This is a completely new type of story for me to write, so I hope I write it well!

The dictionary defines abuse as 'the action of treating a person or an animal with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly'. I'd never looked at myself and thought that I was being treated with cruelty or violence. I mean, I knew that it wasn't exactly right when Sebastian, my boyfriend of nearly seven months, would get a little too angry and grab me, but he never did any damage, never hit me. He just had a temper. I'd never thought abuse. But that was exactly what was going on.

If anything, I'd always thought that I was being neglected by my parents. I understood why we didn't see them much, of course. And it was hard to complain when you lived in a house as nice as ours. See, my parents are the heads of the Morgenstern law firm. So naturally, they weren't home a lot. But like I said, we were better off for it. The only thing I regretted about it—other than not seeing my parents very often—is that I was left to live alone with my older brother, Jonathan, most of the time.

And Jonathan? He can't cook for his life. So the cooking was left to me the majority of the time. And my skills were limited to cooking things with explicit directions. So we ate a lot of those boxed mixes that come with the seasonings and things all put into it so I can just dump them in a pot.

I was in the middle of cooking one of the said boxes when I heard from my brother that a new family had moved into our school district. Now, most high schools have too many kids to really shake things up when there's a few new kids. But when your graduating class only consists of a hundred people, new kids are a big deal.

So when my brother came into the kitchen and announced that there were to be three new kids, I almost spilled boiling water all over myself as I carried it across the room to drain the pasta.

I looked to Jon in shock, balancing the pot out again as my boyfriend of six months, Sebastian, rushed over to make sure the pot didn't spill all over me. "Jesus, Clare! You need to be more careful," he said, taking the pot from me and inspecting me for any burns.

I held my hands up in surrender, turning to face Jonathan who was smirking at Sebastian.

"Dude, Clary's clumsy. You will never be able to make her un-clumsy," he joked, winking at me. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the pot handles back from Seb. I stepped over to the sink and dumped the water and pasta into the strainer. I turned the cold water on and set the pot to the side, turning to look at Jon.

"We're seriously getting three new kids?" I asked him. He grinned.

"Yeah. Maybe there'll be some hot guy for you with them," he teased. I sighed as Sebastian glared at me.

"She's got me, she doesn't need to be concerned about other guys," he said, just enough possessiveness in his tone to make Jon squint at his friend in confusion.

"I was just kidding, man," he said, looking to me with a raised brow. I just shrugged and turned back to dinner.

Jon and Sebastian had been best friends for years before we'd started dating. Originally, he'd been against it but soon warmed up to the idea that he could trust his best friend to take care of his sister better than anyone else.

Of course, the poor fool had to put up with the fact that when Seb and I fought, he was stuck in the middle. We didn't fight often, thankfully, so he wasn't usually in that position.

Of course, they seemed to be absolute opposites. Sebastian has short black hair and Jon's hair is white. And where Seb's eyes are dark, almost black, Jon's are a light green like mine.

When I finally put the pot on the table, the three plates for us already in place, Jonathan ruffled my hair affectionately and Seb kissed my cheek before we all sat down.

"So where did the new kids move into?" I asked Jon. He had a ton of friends that he texted non-stop so I wasn't surprised when he pretty much knew everything about them already.

"One of the really nice, big houses that we always go by on our way to school," he answered. "Apparently, they're loaded." I scoffed.

"Of course they are."

"Hey, rich guys," Jon said, winking. "They could get you further than this chump," he said, punching Sebastian's shoulder. I chuckled and regretted it when Seb shot me a sharp look. I quickly looked away from them, shoveling some of the cheesy pasta into my mouth.

I didn't understand why he was o sensitive about stuff like that. He knew that Jon and I both loved him. It's not like I'd just dump him for some snobby rich guy.

"They're probably all going to be girls anyway," Jon said after a minute, checking his cell for messages. "Scott texted and said that they were moving a lot of girly furniture into the house."

Sebastian visibly relaxed and I did too. That meant that I didn't have to worry about Sebastian being rude if I so much as talked to them. And chances are, I would. With such a small school, I was pretty much guaranteed to meet them at some point.

"Maybe Maia and you can get a new girlfriend," Sebastian suggested, smiling at me. I smiled back.

"Maybe. It'd be nice," I said wistfully. Maia and I were pretty close, but it was just us usually. Her boyfriend, like mine and my brother, were a grade ahead of us so we didn't really get to hang out with them during school. Well, except for my art class that I'd convince Sebastian to join so we could see each other more during the day and gym that we'd all managed to have together. But Maia wasn't in that class so it was pretty lonely when the coaches split the girls and guys.

When we were finished with our food, I gathered the plate sand took them to the sink. Jon and Sebastian kept me company while I did dishes, but of course neither helped. Boys, I thought irritably.

When I was done, the boys and I migrated to the living room where Jon and Seb began to argue about what movie to watch. I lay out along the couch and waited for them to decide. Finally, they resorted to rick, paper, scissors. I rolled my eyes as Jon cheered childishly, stuck his tongue out at my boyfriend and put Thor in. I knew most of the reason he'd argued so hard to watch it was because he knew it was one of my favorite movies.

When both boys had settled down, I rest my head in Sebastian's lap and my feet in my brother's. Sebastian smiled at me and leaned down to press a soft kiss to my lips. I laughed when Jon began to make gagging noises.

"You know the rules about PDA with my sister while I'm in the room," he said, giving Sebastian a firm look. Sebastian looked at him innocently.

"Would you prefer if we went to another room?" Jon glared at him while I chuckled and slapped his chest.

"Oh, leave him alone, Seb," I said, grabbing his hand.

He smiled at me and turned to Jon. "I apologize, Jon," he said cheekily. "I hope you can ever forgive me." Jon scoffed but I could see the smile fighting its way onto his lips.

"Maybe if you'd stop making comments like that about my sister," he said, forcing a smile away.

"Oh, lighten up, Jon," I said and sat up to put my fingers on both sides of his mouth, forcing the corners up into a disturbing smile. He pulled away but started to laugh.

"Okay, okay," Jon said, shaking his head with a smile.

I smiled and rested my head back in Sebastian's lap. Jon had rested his hands on my ankles and Seb was running his fingers through my hair when I drifted off, unable to stay awake despite one of my favorite movies being played.

I was shaken awake a little while later and opened my eyes to see the credits rolling on the TV. I blinked up at Seb sleepily.

"What time is it?" He peered at the cable box for a second.

"Eleven thirty." I yawned, and sat up. Jon was no longer sitting at the end of the couch where he'd been when I fell asleep.

I was about to ask if he'd gone to bed when he walked out of the kitchen with a glass of water and a bottle of pills. He tossed the pills to me and in my sleepy state—although let's face it, I probably wouldn't have caught it anyway—I missed them and they landed on my chest instead.

I groaned, picking the bottle up and taking the glass from him.

I'd been taking two pills every morning and night since I was twelve to prevent the migraines that seemed to pop up out of nowhere every now and then. The headaches had been really bad for a long time until my doctor finally got me on some preventative medicine that limited them to maybe once every two months, depending on my level of stress.

When I'd taken my medicine, I looked at Sebastian hopefully.

"Are you spending the night?" He looked to my brother for permission. Since Jon was the oldest, he was the one to set most of the rules when our parents were away and that included rules between Sebastian and I.

Jon looked between us with narrowed eyes. "Only if he stays in my room or the living room," he said, his usual response. "He is not sleeping in your room. God knows you're probably having sex anyway, but I can have a clear conscience knowing it didn't happen on my watch. "

I felt my cheeks immediately flame up while Sebastian laughed. Jon smirked at me.

"C'mon, Sis. We've got school tomorrow." He held out a hand for me and I took it, pressing a quick kiss to Sebastian's cheek before using Jon to stand up. I saw Sebastian grab a blanket off the back of the couch before I turned and followed Jon up the stairs. I said goodnight to Jon and changed into a pair of pajama shorts and a tank top before washing my face and slipping into bed. I set my alarm for six thirty in the morning, like usual.

I fell asleep quickly, thinking about an art project that was due soon.

I woke up to my alarm screeching at me. I reached over and fumbled with my phone until I managed to shut the stupid alarm off.

"I need to change that alarm," I muttered, just as I did every morning. I had set it as the most annoying one in my phone's selection to ensure that I woke up every morning. But that didn't mean I had to like it.

I slid out of bed reluctantly and walked over to the bathroom connected to my room. Usually I took a shower before I went to bed, but I'd been too tired last night so I would have to take one this morning.

I showered quickly and wrapped a towel around myself before stepping back into my room. Thankfully, it was a warm day so my room wasn't too cold. I stepped carefully over pencils and clothes scattered on the floor to get to my dresser. I shuffled through my shorts, sure to keep my towel tight around me in case my brother decided to check and make sure I was up. He usually didn't get up until around ten minutes after me, so he wouldn't have heard the shower.

It took me only a few minutes to pick out an outfit suitable for the weather. After getting dressed, I ran a brush through my wild curls. I ran a towel through my hair one last time before grabbing my bag, gathering up my sketching pencils from their scattered positions around my room, and heading down the stairs.

I was greeted by Sebastian, who was already drinking his coffee. I paced over to the machine, my shoes slapping against the tiles. I poured myself a cup and dumped an excessive amount of sugar in. Sebastian made a noise similar to a scoff and I looked at him with raised brows.

"Problem?" I asked. He frowned, shrugging and looking away. My smile dropped and I walked over to sit across from him, setting my cup down and grabbing his free hand worriedly. "What is it?" I asked.

He sighed, meeting my eyes again. "Shouldn't you take it a little easy on the sugar? You know it's not good for you."

My head tipped to the side a little in confusion and I looked down at my cup. "I guess…" I muttered, not fully convinced. He'd been helping me eat healthier a lot more lately, but I'd figured sugar in my coffee was fine. He squeezed my hand and smiled at me lovingly.

"It's just that I've seen the way you compare yourself to other girls and I don't want you to have to look at yourself that way." Seeing his reason, I nodded and stood up to dump the coffee, getting a fresh cup and skipping on the sugar that I usually drank.

I didn't particularly care for the bitterness of coffee, which was why I usually drowned it in sugar. But Sebastian was right that I should be eating healthier, so I'd have to put up with the taste. Soon after I'd started to sip the coffee, Jon walked into the room and smiled at us both.

"Morning," I greeted. He grunted in response. My brother isn't exactly a morning person.

Seb rolled his eyes at Jon's characteristic behavior. After we'd all had a cup of coffee, we headed out to Jon's car. I slid in the back, Sebastian taking the passenger seat like normal. Halfway through the ride to school, I suddenly remember Jon's news from last night.

"Hey, are the new kids going to be in school today?" I asked, poking him in the shoulder.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't got any more texts about them. Guess they haven't really shown their faces much since they moved their stuff in last night." I huffed and sat back against my seat, unhappy with the lack of answers.

I wasn't going to pretend to be immune to the curiosity and excitement that was sure to be buzzing around school today, keeping kids awake in classes for once and keeping the teachers infuriated with our talking during lessons.

I was curious to meet the new girls. Jon said that by the amount of girls' clothing they'd moved into the house (which he learned of from one of his nosy friends) the kids were sure to be all girls. Maybe Maia and I could befriend them. Of course, Jon was hoping to 'befriend' the girls as well.

When we pulled up to the school, I could already see the students rushing around, whispering to their friends and looking around excitedly. "Your sources have failed you, Jon," Sebastian said suddenly, as soon as we stepped onto the front lawn of the school, hand in hand.

I followed his gaze curiously and my jaw dropped, lips parting in surprise. Standing amidst the familiar students that I'd grown up with since pre-K, were two guys who seemed as though they'd fit in better in an Abercrombie ad than standing in front of our little school and a girl who wouldn't be out of place on the runway stood beside them.

Jon had been wrong.

"Three girls my ass," Sebastian growled, his hand tightening on mine until it felt as though he was snapping my bones. I winced, trying to pull my hand out of his grip as he looked at me angrily. He began to tug on my hand and I followed quickly, hoping that he would let up on his grip if I did. "I'm going to walk Clary to class," he called over his shoulder to Jon.

My brother didn't even acknowledge our absence as he met up with one of his other friends, both of them staring unabashedly at the dark haired girl.

Sebastian's grip didn't loosen until we were standing by my locker. I noticed uneasily that there was nobody else around. He let go of my hand, nearly flinging it back at me as he spun to face me beside my locker.

"I don't want you talking to them," he growled out, his eyes hard and his hands fisted at his sides. I frowned.

"Why?" I asked, my voice weak even to my own ears. Sebastian's scowl became even darker.

"Why?" He let out a sharp bark of unamused laughter. "Because I fucking saw the way you were looking at them!"

I shrunk back slightly, looking around nervously to make sure nobody was around to hear his shouting. Thankfully, my locker was in a fairly secluded hallway and everybody was too busy ogling the new kids to worry about getting their homework done before their first period class started.

"I-I was just surprised," I said quietly. That seemed to make him angrier and he reached forward to grab my wrist, tugging me closer to him.

"Surprised?" he hissed. "Bullshit. That wasn't surprised. That was checking them out." I ducked my head to look at my shoes.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I just wasn't expecting it."

Sebastian flung my arm back at me again.

"If I see you so much as looking at them again, you'll regret it." And he stormed away, leaving me staring after him in shock. After blinking away the tears threatening to fall, I looked down at my hand with a grimace and tightened my fingers into a painful fist before releasing it again.

My hand was red and aching from his grip and my wrist was scarlet enough to match my hair, already beginning to bruise.

Hope you enjoyed it :) Please review to let me know if you liked it! And don't be afraid to send some constructive criticism, it helps make the story a lot better!

-Cassidy