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Clary blindly pedaled down her secret path, tears streaming down her face. She couldn't take it anymore. Nobody liked her, cared about her, or wanted her there.
Everyone had taken advantage of her. She helped so many students and teachers, and they gave her a measly thank you in return.
Sometimes, people start appreciating you more after you're gone.
Clary stopped at the side of the path, and wiped her eyes. She calmed herself down, and hopped back on her bike. Just as she was about to get on her bike, she heard a car behind her.
"Clary! Wait up!" yelled Simon.
She turned around, and saw Simon's old truck pulling up behind her. She stood frozen in place, fearing that Simon would hurt her. In a blink of an eye, he was in front of her, too close for comfort. Clary took three steps back, and Simon was wise enough to stay where he was.
"Clary," he said, breathlessly. "Look. There's no excuse for my actions. I was a horrible friend, and I know you hate me. But please, let me just, explain. I was angry. Really angry. You were so nice about everything, telling me you only saw me as a brother. I couldn't handle rejection. For some reason, Jace hated you, and he gave me $150 for selling one of your secrets to him. I only told him Valentine abused you, nothing else I swear. I-"
Clary cut him off by slapping him, hard. She was seething in anger.
"What makes you think that this stupid shit of an apology will make things better?" she yelled. "The day you told him was the day I stopped trusting ANYBODY. If it wasn't clear then, I'll make it clear now. Because of you, my already shitty life became ten times worse. Leave me the fuck alone!"
Simon hung his head in shame, cradling his cheek. Clary hopped onto her bike and pedaled away.
What gave him the right to come back to her? The one thing she couldn't let anyone find out about, and Simon told Jace. With a sigh, she focused on the path, oblivious to the fact that someone was following her.
When Clary reached her house, she was relieved that Valentine wasn't home. He didn't come home till 9, not because of his job. Hell, he didn't have a job. Instead, he used Clary's hard earned money to drink.
Clary had three jobs.
Her first job was the auto shop. Sometimes she would be asked to paint designs onto vehicles, other times she would be cleaning the shop up. The only reason she did it was for the car.
When she applied for the job, she saw a somewhat old, rusty car near the side of the shop. Clary learned that they bought the car, and were waiting for someone to buy it. She knew this had to be her car. If she turned 18, she had to be able to get far away from Valentine, far away from everyone. She needed a fresh start.
So, Clary made a deal with the owner. If she did whatever they wanted, they would give her the car, all fixed up, for free when she was 18. This meant even if they called her at 2 in the morning to paint a design, she would have to do it.
But nobody in their right mind would give her a car free of charge. Even though she felt guilty about doing it, she used the "my mom and brother abandoned me with a drunk dad" card on them. The owner pitied her, and accepted her offer.
Her second job was at a small, but popular bookshop. The owner, Luke, was kind, and apparently, he knew Jocelyn. In her eyes, Luke was her father, because he helped her through hard times. He knew Valentine was a bad man, and he never said a word when she ran into his arms, bleeding everywhere. He would wordlessly give her ointments and bandages to heal her.
He supported her in every way, fed her what little food he had, and loved her as a father would love a daughter. She had told him her plan of leaving when she was 18, and he was happy for her.
Her final job, the worst of them all, was at a diner, Taki's. She hated working there because Jace and his gang would come there every day to eat something.
They would mock her, and make her do their bidding, ni matter how stupid it was. The owner of Taki's hated them just as much as Clary did, and had half the mind to kick them out. But, she would never do that, because they were the highest paying customers.
She walked up to her room, and checked the time. 3:35. Good.
Clary had to work all three jobs every night, and her first shift started at 4:30. She needed to make dinner, clean the house, and shower. Great.
When it was 4:15, Clary left the house wearing exactly what she wore to school, except she changed into her work shirt, which was all black except it said Taki's in bold, red letters on the front.
She ditched her hoodie and opted for a black jacket. She pulled her bike out, which she repainted black every month. It took her twenty minutes to get to Taki's, which meant she had five minutes to spare.
She went though the back door, and entered the main office. She went to her time slot, filled her name out, and picked up her order pad. She quickly walked through the double doors leading out of the kitchen, and was surprised to see that the restaurant wasn't as crowed as it usually was.
"Clary!" yelled Kaelie, her co-worker. "Finally, you're here! I need a break. Take over for me for a bit will ya?"
In all honesty, Clary hated Kaelie because she was a bitch with a capital B. Kaelie went to the same school as Clary, and had given up on bullying her. She made Clary do almost all the work while she would be flirting with random customers.
With a sigh, she started her hour and a half long shift.
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