"The suspense is gonna kill me!" Simon exhales, his knee bouncing nervously as we wait for my younger sister, Clary, to get out of her meeting with the Brooklyn Institute of Art

"Simon, calm down" I laugh, tossing my long red hair over my shoulder, "She's a natural and she's going to do fine!"

Just as the words leave my mouth, Clary storms into the cafe, a disgruntled expression on her face. Simon looks at her expectantly and she shakes her head as she shrugs, slumping into her seat.

"Give me the professor's names and I...I will end them" Clary glares at him, causing him to backpedal, "You know, with a...a scathing email to the dean"

"Don't bother" Clary huffs, smacking the rejection letter face down onto the table

"Oh, Clary, I'm so sorry" I sigh, holding her hand comfortingly, "I know you really wanted to get in"

"Whaaaat?" Simon sings, looking at the letter

I frown, looking over his shoulder to see the word 'CONGRATULATIONS' in massive, bold letters

"You little bitch!" I gasp, looking to Clary, who was now smiling, "Sad face? Really?"

"Hey!" Clary giggles, "Mom told you not to swear at me anymore!"

"I don't care!" I grumble but smile anyway "You deserve that!"

"Well played, well played" Simon concedes, fist bumping her

"Thank you" Clary acknowledges, "You know, it's weird. They kind of like my assigned work, but they flipped out over the drawings for our graphic novel"

"Your welcome" Simon chuckles

"This day will go down in history as the greatest 18th birthday I ever had"

"Oxymoron" I roll my eyes, "You only have one 18th birthday"

"Shut up, Cami" Clary chuckles, "You're ruining my happiness"

I roll my eyes again and go back to my chocolate milkshake whilst Clary and Simon prattle on about celebrating tonight. Celebration's I, of course, was planning to attend.

Unlike some sisters in the world, Clary and I are incredibly close and always have been. In fact, nothing has ever really cause any kind of riffs between us. I mean, there's been tiffs over taking my clothes and make up and hogging the bathroom but apart from the boring mundane difficulties...nothing ever really got to us.

"You seriously don't know she's been crushing on you all this time?" Clary exclaims

"Oh, Maureen?" I chime in

"See?" Clary points out, "Even Cami can see it"

"What?" Simon stammers, "No, no. No, it's not like that with Maureen"

"Simon, how can someone as smart and perceptive as you not realise that the person sitting right there is in love with you?" Clary questions

I snort, almost spitting out the last gulp of my milkshake, "He wouldn't be the only one to make that mistake"

Simon shoots a look at me as a warning. It was clear to everyone but Clary that Simon was completely in love with her and had been for a while.

Suddenly, Clary frowns down at her coffee cup, confused

"That's a latte" Simon points out, chuckling

"But I could've sworn I had a biscotti" Clary wonders, her eyebrows creasing

"Well, maybe you imagined it and just drew it instead" I tease, pointing to the very accurately drawn biscotti, "You know, Clary, you really need more imagination in your artwork"

"Well, I will do you the honour of replacing said mythical biscotti with an actual one" Simon smiles, handing her his own

Clary takes it and smiles, but not before glancing back down at the drawn biscotti again, still puzzled.

***

As Clary and I walk into the 'Greenpoint Antiques' store below our apartment, we spot Dot, Mom's closest friend and employee.

"Hey, Dot" we chorus in unison before giggling

"Hey, girls" Dot smiles, shaking her head

"How's your future looking?" Clary asks

"Yeah, that's my cue" I breathe before brushing past them and up the stairs

I was never into any of that mumbo jumbo and everyone knew it.

"Hey, Mom" I greet her

"Hey, Cami" she smiles, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes...until Clary walks in

"Mom!"

"You did it!" she squeals, placing the laundry basket down, "Yay, Congratualtions!"

"You also follow Simon?" Clary guesses

"He only has 92 followers" I laugh, "He needs the retweets"

"Thank you, stalker mom"

"Well, this is boring" I groan, rolling off the couch and standing, "I'm going to my room"

"Oh, Cami, forever the joyous ray of sunshine"

"Ha ha ha" I fake laugh before flipping Clary off, earning a scolding from Mom

***

Not long after, Mom enters my room, closing the door quietly behind her.

"What is so important that you insist on interrupting my book time?" I groan before seeing the look on Mom's face, "Oh, God, what?"

"Nothing" Mom shakes her head, "I just...I wanted to give you this"

She hands me a black box with a silk ribbon wrapped around it and I take it from her. It feels heavy, leaden.

"It's not my birthday" I chuckle, raising an eyebrow at her

"I know" she hums, "It's just...a family heirloom that I wanted to pass down to you. Clary has one too, identical to yours"

"Well...thanks Mom" I murmur, opening the box. It looks kind of like a wand and is covered in heavy steel with strange, Aztec-ian markings on it, and a clear crystal-like point. It's weighty, cold and old but beautiful nontheless

"Oh and Cami...don't go out tonight" Mom demands

"What?" I exclaim, "Why?"

"Because I need you here tonight...I need to have a talk with you, I need you to know some things and I need you to know them tonight"

"Cryptic...but fine" I sigh. I always trust my Mom, no matter what reason or explanation, even if she lacks to give me one and so...if she says stay in, I stay in.

"Thank you" Mom sighs before retreating from my room

***

"Cami!" Clary calls out, "Cami, come on, we gotta go!"

I slap my book shut, rolling off the bed and out my bedroom door, still dressed in my comfy clothes, catching the end of Clary's muffled conversation with Mom

"Mom, you have to let me go" Clary grunts, "I'm biologically and legally an adult"

"Yeah" Mom sighs, looking more worried than usual, "That's what I'm afraid of"

"Comfy clothes?" Clary asks when she spots me, "What, you're not coming?"

"Nah" I shrug, "If I'm being honest, I can't be fucked"

"Camille!" Luke scolds but I can tell he's hiding an unamused look on his face

"Sorry, Luke" I groan before giving him a hug, which he happily returns

"Well...ok" Simon shrugs, "But, Clary, we indeed have to go. Like, now!"

"Ok. Bye, Cami" Clary sighs, hugging me quickly, "You sure you don't wanna come?"

"Positive...I think"

Clary laughs at my complex response before turning to Simon.

"Shall we?" she asks, earning an agreement from Simon before jumping onto his back, laughing all the way down the stairs

"Right" I huff, turning to face Mom and Luke, breaking through their whispered conversation, "What the fuck is going on?"

*************

Ok, so this is the first chapter of Frayed! I'm sorry if it's all over the place, I'm trying to fit this book to the show as closely as possible whilst also trying to work in Camille's backstory, which, for me, is kind of messing with the entire dynamic of the show so hopefully, the book will get better in the following chapters to come.

This chapter is dedicated to NikkiP3 who kind of gave me the push to start this book.

Vote, comment and please share this book! I hope it can get as many reads as my Imagines book.

Happy Reading!