All Hail Claire

3. Fangirling

"I can't believe it," I practically squealed. "I am standing less than one hundred feet away from one of my all-time favorite writers. I -- I -- I can't breathe."

"Drama queen," Beth muttered. "But, yeah, this is pretty awesome."

"This is unreal..." Dani said, her voice thick with awe. "I mean -- she's right there."

"That she is," replied Beth. "So, what do you say we get in line and meet her, hmm?"

It could've been anywhere between thirty minutes to three hours before we reached the front of the line. I lost track of time trying to think of what I was going to say to Cassandra. What should I ask? Or should I ask anything at all? My head was spinning with excitement and it made it hard to think. Dani and Beth went before me, and their words didn't seem to process. I could see their mouths moving and smiles on their faces, but it was all background noise and blurred images. I was too giddy as I watched Cassandra's pen move across the front pages of her books, and her grin which showed she was truly genuine in her love for her fandom.

Finally it was my turn.

I took in a deep breath to steady my rapid heartbeat. Suddenly, I found myself face to face with Cassandra Clare. Woah.

"Hi," I finally managed to stutter out.

"Hello! I'm Cassie." Cassie. Omg. "Do you have a book for me to sign?"

"Oh, yeah! Yeah I do," I said, snapping out of my trance. I pulled it out of my bag and gingerly handed it to her.

"City of Glass," she noted, opening it up. "Gosh, I had so much fun writing this... All of them really. I love this series..." A smile formed on my face. "Who should I make this out to?"

"Me. I mean Claire. I mean I'm Claire."

She chuckled. "To Claire. 'People aren't born good or bad. Maybe they're born with tendencies either way, but its the way you live your life that matters.' Love Cassie." It took all of my willpower not to jump up and down and do a happy dance.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course! Ask away," she smiled.

"How do you come up with all the sarcastic comments that make the Herondale boys who they are?"*

"I am sarcastic, and some of my friends are sarcastic, so I'm well-equipped with a sarcasm incubation chamber. But then the characters themselves are also responsible. They each have their own senses of humor, and they come up with things that surprise me all the time!"*

My smile only widened as she spoke, and even as I was swept away by the crowded line I knew my happiness couldn't be taken away from me for the rest of the day. Not for anything in the world.

✽ ✽ ✽ ✽ ✽

* Actual quotes from Cassandra Clare interview: May, 2014 - http://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/951.Cassandra_Clare

A/N: So far my chapter have been super short. Whoops. I have a feeling a lot of them wipl be that way, but I'll definitely try to work on that. Thanks so much for reading my first three chapters. Please vote if you liked this chapter, and feel free to comment!