Chapter 2

I'm only going to write up to the part where they figure out Jace is a cheater. But if people like it, then I might continue. Enjoy.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!BEE-

"Bleeeeeh." Clary groaned and turned off her alarm. She opened her eyes.

White ceiling? Check.

Stupid alarm clock? Check.

New school? New place? New house? New life? –

Clary startled herself awake. Oh right. They were in New York. And she was going to a school called "The Institution". How lame.

"Morning, Clary," Luke's voice, accompanied by the sound and smell of eggs and bacon, wafted into Clary's room. Mmmmmmm. Fooooood.

A short while later, Clary stumbled into the kitchen. "Morninglukesmellsgood," she mumbled. Her stepfather grinned knowingly. Jonathon was already chomping his way through a large pile of scrambled eggs.

"Aaah, the first day of high school. I remember it was so scary. But don't worry," he reassured. "I was fine. And you will too."

"Thanks, Luke," Clary smiled warily. She munched on her breakfast, wondering what it would be like at her new school.

"Of course, my whole grade was new, so it didn't really matter…" Luke rambled for a while until – "Jonathon, Clary, you guys should know that there are cliques at the Institution. All the students take it very seriously. They always have, and always will." His serious tone caught their attention, but Clary shrugged it off.

"I'm sure it's not that bad."

Oh, how wrong she was.

Clary jogged into the room, pale cheeks flaming like her hair. She had gotten lost again, and panted out a vague apology at the teacher. The teacher frowned, but turned back the board. Again, all eyes were on her again, and the whispers reached her ears, menacing tales hammering away at her self-control. Shut up! Clary wanted to scream. There were so many rumours about her, Jocelyn, Jonathon or Luke, and none of them were true.

"… I heard that she and her brother are secretly going out…"

"… Have you heard about that new girl, Clarissa? Amy says she's a stuck up bitch. She looks like one too…"

"Omigosh, Lydia told me that the new girl said something about you, Izzy…" The last one came from a platinum blonde girl whispering in a brunette's ear. The dark-haired girl – Izzy – dismissed the rumour.

"Hey there, newbie!" A dark-skinned girl plonked down in the seat next to her. "I'm Maia."

"And I'm Simon," a familiar looking boy added, sitting on her other side.

"Oh," Clary mumbled. "I'm Clary."

Maia snorted. "Girl, everyone knows you. You're the newbie."

"... Ok..."

"So how was your first day at the Institution?" Maia asked. "Enjoy getting gossiped about?" Clary made a face.

"Students! Pay attention!" the teacher snapped. Clary groaned. Luke had been right – there were so many cliques. She hoped she would be able to sit with Maia and Simon at lunch.

Cheerleaders, jocks, nerds, emos….

RIIIIIIIIING!

The bell rang without warning, startling Clary out of her happy bubble of new friends.

"Time for lunch!" Maia sang happily, and skipped out of the room. Clary giggled.

"Come on," Simon said dryly. "If we don't leave now, we'll never catch up." Fortunately, Maia was waiting at the entrance, so they strolled into the large cafeteria, Clary pausing to admire all the students and their designer clothes and accessories. Whispers and stares followed their every movement, until Maia glared.

"Shut up, you retards!" the girl growled, resembling a wolf. I don't ever want to get on her bad side, Clary thought nervously.

"So what do you think of Shakespeare, Clary?" Simon asked. Clary groaned.

"God, I hate English. And maths. And everything else that's not art."

"Poor thing," Maia remarked.

"Don't worry," Simon chuckled. "I can help you..." He trailed off at the sudden hush.

Jace Wayland sauntered in the room. Girls gasped. Some giggled. A girl near Clary fanned her blushing cheeks anxiously. In the moment when Jace had stepped into the room, the girls had simultaneously morphed into smart, beautiful young women into swooning, boy-obsessed teens.

Maia snorted at her gender. "Idiots."

Clary could only stare at Jace. Her first thought was how she would love to sketch him, draw the angular planes of his beautiful face.

Simon followed her gaze. "Ah, I see you've seen my brother."

Clary snapped out of her daze. "What? No way!" she gasped. "I mean, you guys don't look related."

Simon raised his eyebrow – damnit! I wanna do that! Clary thought enviously. "Are you implying that I do not share my stepbrother's obvious looks?"

She flushed. "No, no!" Clary protested, not wanting to insult her new friend. "It's just that… I mean, you guys are so different, and I … Omigosh, I'm so sorry!"

Maia giggled. "Relax, newbie, he was just kidding."

"Oh." Clary decided to continue staring at Jace. Her green eyes roamed over him, curiously wondering what he would be like with Simon as his brother.

And then he looked at her. Gold met green.

It was then Clary knew that having Simon as a brother had not influenced him one bit. She could see a cocky look in his eyes, a smirk on his face. Add that with all the girls in the school, and you have a player called Jace Wayland.

She looked away.

Maia started talking. "This school has 1 main person, who happens to be Jace, my ex-boyfriend. Other important people may include Aline Penhallow, school valedictorian, Isabelle Lightwood, head of the cheerleading squad and Alexandra Herondale, school slut," Maia pointed out a two black-haired girls and a blonde. "Alec Lightwood is pretty okay, and he's gay. He's off limits. Or at least that's what everyone unofficially agreed when his boyfriend came to pick him up."

Clary squirmed uncomfortably. "Ok…"

"Now, Jace Wayland is a player. Currently he's dating…" Maia frowned a little. "Oh yeah! Aline, Isabelle and Alex. Because they're from different cliques, they don't know about each other. And that way, Jace can continue getting laid, without causing much scandal. He also convinces them to keep it a secret because his father supposedly disapproves of him dating in basketball season. He may be a player, but he is damn smart."

Clary frowned. He seemed like a douche.

"Not that I approve, of course," Maia clarified. "So what do you have next, newbie?"

Clary checked her timetable. "Um, Gym and English. Hey, how do you know he does all that?"

Maia grinned. "I watch and lean. And dating him also helped me figure out he was dating those girls over there." She waved airily towards her right. "Anyway, Gym and English? Me too! What about you, Simon?"

Simon fixed his glasses. "Um, History and English. Guess we all have English together," he added shyly.

RIIING!

"Eeek!" Clary made a sound of protest at the sharp noise.

Maia giggled. "Don't worry, you get used to it."

And with that, Clary headed off to Gym with her new friend.