"You're late!" Clary said teasingly as she watched her best friend, Simon Lewis, trudge down the sidewalk towards her. He kicked some leaves scattered on the cement and held up his hands in surrender,
"I know, I'm sorry. Eric called about some band drama and I lost track of time." He smiled apologetically. Clary walked down her porch steps, her red hair bouncing around her shoulders.
"Just don't let it happen again." She said as intimidating as she could though she was considerably shorter than Simon. "Or else."
"Yeah ok Fray, whatever you say." He responded with a scoff. The two walked side by side against the chilly fall morning. They talked about Simon's upcoming gigs with his band, now named Dank Hollow, the exams they had later this week and a fight that broke out between two jocks on the football team.
"Oh! And did you hear, there are few new students starting today." Simon said pushing up his glasses that had started to slide down his nose. "Three of them to be exact, a girl and two boys. They're all siblings."
"Really? That's interesting are they triplets?" Clary asked, wondering what they would be like.
She had been going to school with the same people since kindergarten, one new student is a big deal, let alone three.
"No not triplets, the boys are a little older, the girl is in our grade. Apparently one of the boys is adopted, too." Clary nodded, retaining this information.
Two boys and girl. Maybe she'd have classes with the sister, maybe they even could become friendly. Clary loved Simon but she always secretly longed for a girlfriend. Spending her adolescence with the opposite sex, she couldn't help but feel like she missed out: sleepovers, gossip, etc. This could be good.
The two crossed the street, dodging traffic and laughing at all the pissed off men in taxis.
"We're going to be late to homeroom again you know." Clary said begrudgingly. She really didn't care much about being late, she just wasn't in the mood to listen to Mr. Penhallow nag about the importance of punctuality.
"Look Clary I know Mr. Penhallow might be the most annoying person ever, like in existence," he said seeming to read her thoughts, "but it'll be fine. Just tune him out, that's what I always do." Simon said leading them into the school.
The halls were basically empty aside from a few kids scurrying to class, balancing books in their arms with panicked looks on their faces. Clary rolled her eyes knowing very well she should be following in their footsteps but she just couldn't bring herself to hurry. She had slept horribly the night before, tossing and turning with nightmares, she didn't have the energy. Clary and Simon reached their lockers and collected their things when they heard voices coming down the hallway.
"Crap! Thats Penhallow." Simon whispered, struggling to get all his things together. Clary looked down the hall and sure enough Mr. Penhallow was striding towards them but instead of alone, he was accompanied by a tall, raven-haired girl in red pumps. She strutted down the hallway confidently, while Mr. Penhallow struggled to keep up with the beaut. Clary and Simon took this as an opportunity to escape. Quietly they turned around and headed in the opposite direction, but their attempt failed.
"Ms. Fray! Mr. Lewis!" Mr. Penhallow's voice shook the halls. "I see you're late, again." The two froze and turned to see him and the girl approach them. Up close the girl was even more gorgeous; flawless skin, dark eyes and cherry, red lips. Clary had to nudge Simon in the ribs to stop him from drooling over her. A little pang of annoyance settled in her stomach, and she found herself self-consciously fixing her hair
"We're sorry Mr. Penhallow, we,"Clary began but Mr. Penhallow held up his hand signaling her to stop.
"Ms. Fray is I can listen to your lame excuse and give you a detention for your excessive tardiness or you can do me a favor and I'll let this one slide."
Clary and Simon nodded to the latter.
"This here is Isabelle Lightwood, she's new here at Alicante High."
"Hi!" She said with a big smile shaking both of the students' hands. "It's nice to meet both of you!"
"Hi, I'm Clary." Despite the jealously, Clary responded warmly to the enthusiasm, and shoved Simon who had started to gawk again.
"Ah uh I'm Simon." He said sheepishly, Isabelle smiled appreciatively.
"Right well Isabelle will need some help getting to know the school and finding classes so I was hoping you and Mr. Lewis might take it upon yourselves to act as a guide of sorts for Ms. Lightwood."
Clary was hesitant to the idea; yes she had been open to the idea of having a new friend, but this wasn't what she had in mind. She was fabulous, Clary was ordinary and spent her life off to the side, she didn't need something, or someone, else to overshadow her. It had only been five minutes and Simon had already forgotten Clary's existence. She bit her lip, but Isabelle seemed so nice, and she couldn't just say no…
"Yeah of course." She said, she turned to Isabelle, "We'd love to." Isabelle grinned.
"Ok well I need to get back to the office, I trust you'll show your new peer to homeroom?"
Clary and Simon nodded while Mr. Penhallow walked away, but not before he threatened the two about being late again.
"Ugh I hope you guys are ok with this. I get how it could be annoying having to watch over the new girl." Isabelle said, rolling her eyes. "But I really appreciate it." Adding a sincere grin.
"No of course not, really. We're happy to help, right Simon?" Clary replied guiltily. How could she have been so selfish a minute ago? She turned to Simon who had been studying Isabelle's face for the past five minutes. Clary rolled her eyes, "Simon, if we're going to be spending time with Isabelle can you at least try to control your weird teenage hormones?"
Simon snapped back to reality, his cheeks turning red. "Ah sorry," he laughed nervously, "can I see your schedule?"
Isabelle giggled and handed it over.
"Okay we have homeroom and English together. Oh, and lunch with Clary and I." Simon said excitedly. Clary scanned Isabelle's classes, too.
"We have history and art." She said, genuinely pleased that she would get more time to know Isabelle.
"Awesome! Alright Mr. Drool, care to lead the way?" Simon blushed but proceeded down the corridor.
Isabelle filled in the two on the way to homeroom, "My parents filed for divorce 'bout a year ago. It isn't final, but my mom was tired of all the drama, so she picked up and started somewhere new. We'll be able to see our father every other weekend but for the most part he's out of our lives."
"Oh I'm sorry Isabelle." Clary and Simon said in their own ways.
She shrugged, "Don't be. He cheated, he's dealing with the consequences now. Besides it's not too bad, my brothers are a pretty good support system when they're not being assholes." She smiled.
"And where are they?" Simon asked, probably wondering what kind of threat they'd pose if by some chance he ever started dating Isabelle.
"They're seniors." She responded.
"Are they twins?" Claire's curiosity perked up.
"No when we were younger my parents took in a foster child, we all fell in love with him and eventually adopted him. Him and my biological brother are best friends."
Clary nodded in response and soon they were in front of 200, Clary's homeroom.
"Well here is my homeroom, I'll see you later Simon, you too Isabelle." She said waving them off.
"Oh please, call me Izzy!" Isabelle sang as she and Simon walked further down the hall. Clary smiled at the words. Maybe this could be more than good.
By the time third period rolled around, all of Clary's silly apprehensions about Isabelle, Izzy, had faded. She seemed awesome and really interested in being friends; Clary had already began drawing Izzy in the back of her notebook and she was eager to finish it. One by one the rest of the class shuffled in; it was a mass of conversation, who did the homework and what were the answers, who hooked up at the party on Saturday, blah, blah, blah. One of the conversations though stood out in particular to Clary; it was an exchange between her friend, Maia and another girl, Kaelie, who Clary wasn't close with.
"The new boys are GORGEOUS." Kaelie said enthusiastically. "They could be models!"
"Really?" Maia asked, leaning forward to make the conversation more private.
"Yes. I saw them at their lockers on my way to second period. Ugh."
"Hmmmm, well maybe I should check them out myself." Maia said winking.
"Hey! You have Jordan, leave some men for us single ladies!" Kaelie said, playfully swatting Maia's arm. Hmm, Clary wondered. So Isabelle's "support system" happened to be hotties. She wondered what they looked like. Isabelle was gorgeous, so Clary came up with a sensible prediction of what her real brother looked like. But the other one wasn't related to them, he was gorgeous (apparently) in his own way. She wondered what kind of eyes he had…
"Hey you." Clary jumped, she hadn't realized she'd been so involved in what Maia and Kaelie were saying. She turned to find Sebastian Verlac sliding into his seat, next to hers. Ultimately Sebastian and Clary run in different circles, but recently the two had started seeing each other. She hadn't thought she would like Sebastian because of how different they were. He was outgoing, sometimes obnoxious, and spent his free time with his fellow, douchey jocks. But to Clary's surprise he was also sweet, charming, and good kisser.
"Hi." She said sweetly.
"Something interesting I should be listening in on too?" He smirked and nodded towards Maia and Kaelie.
Clary shrugged, "No, just talking about the homework."
He smiled and nodded in response. Just then, Ms. Blackthorn entered the room and immediately delved into the "wonders of geometry."
Clary couldn't believe she had blatantly lied to Sebastian like that. No it wasn't exactly appropriate to tell the guy you are dating you were curious to know about the new boys, but they weren't official and she could've told him it was about the brothers without mentioned how good-looking they were. Clary bit her lip and decided that it was simply a lack of judgment.
When lunch finally rolled around, Clary all but skipped to the cafeteria. She scanned the big room and found Isabelle waving at her from a table. Simon sat next to her, smiling and gesturing me to come sit.
After me and Simon's lunch with Izzy Clary had learned more about Isabelle's life. She loved fashion and partying, her brother, Alec, enjoyed archery, while Jace was a talented musician. The three of them were very close and had been surprised and upset by the move. They lived in a townhouse just a few subway stops away from Clary, oh and they had a younger brother, Max.
When the bell rang, Clary and Isabelle said their goodbyes to Simon and headed to history. Just like Clary had expected, guys and girls gawked at Izzy as she walked down the corridor. But instead of feeling overshadowed, Clary felt good walking beside Izzy. Seeing everyone's reaction to Isabelle Lightwood, made Clary stand a little taller. Boys were drooling, getting slapped by their girlfriends, and others checked their appearance in their locker mirrors, but Izzy paid them no mind. Instead, she asked about Clary; Clary filled Izzy in on her life, her mother, her late father, and her art.
"Hey," Izzy whispered to Clary, taking her away from a drawing in her notebook. "Me and my brothers are going out to a bar tonight, a little first day of school celebration. Do you want to come? You can bring Simon."
Clary's heart sank a little. She would've loved to hang out with Izzy outside of school, but a bar? She looked much too young and didn't have a fake.
"I wish, but I don't think so." Izzy's face fell into a pout. Clary kept her eyes on the teacher to make sure he wasn't listening. "I don't have a fake ID."
Izzy smirked, "Oh I don't think that's going to be a problem." Why not? Clary wondered. "Please come Clary."
Clary decided to trust Izzy on this one, "Okay."
Turns out Simon couldn't make it as they made their way home from school. Dank Hollow had mandatory practice at 9 and if they wanted to be ready for their show next week, they needed all the help they could get.
"Crap." Simon said, throwing his hands up in frustration
"Relax lover boy, there will be other chances to hang out with Izzy outside of school." Clary teased, she stepped on the curb and balanced walking on it.
"Yeah, yeah." He said rolling his eyes. They reached Clary's house and she bounded up the porch steps.
"Have fun tonight." He called after her.
Later on, Izzy arrived at Clary's home at precisely 7o'clock.
"We'll meet my brothers there." She explained, "I needed some girl time! What are you going to wear?" She asked, perched on the end of Clary's bed.
Clary looked down at her graphic tee and light wash jeans "This?"
Izzy's face scrunched a little, "That's cute, yeah but I think you're going to need something a little more," She thought about it for a moment, "edgier."
Izzy offered a black, off the shoulder blouse and let Clary wear a pair of dark jeans and her converse and decorated Clary's face with a light layer of makeup. When Clary looked in the mirror and hardly recognized herself.
"Wow Izzy, I look," She started.
"HOT!" Izzy finished for her.
At the risk of sounding conceited, Izzy was right. Clary's head of flames fell perfectly and were complemented by the brown shadow that covered her emerald eyes. The shirt hugged her body perfectly, revealing curves that Clary didn't even know she had. She looked older than 16, she squealed silently. Izzy had done good.
When they arrived to the bar, Izzy flashed a smile to the bouncer who gladly accepted it as a form of ID. Clary followed in suit, batting her eyelashes. For a moment he stared at her and Clary internally panicked. He knows I'm underage, this is going to work, I look nothing like Isabelle. The bouncer then smirked and signaled that she was cleared to enter. Clary's heart raced violently, but she smiled sweetly at him. It worked!
"They're around here somewhere!" Isabelle shouted over the blaring music. She walked without effort in her sandals, barely paying to attention to the room of men staring at her in awe. Clary followed her, silently cursing herself for not wearing something with a little more height. Compared to Isabelle, she still looked like a little girl, even with her hair and makeup done. Another minute of swerving and weaving through people and the two came to a stop at a couch with a low table. Sitting there was a boy, not much older than the girls with jet black hair and crystal blue eyes. He was handsome, very handsome and obviously Izzy's brother. He was sipping a beer, talking to a girl with platinum blonde hair in a mini skirt. Izzy took a seat on the matching chair next to them.
"There you are. I was beginning to think you got lost on your way here." The boy said with a grin. Izzy rolled her eyes.
"This your new girlfriend?" she responded taunting him, she crossed her arms while Alec's mouth formed a hard line. The girl, uncomfortable being put on the spot, got up to leave.
"Thanks a lot sis." He snapped.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure that was a total loss."
He broke out into a smile and two started to laugh. A bit confused and left out, Clary coughed loudly.
"Oh my god! Sorry, sit, sit!" Clary took a seat next to Alec on the couch.
"Alec this is my new friend Clary, the one I was telling you and Jace about. Clary this is my brother Alec."
"It's nice to meet you." Clary said coolly, a little shy. Sitting near him, she got a better look at his features and just like Izzy, he was even more handsome up close.
"Likewise. And I've seen Iz has gotten to you already, you poor thing." He said, looking Clary up and down. Clary blushed a bit. "I like your sneakers." He said pointing out the converse.
Clary smiled, relaxing a bit. "Thanks. Uh, by the way, whose Jace?"
"That would be me." A voice called from above. Standing on the opposite side of the table was a boy, Alec's age. He stood tall, lean, and muscular with beautiful golden eyes and hair to match. Clary all but stopped breathing when she looked at him. He was easily the most beautiful thing she had ever seen; Alec was gorgeous, but this boy was an angel. Her fingers itched for pencil and paper, to draw him. They ached to sketch his lips, the curves of his biceps and the precision of his jawline. Hell, even his ear lobes were perfect.
"Hi, I'm Clary." She said in a small voice, a little intimidated. She struggled to collect herself; this rarely happened, no it never happened. For goodness sake it had taken her 16 years to find someone she liked enough to get pizza with. But this one, this boy was different, there was something she was drawn to but she couldn't figure out why. Clary's pocket vibrated and she reached for her phone it instinctively, it was a text from Sebastian.
-Hey, what r u up to?
She bit her lip and slid it back into her jacket, turning her attention back to Jace.
"Clary." He nodded. "Aren't you a little young to be in a place like this?" He said, taking a seat on the chair opposite of Izzy's.
"I thought we were all underaged?" Clary asked, confused.
He chuckled, "Yes but you look like you're ready for a juicebox and a nap."
"JACE." Izzy said with a growl, Alec stifled a laugh before giving Clary an apologetic look. Clary stared at him, waiting for him to say sorry or add a "just kidding" onto the end.
Instead he shrugged his shoulders, "What? I'm just saying that no smart man in here would ever dream of trying to speak to her for fear they'd end up on a sex offender list."
"Excuse me?" Clary could feel herself losing her temper. Sure she had heard comments about her height and appearance but this was just so rude, and she barely knew the guy!
"And who do you think you are that you can speak to people like that?"
"Uh Clary, why don't we get some drinks?" Isabelle said nervously interfering, pulling her away from the seating area. Clary glared at Jace while Izzy struggled to drag her to the bar.
"Two beers, please." Izzy said to an infatuated bartender before turning her attention back to Clary.
"Look, I know Jace can be kind of,"
"Rude? Unnecessary? An ass?"
"Rough," Izzy sighed. "But I promise underneath all of that he's a good guy and I really don't know where this is coming from. He seemed excited to meet you actually," Izzy thought about something for a moment before returning to the conversation. "I am really sorry about what he said but please just ignore him. That's' what I always do." She said, handing Clary a beer when the man set them on the wooden counter. Clary sighed and looked over to the angel sitting on the arm chair. But he was no longer alone, a small blonde in a tight skirt sat on his right leg whispering something into his ear. The sight made Clary unreasonably uncomfortable, she ignored this.
Clary sighed, "Okay Iz."
Isabelle squealed, "A nickname for my nickname!"
Clary rolled her eyes and lead her back to the seating area, alcohol wasn't really her thing, but maybe taking a few sips would help. As the two girls arrived at the table, so did an older boy with dark hair like Alec's but his eyes were cat-like and he stood confidently in a long red jacket. Alec must have not noticed him approach.
"Hello children." He said with a smirk. Alec's attention turned to the man in the red coat and he jumped up excitedly, embracing him. After a moment he coughed from embarrassment and sat back down, while Izzy went to greet him.
"Magnus!" They hugged. "I didn't know you were coming!" She said happily.
"Well I figured I'd surprise Alec; I know the moves been a little tough on him." He said stroking the back of Alec's head. A light bulb went off finally and Clary realized why flirting with the girl had been a joke to Izzy and him earlier. Izzy nodded and Magnus turned to Jace.
"And Jace, I see you're a little too busy to give me a hug, huh?"
Jace smirked and ran his fingers along the girl's thigh.
"Magnus, jealousy is such an unattractive quality, but if it's you really want to say hello, I do have another leg open."
Magnus made a face of disgust, Clary liked him already. His eyes shifted from the blonde couple and over to her.
"And who's this?" Magnus said with a smile, he made his way over.
"Magnus this is Clary. She's my friend from school!" Izzy said.
Magnus nodded, "Well aren't you just the cutest thing? And look at that hair, is it natural?"
Clary giggled but could feel her cheeks redden, "Yes."
"I like her Izzy." He said, Izzy smiled big.
The attention was a little embarrassing but Clary didn't totally mind it. She laughed at Magnus' compliments, but let her eyes look past him. To her surprise, Jace was staring at her, ignoring Blondie's attempts at conversation. His eyes flickered away quickly and he turned back to his date, pretending to know what she was talking about. Clary looked down and played with her fingers, feeling off, but mostly confused. If she thought Jace was such an ass, why did she have butterflies in her stomach?