In The Deep

Chapter 3

Clary walked to her locker and wasn't surprised to see a note taped to it that said "Loser". She just crumbled it and threw it over her shoulder, not even looking where it landed. People around her laughed, but she couldn't care less. It wasn't like she was bullied by the whole school and she was somehow special in this case. A lot of people got mean notes and got pushed around, it wasn't anything new really. Clary had to admit that she felt like she was being rude to some people too, it wasn't like she wanted to be rude or something, she just wanted to ignore people and sometimes that made her rude. Suddenly she heard a quiet chuckle next to her and saw a guy walking next to her and opening his locker.

"Looks like we're locker-buddies." He said cheerfully with a sarcastic tone. He had a golden hair that curled on his temples and forehead and his eyes seemed like they were glowing as he grinned. Clary recognized him immediately and just turned back to her locker without saying anything.

"Horrible choice of words, I know." He said glancing at her and grinned. He was right, for anyone else it would've been horrible choice of words, but everything he said just sounded so easy and brief that it never felt like a horrible choice of words. Clary still didn't turn to look at him, even though a part of her felt like she wanted to talk to him.

"You live in my neighbor, right?" He asked, closing his locker and turned to look at her. He leaned against his locker and looked at her so Clary turned her gaze slowly to him. He looked like it was so easy for him to just talk to her and just stand there leaning his shoulder on his locker like he didn't care about anything.

"I don't know.. Probably depends on where do you live." Clary said trying to sound as casual, but it probably came out in much more nervous tone. The boy let out a short laugh and shook his head before raising his gaze back on her.

"I saw you, yesterday." He said and Clary raised her brows like it was some new interesting information. She already felt stupid for standing there yesterday and staring like an idiot, she didn't want to be reminded of it.

"Oh my, isn't that a little creepy." She said with a teasing tone and the boy rolled his eyes, obviously amused.

"Don't act stupid, you saw me too." He said and smiled like people usually didn't smile to strangers. His grin made her feel guilty for staring.

"I'm not acting stupid. It actually annoys me when people act stupid because that only makes them more stupid, no one just seems to realize that. I was just hoping you didn't see me." Clary said and tried to return some kind of a smile, probably failing horribly.

"Why? You don't like new people?" He asked and Clary shrugged, not knowing what to say exactly. She didn't like new people, but maybe not the way he thought she didn't.

"People disappoint." She said finally and he raised his brows slightly, apparently surprised by her answer or her straight forward attitude about it.

"I can't argue on that, but is your solution never talking to anyone then?" He asked and Clary shut her locker and looked at him sharply.

"You don't know me, you don't know my real opinions or solutions. And I don't know you either, so I'm just gonna go." She said trying to sound confident, but he seemed just more amused.

"See? That is your solution." He said grinning and Clary felt like slamming her geography book to his skull and walking away.

"Why do you care? It's my life, I can do what ever I want and if I decide not to talk to a bunch of assholes, that's alright because it's my decision." She said strictly, but he still seemed completely calm and his smile hadn't gone anywhere.

"You're right. You can make your decisions, but it doesn't mean you're always right and they're the right decisions." He said shrugging and Clary let out a frustrated sigh.

"I'm not saying I'm always right and you're one to talk. You look like you think you're above everyone else here." She said even surprising herself. She wasn't used to talking to anyone here and now she was basically fighting about it with someone who's name she didn't even know.

"I don't think I'm above anyone else, better than anyone else or more special. I'm not a better person than anyone else here and I don't wanna be, it's enough that I'm special to the people who love me and that I have people who are special to me. I don't need anything else." He said briefly and Clary thought about it for a while. To be honest, she loved that idea. She didn't need anything else either and the idea of having people love you and love those people yourself was much more than being above other people or thinking you're better because you're a popular football player or something like that. Clary didn't really know what to say, nothing smart, witty or clever at least.

"Yes, I live in your neighbor." She said finally and turned around, walking away. She could heard him laugh and smiled at herself slightly. She had to admit that actually talking to someone was nicer than she had thought.