Always | Jace Norman FF

2️⃣

Monday, April 18, 2016, 6:45 a.m.

•Clary's POV•

My alarm clock woke me up to let me know that I had to go to school. I got up and went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth.

I came back to my room and got dressed.

I walked down the stairs and grabbed an apple and made my way to Erik's car.

??- Clary.

I turned around to see Shawn.

CC- What?
SC-Is that all your going to eat?
CC-Yeah, why?
SC- I've noticed that you were looking a little bit thinner than usual.
CC(annoyed)- Yeah, I've lost some weight, so what? I'm not that hungry.
SC- Okay, I'll let you do you. Just eat some more food. You've had me worried a lot.
CC- Okay.
SC- Hey, I love you, sis.
CC(small smile on her face)- Love you to Shawn.

Shawn and I walked out to the car, where Erik was already there waiting for us. He pulled out of the driveway and we made our way to school.

•45 MINUTES LATER•

Erik dropped me off at my school first. I waved Shawn and Erik goodbye and watched them drive away. I'm in 9th grade, while Shawn is a sophomore and Erik is a junior. All three of us started school late. If we would have started on time, Shawn and I would have been in the same grade and Erik would have been a senior in high school.

I walked into the school and immediately went to the cafeteria. I sat down where I and my best friend sits.

??- Oh my god, girls, look who it is. Clary 'I cut myself everyday' Cains.

I turned around and saw my bully, Emily Turner. I rolled my eyes at the sight of her.

At first, Emily and I were best friends. As soon as we entered Junior High, she became a cheerleader, ran with a different crowd. It seemed like she had forgotten about me. She started me bullying me because she knew I lost my self-confidence because of my father beating me almost every day.

CC(annoyed)- What do you want Emily?
ET- I noticed you were gripping your stomach when you walked in here.
CC- So, what does that have to do with you?
ET- Oh, look, someone finally grew some balls and is trying to talk back to me. Did your daddy finally show you how to be a tough girl instead of a punching bag?
??- Why don't you just leave her alone Emily?
ET- How is this your business, Sarah.

Sarah James is my other best friend. She was my friend even when Emily was my friend. She is really pretty. I still question how she is my best friend.

SJ- Because this is my best friend and she is already going through enough. She doesn't need your bougie-ass adding to her problems.
ET- All she has going on is her daddy problems, what else could she possibly be going through?
SJ- Why does it matter to you?
ET(annoyed)- Because I wanna know.
SJ- I have a quick question to ask you before I tell you.
ET(annoyed)- What?
SJ- What are your initials?
ET(confused)- What do you mean?
SJ- Like my initials are SLJ, Clary's is CMC. What are your initials?
EJ(confused)- EMT, why?
SJ- That's cool. Speaking of EMT, if I see you bothering Clary again, that's what you're gonna need.
ET-(gasps) That is a threat!
SJ(bluntly)- It's not a threat if it's the truth.

Emily stamped her foot and walked away. Sarah turned around towards me and we both laughed. She sat down beside me.

SJ- How you been holding up, Clary?

I looked at her with soulful eyes and she looked back at me. Knowing what that meant, we both stood up and walked to the bathroom.

The bathroom is like our sanctuary for talking about things that my dad did to me and my family. It's kinda our inside joke. My dad treats us like shit, so we go to a place where you shit to talk about it.

As soon as we got to the bathroom, she turned around to look at me.

SJ(sympathetically)- What did he do to you?
CC- So, on Friday morning he told me as soon as I got home from school to clean the house. So, after school, Erik picked me up. He asked me if dad told me to do anything. I told him that he said that he wanted me to clean the house. He told me not to worry about it because he had already done it. I said ok. He took me home and dropped me off because he had to go to the store to buy more cereal. I went up to my room and just chilled in my room. A few hours later dad came in the house, drunk off his ass, yelling and screaming for me to come downstairs. So, I came down from my room to see what he wanted. He asked me if I had cleaned the house. I told him no and that Erik had already done it. He got upset and punched me in the face.
SJ- (gasps) That's horrible, what else happened.
CC- As soon as I hit the ground, he started kicking me in the stomach over and over again(lifting her shirt to show her the now purple bruises).
SJ-(eyes filled with tears) OMG, Clary I'm so sorry.

I put my shirt back down and Sarah carefully hugged me, trying not to touch my stomach. I decided to tell her Erik's plan.

CC- I have something else I want to tell you.
SJ- What is it?
CC- Erik came up with a plan to get away from dad.
SJ(excitedly)- Really, that's great! What's the plan?
CC- Well, Mom, Shawn, Erik, and I are moving away.
SJ(excitement fades away)- Oh, where?
CC- San Diego, California.
SJ- Why didn't you just call the cops and have him put in jail.
CC- He told us if we ever call the cops on him he would kill all of us and himself.
SJ- Oh, ok. Well, when are you leaving?
CC- Next month, when school is over.
SJ- Where are you gonna stay and how are you gonna stay in contact with me?
CC- Turns out, for the past 3 or 4 years, Erik had been saving every little penny he got to buy the new house. I'm gonna stay in contact with you this way, my mom has your mom's number memorized. As soon, as mom gets a job and earns enough money, she said she was gonna buy me and my brothers a phone.
SJ- That's actually a good plan. (realization came across her face) How are you going to get away without your dad knowing?
CC- We are gonna pack everything up a few days before school is out and on the day we are gonna leave, we're gonna wait until dad leaves the house for the day. That's when we will pack everything in mom's minivan and leave.
SJ- That's smart.
CC- Yeah. What time is it?
SJ-(looks at her watch) Almost 8:30.
CC- We better get to class.
SJ- Yeah. I still think it sucks that we don't have a single class with each other.
CC- I know right. It's like the school's system knows that we are best friends and they try to keep us apart.
SJ- (laughs) I know, right. Well, I guess I'll see you after school.
CC- Yeah, see you later.
SJ(waving her hand frantically) Bye!
CC- Bye!

We walked out the bathroom and went our separate ways. As I was walking away, I turned around and watched my best friend walk away.

Like it was the last time I'll ever see her again.