HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JACE'S HEART.. WHO IS NOW MELLAR'S HEART! hahaha. You confused me with your name change. lol. ANyways, I decided to post about an hour before the midnight struck... at least my time. hahaha. All just for you. I updated Paths and Roads of a Single Parent, BeneVolence, and Slut Year on this day for you! =D

Also, for the record I thought I'd tell you that my birthday was actually the 22. So I am now 23. Yep, I am old. haha. So our birthdays aren't too far from each other =)

Please enjoy the new chapters guys. =)

Chapter 17: Amicus

Today would be his first day of school. Adam wasn't looking forward to it much. The closest he has ever gotten to being around other children his age was at the park, and most of the time he would stick to Clary's side. With the exception of the little boy he slugged, he secretly grinned to himself about the memory. He held on to Clary's hand tightly as they walked the streets of the city together, he was relishing in holding her hand, almost as if the school itself would be the end of him. He was cherishing this small time he had to hold her hand. Remembering the way it felt, how warm and soft it was. He knew he was being ridiculous, but it felt as though once he got in the school, it would take years for the day to end.

He was frightened how he'll react to others, mostly afraid to be this far from Jace and Clary. The longest he was away was with Magnus and Alec the day they took him Christmas shopping. And obviously that turned out real well. Clary did most of the talking the whole walk to school. Adam mostly remained quiet. He knew he was supposed to go, but whining and carrying on would only agitate Clary, and get him into trouble. At the moment he felt like a coward, but it also didn't bother him if Clary suddenly said, "Let's go home." And he would never have to attend a school.

They rounded another corner, and they were there. The air seemed to get chillier the closer they got. There was no snow on the ground, it had melted, but the weather hasn't been exactly cold enough to bring them more white rain from the sky. When they passed the gate to enter the schoolyard, Adam planted both feet in the ground firmly and wouldn't walk any further. Clary turned around to see her boy refusing to move any closer to the tall red building.

"Adam," Her voice sounded pleading. "You have to go to school. Education is very important." He shook his head, and continued to keep his feet pressed firmly in the spot they were in. "What is this?" Clary asked, putting a hand on her hip. "You're not going to speak again?" She asked him. Adam neither nodded nor shook his head, sending out his point. Clary let out a tired sigh, and swiped some hair out of her eyes from the wind. "Please don't do this, Adam." She said. "We've enjoyed hearing you speak, and now because you aren't getting your way, you are going to refuse to let us her your voice?" He still didn't answer her; he just stared at her, and slightly tugged on her hand, hoping to pull her in the opposite direction. Of course she wasn't having it.

"Adam, if you don't come inside the school, I will take away your skateboard." His eyes widened in disbelief. "Oh, I'll do it!" She nodded. "I'll take it, and have Magnus put a spell on it so that you'll never find it. As a matter of fact I will do all the same with the video games, your bike, and-" But he gave in and walked in through the gate, and stood in front of her, their hands still attached. He still wasn't speaking, but at least he was going inside.

"That's what I thought." She grinned and led him all the way of the stone steps. He watched the other kids, run, shout, chase each other, and throw things. They all seemed happy, but he'd much rather spend time with Jace and Clary than have friends his own age. If he was going to be perfectly honest, he'd much rather not have anything to do with children his age. Too much trouble.

They walked inside and into a large, wide hallway. Full of lockers, bulletin boards that contained news, drawings, and lunch schedules. There were also bigger kids, ones almost as tall as Jace. It made him nervous as they eyed him while walking with his mother down the hall. This place had an odd smell. Not a gross, decaying smell, but just something distinct and unable to describe. It was a mixture of lunch food, crayons, and maybe that new smell you get when entering a brand new home with fresh pain, and newly washed sheets. Adam didn't like the smell much at all. Then again, Adam of all people knows that you can get use to anything, once you are around it long enough.

They came to a tall door with a window in it that you could not see through. Adam kept his attention on the door a moment longer once they were through it. Why would anyone put up a window that you couldn't see through? He thought to himself. The window was like a foggy texture, with bold words written in black on the door.

Main Office

Adam turned his head back forward to see Clary lean up on a counter, talking to an older lady with thick curly black hair. She had wrinkles in the corners of her eyes, and very thin lips. She wore glasses on the very edge of her nose, and they were shaped like old granny stereo typed glasses. Adam could already tell he wasn't going to like her much.

"Excuse me, I am here to enroll my son in school." The lady looked up and eyed Clary as well as letting her eyes wander to Adam. She looked at Clary suspiciously, and then looked at Adam again.

"He looks a little old to be your child, and you look a little young." Her voice was as sharp as glass, listening to it alone made Adam cringe like someone had scratched a blackboard.

"Well, he's adopted." Clary added.

"Ohh." The women realized. "I see." She looked down and sent Adam a fake smile, he didn't react in return.

"His name?" She asked.

"Adam Br- Adam Lightwood." She had almost said his real name. Not that it mattered, Adam wasn't worried, he knew Magnus could put a spell on the whole place to mislead them.

"Adam Lightwood," The old women repeated. "Date of birth?" She asked.

"April 7th, 1998." Clary answered. The women asked for other things as well, like a transcript, previous school attendance, emergency contacts, and even medical records. Luckily they had all of that, but the medical records were shockingly real. Clary makes sure she sends Adam to a pediatrician as often as possible. Due to his condition he needs annual check ins.

"CIPA?" The women questioned while looking at his file. "Wow, I have heard of this, isn't it supposed to be quite rare?" She asked Clary.

"Yes," Clary answered. "From my research; only about seventeen cases have been recorded here in the US, I haven't looked into any other countries. But yes, not a very common disorder." They discussed other things as well, while Adam went and sat patiently in a chair far to the side of the room. Listening, and letting his eyes roam the office.

Other parents were in there talking about their children as well. One woman was informing the school that her child would be sick, and not returning for some time. Another was there to speak about her child's disciplinary behavior. There were other kids sitting outside a door in chairs lined up. What were they doing?

"Toby? Mrs. Pattinson will see you now." Woman said from her desk, the one boy stood up and went inside the office. He was surely confused; why would they be waiting outside a door? He looked at the other kids, waiting patiently to be seen. One boy had pitch-black hair, and pale skin. His bangs covered his eyes, and he wore a long sleeved grey shirt, with black pants. He was a little older, and much taller than Adam. He made eye contact with him, and grinned. But it wasn't friendly.

"Okay, Adam!" A woman came into view; she had long soft brown hair, and had a decently young face. She seemed to be the friendliest face he has seen since he came into the building. "I will be your sixth grade Literature teacher. And if you want, I will give you a quick tour before school starts. How does that sound?" She asked him. He didn't answer. Clary came over and pulled the teacher aside. Away from Adam.

"I apologize if he doesn't respond, but you'll find him doing this whenever he feels like being distant." Clary said to her in a whisper, the nice lady chuckled.

"When he wants to be distant, he means it, huh?" Clary smiled and nodded.

"The thing is," Clary glanced over at Adam, who was staring off into space. "He's been through a lot, as a matter of fact, when we took him in he was mute. We finally got him to start talking, but he's upset with me right now."

"Separation." The teacher said.

"I'm sorry?" Clary did a double take.

"What I mean is, he looks up to you, feels something special with you. So it's separation anxiety. Most kids go through it, but mostly the… inner tortured?" She looked at Clary and cringed. "Did I say that right?" Clary smiled and shook her head.

"You're fine." She told her. "I just thought I'd warn you, that he'll be doing this quite often until he is comfortable. I didn't want you guys calling us saying something is wrong because he wont speak." Clary chuckled before saying her next sentence. "We already know there is something wrong." The teacher nodded, and completely understood.

"Don't worry, I see exactly what it is."

"Thank you!" Clary smiled and shook her hand. She then went back over to Adam, and bent down to his level. He looked at her with such sadness, with begging in his eyes, and also with much resentment. "Please Adam." She whispered. "Don't say anything about what Jace and I do. Nothing about Magnus, or fairies, werewolves, or vampires, because if you do… well… you already know." He nodded slowly, still being impassive with her. It was slowly breaking her heart. "I will be here to pick you up at the end of your day. At two-thirty in the afternoon, okay?" He nodded again. "And Adam, I love you!" She put both her hands on his face, while stroking his hair with the tips of her fingers. "Please forgive me, it's only for your own good. I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends!" She kissed his forehead, and stood up. When he still didn't say anything or respond she made to leave.

"Okay Adam, shall we go?" Asked the teacher. Adam looked up and saw Clary getting ready to exit the door. He leapt from the chair and chased after her.

"Mom!" He shouted, while wrapping his arms around her. She hugged him back tightly, while they both rocked back and forth. "I'll behave, I promise." He said into her neck. She smiled into his hair at the top of his head.

"I know you will." She kissed his hair and finally separated herself from him. "I love you, and I'll see at two – thirty."

"Two – thirty." He repeated and watched her retreating figure make its way down the hall.

"You ready?" The nice lady appeared by him again, and he nodded. "C'mon." They started walking down the halls, Adam glanced in each doorway looking at students rushing in, and finding their seats.

"So my name is Jennifer Lovell. You will call me Mrs. Lovell. I will be your sixth grade teacher like I said. This school goes from sixth to eighth grade. This is the art hall." She gestured around her, showing off all the nice artworks that lined up the hall, and hung on walls. They went from hall to hall, until they finally came to- what she called it, the sixth grade hall. She took him into his first class, and had him stand in front.

"Hello, kids. This is Adam. He is new here. Can you all say hi?"

"Hi Adam." All the kids said at once. Adam didn't respond, smile, nod, or anything. He knew his therapist said it was bad to hide inside your own mind whenever scared, or angry. But he always thought it was wiser to keep your mouth shut, and to only open it when necessary.

"Now Adam is not just new to the school, but he's new to the neighborhood as well. So just like many of you have experienced he's feeling a little out of place. So why don't we all try to make him feel as welcome as we can, okay?" She looked down at Adam who just looked back at her. "Why don't you take a seat next to Victoria over there, the blonde girl." She pointed at a little blue eyed, blonde girl sitting in the back. She looked up and grinned at him. He silently walked over and sat at his desk, which was quite awkward.

You could only sit on one side? Why? He tried not to bring any attention to himself so he decided to explore the odd chair another time. The teacher requested a paper and pencil to be taken out for notes, as she began talking about Literature. Adam searched and searched his backpack for a pencil, it seemed that he probably forgot to pack them.

Secretly frustrated with himself, he dropped his bag on the floor beside him, and mindlessly looked around. He felt incredibly foolish just sitting around not doing anything, while the whole class was scribbling and scribbling away on their papers.

"Hey?" He heard a whisper next to him, and turned to see the little blonde girl looking at him. "Do you need a pencil?" She asked. He glanced back up at the teacher who still hadn't noticed them yet, then back at the girl and nodded. She smiled, and dug through her own bag and pulled out a Halloween pencil with a pumpkin on top for an eraser. "Here," she handed it to him. "You can keep it if you want, I have a whole bunch." He gently took it from her hand, and grinned back, and went to writing the notes. He felt a little happier than he did a moment ago.

For the day, Adam had math, geo and space science, health and art. Victoria was only in his Literature class so far. The classes he still had to take were health and art. Now it was lunchtime, and he never felt more isolated in his life. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of students in this building, and no one to sit and chat with. He spotted the little blonde girl, but she was with friends of her own. He felt strange going over there, so he had decided to just eat alone in a solitude place. He walked around the common area, trying to find a remote and quiet place. He went outside assuming that was probably his best bet when he walked into three much bigger boys.

"Hello new girl." He recognized the boy in front of him to be the one sitting in the main office earlier that day. He knew something was off about him. Adam slightly remembered bullies back when his parents were still alive, and yet nothing's changed. Just a new group of older boys to push him around, and beat him to a pulp. Can't he catch a break? He went to turn the other way, when two other boys blocked his way. All three of them grinning devilishly. One of the other boys was blonde with shorter hair, and the third one was a little on the tubby side, or perhaps just more bulky. Adam suspected him to be a football player.

"Where the hell did you get that scar on your face?" The dark haired kid asked him. "You look like a fucking freak!" He laughed in Adam's face. Adam promised his mother he would behave, the last time he defended himself he got in loads of trouble. He backed up some, but tripped and fell against one of the other larger boys. He gripped Adam from under his arms, and held him tightly, making it hard for Adam to squirm away.

"Why don't you speak, Freak?" The dark haired boy asked.

"Yeah? What are you, deaf and dumb?" The blonde one's laughter rang through his ears. Adam tried to squirm away again, but the largest boy had a tight grip on him.

"Oh c'mon, calm down." The dark haired boy taunted. "We're not gonna do anything, but hurt you… really… really… bad." Suddenly Adam laughed. The silence he had been holding all day finally broke free, that last comment just got to him. How could it not? He began laughing hard enough for tears to spill over.

"What is so funny!" The dark haired kid shouted in his face.

"Joke's on you." Adam said. "I can't feel pain." They all started to laugh, while Adam just smirked. They don't believe him, but that was okay, they didn't have to.

"Right! And I am Cyclopes." The dark haired kid mocked. He came closer and slapped Adam across the face, of course he didn't feel it. Therefore, didn't react to it. The older boy noticed, and frowned at the realization. This time he punched him, causing a little blood to fall from his lip.

"Dude!" The larger boy that was holding him still shrieked at his friend.

"What, Joe?" The dark haired kid yelled back.

"Don't mark his face, you fucking dumbass. Teachers will see, his parents will see." The thin blonde one protested.

"Well, Pete," The dark haired kid sighed, not the kind of sigh when you realize something, and you're upset, it was fake. Almost mocking. "He got to me."

"Got to you?" Joe laughed. "You're the one beating him up, and he got to you?"

"Shut up!"

"I can prove it." Adam suddenly said.

"Prove what? You little douche?" Douche? What the heck was a douche? Adam thought to himself, but pushed the thought aside.

"That I can't feel pain." The dark haired kid smiled down at him.

"Fine," He shrugged. "Prove it." Joe let go of Adam, and he bent down to open his book bag. He took out a pair of scissors, and opened them wide. The boy in front of him was watching him was curiosity, and suspicion. He took out a sharp object? Why? He could tell the other boys were growing concerned, and it only made him smile wider. He took the tip of the scissor and started to dig it deep into his arm, the other kids jumped back, watching him mutilate his own arm.

"Alright stop!" Pete shouted.

"Yeah, that aint fucking funny!" Joe yelled too, but Adam continued to dig the scissors deeper, and deeper "Dude, c'mon that aint cool man." They were starting to get hysterical when a voice rang from behind them.

"What's going on out here?" Adam took the scissors from his arm and shoved them in his hoodie pocket and spun around to see the little blonde girl standing there, and watching them. "Brandon, you are pathetic." She said, showing braces on her teeth.

"Why am I pathetic, Vickie." Brandon, the dark haired kid's voice shook from fear. Due to Adam scaring the shit out of him, which in return made Adam silently smirk.

"Don't. Call me Vickie!" The little blonde girl shouted. "I hate that nickname! And only jerks I don't like use it for me!"

"What the hell do you want anyway, pipsqueak?" Joe asked.

"I want you to stop picking on new kids." She put her hands on her hips, and flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

"And we'll listen to you?" Brandon scoffed.

"You darn right!" She said and started marching towards them, and they immediately jumped back. "Yeah!" She grinned smugly. "That's what I thought! Next time it'll be in front of the whole school, and your stupid egos will shrink down to the size they should be!" She put up her hand putting her index, and thumb close together, gesturing on small.

"Whatever…" Brandon sighed. "This kid's a…" he paused for a moment, searching for the right word. "This kid's just crazy, let's go guys." And like that they started to walk away. Adam watched them go, not realizing that the little blonde girl happened to see his bloody arm.

"Oh my God! What did they do to you!" She shrieked. Adam quickly turned to look at her, and looked down at his arm. Oh no!

"C'mon!" She grabbed his hand. "We have to get you to the nurse!"

"No!" Adam jumped back. "I can't." She stopped and stared at him for only a minute, before smiling and saying.

"Okay, one; Oh my God you talk!" Adam couldn't help but smile at her. "And two; are you out of your mind! You're bleeding!"

"I know, but it's not because of them!" He said quickly.

"What?"

"I- I" he knew it would sound crazy, but it would be the only way to get her to understand. "I did it to myself." Her eyes widened, and she stepped back just slightly.

"Oh God, are you like… suicidal or something?" Confusion filled Adam's head, and then suddenly the word registered with his brain.

"What! No! I was doing it to prove a point." She rolled her eyes, and put her hands on her hips.

"Some point! You're not too bright are you?" Even though she was insulting him, it was only making him smile wider, which was also driving her crazier. Her reaction to this was actually pretty funny to Adam. He expected her to think him a freak, and just leave him there. But no, she was actually trying to help him, well kind of.

"I can't feel pain." He said softly. She looked at him with a large confused expression.

"Huh?"

"I literally can't feel pain. And since they were going to beat me up, I thought I'd freak them out."

"So you… stab yourself?" She let out a deep huff. "Still doesn't sound too bright, but whatever. You're telling the truth?"

"Yeah!" He nodded. "As a matter of fact they wont let me take any gym classes because of it. I can hurt myself pretty easily, because I can't feel it. Which it's still dumb, I skateboard all the time." Her face softened, and her eyes studied him. She finally let her hands fall from her hips and hang at her side. She got a little closer to him, and almost brought her hand up to touch him, but thought better of it.

"Is it a disease?" She asked.

"Not exactly, it's a genetic mutation. I was born with it."

"Does that mean… you can't feel anything?"

"No, I can feel pretty much anything except pain." She actually touched his cheek, but he flinched back a bit. He hadn't meant to. It was a habit. Clary is the only one who has ever gotten that close to him since he had been kidnapped.

"Sorry," She said. "I didn't mean to freak you out."

"No, it's okay. I'm just… not use to have anyone care for me besides my parents."

"You don't have any friends?" She asked, sounding bewildered.

"None my age." She let out a deep sigh before looking around. She looked back at his arm, and then grabbed his other hand.

"Well, you still can't stand here and bleed all over yourself!" And she dragged him inside, and to the girls' bathroom, he tried to stop her from taking him in there, but she dragged him in.

"This is the girls room!" He shrieked through a whisper.

"It's okay, as long as I'm in here with you no one will rat you out. Besides," She said smiling. "Girls do all their business in the stalls, where you wouldn't be able to see." She giggled, and helped him clean up his arm. Adam knew how deep to go with the scissors, so there was no need for the nurse to look at it.

"Your name is Victoria, right?" He asked her.

"Yeah, my friends call me Tory."

"I like it better than Vickie." He smiled at her. She laughed while applying the anti-infect ointment on his arm.

"Trust me! Me too!" She put the Band-Aid on his arm, and they both left the bathroom without any teachers seeing them. "Those boys always go after new kids." Tory sighed. "Or the umm… special ED kids." She sighed sadly. "I beat the crap out of them for it."

"No way!" Adam smiled down at her. He was exceedingly taller than she was. She was quite petite, and very very thin. Her hair was pale blonde, and she had very sharp blue eyes. She wore a white shirt, with a guitar in many colors on it. And black skinny jeans, with black high top converses. She hasn't experienced full-on puberty yet, for she had no breasts, or any distinct shape to her body.

"What are braces like." He suddenly asked her, not wanting to stop talking even for a minute.

"They suck!" She whined. "They cut up the inside of my mouth, and everything," She exaggerated the last word. "gets stuck in them!" She chuckled. "I have to bring toothpicks everywhere with me, so I can pick it out." Adam cringed.

"My mom is looking into getting me some, how long do you have to keep them in?" He asked.

"Ummm," She thinned her lips together. "It depends on how crooked your teeth are I think. I will have mine for three years, but the dentist said sometimes they come off early." She shrugged. "I hope they do." They laughed together. "You wanna eat lunch with us?" She asked him, and he nodded quickly. She led him back to the cafeteria to sit with her friends. This turned out to be a much better day than Adam had expected.

They arrived at the table, where four other kids sat eating their lunch food. They were talking vigoriously amongst themselves. Not yet noticing Adam or Tory.

"Hey guys!" Tory had to shout a bit to get their attention. They turned to her attention; one girl with dark hair jaw had dropped.

"Where the heck did you go?" She asked Tory. She rolled her eyes, and told them she went to go beat up Brandon and his friends again.

"Figures." An older looking boy said.

"That's Andrew." Tory introduced the older boy to Adam. "He's the oldest and will only be here till the end of the year, when he'll become a high school student." Tory waved her arms around, over exaggerating the idea of high school. Andrew rolled his eyes. "It's not my fault." He said.

"Yes it is, your fault dunce!" Another girl with hair down to her waist. Her hair was a dirty blonde, and wavy. She was extremely pretty, only twelve, and looked the age of fifteen. She had piercings that lined up her entire outer ear, and even wore makeup. She definitely knew she was pretty.

"She's Krista, my cousin." Tory said.

"And what's his name?" Krista scoffed, eyeing Adam up and down.

"His name is Adam, he's new here." Krista rolled her eyes and looked away. Tory leaned over to Adam's shoulder and started whispering in his ear. "Don't listen to her. She's usually in a better mood, but she umm…" Tory paused thinking of the best way to say it. "She got her… monthly visitor yesterday." Adam squinted the bridge of his nose. He didn't understand what she meant, but he just shrugged it off. Pretending to know what she was talking about.

"That's Mikey." She pointed at a blonde haired kid. His hair was long and messy, as if he just crawled out of bed. His mouth was full of pizza. He spit some out trying to say hello.

"Ewwww!" The dark haired girl whined.

"And that's Katie, my other cousin." Tory leaned further in to whisper to him again. "She's really annoying sometimes."

"Stop telling secrets, Tory!" Katie whined again. "I'll tell your mom!"

"Katie, shut up!" Krista cried out, and buried her face in her hands. Mikey patted her back in reassurance, but all that did was seem to make it worse. "Don't touch me!" She shrieked through her hands. Mikey pulled his hand away like it was resting on fire. He shrugged at everyone else, who just returned the same gesture.

"Go on, Adam." Tory said. "Have a seat." Adam sat down with his new friends, a smile planted wide on his face. But the word douche popped up in his head again. What did it mean?

"Hey guys?" Adam called out after biting into his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. They looked at him, curious about what he wanted. "Do any of you know what a douche is?" They all exchange glances at each other, when Andrew answered.

"Er… isn't it.. just something you say. You know? You jerk, you idiot, you douche?"

"Yeah, but… what does it mean?" Adam asked again. "You know? The definition?" Again, they all exchanged glances with each other, until finally coming to the conclusion that they just didn't know. They looked at Adam for one final time, and just shrugged. He guessed that was just one of the things on his list to ask about to Clary and Jace….

Ooohhh... Jace and Clary are in for the adolescent questions when he gets home O_o we all know how much parents love that talk! haha.

So The blonde girl is based off my cousin Victoria. She is beautiful and I love her soooo much. She is in fact 12, which is sad for me, cause I helped take care of her when her parents couldn't. So... she's growing up so fast. *sniff sniff*

Okay! Usual Q's

Great?

Good?

Bad?

Awful?

I would sure love to know! =)