Behind The Shower Curtain

Water

Disclaimer: I Own Nothing

CLARY POV

My lungs burned at the lack of air I was able to intake. Alessandro continued to deduct 5 seconds from each 100, meaning I had to go faster. All I saw was the line at the bottom of the pool. I followed it back and forth, back and forth, just trying to get to the end of this awful morning. The freezing water quickly turned bearable after swimming so fast for so long. Finally, Alessandro let me stop. I clung onto the edge of the pool, panting into the gutters. Alessandro set down a water bottle next to me. Next set is 10 100's" He says as I open the water bottle.

"10?! Are you really just gonna make me swim back and forth?" Alessandro looks down at me, quietly, patiently.

"Five freestyle, Three butterfly, Two Breaststroke. Leave on the top, A minute 45 each. Then you'll cool down 500, and that should be time." He says plainly. I sigh and put the water bottle in the corner of the pool. I wait for the clock to get to 0's. 55, 56, 57, 58, and I sink into the pool, placing my feet on the wall and pushing off it to continue swimming. It was hard to think of anything else while swimming, I had to keep count and make sure I wasn't going over time. All I could focus on was the movement of the water. The distorted blue light moved as I swam. It would look lovely as a painting.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~~*~*~*~~*

Alessandro finally lets me stop swimming. I get out of the water and grab the towel nearby. "I left some clothes on your bed for you to wear, wear them, and get ready," He tells me. I walk past him, not directing another word toward him. I go up the stairs and into my room. I glance at the clothes on my bed and I already knew I would hate them. The fabric looked thick and rough, something that simply looked uncomfortable. Brown's, Grays, and dark blues, ugly, depressing colors. I open the door to the bathroom and take off the Swimsuit, it suctioned to my skin, making it almost painful to rip off. My hair was a disaster, and it looked more like a bird's nest than my normal curls. I step into the shower and let the warm water engulf me. I rinse and wash all the chlorine off my body. I condition and brush my knotted hair in the shower. I thought about the history project I had to do with Jace. It'll be the first time I've spent time with him in a while. I just hope Alessandro isn't a pain in the ass about it. I step out of the shower and start patting down my body with a dry towel. I moisturize and brush my teeth, finally stepping outside to put my clothes on.

Surprisingly, my shadow wasn't there. I inspect the clothes closely and frown at them. They were thick, scratchy gray trousers, with a blue wool turtle neck and brown flats. It wasn't at all my style, but I'd rather not get yelled at again by Alessandro. I put my hair in a ponytail and go down the stairs to go eat breakfast. I go down the long marble steps and swing the kitchen door open. In front of me was the stove, cabinets, fridge, sink, and kitchen island, but that's not where we usually eat breakfast, instead, to the right there was a large archway that lead to the informal dining room, which was filled with pictures from my childhood, pictures that haven't been changed but aren't really looked at either, specifically because Jon is the protagonist in most of them. Alessandro and my father were sitting at the gray stone table that was lined with silver, which then curled onto the floor and held the stone table. The chairs were gray with a velvet texture, and there were only four chairs. It was a small dining room, but it was filled with valuable items. Alessandro looks up at me as he sips his coffee from a comically small coffee cup.

"Look Clarissa, Alessandro brought us Italian Espresso," My father says as he held up Italian coffee, he said the word espresso in an Italian accent. I go up to them and grab a cup, sipping the coffee. It made me feel whole again. I felt more alive than ever. The table had pancakes, eggs, and bacon, the traditional American breakfast. Something my father rarely orders. I was starving after all the swimming I had done earlier in the morning only made me crave the high-calorie meal more. As I go to serve myself, Alessandro pushes a glass filled with a light pink liquid.

"That's your breakfast," He says, clearly stopping me from eating anything else.

"That's it?" I ask, looking up at him in awe. There's no way he actually wants me to cut down on food.

"It's a protein shake, with new protein powder from Italy. It'll provide all the necessary nutrients after exercise." Alessandro says shortly. I could not believe that he won't even let me eat a pancake after making me swim for two hours straight. I roll my eyes and grab the drink. I Kiss my father goodbye and leave. I walk out of the kitchen and out the door. I drink my smoothie as I wait for Alessandro. He walks out the front door, closing the door behind him.

"What the hell is your problem?" I ask him.

"I have no problems," He says, his stone-cold face turning into a frown as he crosses his arms.

"You tell me what to wear, what to do, what to eat. What the hell is up with all the controlling?" I ask him incredulously. It was unbelievable that he was telling me what to do, and even more unbelievable that I was listening.

"Because you're doing everything wrong" He yells. For the first time, he started to show genuine anger towards me. "You waste your time every single day, you aren't productive, instead you are worse because instead of being productive you are constantly putting yourself in danger."

"I wasn't in danger. I am not in danger, and even if I was, I don't need you to save me!" I yell back. Alessandro gets closer to me, his size slowly starts to become intimidating since he towers over me. His eyes pierced into mine. He grabbed my shoulders and put his weight on them, pushing my feet onto the ground, almost as though he were afraid I would float away if he didn't.

"Do you think that I want to be here?" He says softly. "Taking care de una ragazza Impertinente?" he breaks off into a laugh. His face was inches away from mine. "Maybe stop wasting your time, so I can get the hell out of here faster" He suddenly shoves me aside and gets into the car.