This idea kind of floated around my head for a few days before it materialized. Hope you like it!
The flashing disco lights and loud music threaten to give Clary Fray a headache but she walks into the room.
"You sure you don't just want to spend the night eating in the buffet?" Simon jokes next to her. His face is pale though, and Clary can tell that he really doesn't want to be here.
"Mom wanted me to have fun, so here I am," she responds before catching herself from falling as a girl shoves past her.
"Sorry," the raven-haired girl apologizes quickly as she runs outside. "I think I'm going to throw up."
Simon shakes his head at the girl as she runs off. "She looks incredibly drunk."
"And incredibly gorgeous," Clary shoots back. "Simon, you've never had a girlfriend. Here's your chance: a room full of pretty girls."
"I don't need you as my wingman… or wingwoman, Fray," he rebukes playfully. They're suddenly stopped by a tall Asian man.
"Hi, I'm Magnus, the head of the kids club," he introduces, shaking their hands. Seeing Clary's nose wrinkle at the word "kid", he quickly corrects himself. "I mean, 'teenagers' club'. You're welcome to Club Pandemonium if you're within the age range 15-17, otherwise… get out. By the looks of it, you're 12," he says, as he gives Clary the once-over, "so you can go to the kiddie group on the other side of the boat."
"Thanks," she says, giving him a fake smile, "but I'm almost 18." She takes out her driver's license and Simon mirrors her movements.
"I was kidding," Magnus says with a smile. "I'm 22. Don't worry, I'm not going to treat you all like complete idiots… even if some of you are. The only rules are not to do anything crazy that will cause the police to lock me up in jail. That means alcohol and cigarettes are okay if I don't see them."
He points to the center of the club, where a horde of people are dancing. "Feel free to join them. I'm out of here at midnight but you guys can stay as long as you don't break anything."
"It's not too late to back out," Simon murmurs as Magnus leaves to greet more newcomers.
Clary rolls her eyes and drags him onto the dance floor.
Five minutes later, the two of them are collapsed on a sofa.
"Jesus Christ," Simon moans, panting.
"I forgot we couldn't dance," Clary admits evenly.
She glances around the room and watches the dancing bodies lit up by the disco ball. A golden glint catches her eye and she sees a golden-haired boy standing in the corner staring at her.
When she blinks, he's gone.
"That's weird," she muses quietly, turning to Simon, only to see the girl from earlier—the one who ran outside to throw up—sitting next to them.
"What's weird?" the girl asks curiously, but Clary just shakes her head. "Anyways, I'm Aline. I'm really sorry about almost knocking you over earlier."
"It's totally alright," Clary replies as she throws back another glance at the spot where the golden boy was standing. "I'm Clary."
Simon introduces himself and they discover that Aline is a 16-year-old from Kansas.
"So what brings you on the cruise?" Aline asks curiously. "I'm only on this fifteen day cruise to Hawaii because it's a family vacation, otherwise I never would have been able to afford it."
"Clary's mom decided she needed a break from things, so she paid for us to go on the cruise to just chill out," Simon answers and continues his conversation with Aline. He offers to get Aline a drink and she nestles into him as she laughs at a joke he makes.
Clary hides a smile, amused by Simon's flirty gestures. When she turns, she catches sight of the golden boy again.
The music suddenly stops and the dimmed lights flash on brightly. "Hey everyone, it's Magnus," the supervisor announces with a megaphone. Welcome to the Institute Cruise. I'm delighted—this is scripted, by the way—to be hanging out with you guys for the rest of the cruise. We left Long Beach, California, about two hours ago, and we will be at sea for the next four days, so we'll be well acquainted by the time we hit Hawaii. Sorry to stop the party, but we're going to be doing a few icebreakers. Just go with the flow, kiddos, because I'm getting paid to force you guys to introduce yourselves."
Magnus is greeted with a round of laughter. He arranges the group to stand in a circle and introduce themselves with name, age, and location.
To Clary's surprise, the golden boy is in the circle.
"Magnus Bane, 22, California," he demonstrates, and someone shouts sassily, "Is this just speed dating?"
"I'm just trying to help you get the girls, because you obviously need a lot of help,"
The crowd squeals. The boy next to Magnus continues the trend.
"Meliorn Fae, 17, Nevada."
"Helen Blackthorn, 15, Colorado."
Clary almost dozes off but she snaps to attention when it's golden boy's turn.
"Jace Wayland, 17, Maine." The boy flashes everyone a grin before his eyes fall on Clary's.
She turns away and blushes furiously.
"Aline Penhallow, 16, Kansas."
"Simon Lewis, 17, New York."
"Clary Fray, 17, New York."
"Are you two a thing?" Magnus teases, but Simon and Clary only blush.
"No!" they say simultaneously, earning a wink from Magnus.
"Really, we're just best friends," Clary corrects, and Magnus smirks but turns his attention to the next girl who begins to introduce herself.
Aline nudges Clary and Clary is about to snap that no, she and Simon are not secretly in a relationship, but Aline directs her attention to the golden boy.
"He has totally been staring at you. Like, the whole night."
Clary's heart races, not because she's already fallen in love with him, but because… well, the idea that such a hot guy has been taking note of her makes her heart flutter. "Really?"
Aline snorts. "Don't pretend like you haven't noticed."
"I thought I imagined it," Clary admits, before glancing back at the circle and finding a pair of golden eyes trained back at her.
"See?" Aline whispers. "He's hot too. Maybe you guys can have like, a cruise fling."
"Yeah…no," Clary responds, but she can't deny that she's undoubtedly attracted to the mysterious golden boy—Jace.
"Alright," Magnus says again, getting everyone's attention. "Let's move on and play musical chairs!"
"How old do you think we are?" a guy—Meliorn Fae—retorts.
Magnus ignores him. "You can leave if you want."
"Gladly." Meliorn is halfway through the door before Magnus announces, "It's musical chairs with a twist. I've put a beer bottle on every chair and the person who can't get a chair has to down the entire bottle… and then sit in the mush pot."
Magically, Meliorn appears in the crowd again. "Is this even legal?" Simon questions. Half the group, with the same misgivings as Simon, leaves and only 15 or so people actually play the game.
"You sure you wanna stay?" Simon asks, touching Clary's arm.
"Why not?" she responds rebelliously. He sighs, glaring at her like she's lost her mind, but acquiesces. After the first round of alcoholic musical chairs, Meliorn is determined to be the loser, though Clary suspects he lost on purpose. He downs the beer quickly, earning a hesitant round of applause, and he gives everyone a toothed smile.
Aline loses next, and to Clary's surprise, the petite girl chugs the alcohol without a blink. "My grandfather was in the mafia," she confides with a wink. "I've learned to hold my liquor."
"I'm not sure if I should be amazed or worried," Clary responds, smiling.
A boy named Robert loses next and throws up after a sip of the beer. Magnus consoles him and Meliorn finishes the rest of the bottle for him.
"I don't blame him. Beer is nasty. I better be the winner," Simon mutters.
"I never knew you were so ambitious," Clary teases but at the end of Iggy Azalea's "Black Widow", she finds herself without a chair. Magnus hands her a bottle and she grimaces as she pops it open. Simon casts her a worried glance but she ignores him. "I wonder what it's like being drunk," she jokes as she tips the bottle towards her mouth.
"I'll take that for you," an unfamiliar voice says, and Clary looks up to see that it's golden boy.
Aline whistles in amazement and Clary's blush only depends as the boy—Jace—walks toward her and gently takes the bottle from her grip and chugs it.
"Alriiiiighty then," Magnus says, raising an eyebrow. "Heroic. Clary, that doesn't save you from the mush pot though." She nods and takes a seat on the carpet next to Aline.
"Not gonna lie, but that was sweet," the girl says, prodding Clary in the shoulder.
Next round, Jace loses and chugs down his second bottle of beer.
"I have a feeling he lost on purpose," Aline winks, but Clary ignores her.
Jace takes a seat next to Clary as the game continues.
"Hey," he says, his voice slightly raspy.
"H-hi," she stutters back, slightly taken by surprise.
"Want to ditch these alcoholics and get some ice cream from the buffet?"
"That sounds great actually."
Aline gives Clary a wink as the red-head and the golden boy leave Club Pandemonium.
"Not feeling drunk yet?"
Jace chuckles as they wait for the elevator. "It takes a lot more than that to knock me out."
"Do I want to know?"
"Probably not."
They stand in contented silence before stepping into the glass elevator.
"The ship is so great," Clary remarks quietly, sighing with contentment.
"First cruise?"
"Yup."
The elevator comes to a halt, and Clary is about to walk about, but Jace smiles chivalrously. "Allow me." He steps outside, puts a foot in the elevator doors, and gestures for Clary to follow.
"And the feminists claim that chivalry is dead," Clary remarks, blushing again.
When she turns, she sees a huge, burly man standing in front of her.
"Clary Fray? I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."
"Do I know you?"
The man shifts so that Clary can see the gun in her hand and she gulps. Before she can even process what's happening, Jace has leaped out in front of her.
"This is really no time to be playing hero," she hisses, but he ignores her and attacks the man. Instigating the fight by punching the stranger in the gut, he gestures for Clary to move out of the way. The man lands a solid kick to Jace's shin but he simply dodges and uses momentum to roll forward and emerge behind the man. A swift elbow to the man's temple knocks the stranger out and Jace picks up the gun.
"Alright Clary, let's get out of here," he says breathlessly before dragging her back inside the elevator.
Before Clary has the chance to question the golden boy—or karate kid, whatever he was—her phone rings.
"Clary?"
"Do you have any idea how much cellular service costs on the ship? It's like. A whole week's worth of wages at Luke's bookstore."
Jace raises an eyebrow at her and makes a motion as if to say, we just got attacked by a complete stranger and all you can think about it cell service costs?
"Honey, I know, but there's some stuff I have to tell you before you get in trouble."
"A bit too late for that."
"What? Clary, what happened?"
"This weird wacko guy came out of nowhere and wanted to, like, kidnap me or something."
"Thank god you're okay. Clary, there may be some… bad people on that ship who may harm you. Thankfully I had the foresight to hire a bodyguard to protect you. You need to find him as soon as possible."
She turned back at Jace and eyed him up and down, taking in his muscular build and the gun in his right hand.
"I might have already found him."
"His name is Jace Wayland and he's about 5 foot 11 with golden hair and eyes," her mother was saying. "He'll keep you safe until the end of the cruise."
"Thanks mom," Clary responded, turning off her iPhone and glaring at the golden boy. "You couldn't tell me you were… my bodyguard… sooner?"
"That would have taken the mystery out of it," he responded cheekily. "At least you're safe."
"Is that why you've been looking at me the whole night? And why you offered to take my drink?"
"I can't imagine how Mrs. Fairchild would have reacted if she found out that I let you get drunk under my watch. Anyways, let's go to Guest Services. I think it's safer if you move to a cabin closer to mine."
As she followed him, Clary couldn't figure out why she was so upset that he had been paying attention to her only because he was obligated to keep her safe.
Hope you liked the first chapter! Let me know your thoughts and whether or not you think I should continue. I'm experimenting with writing in present-tense so this is new for me. Happy holidays!