A/N: Wow. Chapter 3 already? Thanks for all the favorites, follows and reviews guys. Have fun reading and leave me your thoughts! :)
Chapter 3:
A loud bang resounded throughout the entire third floor, erupting the sacred building with commotions. Some of the students had their heads popping out from the classrooms' door, trying to get a good look of what happened. The teachers were unsuccessful at gaining back their students' attentions as they too were a touch curious.
"What on earth was that?" asked a girl in Alec's class, sitting just behind him and Magnus. She was asking a futile question as her friend next to her shook her head. No doubt not a single person in the room knew where the source of the sound had come from.
"Don't you have a feeling that it's-" Magnus began but Alec gave him a curt glare.
"Magnus, don't." He looked away and Alec was glad that he kept silent once the learning was resumed. He did have trouble pushing away the guesses in his head after hearing Magnus' words. It was just too likely.
Once the class ended, Alec and Magnus walked to the Common Hall where most students with free schedules were usually seen to lurk around. Just when they were to turn the corner, someone caught Magnus by his shoulder.
"Hey." The person said to the both of them.
It took Alec awhile to adjust his eyes with what he was seeing; it was apparently a boy with green hair that was heavily gelled and had skin the colour of mandarins. He was smiling and if it weren't for his eyes, Alec would not have recognised him.
"Ragnor! Is that you?" He asked, still taking in the guy's appearance. Magnus must have met him earlier for he looked less shocked than Alec.
"Nice colour I got this month, huh?" Ragnor smirked kindly at Alec.
"What if Hodge sees you?" Alec whispered. People passing by were glancing at them and Alec could only guess why.
"And what? Put me in the chamber? Now that's unlikely fair for a Metamorphous like me." He clicked his tongue and Alec managed himself to blink from the bold presence.
"Besides, I'm not using my power on anyone." He said to defend himself. "Anyway, have you heard of what happened at the third floor?"
Magnus and Alec shook their heads.
"Apparently someone tried to 'apply' the theory of restriction and end up blowing up the entire wall of the classroom. Any guess who that might be?" Ragnor was grinning mischievously at them and Magnus was parting his lips to say something before Alec cut him off.
"You don't want me mad at you for being right." He told him gravely.
"I haven't even said anything!" Magnus cried out for the second time that day.
"Then don't." Alec said before turning to Ragnor. "Do you know where he is?"
"Who, Jace? I think he's still with the patron. He sort of singed a little of his eyebrows but other than that, I heard he was still in one piece." Ragnor explained.
"Thanks." Alec told Ragnor. "I'll meet you in the hall." Alec said to Magnus who looked like he was already expecting the departure. The two watched as the oldest of the Lightwood sprinted off towards the other direction and head to the nurse office.
When Alec reached the door of the infirmary, he caught sight of a familiar female standing just below the doorframe, crossing her arms over her chest. Isabelle looked like she was trying to be sympathetic and at the same time holding back her laugh.
When she saw Alec however, all pretence seems to dissipated
"You should see his face!" She managed to say out before having a fit of hysterical laugh that took over her whole frame.
Sure enough, as Alec peeked inside the office, Jace was attended by the infamous school nurse and also a witch. Madame Dorothea was shaking her head disapprovingly and Jace took it as an insult.
"He said to clear my mind and think big. That's what I did!" Jace sounded exasperated to prove that he was following instructions.
"No, young boy. You did not clear your mind." Madame Dorothea told him. "You were 'thinking' big, weren't you?"
Jace's face was covered with soot that made his hair look even more golden under the nurse's office light. Ragnor got it wrong; he didn't just sort of singed a little of his eyebrow but an entire of his left one along with some of his eyelashes. Other than that, he looked scarcely unaffected but was quiet unsatisfied.
"Why does this have to happen on the very first day?" He grumbled. Jace sent his glare towards Alec who raised one of his shoulders as though to say he was likely to know more.
"It's just you being a Herondale, that's all." Alec quickly said to which Jace became visibly more annoyed as Isabelle's laughter rang clearly down the corridor, surprising a few of the first years passing by.
"Mr. Lightwood," Madame Dorothea addressed Alec, "I assume you are here for some feedback of this morning's hazard as well?" She said kindly, not showing any indication that her words were the sole reason for Isabelle to continue her fit.
"I was going to the Common Hall when I found out that it was Jace." He told the nurse. "Why are you still here, though?" Alec looked at Jace who was still shooting curses out of his eyes at the lady Lightwood.
"He's trying to get me to mend his eyebrows back." Madame Dorothea answered him. "Unfortunately, you know I can't do that instantly. Why won't you go and ask your friend to do it for you? Isn't he a Healer?"
"Are you sure you can't make it look less obvious?" Jace pleaded at the nurse, avoiding answering her inquiry. Madame Dorothea let out a sigh. She gave him her motherly stare and this time shook her head out of finality.
"With a face like yours Jace, obvious is an understatement when you're missing an eyebrow." Isabelle told him, seemingly to have subdued from the hilarity. "Let me know how you survive the day with your new style. Bye Alec!"
She waved her hands and at the turn to the right of the corridor, she disappeared from view.
"Come on, Jace. I'll bring you to Magnus." He tried to sound dismissive and quickly avert his eyes to the witch and said, "Thank you, Madame Dorothea."
The nurse simply nodded her head good-naturedly and Alec heard her thoughts,
'Thank you, Mr. Lightwood.' He smiled at her and led the way out for the silently grunting blonde following behind him.
"I'm not going to ask for Magnus to help me. I won't." Jace spoke indignantly as they were halfway through the hospital wing's corridor. Alec's urge to roll his eyes at Jace was quiet tempting at that moment for he wasn't the one with a missing eyebrow.
"You'd rather wait for them to grow back." He said sarcastically. Jace made a sound under his breath that was indistinguishable to an expletive.
Alec hesitated before saying,
"Maybe this could be the chance for you to forgive him." Jace seemed to have predicted his words for he was already shaking his head.
"Not going to happen." Jace said stubbornly. "I like being mad at him and for a good reason this time."
To that, Alec kept his peace. He knew well what Jace was referring to but he didn't want to dwell with it at the moment, not when one of them was still missing an eyebrow.
"And it's him who has to apologize," Jace carried on, "not me."
They were turning the corner of the infirmary wing's hallway when Alec sighed.
"I didn't ask you to apologize. I said to-"
An echo of grunts filled the corridor as two form landed on their rear. Alec fell on his elbow painfully and wondered what it was that he had collided with until he saw the heap of mess in front him. Lying on the floor where Alec was still dumbfounded as well were a girl with red hair and a boy with lopsided glasses.
The first thing Alec heard in his head when he made eye contact with the boy was,
'Shit.'
Both of them were rubbing their hips and were getting up to stand on their feet when Alec saw Jace's hand reached out from the corner of his eyes. He took it gratefully and only then he felt a slight dizzy coming from where he'd bumped his head on; two teenagers seemingly to have resolve from the atmosphere.
"I told you we shouldn't have done that." The girl whispered to the boy in her accusing tone although Alec could still detect the fondness between them. "We barely know the school's layout."
"Yeah but I thought the map was accurate." The boy whispered back to her. "It just didn't show people walking in it."
Jace made a sound of clearing his throat and that successfully break the two out of their small bubbles. They seemed to only realize that they were in the presence of others as well. Or that they had crashed into someone.
"If you're done blaming each other," Jace looked pointedly at the two, "I think you owe Alec an apology."
Their eyes went straight to the taller one and Alec tried to block anything unnecessary from getting into his mind. Meeting new people tends to tire him a lot.
The brown-haired boy spoke first. "Sorry."
"That's it?" Jace's eyebrows were quirked at the boy's direction.
"I'm pretty sure you said 'an apology'." The boy answered in a small voice but it didn't miss Jace's ears.
"Can I hit him?" He asked Alec who answered the same time as the girl.
"No."
She'd taken a step forward, placing herself between Jace and the brown-haired. She looked annoyed but Alec could tell it was due to something else and not the situation.
"We're sorry we ran into you like that. It was an accident." She said carefully, staring at Alec longer than she did with Jace. "We were just trying to find the office and Simon suggested that we portal our way using the map. Obviously, that didn't work."
"You're new here." Alec stated, having to connect the dots.
The girl looked flabbergasted for a moment before responding to him.
"Yeah. I'm Clary by the way. Clary Fairchild."
"We know." Jace said this time and the girl-Clary looked even more surprised. "And the office is that way." He pointed to his right.
"And you really should get going." Alec pushed on. Clary beamed her smile at them probably thankful for the dismissed of their chaotic entrance.
"Thanks. We're really sorry!" She said, grabbing the boy on his arm and pulling him towards the direction Jace had mentioned.
"I'm Simon by the way! But you probably already knew that!" The boy bellowed from his distance.
"No we don't!" Jace shouted back at him and Alec saw the boy's face fell.
"I don't like him." Jace said quietly once they made their way to the Common Hall. "Not one bit."
"He doesn't either." Alec told him casually. He'd heard Simon's thoughts just before they entered the office.
"He thought you look like a pervert with only one eyebrow."
Alec heard Jace's silent curse and tried not to smirk.