Chapter Two

A/N: Hey my dudes! I'm back! And with 1400 words! Yaaaaaaaaaay. Okay bye. *PSA: I don't own any of this except the plot*

Clary Fray pulled out her schedule from her canvas book bag while anxiously walking the halls of Alicante High. She was headed to the same homeroom class she had been a part of since middle school, with the only difference being a new teacher. And to top it all off, she had zero friends in there.

Clary wasn't what one would consider "popular." In fact, most of her own grade didn't know who she was. To be completely honest, she didn't like very many people. When Clary was in school, her eyes glazed over and she became the poster-child for Resting Bitch Face. On top of that, she's shy. Like really shy. Clary would rather stay in her room away from random people on any given day. These two facts generally made no one who didn't know her attempt to.

The three exceptions to this were Simon, Izzy, and Maia. Clary, Izzy and Maia all had Choir with each other but the other two girls weren't as close with Simon as Clary was. They all got along, but there was always this awkward tension when the four of them were together. Thankfully, they were not together very often. Clary and Simon were just a little bit more… advanced than Izzy and Maia. Clary was third in her class of 248 and Simon was fifth, so the two friends usually got the same advanced classes.

Well, not this year.

This year, Clary and Simon only had one out of five classes together per semester. Both just so happened to be during first block. For the first semester there was English 2 and for the second there was Anatomy. Great.

Sighing, Clary went back to her previous task of finding her homeroom. Apparently her teacher's class had been relocated so it was in a different hall. Clary must have looked as lost as she felt because a teacher, who was making rounds across the school to help students, stopped to ask her how she was.

After taking a second to mentally script out how to get her question asked quickly and concisely, Clary gained her courage and asked where her homeroom had been moved to. After a moment of looking at his list, the teacher told her where and asked if she needed help getting there. Smiling and shaking her head, Clary parted with a "thank you."

Walking into her homeroom class, Clary looked at the now familiar faces that would stick with her throughout her high school career. Homerooms were randomly selected and since Clary didn't have many friends, it was just her luck that there was no one she was close with. Sure there was the occasional person she had in one of her previous classes, but no one she could actually talk to.

Clary pulled out her phone while sliding into a seat that was as far away as everyone as she could get. Alicante High didn't necessarily have a policy against being on a cell phone… as long as the student was not using it during instruction time. As the bell rang, Clary's homeroom teacher started calling role. As usual, Clary was concentrating on what everyone else's responses were so that she wouldn't stand out. After muttering a simple "here" when he called her name, Clary put her headphones back in and waited to find out what assignment they were going to do.

"Okay guys. Today it's just a back-to-school video so you don't really have to pay attention. Do whatever you want. Just don't be loud. Got it?"

A chorus of "okay" splayed from across the room.

Clary then opened her bag and took out her sketchbook. Turning to the next blank page and glancing at her watch, she happily realized she had a full half hour to sketch without interruptions.

As always when she draws, Clary lost track of time and before she knew it the bell was ringing signaling the students to make their way to first block. Closing her sketchbook and shoving it into her messenger bag, Clary rose up from her seat and started down the hallway. When she realized she still had her earphones in, she quickly took them out and stopped her music. Looking down at her phone meant not looking at where she was going and so with her luck, Clary ran straight into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorr-"

Clary stopped her apology as she realized who she had ran into.

"You should really watch where you're going, you know. Someone could get hurt."

"Shut up, Si," Clary said lightheartedly.

"Hey! I'm just watching out for you," Simon replied with a smile. Clary looked up his tall form. Well, technically everyone was tall to Clary, but he was a little above-average in the tallness department. On his face sat a pair of prescription Ray-Ban glasses. Adding to the hipster look, his brown hair was shaggy but not quite long enough to cover his eyes, which were Clary's favorite of his features. They contained so many swirls and shades of brown that her fingers itched for her colored pencils.

"I know. But HEY. ARE YOU READY FOR ENGLISH?"

"I CAN'T FUCKING WAIT. IT'S GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN!"

The two friends continue their sarcastic banter until they reach the classroom. Stopping just outside the door, they share one last look of dread.

"Are you good? Your anxiety? I mean, I know it's not severe or anything but I do worry about you and-"

"Simon. I'm fine. I promise. Go ahead and get us some good seats," Clary replied with a small wink.

Simon gave her a hesitant smile for a few moments and then took the lead and walked in first while Clary lingered in the hallway a few seconds more.

It's all good, Clary. You're fine. You have Simon in here with you. Just keep focusing on your breathing. In…out. In…out. Okay. Let's do this thing.

Before Clary could take another step, the noise of students entering the hallway caught her attention.

Quickly scanning the faces of those who entered, Clary realized that there was only one familiar face. That would be Izzy's older brother, Alec Lightwood. Alec, with his beautiful black hair and electric blue eyes, was the only person she knew who was shyer than she was, yet he still had more friends than Clary. Alec was on the football team, so it would make sense that even though most days he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, he still seemed to seamlessly fit in with the popular crowd.

When Clary and Izzy met in the 6th grade due to Clary moving to the town, they became instant friends. Being together all the time also caused Clary to be around Alec. At first, he wasn't very fond of Clary, mainly because anytime they wanted to go somewhere he was forced by Izzy's parents to go with and watch them, but eventually he warmed up and became a big brother to both Izzy and Clary. It also helped that he was only a grade below Clary's older twin brothers, Jonathan and Sebastian, who were also on the football team with Alec.

Even though he was a senior now and she was a measly sophomore, Alec shared a small smile with Clary as he entered the hallway. As she reciprocated the gesture, she noticed the boy who Alec was talking with followed Alec's gaze and landed on her. Clary couldn't help but stare as a face she had never seen before was brought into view.

The only word that came to mind was gold. Pure gold.

Everything was gold; his hair, his skin. Then she looked up into his eyes and was startled to find even more gold. Clary soon realized she was staring…and the gold was staring back. Tantalizing gold boring into vibrant green. Then the eyes did something completely unexpected. They winked.

Cheeks blushing a shade of red as dark as her hair, Clary bowed her head and waited for the group of people to pass.

What just happened?

Clary was disrupted from her thoughts by the warning bell. With a small smirk, Clary walked in to her first block classroom to find that Simon had saved her a seat next to him in the very back.

"Wow. My favorite. How ever did you know?" Clary asked, voice leaking sarcasm.

"Try as you might to hide, I know you, Fray," Simon replied easily with a smile.

Sitting down, Clary instinctively pulled out her sketchbook and turned to the drawing that she started in homeroom.

Maybe this school year won't be so bad after all…