Hello, my pretties!!! I'm back with yet another story for you all. This just came to me one night and I decided to make a fanfic for it. So here you go, hope you enjoy!!

Shrugging my oversized raincoat on, I slid out the door before my mother threw her shoe at me. I took a few seconds to look back at the house and tried to grasp what I had just experienced. My mother, Jocelyn Fray, was having sex with someone on the couch that was not my father. I didn't know what to think.

I shivered internally and stuffed my small hands into the large pockets of my coat. Luckily, I was in my last year of high school and wouldn't have to live in this town- where everyone knew everyone- anymore. I'd be off to Berkeley in no time. At least, that's what I kept reminding myself. I hadn't even gotten in yet.

I decided not to go too deep into it, for fear of my brain unraveling right on the sidewalk, and hopped into my beat-up Honda Civic and sped off to school. All the while I was thinking of how to tell Jon the news. He's always been a momma's boy and believed she could do no wrong. Well, until now that is.

Pulling up into my regular parking spot, I spied Jace Herondale, and his fanfare of girls crowded around him, making their way up the school steps. I slid down in my seat and waited for Izzy to leave her car. We'd become fast friends in second grade when she realized that I wasn't latched onto her brother like a barnacle to the side of a boat.

I didn't understand how she put up with him, let alone live under the same roof as him. All she said was he isn't as bad as he seems. Yeah, bullshit. Once I saw her inky black hair, I bolted toward her. Somehow she knew I was following her and wasn't surprised when I made my way up to her, out of breath. Knocking her hip against mine, she glanced down at me, our height difference apparent.

"So Clare, you ready for your first day of senior year?"

I snorted rather unattractively "Ready as I'll ever be."

Isabelle flicked her hair behind her ear, showing off her diamond earrings, but didn't respond. The only sign I was given that she heard me was the small smile she wore. I linked my arm with hers, and we strode up to school, daring anyone to stare. That's the thing. When I was with Izzy, I felt powerful, visible, important.

As soon as I saw a flash of golden hair, I went in the opposite direction. But Izzy's arm held me in place. "Oh no, you don't. You are at least going to be civil with my brother this year. It's our senior year; that's all I'm asking of you."

I rolled my eyes internally but dared to peer up at her. I was met with her dark, severe eyes and tried not to shrink back from their intensity.

"Fine," I mimped. "I'll try, but I'm not going to promise anything. He's already an asshole on his own."

"You're not wrong. But please, he's my brother. And you're my best friend. I don't want to have to choose between the two of you."

Before I could get the chance to answer, she decided to drag me over to him. Maybe to try and spark some civil conversation, I don't know. The inner workings of Isabelle Lightwood's mind are hard to understand. At this moment, I just wanted nothing more than to sink into the floor beneath me.

My feet betrayed me, and I was face-to-face with the shit stain himself. Not letting Isabelle get the better of me, I sneered at Jace indignantly. He didn't seem to notice the apparent hatred I held for him and reached down to ruffle my hair. "Nice to see you again Ginge," he said casually as always.

I huffed in frustration and tried my best to straighten my hair into a presentable ponytail. He smirked at my apparent discomfort and continued. "Glad to see you haven't changed from the short, annoying, redhead you always were."

"Glad to see you haven't changed from the boorish, slimy, asshole you will forever be." I could've sworn his grin faltered just a bit, but it must've been a trick of the light. For, when I looked closer, he was still smiling arrogantly.

"Ok, obviously you two can't interact like civil adults right now, and we're gonna make a scene if we don't get to homeroom," Izzy's voice cut through the already-growing crowd. She grabbed my arm and pulled me over to her side.

"Remind me never to let you near my brother again," she shook her head.

"That's what I keep telling you all the time."

I tried not to think about how seeing Jace for the first time since the end of junior year had brought back numerous memories that I'd rather not think about. Jostling my backpack, I stayed by Izzy's side for the rest of the day, not paying any attention to the golden gaze plastered to my back like bad karma all through the school day.

~.o.0.o.~

Now comes by favorite part of the day: Shakespeare club. I'm a big theatre nerd, and it's been my life ever since my mom took me into the city to see Les Miserables. As time went on, my love of the classics grew. Stupidly enough, Jace was in this class. You'd think that a jock like him wouldn't want anything to do with thespians, but that's where you're wrong.

He likes to keep you guessing.

Restraining myself from bashing my head with a hammer seeing as though we were the only ones in the class at the moment, I busied myself with arranging the chairs in a circle. I heard the scraping of chairs behind me and looked to see him joining me and rolled my eyes once I turned back around. Why does he have to make it so hard to hate him?

Once we'd finished up placing the chairs in their proper places, I noticed that we were still the only ones in the room, and so I reached into my bag and grabbed the sketchbook my mom had given me for my sixteenth birthday.

My mind wandered, and I began sketching a haunting-looking girl with long hair standing close to the edge of a cliff, her arms placed on either side of her, presumably to catch her balance.

Relief rushed through me like water on a hot day when someone - after quite a few minutes - came into the room. I looked up to see Jace standing over my shoulder, concentration ever-present on his delicate features.

As I stood up, he seemed to be awoken from a deep spell as he blinked a few times and give me one of his signature smirks. I chose to ignore him and walked over to the stage to begin busying myself.

From my place on the stage, I kept a close eye on Jace to make sure he was no less than 10 feet away from me. Luckily, he strolled away and leaned against one of the far corners, seemingly very absorbed by the picture to his left.

Once Mr. Carstairs, our teacher, came into the room, class finally began. As soon as Izzy spotted me, she flitted over to me and gracefully placed herself next to me, drawing many glances her way. That's another reason why I hang with Isabelle so much. She brings unwanted attention away from me and deals with it accordingly.

If someone as so much looks at me funny, she makes them regret the day they were born. She winks at me and leans back. "Alright, class!" Mr. Carstairs claps his hands loudly, startling the couple sucking face in the corner. I take a closer look and notice the couple is Jace and Kaelie.

I try to shove down the pang of disappointment that it wasn't him and me. But, the feeling is still there. He continues, "Today we're gonna be discussing the true meaning of Romeo and Juliet. Does anyone have any ideas what that could be?"

I immediately raise my hand. His smile is wide when he sees my raised arm. "Yes, Clary?"

"The message that Shakespeare is trying to communicate is that youth is stupid and the love and lust that they experience is shallow," I say this all while making direct contact with Jace's gold eyes. He holds my gaze unflinchingly, and I break away first, looking down at my Converse.

"Well, I have to say, that's a fascinating outlook, Clary. Does anyone else have any other ideas of what it could be?" He pauses. "Yes, Jace?"

"I believe that he's trying to demonstrate how love conquers a poisonous hatred between two groups of people," funnily enough, he says this while looking at me. I immediately feel my cheeks grow pink and wait for his reaction. But I get none.

"Well," Mr. Carstairs shifts uncomfortably in his seat, "these are two very interesting outlooks on Shakespeare's most famous play. Does anyone have a completely different interpretation?"

When no one responds, he slumps even further into the chair. "Well, if no one is going to say anything else, the class needs to split into two different groups and come up with concrete evidence and arguments to support their claims. We'll present our findings on Friday in a brief slideshow. The group that does this well gets to choose our next Shakespearean story to interpret." This seemed to spark the interest of multiple students in the class.

Over the past year, we'd been learning about Julius Caesar, and honestly, we've gotten too sick and tired of Julius Caesar. Some wanted to learn about Macbeth and the rest about Hamlet. I instantly made eye contact with Izzy, and an evil glint appeared in her eye.

Izzy and I had been waiting all year to learn about Macbeth, and now was the opportune time. We'd make this count. Isabelle, being more of the mingler, went around the class asking people whether they agreed with me or not. After a few minutes, we'd gathered a pretty solid group including: me, Izzy, Emma, Maia, Magnus, Julian, Mark, and Kieran.

Satisfied, I clapped my hands, "Okay, guys! We need to get this show on the road. Mark, Emma, Julian, and Kieran. You guys get going on the ways to present the information in a clear and concise way. The rest of you come with me," I finished.

What I didn't notice was Jace regarding our group quietly. Watching me the entire time. If I had known, I would've turned around and given a piece of my mind. Even as we left in our separate groups, I never got to hear him sigh unsatisfied and turn back to his group.

Well, what do you think? Let me know! Any review is a good review!!

Love a potato,

-BlueAries03