I sat in my Jeep with the engine running while I waited for Isabelle and Alec to be ready. I searched my music library for some feel good music and blasted the stereo before honking twice indicating my irritation. Isabelle and Alec finally walked out the front door, locking it behind them and got in the car.

Alec always sat in the back seat because he insisted that Isabelle wore a seatbelt. I knew it wasn't necessarily safe for anyone to go without a seatbelt, but there was a makeshift seatbelt in the back that would work even without the actual seats. Plus, Mom's house was only three minutes away.

The wind whipped through my hair as we made our way to family dinner. After Isabelle and Simon moved out here in high school, my mother's house became their second home and she basically adopted them in the process. We were a weird family, but a family nonetheless.

I pulled my Jeep into the driveway of my childhood home and turned the car off. We all hopped out and headed for the door. We never knocked and always just let ourselves inside because my mom rarely locked the door. Rambling about meaningless things, we rounded the corner to the kitchen. I froze. My mother, who had never so much as dated my whole life, was sitting on the counter with a guy settled between her legs and her tongue down his throat.

Alec cleared his throat and Mom scrambled to separate herself from the guy and straighten herself. I stood there with my mouth hanging open and pointing at her. Isabelle was trying not to laugh next to me and Alec was leaning against the wall with a giant smirk on his face.

"Um, hi kids," Mom stammered as she took a step closer to us. The guy stood behind her looking at the ground with a hand on the back of his neck. He was embarrassed, that much I could tell and I felt bad for him for about a millisecond.

"Hey, Jocelyn," Isabelle said as she was enveloped in Mom's embrace. Alec followed, but I was still frozen. "Clary." She snapped her fingers in my face and I was broken out of my spell.

"Mom," I questioned and tilted my head in the direction of our guest.

"Clary, this is Luke," she began as he walked up and put his arm around her. "He owns the bookstore next to the restaurant."

"And?"

"And, we've been dating for a few months." She bit her bottom lip waiting for me to blow up, but oddly, I didn't feel angry.

Sure, I was shocked, but I thought that this was great for her. My dad had really messed her up when he left the week after I was born and she had dedicated her life to raising me. She never did anything for herself and I thought it was about time she did.

"It's nice to meet you, Luke," I said extending a hand to him. He took it and smiled as Mom smiled up at him and I could see how deep she had fallen. Good for her.

Isabelle and Alec introduced themselves before Mom said that dinner was ready. Everyone grabbed a dish and took it to the table. Luke sat next to my mom and held her hand on the table. I noticed that Mom had made spam fried rice, my favorite and laughed at the thought that she was trying to butter me up.

I saw how Mom and Luke looked at each other and immediately my mind went to Jace. I had seen that same look in Jace's eyes earlier that day and I felt my cheeks flush. Of course, leave it to Mom to make it worse.

"So, what do you guys know about Clary and your cousin," she asked Isabelle and Alec.

They began singing in unison, "Jace and Clary, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

Mom and Luke laughed as I lowered my head in my hands and hid my face, which was probably a darker shade of red than my hair at the moment. Mom patted my hand and I finally looked up from the floor.

"He seemed like a very nice boy," she assured me. "I assume that's who you were blushing over earlier?"

"Ugh, Mom," I huffed. "I don't want to talk about this."

"Clary, grow up a little. I'm trying to have an adult conversation about your relationship."

"There isn't a relationship to talk about. We're just friends."

"Yeah, friends who make out," Isabelle mumbled under her breath and I glared at her.

"Can you just tell me a little bit about him," my mom pleaded.

"Oh, I'll tell you all about him, Jocelyn," Isabelle piped up. I assume Alec kicked her under the table because she yelped and waved him off.

"I hate you," I said with a permanent glare directed at her.

"You love me." She placed both of her arms on the table and faced Mom. "So, he's from Santa Cruz and is a year older than me. He surfs, obviously, and is opening up a surf shop in Old Lahaina in a few months."

"A surf shop," Mom asked. "Like what kind a surf shop?"

"He shapes boards, custom and otherwise."

"Really? Is he any good?"

"I'm not really an authority on surfboards, but Clary might have an answer for you." Isabelle turned and faced me while my mom raised her eyebrows looking for an answer to her question. She knew that Jace and I were customizing a board for me.

"Yeah, he's really good," I said finally smiling as I remembered Jace showing me his shed and painting my new board. "I canceled my order at our normal board shaper. He's that good."

"Well, I would love to take a look sometime," Mom said and the conversation ended as we all dug into our dinner.

She means well, but my mom sometimes doesn't know where to draw the line. I had never had a boyfriend and she knew that so she didn't know how to handle the situation, not that Jace was my boyfriend because he wasn't. Slow, remember? Maybe if I keep telling myself that, I'll actually start to believe it. Doubtful.

The night went on as we got to know Luke and learned that he had been crushing on Mom for years. It didn't surprise me. Mom was beautiful and everyone knew it. Unlike me, she was taller and thinner with sharper features that made her a classic beauty, but it was her passion for life and the things she loved that made her the best person I knew. Luke surfed as well, which made me happy that my mom would have someone else to surf with in the mornings. Maybe the four of us could go out on the water one day.

By the end of the night, Luke had fully earned my approval. I hugged him as we left and my mom whispered her thanks in my ear. How could I not be happy for them when they looked so completely in love?

Once we were on the road, I turned to Isabelle, who was trying to look innocent.

"What the hell was that back there," I asked her.

"Clary, calm down," Alec warned from the backseat, but I ignored him.

"I'm sorry that I'm happy that my best friend has found someone that she likes," she said defensively. "Face it, Clary. You like him and he likes you and I don't understand why you're hiding it from Jocelyn of all people."

"I'm not hiding it, Iz. I just don't want to get my hopes up. Yeah, we're having fun, but what happens when he's been here for a few months and stumbles across the countless girls in the lineup who are a way better catch than me?"

"You're being ridiculous. You've always guarded yourself when it comes to guys and I just don't get it because you're the best person I know and anyone who thinks otherwise is freaking crazy. I just want you to be happy and I think you and Jace can make each other happy."

"Fine. I get it." I gave up in this fight because Isabelle just didn't get it. She was the pretty one. She was the one who had guys falling all over themselves to be with her. Me? Not so much. I was the quiet one who stood behind the bar because I was too afraid to put myself in the middle of the mix.

Jace was so much like Isabelle that it amazed me. They were both the outgoing and free spirited people who took life into their own hands. He moved three thousand miles away from his home to start a surfboard business in a place that was crawling with them and he would most likely be successful.

After I pulled into our driveway, Isabelle and Alec hopped out of the car as I kept the engine running. When she realized I was making no move to get out of the car, Isabelle peeked her head inside the passenger window.

"Clary, I really am sorry," she whispered. "Please come inside."

I reluctantly turned the car off and followed her inside. Alec had already gone to bed, typical, and Isabelle and I sat on the couch watching movies and eating ice cream. We may fight like sisters, but at the end of the day, we're best friends. Nothing could ever come between us that a little ice cream and a girly movie couldn't fix.

I had to be up early the next morning for my job with whale foundation. We weren't going to start the tours yet, but the store was going to be open so we could advertise some before we started taking people out on the boats. We also had to train the newbies.

Isabelle and I had fallen asleep on the couch, which caused my to have a massive kink in my neck the next morning. I made myself a quick breakfast and ate my daily half of a pineapple before getting dressing in my khaki shorts and polo shirt with the whale foundation's logo. I threw my hair up in a messy bun and put my flip flops on because I had to actually wear shoes.

I made a call to the hotel and told them that I would not be continuing work there and made my way to the foundation. This would always be my favorite time of the year. For three months, humpback whales made the waters between Maui, Lanai and Molokai their home to mate and have babies. As a foundation, we kept track of the whales that made their way to our waters and when they had their babies.

I saw my first whale of the season a few weeks before and immediately felt giddy at the thought that I would see them every day for three months. When I got to the store, I started helping set up the displays and familiarized myself with the tour schedule for the season. I was schedule to work mostly sunrise tours, which were my favorite because you were more likely to see more whale activity in the morning.

When I finished my shift at the store, I made my way home so I could change and be ready to go out on the waves with Jace. For the last hour, I hadn't been able to stop smiling. I didn't even have to be around him anymore for him to effect me. I was pulling on my bathing suit when I dialed his number and waited for him to answer.

"Aloha," he said into the phone and I couldn't help the laugh that escaped. He was trying so hard to act like a local and I found it endearing, but being from Santa Cruz, the lifestyle wasn't all that different.

"Hey, Cali, I just got off of work," I said as I tied the strings on my bathing suit and made sure to emphasize where he was from.

"Okay, I was just finishing up on a board."

"Ooh, will I get to see it?"

"Maybe, if you're lucky." We laughed together as I threw a tank top over my bikini and grabbed my wallet and keys. "Will you have time after we're done to paint your board?"

"Probably not. I have to be at the bar at four and it's already one. We'll probably be out there for a couple of hours. Will you be at the bar tonight?"

"I don't know. I'll have to see what other plans I have tonight." I tried not to be disappointed, but it was too difficult. "I'm just kidding. You guys are the only people I know. Of course, I'll be there."

"Cool." I did my best at sounding indifferent. "I'll be at your house in ten minutes. Be ready."

"Will do. Don't forget the long board." I laughed as I exited my house and put my two boards in the Jeep.

"Is that going to be our thing now?"

"Of course."

"Okay, then, I'll see you in a few."

"I'll be waiting."

A/N: Thanks for reading! What do you think? If any of you are wondering, Clary will have some artistic ability, but it will be a little different and something that she will experience with Jace, so look forward to that in the next chapter. Once again, thanks! :)