A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed! They made my day! Seriously, I think I'm addicted O.O I intended to update earlier, but with finals coming to a close and school ending (I'm officially a sophomore now!), going camping, and getting sick, things got a bit hectic! Now that school is over I plan to update about once a week. I'm so sorry it took forever to update this! It was a lot harder to keep up with it than I'd originally thought it'd be. I'll do better, I promise!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot and Zofia ;)

Jace POV

Jace smiled to himself as he watched the intoxicating red head grab her geeky male companion by the arm and stomp off in the direction of the girl's dormitories. He wasn't one to usually be so invasive, but something about her picture unnerved him. It was beautiful, he'd admit, but it reminded him of the days he spent in anger and turmoil.

Clary needed someone, he could tell. Yet, their was something else that drew him in. Something besides their obvious shared tragedies. Oh yes, he could tell. She'd been through the wringer too. Maybe it was her beauty that had him so captivated. But then again, Jace had been exposed to his fair share of beautiful women. Was it her fiesty, seemingly sarcastic attitude?

Whatever it was, Jace wanted more.

Clary POV

Clary was abruptly awoken by the sound of rapidly percolating coffee. Sitting up, she found an unidentified girl dressed in sweatpants and a Panic! At The Disco t-shirt doing yoga on a mat between the two beds.

"Morning roomy" the girl said. She looked to be maybe a year older than Clary with long, dark hair pullled into a ponytail that ran beneath her shoulder blades. Bright hues of orange, yellow, pink, purple, and blue colored the ends of each layer of her hair. A spider bite piercing ran beneath her bottom lip, and purple gages adorned her ears. Looking up to her face, Clary found that the girl had soft, pretty features consisting of a curved jawline, a sharp, distinctive nose, and kind blue eyes.

"Good Morning?" came Clary's reply.

"My name's Zofia. I took the liberty of preparing us freshly brewed coffee." She untied herself from the knot she had worked herself into, and pushed off the floor with her hands in order to stand. "The stuff practically runs through my veins; I'm so addicted."

Clay laughed. She immediately took a liking to the obviously bold, distinctive individual. "Same here. I take it black, like my soul."

Zofia laughed. She stood up and walked over to a small table located in a corner of the room to pour the coffee into two plain, white mugs. As she did so, Clary observed the girl's tall, slender build. "So what's your name?" Zofia asked

Flinging the covers off herself, Clary swung her legs out of the bed and walked over to the table where her savory coffee awaited. "Clary"

"So" Zofia said casually " I don't think I remember seeing you here last year. Are you a newbie?"

Clary nodded in response as she took a sip of her scalding coffee.

"What are you in for?"

Clary furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Its sounded like Zofia was referring to a prison camp or something. "Huh?"

Zofia laughed. "What's your 'gift'?" she said in a dramatic tone.

"Oh, I'm an artist I guess."

"Well, you must be a pretty good one to have gotten in. As long as you're not another piano player we'll get along just fine. I don't think I could've handled competing against someone new this year."

"What do you mean?"Clary asked clearly puzzled.

"Your summer here is an audition of sorts. You compete against others in your category to try and receive a full scholarship to study here at the end of your high school career. The board of directors will assess your work here, and hand out a scholarship to the most deserving. You'll learn more about it at orientation. Last year I got so close to winning one for piano playing, but I got beaten out by some ditzy bimbo."

"Wow. Tough break." Clary's mind was whirling with irrational thoughts. Scholarship? It'd be great to go to college here. I could get away, but am I good enough? It's my first year in the program after all. The other artists are probably all wonderful. It'll take hard work to get it, and that will preoccupy my mind. That in turn might cause me to forget. I should never forget. Ever.

"Tell me about it." Zofia replied "This year my biggest competition will be an asshat- pardom my skewed french- by the name of Lightwood. He's a total man-whore, but he's undeniably yummy. He ranked just behind me last year. Knowing him, he will have gotten much better by now."

The next few moments passed quietly as both girls greedily drained their coffee mugs. It was Zofia who finally broke the silence.

"Anyway, orientation starts in a couple of hours and as much as I'm digging your superhero jammies, we should probably get ready for breakfast."

-Line/Time Breakage-

After Clary had showered and changed into a pair of skinny jeans, a plain, v-neck black tee, and a pair of converse she left the bathroom only to find that Zofia had traded her sweatpants for jeans and a pair of combat boots. After which they left the room and headed to the community campus building where the cafeteria was located.

The cafeteria was a scene of long lines, crowded table, and questionable looking food.

"Its sad isn't it?" Zofia mused "You'd think that with the school's hefty budget they would have opted to purchase better quality food. But alas, it was not meant to be."

"What the hell is that?" Clary exclaimed gesturing to a tray of greenish blobs in the possession of a random passerby.

"That-" echoed a male voice behind her "would be the protein providing substance we all call scrambled eggs." Clary turned to find none other than the beautiful asshat named Jace dressed in a black leather jacket. "Although in this state they are looking more like boogers." He finished with a shudder.

Zofia turned to face Jace all the while scoffing at his previous remarks. " Hey Jace. Thanks for the observations there. I don't know what we'd have done without you."She said with an overwhelming, sarcastic air in her tone.

"Anytime, Mary." Jace replied in a teasing voice.

"No! My name is not Mary!" Zofia protested

Clary stood off to the side marveling at the peculiar duo as their conversation unfolded. How do they know each other? They seem so familiar with each other yet they seem so different.

"Really? Because I do believe that is the name your mother gave you." Jace said

Zofia gave Jace's arm a shove. "I should have never have told you that!"

Jace lauged. "Not your best decision."

Jace's laugh sent a wave of pure, unfiltered happiness over Clary. The sensation of happiness was something that Clary had almost forgotten. Yet, the magnitude of the emotion was one that was entirely new. It was so strong that Clary couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her lips.

The noise averted Zofia's attention, and she turned to look at Clary. "Oh, sorry, I should have introduced you. Clary," she said gesturing towards the boy "this is Jace Lightwood. He's the one I told you about; my competition this year."

So Jace is the yummy asshat. Clary thought to herself They seem pretty friendly to be competitive with each other.

Clary was broken from her thoughts when she noticed Jace staring at her with a glint of something odd reflected in his eyes.

Why is he looking at me like that? Do I have something stuck in my teeth? Does he want to eat me? Clary giggled internally, finishing the laugh with a mental eye roll. Of course he's not going to eat me. He's not a cannibal. Or so I think. Clary found herself smiling, amused by her mental banter. I guess I'm already starting to miss Simon. My inner thoughts are beginning to sound like him.

Jace tore his gaze away from Clary's face and rose his eyebrows in Zofia's direction. "Red and I have already met." He said in a tone that portrayed promiscuity.

"Oh no, you're not allowed to try and seduce her." Zofia moved and used her right hand to grasp Clary's arm. "I actually like this one."

Jace rolled his eyes. "It wasn't anything like that. I just- ...Sorta ran into her. And then knocked her over." He shrugged his shoulders casually.

Zofia on the other hand burst out laughing at the statement. Gaining her composure, she mustered up enough effort to place a hand on Jace's shoulder, and speak. "My friend, I have seen you do some pretty stupid things to get into a girl's pants. I'm always amazed by how your dumb ass behavior usually seems to get you laid. But, knocking a girl over must be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of you doing in order to get some action."

Jace tipped his head up indignantly. "It was an accident! If I was actually aiming to win her over with my boyish charm, I would have. Those 'dumb ass' tactics as you called them, never fail to impress. Look at me." He said running his hands down his torso "I'm irresistible. I wasn't trying to woe her...yet." He finished with a wink in Clary's direction.

Clary snorted. " You shouldn't even bother trying to 'woe' me." She turned to Zofia. "You don't need to worry. He's definitely not my type. Arrogance is not an attractive trait."

Jace placed his hands over his heart feigning hurt. "How quickly you dismiss our love."

By this time, the cafeteria was bustling, and had filled with loud teenage students who were reluctantly eating the strange food. Jace turned his attention from the scene, onto the two girls. " I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to spend my first official day of Summer in a crowded cafeteria trying to stomach down the nasty, greenish blobs. Zofia, how about we take Clary here and venture out on our regular breakfast routine."

Zofia raised her fist and exclaimed "To Taki's!"

With that, Jace grabbed Clary by the arm and lead them all out of the cafeteria and onto the black asphalt of the parking lot. Then, towards a black Corvet. Once there, he pulled out a set of keys from his jacket and unlocked the door. It looked so expensive to Clary and she wondered how he cold afford it. Zofia and Jace proceeded to open the doors, and slide into the front seats. Clary on the other hand remained awkwardly outside the driver's side door.

Jace rolled down the window and spoke. "Get in Red. We won't bite. At least, Zofia probably won't."

Clary, being the cautious person she was, was astonished by the fact that she was considering getting into a car, and driving off into a foreign city with two people she had just met. It seemed unsafe. But, she also thought back to the long tables clustered with icky food. She was hungry.

Clary decided to take a leap. The whole point in her journeying here to New York was to try to learn and live again. With a newly found excitement, she got in.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I had wanted to finish the chapter with the end of the trio's breakfast experience. But since this chapter is long overdue, I will put it in the next one. I was anxious to get it out for you guys.

I'm not sure whether I liked this chapter or not. Not much went on in my opinion. What do you guys think? Was it too short?

Whatcha think of Zofia? She's quite chatty, and alternative isn't she?... I love her.

All right, enough of my babbled questions!

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Review!