[ 1 ] 1987

-

"I'm from Sydney, and I'm here because I burnt down a guidance counselor's office."

-

"Have you got all of your things? I know we packed everything last night, but I just want to make sure you don't forget anything. This is a big trip and we don't know when you'll come back." His aunt fussed over him for the hundredth time that morning. Her words were rushed, her lips running like a motorboat. Her hands rubbed all over his face, his hair, and she straightened out his jacket as he struggled in her death grip. He had his luggage by one side of him and a backpack slung over his shoulder. In his pocket was his wallet with a train ticket and the address he was looking for written out on a scrap o paper in case he were to get lost. 

The fifteen year old boy with chestnut colored curls grabbed at his aunt's wrists gently to make her stop fussing over him the way she was doing at the moment. He placed her arms down by h er sides as he offered her soft reassurances. It was almost like he was the adult in that moment and she was the child. "I have everything, mama. I promise." He said, calling her mother in Spanish. Though she was his aunt, and not actually his mother, she had taken care of him his entire life. He hadn't known his parents, both had passed away long before he even had the ability to create memories. She was the only mother he had ever known and she saw him as her own as well. She was a small woman and he stood over a head taller than her, at his six feet, despite being only fifteen. His aunt had always told him fondly that he was as tall as his father. Tall and handsome, she always put it.

She released a sad sigh, knowing she had to let him go sooner or later. Otherwise the train would leave without him and it would be a pain to pay for another ticket. 

With a sad smile on her face, she performed the sign of the cross on him, being a devout Catholic woman. He closed his eyes and kissed her fingers like a loving child as they touched his lips. "Take care, m'ijo. And promise me you'll refrain from using..." My son, she also called him and she trailed off as she said her last sentence. They both knew exactly what she was talking about. He nodded his head in agreement.

He didn't want to leave Sydney, the only home he had ever known. But this was an urgent matter that saw him leaving his hometown. He was forced to do so when one of his antics had gotten him into a heap of trouble at his school--St. Genevieve's Academy. He had gotten straight F's on his latest report card, and could not return to classes until his legal guardian could sign it. As if that hadn't been bad enough, he had broken into his counselor's office by picking the lock. When he tried to burn the report card, he accidentally ended up starting a fire in the office. That had gotten him arrested by the Sydney Police Department.

But the officers there all knew of his father's legacy. He had been a respected and loved police detective with their police force, and they all hated to have to see Bobby Vega's son straying from the right path. So they talked to Elenore Vega, Bobby's younger sister who had taken Arthur into her custody, and they offered her a deal. They would drop all charges as long as she agreed to send Arthur away to Perth with his aunt Elaine, where he would complete high school. If he could do so successfully, he would be allowed to return to Sydney with his family. Elenore and Arthur both thought it was a better option to him getting sent to juvenile detention. 

Elenore knew Bobby would just hate that. Seeing his only son thrown in jail, always getting into trouble, when he always worked so hard to abide by the law.

They heard the speakers at the station announce that the next train to Perth would be leaving the station in ten minutes. That was when Arthur pulled his aunt into his embrace. "You'll visit me, right mama?" He asked her in a hopeful tone. 

Most teenagers his age, especially a few classmates he knew at St. Genevieve's were ashamed of their parents. But Arthur adored his aunt because it was the only person he had. He knew what it was like, not having a mother and father. But if he was being honest, he hardly ever noticed their absence because of how great his aunt had been taking care of him.

Through teary eyes and sniffles, she promised him. "Over the holidays I will. And you promise to write me and tell me how you're doing."

Arthur nodded. "Every day."

-

The train ride to Perth was about six hours and Arthur arrived at the station just past noon. He recognized his family the moment he saw them. His aunt Elaine and her husband Charles Moore. They were there with their two chilren--twelve year old Lisa and fifteen year old Oliver. He and his cousin were the same age, but they never really talked, and so their first meeting at the train station was awkward to say the least. His uncle shook his hand, his aunt pulled him into her embrace. He and his cousin Oliver greeted each other silently, but his cousin Lisa was excited to see him.

"Hi Arthur." She grinned up at him with excitement, with all the energy of the child that she was.

Arthur forced a smile onto his face. He felt out of place, and he probably looked out of place. He was tall and a bit lanky for a fifteen year old. His brown hair and brown eyes contrasted from his cousins and his uncle. The only person there he seemed to resemble was his aunt Elaine. 

They led him out to the parking lot and they climbed into a mini van that belonged to the family. Arthur sat all the way in the back with Lisa sitting next to him. She started making mindless conversation about how she had cleaned and decorated the room that was going to be his. He thanked her and mostly stayed silent the rest of the trip there, pretending to listen to her, but mostly tuning her out. It wasn't that he didn't like her, or the rest of the family. But he didn't want to leave Sydney. His aunt Elenore was alone. Though she was still young, she never had a husband and never had kids. She had made it her only purpose in life to take care of him and never dedicated time for herself. Now that he was older, he wanted to be the one to take care of her and provide for her.

They drove into the residential areas and stopped in the driveway of a house. It was nice, nicer than the place he lived in with his aunt Elenore. Back in Sydney, they lived in a tiny one bedroom apartment, which was all his aunt could afford with her salary. But his aunt Elaine had money. Her husband worked at a bank, and he had been there so long that his salary was high now.

He got out of the van and his cousin Oliver helped him settle into his room. Then he left silently to allow Arthur to be alone, something that he was thankful for. It was a Sunday afternoon and he was going to have to do more socializing the next morning. 

It would be his first day of sophomore year at his new school.

-

He woke up at six in the morning the next day and got ready for school. His aunt and uncle had bought him a uniform, which his aunt Elaine had set up on a chair in the room. Arthur furrowed his eyebrows in displeasure as he looked at himself in the mirror. A white button up with a horrendous bright red blazer on top of it. On it was an apple shaped logo with the words Applecross Academy written on it. Around his neck was a tie that he wore loosely around his neck to give him some space to breathe. Then he wore the black slacks which were the only savable part of the uniform if he had to admit, and black sneakers.

Arthur almost winced in internal pain at how dorky he thought he looked. Tall, slightly lanky, and like a loser in a bright red blazer. At least his uniform at St. Genevieve's wasn't so bad. They actually used colors that people would not be ashamed wearing. With a sigh, he left the room and joined the family for breakfast. 

There, the teens rushed and had toast with fruit and orange juice. Within minutes everyone was going their separate ways to get to their destinations for the day. Uncle Charles headed off to work, aunt Elaine took little Lisa to school. That left Arthur and Oliver to wait for the school bus at the corner of the street. 

When they did, Arthur was relieved Oliver took a seat with his friends instead of with him.

He sat alone for the entire ride to the school, and when he arrived there, he tried to keep a low profile. But being the new student, everyone noticed him. Not that his teachers were any help. They all signaled him out, asking him to introduce himself and to say something interesting about his life. To which Arthur could only reply. "I'm Arthur Vega, I'm from Sydney. I'm here because I burnt down a guidance counselor's office back home." Then he would return to his seat confidently. People immediately started murmuring about him, but that was what he wanted. To make a name for himself. He didn't want anyone bothering him.

At lunch on hiss first day of classes, he passed by what he assumed was the popular table with his tray of food. He was taken by surprise but was unable to catch himself when he felt someone stick their food in his way to trip him. There he went, tray of food flying out of his hands and tumbling onto the floor. Everyone at the popular table started laughing at him. 

All except one person. 

"Don't be such a jerk, Drew." Came the annoyed voice of a girl he had never met before. But when he looked up, he saw her get up from her place at the table and hurry over to his side.

Arthur was instantly mesmerized by her beautiful blue eyes and her friendly smile. She was a cheerleader, dressed in a red and white cheer uniform. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a neat pony tail that bounced each time she took a step. She was the complete opposite of him, yet she wasn't treating him different like all the others. 

The boy who Arthur now knew was named Drew immediately started to complain. "Oh, come on, Harleen. Relax. It was just a joke."

But she shot him a glare. 

As she helped him get up, he dusted himself off with the palms of his hands. With the friendly smile still remaining on her face, she linked arms with him comfortably, taking him by surprise. She was almost a whole foot smaller than him and they didn't even know each other. And yet she was acting like she had known that awkward giant all her life. "Let's go get you another tray of lunch. My treat." She said to him, adding  a bit proudly. "My dad owns the company that caters lunch for the school, so the cafeteria staff knows me."

Without even letting him say anything she dragged him away towards the side door of the cafeteria. Everyone greeted her happily and she was all smiles as she went around preparing a new tray of food for him.

With the tray in hand, she lugged him out of the kitchen and they went to find a table to sit at. There was one empty one in the back of the cafeteria, near the trash bins. Since it was the only empty table left, Harleen decided it was good enough for them to sit at. She pulled him down to sit next to her and then placed the tray of food in front of him.

"While I appreciate the gesture, I--" Arthur started in an emotionless voice.

But she cut him off with an introduction. "Please excuse Drew Brady. Just because he made quarterback at football tryouts over the summer he thinks he can run the whole school now." She rolled her eyes at the thought of Drew Brady. "But whatever. He's not even worth getting mad over. I'm Harleen Davis by the way."

"I'm Arthur Vega." He replied, seeing as though she wasn't going to be leaving him alone any time soon.

She immediately started saying playfully, in a mock deep voice. "I'm from Sydney, and I'm here because I burnt down a guidance counselor's office."

At the sound of that, Arthur went red in the face, an occurrence that didn't happen often. A girl had never made him blush before in his fifteen years of life. How many times did he say that in that day that she had memorized it already? Or maybe she had just heard it once and thought it was so utterly ridiculous that she had to call him out on it. Either way, he was regretting saying that right about now.

When she saw the embarrassment on his face, she informed him matter of factly, "Out of seven classes, so far we've had four of them together, which is all of them up until now. And I've heard you deliver the same line each of those four times in a row."

Right then, Arthur could not decide if he thought Harleen Davis was cute, or if he just wanted to hide under a rock in embarrassment.

-

i know this first chapter is very filler ish, but i was inspired to write this first chapter already. so harleen and arthur have already met for the first time, and harleen is her old friendly self. arthur is a bit guarded, as he has been in the series. and then we have a familiar name. brady. yes, drew brady will later become james brady's father. but several years into the future.

thank you all so much for reading, and i hope you all have a wonderful day.

please tell me what you thought of this chapter, and what you have thought of the series thus far. i think there are now seven books in the series. 

-clary