Thanks to xoxNxox, Jemily145, and from Ravenclaw for reviewing!
And, xoxNxox, Magnus is still very much a man! Magnolia is just his code name because Mrs. Lightwood is unfortunately not okay with Alec's sexuality :(
"I'm leaving with Meliorn, so you two can get cozy in the back of the taxi," Isabelle said, winking.
"Oh, I can drive us there. It'll save us some money," Clary protested, but Jace shrugged her off.
"Don't be thrifty at a time like this. It'll look bad if I show up in my date's cab."
Clary felt a wave of shame wash over her, but she played it off. "Alright." Jace quickly hailed a cab and the two of them squished into the backseat.
Isabelle soon called Clary with her cell-phone. "Hey, Clary? Can you remind Jace to teach you about the party etiquette?"
"Party etiquette?" She echoed, frowning. "I thought you said that this was just an annual neighborhood party."
"Of course not! The Queens are hosting it! It's a serious soiree. All of the wealthy people of Los Angeles—okay, not Beverley Hills wealthy, but upper middle class wealthy—get together. It's the annual occasion for us to prove our status, so you have to know how to act."
Before Clary could protest, Isabelle hung up. Her eyes blazed when she heard Jace snickering.
"You knew this was one of those parties and you didn't tell me?!"
Jace shrugged. "You would have found out eventually. Anyways, let me give you a few quick tips. When you're eating, hold your fork with the thumb and three fingers, and—"
"—and keep your index finger extended on the handle," Clary finished automatically.
Jace raised an eyebrow at her and she blushed, internally reprimanding herself. "Um, I just know that… from watching the Princess Diaries movies," she lied. She couldn't let Jace know that she had been to thousands of these parties in England—as one of the wealthiest guests.
"Right. I guess I don't need to tell you about dining manners then. Um. Okay. So the hosts of the party are the Queens, Fletcher and Melanie Queen. They're really affluent because Fletcher Queen is the congressman in charge of Los Angeles, but he likes to throw these parties to get to know the city residents and convince them to vote for him. That's why mom doesn't like to attend these parties.
As for the young adults, who don't care for politics, it's a status party. You'll need to greet Fletcher and Melanie when we first arrive, but the real host of the party is actually their daughter, Selena Queen. Everyone calls her Seelie. She's a really pretty girl with red hair. Kind of like yours, but hers is a darker shade of red. She has a terrible temper and she can be kind of scary."
I should be able to handle her, Clary thought. I've dealt with snobby London girls who were pure evil.
"Oh, and my brother Alec is coming to the party too. He told mom that he's going with someone named Magnolia, but that's actually just his boyfriend, Magnus. Mom isn't exactly open-minded when it comes to sexuality. So don't freak out or anything, or Alec might get embarrassed."
"But the rest of Los Angeles is okay with it?"
Jace snorted. "Of course. Los Angeles has a big homosexual population."
Hm. That's very different from London, Clary mused.
The Queens' residence was a twenty minute drive away from Jace's house. They lived in a huge mansion that rivaled the Fairchild Residence. The cab pulled up in front of a long red carpet that danced up a flight of outdoor stairs. Clary stretched her neck and saw that there were double French doors at the end of the carpet.
It seemed as if the entire Los Angeles population had congregated in this mansion tonight. Masses of people were streaming out of taxis and strolling up the stairs.
"Shall we?" Jace asked, politely.
Clary followed him out of the car. He gave a pointed look at his crooked arm and she took the hint, hooking her arm around his elbow.
It took a while for her to get used the black high heels that were shorter than the ones she was forced to wear back in London, but she was soon able to walk confidently. Jace and Clary elegantly glided up the steps, reaching the double doors.
A breathtakingly gorgeous red-haired girl was waiting for them. She had donned a beautiful olive green dress that provided a striking contrast against her hair.
"Jace!" She greeted, before looking Clary up and down with unveiled disdain.
"Hi," she said to Clary, with faux enthusiasm. "Do I know you?"
This must be Seelie Queen. "Clary Fray," she replied, ignoring Seelie's contempt.
"Clary…" Seelie said, trying the name on her tongue, and obviously not liking it. "Are you Jace's new… fling?"
Jace stiffened and shot a deadly glare at the woman. "We've been together for a few months, actually, and I love her very much," Jace snapped, wrapping an arm around Clary's waist.
"Really? Because I heard gossip that you were dating Aline Penhallow in July, right before she came out of the closet."
"It must have felt like months," Clary replied, sweetly, "because we've had such a wonderful relationship so far. I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world."
Jace loosened his grip around Clary, clearly surprised that a docile-looking girl like her would snap at the very person Jace had warned her about.
"Oh, really?" Seelie hissed.
"Hi Selena! It is such a pleasure seeing you again!" Isabelle chirped, with a handsome man at her side. She shot Jace a look and he returned it with a grateful expression.
"That's our cue to escape," he whispered, leading Clary into the ballroom. They slipped past hundreds of people carrying expensive champagne glasses. Jace nodded a greeting to most of them.
"You must know everyone in the city!" Clary observed.
"What can you expect? I'm Los Angeles' Golden Boy," he responded cockily.
They reached the buffet table, where a grand variety of scrumptious delicacies were displayed. Jace said something, his mouth moving, but Clary couldn't hear him above the ruckus.
"What?" she shouted back, pointing at her ear.
He leaned into her, his lips almost touching her right ear. "I said, the pork brisket is usually really good."
Clary couldn't stop the blush from spreading to her cheeks. "Thanks," she mumbled. Jace just winked at her.
She tasted the pork brisket, which was indeed delicious, before sampling the other foods. Before long, she was bloated. "I don't think I can even eat another cracker."
Jace chuckled. "I'll go get you a cup of water. Or do you prefer champagne?"
"Water is good."
Clary's date left her side, and she slowly walked around the ballroom, stopping to admire a tower of champagne glasses.
"Hello," a familiar voice greeted, her voice dripping with venom.
Clary turned to see Seelie leering at her. "Hi," she responded shortly, eying Seelie's companion. He was tall and burly, with mean-looking eyebrows that highlighted his tough features.
"So, how come I've never seen you before?"
"I don't expect you know everyone in the city."
"I do," Seelie snapped. Her raised voice had drawn the attention of a few people standing by.
Not wanting to cause any trouble, Clary responded, "I just moved here from London."
"Hence the accent, I presume. How charming," Seelie responded, in a tone that suggested she didn't think a British accent was charming at all. "And you started dating Jace as soon as you arrived?"
"Of course. We're in a very tight relationship right now." Clary noticed Seelie's tight lips and couldn't help adding, "We've even discussed marriage."
"Jace would never fall in love with someone like you," the woman responded, features contorting into an angry expression.
Clary shrugged. "I think you're just jealous that I'm Jace's girlfriend and you aren't."
That was the last straw. Seelie Queen hissed and snapped her fingers at her companion. The man stepped forwards and roughly planted a hand on each of Clary's shoulders, shoving her backwards.
Clary soared back into the champagne tower. One by one, the glasses shattered and a combination of glass shards and bubbly liquid rained down on Clary.
Luckily, none of the glass hurt Clary, but she was now dripping wet, standing center of attention in the entire room. The silence was deafening.
She opened her mouth, but her mother appeared in her mind's eye. "You're in a fancy party, Clarissa. Don't draw too much bad attention."
So what? I'm going to tell Seelie off, and use as many vulgar words as I can.
"Don't be silly, Clarissa. You might not mind the criticism and whispers, but remember that you're Jace's date. Don't put him in a bad situation like that."
Clary pursed her lips and bit back her evil retort. Seelie had vanished in the crowd, leaving her accomplice standing in front of Clary.
Don't retaliate. Don't make Jace look bad.
But apparently, Jace didn't care if he looked bad. He had come out of nowhere, holding two cups of water. His golden eyes darted to Clary before flickering back to scrutinize the man who had pushed Clary down.
"Raphael, you're a bastard," Jace hissed, dropping his cups. He strode up to the man and landed a solid punch across his face.
The other man staggered, before regaining his balance and aiming a punch back at Jace. Within seconds, they were engaged in a brawl, much to the dismay of the crowd.
"What's going on?" Selena demanded, walking in.
As if you don't know, Clary thought back furiously.
"Raphael, get off Jace. Jace, leave him alone."
The two men, suddenly noticing thousands of eyes on them, slowly stepped away from each other.
"Everyone, please enjoy the party. My bodyguard just had one extra cup of champagne to drink, and engaged in a friendly wrestle with Jace. Dessert is served!" Selena announced, successfully diverting attention away from the men.
Jace returned his attention to Clary and pulled her out of the ballroom, into one of the bathrooms.
"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.
"You shouldn't have done that!" She retorted. "Everyone will be talking about how the perfect role model, Jace, got in a fight at the Queens' party!"
"Whatever. Are you alright?" His eyes searched her. "Did you get hit by any of the glass?"
"No. I'm just dripping with champagne." She bit her lip, thinking about her embarrassing fall.
"You're crying," Jace stated, watching her with shock.
"Hm?" She brushed the corner of her eye, and her finger came away wet. "Sorry. I have a habit of crying in frustrating situations."
To her surprise, Jace hugged her close to him. She was too short to place her chin on her shoulder, but she nestled into his chest, enjoying the warmth and relief from public scrutiny.
"I'm glad you're okay, but you should have defended yourself against Seelie."
"I didn't want to make you look bad."
"Yeah, well, I'm not the one covered with wine, and I'm also not the one who's going to be at the butt of Los Angeles gossip for the next month."
That's not good, Clary thought with surprise. I can't draw too much attention to myself. So she made a split second decision. "That's okay, because I'm leaving Los Angeles soon anyways."
They had been sharing a warm embrace, but Jace now pulled away sharply. "What?"
"I might move somewhere else, where I can get a higher paying job," she lied smoothly, bitterly wondering how quickly she was gaining the ability to lie and tell tall tales.
"Oh," Jace replied, an unreadable expression on his face. He cleared his throat and looked at Clary again. "Raphael's an asshole," Jace spat.
Clary frowned when she saw that his eyes were blazing. "He was just following Selena's orders."
"Don't defend him."
"Don't hunt him down."
Jace returned her gaze. "Fine," he relented. "Only if he avoids pissing me off again."
"Why are you so mad?"
"He pushed you into a champagne tower!"
"You don't even like me."
"You're my date. I'm obligated to care for you."
"Well, thanks for the temporary concern," Clary responded, sounding bitter, though she herself didn't understand why.
Isabelle's head popped into the bathroom. "I finally found you guys!" she exclaimed, before backing up, eyes wide. "Am I interrupting something?"
"Not at all," Clary said, walking out of the bathroom. Jace silently followed.
"Okay. When we go back out in front of the crowd, just act calm and collected," Isabelle instructed.
Jace led the way, earning a stream of whispers when he entered the ballroom.
"That's Jace! He just got in a fight with Raphael!" someone whispered.
"I heard it was over a girl!"
"Since when does Jace ever take a girl seriously?" another asked in a hushed tone.
And then Clary walked in.
"That's her! That's Jace's date!"
"Who is she? I've never seen her before."
"She has a British accent, so she's probably a Londoner who just came to Los Angeles."
"That dress is so cute. I think I saw Isabelle wearing it a month ago. Are they best friends now?"
Isabelle followed, coolly observing Clary's blush. "Clary! Let's go get some cake," she exclaimed with faux-enthusiasm.
"Um, yes, of course, Isa—" Clary said, before catching herself. "Of course, Izzy."
The two girls went off to the dessert table, while Selena approached Jace. "Hi, Jace! I'm so sorry about my bodyguard, Raphael. I hope you guys are good."
"No hard feelings," Jace responded stiffly, before brushing past her. She glanced at him with an indignant expression.
"You aren't going to ask me to dance?"
"No. I'm going home."
Two days later, Jace was fidgeting in his bedroom, wondering why a certain red-haired girl was showing up in his mind every time he was idle.
Well, actually, two red-haired girls: Selena and Clary. The champagne tower incident replayed in his mind over and over again. He remembered seeing Selena rush into the crowd, and Clary topple over. Selena and Clary had probably gotten into an argument, he surmised, and Selena had ordered Raphael to push Clary.
It wasn't fair that rich girls in this society, like Selena, had such an advantage over poor girls like Clary. Clary had to work to pay the bills while Selena got a weekly allowance from her parents that allowed her to host grandiose parties.
How is Clary doing right now? I hope she's okay from her fall… what if she cut herself on one of the pieces of glass?
Don't be ridiculous, Jace, he chided himself, you checked her over and she didn't have any injuries.
But what if she gets pneumonia from the cold beverages? That's a very realistic concern, his inner-self argued back.
Face it, you just want to see her again.
No. I just don't want a death under my name.
And it was decided: he would find some sort of excuse to see her again. But only to see if she wasn't sick or dying.
Jace toyed with his cell-phone before coming up with an idea. "Max? It's Jace."
"Jace, my boy, what's up?"
"Listen, I want to play a prank on one of my friends, a cab-driver."
"A cab-driver? Since when does the great Jace associate with taxi drivers?"
Jace pursed his lips impatiently. "Max, are you willing to help or not?"
"Alright, alright. What do you want me to do?"
"Call the Los Angeles Taxi Company and ask for Cab 2601. Then, when my friend goes to pick you up, just don't show up."
"Uh… alright. That's a pathetic prank."
"Just do it, okay, buddy?"
Max hung up, before calling back ten minutes later. "They said that the cab should arrive in ten minutes."
Jace jumped off the bed and ran outside. Max's house was across from Jace's, giving him the perfect opportunity to talk to Clary.
Pretty soon, the cab pulled up into Max's driveway.
Seizing his opportunity, Jace sauntered to the cab. "Clary?" he said, feigning surprise.
The girl eyed him. "What do you want?"
Jace smiled inwardly. She looked super healthy—and pretty. "I'm just wondering why you're in my friend's driveway."
"'Friend'?" she echoed.
"Yeah. This is Max's house, and he's on vacation… to Hawaii this week."
"But I got a call saying he needed a ride," she responded, completely bemused.
"That's weird."
"Yeah…" Her expression changed. "Well, I'm not going to waste any more time waiting for someone who's in another state. I'm going to drive back to the city and earn back the gas that I used up driving to your friend's house."
"Oh! Don't worry," Jace said, thinking quickly. "Why don't you take me… to the supermarket? I have some errands to run anyways, and this way you won't have wasted the gas!"
Clary raised an eyebrow at him but unlocked the car. "Sure. Get in."
As they drove away, Jace's cell-phone rang. "Jace, it's Max. I watched you from my bedroom window. Man, you should have just told me that you needed me to help you pick up a girl."
Jace glanced at Clary before turning away and whispering into the phone, "I'm not picking up a girl! I just… wanted to talk to her."
"Mhm," Max responded, unconvinced. "You're whipped, man. You've got the hots for her."
"Shut up!"
"Would you stop the whispering," Clary complained. "It's giving me a headache."
"I'll talk to you later," Jace spoke into the phone.
"Good luck with the girl," Max replied. Jace could practically visualize Max's dirty wink.
School has been insanely busy, so I doubt I will update as much! Although, I don't think thaaaat many people have been reading this (thanks a billion to those of you who are following this though!) so at least not that many people will be too disappointed. Thanks, and I love you all so much!
~BubblyFanatic