Fourth chapter: Surprises
It was noon. The sun hid behind the grey clouds, tree leaves floated down as the wind blew and slowly died down. The park was quiet; no one was on the playgrounds. Clary sat on a bench, humming to random music on her iPod. The wind picked up again, and Clary's fiery red hair flared behind her, it was cold and she couldn't believe that she was wearing a T-shirt and shorts. She regretted not attending school today; it was hell boring out here, alone. She made new friends on her first day of college, in Australia. Her mother had told Clary not to worry about her, but how could she notworry. Only Simon could make her forget worries and give her joy. She didn't know what to do today, she didn't feel like going to school or even doing her favourite thing; sketching. She looked at her watch, hoping time would go faster. It was only twelve, three more hours till Isabelle, Alec and Jace come back from school. Maybe she could visit their house, enjoy her time there and try forgetting her mother's injuries like what she told Clary to do. She opened up 'Doodle jump' on her iPod; it's a game where there is a monster called 'doodler' (which is you.) and the aim of the game is to jump as high as you can, every jump that is made earns you points. Clary absolutely loved the game. It's addicting, fun and easy to play, but what she loves more about it, is that every time you play it, time goes by fast.
"No way Isabelle I'm not going in there." I shouted, turning around, avoiding her face and crossing my arms. No chance I was going to walk into the science lab.
"Why not?" said Isabelle behind me,
Umm... "Well, you see... yesterday when we were in there... I kinda ... Teacher kinda... let me and Clary... time to study for the assignment and well she was suppose to come over yesterday to our place and yeah it didn't really go well." I replied, still not looking at Isabelle.
"You idiot, that's the most lamest excuse to not attend class."
"No it's not, I'm not going in there, Miss Hill is going to kill me for not studying... You go; I'm going to wag..." I trailed off, already starting to walk away, and then I felt a strong tug on my back, I fell back landing on my back, but managed to hold my books. I felt myself being lifted and dragged back, into the direction of the classroom. I tried my best holding my books so they wouldn't fall. "Isabelle! Stop it! Let me go!" I said it anyway, she wasn't going to let go.
"Why, hello Jace and Isabelle, great timing, we were just about to start class." It was a familiar voice, He knew whose voice it was. He could feel that 'great timing' was definitely sarcasm.
Isabelle dropped him onto the floor and he turned around, facing the teacher. "Oops."
"Detention, both of you. For being ten minutes late, now back to your desks." Said the teacher, angrily, making him and Isabelle heading to their desks quickly. They sat down and started talking, not realising the whole class was silent and waiting for the teacher's instructions.
"See Isabelle, look what you've done, I would have been perfectly wagging school right now. But noooo, someone dragged me here and now I'm in detention with the person who I hate." I said as we sat down in our desks. Isabelle giggled.
"Well, I'm sorry. But if I told mum that you were wagging, she would kill you twice, which is more bad than this teacher killing you, and besides, I'm sure you'll have so much fun with this assessment. I mean who wouldn't?" She bursted out laughing. Her laugh was terrible. He could have died from her 'kookaburra' laugh and it wasn't funny.
"Whatever, Someone here laughs like a kookaburra." I replied back, calmly and keeping my cool.
"What was that?" She poked me with her finger in my chest. Ouch.
"I said... Someone here laughs like a kookaburra." She poked me again right in the same spot.
"I know what you said idiot, I don't laugh like a kookaburra."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay, why?"
"Let's see... Someone just laughed twenty seconds ago, sounding like a kookaburra, and that person doesn't even know that she sounds like one... are you sure your okay? Or do you really need to get your brain checked, Miss Kookaburra?" said Jace, knowing her sister would flip.
"You idiot, I'm going to kill you right... now." Said Isabelle already standing up with her fist ready to attack. Oo, acting tough."Ahem, I think you two should save that fight for later, you have wasted too much time arguing and the class is sick of it. I shall extend your detention time if you don't be quiet immediately." Uh oh, that didn't sound good. Isabelle sat down and we looked at the teacher.
"Um... Yeah sorry Miss," I said, giving Isabelle a hard look. The whole class started laughing out loud, he didn't know what was so funny about that. Oh well."Enough, now class get back to your work I've just handed it out and I will talk to Isabelle and Jace about their disgusting behaviours." Miss Hill made her way to our desk and yelled at us.
"Now how many times do I have to tell you not to be late? You two are a disgrace to the class, one more time late to class and you guys will have a day of community service, packed with picking up rubbish, cleaning the toilets and wiping off bubblegum from the desks. Do you two understand?" shouted Miss Hill, her voice was so loud, that it could've been possible to be heard from across the whole school.
"Yes, Miss Hill." I said along with Isabelle. The teacher nodded and turned to Isabelle, "Now, Isabelle, I know you have done the assessment yesterday and there's a sheet on my desk with the instructions on what I want you to do next." Isabelle stood up without a word and walked off, leaving the teacher to face me. "Now I believe you have studied for the assessment?"
Oh great. "Oh yeah, about that Miss... I didn't really...study... because," I looked her face, she wasn't happy. I carried on to what I was saying. "Because I-"
"No excuses! Not good enough, Jace, and you know it." said Miss Hill, interrupting him. She still had more to say. "Since you haven't studied, it is an auto fail and now go get the sheet on my desk and follow the instructions. Not good enough, Jace. Not good enough." She shook her head and walked away. It all happened so quickly. He got a F. A big fat dumb F. Because he didn't study – with Clary. And he was going to blame it all on her when he finds her. She was a really unique girl, very distant. She didn't talk much about herself, which really made him want to know more about her. Too bad she couldn't come over to his house yesterday, and that reminded him; why couldn't she come over? It was a shame; he was looking forward to seeing her.
"Jace Lightwood! Why haven't you gotten your sheet off my table yet?" yelled the teacher, "I want you to start now or you will be behind everyone else!"
Jace stood up and pushed his chair in, walking up to Miss Hill's desk. He had a feeling this was going to be a long and awful class.
She got up from the bench closing her game of doodle jump. She played it so many times and its magic worked; time went by fast, although it only felt like she played it for an hour she really played it for three hours. She walked back to her house, unlocked the front door, walked in and slammed the door shut behind her before sprinting to her bedroom. She fell backwards onto her bed and relaxed. The house was quiet; she could only hear her own breathing. She hopped up and opened her wardrobe. Her clothes were neatly packed inside by her mother, she picked out a light grey coloured jacket and some skinny jeans. She changed and headed outside. It was still cold and chilly, Clary pulled up her hood, covering her hair so the wind wouldn't mess it up. She walked out of her street, turning right – away from the park, she saw a sign 'Avalon St.' Indicating that she was going the right way. It was Jace's street. Even though Jace, Isabelle and Alec were only friends with her for a short time, she knew she had found her place in their group and she was loving it. Number sixteen was Jace's house number... She walked past fourteen and then she stopped at the house after it. She gasped, it was beautiful. The front garden was spacious with nicely cut grass. Their black BMW car parked on their driveway. The scent of roses hanged in the air as well as in the bushes near the front door as she moved closer to the one storey house.
She knocked on the door, wondering who would open it. The door slowly opened, and there stood Jace. His hair was messy, he wore the same clothes the day she met him; school uniform. His golden eyes stared at her. "Clary?"
"Hey, look... I'm sorry I couldn't come over yesterday and about the assessment I'm really sor-" Jace placed a finger on her lips, silencing her. "It's okay, come in." Clary took her shoes off, revealing her pink socks. "Nice socks." said Jace. Clary's cheeks flared and heated up.
"Thanks." She just had to wear these socks today.
"Haha, no problem." He gave her a wink and led her in, she took a look around the house, his house was so neat, pretty. "I wasn't expecting you to come." said Jace, as we walked past his kitchen.
"I'm sorry, just had an awful long day. Decided to meet some people like you, Isabelle or Alec... Anyways where are they? House is really quiet." She replied, also wondering where Jace was taking her to. They passed a couple of bedrooms until Jace stopped at a door. He opened it before replying.
"My mum, Izzy and Alec went out shopping and I'm not really the shopping type." He grinned and beckoned her to come inside the room, "This is my bedroom, I guess we could sit here and relax."
Clary sat on his bed, while he went ahead and opened the windows, letting the cool breeze come took a look around his bedroom, his desk looked similiar to her's but it wasn't pink, it was black. The carpet was fluffy white with no stains. A small glass display cabinet was next to his window. She got up and moved closer trying to see what was in it, she discovered it was filled with trophies. "You play a lot of sport." she said, carefully studying the trophies; one had a person spinning a basketball with one finger with the words 'Best player of 2009' written below.
"Yeah, I know I'm pretty good at every sport. How about you?" he asked, sitting down on his bed. "I bet you might have some skill at something."
"Nah, I really don't. I'm not the sporting type."
He chuckled, "Oh really? You look like someone that can do good in cheerleading."
She laughed, totally not. She sat next to him on the bed,"Whoa seriously? Cheerleading isn't a sport."
"It is, our school has lessons, I'll tell Izzy that you can do it with her. You will do it perfectly." He smiled, proud at what he just said.
Clary gave Jace a little shove, "You wouldn't do that, or else I'll attempt to steal one of your precious trophies."
He laughed, "Jealous that I have heaps, are we?"
She pretended not to be, "Nope, I could easily get one myself." Not.
"If that is what you think, how many sports do you play by the way?
Oh no. "Um... None."
"Yup, you can definitely get some." He grinned, his voice full of sarcasm.
"Oh, shut up."
She saw a photo on his desk in a very beautiful frame with the name 'Jace' on the top. She jumped up from the bed and took a few steps closer to examine it. A baby with short blonde shaggy hair was carried by a man, who looked identical to Jace like he was now. "Is this your father?" she asked, although already knowing that the answer would be yes, the man in the photo was an exact copy of Jace.
"Oh, that. Yeah, he was my father. He died when I was three." said Jace, almost sounding like he had no emotion.
"Sorry I had to bring that up, I understand." She said, tracing her finger around the swirls on the frame and wondering if she should tell him about her past.
"You understand?" He said. Clary turned around and looked at him. His eyes were full of curiosity.
She nodded, "My father also died, when I was five." She looked down at her feet, it was the first time she had told someone that, someone else besides Simon; and she had only known Jace for a short time, but she had a feeling, that she could trust him and share a piece of herself.
Jace sighed, "I don't remember my father's face, all I have here is a photo. I don't really miss him much. Do you?" Once again, his face was blank, he wasn't emotional when he said those words, and she knew he was telling the truth.
She thought about his question, before saying, "No, I really don't miss him either, but I really wanted to know him, my mum doesn't talk much about him." And like Jace, she only had a photo to remind herself about her father, she didn't remembered his face nor remembered his voice. Her eyes looked around the room again, and she noticed a bean chair at the corner of his room. She sat down, trying to comfort herself.
"Do you have any brothers and sisters?" asked Jace,
"Nope, I live with my mum, she and I moved here from New York."
"Wow, that's so far away!" He smiled. "Welcome to the Land down under."
Clary raised her brows. "What is that suppose to mean?"
He flashed his grin. "Not good enough missy, you need to get use to Australian language."
"I thought Australia was Australia, not Land down under, Who the hell says that?"
"You know not enough. Everyone says that."
"Whatever."
"It's a colloquialism."
"Whatever."
"I'm going to eat snags tonight."
"What?"
He laughed, "Australian colloquialism for a sausage."
Clary groaned, "I knew that."
He shook his head. "Of course you did."
Clary looked out the window, the sky was getting dark. "I should go home."
Jace frowned. "Because I annoyed you?"
"Of course not, its getting late." And it was true, she wasn't trying to avoid him. She wanted to talk more about herself, which she hasn't done in ages, but nah, she decided to try it a different time. It was getting late and she was hungry.
"Okay, I'll lead you out, follow me."
They walked out of the room and Jace walked her to the door. She knelt down and started putting her shoes on. "I'm surprised Isabelle and Alec aren't home yet. Do they really like shopping?" she asked.
"Oh Izzy loves shopping, Alec hates it though, but he goes cause Iz told mum he needs better fashion and mum agreed so unlucky."
"Nice, and you don't go because you have good fashion?" said Clary, laughing. She tightened up her shoe laces and hopped up.
"Yes, but you have to admit, my fashion is really stunning." He chuckled unlocking the door.
"Hmm... Sure." She winked and made her way out.
He smiled, she had admited it. "Wait, Clary." He said, making her turn around. "Do you want to watch me play basketball tomorrow? Izzy will be there too, she likes watching me play. And you could too. My mum could pick you up at your house and we could all go together. How's that?"
Without hesitation she replied. "Okay, I could come."
"That's awesome, be right back." And he raced off, Clary stood there on the path, confused. He came back seconds later. "Care to write down your address?" Said Jace, gently offering her a pen and a small piece of paper. She smiled and took both of them and started writing down her address.
"Here you go, good idea, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
"Laters, Clary, Izzy is going to be one exciting monkey once I tell her this."
They both laughed. "See ya, Jace." She turned around and walked away. She heard the door close behind her. Her visit to Jace was enjoyable. She liked it. Her friends were very fun to be around with. She walked back to her house and her stomach growled. She sighed at the thought of her dinner tonight. She couldn't cook, so it was another night eating cereal.
He closed the door shut in front of him and made his way back to his room. He couldn't believe he had just told her to come to his basketball training, he had never asked anyone to come before, but he trusted her. Even though he had only known her for a while. Isabelle is going to go bananas when she hears about this, she would love the idea. Secretly, he also did. It would be nice to let someone else see him play instead of always the same people; Alec, Isabelle, Magnus and his mother. He heard a knock on the door and rushed out to answer it.
"Hello, Jace" said her mother, Maryse as she stepped in with Isabelle and Alec behind her. Isabelle smiled at him and Alec stared at Jace, His hands carried five bags, overflowing with clothes. He groaned, he was exhausted.
"I hate shopping so much." said Alec weakly,
"Haha, bad fashion." whispered Jace, making Alec groan more.
"Don't worry Alec, I'll give you a break tomorrow." said Isabelle, giggling.
"Enough! Stop teasing poor Alec." Yelled Maryse, but Isabelle and Jace just kept laughing.
He made his way back into his bedroom and sat on his bean chair. Strangely, it was still warm. But he knew why. He couldn't wait till tomorrow; more fun. He relaxed for a few minutes before standing up to closed the window. As he closed it, he thought about how fun it would be at basketball training tomorrow; with him, Clary, Isabelle, Alec and Magnus.
LOL, Okay, that's chapter 4. I'm so horrible at updates. I hope this chapter is okay :). I'll do my best to update the next one, but I can't promise that it would be fast! -.-"
-I-YourAngel :o