Clary sighed dramatically and earned herself a pointed look from her mother, Jocelyn, through the rearview mirror.

"Remind me again why we are moving to a different city, mom."

Now it was Jocelyn's turn to sigh. "Clary, living in the city could give me great opportunities with my art. There's more people here than in a secluded town in the middle of nowhere."

Clary didn't reply and looked out of the window, seeing the skyscrapers and busy workers of the city. The urban of New York City offered something new to draw, she thought, so it would also benefit her as well as her mother. Although this thought was countered by her dislike for change. She liked routine. She wasn't spontaneous or overly daring. She quite liked being, what others may consider, "boring"; at least she had a pattern to stick to.

She was snapped out of her reverie when the car that Luke (her step-father) was driving stopped.

"Here we are ladies!" Luke announced rather cheerfully. Clary had always been slightly envious of the way he could adapt and happily so; it was almost as though he craved change.

"Uh, Luke? Are you sure?" Clary said, doubtfully. He had parked outside a white house. It looked simple and plain, but was still quite large; large compared to the cottage they had before they moved. There were flowered vines growing up the side and it wasn't neighboured by anything else directly- although Clary could see a house a bit further down the road. It had a good amount of space around it, too: gravel around the front and grass and plants (from what Clary could see) around the back. If Clary wasn't so confused, she would have found the contrast between Luke's beaten pick-up truck and this picturesque house comical.

Luke chuckled, "I think I know where I'm going, Clary." He patted her head like she was still 10. Or had the mental capacity of a 10-year-old, at least.

"But it looks-"

"Beautiful? Spacious?-"

"Well, I was going to say rather expensive but, sure, all of the above."

Jocelyn was the first to take a step toward the house. "Remember how i told you my parents had died, Clary?" Clary walked to catch up with Jocelyn as she approached the house.

"Yes." How could she forget?

"They left me money. I didn't know what to spend it on, I didn't know if I wanted to spend it; it was all i had left of theirs after the fire. Sounds silly, I know. Anyway, Luke and I had a talk and we decided that maybe I should spend a little. This move benefits us all Clary, you'll see." She smiled, that warm, motherly smile, and unlocked the door to their new life.

Inside was just as Clary had expected: not too flashy but a sure sign they had money. The floor was laminated and, as you walked in, you were looking directly at the long staircase. A bit to your right was the living room and through a doorway on your left was the kitchen. To get to the dining room, you had to walk through the kitchen. Clary didn't even want to guess how many bedrooms were upstairs.

"Now, Clary," Jocelyn smiled. "I need a room upstairs to use for my art so, before i do, go upstairs to pick your room. It'd probably be better to pick the biggest so you have room in there for your art as well."

Clary picked the biggest alright. She had more than enough room in there considering she was quite a light traveller.

TIME SKIP (THE NEXT DAY)

Clary still had a little unpacking to do but she had today and tomorrow to do that. They had some unpacking to do downstairs too but Jocelyn reassured her that her and Luke could do that while Clary was at school on Monday.

School.

Something Clary was not looking forward to. At least she was joining at the start of a new year, she thought, and not in the middle- people would notice her even more then. Back home she didn't really have close friends. She had friends but not best friends. Not Hey-Lets-Go-To-My-Place-Everyday-Just-For-The-Hell-Of-It friends. Most of the girls at her old school were too... girl-y. They couldn't understand why Clary enjoyed getting covered in charcoal or paint. And Clary couldn't understand why they liked a new manicure everyday or dyeing their hair then complaining that they didn't like it. They weren't mean as you would expect them to be, they would talk to Clary and Clary would talk back, they just weren't close friends. Besides Clary liked her own company, her own space. Clary hoped that there were no stereotypically mean students in her new school.

And as Clary lay in bed on Sunday night, she came to the conclusion that it was unlikely to find a close friend so she'll just blend into the background. She'll just blend in with her red hair, freckles and somewhat lack of height...

"CLARY WAKE UP!"

Clary groaned out something that sounded like "No leave me alone."

"YOU HAVE SCHOOL!"

"OKAY MOM. Oh my god, it's like you want to deafen me." Clary sulkily looked at the time "6am. Really? Mom, school starts at 9. 9 O'CLOCK. I COULD HAVE HAD ANOTHER HOUR."
"Yes but then, sweet pea, you'd be rushing. I want you to be fully awake before you get to school."

"Wow, okay. Day's off to a bad start already."

"Just get your tiny behind downstairs after you get changed, i made breakfast!" Then she promptly left with a skip in her step.

"No one is that cheerful at 6am." Clary sighed quietly to herself.

The other chapters (if i decide to continue it) will be longer but I'm just seeing what the reaction will be so this is quite short