A/N: all human, AU. All rights belong to Cassandra Clare

Prologue

It all started on the first day of senior year. It was the day that I met him. Gosh, it was all kinds of wrong. But I couldn't help it. We couldn't help it. It was like the heavens had opened above us and told us, yes, this is what's meant to be. Looking back now I can see how stupid we were. But we were in love. How could we have stopped? How could we have said no? If I had a chance to go back and redo it all, make different choices, I wouldn't. I wouldn't change a damn thing. It was perfect. He was perfect. We were perfect.

Chapter 1

Fall Out Boy blared through the speakers on her alarm clock, startling her awake. She groaned and sat up, stretching as she pulled her tangled red curls up into a knot on the top of her head. She rubbed her eyes as she made her way to the bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush. She squinted at herself in the mirror and sighed. First day of senior year, she thought glumly, only 180 days to go.

The house was quiet, as it always was now that her brother had moved away. She never really saw her parents either, always on business trips or in the office working. She only saw them on the weekends and usually that was the day she didn't stay home. She didn't mind it. She liked the peace and quiet and the parents who didn't really care what she did.

It'd be a lonely life if not for her group of crazy friends who drove her nuts half the time but loved them to death. First, there was Simon, who she'd been friends with forever. He was he geeky friend who would watch tv shows with and go to all her favorite bands' concerts with. Then there was Isabelle, Simon's girlfriend, and her closest girl friend. Isabelle was who Clary would talk to about boys and fashion and all of that girly stuff. Then there was her brother Alec, who'd graduated the year before, and Magnus, Alec's boyfriend. And then last but not least, Sebastian, her tall, dark and handsome boyfriend of almost two years. He was mysterious but had a funny and sensitive side that only she got to see every now and then. She smiled. They were a crazy group, but the crazy is what made her boring, average life so much more interesting.

She sighed, suddenly missing her brother, as she walked through the eerily quiet house, getting ready for school. Her brother, Jonathan, was two and a half years older than her and he was off at college on a full ride football scholarship. He'd been made for that life; the star quarterback and the hottest girlfriend and the best grades. He'd been made to be the star in the spotlight. Clary, on the other hand, could care less if people noticed her. In fact, she liked it better when she was invisible to the world. It gave her the quiet mind to paint and draw and just mind her own business.

She grabbed a cup of plain black coffee on her way out and climbed up into her old beat up jeep. Her parents were loaded and she supposed she could just ask for a nice new car that didn't need any fixing but she liked her old tin bucket. Yes, it had a few kinks, but that's what gave it character.

She pulled into the parking lot, My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark, blaring loudly from her radio. She cut the engine, cutting Fall Out Boy off mid word and jumped out of the car, locking it behind her, only to be nearly trampled seconds later by none other than Isabelle Lightwood.

"Geez Isabelle," Clary exclaimed. "Trying to take me out or something? I mean, I know you've always been jealous of me, but this seems to be a new low for you," she teased, hugging Isabelle back.

Isabelle rolled her eyes, letting her go. "Oh shut up. I'm allowed to have missed you."

Clary laughed, straightening her shirt. "I missed you too. I'm just teasing." Isabelle winked just as her boyfriend, and Clary's best friend, made an appearance. Clary grinned and ran up to hug him.

"Hey nerd. Long time no see," she laughed, taking a step back. Simone straightened his glasses and fixed her with a stare.

"And whose fault would that be?"

Clary shrugged, looking around, a small smile playing her lips. "Don't know. Couldn't guess," she played lightly.

Her smile grew as a certain dark haired someone came into view. "Sebastian!" She squealed, running and jumping in his arms. He caught her effortlessly, kissing her, and laughed.

"God, I missed you," he said into her curls, squeezing her tightly.

She giggled. "Hopefully not too much." She pulled back just enough to look at his face.

He grinned mischievously. "How about I show you just how much I missed you." Her cheeks flushed with color and she bit her lip. She heard Isabelle make a noise behind them.

"Goodness you two, get a room. You make me sick." Her tone was serious but her expression was playful, teasing.

Clary rolled her eyes and backed up, keeping her hand in Sebastian's. "I think that was the bell," she said, ignoring Isabelle's comment. "We should get to class before we're late."

Simon stuck his tongue out. "I think we should ditch. Just all drop out and live on the streets together. Sounds more thrilling than surviving in another year of hell." They all just shook their heads, making their way into the school.

Sebastian placed a quick kiss along Clary's jaw. "See you later, beautiful," he muttered before heading off in the opposite direction for his class. Clary smiled and then blushed once she saw Isabelle watching her.

"Oh shut up. Let's just get to class," Clary said irritably, grabbing her arm and half dragging a laughing Isabelle to their English class.

"I hear the new English teacher's hot," Isabelle said excitedly. "I certainly hope so. Might make English this year so much more entertaining to be in." Clary rolled her eyes.

"Of course that's what you're thinking about."

"What? After last year's old Mr. Aldertree, I could use some hot testosterone." Clary choked on a laugh.

"You're impossible."

"But she's quite right though," said a familiar voice behind them. Clary turned to find a very sparkly Magnus Bane, grinning at them. She smiled back and gave him a quick hug just before they entered the classroom.

"Is she though? I mean, at least with Mr. Aldertree it was easy to pay attention. But let's just say that this new teacher is eye candy. That's not exactly going to be helpful when trying to concentrate on lectures and writing essays now, is it?" She looked at them pointedly.

Isabelle and Magnus glanced at each other silently before bursting out into laughter. Clary looked at them confused.

"What? What did I say?" They continued to laugh uncontrollably.

Isabelle wiped at her eyes. "You're hilarious Clary. Everything you just said was a good joke. I wish I had that written down so I could tell it." Clary glared.

"Just because you don't care if you fail, doesn't mean I don't," she shook her head and sat in her desk without another word. She wouldn't admit this out loud but there was a small part of her that secretly hoped that the new teacher would be some nice eye candy. But she would never tell Isabelle and Magnus that.

The final bell rang, signaling that class would begin and the few stragglers coming into class now would be marked tardy. The classroom filled with chatter, as everyone took their seats next to their friends, catching up on each other's summers and wondering who the new teacher could be.

Five minutes passed and he didn't show up. Then ten. Then fifteen.

Clary sighed and turned to Isabelle and Magnus. "Late on his first day on the job? That's bad form."

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "You're telling me. I'm starting to wonder if it's worth seeing this new eye candy. Because I'm about to just walk out that door. I have better things to do."

The classroom quieted as people began to seriously wonder where the new teacher could be. And that's when he walked in. He could have been an angel sent from above.

The class went silent instantly as the girls oohed and aahed, and the boys rolled the eyes, sliding down in their seats. Clary even found herself staring in amazement. Oh lord on high, have mercy, she thought. There was no way that this could be their new English teacher. He was probably the most beautiful human being she'd ever seen, with skin that had been sun-kissed to a golden glow and wavy golden hair. But what made it even more amazing, were his eyes. They were the most unusual color she'd ever seen. They were a honey color, almost like sunlight. And you could clearly tell that he was very well muscled under his suit. Overall, he seemed to be glowing. And Clary suddenly found herself comparing him to Sebastian. Where Sebastian was all shadows and pallors, this man was all golden and sunlight and warmth.

Clary found herself mesmerized, unable to look away. He was perfect. Literally the most perfect and most beautiful person to ever walk the earth. She was lost, finding herself looking at his arms and wondering what it would be like to have those arms wrap around her, to have those hands run through her hair and over her face. She kept looking at his mouth, his perfectly plump lips and wondering what it would feel like to have them pressed up against hers. To have that glide over her body-

She shut those thoughts off immediately. He was her teacher. She shouldn't have those thoughts anyways since she was dating Sebastian, but especially not about her teacher. That was completely inappropriate.

"Holy hot damn," she heard Isabelle mutter under her breath.

The teacher cleared his throat, looking at the class and smiled sheepishly. On anyone else, it would have looked awkward. But he just managed to look sexy. "Hello class. I apologize for being late. There were a few last minute things to take care of." His voice was like music to her ears. "Anyways, hi," he said again, clearly a little nervous. "My name is Mr. Herondale and I'll be your new English teacher today."

He started introducing himself to the class but Clary zoned out, staring at him. Her fingers itches for her prismacolor pencils and paintbrushes, to paint the beautiful man in front of her. How was she supposed to concentrate now? she wondered. She kept staring at his face, his lips, his hands, his arms, his everything. She kept wondering and fantasizing about him.

She'd been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't even realized that they'd been going around the room and introducing themselves and that it was now her turn. And that Mr. Herondale had been saying her name for the past minute.

"Miss Fray?" He asked politely, an eyebrow arched. Clary snapped back to herself.

"What?" She replied, not having heard what had been said. The class laughed.

Mr. Herondale chuckled softly. "We were just introducing ourselves," he repeated, a little smile on his perfect lips.

"Don't worry, Mr. Herondale. It's not you. Clarissa's just always in her own little fantasy world," sneered Kaelie, one of the queen bitches of this school. Clary glared and turned back to the teacher.

"Sorry. Got lost in thought." Fantasizing about you, she added in her head. She smiled apologetically. He waved it away and smiled. She thought she melted just a little inside, as did the rest of the girls in the class. "I'm Clarissa Fray, but everyone just calls me Clary. And…" she tried to think of something about herself. "I'm an artist." She shrugged like it was no big deal.

His smile grew and he nodded. "Impressive. Maybe I'll have you show me some of your work sometime," he said casually before moving on to the next student.

Clary sat frozen, zoning out again. She couldn't help it. And the little butterflies that were in not just her stomach, but every part of her body, didn't help either. She had no idea how she would get through this year of English.

The rest of class went by pretty slowly, with the only bit of homework was a one page essay about ourselves. Easy enough, right? Clary hadn't really paid attention to the requirements, just on Mr. Herondale and her completely inappropriate fantasies about him.

The bell couldn't have come sooner. It was almost a relief when it rang, when class ended, so that Clary could finally concentrate. But she found throughout the rest of the day, it was nearly impossible. Thoughts of Mr. Herondale consumed her thoughts. Oh boy, she thought miserably, thinking back to that first hour English class. She was pretty sure no girl in that class, had left with dry panties. She could be sure of it. This was going to be a long year.