Chapter 1

It was the first day on my new school in London. The students called it the Institute, for no apparent reason. They just did.

I went straight to class after saying good bye to my brother, without talking to anyone.

I had protested until my parents was mad at me, but they had decided. We were moving from New York, to London. Cloudy, rainy London. Yay!

*flashback*

"We have something to tell you", my mother, Elizabeth, said, excited. It was my birthday, and I thought it would be something fun, like a visit to the Met. It had been my dream for years, what I wanted to do every year at my birthday, but it never happened.

"Well, dear mother, tell us", said Nate.

She and my father glanced at each other, and then she continued, in the same happy voice. "We're moving to London!"

Nate looked slightly shocked. My jaw dropped open, tears started forming in my eyes.

*end of flashback*

It hadn't exactly been the best birthday of my life, even visiting the Met hadn't helped.

English class started, drawing my attention away from the memory.

"So, we have a new student here today, who just transferred from New York, was it?" said the teacher. I nodded, embarrassed. "Do you mind introducing yourself?"

"Uh, I'm Tessa Gray", I said.

"Alright", said the teacher. "I'm mr Mortmain. We're reading historical fiction right now. I'll try to find a book to you, miss Gray, but for now you can read with miss Collins."

I guessed miss Collins was the girl sitting beside me. Poor girl.

"Uhm, could I read A Tale of Two Cities, mr Mortmain?" I asked.

"I don't know if there is a copy left, I'm afraid", he said.

"Oh", I said. "I have my own copy of the book."

"Bring it tomorrow, then", he said, and gestured for everyone to pick up their books and start reading.

The girl beside me picked up her book, a copy of Oliver Twist.

"You like Dickens too?" I whispered to her.

"It's definitely better than some of the other choices", said the girl with a smile. "I'm Sophie."

"Tessa. Nice to meet you."

XXX

After the class was over, Sophie decided to show me around to my classes, and I was very thankful about that.

"So, it must be hard transferring schools in the last year", said Sophie when we were on our way to lunch.

"I wasn't exactly overjoyed", I said. "Actually, my parents told me on my birthday. It was the worse birthday of my life."

Sophie laughed. "Well, I can see that it wouldn't be the best day of your life. So, do you have any family?" She blushed. "Or, of course you have a family, but …"

"My brother, Nate", I said. "My parents died in a car accident right before we were supposed to move, so for now we're living on our own in a small apartment. My aunt died a few weeks ago as well, and I have no other relatives left, except for Nate."

"Oh", said Sophie. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault", I said. "Anyway, Nate is eighteen, so he takes care of me." Well, that wasn't completely true. Nate was eighteen, yes, but he didn't take care of me. He wasn't really capable of taking care of anyone. He had gambling problems, so I more took care of him.

"Oh, well, that's good, I guess", said Sophie. "Ah, Simon! Over here!"

A nerdy-looking guy in glasses came over. "Hi Soph", he said.

Sophie smiled. "Simon meet Tessa, Tessa meet Simon."

A girl with red, curly hair came out from behind Simon. "I'm Clary", she said and stuck out her hand. I took it and shook it.

"Tessa", I said.

"Wow, you're really tall", she commented. I suppressed a smile. It could be because she was so short. I was tall, I knew, but I must've seemed very tall indeed for the short girl.

"So I've been told", I said.

"Okay, come on", said Clary. "You can sit with us. Simon is the videogame nerd with a band who changes their name every week, I'm the girl who draws all the time, and Sophie … well, Sophie's the reasonable of us."

"Then I'll be the book nerd who has her nose in a book all the time", I said and smiled.

Clary laughed. "Yeah, well, none of us are really normal. You'll fit right in."

We sat down at a table in the corner. There was already someone sitting at it – a boy with black, glittery hair and eyeliner.

"Tessa, this is Magnus", said Clary. "Magnus, this is Tessa. Don't scare her away."

"Nice to meet you", I said.

"You too", said Magnus with a big smile.

"So, you're really in a band?" I asked Simon.

"Well, sort of, yes. We don't get many gigs, but it is a band."

"And you change your name every week?"

"Unfortunately, yes", said Simon with an almost painful look on his face.

"My favorite book is from 1859", I said. "Trust me, it's not as bad as it sounds."

"Well, we're called Millennium Lint now", said Simon. "It is as bad as it sounds."

"Yes, Sonny's band is really bad with names", said Magnus.

"It's Simon!" spluttered Simon.

"Okay, Tessa", said Clary. "To introduce you to our wonderful school, there are the popular kids", she pointed to a table in the middle of the room, "the ones laughing hysterically about something right now that is. The extremely hot guy with black hair and incredibly blue eyes is Will Herondale. He's a complete idiot and player, just like his brother, the guy who looks all golden. That's Jace Herondale, and, as I said, he's a lot like his idiot to brother. Then we have Gabriel and Gideon Lightwood. Gabriel is the younger of the two, the one with brown hair and green eyes, and Gideon's the older brother with blond hair and green eyes. Then we have their cousin, or something, Alec Lightwood, who, for some reason, looks a lot like Will with his black hair and blue eyes. No one really knows why. Alec is the best friend of Jace, though Will hates everyone with the surname 'Lightwood'."

Sophie smiled and continued. "Then we have the silver-looking guy, Jem Carstairs, who is the best friend of Will, though nobody, really understand why. Jem is a lot nicer than Will, probably the nicest of them. If you necessarily have to talk to anyone of them, talk to Jem. Then we have the girls. Cecily Herondale, I'm sure you can figure out who that is. She's the female version of Will. She's a little younger, and Will's very overprotective over her, so whatever you do, don't talk to her, and if you do, make sure to compliment her, and be happy you're not a guy.

"And then, lastly, Isabelle Lightwood, Alec's sister. Tall, makes all guys swoon, you know. Don't cross her, and stay out of her way. She's a female version of Jace, sort of. Player-like. And they call themselves the Shadowhunters, only God knows why."

I blinked. "Wow", I said. "You really know a lot."

"Also, Gideon and Gabriel is the most quiet of them", said Simon.

"Just stay away from the Shadowhunters, and you'll be fine", added Sophie.

"Oh, and you should stay away from Jessamine Lovelace and Tatiana Lightwood, too. No one knows why they aren't in the Shadowhunters, but they're just as popular."

XXX

Staying away from the Shadowhunters turned out to be easier said than done, maybe because I almost walked straight into Will Herondale on my way to the last class, math.

"Wow, watch where you're going", he said.

"Sorry", I muttered and attempted to continue to my class. He wasn't having it, though.

"Hey, you're the new girl, right?" he said thoughtfully.

I pursed my lips. "Yes", I said. "So?"

"You have English with me. You wanted to read A Tale of Two Cities."

I sighed inwardly, but I didn't want to satisfy him, so I stood up straight. "And?"

"You like Dickens?"

I decided to not answer that. I could feel that this moment would determine the rest of my days at the Institute.

"I don't see how my book preferences are any of your business", I said. "If you excuse me, I have to go to class."

XXX

When school was over, I said good bye to everyone and hurried home. Nate wasn't home, as expected, so I just went straight to my room to do homework. When that was finished, I picked up my copy of A Tale of Two Cities and spent the day reading.

Until I heard someone shout in the apartment next to ours, that is. The shout seemed to come very close to my room, so I shouted back to them.

"Can you please be quiet?"

It took only a moment for the reply to come. "I'm sorry, my cousin's being a jerk! I'll tell him to be nice!"

I sighed, and wondered why the voice seemed so familiar. "Well, I don't care if he's being a jerk, as long as you STOP SHOUTING!"

I heard a laugh on the other side of the wall, but no reply.

The shouting didn't stop, and the walls seemed pretty thin, so after half an hour, I went to knock on their door.

It took a while before the door opened. It was a blonde guy, who seemed very familiar.

"Well, hello there", he said. It was the guy I'd "spoken" to earlier.

There was a loud crash from inside. "Will!" yelled the blonde guy. "Please be quiet, we have a guest!"

That's when I knew who it was. Jace. Oh, great.

"Sorry 'bout that", Jace said. "It's just my very annoying cousin. Can't ever keep to his own business. Do you want to come in? Will's parents are off somewhere, so we'd be alone. Well, there's Will, of course, but we could lock the door."

He's flirting with me. He's actually flirting with me. A complete stranger.

"I just wanted to ask you to be quiet", I said firmly. "It's really quite annoying."

Jace blinked, and I understood why. He didn't seem like a guy who got blown off very often. Or someone who got blown off at all. He seemed like a guy no one, girl or boy, ever said no to.

"You're the girl from before?" he asked.

"Yes, I live next door, and I'm trying to concentrate. I'd really appreciate it if you could stop shouting at each other."

Will showed up behind Jace. "Another girl, Jace? Really?"

Then he saw me. "Wait. You're the new girl, right?"

What a genius.

"I told you, she wasn't your type, Jace."

"I just wanted to ask you to be quiet", I said, annoyed. "I have better things to do than stand here all day." I turned and walked back home.

Sorry about the short first chapter! I'll update as soon as I can, hopefully with a longer chapter!

ClaceHerondaleCarstairs