It was Friday evening and Clary was on her way back to her car after getting out of her last art class for the week. She pulled her cell phone out of the back pocket of her paint splattered skinny jeans and began scrolling through Facebook while she strolled through the college campus parking lot. Normally, she would be paying more attention to her surroundings, but the college campus was still quite active that night and college students were all around her. She noticed the time on her phone and quickened her pace. She had nearly forgotten that her mom wanted her to come back home for the weekend to help pick out a special outfit for her 20 year high school class reunion. Clary wasn't sure why her mom wanted her help. After all, she was not much of a fashion expert. She assumed that she just wanted to have some mother daughter alone time, plus, she knew her mom was nervous about showing off her new husband, Luke, to her former peers. Jocelyn didn't speak much about her nasty divorce from Valentine Morgenstern and the reunion would be the first time that many of her former friends would learn about her past relationship coming to an abrupt end.
Clary reached her navy blue Ford Focus and unlocked the driver side door. She flung her pink backpack onto the passenger seat and jammed the key into the ignition. As she was about to leave, she noticed a white envelope sticking out from underneath the passenger side windshield wiper and she muttered outloud "Oh crap, not again!" as she stepped out of the vehicle to retrieve it. She assumed she had stupidly received another parking ticket. She looked around the car for a sign of a parking enforcement officer on duty but the lot suddenly felt eerily dark. She shook off the feeling and got back into the car, knowing she was actually parked legally this time and could fight off this parking ticket. She was about to shove the envelope into her backpack for future inspection when she noticed her name written in cursive on the front of the envelope.
"That's weird..." She said out loud to herself and proceeded to open it. Her heart felt like it came to a complete stop when she read the greeting.
My dearest Clarissa...
Clary gasped and knew that only one person ever called her that. It was from her father, Valentine. Clary suddenly felt sick. The last time she had seen her father, he was being escorted away from her house by the police. She remembered that day very clearly even though she was just 6 years old. She tried to push the memory out of her head and decided that it would be a good idea to lock her car doors. She looked around once again and didn't see anybody around. The parking lot was starting to empty out now so she had a clear line of sight all around her. She took a deep breath before continuing to read the letter.
My dearest Clarissa,
We have been kept apart for much too long, and for that, I am truly sorry. You will forever be my little princess and you are meant to be with your father. I won't stop until we are reunited once again and you will realize that we are more alike than you think. I'll see you soon, my child.
Clary scoffed at the letter. "Yeah, right." She said and crumpled it up into a ball, tossing it onto the passenger seat floor with her empty Starbucks cup from that morning. She put the car into drive and began to make the journey to her mom's house. She contemplated bringing up the note when she got there but decided it wasn't worth the stress. Valentine was known for making threats that he never followed up on.
She got off of the highway and reached a red traffic light at the end of the ramp. She noticed a new martial arts training center across the street with an advertisement in the window for 'Free Women's Self-Defense Classes.' She raised a curious eyebrow and looked down at the crumpled up ball of paper on the floor of the passenger seat. The light turned green and she was about to make a left, but at the last second decided to go straight. She figured a little self defense knowledge wouldn't hurt, especially since she was frequently walking around alone during the evening hours near her college campus. She pulled into the parking lot and found a spot right near the front door. The studio was brightly lit and there seemed to be a class in session of middle school aged kids. She noticed a tall, dark haired man, leading the class and a shorter dark haired woman helping a student who seemed to be a little bit behind the others. Near the front entrance was a tall, black and red painted counter with letters that read 'Lightwood Martial Arts' and behind it, stood a golden haired man who was on the phone. She looked down at her clothes and groaned when she realized she was still covered in paint. The guy inside was hot. Like, totally out of her league hot. She quickly patted down her wild, red hair and rummaged through her purse for some lip gloss. She figured it would be good enough for now. It's not like she was looking for a date, but something about this guy just made her feel excited. She got out of the car and stepped through the front door. When the door chimed, the man looked up and smiled. He held up a finger to indicate he would be right with her while he ended the phone call.
"What can I do for you?" The man asked as he looked her over. Clary felt nervous all of a sudden when they made eye contact. She knew that she was pretty attractive herself as evidenced by countless boys asking her out on dates at school, but she was never the type to need, or even want, a boyfriend just for the sake of having one. This left her feeling pretty inexperienced with guys and when one finally did catch her eye, she never knew what to say. Clary cleared her throat.
"Yeah, hi! Uh...I just noticed this women's self defense class sign and thought I would come in to see what it's all about." She said. The man chuckled lightly as he opened the desk drawer to pull out a sign up form. He handed it to her with a pen.
"Is someone giving you trouble?" He asked lightheartedly. She took the form and the pen and noticed the unusual tattoos on his arms. When she looked up at his face, she noticed he had some tattoos peeking out of his shirt around his neck too. She wondered where else he had them. She laughed nervously.
"No, no...I just...thought it might be a good idea. Girl power and all that." She laughed. "Thanks." She said as she started to fill out the form. She thought she should fill the silence by making some small talk. "Those are some interesting tattoos you have there." She said and instantly regretted it. She didn't know how to flirt, she wasn't even sure if this was flirting.
The man looked at his own arms and smiled. "Thanks, but they aren't tattoos...they're..." He quickly tried to change the subject. Something about this girl was making him say things he wasn't supposed to say. How could he be so stupid? And how was she able to see his marks in the first place?
"What? Do they give you super powers or something?" Clary joked. The man scratched the back of his neck.
"Something like that." He laughed. Clary finished filling out the form and handed it back to him. The man looked at her name on the paper. "Well, Clary, I'll be seeing you bright and early for your first lesson tomorrow. I'm Jace, by the way." He said, holding out his hand to her. She placed her hand in his and shook it, hoping that he wouldn't notice her sweaty palms. To her embarrassment, he did notice. "Nervous, are you? Well I can't say I blame you." He said with a cocky tone, flexing his biceps. Clary could feel her cheeks turning bright red.
"Oh, look at the time! I have to bounce. See you tomorrow I guess." Clary walked backwards toward the door and nearly stumbled out of it. Jace winked at her on her way out but then gave her a friendly wave. When she was out of view, Jace traced her handwriting with his fingertip. "Clary." He said out loud. He had never been so strangely intrigued about a woman before. He noticed her phone number on the paper and shook his head before slipping the form in the desk drawer. He looked outside to see her fumbling with her car door and smiled. He then pulled the form back out and programmed her phone number into his own cell phone.