Disclaimer: I am not Cassandra Clare. If I was, I would be older, wiser and infinitely more awesome.
A/N: Hey guys, this is the second chapter, sorry it's taken so long. The next chapter should not be as far away as I'm already half way through it. It just sort of... happened.
Thank you to:
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Clary's POV
School for me is very simple. There are people who never talk to me, people I never talk to and there are people who I call 'careful friends'. We sit together, have lunch, a couple of them have even been known to hug me on occasion, but I never see them outside school and I never tell them anything about my family and they never ask.
As I walk towards our usual spot at the table beneath the leafy tree in the outside sitting area, I can't help but be continually shocked at the hodgepodge of misfits we've assembled together. Magnus Bane with all his glittery fabulousness, Catarina Loss with her blue hair and steady gaze, Simon Lewis with his dorky glasses and Star Wars T-shirts, Ragnor Fell with his calculating green eyes and mischievous smile, Sophie Collins with her wise input and scarred face, Maia Roberts with her rocker look and ready grin, Jordan Kyle with his eyes firmly locked on Maia, and a few other people who haven't showed up today.
Finding a tiny space between Simon and Magnus, I take the half-a-sandwich Cat silently passes to me and send a thankful glance her way before falling into the conversation. I find the topic odd for a minute, before realising that this is our group and of course we would be comparing cats because of obvious reasons I will come up with later.
"Church has an attitude." Sophie explains.
"Well, Yossarian can tell time." Simon brags.
"Just because your otherwise irritating cat has learned when you will feed him does not mean that he has mastered the ancient art of telling time." Ragnor scoffs, rolling his eyes.
"Chairman Meow has very reflective eyes which mean I can cheat when I'm playing poker." Magnus tells everybody casually.
There is a moment of tense, wary silence before suddenly, Ragnor and Jordon leap up yelling while Cat, Sophie and Maia crack up laughing. At some point, Ragnor grabs various foodstuffs and starts pelting them all at Magnus, yelling obscenities while Magnus covers his head with his ring-clad hands. Cat keeps laughing and pushes Ragnor down, trying to be stern through her laughter. Maia does the same with Jordon. Sophie just keeps laughing.
"Be honest with me, biscuit," Magnus instructs me, staring at me with serious eyes. "How is my hair?" I look up at the hair in question and make a judgement.
"You may or may not have a few sprinkles in it now." I inform him.
"Does it enhance the overall fabulousness or should I attend to it immediately?"
"I think you look fine. Gives you a bit of panache."
"Good." Magnus summarises, turning towards an oncoming group of people. "Because there is a delectable little mouthful over there that I must talk to." I look over at where his eyes have travelled to and instantly freeze.
Jace Lightwood- or angel boy as I've been referring to him in my head- is sauntering over with the irritating yet lovable people who, up till now, had not shown their faces to us.
"Who is that?" Magnus inquires of no one in particular.
"Jace Lightwood." I reply without thinking and try extremely hard not to notice the disgruntled expression Simon sends my way.
"No, not the obvious one. The stunning blue-eyed beauty." Ragnor raises an elegant eyebrow at our star-struck friend.
"William Herondale, of course. Magnus, are you feeling alright?" Catarina sounds concerned, quickly reaching over to check his temperature. He grumpily bats her hand away.
"No, none of you are listening, not the obvious one, not that cocky, oh-so-perfect-and-funny bastard I've known since kindergarten. I'm talking about the adorable-yet-beautiful boy in the back."
As one, we all turn to where Magnus is gesturing with his head. My eyes are drawn to the exquisite girl of the group first, the one who is obviously very comfortable in her body, wearing an absurdly small amount of clothes considering the weather, with perfect hair and perfect make-up and a lovely, high, musical laugh I can hear from where we sit, but then my eyes shift to the boy next to her, clearly her brother, his hands in his pockets and his head down low like he doesn't want to be seen. Magnus doesn't seem to notice the holes in the boy's jeans or the scuffed sneakers or his total lack of any colour whatsoever. My normally regal and distant friend is staring, completely enamoured by this unassuming new kid.
When I turn to share a look with Cat, I spot Ragnor looking between Magnus and the boy with deviously amused interest, and I wonder what he's thinking. He must be able to sense me looking at him because he glances over at me and winks before going back to his assessment.
"That's Alexander Lightwood, Gideon's cousin." Sophie unexpectedly pipes in. "I've met him a few times. He's a very sweet boy once you get past the surliness." I turn towards Simon.
"Was it just me or was that an interestingly contradictory sentence?"
"I noticed that too." Simon confirms, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
The cheerful group is still heading our way and I hug my arms across my stomach, wincing as it becomes about fifty-seven times more difficult to breathe. I take short, stunted gasps, trying to make sure nobody really notices. Luckily, I am saved having to talk by the amount of people that stop just in front of our table and start chatting.
"Hey guys," Tessa Grey begins, looking sensible in her pale blue, long sleeved top and jeans, her brown hair tied up in a neat ponytail. "Have you met the new people?" She gestures to the three new kids and Magnus carefully leans back in his seat, assuming a pose of indifference that looks too practised to be natural. I roll my eyes in his direction. "This is Isabelle, Alec and Jace Lightwood. Guys, this is Catarina, Ragnor, Magnus, Simon, Maia, Jordon, Sophie and Clary."
"You do realise I will never remember those name, right Tessa?" The beautiful girl, Isabelle asks good-naturedly.
Tessa waves the comment away, sitting in front of Sophie's knees and fiddling with the hem of her top. Sophie immediately pulls Tessa's hair out of its ponytail and starts fidgeting with it, beginning to braid it away from her face in intricate patterns. For a moment I envy them: Sophie and Tessa have always had a sort of effortless friendship. They're so comfortable with each other, know each other's secrets and have each other's backs. I wish that I could have a normal friendship with someone like that, one where I can be entirely comfortable with a person and not have to hide behind half-truths and maybe's. The fact that I can't is irritating, but I grew to live with it a long time ago.
Once Tessa sits down, it's like a domino effect: Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs sit because of Tessa, Cecily, Will's younger sister, sits because of him, Gabriel Lightwood sits because of her, Gideon, Gabriel's older brother, sits because of him, then the three new Lightwood's sit because they have nowhere else to go. Magnus keeps his eyes on Alec, scanning him up and down. Alec looks nervous, tapping his shaking knee with his fingers as he sits cross-legged on the grass, keeping his head, and his apparently stunning blue eyes, cast down.
I don't really know what to say to Jace as he sits in front of me, leaning back on his hands with his legs outstretched. It occurs to me that I'd like to draw him this way, the picture of relaxation. That entire side of the calm spectrum has always been a mystery to me. I've always been too fidgety and tense to be truly comfortable, so when I see someone looking as relaxed as Jace is now, I want to capture it, study it and then maybe figure out how to copy it.
A pale hand waves in front of my face and I jerk away, looking to Simon as he's finally caught my attention.
"Sorry, what?" Breathing a huff of faint annoyance at me, Simon repeats his question.
"I was wondering if you were going to be at the gig on Saturday." I sigh slightly, wishing I could give him the answer he wanted.
" I'm sorry, Simon, but I've got a family thing on that day, and I can't make it." Scowling slightly, Simon crosses his arms over his chest.
"I don't understand you, Clary. I've always been there for you. Just once, can't you be there for me?" He sounds mad and righteously so.
Since we were eight years old, Simon has always been the highest one on my friends list. He's always had my back, always defended me against the people who called me names in school or laughed at me. When Jonathan, my selfish, conceited prick of a brother abandoned me, Simon was there to pick up the pieces. It's not fair that he's stuck with me for a friend. And it's so monumentally unfair that he's convinced himself he has romantic feelings towards me. While his mind is throwing that lie at him, he's only going to drag himself down to my level.
"Look, I'm sorry okay? You have no idea how much I want to go to your gig, Simon. But I just can't, I'm sorry."
"What lie is it this time, huh? Some relative dying? Some important gathering of all the mighty Morgenstern's? Because I've got to tell you, Clary: I am damn sick of your excuses." Now that his voice is raised, everyone is looking over at us. I try to shrink more into my seat but my screaming ribs won't let me. I try to keep my face blank, I really do, but I feel unwelcome tears spring to my eyes. I wish he didn't have to be hurt, but he is hurt and it's my fault. It's all my fault. I try to grab his hand but he shrugs me off.
"Simon, I don't mean to hurt you." I try to tell him.
"Well, either you are lying or you're just an idiot. Let me explain something to you: you can't continue being such a selfish bitch without hurting anyone!" My mouth opens on a gasp of complete shock and I stare incredulously at Simon. He glares back at me, his eyes enormous and burning behind his glasses.
"Simon!" Stunningly, it is quiet, normally even-tempered Jem who spoke up in my defence. "I really think you should take a walk." Simon pivots quickly, turning his glare to Jem who stares back at him steadily.
It's tense for only a few moments before Jordan stands up and grabs a hold of Simon's jacket, pulling him up and away from our table. The quiet that follows is directly aimed at me. It's like I can feel it creeping towards me from every set of eyes pointed in my direction.
"You alright, biscuit?" Magnus asks kindly. I don't want his kindness. I want to be left alone so I can't hurt anybody else.
"I'm fine." I grind out, not looking at him.
"Clary-"
"I said I'm fine!" I say in a firmer tone. I stand up quickly, still not looking at anyone. "I've got to go. I'll see you guys later." I turn away and start heading towards the library, my only escape when my almost-friends start getting too close.
Jace's POV
As I watch Clary walk away, I am almost speechless by the amount of hurt and sadness I saw in her eyes just then. Almost.
"Well, that was awkward." I mention cheerfully. "Was that a onetime thing or should I bring popcorn to school tomorrow, just in case?"
"Jace." The reproachful use of my name from Will surprises me. He's never serious. He's more sarcastic than I am. "Leave it alone." I frown at my friend before rolling to my feet.
"I'll be off then. Lovely meeting you guys. In fact, it was so lovely; I'll even try to remember your names." Without another word, I head in the direction Clary did.
I don't know why I do it. It's like I'm being pulled there by some sort of invisible, bossy cord. As I walk through the school- it's a nice enough school I suppose, bog standard really, with uninspiring brick facilities and large open areas- I keep a lookout for the odd little redhead. From what I saw in class, she has a sort of distant, stand-offish persona but at the same time, I could see how hurt she was when her friend yelled at her, and I could see how much she cared, even though she tried to hide it. Frankly, I don't think she fooled anyone.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a mess of red and turn towards the colour then smirk to myself as I congratulate my fantastic peripheral vision on its general awesomeness. Opening the door to the library, I move towards the table she's sitting at, completely preoccupied by the sketching she's doing.
"Hey midget." I greet and Clary jumps about three inches in the air with a cute little squeak. When she spots me, she sends me a glare that could freeze lava. Thank God I am ridiculously hot anyway.
"Hey mutant." She hisses looking royally pissed off. She's adorable when she's angry. I grin in her general direction, not fussed.
"I have a question." Dropping her pencil exasperatedly, she drops her head in her hands. I take that as permission to continue. "Why do you hang out with people if you don't like people anyway?" Raising her head from her hands, she quirks up an eyebrow at me.
"What makes you think I don't like people?"
"Well, you're extremely attitude-y." Clary frowns, her eyes grudgingly amused.
"Is that a word?"
"Well, I just invented it. And I am Shakespeare reincarnated so I can do that." She blinks a few times.
"What is it like living in that head?"
"Crowded." I reply quickly to her mocking tones. "There are quite a few voices. Some of them sexy, others… not so much."
There is a second of silence during which time, she stares at me in shock. But, ever so slowly, the corners of her mouth tilt upwards and she chuckles loosely. Shaking her head, she looks around the library and then back to me.
"Okay," She pronounces. "I get it."
"Get what?"
She jerks her head back to the library and I turn in the direction she gestured. Five sets of eyes quickly turn away, making it blatantly obvious that they were looking in our direction.
"Oh yeah, that." I say, turning back to her. "I am stunningly attractive."
"Really?" Clary deadpans, her eyes giving me a quick once over. I smirk at her boldness. "I don't see it." My smirk freezes as she grins at me. Just as I'm about to say something, the bells ring, signalling the start of the next class. Collecting her books and pens from the table, Clary stands and winks at me. "See you later, Jace."
I watch her walk away, a little spring to her step as she exits the library and turns a corner. I stand slowly as well and follow the herd out of the library, chuckling lowly to myself.
Game on, Clary. Game on.
A/N: So what did you's think of this chapter? Drop me a line if you can and let me know.\
Peace love and joy,
Love Stormy. xoxo
