My responses to reviews (thanks, guys!):

FandomFics: I'm glad you liked the chapter! I actually have no idea how I can pump out so many words between school and homework and life, but I'll try to keep up both the speed and quality. No promises.

Pafoof: Hopefully this lives up to what you were expecting :)

CBBToLogIn: Thank you for the advice. I hope I did your suggestions justice here, because I did have this partially pre-typed and went back to fix a few things you brought to my attention

lilypotter72: *Shrugs* Some people can be allowed their delusions :)


The alarm went off, beeping loudly at one second intervals. Alec swore and turned over, slamming his palm on the snooze button. It went off again ten minutes later, and Alec reluctantly got up. When he made it downstairs, his parents were already gone (big shocker) and his siblings were eating cereal at the table.

"Hey. You look like you didn't sleep at all." Max greeted him, looking up from his breakfast.

"I got some sleep." Alec replied defensively, grabbing a bowl of cereal for himself and shoveling it into his mouth. He nearly gagged when he realized that it was Lucky Charms. He didn't appreciate little, shriveled-up, artificially colored marshmallows with his breakfast, thank you very much. Jace must have bought it.

"Hurry up, the bus gets here in, like, five minutes." Izzy urged, grabbing her book bag.

"Coming." Alec ran upstairs to get his painting and slid it into his backpack, along with a book and his other various supplies. He caught up with Iz and Jace just as they climbed onto the bus. Magnus wasn't there, so he was probably driving. Alec couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit disappointed, and then angry at himself for feeling so.

"Has anyone see the new kid?" Maia asked the occupants of the bus. Evidently Magnus's arrival had become the neighborhood's hot topic. Everyone murmured amongst themselves and a few 'no's sounded out.

"I have. He's cool." Alec spoke up, singling himself out for maybe the second or third time in anyone's memory. When several pairs of eyes rested on him, he couldn't help but blush and hunch his shoulders, trying to look smaller. He regretted opening his mouth.

"Is it true that he's Asmodeus Bane's son?" Clary leaned forward, head tilted in curiosity.

"Yes?" Alec's voice was almost a whisper.

"How do you know him?" Jonathan eyeballed him skeptically.

"I talked to him?" Alec bit his lip, trying to increase the volume of his voice. He was shy in front of people who weren't family. Family and possibly Magnus, it seemed.

"I don't believe that." Maureen, a ninth grader, rolled her eyes.

"Alec never lies." Maia glared at her and slung an arm around Alec's shoulder. Alec shoved away his discomfort at how untrue that statement was. He lied to himself almost all of the time, although he never fell for his own lies. His entire identity was a lie to the kids at school. Maybe. Alec didn't even know anymore. With a huff, Maureen turned back to Nate.

"Thanks." Alec gave Maia a grateful smile.

"Anytime, Lightwood." She looked a bit confused at his behavior, but smiled back. The bus screeched to a halt in front of Alicante High, and the students poured out like a tidal wave. Alec waited until he was the last one so that he didn't have to cut in front of somebody and risk awkwardness. He found it in himself to squeeze his way over to his locker instead of waiting until the bell almost rang. He tossed his belongings in, grabbing his English binder and made a beeline for Mr. Graymark's class, head lowered at bit. He was getting annoyed at how hard it was for him to find himself in the wave of insecurities and doubts that had grown and festered in the back of his mind after so long.

"Early today?" Clary's stepfather asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep." Alec buried his nose into his book as his classmates trickled in.

"Okay, guys, we have a new student today. Say hi to Magnus." Mr. Graymark, or Luke when he, Jace, Izzy, Simon, and Clary were hanging out at her house, gestured to Magnus. Magnus smiled insincerely. Today he was wearing bright orange skinny jeans and a neon green polka-dotted white vest. The sleeves of whatever he was wearing underneath were plain black. His hair was spiked as usual and the spikes were tipped with orange dye. He even appeared to be wearing some eyeliner.

"I don't know any of you, so don't go out of your way to act like a patronizing tour guide." Magnus proclaimed, examining a bright green fingernail. He wasn't going to get bullied, that was for certain. With the aura of confidence he exuded, it was most likely that he would rocket to the top of the unspoken popularity chart.

"That's very nice, Mr. Bane. You can sit next to Alec." This seemed a bit too coincidental to said boy. Magnus's gaze landed on him, lighting up with recognition. The other seniors stared at the two of them.

"I've never met you before!" Alec said to Magnus in his best patronizing tone. "Want me to show you around the school?" He pretended that it was just him and Magnus, trying to ignore the other students. Even then, he didn't know whether Magnus thought of them as acquaintances or friends or something less or more. Ha, as if he would be any more than a friend, if that. Nice delusions, Alec. He waited for Magnus's reaction to his forward greeting.

"Oh, silence yourself, Alexander. Being an ass doesn't suit you." Magnus's eyes sparked with contagious humor.

Alec laughed softly. "True, that." He was reabsorbed into his book, confidence spent for the moment. He couldn't meet Magnus's eyes for any longer, not in front of everyone. Feeling a different pair of eyes on him, he glanced up to see Lily whispering to Andrew, sneaking quick looks at him. This was enough to make him feel uneasy. The class started and Alec slammed his book shut. Soon, the room was filled with people scrawling down notes.

"We're doing an essay on the history of whatever object you choose, as long as it is appropriate. You will be working with a partner…" Mr. Graymark said loudly. As he droned on about criteria, which made the simple essay more elaborate than what a sixth grader would do, and blah, blah, blah, Alec zoned out. He hated finding partners. He was almost always the odd one out. His stomach turned. "…Due to a lot of you goofing around, which is surprising in itself, you all being Seniors, I'm the one assigning partners. If I hear any complaints, then you, my friend, are rewarded with an automatic F." Any groans were quickly smothered.

Alec relaxed a tiny bit, hoping that whoever he was paired with wasn't a jerk. He tensed again as was paired with Magnus Bane. Oh, Angel no. What was Luke trying to do? Get him a 'new friend'? Teachers were weird. Alec could absolutely not keep up his failing attempt to act 'normal' when he was around him. The boy was constantly disconcerting him, even though this was only the third time they'd come in contact. Not to mention that Magnus was flirty and flamboyant and was already more well-known throughout the school than Alec had ever been. Yes, he had a tiny, minuscule, almost nonexistent crush on the idiot, happy? But even admitting this just sent the previously dormant rebellious side of him into a rant that he disregarded. With all of this happening in his head, he wondered if that was the only place where he was just himself. No matter how much he lied to himself, he always knew the truth.

"Let's do ours on the history of… Skittles!" Magnus said to him, smiling maniacally. Alec couldn't tell if he was kidding or not. He glanced around to make sure that everyone else was too busy talking with their new partners to pay attention before cautiously replying.

"There's just one problem. I want to get a passing grade."

"Don't doubt my ability to get passing grades. I'm so lazy, I have to be. I appreciate your candor, though."

"Whatever. So… meet me at the library sometime to find some information on the topic?" Alec blushed as he spoke, wanting to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge just to be rid of the heat on his cheeks. He was only partially aware that this was practically his consent to do an English project on the history of Skittles at the age of eighteen.

"Of course, darling." Magnus winked. What a complete… Alec couldn't figure out a word to describe this sparkly rainbow of a person.

"Okay." They both were quiet for a moment, the hum of others' conversations serving as background noise.

"Text me." Magnus snatched Alec's arm (in public!) and used a pen to write a series of numbers with elegant, swooping handwriting. Alec immediately ripped it out of Magnus's hand, nearly having a panic attack. It had been a long time since one of those, dating back to the days of agoraphobia and benzodiazepines. When his parents actually cared.

"Thanks." He muttered. "See you around." The bell rang, and he moved on to Phys Ed, hearing some whispers following him. Alec used all of his tactics to be invisible, keeping to the wall and making no eye contact. He and Jace actually had a class together for that subject because the teachers stopped giving a crap about separating kids based on age. Besides, Jace was a Junior, only a year younger than him.

"You got partnered with the Amazing Glitter Boy? Sucks to be you." Jace snickered at Alec. Alec swiftly cuffed him over the head.

"He's not that bad." Alec insisted, not having the slightest clue why he was defending someone he didn't know all too well.

"Wow, he must have really made an impression. You have less of an opinion on some people you've known since Kindergarten." Jace ducked to avoid a dodgeball that came flying at him. They weren't usually the annoying type of kids to be standing off on the side of the gym uselessly, chatting, but Jace felt like a gossiping today.

"Is it wrong that I'm trying to be friendly? I mean, screw this, why not?" Alec sidestepped another ball that came flying at him, noticing that he was accidentally falling into his mannerisms that he used when he was alone with Jace.

"You're acting like a different person, Alec. Stop, dude, it's creepy." Jace pretending to flail away from him in horror. Alec blinked in surprise at how close he was to the truth.

"Don't I always act a bit different between home and school? You know that I don't like people!" If Jace hadn't noticed the difference before, Alec would declare him the stupidest person he knew aloud.

"I mean, yeah, but you're actually bickering with me at school. I've taught you something! Praise the Angels! Uh, anyways, everyone's talking about how Alec Lightwood is starting to get a spine. They saw you talking with the Bane kid. Who are you and what did you do with my brother?"

"Excuse me?" Did everyone seriously think that Alec was completely weak? He shouldn't be surprised. It was how he had wanted to be viewed, after all. And he really needed to stop acting aggressive, even if he wasn't getting too outspoken. Magnus was right when he's said that being an ass didn't suit him. What did? Hiding in the crowd?

"See? People are listening to you right now," Jace said quietly. Alec looked around. He and Jace were the only ones left on his team, something that Alec usually never let happen, in fear of being singled out. Alec felt himself start to blush, but thought firmly, No. I'm not embarrassed just because I know how to talk. He internally flinched at the amount of people watching him.

On the other side of the gym, Val Morgernstern and Sebastian Verlac, who were known throughout the school as assholes, were the last two from the other team and were eying them menacingly. They were the type of people that treated Gym like the Olympics. Some people need to chill out, Alec thought, not that he was one to talk. Apparently, Alec looked like an easier target than Jace because they both aimed at him. What did he ever do to deserve this? He barely had time to feel offended before two balls came hurtling at his head. Could fate be any angrier at him?


A/N: To be honest, I couldn't believe it when I saw how many views this had gotten (over 450!), and I thought I owed you people this. Just wow. If you've even bothered to read this far, then I am honored. Thank you so much! This may be the last update for a couple of days, unless I'm able to pull time out of a magician's hat or something. Right now, I'm at the point, homework-wise, like you're standing in the middle of a field, with no shelter in a mile radius, and you see some hail coming down, almost hitting you in the head, as a forewarning. And in that moment, you think, "Well, I'm screwed," Before a storm of ice pelts you as you run around screaming like a headless chicken. Spring Break has spoiled me. I hope that this was okay, and stay awesome, everyone ;)