Wow, thanks to reviewers for the last chapter, and also to everyone who added this to story alert! It makes me feel bad for taking ages to write this chapter, especially because the only reason for it taking so long is because I'm lazy. Anyway, chapter two is finally done, please review!

Disclaimer: Cassandra Clare completely owns all the characters and the Mortal Instruments series!

Mr Starkweather barely looked up at the new arrival. "You must be Mr Herondale. Well, welcome to advanced chemistry, take a seat."

Clary was too shocked to realise that the only spare seat in the classroom was next to her. She, like every other girl in the class, was intently staring and this Mr Herondale. Clary couldn't help but think he looked like an angel, golden hair, sharp, angular face and startling golden eyes that shone like suns as they scanned the classroom. A very bad angel, that is. He tossed his hair out of his eyes and he sauntered up the aisle with his hands in his pockets, and Clary half expected to see sparks fly from it. He was wearing simple enough clothes; dark skinnies and a black shirt, but they suited him so well that he was far from underdressed. Clary jumped when his bag landed next to hers on the floor with a thud, and he sat in the vacant chair at her desk. She hadn't realised that of course he would have to sit here, and something tugged at her gut for a second before it as gone. That pulled Clary out of her stupor, what was wrong with her? Queen of the school and gazing at some new-kid nobody? She was definitely slipping. Making a mental note to sort out her mental walls or whatever was wrong with her, she turned her gaze to his face again, and opened her mouth to say something. But then she was lost again, his eyes were so beautiful close up, iridescent and gleaming, incomparable to even suns, because surely suns couldn't shine that brightly. They were like pools of liquid gold, shining with all the life in the universe; they were… staring right at her.

"Finished admiring me yet?" He smirked.

Years of practice meant that Clary didn't even have to think about a response before it came out.

"Haven't you ever heard that modesty is an admirable trait?"

"Only from ugly people," he smirked, leaning back in his chair and clasping his hands behind his head.

Clary tried not to notice that it made the tight muscles of his chest stand out more.

"Maybe, but one can see their point." She smiled wryly, and turned to go back to her work. "Now, if you insist at sitting at my table, and I can't stress how key the 'my' is, then you'd better at least help with the work."

He placed a long-fingered hand on shoulder, warm against her bare skin. "Why work when we can have fun?" He breathed.

Clary smiled enticingly and leaned in, her breath ticking his ear, as she whispered "Because I assume you like your pretty little face arranged the way it is." She winked and shrugged his hand off her shoulder. Relishing in the stunned look on his face, she completed the act by slamming her textbook down on the table, making him jump. Clary smiled sweetly. "Maybe if you're a good boy, I won't rearrange it for you."

She turned back to her workbook, trying to send the message that she wasn't interested. Unfortunately, he didn't take the hint.

"I'm a very good boy," he whispered, making the hairs on the back of Clary's neck stand up. Despite the rational side of her brain lecturing her about the Order and respect and all that, she couldn't help the reaction. And she mentally cursed herself for it.

"I'm Jace. Nice to meet you. Now this is where you tell me your name and be all friendly and nice. You know, 'coz we're nice people." His tone was sarcastic, his face set in a cool smirk.

"I'm Clary. Get used to that name. You'll hear it a lot." Another sweet smile, and Clary turned back to her work again.

"Well that wasn't very nice…" She heard Jace mumble. She decided she had him figured out. Good looking, cocky, arrogant, he'd be a contender for the Order. Clary resolved to keep an eye on him. Her train of thought was cut off by Mr Starkweather announcing that their current seats would now be their permanent ones, and that they would receive assignments, to be completed with their partners. Clary both internally groaned and leaped in excitement. Jace Herondale would be dangerous, but interesting to crack.

Lunch break came around all too slowly, in Clary's opinion. Already that day she had received three homework assignments, and she wasn't in the best mood as she strolled into the school cafeteria. It was a large room, with white walls and a white tiled floor. On one side, glassed windows looked over the school's sports field and indoor swimming complex, and on the other, a small courtyard decorated with tables, and then down to the lake that was used for canoeing in the warm months. Clary grabbed a tray and walked up to the already lengthy line up for food. She smiled as students moved aside to give a path directly to the front of the line. Clary grabbed a tub of yoghurt and a wrap, and then headed straight for the open glass doors leading to the breezy courtyard. Izzy and Simon were already at their usual table, shaded by a small alcove of sweeping willows and providing a scenic view of the lake. As she approached, Izzy threw her head back in laughter as Simon blushed and adjusted his glasses. Clary took a seat opposite Simon and bit into her wrap. "What's so funny?" She asked Izzy.

Izzy put her palm to her forehead and attempted to control a fit of giggles. "Well," she started, "there's this girl in Simon's advanced algebra class called Maia, you know, from your swim team, and Simon… Simon…" But what she said next was unintelligible as she descended once again into uncontrollable laughter.

"What my sister is trying to say is that her asked her out and, inevitably, was rejected." Clary looked up as Alec sat down at their table and bit into an apple. "It was miserable; I know, I was there," he smirked, as Simon groaned and face-palmed.

Clary rolled her eyes skyward. "You're as bad as Izzy, Si!" Simon glared at her and Izzy stopped laughing to give an indigent "Hey!"

"Well, it's true-"

Clary was cut off by Izzy's eyes widening and her pitch rising noticeably as she announced; "Cute guy at three o' clock!" Izzy immediately whipped out her handbag and touched up her lip gloss in the reflection on the back of her spoon.

Clary glanced over to where Izzy was referring to; the cafeteria doors, and was only marginally surprised to see Jace holding a tray and walking confidently in their direction. Girls darted up to him as he passed, and wrote on his arm with markers before blowing kisses and returning, giggling, to where they sat. Clary watched him draw closer with equal parts concern and curiosity. It was blindingly obvious that he was going to shake up the Order of the school, but that was what intrigued her. And, Clary reluctantly admitted, there was a bit of excitement mixed in there as well. He reached their table and sat in the only empty seat- the one next to Clary.

"Well, look who we have here." He said. He reached his arms behind his head and folded his hands, clearly relaxed- which was the opposite to the ambient mood of the rest of the occupants of the table. Simon and Alec were staring at him, puzzled looks on their faces, and Izzy was concentrating on pouting while she chewed her salad.

"You know, I did a bit of research during class, and I found that you guys pretty much own this place. Funny that."

Clary frowned at him. "Funny, how?"

"Oh, nothing, I just didn't see you as the kind of person who was at the top of the popularity rankings." He smirked.

Clary asked, "What do you mean by that, exactly?" at the same time that Izzy asked, maybe a little too forcefully, "You know Clary?"

Jace grinned at them both. "Yes, Clary and I are wonderful friends in chemistry, partners actually. We definitely have something going." He ignored Clary opening her mouth to interrupt, and continued. "And answering your question, I just didn't think you're the right kind of person. You need to be more like me. You're not cocky enough." And with that, he stood and walked back up the slope to the cafeteria.

Simon's jaw was nearly on the ground. "Who the hell was he?"

Clary rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Some jerk I got stuck with in chemistry. He thinks he owns the place."

Izzy stopped staring at Jace's retreating form to point out, "He might do just that, soon. He's definitely arrogant enough. And hot."

Clary shook her head silently, and folded her arms across her chest. She wasn't entirely sure what to make of Jace; he was a study in comparisons. Not to mention his head was big enough to lift him to Mars. Tuning out from Simon and Alec teasing Izzy about Jace, she once again arrived back at her decision to keep an eye on him.

The rest of Clary's classes passed pretty quickly, due to two things on Clary's mind- one, that she couldn't wait for swim team tryouts that afternoon, and two, whenever she walked into her classes, her eyes flitted around the room quickly, searching for a golden head. It turned out that the only other class she shared with Jace was maths, which she also had with Simon and Alec. Their teacher, Mrs Imogen, insisted that they sat in alphabetical order, meaning that Simon Lewis and Alec Lightwood were lucky enough to end up next to each other anyway, and Clary was stuck next to not-even-double-digits-in-the-Order Delia 'Lumberjack' Frith, who was known to literally consume pencils in class. But what bugged her most about that class was the fact that Jace Herondale was seated next to Kaelie Illis. Kaelie had never been Clary's friends. From the day Clary had arrived at the Institute and knocked Kaelie from the top spot, Kaelie had resorted to the crudest measures to reclaim her shattered dignity. She'd pulled juvenile pranks on Clary; messing with her locker, spreading rumours, and then had resorted to sleeping around with anyone who would. Clary could see her flirting with Jace, probably trying to lead him where she had led so many other guys. Something tugged in Clary's gut- no, of course she wasn't jealous. Why would she be jealous? She barely knew Jace, and anyway, she probably should be distancing herself as much as possible. The higher she climbed, the further she'd have to fall, after all. What if he did take the Order from her? What would she do then, huh? Clary realised she was arguing with herself, and straightened her mental walls, tuning out the rest of the classroom to go back to at least trying to focus on their maths work.

When the final bell rang that afternoon, Clary was the first to leave the classroom. Swimming, at last. Over the summer break, Clary hadn't had much time for swimming, what with her mum and Luke getting married and everything. He was almost twitching at the thought of diving back into the beautiful, beautiful water. She smiled as she remembered her first swim team tryouts at the Institute. She'd annihilated the competition then, and every year since. Her team had made it to the state and national finals for the past two years, and her fame in the pool had been a major factor for her climbing the ranks of the Order.

The school's indoor swimming stadium was one of the many extra-curricular additions to the school's grounds. Outside, the stadium was huge with a curving roof and an entrance wide enough to let in huge crowds. Inside, was an Olympic-standard fifty metre pool, a warm up pool, a diving pool, and stands that could seat hundreds. Clary breathed in deeply as she entered the glassed entrance, inhaling the rich smell of chlorine. She headed straight for the change rooms, waving to their swim coach, Mr Lightwood, who was also Alec and Izzy's dad. The rest of her girls relay team was already inside. Maia Roberts was their first swimmer, and had been for all the years that Clary had been on the swim team. Clary liked Maia, with her browned skin and dark hair. She was more the image of a typical swimmer, tall with broad shoulders and muscular, whereas Clary was shorter and slimmer. Their second swimmer was Aline Penhallow, a new addition to the team only last year. She was fast though, and deserved her spot on the A team. Clary didn't know her all too well; she was pretty shy and didn't say much. The position of third swimmer was to be decided today; their previous teammate, Camille Belcourt, had left at the end of last year. And of course, Clary was the team's anchor.

Her teammates waved and smiled as she walked in, which Clary returned, before returning to their conversation. Clary changed into her sleek black racing skins, and tucked her hair under an emerald green nationals cap. One of the reasons she loved swimming was that when she dived in the water, her mind cleared completely, except for those essential reminders about keeping her body streamlined, her head down, her kick high, her hands cupped. Everything else was just let go, as quickly and as easily as the bubbles flitting to the surface when she dived in. She was anticipating releasing her thoughts on the Order, her troubles caused by the flashbacks of her father, the tension she'd been feeling over the past few days, and once again concentrating on her body moving through the water.

Clary was almost bouncing on the balls of her feet as she left the change room, a smile irrevocably plastered on her face, seeming to almost float above the ground as she joined the group around the pool. And then Jace Herondale strode out of the boy's change room.

Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it; if you did, if you didn't, please review! Anyway, hopefully I'll get chapter three done a bit quicker and post it soon-ish.

- ApproachingDarkness