his own car?"
"Rebecca is using it, she's in town for a few days."
At that, Jon's eyes glazed over. "I miss that girl."
Clary's vision dotted she rolled her eyes so hard. "What about Seelie?"
"You don't even like Seelie," Jon said, not losing the look he always wore when Simon's sister was mentioned. She was a few years older than him and had babysat them for years. To Jon, she was the hot, older girl of every boy's dreams and always would be, even if she was going to be married in a few months.
"It's more of the fact that you're still simping for Rebecca."
"Obviously, I mean, have you seen her?"
"No, never in all the years I've been best friends with her brother."
"Har-har," he said, pulling a very unattractive face as he mocked her. Clary didn't understand why all these girls put up with her brother, he had the attention span of a toddler. "At least I'm not simping for a stranger."
"I know, how embarrassing for him," Clary said, pulling a reluctant smile from Jon as he glanced at her, the joke landing.
"Wait until he meets you, he'll stop simping in a minute." Jon must have noticed her wince because he was instantly backtracking. "I'm kidding, little sister, we come from the same gene pool, he's going to get his world rocked."
"It's weird to think that you're probably friends with him," Clary said, voicing a thought she had for a while. All of the big athletes, Jon was a phenominal baseball player, often attended the same parties or played a secondary sport together. Maybe her boy was on the baseball team.
"He's probably been in our house," Jon agreed, nodding along with her observation.
"Oh shit," Clary said, she hadn't thought of that. "This is all going to be very trippy."
"You going to tell him your name soon?" She shrugged, probably but maybe not. "I say make him sweat first."
They both laughed and Clary felt overwhelmed all of a sudden with love for her brother. Disgusted, she quickly pushed that aside.
"I should give him a false name, some horse girl at our school."
Jon's face lit up with the possibilities. "Or some die hard freshman girl. Most of the boys can't stand those girls, they're always fighting over their jerseys and forcing them to take pictures. I was talking with Verlac in the hall one day when this girl came up and literally offered to blow him for it, right in front of me!"
Clary cringed. "What did he say?"
"No, of course," Jon said, rolling his eyes at her. "Not all men are pigs, you know?"
"I know, I know," she said, hurriedly. "I just have always got bad vibes from him."
"He's a bit of an asshole but he's not a creep. Only the creeps entertain the freshmen."
Clary thought of all the times Angelboy complained about the younger fans of his, the way he complained about anyone who gave him attention really. According to Jon, this was a good sign.
"What if it's Verlac?" Jon asked, smirking at her. "You could be spending 10 hours of your day talking to him and you'd have no idea."
"It's not 10 hours!" She insisted, after retching at the idea of it being Verlac and doing the math in her head. Most mornings, she had work and he had practice. They hung out with their friends and their family, though admittedly they texted often through those. Most week nights, she'd be in her room after 11 and she'd spend like 3 or 4 hours talking to him. "8 hours, tops."
He laughed. "I talk to Seelie like 2 hours, max."
"Well, you don't like her either," Clary pointed out. "At least talking to her."
"You make me sound like an asshole."
Clary looked at him. "That's because you are."
He put his hand on his chest, wounded. "Ouch, little sister, how you wound me with your words."
She rolled her eyes and looked down at her phone, all the talk about her mystery boy making her want to talk to him.
Sage [4:07]: my brother makes my head hurt, outside and inside
"You're going to be a complete hypocrite once you get with this guy," Jon said, and Clary looked up, eyebrows raised as she waited for an explanation. "If you already spend as much time talking to him, just imagine how much time you're going to spend with him."
"Yeah, but I'm not going to be with someone that I don't like, you've done that several times."
"You didn't like your last boyfriend."
"No," Clary corrected, shaking her head. "You didn't like my last boyfriend."
"He was such a sissy."
They had had this conversation several times. Too many times. "He's a nice guy."
"Too nice, he was dreadfully boring."
As bad as it was to say, Clary had to agree with her brother. There was a saying for girls, there were girls you dated and there were girls you married. She didn't know what the equivalent for guys was but that was him. They had dated last school year for nearly 6 months before she broke up with him, which had been awful.
"I saw him last week at the park, he still won't talk to me," Clary said, her voice betraying the sadness she felt at that. He had wanted an explanation and she hadn't been able to give one, he didn't really do anything wrong, she just wasn't feeling it.
"That's why you don't date your friends."
Clary snorted. "No, you just fuck them, right?"
"Exactly. You fucked and dated, that's where it gets messy."
"It gets messy either way," she said sadly.
"Point taken," he agreed, resting his head against her wall again. "Sometimes I think maybe mom and dad fucked me up more than I thought."
"Probably," Clary agreed, letting her eyes close. "How could it not have?"
"You seem pretty good."
"I didn't have the same relationship with dad that you had."
"No, I guess you didn't," Jon agreed in a dull voice. "I think I'm going to break up with Seelie."
"Good," Clary said, smiling without opening her eyes. "I'm tired of her always getting up in my space."
He snorted. "Yeah, she really wants you to like her."
"She's going about it the wrong way."
"I don't want to break up with her the day before school starts but if I wait too long, I'll be roped into going to the Homecoming dance with her and I don't want to do that either."
"What are you two doing?"
Clary opened her eyes to see Luke leaning in to her room.
"Breaking hearts," Jon said, grinning crookedly at their step dad.
"Our Clary?" Luke asked in disbelief.
"Its the mystery man she's always texting," Jon informed him, dodging her attempt to beat him into silence with her pillow. "She's being a tease."
"I am not!" Clary countered loudly. "And so what if I was! Girls don't owe guys anything!"
"Amen sister," their mom said, stepped up behind Luke and looking at her kids with a smile on her face. "You guys almost ready for our dinner?"
Clary glanced at her phone, it was already 4:27.
Angelboy [4:20]: sometimes i remember that I probably know your brother
Clary snorted and flipped the screen for Jon to read. He laughed.
"I can't wait to make fun of him for that name," he said before pushing off the bed.
"He said it was a joke with his friends," Clary explained.
"I just can't wait for him to come over so we have finally have some dirt on our little girl," Jocelyn said, reminding her children of her presence. "It'll be so fun!"
"Yeah, Christopher was too good, we worried for him more than our Clary-Sage," Luke agreed, nodding her head.
Clary groaned while the other three laughed, hiding her smile in her pillow. Luke had always called her that and hearing it always reminded her of the love she felt from him as a child when their mom took them to visit him at his farm and away from her then husband, their father.
"I'm never going to bring him round if you guys don't chill," she said, lifting her head from the pillow so they could hear her.
"Puh-lease," Jocelyn said and Clary could hear her eye roll. "All your friends come here, we're the hangout house!"
"Maybe he's the hangout house too," Clary rebutted, pulling her phone to her.
Sage [4:30]: i'm not going to lie, we laugh about that together
Sage [4:30]: you've probably been to our house
Angelboy [4:30]: stfu
Angelboy [4:31]: You're. Killing. Me.
Sage [4:31]: I'll know your name then, when it gets announced star football player from Alicante High dead by heart ache
Angelboy [4:31]: good
Angelboy [4:32]: i hope you'll suffer
"Oi, buttercup," Jon called, flinging a pillow at her. She looked up, Luke and her mom were gone and Jon was standing in her doorway wearing a new shirt. "Time's a ticking."
"Yeah, yeah," Clary said, waving him off.
Sage [4:33]: :(
Sage [4:33]: you're mean
Angelboy [4:34]: well fuck
Angelboy [4:34]: why do i feel bad?
Angelboy [4:35]: you were mean first
Sage [4:35]: sorry :*
Sage [4:36]: i'm told my puppy dog face is a killer
Sage [4:36]: maybe you can feel it through the text
Angelboy [4:36]: I repeat
Angeboy [4:37]: You're. Killing. Me.
Sage [4:37]: i have a dinner tonight to celebrate the first day of school tomorrow
Sage [4:38]: so you might not hear from me for a while
Angelboy [4:38]: sadboy :((((((
Angelboy [4:38]: leaving me for the wolves
Angelboy [4:39]: my friends will be thrilled though
Angelboy [4:39]: they're threating to take my phone from me all the time
"Clary!" Mom yelled. "Let's go!"
"Coming," she called back, sliding out of her bed and running out of the door.
Sage [4:40]: i know i'm much better company
Sage [4:40]: i hate to do this to you
Sage [4:40]: hope your friends simping makes up for your inability to do the same
"Nice of you to join us," her brother said from where he was just finishing tying up his shoes on the front step as she closed the door behind her.
"I'll still get to the car first," she declared, running past him in a burst of adrenaline.
"Fuck!" Her brother cried as he raced after her.
"Language!" Their mother scolded from the rolled down window.
She went sprawling in the grass when her brother shoved her, her phone flying from her hand as she hit the ground hard.
"Haha sucker!" Her brother laughed, pulling open the car door and throwing himself in it as she picked herself and her phone up from the ground, swearing.
"Cheater!"
"Loser!"
"Kids!" Their mom barked, rolling her eyes as Clary slid in after her brother and shut the car door behind her. "Behave! You're not 8 anymore!"
"Yes mom," they chorused, even as Clary reached over and hit her brother in his leg for good measure.
Both her parents pretended not to see or hear that exchange while Luke backed out of the driveway.
Simon lived on the next street over and he came flying out of the house as they pulled in, running up to their car with excitement written all over his face.
"They switched me!" He said the moment he was in the car. "We have our entire afternoon together now!"
Jon groaned. "Would you two just date already."
Clary elbowed him, grateful for the seating switch up if only so she could cause him physical pain. "That's great! I was dreading dealing with Mrs Collins on my own!"
His face faltered. "You better be worth it Fray, I gave up Mr Cullen for you."
"My hero."
"How is your sister, Simon?" Her mom asked, friendly as she always was when she talked to her favorite son. Clary and Jon exchanged a look, she never talked to them like she talked to him.
"Oh, she's good," Simon answered eagerly. "I'm trying to convince her to let my band play at her wedding but she's pretty hesitant."
Jon stifled his laughter with a cough while Clary tried to fight back a grimace, checking her phone for something else to do. The Moldy Onions were abhorrent.
Angelboy [4:41]: i'm the best at everything
Angelboy [4:41]: simping is no exception
Angelboy [4:41]: they have nothing on me
Sage [4:46]: i'm sure they don't, love
Clary turned her phone over, her cheeks heating at her boldness. Even if she flirted back, he flirted more and he flirted harder. Pet names were his thing, not hers.
Her phone buzzed and she convinced herself to turn it over, only to see that it wasn't from Angelboy.
Maia [4:46]: Jordan asked me out earlier
Maia [4:46]: i've been freaking out for an hour
Maia [4:47]: i was trying to hold it in for as long as I could
Maia [4:47]: but i can't pretend that i'm not freaking out
Maia had texted in this The Panic Room, the group chat she was in with Maia and Lila.
Lila [4:47]: HOLY SHIT!
Lila [4:48]: girl, go you!
Clary [4:48]: dude, i'm so proud of him!
Clary [4:48]: I always knew he could do it!
Clary [4:49]: and I'm so happy for you
Lila [4:49]: what are you guys doing?
Maia [4:49]: I freaking needed this!
Maia [4:50]: he wants to take me to the party after their win next week
Maia [4:50]: and he wants me to meet his family soon!
Lila [4:50]: Oh. My. God!
Lila [4:51]: you're getting wifed up!
Clary [4:51]: dude, I am so happy for you
"Jordan asked out your ex," Clary told Simon, grinning as he scowled at her.
"We were in middle school."
"Still counts," she said, sticking her tongue at him.
Angelboy [4:52]: You're. Killing. Me.
Angelboy [4:52]: i can't stop smiling
Angelboy [4:52]: the boys have been teasing me for five minutes
Angelboy [4:53]: Coach's girl has officially been forgotten
Angelboy [4:53]: and they don't even know what is going on!
Maia [4:53]: As excited as I am, I'm also freaking out you know? All we've done is hang out at work and the park and sometimes at my house. Apparently, football players bringing girls to the after parties is a big deal, I don't know if I'm up for this
Clary [4:53]: You know Jordan, you've hung out with him nearly everyday this summer
Clary [4:54]: don't psych yourself out
Lila [4:54]: yeah, you're a bad bitch, don't let yourself think otherwise
Lila [4:54]: Jordan is such a simp for you
Sage [4:55]: not normally a smiler?
Angelboy [4:55]: literally never
Sage [4:55]: really?
Sage [4:56]: never would have guessed
Angelboy [4:56]: it's my biggest tell these days
Angelboy [4:56]: my one friend won't shut up about you
Angelboy [4:57]: he won't stop looking at me right now
Clary [4:57]: Simon's heartbroken
Clary [4:57]: won't stop wailing
Clary [4:58]: the one that got away
"Hey!" Simon said over her shoulder. "I am not."
Lila [4:58]: I am ded
Lila [4:59]: deceased
"Oi," Jon said, nailing her with his elbow. "We're here. Don't be on your phone the whole time."
"I won't," Clary said, rolling her eyes. Honestly, who did he think she was?
Sage [4:59]: i'm being scolded
Sage [4:59]: good luck with your guys
Maia [5:00]: tell him he'll always be my first love
"Simon, Maia says to tell you that you'll always be her first love."
Standing outside of the car, he touched his hand to his chest, pretending to be touched. "Tell her that my heart shall always belong to thou."
Clary [5:01]: "my heart shall always belong to thou."
Lila [5:01]: ahahha
Lila [5:02]: can't wait to see you losers at school tomorrow
Maia [5:03]: same!
Maia [5:03]: still mad at you and Simon for bailing on our party for your dinner
Clary [5:04]: sorry
Clary [5:04]: speaking of, I'm being glared at
Clary [5:04]: really happy for you, I'll see you two tomorrow
Lila [5:05]: Bye Lovely!
Maia [5:05]: Later!
Angelboy [5:02]: they've retreated
Angelboy [5:04]: enjoy your dinner
Sage [5:05]: thanks :)
"Clary!" Tessa exclaimed the moment she stepped through the door. All of her other family had already entered. She felt slightly guilty as her godmother came up to hug her. "I've missed you!"
"I saw you last week," Clary reminded her, hugging her tightly. They had a dinner for Lucie and James before they left for college.
"You didn't have to spend a week alone in a house with Will."
"Hey!" Will called from beyond the entry way. "I resent that!"
"Where's Jem?" Clary asked.
"He spent the week at his apartment in the city settling in, he just got back yesterday," Tessa said, linking arms with her and walking into the kitchen. Clary spotted Jem and waved as he beamed at her.
"How are you, darling?" Will asked her, hugging her around her shoulders. "Can't believe you're going to be a junior in high school."
"That's how to make yourself sound old 101, Will," Clary told him.
"I am old, I'm approaching 50!" Will exclaimed. "My kids are in college!"
Simon sighed loudly, he had a very well known crush on their daughter. It made them all roll their eyes, which Clary thought was rather rich of Jon.
"How was drop off?" Jocelyn asked them.
"Good. James drove himself up last week and we brought up the rest of his stuff when we dropped Lucie off yesterday. I managed to cry only once." Will told them.
"I remember when they were born," Jocelyn said, sounding sad.
"Mom, did you miss what Clary said?" Jon asked, exasperated. "And you're supposed to be our young mom, the boys would be sick to hear you talk like this."
"Really?" Will asked, sounding intrigued. "Do your buddies all have a crush on her?"
Jon nodded. "They call her a MILF."
"A MILF." Jem repeated, lost. "Haven't heard that one before."
"You teach at a college," Simon said, waving his comment away. "It's not like kids know what other people's moms look like."
"It stands for a mother I'd like to fuck," Clary filled in, ignoring her mother's half-assed reprimand. She didn't mind when they swore, it was for propriety's sake at this point.
"She's one of the youngest mothers, the boys started noticing her in like middle school," Jon said, sounding disgusted.
"Alright, why don't we start dinner," Tessa cut in, the coarse talk getting to her. Will was smiling crookedly behind his wife. The two really were quite different. "Jon, honey, will you help me serve."
"Of course," he said, sliding around the kitchen island.
"Ladies first," Will said, grabbing Simon by the collar when he went to get his plate.
"That's bullshit!" He exclaimed even as he stopped. "And just continuing the oppression of women!"
"That's right Simon!" Jocelyn said, even as she stepped ahead of him to grab a plate. "A true ally you are."
"We raised you well," Clary said, throwing her arm around her friend. "You can be right behind us just for that comment."
It was pulled pork and mac n cheese with like a million sides. Most people thought Tessa was the cook, but it was actually Will. Besides the bag of Hawaiian rolls they had been instructed to bring, everything else had been made in house. Clary loved her god-family.
They all took their spots at the dining room table, Clary between Simon and Jem.
They had no extended family, all of her grandparents were dead and her parents were only children, not that they saw much of their dad. This was who she considered her family to be. They got together for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. Lucie and James were practically their cousins, Jon had never even tried to make a move on Lucie, a testament to how much they considered one another to be family. Sometimes Simon tagged along, or Amatis, Luke's sister.
"So, is our girl breaking hearts these days?" Will asked her, stopping all of the side conversations. Clary had been talking to Jem about the history class he was most excited to be teaching this semester, he had never taught one focusing on culture only before.
"No," Clary said, rolling her eyes. She really didn't want to explain what was going on to another person. Her family and Simon only knew because they texted so often. "That's more of Jon's thing than mine."
"I have been dating the same girl for nearly two months, thank you very much."
Clary stuck her tongue out at her brother.
"No chance of you and Christopher getting back together, then?" Will teased, no doubt remembering how he was here last year.
"Christopher is talking to someone new, actually," Simon ventured and Clary whipped around towards him.
"What? Than why is he still ignoring me?"
"Because you broke his heart," Simon said, shrugging. Clary winced at the casual way he said that. "And his ego."
"It's been since like January!" Jon said, outraged on her behalf.
"He was a very nice boy," Tessa said like it explained everything. In a way, it did.
Clary slumped down in her chair, glaring at Will for even bringing it up. He cleared his throat. "What about Simon then?"
He shook his head, glancing at Clary. "Still reeling after Maia, I'm afraid."
Clary laughed, smiling at her friend. Grateful for his willingness to throw himself under the bus to make her feel better.
"I'm more curious about Jem, than anything," Jocelyn said, and they all turned to the man sitting next to Clary who suddenly looked like he wished he could disappear through the floor. "How is your Professor friend?"
"Good," Jem said, clearing his throat. "We got lunch several times while I was back in the city."
Even Jon, who considered lunch dates to be rudimentary at best, cheered for him. History between the three of them was complicated, but they all loved one another so deeply. Jem had spent every summer and holiday with his best friends since James had turned 5. More than anything, Clary just wanted one of the best guys she knew to be happy with his lot in life. They all did.
"Anyway," Tessa said, sensing her friend's discomfort the same way Simon had sensed hers. "The promotion still looking good, Luke?"
He nodded. "Yes, I will find out next week actually."
The Fray's all beamed proudly at their Luke. On top of owning a small bookstore in town, he had been a cop for over a decade and he wanted to become a detective. He was a clever clever man and they had been pulling for him to get the promotion.
Simon nudged her with his knee, pulling her attention to him.
"Are you going to swing by Maia's after this?" He asked her, keeping his voice low.
Clary shook her head. "Mom is dragging me after school shopping while Jon's friends are coming over."
"Can I come with?" Simon asked, his face lighting up. "I haven't gone yet either!"
Without consulting her mom, Clary nodded. "You want to spend the night at my place, too?"
"Wish I could but my mom explicitly said no earlier." Simon rolled his eyes.
"Boo," Clary said, shaking a thumbs down in the air.
After spending an hour and a half sitting at the table, eating and talking and laughing together, the Fray's + Simon hugged their friends goodbye before heading back home. On the way, Clary told her mom that Simon was going to go shopping with them, much to her delight.
When they pulled back into their driveway, her mom took Luke's seat with a kiss (ew) before he headed inside with Jon, who was texting his friends they that could come over. It was nearly 7 o'clock now and they were celebrating the first day of senior year with a bonfire Clary would undoubtedly get dragged into when she got back.
Clary slipped into the passenger seat because her mother hated feeling like an uber and Simon did not hesitate to slide into the middle of the backseat and poke his head between the front seats.
"What are you most excited for this year?" Jocelyn asked her second son as they pulled back on the road.
"Uh," Simon glanced at Clary, licking his lips nervously. "Maybe finally telling this girl I like her."
Clary rolled her eyes. "If you can't even tell me who it is, how are you going to tell her?"
Simon ignored her, looking embarrassed, this was something Simon had been keeping from her for a while. "Also, this is my first year where I don't have to take Spanish so that's exciting."
"Should've taken French," Clary sung. She was looking forward to her third year of the foreign language.
"Everyone told me Senor was cool," he whined.
"Both Jon and Rebecca told you he was an awful teacher," Clary reminded him, deadpanned.
Simon grumbled to himself while her mom laughed. "Can you blame him, dear? Jon isn't exactly a reliable source."
Clary rolled her eyes. "You let Simon get away with everything, mom."
"That's because he's the best of my kids."
Clary crossed her arms, pouting in her seat while Simon gloated next to her.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she fished it out, her pout lifting instantly.
Angelboy [7:07]: is your dinner over yet? cause I miss you
Sage [7:08]: yesss, my mom is taking us school shopping now tho
Angelboy [7:08]: so imma have to miss you for a little longer?
Sage [7:08]: probably :(
Sage [7:09]: and my brother is having his friends over right now
Sage [7:09]: and I already know they're going to drag me outside
Angelboy [7:10] sadboi hours
Angelboy [7:10]: guess i'll have to give my friends another shot
Sage [7:10]: i sorry
Sage [7:11]: i'll play you in pool later, promise
Sage [7:11]: in the meantime, I might be a bit sporadic
Angelboy [7:11]: honestly, i'll take what I can get
Angelboy [7:12]: get a elsa backpack so i'll know it's you tomorrow
Sage [7:12]: Olaf!
Sage [7:12]: i would die for that pile of snow
Angelboy [7:13]: honestly same
Angeboy [7:13]: fav disney movie?
Sage [7:13]: uhhhhhhh
Sage [7:14]: either Tangled or Atlantis
Angelboy [7:14]: i approve
Angelboy [7:14]: rapunzel is adorable
Sage [7:15]: we have the same eyes!
Sage [7:15]: and passion for art
Sage [7:15]: i just need my own Flynn Rider and we're the same
Angelboy [7:16]: so you have green eyes?
Sage [7:16]: yessir
Angelboy [7:16]: blonde hair?
Sage [7:16]: just pulled into the parking lot
Sage [7:17]: gotta go rn
Angelboy [7:17]: fine fine
Angelboy [7:17]: i like surprises
Sage [7:18]: good
Her mom put the car in park in a spot near the back of the parking lot.
"Oh, lord," Clary said, groaning. "This place is packed!"
"I tried to bring you the last two days," her mom pointed out, impatient with her dramatics as always.
"At least we won't have many choices to make," Simon pointed out brightly, he hated having to make decisions.
Angelboy [7:18]: my eyes are gold
Angelboy [7:18]: fact for fact
Sage [7:20]: gold!
Sage [7:21]: That's my favorite color!
Angelboy [7:21]: how odd
Angelboy [7:21]: my fav color is green
Angelboy [7:22]: fated
Sage [7:22]: i call cap
Sage [7:23]: copy cat
Sage [7:23]: holy shit, i almost just died
Sage [7:23]: the things I do for you
The car had come out of no where.
When she said that aloud, clinging to Simon who had pulled her back from the street, he had snorted and shook his head.
"You're no good to any of us if you're dead." Simon had said before releasing her and huffing away.
Clary decided to leave Angelboy in suspense then, tucking her phone in her pocket and hurrying after Simon.
He remained snippy with her for the rest of the time, ignoring her and her jokes and paying attention to her MILF of a mom, no one had a bigger crush on Jocelyn than Simon. Clary glared at him, unsure of why this was a big deal. The amount of times she had saved him from walking into a door frame as he tracked Izzy Lightwood around corners should have more than accounted for this.
Clary decided to ignore him too, picking out some notebooks, packs of sticky notes and index cards, and a pack of plastic led pencils that snapped at the first bit of pressure applied. By the end of the first week, all of her shit just ended up in no obvious order in her bag. She didn't need any more folders, she had plenty of mint ones she had saved over the years and she would reuse whatever binders they had stored in the downstairs dresser of school supplies they saved up. Essentials only at the store.
Simon, on the other end, was a bit of a neat freak.
In addition to the essentials, he also picked out a 'manly' weekly calendar, a binder to keep all of his papers in, and a new pencil pouch because his last one had frayed beyond use.
While he was dragging her mom through the video games they had in aisle, all of their supplies in their cart she was tasked to guard, she finally slid her phone back out.
Angelboy [7:23]: lol
Angelboy [7:24]: how?
Angelboy [7:28]: okay, so did you actually die now?
Angelboy [7:30]: you okay Sage?
Sage [7:40]: sorry, was getting the silent treatment for my near death experience
Sage [7:40]: almost got ran over
Sage [7:41]: he's just being dramatic
Sage [7:41]: I've decided to be a mature adult and ignore him right back :)
Angelboy [7:41]: one of my teammates just dislocated his shoulder trying to impress coach's daughter
Angelboy [7:41]: it was a good distraction while I worried about your liveliness
Sage [7:42]: that's terrible!
Sage [7:42]: how long does that take to heal?!
Angelboy [7:42]: they popped it back in place
Angelboy [7:43]: this isn't the first time it's happened to him and he's a beast
Angelboy [7:43]: couple weeks of complete rest, and then he can start practice again and a couple more weeks before he's game ready
Angelboy [7:44]: though, he did get her attention, she freaked out
Angelboy [7:44]: i'm taking notes
Sage [7:45]: don't you dare
Sage [7:45]: i can't handle other people's pain
Sage [7:46]: i'll be a big big mess
Angelboy [7:46]: it'll be a wonderful distraction, then
Sage [7:46]: ...
Sage [7:47]: i will cry, don't think I won't
Angelboy [7:47]: well, we can't have that
Angelboy [7:47]: how are you impressed, then, if not bodily harm?
Sage [7:48]: i love flowers
Sage [7:48]: and playing in the rain
Sage [7:48]: and family bonding
Angelboy [7:48]: favorite flower?
Angelboy [7:49]: like dancing in the rain?
Sage [7:49]: i love buttercups!
Sage [7:49]: and anything colorful/unique looking, really
Sage: and Clary Sage
She bit her lip, considering the text before erasing it. Angelboy wasn't stupid, she couldn't expect to literally give him her name and not for him to realize. She would save that fact for another time.
Sage [7:50]: and yes, always dancing in the rain
Angelboy [7:50]: i'll always be prepared, then
Angelboy [7:51]: catch me going everywhere with towels in my car from now on
Sage [7:51]: my hero :)
Sage [7:51]: i'll be one happy girl
Angelboy [7:51]: and i won't even have to dislocate my shoulder!
Angelboy [7:52]: you're too chill
Sage [7:52]: in an effort to continue this full disclosure, i am totally not chill in the mornings
Sage [7:53]: I am awful, the worst and ik you're a morning person
Angelboy [7:53]: are you predicting a time where I'll be with you in the morning?
Sage [7:53]: yes
Sage [7:54]: were you not?
Angelboy [7:54]: You're. Killing. Me.
Angelboy [7:54]: i must admit, it's crossed my mind before
Angelboy [7:54]: as in, it's crossed my mind a lot
Sage [7:55]: good
"Clary!" Her mom said and Clary looked up, watching as her mom hurried down the aisle. "We've been looking for you everywhere."
"I'm literally where you left me," Clary said, looking around to make sure she hadn't accidentally teleported somewhere. She wasn't, still in the aisle filled with large coolers that no one was ever in.
"Simon's just about had it with you and that phone," her mom continued like she hadn't said anything. Clary started pushing the cart, walking next to her mom .
"What? Why?" Clary asked, surprised. He hadn't said anything.
Her mom sighed. "Because you're glued to it all the time."
"That's not true," Clary protested. "I'm really good at putting it aside for long periods of time, I am! I'm hardly on it when I hang out with everyone, they don't even realize something is going on!"
"But this is Simon and he's always used to different attention from you."
"This is like Christopher again," Clary grumbled, remembering just how irritated Simon had gotten when he had been forced to share his time with her. "He never tells me what he's feeling, I can't just tell all time."
Their conversation came to a halt as they ran into Simon who was walking down the aisles, apparently looking for her even if he was still ignoring her.
"Let's just pay," Clary grumbled, annoyed for real now. "I'm ready to leave."
The remaining time of their trip was quiet, filled only with the occasional comment from Jocelyn when she attempted to break the silence. Simon didn't even say goodbye to her when they dropped him off, which miffed Clary all over again.
When they got back to their house, Clary took her bag upstairs and threw her new stuff into her backpack which she just unpacked from the year before yesterday. It only took a minute of her light being on for yelling to reach her. They didn't have air conditioning in the house, just a small window one in her mom's office/stuido because she was in it so often, and they had their windows open the entire summer.
"Clary! Clary!"
She abandoned her backpack and headed to her window, waving down at the boys waving up at her.
"Come down, babe!" Raphael called, beckoning her down.
Clary glanced at Jon, not wanting to bother him but he didn't look miffed at the idea so she headed back downstairs. Luke and her mom were sitting on the couch, watching the news with a wine of glass each. She slid open the back door in their living room and stepped outside, instantly on their large deck Luke had spent nearly a month assembling with Jon and some of his friends last summer. With a large hangover that covered about half of the deck and a long table with built in benches, it was pretty much an extension of their home. They spent so much time out here, having large get togethers for their friends.
Clary stepped off the deck, down to where 7 guys were gathered around a fire. The senior boys on the soccer team, the ones Jon had been best friends with since his freshman year of school.
"Beer?" Jon asked her, wiggling a can up.
"No thanks," Clary said, shaking her head as she sat down in an empty chair Jon must have set out for her. Which was really sweet. Ew.
"How are you, gorgeous?" Meliorn asked her, winking at her across the fire.
"Never better," she said, flashing him a smile. Of the boys in the back, Raphael and Meliorn were Jon's closest friends and she had spent a lot of time with them over the years.
"Never?" Daniel asked, smirking. "Oh, do tell, Fray."
"The best of the Soccer team in my backyard, what else is there to say?"
"The lady has a point," Raphael said.
Clary pulled her phone out, it had buzzed.
Angelboy [7:56]: i think about you in every way often
Angelboy [7:56]: you live in my mind like a song i can't stop singing
Lewis [8:37]: i'm sorry
Fray [8:37]: me too
Lewis [8:38]: it was childish of me too ignore you
Fray [8:38]: it was childish of me to ignore you back
Lewis [8:39]: am i still picking you for school tomorrow?
Fray [8:39]: yes! I'll bring the bagels!
Lewis [9:39]: yesssss, see you tomorrow Fray!
Sage [8:40]: hope it's a good song at least, nothing Justin Bieber
Clary turned her screen off, looking back at the boys.
They were laughing about something and Clary felt like she was watching everything from the outside looking in, like she was watching a movie. The fire was cracking and kept casting shadows on their young, smiling faces. It was how she thought of her brother, how he looked right now. Happiness etched in to every line on his face, with smiles full of teeth and shinning eyes. Her fingers itched to hold a pencil, to draw this moment in time.
"I can't believe we're seniors," Daniel said, looking glassy eyed. "Seems like just yesterday we were getting together for our first before school bonfire."
"I wouldn't know, you guys didn't invite me," Meliorn said, and they all rolled their eyes. He brought that up almost. Every. Damn. Day.
"That's because you were a bitch," Jon told his best friend. "And my mom don't like bitches over the house."
It was a bit of a stretch. Really, Jocelyn didn't like her bitch of an ex-husband to be in the house, a sentence they used to hear often when growing up. It stuck to both of them.
"Don't lie," Meliorn said. "Your mom loves me."
"Not as much as she loves Simon," Charlie said and the boys laughed.
"She doesn't even love her own kids as much as she loves Simon," Raph pointed out, dodging the empty can Jon chucked at him.
"And I think we all know Daniel is her favorite here," Clary said. "He's the only one who ever brings her food."
Daniel reached across the space between them for a fist bump.
Angelboy [8:45]: i'm heading back home if you want to play pool soon
Angelboy [8:45]: i can't not talk to you for hours but I also can't go to bed after 2
Sage [8:46]: how's 9:30 sound?
Sage [8:46]: i have to pick out my back to school outfit (because my mom would kill me if i didn't) and i have to shower
Angelboy [8:46]: sounds perfect
Angelboy [8:47]: i have to pack and shower and who knows what else
Sage [8:47]: okay
Sage [8:47]: i'll be waiting for you to play me in pool
Clary headed upstairs at 9, saying goodbye to her brother's besties and goodnight to her parents as she walked by. It was a hair washing night, which she both loved and hated. Her curly hair routine took some serious time but she had it down pat now and it was always worth it in the morning.
Then she grabbed her favorite pair of jeans, a scarf belt, and a tiny white tank top to wear and draped them on her chair. She had this short sleeved tie top to where over it when she was near administration or with snitch teachers, but she didn't want to have to do that too often. It was going to be hot.
Angelboy [9:29]: i'm one minute early
Angelboy [9:29]: play Angelboy in 8 ball pool
Clary quickly climbed into her bed and hooked her phone up to the charger, settling down to talk to him for hours. She could hear her brother and his friends laughing through her window during the quieter moments in her music and it made her even happier.
Since he sent her the game, it was her job to break in pool, something she excelled at. She hit four in before she sent it back to him.
Sage [9:30]: i'm so happy rn
Sage [9:30]: like holy shit, i don't know if I've ever been this happy in my life
Angelboy [9:31]: because i was early?
Sage [9:31]: no, silly
Sage [9:31]: because of you and my friends and my family and the weather outside
Angelboy [9:31]: oh, lol
Angelboy [9:32]: because i was going to say, i'll be early every night if it makes you this happy
Angelboy [9:32]: but same
Angelboy [9:32]: this is the happiest i have ever been to start a school year
Angelboy [9:33]: so much to look forward to
Clary had never been this excited to start a school year either. She was officially an upper classmen and she loved her friends and her family and she liked this new guy who might become more than that if she let herself be even more vulnerable.
She just needed to let herself.
She would let herself.
If he broke her heart, that wouldn't be on her.
She had lost Christopher when she stopped loving him and he had been one of her closest friends before that and now she was scared of that happening again.
But, if her mom had taught her anything in life, it was that nothing worth having in life comes easy. Luke certainly hadn't been easy. Leaving their father hadn't been easy. Raising two kids for several years with only selling her art work hadn't been easy. If her mom could be brave, then so could she.
sorry for the long chapter, just couldn't stop! Next chapter will be Angelboy's POV. Hopefully it won't be too long to finish up!