Jun 3 at 8:07 PM
I slid my eyes over at Simon, looking away when he looked at me.
"What!?" He demanded.
"Nothing." I said, sighing and continuing to pout.
"No, it's not nothing. You've been looking at me and pouting for almost an hour. What's up?"
I looked to the side, away from him.
"Oh, God." He said. "What did you do?"
I chewed on my lip, sneaking a look at him and then looking away again.
"I made out with Jace Herondale." I admitted.
I picked at a price of lint on my shirt as I waited for him to respond. When a few moments passed without word from him, I began to worry. I was about to look up when I heard him make a choking sound. "Um...did I hear you right?"
I nodded, to confused to do much else. "So...you made out with Jace Herondale?"
"Yepper peppers."
"When?"
"New Years...and today."
"Okay then. So are you two..."
Together? That's what I wanted to know.
{•}
I woke up the Saturday much earlier than I'd planned by the excessive ringing of my phone. My plan had been to sleep in until dad woke Jon and us up with his screaming, and then mope for about two hours because Jace had been pretty much avoiding me, and when we did talk, he acted like nothing had happened—aside from the fact that he made sure to not get all touchy-touchy with me in any sense. I sighed, grabbing my phone. I squinted against the blinding light, waiting until it cleared enough that I could see my brothers name. Wondering why his was FaceTimeing me at five in dreaming morning, I answered. I was even more confused when I saw him still in the lodge where they had vacationed in.
"Hey, little sis." He said. His voice muffled thanks to the big coat he was wearing.
"Why are you guys not back yet?!" I screamed my eyes going wide.
"We're kind of..."
"Oh, no." I said, my mouth dropping open.
"Oh yeah. We're snowed in. Dad is acting like The Hulk 2.0, as you can imagine."
"And you?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty damn pissed to."
"Did you break anything?"
He shrugged. "A lamp or two."
I shook my head. "So...what do we so now?"
He smiled a tiny smile. "Yeah, about that. I'm going to need you to do something for me."
{•}
An hour later, I stood in front of the white door, wishing I could be anywhere else. I knocked, backing away and crossing my arms across my chest. My breath caught when the door opened, no matter how I tried to stop it. I think I stared breathing completely as I stared at the tanned chest, at the lean muscles the rippled as he pushed open the door all the way. I resisted the urge to run my hands over the hard, deep ridges and looked up into his face.
"Clary?" He said, eyes widening.
Swallowing against what felt like sandpaper, I nodded. "Hey."
"Wh—what are you doing here? Are you okay?"
Refusing to care that he cared if I was okay, I nodded.
"Jon sent me. Emergency team business."
"Okay. What's up?"
"Can I come in?" I asked, holding back a shiver.
He seemed to just notice that it was 30 freaking degrees outside. "Oh. Yeah—sorry."
He ushered me inside, closing the door when I was all the way inside.
"Hold on a sec." He said, and ran up the stairs.
He came down a few minutes later, dressed in a dark blue t-shirt and the jeans that he'd been wearing. I was as happy to see the shirt on as I was sad. I needed to concentrate on the task at hand, and his gorgeous naked chest was very distracting. I figured I'd just rip the band aid off. "Dad and Jon are stuck at the lodge—snowed in, to be more specific."
"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that." He said, shaking his head.
"You could do that, but it would kind of guarantee us losing."
"Okay, yeah. Good point."
"I've got the game plan, and my dad's halftime speeches—the negative and positive ones. And Jon called Jem and talked him into filling his spot. So, as team captain, the rest is in your hands."
He sat down next to me, our bodies brushing against each other.
At first, he just sat there. And then a smile spread across his face. I loved that smile so damn much, I couldn't stop myself from smiling back.
"Then what are we waiting for?" He asked.
{•}
I sent a silent prayer to the big man above, hoping this went as planned. Most of the squad was already stretching when I got onto the field. We were in Washington D.C. For the state game, since it was against the Washington High Eagles. I'd only gotten a small look at the city, but what I had seen was amazing. I sat next to Isabelle, spreading my legs and grabbing my right foot, stretching my entire leg. "Please tell me what I heard isn't true, and your dad and brother are chilling in the locker rooms." Isabelle suddenly said.
"I could tell you that, but I'd be lying." I said.
"Jesus." She said, shaking her head.
"Yeah, I know. But it'll be okay. We can pull it off." I told her. I believed it, but that didn't mean the nerves churning my stomach weren't there.
A few minutes later, we saw the team walk out f the locker rooms. Jace was at the lead, and he looked like I felt. Taking in a deep breath, I pushed myself up from the grass and stood with the rest of the cheerleaders. The team took their prepping positions, and I swore that I could feel the tension in the air suffocating me. I sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening that we win today & make it to nationals. The referee came onto the field, glancing at the home team (The Washington Eagles) and holding up and arm when they signaled that they were ready. He did the same with our team. He looked to other teams a second time and then nodded. He threw both arms down to his side and stepped back, blowing the whistle. The teams rushed each other. Jace clashed with the Eagles' QB, head butting him in the stomach. The Eagle went down, clutching his stomach as he struggled to his feet. Jem got the ball and tossed it to Jace. Just as he was about to catch it, the Eagles' linebacker snatched it. Will knocked the Eagle down, chucking the ball at Jace after jerking it away from the linebacker. Jace took the ball and ran, knocking down players as he tore across the field. He patio pedant the Eagles' 40 yard mark, throwing the ball. It whizzed across the 30, 20, and finally 10 yard lines before flying through the goal. "TOUCHDOWN!" The referee screamed, blowing his whistle as he threw his hands up. "YES!" I shouted, jumping up. The team huddled together in the halftime circle, awaiting their coach—or in our case, team captain—to arrive. Jace caught my eye as he walked across the field toward the grabbed at me, so big that his eyes crinkled in the slightest. I grinned back so hard my cheeks ached and then went to join the squad for the half time cheer. I raced up in front of Camille Belcourt, wondering why the hell she looked so pissed. Just as we were about to get into our starting positions, she sent a glare at me that was so sharp it could cut diamonds. Oh no. Shaking off the look, I got in the starting position. The music started and I flipped back, Lissa and Nina catching my ankles and lifting me up. They dropped me backwards, and Camille pushed me back up. I was tossed into the air, doing a triple twirl. As I came out of it, I kept position. It seemed to take longer than normal to be caught, so I opened my eyes. Camille, my backspot who was supposed to catch me along with my two bases, was standing at least two feet away from them with her arms crossed. She was smirking. I panicked, my arms flinging out and reaching for anything that could stop my fall. Nina and Lissa caught my legs, slowing my fall just enough that I probably wouldn't break my skull open. I landed on my shoulder and then was flung onto my back. My head cracked against the ground, making my teeth knock against each other. I pressed my lips together and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to lock out the pain. I couldn't drag any breath in, and my back was painfully clenched. My head was pounding, may hing what felt like my heartbeat. My shoulder burned, and I didn't dare try to move it. I was pretty sure my elbow was bleeding, too but I honestly didn't care. I thought I heard voices around me, but I couldn't tell past the blood rushing in my ears. I felt someone try to move me. My entire body screamed in protest, and I tried to tell them to stop but I couldn't get enough air in. Through the chaos of shouting voices that I was finally starting to hear, I heard one voice. It belenged to the person who was holding me against their chest and stroking my hair. "You're okay. I've got you." Jace said.
