Herondale High

Chapter 34- Apologies Won't Be Enough This Time

Jace's P.O.V.

I watch as Clary, Alec, and her brother Jonathan walk over to the high rollers table and I don't turn away until I watch them deal Clary in. We head towards the back of the building hoping to find some kind of room. I can feel the anger radiating off Izzy towards me but I choose to ignore it as I find a hallway and walk to the end. At the end, I see a wooden door that's open just a little. I hear voices and recognize Josie's so I push the door open. Josette is wearing some pajama pants that are a few sizes too big and a shirt that is also too big for her. Laying on the giant bed by herself makes her seem like a small child and I feel my gut wrench as I flashback to the tears filling her eyes before she ran off. 

I'm snapped back to reality when Josette asks in a sickly yet defiant voice, "What are you doing here Jace?"

I'm about to answer when Izzy pushes past me and goes over to the bed with Joette. "We came to take you back to the school. We were worried something might have happened to you. Besides, you'll get in trouble if you miss curfew."

Zach snorts before sending a glare my way. "As if he was worried. If he cared about Josette at all he wouldn't have treated her like that or acted like being related to her was some terrible thing when she is one of the most amazing people in the world." I want to say something back, defend myself somehow, but I realize that he's right. I also realize that he is actually in love with my sister, he doesn't just want to get into her pants like I thought but instead has genuine feelings for her and I feel the anger I've had for him start to melt away.

"Look JJ, Izzy's right you need to get back to the school or you'll be in trouble and I don't think you want that." I thought this would convince her but obviously what I said was wrong.

Josette pierces me with a killer glare, "Don't you dare JJ me, Jace. Everything you've done to make up for what happened when you twelve is gone. I can forgive the hate of an influenced twelve-year-old kid but I can't keep making excuses for someone who just doesn't care about me. They're right Zach, I should go back to the school but I want to make it clear Jace, after tonight you and I are through. I don't care if that means I have to get new friends or what but I'm done with you." I already felt bad for how I had treated her tonight but hearing her say we were done killed something in me, knowing it was my fault, almost as much as hearing her cough and sneeze her way through it because she jumped into freezing water to save me.

I feel a thousand times worse than I already do when Josette tries to stand up to leave. She sways on her before collapsing with Zach catching her right before she hit her head on the floor. "No, you aren't going anywhere Settie. You can't even walk." She looks like she going to argue but she has a coughing fit and then agrees that it's better for her to stay here.

"I can stay with you if you want Jo-Jo. I'm sure Clary will too and you don't have to worry about finding new friends. I'll be your friend no matter how much you hate Jace," Izzy informs her but Josette tells her she should go and that she'll handle the curfew problem because they can't expel her and gives Izzy a hug telling her to give one to Clary and Alec. She then tells Magnus that what happened tonight wasn't his fault and he shouldn't blame himself because how was he to know Camille would be a psychotic bitch. Magnus laughed and hugged her before we left to go find the other three. 

As we approached the high rollers table I couldn't help but notice how many chips Clary has. I'm impressed but then I think about how she said she was rich and wonder why she kept it from her. I come up behind her before I can think about it too much and tell her we found Josette but she's pretty sick so she's gonna stay here tonight so cash out and we can go. She nods and asks to cash out just as Eddie, the guy I saw Josie with at the restaurant what seems like months ago, recognizes Magnus.

"Holy shit, is that Magnus Bane? I heard you were in town and going to school with Settie but I didn't think you would be dumb enough to show your face after what you put her through after her dads died." Magnus looks guilty but then Eddie notices me. "Hey, I know you don't I? Why do you look so familiar."

I know I'll probably regret this but I answer him. "I'm Josette brother, Jace."

Suddenly, his face contorts in rage. "You mean the asshat that made her come here soaked with a cold and tears streaming down her face." He pulls his fist back and I brace myself for a punch that doesn't come because Jake appears grabbing Eddie's arm before he can throw a punch.

"Woah there. If you hit him it's assault and trust me, he isn't worth it."

"I don't care if he's worth it, he made Josie cry he deserves to be beaten to a pulp."

"Hitting him won't do anything but get you in trouble and then Josie won't get better because she'll be too worried about you." Eddie apparently can't argue with this logic so he tells us to leave or he'll have us removed. We all pile back into Alec's car. As we head back to the school I realize that Zach isn't the only one who has feelings for Josette. Jake and Eddie both have feelings for her too. Not the brotherly or friend kind but the defend your girlfriend from anything that might hurt her kind. I wonder how she came to know the three of them and how long they have loved her as I get ready for bed but as I try and fall asleep there is only one thought on my mind. Josette really hates me this time. I screwed up when I was younger but we were both kids so she could forgive that. I was older now, old enough to know how to act and Josette loved revenge, that much I could tell from that balcony and the way she goes after the people that talk about Alec yet she didn't do anything to destroy me. She's had many chances ever since she got here and she never did. Suddenly all I can see is her face, completely serious and her voice final when she told me she was done with me and I realize I lost my only chance to know my sister. 

When I first told Josette I wanted nothing to do with her, I meant it. I didn't care about her but now that I had gotten to know her and seen how much she cares about people, I wanted to know her, I wanted to be one of the people she cared about and now I never would. I destroyed my own sister tonight. I saw it on her face when I yelled at her because I let it slip she was my sister, something in her broke and I couldn't fix it. When Clary started hating me after everything with Amanda, I thought nothing could be worse than that but laying here, trying to fall asleep and not being able to because I keep seeing the broken look on Josette's face before she ran away or the certain look on her face when she said she was done with me, I feel like my heart is trying to come out of my chest. It's like it's trying to punish me for breaking Josette's heart and the worse part is that I know I deserve it which means my friends do too.