Chapter Seven
Clary thanked the brisk cool air that hit her face the moment she walked out of the library, calming her warm face and slowing her fast heart. Her thoughts were still in complete disarray, bouncing between Jace and the feeling of his hands around her body to the memories of Samara that were slowly finding their way into the wrong mind.
Clary found herself back at the quad, sitting on an unoccupied bench trying to take control of her breathing. Why did even the slightest touch from Jace affect her like this? Why had she been staring into those golden eyes as if she could dive straight into them…
It's because of Samara's memories in me. That had to be it. All these emotions she was feeling were because of her unknown connection to Samara, and the fact the Samara and Jace were apparently very close years ago. What other reason could there be for Clary to be attracted to someone as rude and sarcastic as Jace?
I have to ignore it. She wasn't going to let Samara's feeling take over her own. She couldn't.
A tap on the back of Clary's shoulder made her jump off the bench, and she turned around to find Simon looking at her with a very amused expression.
"Dreaming about something again?" he questioned, jokingly. Clary play-hit him on the shoulder with a smile, hoping he wouldn't catch sight of the mountain of feelings underneath. It was only so long before Simon and Isabelle would become curious about what was going on with her, but she'd be damned not to try to keep it from them for as long as possible.
"Just wondering how I'm going to pass Calc this semester. What's up, Si? Why are you out so late?" Clary asked, after realizing that night had already settled and the quad was basically empty. They began slowly walking towards the front of the quad after Clary had gathered her things off the bench.
Simon shrugged. "I was practicing with Eric and the guys in the music building. He got us a room we can have once a week that we're going to use for practice."
Clary laughed. "So he really was serious about it, huh?" She was only half surprised; Eric had more than enough enthusiasm to keep the band rolling for as long as he could.
Simon shrugged again. "I don't know, it's all fun. It's a good way to distract ourselves from school too, you know?" he said, looking without aim into the space in front of them.
Something about him seems off today. His usually bouncy self was quite calm and more collected, and he seemed to be avoiding Clary's eyes. They were walking in complete silence in the direction of Clary's bus stop, something that never happened with Simon, and Clary was about to ask him to spit it out when he suddenly spoke up.
"Do you want to go out later today? To Pandemonium maybe?" Simon asked, one hand nervously scratching his head. He still wasn't making eye contact.
Clary thought about this for a second. Maybe this would be good for me. Anything that kept her mind off of Jace and Samara was very much welcome.
"Sure," she replied, "Izzy would love to go too. We haven't really been able to hang out much have we? It'll be fun!" She smiled at Simon, but was surprised to see him looking away.
"Yeah, Izzy. It'll be great. See you then I guess." He didn't give so much as a wave before walking away, leaving Clary alone and confused at the bus stop.
What's with him? It wasn't like Simon to be so downhearted about anything. Hopefully Pandemonium, their favorite club, would do something to help Simon.
On the bus ride home, all thoughts of Simon had quickly left her mind to be replaced once again with Jace. The few hours they had spent together had been far from pleasant, but they hadn't been bad either. Jace wasn't the asshole Clary had thought he was, she supposed, but it didn't change the fact that he was making her life more complicated than it already was.
And that blonde lady…who had she been? Clary felt like she had seen her somewhere before too, though she wasn't sure if it was through her eyes or Samara's. It was already starting to become difficult to distinguish between what Samara had seen and what she had seen. And that scared Clary to no end.
She wasn't very surprised to see Isabelle already at her house, lounging across her couch in front of the tv. When she heard Clary walk through the door, she bounced up and grabbed Clary's hand, practically dragging her upstairs to her room. Clary yelled a quick greeting to her mom before letting herself be guided by Isabelle.
"Clam down, Iz. What's up?" Clary appraised Isabelle's extremely joyous face once they were in her room, which was a very rare sight indeed.
"Alec's back!" she squealed, clapping her hands together.
Clary's eyes widened with astonishment: whatever she had been expecting to hear from Isabelle, it definitely wasn't this. When Alec had left a few years ago to 'do his own thing', he had made it very clear that he wasn't keen on coming back.
"That's great to hear, Iz! When did he get back?"
"Just today. I came home and he was sitting there with Mom and Dad. It was awkward, not going to lie, but maybe him being back will make things better between them. I know it would mean the world to Max if they could sort their shit out." Isabelle sat down on Clary's bed, and Clary felt a twinge of regret for not fully being there for her friend.
"Hopefully this will be good for them Iz. Having the family back together is a great thing."
Isabelle nodded absentmindedly. Clary knew her parents' troubles bothered her more than she let on.
"But hey listen, Simon wants to go to Pandemonium tonight. You want to come or do you want time to be with Alec?" Clary asked, knowing how much it meant to Iz that Alec was back.
Isabelle shook her head. "Alec left for the night already, which is why I came over. Apparently he had something important to do. I'm totally up for going, we could use some time off!"
Clary really couldn't agree more. They spent the next half an hour getting ready, their spirits higher than they had been in a while. Clary decided this would be a good time to ask what was up with Simon.
"Hey Iz, do you know if Simon was upset about something?"
Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Because I pay attention to what that guy does." Clary nudged Isabelle jokingly, knowing that Isabelle did actually care about Simon.
"I don't know, he seemed weirdly calm today when he asked me to come to Pandemonium. It was not like Simon at all."
Isabelle looked at Clary with one eyebrow raised. "Wait, did he ask us to go to Pandemonium, or did he ask you?"
"Well he didn't specifically say both of us, but he didn't really not either…I guess?" Clary said, thinking back to earlier. Simon had wanted both of them to come, right?
Isabelle giggled. "I don't know Clary. I feel like I'm third-wheeling a date right now."
"Oh come on, Iz. He wouldn't be asking me out alone. This is Simon we're talking about." Clary laughed nervously. Simon, the boy she had been friends with since kindergarten, asking her on a date? The idea itself made seemed ridiculous.
Isabelle gave an if you say so look but didn't say anything else.
Pandemonium was as packed as they expected it to be on a Friday night: the dance floor was completely filled, along with the tables around the rim of the club. Simon was waiting for them at the edge of the bar, glass of soda in hand.
He gave Isabelle a polite nod and smiled at Clary. He seems happy, Clary noted, any discomfort from earlier today no longer detectable on his face. Clary ordered a soda herself, to which Isabelle complained.
"I want to start dancing Clary!" She pulled at Clary's arm weakly and Clary waved her off.
"You go ahead. I'll be there once I finish my drink." Clary held up her glass as evidence and watched Isabelle walk onto the dance floor with a pout.
"So anything interesting been going on?" Simon asked, casually sipping from his drink.
If only you knew. But Clary just shook her head and said, "You?"
"Same old same old." He gave her another smile. It was comforting to be around Simon, and Clary was glad that he seemed to be acting more like himself.
They spent the next few minutes in companionable silence, each finishing their drink. Once the glasses were empty, Simon jerked his head towards the dance floor in invitation, to which Clary obliged. They found their way into the middle, where Isabelle was dancing with a large group of other people. Simon, whose idea of dancing was jumping up and down with his fist in the air, proceeded to do just that and Clary couldn't help but laugh. He hadn't changed one bit.
The three of them danced together for what seemed like ages, until Clary couldn't take anymore. She dragged Isabelle and Simon away from the dance floor and towards the bar, where she ordered three glasses of water.
Isabelle drained hers in a matter of seconds, and was back off into the throng. Clary wasn't quite ready to go back yet, so she took a seat at the bar and Simon did the same.
She looked over at Simon, who was smiling from ear to ear. "What are you so happy about?" she asked, giggling. Seeing Simon this happy made her happy too.
"Oh nothing. Just a good day is all," he said vaguely.
Clary raised an eyebrow, expecting him to continue but he remained silent. "Spill it, Simon."
Suddenly, all the laughter left Simon's face and it became very serious. "Clary…"
His voice trailed off, and he turned to look her straight in the eyes. Somehow, she found herself unable to say a word.
"Clary, what would you say if I told you I liked you." Simon asked, not breaking eye contact.
The loud music and the voice of the people around them seemed to go quiet. "I don't…understand." Simon couldn't be saying what she thought he was saying.
Simon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I like you, Clary Fray. I always have."
Clary searched Simon's eyes for some hint of comedy, for some sign that he was pulling some massive prank on her but found none. All she could do was stare back at his expectant gaze with no good answer to give him.
"I'm sorry Simon, I can't-," she hopped off the seat and maneuvered around the large number of bodies into the hallway leading towards the bathrooms, leaving Simon to stare after her. How hadn't she known? All those years…
Outside the door to the club, she took a moment to catch her breath and calm herself down, before heading in the direction of the woman's bathroom. This day had been too much for her to handle.
She was so busy thinking about Simon that it wasn't until she stood a few feet away from the bathroom that she noticed a couple entangled in each other leaning against the wall a little ways ahead. As if sensing her approach, the man disengaged his lips from the woman to look at her with his bright golden eyes.
No.
Clary stood, dumbfounded at the sight of Jace locked in an embrace with the blond woman from earlier, eyes wide and staring at her like she was the last person he expected to see. Before he could say something she turned around and ran, eyes prickling with tears she had no explanation of.
"Clary!" Jace yelled from behind her, but she didn't turn around to look. She needed to get out of here. She needed to get as far away from this place as she could.
Oops I seem to have updated far, far too early. This is just to make up for the long hiatus ;)
Lots of things happened didn't they. Stayed tuned!
Next update will be Sunday. I'm going to set an update schedule for myself so that it'll be easier to stick to. You can expect a chapter every Sunday (hopefully).
Drop a review! I really look forward to them.
Yours,
~A.W.W
