A few days later, classes finally started. Orientation was boring, just introducing us to the school and picking our classes. However, I've been too distracted by what happened with Clary to do anything but robotically do what I'm told. The night after whatever the hell that was happened with her, I talked to Izzy. I mean really talked. I told her everything. How I've felt for the longest time and everything that happened between Clary and I. The good news is she offered to help. The bad news is she was squealing like a school girl and mumbling to herself about her and Clary were finally going to be sisters. What the hell? Anyhow, at least someone was on my side, since apparently Alec and Magnus "don't want to get in between all that."

My mind was wandering as I meandered into my 9 am literature class. I was pre-law, but my passion was always literature. Since I had to take an English class anyway, I decided to indulge myself. I skimmed the large room, trying to find the perfect spot. Not in front with the nerds, but not so far back that the professor saw me as a slacker. Then I saw it. The flaming red hair sitting right in the middle of the auditorium. Clary. Of course. She was double majoring in English and fine art. I remember Izzy mentioning that the other night. Without thinking about it, I walked straight towards her and sat down next to her. She was talking to the girl next to her, not facing me at all.

I opened my bag and took out my laptop, preparing for my first college class. I stuffed my soccer gear under my seat. I brought it will me because I had class until right after my classes were over. I just sat there silently, watching as the room filled up. An older man entered and put his things down on the desk at the front of the room. He cleared his throat into the microphone and the room quieted. As Clary turned around, I saw her finally notice I was there. Her eyes widened and she paled. I just kept looking forward, pretending not to see her.

"Hello all, welcome to English Literature 101. I am Professor Hodge Starkweather and I will be seeing you every weekday at 9 am for the entire semester. And get used to the people sitting next to you, there will be a seating chart so that I can remember your names. I hope you all bought your copies of A Tale of Two Cities, because that will be our first book. For this evening, you will need to read chapters one through four and be prepared to discuss tomorrow. Now, I will hand out the syllabus and then you will spend the rest of class getting to know your neighbors." At that, I turned to Clary.

She looked like herself again, the color in her cheeks back. She was chatting with the girl next to her, again, so I decided to introduce myself. I leaned into Clary a bit and interrupted them. "Hi, I'm Jace Lightwood. And you are?" I said with my most charming voice.

The girl smiled and Clary just looked at me. "Maia, Maia Roberts. It's nice to meet you, Jace. This is Clary."

It was my turn to smile now. "Clary and I grew up together, actually," I said, bumping shoulders with the redhead beside me. The rest of the class was a blur, because Clary was actually talking to me for the first time since that fateful night in my apartment. I was on cloud nine. But I knew I needed to talk to her for real. When class was released, she practically ran out of the classroom. But I was a soccer and football player, and very fast, so I easily caught up with my short legged girl. My hand landed on her shoulder and she spun around, staring at me like I had horns. I grabbed her arm and dragged her to a secluded corner.

"Jace, I really need coffee before my next class. What do you want?" She seemed nervous.

"Clare, we need to talk about the other day. Please!" I can't believe I was begging. The things that one does for love are unimaginable. I could see indecision in her eyes and finally a silent acceptance.

"Fine, Jace. My next class isn't until noon. But I need coffee. So, lets get coffee," she said as she started to walk to the café that I knew was in the building next door. We walked in silence and, when we arrived, we sat in silence, just looking at each other.

"So, I'll get you your coffee," I said, standing again. "What do you want?"

"Just a coffee, black, like my soul. Please," she said. I could tell she was holding back a grin. I went and got her coffee but my mind was racing. What should I say? Why doesn't she seem upset anymore? I sat back down across the table from her and handed her the cup of coffee.

"Thanks," she mumbled, offering money, which I, of course, refused. "Sooooo," she said, waiting for me to talk.

"Well, I'll start I guess. I'm sorry. For everything. I just don't know how everything got so screwed up. I've been in love with you since puberty. And based on the other night, I'm going to guess that you feel it too. But I'm not going to push you or rehash old heartbreak. I just want to move forward with you." I took a deep breath, looking at her green eyes.

She sighed. "Jace, I don't know what the hell I feel. I mean, I was in love with you as long as you were in love with me. But I gave up when you starting being the player that you became. I had to shield myself to protect my heart from the revolving door of sluts. There were so many times that I thought you knew, that you could feel the same way about me. I hoped dating Seb would make you jealous so you would act. But you didn't, you just withdrew. And I hurt even more. Seb and I broke up because I was a disaster. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep. He didn't think it was worth it. And Izzy kept trying to push me towards you. But you kept pushing me away for other, prettier girls. I saw the way you acted with them – like all you cared about was sex. So I gave up. And I just can't trust your words and risk pain like that again. I'm never going to be another notch in your bedpost, which is what you really want."

She was crying. I was about the break, again. She really thought that lowly of me. I was a horrible person who used women and threw them away. I guess she was right. But I was protecting my heart from her. And it worked. Until I saw her again when we moved here. And all the feelings came right back like they had never left. But I got it. I understood how much I had hurt her. I just wanted to fix it.

"We… we could be friends. You know, just friends. Get to know each other again," I suggested, praying that she would say yes. A small smile came to her lips and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"I'd like to be friends," was all she said.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my class schedule, which I had printed this morning. "Well, let's compare classes like we all used to do!" She smiled even more and grabbed her schedule out of her bag. She took mine and compared them.

"Well, English lit, obviously. And also biology and college algebra. So, you're in three of my five classes. I'm also taking two art classes, one on drawing and another on painting. And I see you're taking an introductory law class and political theory. Are you pre-law?" I nodded. "Cool!" We started chatting about anything and everything. I told her about working at the camp and caught her up on my life. She told me about going to Europe with her mom and Luke after graduation for three weeks. I was fascinated by every word she said. Before I knew it, it was 11:45 and we had to head off to biology. We walked together – she was talking about everything and I was listening intently, guiding her around people because she clearly wasn't paying attention.

As we reached biology and took a seat at a table together (I guess we were officially lab partners!), I realized I felt something I hadn't felt in a while. Hope. Hope for me and Clary. That we could move forward.