Hello! Nice to meet you - I'm...Well, I honestly don't know. Just call me whatever you feel comfortable calling me.

The first time Alec met Magnus Bane, he was appalled. By which - the insane sparkles with the matching personality, or the obnoxious colours and annoyingly similar attitude - he was not sure, but, when it came down to it, he assumed it was a mixture of both. This was also, coincidentally, the first time Alec was officially an eighteen year old boy. It was also the his first time walking through the doors of St. Sebastian's School For the Education and Social Development of Challenged Young Boys and Girls. Or, as some students preferred to call it, St. Loony's Asylum For Fucked Up Kids.

Happy Birthday, me.

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"Father?" Nine year old Alec Lightwood's blue eyes shone with curiosity, "Father, what does the priest mean?"

Robert glanced away from the priest, his eyes still shinning with his agreement, before finally focusing on his son, "Hmmm?"

"That bible verse. What does that mean?"

"If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." The words were muttered softly, and his father glanced away, before smiling and scooping up Alec in his arms, "Nothing gets past you, eh?" He laughed, before his face faded back to seriousness, "Alexander, listen to me. The priest means that you cannot love another boy - and that Izzy cannot love another girl - the same way you love your girlfriend and, for Izzy, the way she loves her boyfriend."

"B-But I love both Izzy and Jace the same!" Alec pointed out, frowning.

"And that's fine." Robert assured him, "I mean love in the sense of a crush, Alexander. But you don't really have to worry about that yet. You're still too young to understand..."

"I'm not." Alec pouted for a moment, before looking back up at his father, "But... what if I did?" He asked curiously.

"Did what?"

"What if I loved a boy the way Izzy loves her boyfriend?" He felt his father freeze for a moment, his every muscle stiffing, and stopped talking for a moment.

Had he done something wrong?

"What did the priest say?" Asks his father, looking down at his son. Alec froze.

Both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

"But don't worry, Alexander, it won't happen."

And Alec smiled, and by the end of the service he was happy again. But he could never quite get those words out of his head:

an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

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"Magnus! Magnus! Oi! Earth to Magnus Bane..." The last syllable of Magnus' name was drawn out in a sing-song fashion. The sparkly-haired boy gave a small start, before dragging his gaze away from the group of students he had been unabashedly staring at.

"Go away, Ragnor." He halfheartedly swatted at his friend's hand, which was waving back and forth in front of his face. Ragnor finally relented, sighing, and leaned back in his chair, causing his desk to let out a loud creak of protest.

"I'm bored." When Magnus didn't respond, he let out a low moan, "Maaaaagnuuuus..."

The sparkly-haired boy sent a quick glare at his friend, "Oh for God's sake, Ragnor, shut up. I'm trying to scout out new recruits."

His friends eyebrows shot up, "For what?"

"I need a new girlfriend. Or boyfriend. Whichever I can find, really."

"Not this again."

Magnus spun around, tearing his eyes away from the entrance, which he had surveying carefully, in favor of glaring into his friends eyes, "But I need one! I have to make Camille see that I don't...that I'm not..."

"Obsessing over her? Staring at her like a neglected puppy whenever she gets anywhere near you?" Ragnor suggested helpfully, "Wishing that you were still going out? Getting drunk out of your mind in an effort to forget her? Flirting with people in front of her in a pitiful effort to make her jealous? Looking at her like -"

"I get it, I get it!" Magnus' eyes flashed, and he stopped scanning the crowd of students for long enough to shoot Ragnor a furious look.

"So basically, you want to lie."

"Go away." Magnus snapped, before he went back to searching.

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"I don't like this place. It's looks like a mix between a dungeon and Alec's wardrobe." Jace stared thoughtfully at the gray, carpeted hall in front of him, frowning.

Alec sent him a glare, following his gaze, "It does not." He snapped, glancing down at himself. So what if he hadn't gone all out with colours? Gray, black, and the occasional white were really the only shades he needed. That way, no matter what he grabbed, it matched.

Jace snorted.

"Ri-ight. Bye." Isabelle shot Alec a smirk, before walking slowly toward her classroom, her miniskirt swinging behind her. Alec frowned - he wished his sister would wear clothes that covered just a bit more, at least.

"And by the way..." Isabelle smiled again, this time genuinely, "Happy Birthday, Alec." She tossed over her shoulder as she went inside.

Alec smiled slightly, staring after her in relief. Izzy would be fine - everyone would love her. In fact, he thought, his smile fading, they might love her too much. And the clothing she had picked out was certainly not helping the matter.

"It's your Birthday? But...I thought...isn't it in January?" Jace's eyes widened in surprise, his golden hair gleaming in the bright light of the hallway.

He forgot.

"Oh. No, sorry, that's Max- not mine." Alec looked away, feeling stupid. Jace never, ever remembered Birthdays. The only reason he knew Izzy's was because days before her Birthday came she would constantly hint about it's coming, and scream 'It's my Birthday today!' at exactly twelve o'clock midnight. If Alec had wanted Jace - or anyone else, for that matter - to know, he should have reminded them.

Alec didn't allow himself to think back to his slip-up. He would not think about it. He would not.

"Ah." Jace scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "But Robert said -" He cut himself off, looking away "Happy Birthday, then!" He gave a sort of forced smile before adding a quick "Bye!" and leaving.

Sorry.

Alec bit his bottom lip,

I hadn't meant to make you feel bad.

He was always doing that, somehow. Always rubbing people the wrong way; giving people reasons to not want to be around him. And for someone like Jace - who would not, could not, apologize - it was especially hard. If Alec tried to tell Jace that he was sorry, that he hadn't meant for Jace to remember his Birthday and that it was perfectly okay that he had asked Robert and Robert hadn't known (because Robert never knew) Alec would only succeed in making Jace feel worse. Alec had dug his own grave - all that was left for him now was to lie in it.

Shaking off his morbid thoughts, he spun on his heel and began to make his way toward the classroom at the end of the hall, room 507. Chattering voices filled his ears as he walked closer, filling the surprisingly silent halls. There were only one or two students talking by their lockers and a couple more walking to their assigned classes. So different from his old school... After all, surely he wasn't that late?

Beginning to get worried, he picked up his pace, walking as quickly as he dared. Too slow, and risk being late; too fast, and risk being noticed.
When he finally reached the door, he swallowed hard and pushed it open. The door swung slowly on its hinges, and he got a glance at a classroom full of kids before the door swung right back toward him. He had miscalculated it's thickness.

Oh god.

He caught the door with his hand, blushing profusely,

This is mortifying.

Slipping inside as quickly as he could, he allowed his hair to fall over his eyes and went for a seat near the back of room. Fortunately, none of the other children seemed to be paying him any attention. But one soft, single giggle surrounded him, enveloping him in a sort of surreal haze. He wished he were home. Why couldn't he be home? And surely, surely he wasn't late?

Quietly, he slunk to a seat in the back of the room. Just so long as he stayed here, he would not be noticed. He would be fine, and then he could go back home and read, or study, or just be alone.

By the time the teacher entered the room, Alec had made a resolution - he would not be noticed, he would not get in trouble, he would not be loud, he would not get angry.

This resolution was kept for all of first and second period, up until the very end of third - when everything went to hell.

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"Hello, Alec." He gave a sharp cry of surprise when a hand closed around his wrist, pulling him out of the crowd of students with a sharp, powerful tug. Alec had just exited third period - and he was quite sure he had mot communicated with anyone there. Blinking in confusion, he stumbled into a locker, ripping his wrist free from the vise-like grip, before turning to glare at the offender - only to find his annoyance turn to cold fury.

"You."

Jonathan chuckled, leaning back against the wall and shrugging lightly, rubbing his hand "It's nice to see you, as well."

"Fuck you." Alec moved to leave, still glaring.

Jonathan pouted slightly, looking up at him with an expression of mock hurt, "Oh c'mon, Alec, I thought we were over that!"

Ignoring him, Alec attempted in vain to join the flood of students before, to his anger, Jonathan's hand reached out to grip his wrist again. He sent yet another glare at Jonathan, who took the opportunity to laugh again.

"Let go."

"Why?"

"Go to hell." Alec's patience, worn thin by merely the sight of Jonathan, was now disappearing at a rapid pace.

Jonathan allowed his laugh to fade away, replacing it a blank slate, "Meet you there." Then he laughed again, his face morphing into jest.

If there was one thing Alec hated the most about Jonathan, it was the way he could switch moods in the blink of an eye, and the way you never knew what, exactly, he was actually feeling.

"So, tell me, how have you been doing lately?" Jonathan asked conversationally, as if they were best friends.

Alec used his other hand to pull at Jonathan's, twisting his wrist around in circles, the way he was taught.

What is his hand made of, anyway? Stone?

"Same as always, eh?" The blonde-haired boy's face twisted into a sympathy of some sort, not a 'I'm sorry for you' sort of sympathy, but a 'I know how it is' sort of sadness. As if Jonathan was somehow looping himself in the same category Alec was stuck in, "That sucks."

Understatement of the century.

"Why are you talking to me?"

"Why aren't you answering?"

"You very well know why, you ass."

"You never used to curse."

Alec's head jerked up in surprise, only to see that Jonathan wasn't looking at him at all, but at the wall in front of him, "Or maybe I did - you just never noticed." He spat back, before returning to his attempt with a renewed vigor. He was determined to get as far away from Jonathan as possible - for the rest of the day, the rest of the month, the rest of the year.

He studiously blocked out everything Jonathan said, focusing only on his task, until finally, fed up with Alec's cool disposition (and the now painful yanks on his hand), Jonathan grinned, "So how's Max doing? Last I saw him, he wasn't looking all that -"

Hot rage washed across Alec's mind, drowning reason and logic. All that was left was the need to make Jonathan shut up, to stop him from going farther than he already had. In one smooth motion, Alec released his grip on Jonathan's hand and slammed his fist into Jonathan's face, cutting him off mid-sentence, and wrenching his wrist free. Someone gasped. Another person laughed out loud.

Alec spoke quickly, enunciating each word, as he hurried away. "Fuck off." He told the blonde, who was doubled over, clutching his nose.

Right before Alec left, he couldn't resist giving Jonathan a last, second-long sweep: he was still doubled over, with a gaggle of kids giggling and pointing at him (Jonathan, Alec noticed with a sort of savage pleasure, had a bloody nose) others looking a bit shocked, while still other's looked curious. The expression that shocked him the most, though, was a kid near the front, adorned with sparkly, gel spiked hair and an impish smile. His colorful jacket was parted to reveal a skin tight, equally strange shirt, and his hand was held up to his ear in a gesture that Alec found most alarming of all:

Call me.

Noticing his stare, the boy winked - his single, shining eyelid catching the light and causing a slight flush to rush into Alec's cheeks. He left at almost a run - unfortunately, this probably made him appear afraid - but looking scared was better than the red color quickly taking over his face and neck.

Obnoxious jerk.

He didn't even know Alec was gay. And he wouldn't know - Alec was good at keeping secrets. And this particular secret was remarkably well kept - no one, no one had even (he hoped) the slightest indication of his sexuality. And Alec planned to keep it that way.

No matter them cost.

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"It was great. I'm telling you, it was just priceless."
"My god, you should have seen the look on Jonathan's face!"
Jonathan stormed through the students, an expression of dark fury on his handsome face. He would show him. He would show that Lightwood brat.

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"Hey, Alec." Jace slid his lunch tray across the table so that it rested next to his brother's, "I heard someone in your class got punched today." He grinned, peering into Alec's face.

Alec flushed "He-" He searched for a cool sounding phrase. What was he supposed to say?

I might of hit him physically, but the blows he dealt hurt much, much worse?

"He had it coming." His pleasure at Jace's obvious admiration was dampened only by his anxiety over Robert's reaction - what would his father do when he found out he had cut class? He counted himself lucky - very, very lucky - that no teachers had been in the room to witness his stunt.

Jace's smile faded to seriousness as he sat down, "Yes. Yes, he very well did, the stupid little fucker."

His smile jumped back, a bit faked this time, "But enough about that. You'll never guess who I met today!"

"A girl." Alec said flatly, not even feigning surprise. "A very pretty girl who you are going to take to dinner either today or, if you really like her, on the weekend."

Jace frowned, "You're no fun at all. And, in case you were wondering, it's the weekend." He winked. And Alec found himself thinking about how different Jace's wink was from the boy he had seen in the classroom, before shaking his head.
The two talked by themselves for a bit more, (Izzy had a different lunch period) before Jace left to go socialize at other tables, and Alec left for the library, the place where he spent the most time.

One again, hello. Now bye.