Have a Nice Day

Someone's Gotta Be on My Side Sometimes

When we got to Jace's house, he let me out of his car and walked me inside.

"Don't worry, my parents aren't home. They're still trying to get all of our stuff from our old house moved here. I got here early so I can start school a little closer to the beginning of the year." Jace said, opening the front door and letting us in.

I looked around the house, almost completely empty besides a mattress on the floor and a portable TV next to it.

"Huh, roomy." I mumbled. I must have said it louder than I intended, because Jace chuckled and closed the door behind us.

"It's not much, but at least I got something to do here." Jace said. "Come on, I've got a movie for us."

I followed Jace over to the mattress on the floor and let him drag the TV in front of it. I didn't even notice the DVD player that was hiding behind it until Jace dragged that over too. When Jace sat down on the mattress, he patted it, telling me to sit down next to him. I looked around, seeing that there was no other place to sit, and awkwardly sat on the side of the mattress.

"Oh, come on, I won't bite." Jace laughed, sitting back against the wall on the mattress. He was flicking through the channels to connect to the DVD player. I wanted to resist, but I didn't really see a point.

The sky outside was getting surprisingly dark, and I guessed that it was probably 8:30 now. I leaned against the wall and watched as the advertisements on the movie came into play. We sat in silence for a while, watching an ad for a Twinkle Fairy 7 movie. It was agonizing, sitting next to him. Finally, I decided to try to talk to him.

"So, what movie are we watching?" I asked.

"Meep, you don't have to act like nothing happened. I know it's burning you up inside." Jace said. It was true. I was super confused on why he didn't think I was revolting.

"It's true. Why didn't you stay away?" I asked, turning to him.

"Because I thought it was cool." He said. I looked at him with shock. "I mean, not the part that the dude kissed you, but I thought it was cool that you were smart enough to create a potion without following a teacher."

"But don't you think I'm...I'm...." I tried to think of an appropriate word, but I couldn't.

"No, I don't. I don't care about anything Hona said that happened. It happened. So what? Move on, right?" Jace said.

"Yeah," I said quietly, looking away from him for a brief second. Jace took my hand and I looked back at him.

"Meep, I just gotta say it. I like you. The second I was hit by your elbow, I knew that I liked you. It may sound stupid, but then again, I'm the son of Ariel. She fell in love with my dad the first time she saw him." Jace said. "What about you?" My throat caught my words, not knowing if I wanted to let go. I think he saw my hesitation. "Okay, let's start with something smaller. Tell me something no one has ever known."

"Ooh, that's pretty tough." I said, acting like it was hard. "I got one." I pulled my free hand up to let Jace see it and twirled my fingers around, the glow of the red smoke illuminating the dark room. "I got my magic from my mom, Glinda the Good Witch, and when she died, my father took over her own magic."

I set my hand back down, the red smoke dispersing. Jace smiled and I smirked, knowing that I had passed that question easily.

"That's cool, but I said something that no one else knows." Jace said. My smile faded. "Hona, Feather, and Crimson know that, don't they?" He took my silence as a yes.

"Okay," I said, biting my lip. "Does my dad count as someone?" 

"Yes." Jace laughed, muting the now-starting movie.