On the next day, it was officially Clary's first day of school. She wasn't so thrilled about going to a new school and meeting new people. On the other hand, Jocelyn was actually excited.
As they pull up to the parking lot, Jocelyn jokes with her daughter, "Yay. New friends, new friends, new friends."
Before her mom could get out, Clary quickly locks the doors. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm going to work. Gonna do some educating. Some administrating."
Sometimes Clary gets embarrassed when her mother tries to act cool. "Mom, I'm the new kid, which presents its own set of obstacles. Not sure walking in with the vice principal is the play. Just give me a 60-second head start so I at least have a chance.
Jocelyn purses her lips and nods her head. "Deal. You promise you'll give it a shot?"
She thinks it over. Clary already knew that today was only going to miserable if she made it miserable. She didn't want to let her mom down. "You know I can't promise you that. I promise. All right? And this door-locking thing... Come on, you're better than that."
"Sixty seconds start now, 60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54..."
And so Clary Fray gets out of the car and quickly walks into school. It was actually simple to find her classes since her mom and her came to school during the weekend to register her.
Clary Fray stops at a glass case across from the office to find special items from their alumni. She saw a painting, baseball mitt, and other unimportant things. The one thing that caught her attention was a classic typewriter.
She read the small sign in front of the type writer.
A.G. Lightwood's Typewriter
"No way," she says to herself. "A.G. Lightwood?"
The redhead knew who he was. He was none other than the famous author of the Goosebumps series. Although Clary didn't know much about him, she used to read the books as a child. She was fascinated by the monsters A.G. Lightwood wrote about. She even drew pictures of the monsters.
Then, she heads to the gymnasium where an assembly was being held.
Walking in front of the first row made Clary feel like she came to school naked. All their eyes were glued on her, and Clary tried her best not to pay attention. Then, she walked up to the second row and sat down.
"All right, let's find our seats, ladies and gentlemen." The principal says through the microphone. "Find our seats quickly. Let's find our seats. Mm-hm. Okay. Let's settle down."
"Um... Okay. Uh, sorry. Excuse me." One boy came through the top row and pushes people out of the way. He finally sat down next to Clary, startling her. The boy was tall and skinny. He had regular brown hair and glasses. "Let me just... Okay, cool. Okay. So you're the new kid?"
Clary nods her head. "Oh, yeah. My name is Clarissa, but I go by Clary."
"I'm Simon Lewis, but I go by Simon." Clary stares at him with a weird look on their face as Simon waits for her to laugh. "That was supposed to be a joke and it is not really funny. I get it. Cool, cool. Oh. Hi, Taylor."
A blond girl at the bottom turns back to Simon and waves to him. "Hi, Sheldon."
Once the girl sat down, Simon murmurs, "Uh . . . not my name, but it was close."
"But calling you Sheldon was a little victory for you, right." Clary chuckles.
"Oh, definitely. But she's never talked to me before, so we're making progress." The boy tries to act cool, which made Clary laugh a little.
The principal says into the microphone, "Three. two, one. Settle down. Good morning. I am so happy to introduce you to our new vice principal, Miss Fray. And I hope that you show her the same respect that you show me." Out of the blue, a fart went out loudly making everybody laugh. "Who did that? Who did that? Miss Fray."
Jocelyn stands up and heads over to the microphone. She was a bit disappointed that only one person clapped for her and that was Coach Luke Garroway. "Hi, everyone." Jocelyn clears her throat and speaks. "I know I speak for the entire administration when I say that we are so excited for Friday's fall dance. You guys pumped about it?" She waited for somebody to cheer, but all she got was awkward silence. "Okay, I love the enthusiasm." She quickly added.
Clary mumbles, "Oh, my god."
"She's worse than the last one." Simon comments about her mother.
The redhead turns to him and confesses, "That's my mom."
"Oh, I didn't actually mean it." He tries to not hurt her feelings. "I was saying it sarcastically. So you going with anyone to the dance?"
"No, not really." Clary Fray answers. "I didn't even know we were having a dance. So . . . I don't know. Have you asked anybody?"
Her question made Simon nodded and answered, "Yeah, I asked mostly every girl in school. They said no. Yeah. I was thinking about flying solo too. Hey, we should go together."
Clary raises an eyebrow. "Together?"
"Oh, not like "together" together. Dance together or anything."
He seemed like a nice guy, but Clary didn't feel like going to a school dance. She felt a bit out of place in the school. I don't know, Simon. I mean, I'm new here and all."
"And as a final reminder, just be safe and have fun." Jocelyn finally finished her speech and everybody begins to leave.
"Take this." Simon hands her a card. "If you change your mind, shoot me a text or tweet me. It has all my contact info. There's my home address, and that's my locker number. You know where to find me."
"Thanks." Clary tells him.
"Anyone caught dancing with their butt facing their partner, you will be sent home immediately!" The principal yells in the microphone. "Immediately!"
After school, Clary walked out zipping up her bag. She didn't have a terrible time at school, but she felt like a cute little puppy with all the attention on her as she was introduced to every classroom. Then, she spotted Simon walking out of school as well. "Hey, Simon," she calls out to him.
The boy turns back to find the redhead heading towards him. "Hey, Clary, enjoy the first day of school?"
"It was alright, I guess." The duo began walking towards the town square. "One question: is Mrs. Thorndyke a man? She has a really deep voice and had hair on her chin."
"Nobody could really tell." Both of them started laughing. "So why move to Delaware? Isn't New York like the city that never sleeps?"
"My mom and I moved here after my dad died." She explains to him. Clary felt embarrassed about telling people about her dad's death. She didn't want people to feel sorry for her.
Simon's face grew serious. "Oh, I'm sorry, Clary. I didn't know."
"It's okay." She assures him.
"How did he die?" Simon Lewis asked
Clary clears her throat. "Open-heart surgery."
"I'm sorry, Clary. I don't have a dad either. Well actually I do. My dad lives an hour away from here. It's just me, my mom, and sister." Finally, Simon Lewis stops after he realizes that he was making it worse. The two stopped in front of Magnus's store. "Oh, Bane's shop full of mystical things and so-called potions. That guy's just crazy and a real nut bar."
His new friend grins. "He's my godfather."
"Oh, God." He gasps. "Is there anybody you don't know that I can talk bad about?"
Clary begins to laugh. "Come on!" She drags him into the store. Magnus's shop was dark with a little bit of lighting. It was decorated as a gothic-themed. His store was unique filled with lotions, plants, jewelry, vintage stuff, and even clothing. "Hey, Magnus."
"Hello, Clary and . . . Who's this?" He points to Simon.
"This is my new friend, Simon from school." She introduces them.
After the introduction, Simon awkwardly waves at the man. "Hi there. I like your store. It smells like vanilla and body spray."
Magnus raises an eyebrow. "I spray body spray all over the place." All of a sudden, a tall person walks in the store. Clary looks at the customer who turns out to be none other than Alec. Magnus, who had a drink in his hand, drops his glass once Alec walked in. "Oh, Alexander, nice to see you again." He stammers.
"Hey, Magnus." Alec says to the store owner. "I need a package of toadstool mushrooms."
"Of course I'll be right back." Magnus leaves to go to the backroom.
For a moment, Clary studies the man as Simon looks around. Alec was leaning over the counter looking at a bottle of cologne. He sprays it on his wrist and sniffs it. Liking it, the guy begins rubbing his scented wrist on his neck. "Hey, Neighbor." Clary says, startling him.
Alec quickly puts the cologne away and turns back. "Are you stalking me, Fray?" He asked her.
"No, I'm just here to see my godfather, Magnus." She innocently implies.
"Godfather?" He repeated.
Before they could say anything else to each other, Magnus appears carrying a large bag and places it on the counter. "Here you are, Alexander. That'll be eleven dollars." Alec takes out his wallet and hands Magnus some money. "You should be careful with these. They have a slight toxin that keeps creatures like me away."
Alec tries his best not to blush as he gets his change back. "Don't worry, Magnus. You're not the majestic creature I'm trying to keep away from me." They gaze into each other's eyes for a second and then snapped back to reality. "Anyways, thanks, Magnus. Bye."
Clary watches as he leaves the store and gets into the black Silverado. Other than that, Magnus smiles like a child with their first crush. "He called me majestic." He shrieks.
"And a creature." Simon added.
After Simon headed home, Clary walked straight to her house and headed to her backyard. She sat on the small table they had outside next to her mother's flower bed.
Clary had her sketchbook and started drawing something. For some reason, she felt something take control over her. She was drawing rather fast and her eyes haven't blinked for the longest time. Unknown to her, her eyes were crimson red.
Finally, the red color in her eyes disappear and she stops drawing. Clary carefully looks at the sketch she created and was confused. It was a drawing of a large bookshelf full of books in a room. She never seen the room before.
"Hey!" A voice startles her.
The redhead quickly stands up to find Jace coming though a broken piece of the fence between their houses. " Oh, my god." She gasped.
"Did I scare you?" Jace asks as he walks into her backyard.
Clary tries to act cool. "Pfft, no."
"Really?" The blonde smirks. "Because you seemed a bit jumpy."
She tries to act cool in front of him. "You know, I jump a lot. It's how I stay in such great shape."
"Yeah, I just do pilates." He snorts, which makes Clary bursts out laughing.
After they stopped, Clary mentions, "Yeah, I didn't see you at school today."
"Aw, what, you were looking for me?" He jokes with her.
"No, no." She stammers. "I just... I just observed..."
"No, I'm homeschooled." He tells her the truth.
Homeschooled, she thought. It surprised her That he was homeschooled. "Oh, by your brother?" Jace nodded. "He seems... nice. And intense. And a little tense. Most of all, scary. He seriously scares the pee out of me"
"Don't take it personally." He assures her. "He doesn't really like anyone. Yeah. So, um..."
"So is there anything, like, fun to do around here aside from scaring your neighbors?" She asks him.
Jace thinks it over for a second. "There is one thing that I like to do. Come with me."
The blonde heads out the backyard with Clary following him. "Uh... Hey, where are we going?"
"Don't worry. It'll be fun." He tells her.
Clary stopped asking questions as Jace leads her into the town square. It confused her that he kept walking towards outside of the town. Then, it caught her attention that he was heading to the woods.
"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Clary asks him.
"Yes. Come on. This way." They were officially in the woods.
"Are you taking me somewhere to kill me? " She continues to questions him, which makes him laugh. "I'm just curious."
Jace turns back to her. "I'm playing it by ear."
Finally, dawn was approaching. Clary and Jace stopped in the middle of the forest. Clary was surprised to find a ferries wheel and a couple of stands. It looked like a rundown carnival.
"Uh... It's not what I was expecting." Clary replies. She watch as Jace jogs towards a electrical box with switches and turns on a couple of things. The whole carnival lit up making Clary smile. "So, what is this place?"
Jace walks over to her and says, "Well, they built it years ago, but then they ran out of money. Izzy and I found this place a year ago. Since she's busy, I come out here by myself. Now it just sits here. Come on, this is my favorite part."
He runs to the ferris wheel and begins to climb up it. "Wait, wait, wait." Clary looks up at him. "What are you doing?"
"What are you afraid of? I do this all the time."
As Jace continues to climb, Clary then climbs with him. "I'm... I'm not afraid. I'm just not current with my tetanus shots." She rambles on.
Clary tries not to look down, but she didn't exactly feel safe. At last, Jace stops at the tallest ride. He casually sits down as Clary continues to climb. "Come on." He encouraged her. "You can do it. Just don't look down. There you go."
Once she got on the ride, she carefully got on the ride with Jace. "All right." She shakily says. "So I'm high off of the ground."
"It's cool, right?" He smiles at her.
"Yeah, it's cool." She says, ignoring her nervousness. "You can see everything from up here."
"So why'd you move to Madison?" He asked her.
For a moment, clary was quiet. she didn't want to tell another person about her dad's death. On the other hand, she felt like she can tell Jace anything. "My mom and I just couldn't stay in Brooklyn anymore. It's just, um... It's just been me and my mom since my dad died a few months ago. Everything there just reminded us of him."
"I'm sorry." He tells her.
"I don't really think about it much anymore. What about you?" Clary Fray was quite curious about Jace's life other than his cool sister and scary brother.
The blonde bites down on his lip. "Here's the thing. I really don't remember much of my life. Not until I met Alec. Their parents died in a car accident a few years ago. Alec and Izzy sorta adopted me into their family. I wasn't really adopted, but they call me their brother."
"Well that was sweet of them."
"We're always moving from place to place." He added.
Clary frowns. "That really sucks."
"It's fine."
Another thing was bothering Clary, but she felt that it was none of her business. "Why is he so overprotective of you two?" She blurts out.
"Well, ever since their parents died, Alec was always our Mama Bear as I would put it. He never lets me out of his sight since I'm the youngest. He treats me like a little kid sometimes, but he lets Izzy be more independent."
"Yeah, my dad would never even let me leave my old apartment unless my cleavage was covered and my pants were to my knees."
Both of them started laughing. "New York does sound fun. I always wanted to go there. I want to go everywhere, but Alec wouldn't even let me step outside."
"Hey, he loves you . . . in his own unique way, but you love him, don't you?"
Jace nodded. "I do love him and Izzy. Who knows where I'll be if it weren't for them."
He was the one good thing about this town that Clary seemed to enjoy. Never before has she met anybody as adventurous and optimistic as Jace. "Hey, can I ask you something really serious, Jace?" Her voice grew serious.
"Yeah, what?"
"How do we get down?" At that moment, Jace begins to laugh. "I'm serious. Is there a plan? How do you normally get down?
"You can't." He lies to her while he laughs. "You're stuck."
Jace and Clary were heading back to their houses after spending an hour at the carnival. "Wow, I can't believe you ate that cotton candy." Jace laughs at her.
"And you know what's scary is it actually tasted kind of fine." She jokes with him. "So, uh, thanks for tonight. That was the least terrible time I've had here."
He places his hands on his chest and fakes a smile. "Oh, Clary. That's so sweet. That's... I... Really."
"Hey, Jace. I'm... I'm probably gonna take out the trash on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So, you know, you feel like creeping up on someone, that works for me."
The boy nods his head. "All right. I'll keep that in mind, scaredy-cat."
For a quiet moment, they stood there in front of each other not knowing what to say next. Both suddenly gaze into each other's eyes. Never before has Clary seen such unique eyes on a person. She never thought there would be an absolutely perfect moment such as this in her life.
"Jace!" A voice interrupts them. They looked back to find Alec on the porch of his house. Also, Izzy was sticking her head out the door. "What are you doing out here?"
"Alec, I was . . . " Jace tries to figure out an excuse. " . . . we were just . . . I was . . ."
Before he could think of anything, Alec calmly commanded, "Get in the house now."
Jace couldn't protest against his older brother. He looks at Clary and says, "Clary, I'm sorry. I have to go."
The young teenager reluctantly walks up to his house and stops at Alec. His brother folds his arms in disappointment as he walks into the house.
Izzy turns to Alec and tries to coax with him, "Alec, he was just talking to her. It's not like-"
He cuts her off. "Izzy, that's enough." His sister heads back to the house and Clary begins walking to her house until Alec calls out to her. "Hey, Fray. I better not have to tell you again. You stay away from my family. This is your last warning."
Something about Alec made Clary wonder what goes on in that house. What is it that Alec has against her? How come he won't let her near Jace? Whatever it is, Clary was afraid of him and what he's hiding. "Okay, I believe you." She responds.