Chapter 1

Alec staggered out of the studio, sweat dripping off his chin, just as the bell rang. Shoving everything into his backpack, he dashed down the halls to get to his next class, sliding into his seat next to Jace seconds before the second bell sounded. Jace shot him a smirk before slumping down in his seat a little, looking as if he was going to prop his legs onto his desk at any given moment.

Alec rolled his eyes at his adopted brother's antics as he got out his books and prepared to take notes


"Dude, what the hell was that?"

As usual, Jace, obnoxious and narcissistic, gave the lunch lady a charming wink before grabbing his tray of steak off the counter.

"My class ran a bit late," Alec explained, a little embarrassed at his sweaty entrance to his previous class.

At the New York Institute, everyone who was accepted was either from an elite background or extremely talented. At least on the surface. Alec was supposedly accepted for songwriting and dance while Jace was accepted for sports and modeling, unfortunately feeding his ego even further.

"Alec!"

The person in question glanced around until his eyes landed on his sister, Isabelle Lightwood, walking next to the fiery Clary Fray (who was Jace's girlfriend) and her own boyfriend, Simon Lewis. Incidentally, Izzy was accepted for modeling and sports (much like Jace, to her own chagrin), Clary for art and design, and Simon for engineering and computers.

"Hey, what's up?" Alec asked, striding towards her with his pasta in his hands.

"Wanna sit together today?"

"Sorry. I have a class to teach."

After that incident with Max, Alec's parents, Robert and Maryse Lightwood, have hated him. Absolutely despised him. As a result, Alec was paying for his own tuition by teaching dance lessons at the school to increase their publicity, although officially only.

The reality of the situation lied in the lies the students of the Institute have been told since they were born.

All the children who attended the boarding school were born to some talented or privileged family. Wanting a carefree life for their children, said families sent them to the Institute, where safety is guaranteed. Safety from what, one might ask.

The Shadow World.

In actuality, human civilization and all its "normality" has been destroyed by the demons along with Valentine and his army. Everyone who did not agree with him fled and grouped together at the home country; Idris, which is now protected with powerful wards.

As mentioned previously, some powerful families wanted their children to enjoy the "mundane" lifestyle that is all fun and games for as long as possible before being forced into the war-struck reality. Thus, "Institutes" were created around the world to support the maturation and growth of the children.

Obviously, a safety net must have been placed just in case something happens. Which is where Alec came in. In this pseudo society, everyone but the children were shadowhunters, or related to the shadow world in some way, forming both a mock-society of sorts and a guardian group. As the top-expecting soldier Idris had, Alec was sent to the New York Institution, home to the elite of the elite.

Despite being a child as well, being a Lightwood took precedence in his life. As a male born to a prestigious shadowhunter family, Alec was trained since birth to fight demons and other creatures from the shadow world. He naturally picked it up very quickly, thanks to his talented lineage.

Wanting a better life for his dear sister, Alec and his parents decided unanimously to put Izzy in the Institute program so she wouldn't have had to suffer. The Lightwoods were sent to the New York Institute (which was a K-12 program) when Alec was at the tender age of three. Soon after, they adopted Jace, who was previously sent to the program by his father and the Lightwoods' close friend, Michael Wayland. Due to his unfortunate death, Jace was omitted from the training program, and was sent to the Institute to live freely.

And little Max. By tradition, he should have been trained with Alec. Robert and Maryse gave Alec the job of training his little brother to be the cold-blooded and obedient soldier he himself was taught to be, but instead, Alec secretly raised him in accordance to the Institute Program instead of shadowhunter training.

Needless to say, when the time came for Max's testing for potential and he didn't know what was going on, Alec's parents were furious, to say the least. Not only had Alec disobeyed them, he had also tarnished the family name. From that day on, they sent Max to the Institute program, seeing it was too late to start at age seven, and since then, have practically disowned Alec. To everyone else who knew about this hatred, his parents hated him because he was gay, which was also true, and distanced him from Max so he wouldn't "corrupt" him.

Regardless, Alec's true objective in this school was to be a "front-line" reactor, should anything ever happen, and to hold off the demons and protect the students until the other shadowhunters could regroup. Which was precisely why the principal was letting him "pay his tuition" by teaching lessons.

"But we can sit with Magnus Bane."

Magnus Bane. Glittery, model, singer, designer, and most definitely magnificent. Openly bisexual, Bane was the most popular kid in school, and way out of Alec's league. Alec has had a crush on him since eighth grade when Bane misdirected Camille's fury away from the poor nerd and onto an unfortunate plant instead. Although Magnus probably didn't remember.

"So?"

Not that Alec would ever admit his crush, but Magnus was now best friends with Camille Belcourt and Ragnor Fell, both of which who seemed to be intent on making his life a living hell.

Izzy, a seemingly all-knowing sister, gave him a knowing look, and proceeded to make kissy mouths with her hands, touching her fingers together in a mock kiss.

He jokingly flipped her off before heading to the studio to teach his class.

"Just another ordinary day in the life of Alexander Gideon Lightwood," he thought as he plodded down the hall.

Oh, how he would come to laugh at the irony of those words.

A/N Hey guys hope you like my first chapter! This was more of an introductory/setting chapter, but I hope you guys are interested. And yes, I know Alec and Izzy are actually only 1 year apart, but I had to make the story flow a bit so... Anyways, if you spot any mistakes or have anything you would like to say, please leave a review!