A/N: I OWN NO CHARACTERS.

Oooh, fun fun funnnn! =] ahaha I love writing this story so much. I have so many things dancing around my head, but I've been busy and la dee dah so whatevs. I'm trying to write as fast as possible! Oh, the demands of the masses. =]

On we goooooo!

SLTF =]

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CLARY

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"Oh my gosh," I gasped. "What if I don't get picked? What if I get chosen as... as Lady Capulet? Simon, I never liked her!" I gripped Simon's arm in terror, my eyes wide.

"Calm down, Clary. My god, you're going crazy. Who know what you'd do to be Juliet?" Simon laughed and tried to shake me off like I was a leech clinging onto his skin.

I let go and retreated into my own thoughts, though I knew Simon was saying something. I didn't focus. I pulled my legs up to my chest and clasped my hands tightly, placing them in my lap. I had to get the role of Juliet. Or I would kill whoever did. Or, I could be the understudy, and then kill the person, and so I'd be made Juliet for reals!

"Speaking of do, or doing, I'm actually doing Alec."

Wait, what if they called off the play because that person died? And people would maybe even start to suspect me! I'd be so happy when everyone else was so sad… and Simon. Simon would know.

"Yep. Doing. As in sexing."

Would Simon rat me out if I did that? No, he's my best friend. He would never.

"Mhmm. Making love. Having the sex."

But the question really is… could I do it? Am I actually that psychotic that I'd kill someone to get a part in a play?

"Oh yeah. Doing sexy time."

No! I would never. Never ever ever! I shook my head at myself. Maybe I'm becoming delusional because I only got like three hours of sleep last night. Yeah, it's because I'm wiped. I would never kill someone. Hell, I can barely kill a fly.

"Groping and holding and groaning and moaning and – "

"Simon, what the hell are you talking about?" I burst out, finally noticing what he was saying.

"I was just trying to get your attention." Simon said defensively. I looked around the circle and saw every single other student staring right at Simon and I.

"Well you got everyone else's." I grumbled, punching his arm.

"Oh shit. Um. Just kidding, guys!" he called out, throwing his arms around like a Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man. "I was just trying to get Clary's attention and it is gotten! Please ignore anything I was saying!" Eventually everyone turned away, but the whispers began.

"Alec is going to kill you." I hissed at Simon.

"But he's dating Magnus!" Simon protested.

"And you just announced to our drama class that you and Alec are 'groping and holding and moaning and groaning'." Simon winced as I repeated his kinky phrase. "So I think that, while the two of them may be dating, there is now going to be rumours that you guys are 'having the sex'. So you are going to be the one to explain all this to Alec. And you better do it before anyone tells him or Magnus first." I threatened.

Simon cowered back and whimpered.

"You dug yourself this hole. You get to climb out of it."

"But I don't wanna climb!" Simon muttered miserably.

"Clary, Simon." Mr. Miller was suddenly in front of us. "Here are your copies of Romeo and Juliet." He handed one to each of us. I thanked him with a bright smile. He returned it. "I can tell you're excited for the play, Clary."

"Yes, sir. Very excited."

"Which part are you going to try out for?"

"Juliet, of course." I hugged the play to my chest.

"Ah, of course." He chortled. "Well, I hope you have quite the performance prepared. Many other girls will most likely audition for that part as well."

"I do." I nodded vigorously.

"Good. Break a leg." Mr. Miller smiled at me before handing off more plays to other kids in the class.

"Simon, which part should I do? I have several in mind, and I know almost all of them by heart! Should I do the scene with their first kiss?" Simon's cheeks turned a slight pink at that. I stared at him in question but didn't push it. "Or maybe the balcony scene? Or should it be when Juliet finds out that Romeo killed Tybalt? Or perhaps after their wedding night, and she's asking him to stay a bit longer?"

"Um, I dunno." He was playing with his fingers nervously.

I stared at him. "Simon, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing." He said hastily, avoiding my eyes. I pursed my lips in annoyance.

"Fine. I'm going to go get us a couple props so we can practice some lines, okay?"

Simon just nodded.

I sighed and stood, brushing off my butt to make sure there wasn't something sticking to the seat of my jean shorts. I looked around the room and saw others had had the same idea. There was Lucy and Shyann, Lucy with cane and a pillow on her back, making her look like she was deformed. Was she trying to be the Nurse? Shyann was wailing about something before she broke off, staring at her book then continuing her cry, a tiara perched on her blonde head. Probably being Juliet. I giggled to myself.

I flounced over to the costume closet and gently tried the handle.

It was locked.

Huh. That's weird. It was usually unlocked, and I'd seen some kids go in and out of it earlier. I shrugged and scanned the room for Mr. Miller. He had left the room, I guess. I stood to the side and crossed my arms, waiting patiently for another five minutes or so. When he returned, I asked for the key to the closet.

"Oh. Is it locked?"

"Yeah, for some reason." I shrugged again.

"Odd. I unlocked it earlier." He fumbled for the keys and drew them from his pocket. "Here you go." Thankfully, most of my teachers trusted me, like Mr. M. He allowed me to borrow the keys to go do simple things, like unlock the drama room if he was late and I'd managed to see him, or unlock the closet or get something from his desk drawer.

"Thanks, Mr. Miller." I took them and walked back to the closet. I swiftly and precisely put the key in, turned it and opened the door in one movement before reaching forward and flicking on the lights.

In this closet, I definitely expected to see Shakespearian costumes, like shirts, hats, trousers, even shoes. Or more funny things, like wands, tiaras, goblin masks. Even setting props, like a desk or chair.

What I didn't expect to see was Jace and Aline. I didn't expect to see Aline on said desk, her legs wrapped around Jace's waist. I didn't expect to see Jace's hands up Aline's shirt. I didn't expect to see Jace's mouth on Aline's long neck while her hands were tangled in his golden hair. I didn't expect to hear Aline gasp as her eyes landed on me.

I really just didn't expect any of it.

"Oh." It just popped out of my mouth. I felt anger and hurt swirl in with other unnamed emotions in the brewing pot that had become my stomach. My heart started pounding.

Now both of their eyes were on me. Aline looked slightly embarrassed but also had an air of superiority while Jace just stood there, his eyes piercing mine. He didn't even have the decency to remove his hands from under her shirt. Jerkwad.

Okay, so what the hell am I going to do here? In just a mere second, my side that had a conscience decided I needed to close the door to prevent anyone from seeing them in this (is it appropriate to call it vulnerable?) state. So I did. Aline jumped slightly at the sound of the door closing.

It took only a few seconds for me to decide the following: I was going to act as if this was completely normal.

I started forward, knowing the long billowy skirt I wanted for myself and the plastic rapier I would get for Simon were right by Jace and Aline. They said absolutely nothing. They simply followed me with their eyes as I drew near. Even though I felt slightly nauseated by the scene before me, I creaked out a smile.

"Excuse me," I said sweetly as I brushed past Jace to lean down and grasp the fake sword in my hand. I felt him stiffen. I then stood again, made a big show of looking around the small room before my eyes landed on the skirt I wanted, which was conveniently located on the shelf right by Aline's head. "Pardon me," I reached forward, grabbed the coarse fabric and pulled it from its place, the hem of it fluttering down by her face. Aline's wide eyes followed me as I made my way back to the door. I quickly opened it, spun around and stared at them both for a long, hard, five seconds before I reached over, flicked off the lights and shut the door behind me.

I let out a huge gust of air from my lungs and fell limply against the wall by the closet door. I hadn't even realized I'd been holding my breath.

I can't believe I just saw that. My heart seemed to constrict itself, wanting to disappear into my chest.

Mr. Miller came over to me and leaned forward.

"Clary, are you alright? You're very pale."

I stared at him wordlessly.

"Clary?"

"I'm fine." I croaked out.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Great. Dandy. Here are your keys!" I shoved them into his hands like they had burned me. He pocketed them quietly.

"Is everything okay, Clary? Was something in the closet that scared you?" Mr. Miller stood up straight and took a few steps towards the door.

"NO!" I yelled. He froze, as did everyone in the room. "I mean, um, yes, but no. I found my stuff and on the way out I saw a, uh, big spider. It just freaked me out." I rushed to say, gripping the fabric of my skirt tightly in my hands.

"Well then, I'll kill it if it scared you so much. You won't have to worry about it then." Mr. Miller's hand was on the handle.

"IT'S GONE!" I shrilled. Mr. Miller practically gaped at me. Simon was staring at me like I'd lost my mind. I was acting like a total spaz. "It's gone. I watched it crawl away somewhere. It's fine, really. Please don't bother."

Why am I protecting those two? I thought angrily.

"If- If you're sure…" Mr. Miller hesitantly let his hand fall from the doorknob. I breathed out a sigh of relief.

"I'm sure. Really. It's okay."

"Alright. Well do you need anything? To lie down or –"

"I'm good now. Thanks, Mr. Miller." I smiled quickly and scampered to my seat beside Simon. Mr. Miller sat at his desk and stared at me for another minute before shaking his head and returning to his work. Simon grabbed my shoulder.

"What the hell was that? You screamed at our teacher. I think he might have shit his pants."

"Simon!" I scolded.

"You freaked out, Fray! What's the problem?"

"Nothing." I muttered like he had several minutes earlier.

"I don't believe you." He said in a low voice, his eyes peering at me through his glasses.

"Believe what you want, Simon," I snapped. "I'm fine! Just drop it…" my voice trailed off at the end of my sentence.

He sat back and stared at me down his nose. He was taller than me, even sitting down. I defiantly glared back. To break his gaze, I tossed the fake rapier at him. He fumbled to catch it so it fell to the carpet. He picked it up and swung it around, smacking my arm in the process.

"Watch it!" I grumbled.

Then I heard the creak of the closet door. My head shot up and I saw Aline stride out like she owned the place. Barely anyone gave her a second glance except for her friends who were giggling like hyenas. Aline tossed her dark hair over her shoulder and sat down with them. They converged on her like a tidal wave. But I never missed the dark look she shot at me before leaning forward to whisper with them.

I clenched my fists and felt the scratchy fabric of the skirt on my palms. I opened them and decided I'd slip it on over my shorts.

"Pick a scene, Simon. We're practicing."

"Yes, Ms. Liar Liar Pants On Fire." Simon saluted me and grabbed his book. I glowered but stood up and flapped out the long brown skirt. This would definitely clash with my beige tank top with narrow black horizontal stripes and my red hair.

A chatter started up behind me but I ignored it as I began to struggle with the skirt. My heel caught onto the waistband and I started hopping around to try and shove my foot in and catch my balance at the same time. It didn't work out to well. I started to tilt backwards, and I felt my stomach lurch as I realized I was going to fall on my ass.

Except I didn't.

Just before I hit the floor, someone caught me and pushed me back into a standing position. I sighed in relief. I didn't need any more attention brought to my weirdness after the Simon and Alec thing and the closet situation. I turned around, expecting Simon to be my savior.

I should really stop expecting things. They keep falling through the roof.

Jace still had his hands on my shoulders, as if I were still swaying perilously. Maybe I was.

"Get off me." I violently shrugged his hands away. He watched me with sharp tawny eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a low voice.

"I'm great!" I said, my voice an octave too high.

"Look, Clare Bear – " he started.

"Don't call me that." I replied dangerously. I yanked the skirt over my left leg, then balanced on that leg while I shoved the other leg in. I shimmied it up onto my slim waist. It's a bit big. It fell way past my feet, bundling so it covered my socks. Thank God this thing had drawstrings, or it'd fall down.

Jace was watching my wardrobe change. I angrily pulled the strings tight to avoid his gaze.

"Clary – "

"Please leave me alone, Jace." I finally met his eyes.

He stood there, his arms hanging by his side limply. Then something sparked in his eyes.

"What's your problem?" he snapped.

"What's my problem?" I struggled to control my voice. Then I remembered that I'm supposed to not care. Jace Herondale is the man whore of the century. Why should I be surprised that he's making out with girls in closets during school? I guess I didn't think I'd be the one to witness it. I took a deep breath. "I don't have a problem." I said evenly, holding his stare. "What's yours?"

He clenched his jaw. "You."

"Why ever am I your problem?" I asked innocently, my arms crossing my chest.

"You – " he cut himself off, looking pissed. "Nevermind."

"Mhm. Now if you'll excuse me…" I picked up my skirt so I wouldn't trip as I made my way back to Simon to practice.

"You're welcome," came his sarcastic reply.

I bit my tongue from tossing back a nasty remark and waltzed to Simon before royally taking a seat.

"Let's get crackin'." I said. Simon just glared from me to Jace and back. "Is there a problem?"

"No, it's great. Everything's great." Simon rolled his eyes.

I pointed at the open play book in his hands. "Then get on with it!"

He gave me a look, then showed me which scene he chose. I closed my eyes and gathered my thoughts, ignoring the wisps of anger towards Jace that touched the edge of my mind.

Focus on becoming Juliet. You are Juliet. I breathed deeply, trying to calm myself. Juliet didn't have the best life either, now did she?