Elementary School:

Izzy and I walked home from Glenbrook Elementary school up in New York. It was the day, after the two of our 8th birthdays, since we were born on the same day, of course. We walked into Izzy's three story town home, right across the street from mine, like we always did. I was secretly rejoicing that we always went to her house. That's where my best guy friend lived. Jace Wayland, Izzy's adoptive brother, the golden one of the family. He was funny, athletic, and cared about Izzy and me over himself. Jon, my brother, was Jace's best friend since they were 5, and starting Kindergarten. Izzy and I had been tight the moment they had, at only 4 years old.

When we walked in though, Jace didn't greet us at the door with hugs. In fact, he wasn't even in the house. Confused, I turned to Izzy. "I'm missing someone about a year older than me, with blonde hair and golden eyes… You see him anywhere?" I ask, using the cleverness that Jace taught me.

For a minute, Izzy frowns, and then she snaps her fingers. "He has football practice. He started today. He plays for the Giants." She said, meaning the kid's fall ball Giants team.

I smiled despite the disappointment of him not being home to play with us. "That's cool, I hope he likes football." I say. I then scrunch my face up in thought. "What sport should we play Izzy? I want to be like Jon and Jace too." I said. Jon had been playing football a year before, and now I guess they played together on a team.

Izzy shrugs and we turn on the television. The Texas Longhorns volleyball game was on, and we watched as the girls on the team hit the ball back and forth. Izzy turned to me with a little grin. "Those outfits are so adorable!" She trills.

I groaned. I was so stressed as an eight year old. I hated, and I mean hated, those outfits, but the game looked cool and I liked the knee pads. It made it seem like it was a dangerous sport. "I'm in Izzy, let's do it!"

Intermediate School:

Izzy and I walked home from the elementary school as usual, with Max, Izzy's little brother. We were both beaming, and holding the athletics duffle bags that we got from the volleyball coaches. We had made the team. The A team. Izzy was practically skipping, which was funny for an eighth grader. Max, the second grader, was walking beside me, an order that Izzy and I were given by Maryse, Isabelle's mother. "Izzy, calm yourself, we have to play it cool, like we didn't make the team. You know, freak everyone out a little bit." I said with a smirk.

I didn't feel as strong of an excitement about seeing Jace and Alec and the family, mostly because Jace and Alec didn't have time for us anymore. In fact, in fifth grade, Jace claimed that now that since he and Jon were in middle school, that they couldn't hang out with the little kids anymore. He never greeted us with hugs, and most days he'd have his idiotic friend Sebastian over, who was a year older than Jace. Jace really looked up to that white haired, black eyed, sorry excuse of a life. Since he was a year older, he would teach Jace some not so nice names and terms, and Jace would always test them out on me and Izzy. He always got in trouble for using those terms, but he continued anyway. One night, he'd come home, and me and Izzy were having a sleep over that night. He'd flat out said at the dinner table, "Seb told me something about his brother going to college. He said he'd knocked up his girlfriend… What's that? Did he really beat her up?" He asked.

Maryse had screamed at him and told him to go upstairs. Later, I heard her in Jace's room, explaining what the term meant. Let's just say I didn't plan on getting knocked up until I was much, much older.

Today, however, was no different. We walked in and weren't greeted, so we made our way into the kitchen, to find Maryse, Robert, Alec, Alec's friend Magnus, Jon, Jace, and to my dismay, Sebastian. Izzy looked at me and nodded once, and we hung our heads and acted sad. Izzy then began. "W-we didn't m-make it. They said we completely sucked." She said.

Maryse opened her mouth to comfort us, but Sebastian beat her to the talking. "It's not a surprise. I knew Clary sucked all along, but Izzy, you could have picked a better partner." He said monotonous.

I looked up with my mouth open. Jace and Sebastian just laughed, Maryse looking furious, but Jon more than Maryse. "Sebastian, get the heck out of this house, now, and don't ever talk to my sister that way again!" he yelled. Tonight, Sebastian wouldn't be staying for dinner.

Jace calmed down after a while, everyone glaring at him. I just looked at my feet, practically hearing the way my heart had broken. Jace just laughed at me, egging Sebastian on while he made fun of me. I blinked back tears and that seemed to shut Jace up for a millisecond.

But then, he turned right around, and said, "What, you have to admit, that was pretty funny."

Izzy slapped him across the face for that, and Maryse sent him to his room and grounded him.

Izzy hugged me. "Mom," she said. "We were just kidding. We made the team, we just wanted to joke with everyone." She explained.

Maryse just nodded and pursed her lips. After a while, she turned to me. "You should go make Jace apologize." She said.

I shook my head. "No, I'm never talking to him again." And with that, I turned around, and followed Jon back to our house to tell my mother.

High School:

It was the last match, and the Eastwood knights and our opposing team, the Jefferson Tigers, were tied one match each. It was the final game of the last tournament of our high school lives, and both Izzy and I's families were up in the stands. Jace wasn't however. He had a date with Kaelie, his girlfriend of three days. That's his longest relationship yet. I thought bitterly. By now, Jace and I were barely acquaintances, we almost disliked each other. I called him a man whore; he called me a virgin midget. Focus on the game Clary, the game. I thought. In the stands sat the scouts for Texas University of Austin, me and Izzy and Jace's Dream College, and the scouts for California State University. The Longhorns and the Dolphins scouts sat there watching me and Izzy.

We were up by one point, and needed one more to beat them. It was my serve, so I served, which landed right where I wanted it, in the center of the court where the weak back right player would have to receive it. She got it somehow, and the setter set, and the hitter tipped it over. My team sprang into action, Izzy, my back right, who received all of my deeps for me, the lebaro. She hit it to the setter, but no one in the front row was paying any attention, all seeming frozen in anticipation, some just flat out spectating. The setter was looking fearful, so I made eyes with her and coughed, our signal to send it back row to myself. She caught it thankfully, and set it perfectly to my position. Time seemed to stop. I jumped up to meet the ball, twisted my whole body sideways, aimed for the ball with my less dominant hand, and then all at once, I brought my dominate elbow forward, twisting my body after the elbow, and spiked it right onto the floor of the opposing team's court. I landed with a smile and a huff.

Izzy flat out screamed before anyone knew what happened, and sooner than the rest of our team, we were hugging, and crying. We had just won the championship game, of our last year of high school. I was sobbing with happiness and our team was laughing, and crying, and screaming all at once. We were hysterical. We all laid on the floor, stomach down, and started beating the floor screaming with tears, "K-N-I-G-H-T-S!" when we finished, we all jumped up and ran to Coach Wallis, crying on his shoulder. We expressed our thanks to him, and helped take down the net and chairs, but not before we ran to our families. I think I hugged my mom and her boyfriend Luke for ten whole minutes, before I turned to Maryse. What I wasn't expecting to see though was gold. "J-Jace," I said stuttering, and wiping away the damp tears. He smiled a half smile that was all too familiar.

He grabbed me in for a hug. "You didn't think I'd ditch my best friend on her last match did you?" He asked.

I smiled into his shoulder, not letting any space get between us. "What about Kaelie? Did you leave her?" I asked.

Jace just laughed. "She told me I wasn't her type, and poured a milkshake over my head. I would have been here for your game, but I was taking multiple showers. My ears are still clogged with ice cream." He said.

I pulled back, laughing so hard, that I was almost in tears again. I just chuckled and said. "That little brat,"

That night we went out celebrating, and had to stop mid-party for a call that both Maryse and my mom got. My mom started tearing up and put it on speaker. The voice on the other end started speaking. "Hello, Ms. Fray, and Mr. Garraway, my name is Doctor Regnor Fell, and I am calling to ask you to allow your daughter, Miss Clarissa Fray to join us at Texas University of Austin, on full-ride volleyball scholarship. Our lebaro just graduated, and we have seen for ourselves, the wonderful talent your daughter has." He began.

My mom stopped him right there. "Yes! Yes! Yes! That's been her dream since she was eight!" She cried out.

I listened in on Maryse's call, and grinned when I heard the last of her conversation. "We are thrilled, Mrs. Lightwood, that your daughter and Mr. Wayland will be attending, along with Miss Fray. We will see both of your families at orientation next weekend." He said, and with that, both families hung up.

Izzy, Jace and I shared huge expressions. "We get to go to college together!" Izzy screamed.