Here is the next chapter to Idris Academy. I have read all of your reviews and I hope I can deliver on all your expectations. Thanks for always commenting and giving me food for thought :) All the rights belong to Cassandra Clare and Yoko Kamio. Hope you enjoy !
Chapter Twenty One: Your Time Starts Now
Clary could hear cheering and loud music echoing down the halls from the stage as she hurried down the hall, with the rest of the contestants in her group. Her heart was still racing from her impromptu speech but she had got enough applause to feel better about the first round. After she had finished, she could barely hear anything over the loud, raucous chants coming from her family and friends, even the judges had looked round in amusement and disbelief.
"You have twenty minutes until the first round' shouted the attendant as they walked into the room, 'if you aren't ready, we aren't waiting".
Clary was jostled and jerked from side to side as 100 girls virtually sprinted into the room, taking their clothes out of bags, taking them off racks and holding them up to the light. Clary headed towards her dressing table and Kaelie said as she passed
"Nice job, Clarissa".
She winked and turned back to where she was adjusting her hair into an elegant bun and Clary felt her spirits rise. If all her competitors were like this, she wouldn't have to worry about any dirty tricks. At exactly that moment, Cecilia shot her a filthy look and Clary immediately lost her optimism. She had to keep an ear to the ground, make sure nobody tried to sabotage her. Not everyone was gracious if they lost to you and there were some very high things at stake.
She sat down in front of her half of a mirror and opened up her bag, the zip catching on a piece of wrapping paper. Clary tugged at it but it made a small ripping noise, so she had to kick off her shoes, bend down and slowly edge the zip along. It seemed to take an age but she finally got the bag undone and pulled out a box wrapped in silver paper.
Wondering whether it was a bomb or a spider in a box, she gingerly tore a piece of paper off the box, so that it revealed a navy blue edge. Feeling slightly safer, she tore the whole side off so that it revealed a jewellery box with a Tiffany's logo. Clary stared at the logo for a couple of seconds before slowly opening the lid.
Within was a stunning silver chain bangle, that was chunky and elegant at the same time, and Clary felt something in her throat catch. It was chosen by someone with impeccable taste and who had slipped in here when she was on stage. It could have been Jace or Aline or even the other Shadowhunters. Right now, she needed all the support she could get and this had been perfect.
She turned around, clutching the box, unwilling to let it go and headed towards the rack of dresses where she had hung up her outfit. Girls were pulling dresses off left, right and centre and Clary had to shove her way to the front to get a turn. She flicked through the dresses, so many labels, colours, styles and sizes, and located the spot where she had hung hers. She couldn't see her dress or her named bag where she kept it, so she continued flicking through it, getting nasty looks from some of the other girls as she held up the line.
"Hurry up" hissed one of them and she hissed right back
"I can't find my freaking dress".
There was an eye roll or two, a couple of sympathetic looks and Clary had the sinking feeling that this had happened before. Someone asked
"Are you sure you put it on this rack?" and Clary nodded but aside from this, the other girls needed to get ready themselves, not spend time helping other contestants. She heard someone shout
"Ten minutes" and her excitement faded as she crawled around on her hands and knees, searching for her mislaid dress. Someone shouted
"Is this it?" and she turned around, already to say no. The girl was holding up a grey chiffon dress, that was ripped and torn and had smudges all over it, and had obviously been shoved in the cupboard from the previous year. Then her heart froze and she realised that it was her dress and the reason it looked so old was from the amount of dust on it. Taking the dress wordlessly, she retreated back to her table, already able to see the smug looks on the faces of those who knew one contestant was already out.
"Dear, oh dear' said Cecilia, as she passed, 'is that the state of your dress? That's what happens when you buy an expensive dress and take it back to a primitive cave?"
Clary ignored her, her words meaningless in the face of pity. Cecilia had probably done this any way but she had absolutely no proof or evidence. She turned back to her dress, staring at rips and tears, as well as the dark smudges all over the dress. It had been lovely, an A-Line, high necked short sleeve dress, with embroidery at the top and an plain, elegant flow down to the ground. Now the embroidery was half hanging off, one sleeve had been ripped and there was a dark patch right in the middle, visible to all.
Behind her, the girl's voices blurred into one, their laughter and discussions blending together in a cacophony of sound, making it impossible to think. You have to compete, she told herself, you haven't put in all this hard work, for it to go to waste. Suddenly Cecilia's voice rang out above the rest and Clary realised she was still taunting her.
She needed to do this, to prove once and for all, that wealth did not buy everything and when she left this competition, she could walk out with her head held high. Somewhere along the way, her desire to win for her family had lessened and her desire to prove herself to the whole world had increased. She wanted to come out with her dignity and pride intact. But what was she suppose to do? She didn't have that much time.
"There is no point in dragging him here at a time like this" said Aline, pointedly from where she was standing in front of her mother.
"She's not going to win anyway' said Imogen, scribbling down a comment on her report, 'it won't matter whether he is there or not".
Aline leant forward and said
"You are the only person who believes that".
Imogen raised an eyebrow and said
"Actually darling, you and your brother are the only ones who believe Clarissa Fray is going to win. You picked the losing side. It's why I passed you over to take over this company".
"No' said Aline sharply, 'you passed me over because of my love life. Because I chose to fall in love with the wrong person. Because I didn't conform to your expectations. Well guess what? I am not going to let my brother become miserable and self-hating because of you".
"What in the world are you trying to say?" said Imogen finally looking up.
Aline stepped back and said
"Jace has become a mature and honest person. Before he met Clary, he was self-destructive and nobody respected him. The only thing he had was wealth and influence. Now he is actually caring about his future, about what he has to offer the world. About being a good person".
Imogen looked at her daughter and said
"What has being a good person got to do with succeeding in life?"
Aline rolled her eyes and said bitterly
"You never step back and take a look at yourself, do you? You never think about what you say, about how you hurt people, in fact it gives you malicious pleasure to see someone fail or crash and burn, doesn't it? Why don't you admit it, for the first time in your entire godforsaken life, somebody has actually stood up to you. And they aren't backing burns, doesn't it? It burns real bad. Well let me tell you something, Mother. The flame is just getting warm".
Imogen's lips curled into a snarl and she stood up, turning towards the window which overlooked New York. She said
"If that girl wins, I'll listen to whatever you say. But that little girl can't possibly win. That's the reality".
Aline didn't break her mother's gaze but the sound of something crashing outside made her turn towards the door. Malachi opened the door, his face pale and the side of his face bleeding and he said
"Ms Herondale, your son is here".
Aline's mouth opened in an O as three security guards held down a struggling and swearing Jace, who was handcuffed and tied up for an extra measure.
"Jace' said Aline, starting forward, but her mother said coldly, 'do not touch your brother".
Jace gave her a look of pure loathing and hatred but she didn't quail under his glance. She said
"If I didn't do this, you wouldn't listen to what I have to say, right?"
She walked right up to him and he spat at her, his lips curled into a snarl, uncannily like hers only seconds ago. Her facial expression didn't change as an attendant brought out a hanky quickly and she wiped her face. Then she said
"I stand by what I said".
Clary got funny looks as she walked to the stage entrance but she tried to ignore them. She avoided everyone's gazes and then stared at her hands the entire time the announcements were made. Then the girls in her group started walking onto stage, like they had been trained their entire lives for this. One would walk on, do a couple of twirls and then walk back off, gracefully before the next girl followed. Clary swallowed, praying she had made the right decision. Praying she hadn't made a terrible mistake.
All of the other girls were wearing elegant, stylish clothes, like they had just come out of one of Aline's magazines whilst she was wearing...well. Stop pitying yourself, she said but could hardly watch as Kaelie and Cecilia strolled onto the stage she was so nervous. She breathed in and out, watching as each girl exited the stage her face abuzz with some sort of emotion. It didn't help that girls behind her kept on asking what it was like and mulitple answers were shot back.
Finally Clary heard her name being called over the announcer.
"Now Contestant Number 386. Miss Clarissa Fray. Please welcome her to the stage".
Clary slowly made her way to the curtain crack before stepping out into the bright spotlight.
"What is she wearing?'coughed Sebastian, as he stared at the figure on the stage, 'did she not specifically listen to the instructions we have been giving her for the past month. This competition is about...fashion and expressing your talent for design and..."
"I think she looks good' said Simon, 'plus it is completely different to every single generic outfit we have seen in the past 300 girls. Surely you can admit that".
"I admit that...the judges might not like non-generic things".
"Please' said Alec, 'this whole competition is about finding the extraordinary and showcasing it to the world".
Both Simon and Sebastian looked at him and he flushed.
"I've been spending a lot of time with Magnus".
"Speaking of spending a lot of time, has Jace seen his own reflection and fallen in love? What's taking him so long?"
"He's just nervous' said Simon, 'he is really worried about Clary".
Sebastian looked like he was going to vomit and said
"I didn't not need to know that Jace has a weak bladder".
Now Alec looked like he was going to vomit and said
"You were the person who brought it up".
They were all startled by the clapping and cheering that started around them and head towards the stage. Simon started clapping loudly as well and Clary walked forward to the edge of the stage where the announcer was standing. He gave her an encouraging smile and said
"Well, well, well. Another surprise from you, Clarissa. Tell us about your design, did you create it yourself?"
Clary stared down at her dress. She had borrowed some scissors off another girl and cut off the bottom of the dress in a jagged line so that it reached mid leg. She had tied the torn sleeve around her arm in a strap shape and added a couple more rips and tears so that it looked artsy rather than accidental. The dirt had been harder to hide so she had taken the torn off fabric and tied it round her middle, like a sash, the ends dangling down to her knees. She had reused her wedge boots, pulled on some ripped black tights and sprayed her hair with a hell of lot of hairspray, before teasing it up so it looked like a birds nest. She had wiped her face of all makeup, making her only accessory the Tiffany's bracelet, which added to vibe she was trying to create. She grinned out at the audience and said
"I thought it looked just the same as the other dresses, are you trying to tell me it doesn't?"
There was a ripple of laughter and Clary tried to ignore the judges gaze. The host said smirking
"What inspired you to try this sort of design? Paris? Milan? Tokyo?"
"Well' said Clary, hoping her words carried to the rest of the contestants, 'I have to thank my anonymous helper. Without your...input, it would never have given me the idea to create this sort of look".
"Well, it certainly is an unforgettable look' said the host, 'one last thing, do you think this is enough to get you through to the final?"
Clary forced herself not to shrug, instead tilting her head so that her profile showed and said
"I am not going to rely on my looks to get me through this competition, especially since it only makes up one fifth of the testing. I think you should wait and see what else I deliver in my next rounds".
There was a small silence before the host whistled and said
"You heard it, ladies and gentlemen. Please give Clarissa a round of applause".
Clary waved at her friends and walked off the stage, trying not to trip over in her heels whilst simultaneously remembering she should have twirled around to wave at the judges, like Aline had said.
"She forgot to wave at the judges" said Sebastian, echoing her thoughts.
"Nobody cares" said Simon echoing his own.
Thirty minutes later, Clary was back on the stage, her hair pulled stubbornly into a low pony, though half of it was sticking out in a mass of curly knots, her clothes replaced with her introduction outfit. She could see the judges in the distance and then she heard the host say
"Right ladies and gentlemen. You have just seen the last two groups compete and now we are up to group 3. The combination of these scores and the ones they scored in the fashion round will be totalled up and exactly half of the competitors will be sent home before the rest of the competition progresses. And without further ado, the competition is going to begin".
The girls looked at him expectantly and he continued.
"Right, you will be separated into ten groups. Girls 1 to 10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40, 40-50, 50-60, 60-70, 70-80, 80-90 and 90-100, you are all groups. Initially you will work together as a time to come up with the answers to a succession of questions I shall ask. After this round, five groups will be eliminated and you shall have another round to eliminate another you shall separate again and face off against each other. The questions are completely random. Please adjourn to your respective tables".
Clary headed over to where the sign said Girls 80-90, where there was ten chairs around a circular table, paper and pens scattered around the table and smiled at some of the other girls. When everyone was seated, the host said
"Alright then. Question 1. What is the difference between a civil and criminal court? You have two minutes. Your time starts now".
Already one of the girls was grabbing a pen and a piece of paper, scribbling Question 1 down, the other girls hurriedly adding to the question. Clary leant forward, straining her brain for the answer however the girls were already looking up. The same applied for Question 2 and 3 and she found herself out of her depth, a) in answering questions she had limited knowledge on and b) battling with nine other girls to get the answers down.
"Question 4' said the host, 'describe how the role of a Chief Justice? You have two minutes, your time starts now".
Clary, not wanting to seem dumb, blurted out
"They are the highest federal judiciary officers".
The girl wrote it down and said
"What else? Come on then. What is the role?"
"Um...well', said Clary, not wanting to lose the opportunity to speak, 'their role is set out in Article 3, the President nominates them, they are confirmed the US Senate and..."
Another girl rolled her eyes and said
"That isn't their role. They preside over the court and set the agenda for the court case. They also preside over any presidential impeachment proceedings and administer the presidential oath of office".
She sat back then, looking sullenly at her hands and Clary felt herself flush as the other girl copied down the words. She hated feeling stupid in front of people, she felt so inadequate afterwards. Especially if they weren't her friends. Law featured in the first five questions, politics in the next. Clary got a couple of answers in, however they only formed part of the answer and she was left wondering about her place in the group. Did they eliminate contestants that didn't have a large enough role in the proceedings?
"Question 11' said the host, 'what is Newton's Three Laws of Motion?"
Clary's eyes whipped upwards, she knew Science, she studied Newton in Ninth Grade Science and she wasn't about to let anyone stop her from answering it. She wanted to prove she had a place in the competition.
"Newton's First Law of Motion is that every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state unless an external force is applied to it. The Second is..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa' said the girl, scribbling down the answer, 'hang on...tends to remain in.."
Clary waited patiently and then continued describing the laws. Another girl added that the Second Law included F=ma, but she was eying Clary with some respect. The next few questions were easier for Clary as well, she was good at Science and had spent hours reviewing chemical formulas, inertia laws and physics in her room for tests. She was okay at Math's, didn't give much for English, helped answer two questions in History and by the end of 50 questions, she felt a lot better than she had at the start. She noticed that Cecilia was just sitting back in her chair, a bored expression on her face, though she lent forward every time the host looked round.
"Times up' said the host, 'I shall now read out the answers and at the end, you will be ranked. If there are any ties, there will be a bonus round. And no cheating, we can see you on the stage and we have video camera surveillance".
He said it with a twinkle in his eye but Clary had no doubt she would be disqualified if she cheated. The judges seemed pretty menacing.
He started reading out the answers and Clary was pleased to see that out of the fourteen questions where she had had the most input, twelve gained full marks, and one other was only ½ a mark away from full marks. She could feel her lungs starting to constrict with fear and a pain settling on her gut. They had to get through. Finally the host said
"Okay, total up your scores".
Clary waited with baited breath as the girl who had marked it, counted up their ticks. After an age, she said
"43 out of 50".
It wasn't bad but was it enough? The host asked the girls for their scores and Clary was relieved to hear they were in the top three. The fifth and sixth group had tied so there was a bonus round, which eventually went to the fifth group. Both Kaelie's and Cecilia's groups had got through, Kaelie's at the top but Clary was too busy smiling to care. She hoped Jace had been there to see her and Sebastian. They had spent so much time prepping her, that if she had failed, she would have been so disappointed in herself.
Clary watched as the other five groups were moved off the stage, a couple of girls with tears streaking down their faces, others with grim determination cemented like stone across their mouths and eyes. They weren't prepared to give up. Well neither was she.
"Right' said the host, 'moving on. All five groups shall now compete out of 20 questions. Start on a new page".
Clary watched as the girl drew up the question number and then the host said
"Question 1. What is the Japanese word for cat?"
"Neko" said Clary quickly and the girl looked at her, before writing it down. There was a furious debate going over at Cecilia's table, between her and another girl and their voices reached the host, who frowned slightly before nodding for the TV cameras to zoom in on them. It was always good for the drama. He said
"Question 2. There are two French words for..."
After the five language questions, there were five economics questions which Clary didn't understand. She had always been too worried about her family's own savings to care about the rest of the world. She did okay on the IT section, basic computer skills were a must at Idris, but the other girls were just as proficient and maybe more so, she only got a chance to offer a suggestion for one. Finally the host said
"Question 15. Who am I? I am a Greek philosopher and mathematician. I was an influential figure in Western philosophy. I was the student of Socrates and my own student was Aristotle".
He paused and Clary hissed
"It's Plato".
She felt a smile quirk at her lips, she had spent enough time with Camille to know the answer to that immediately. She gazed over her boss and friend, who was giving her the thumbs up back. Clary gave her the thumbs up back and then turned to listen to the next question.
"Question 16. Who am I? I am a..."
When the competition had finished, the host again repeated his instructions from before and this time, their group had improved. 18 out of 20. They had to be still in the competition. Sure enough, they were still in and Clary felt a sigh of relief as another group left the stage, thankful it wasn't herself. Then the host said
"Alright ladies. The time has come for all remaining forty in this group to separate. You are now on your own. Please take a piece of paper and a pen and sit around the stage. You will be answering 50 questions again".
Clary gulped, her worry settling back in. That was a lot of questions. She stared into the crowd but it was hard to tell their reactions. She stared down at her piece of paper and shifted as her ankles dug into the wooden floorboards. She was uncomfortable but she tried to focus. She couldn't lose sight of her goal.
"Question 1. What is federalism? You have two minutes. Your time starts now".
Imogen had dismissed Aline and her men and now it was just her and Jace in that room. Trading insults, poking each others wounds and circling each other like caged tigers. After about ten minutes of getting nowhere, she hissed
"Why don't you just sit down and LISTEN TO ME?"
"Seriously' said Jace, refusing to listen, 'I want to watch Clary".
"Kaelie's in the competition, as well as the entirety of America's elite' said Imogen, 'there is no way that commoner girl can win or even come remotely near the top ten".
Jace sniggered and said
"Clary is the kind of girl who can overcome any adversity. I know she's gonna place. You do as well otherwise you wouldn't have dragged me here to talk to you. I bet you that you are just angry because for once in you have LOST. And when she WINS, you have to do whatever I say. Otherwise America and most of your biggest trading partners are going to wonder why you won't accept a Teen Of New York winner. Maybe you are getting a little too old? Unwise, even".
There was a long silence.
"Then' said Imogen, cocking her head to one side, 'if she doesn't win, you will do whatever I say. However if she does win, I will do whatever you say".
Jace stared at her shrewdly and she said
"What? Do you have a problem with that?"
Jace stared up at the roof before saying
"Okay".
Imogen said
"A man doesn't go back on his word, alright?"
"The same goes for YOU' said Jace, 'don't come crying to me if you lose".
Imogen smiled and said
"You can go watch your little friend now".
"You can go to hell" said Jace as he walked out.