Clary woke up to sun shining through the double windows. Isabelle was in the bathroom swearing at a makeup bottle that had just tipped over and was spilling its thick contents into the sink. She quickly caught it before any real mess could be made, grabbing her stuff from the floor.
"Gotta go, want to fit in some training before class! Have a good first day" Isabelle managed to get out before she fled the room in a wiz of black and leather.
"Righto" Clary pushed herself out of bed, showered, and put on jeans, cons and T-shirt combo. Apparently the academy didn't have a uniform or dress code, apart from your specialized classes, which she didn't have until this afternoon.
Clary looked at the schedule and map she had been emailed several days ago and made her way to her first class, the English language. Clary enjoyed English and tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach. She walked in and saw a friendly face in the back corner, sitting alone.
"Simon, hey. Do you mind if I sit with you?" He looked a little confused but quickly said yes.
More students entered the classroom over the next few minutes, each glancing her way before taking their seats. Clary snapped to attention when a middle-aged man with greying hair and a large scar up his right cheek walked into the room, sitting at the front desk.
"Hello everyone, and welcome to another semester. Most of you will know I am Hodge Starkweather, but just call me Hodge as always, I am the principle of the New York academy, and teacher of the English language. I welcome you all back." Hodge glanced around, settling his sites on Clary.
" I see a new face amongst us, you must be Clarissa Fray, please, come up and introduce yourself my dear"
Before Clary had a chance to object, Isabelle rushed into the room apologizing for her lateness. She was followed by two boys, the first had the same pale skin and dark hair as Isabelle, with piercing blue eyes that scanned the room. He was no doubt handsome, but had a completely unapproachable and fierce look about him. Isabelle and him were unmistakably related in some way, Clary would have to ask who he was later. They were followed by a slim but muscular boy with fine golden hair, long lashes and eyes that appeared gold in the light of the room. He was beautiful.
The threesome quickly took their seats together and all attention turned back to Clary.
"Clarissa, please excuse the rudeness of these three, if you will, Im sure you will get used to it as the semester continues" Hodge gave the trio a light smile before turning his attention back to Clary.
Clary felt a wave of embarrassment come over her, quickly pushing it down she got up, walking to the front of the classroom. She looked out and saw 20 pairs of inquisitive eyes staring at her.
"Hi, um, like Hodge said, Im Clarissa Fray, but most people call me Clary. This is my first day at the academy" Clary stopped, showed no sign of continuing with the introductions.
"Clarissa is new to us and will be learning the Shadowhunting curriculum from the basics, being somewhat new to the Shadow world. I hope you will all welcome her and assist her in catching up. Thank you Clarissa, Please, take a seat".
Clary stalked quickly back to her seat with Simon, feeling the attention of the whole class still upon her. She took her seat, quickly glancing up to see almost the whole class whispering and staring. Clary sunk into her seat wishing the next hour would go at lightning speed.
The class soon finished and clary began to pack her bag, glancing at Isabelle and her friends as they stalked out of the classroom, play fighting with each other. She caught site of a blur of gold darting out of the room.
"So hows your first day going so far? Did you want a bit more of a run down of how the school works, I didn't realize you were so new to all of this" Clary turned to see Simon smiling at her, he was wearing what was almost a mirror image of her outfit, apart from his T-shirt that said I LOVE NEW YORK in bold lettering. She surpressed a laugh, hoping this was going to be the start of her first friendship at the academy.
"So far? Its been odd. And yes, I would love a run down. Might make me better equip to deal with this place" she laughed only slightly joking.
Simon showed her out into the hallway that was still buzzing with activity. He pointed to a group of young girls, each with pale pastel hair, wrapped in thorns and adorned with autumn leaves. Clary noticed they all had pointed ears and skin that was not only unearthly pale, but had hues of purple, blue, and green. They all looked almost too delicate and too regal, clary wanted to protect them. They were accompanied by two boys, one with moss green skin, and one who looked almost normal, apart from his solid black eyes and scaled hands.
"So, those are the fairies and warlocks . They spend their afternoons in the South wing, mastering magic. Stay away from the fairies if you know whats good for you, and never strike a deal with one, there cunning little buggers. The warlocks on the other hand…. Just be wary which ones you deal with"
"Then, there are the Werewolves, there probably the most similar to mundanes, they tend to stick to themselves and use their afternoon period to master transformation, and physical training"
Clary took in the bunch of girls and guys Simon was nodding towards, they each looked extremely fit and all seemed to have a similar look about them, almost as if they were each related. Clary supposed this had more to do with being in the same pack than it did with actual familial relation.
"Then there's your lot. Shadowhunters. Not much I can say about them. They keep to themselves. Their warriors. They train constantly and study runeology. They also don't particularly follow the rules of the academy and are the only ones to get away with it. Id tell you not to get on their bad side, but your one of them, so I'm sure you wont" Clary thought she detected a hint of anger in Simon, but it was gone as quick as it came.
"And last but not least, there's the vampires, wise and graceful, and honorable…. but only if your not on their bad side" he winked.
Clary stopped for a second. "So…..What are you?"
"You don't know?" Simon laughed. "I'm a vampire, I was bitten when I was 15 so I'm kinda new to this myself. I've been at the academy for about a year trying to figure this all out"
Clary was slightly shocked. "Your not what I expected a vampire to be"
"Lesson one: learn not to expect anything" He smiled. "I better go, I have a class to get too, but I'll see you around Clary. It's been great to meet you, I'm always in the cafeteria if you want to join me for lunch". She thought she detected an attempt to flirt, but wasn't quite sure. She smiled back.
The rest of the day went by fast, with a steady stream of people whispering and staring. Clary looked at her last class for the day
'Physical training – shadowhunters'.
