Clary's POV
"This is hell." I grumble, tossing my new *old* textbooks in my locker and Simon chuckles.
"I don't disagree." He says as someone accidentally bumps into him and he lets out a way over exaggerated groan with a sigh.
"Are you excited for lunch?" Simon asks me and I shrug, elbowing my locker shut and putting my lock back on it.
"I am excited to get out of these dreadful classes, but I don't know if Jace, Izzy, and Alec really want us siting with them. I don't know, I just feel like they are popular and we... aren't. They are fine hanging out with us outside of school, but the inside if school is always a different story." I tell Simon and he shrugs as we walk down the hallway, towards the lunch room.
"Well, at least we have each other." Simon says and I smile.
"Very true." I say, pulling the door open to the lunch room and people all fall silent, watching us carefully, Well this isn't awkward at all. We have a smaller grade so everyone basically knows everyone. That can be a good thing, but mostly a bad thing.
"Hey Fray!" Jace's smooth voice cuts through the heavy silence, he is standing up with a smile, and waving. I smile, leading Simon behind me as we cut through the crowd, walking towards Jace's table. The lunch room begins picking up noise again and I let out a sigh of relief.
"Hey, you two had the whole lunch room staring at you." Izzy says and I shrug with a nervous laugh, sitting down next to her and Simon sits next to me.
"Fray, you remember Kaelie? Well, this is her older sister Seelie. She is a year older then us." Jace introduces us and I give her a small smile, "hi." These poor girls parents must really hate them, giving then such weird, unusual names.
"Wait, how old is Kaelie then?" I hear Simon asks next to me.
"Our age." Alec answers him and I pull my small lunch out of my bag. I haven't really been into eating.
"Nice to meet y'all." She says with a small southern accent and I stifle a sigh. This is going to sound mean, I don't really care, but I have a feeling her voice is going to drive me insane.
"Yeah." I say, trying not to sound too sarcastic.
We eat lunch in a small group. Jace introduces me to a couple other kids. One of them happens to be Maia, who I already am growing to like, the other is a guy named Jordan. Maia doesn't seem to like Jordan very much.
"So how's school?" Izzy asks me and I shrug.
"It's not much different then my old school, just a little bigger. I don't mind it, but I don't love it." I tell her and she laughs.
"Get a boyfriend, they make everything more fun." Izzy tells me and I hear a voice behind me.
"Oh so she doesn't have a boyfriend, dare I call the saint Jace Herondale a liar?" I hear Sebastian's deep voice behind me. Out of every school in NYC, he has to go to my new one? I notice everyones facial expression change, but Simon and Seelie's. My face darkens with anger and I stand up, finally standing up for myself, and Jace.
"Why do you care? I don't even know you." I snap and a wicked smile comes across his lips. Oh no.
(WARNING LANGUAGE)
"Oh, so now the slut can speak?" Sebastian snails and the group of girls sitting a table over gasps.
"Uh, excuse me," I say surprised, "I haven't done anything other then reject your ass." I snap and he steps closer to me, making me back up a step.
"Not after you lead me on, just like the whore you are." He says, my voice gets caught in my throat, my dad used to call me that.
"Yeah, right, 'cuz me telling you that I didn't want a boyfriend is leading you on!" I snap and he glares over me, opening his mouth to say something, but Alec stands up, to my surprise.
"Enough Verlac, get out of here." Alec says and Sebastian crosses his arms over his chest.
"Or what Lightwood?"
"Or you are going to get your ass kicked by all of us." Izzy snaps, rising to her feet as well, crossing her arms, matching Sebastian's intimidating stance. He turns his attention to her.
"Wow, you are finally caring about someone other then yourself." Sebastian growls and Izzy pulls her hand out, cracking it across his face.
"Go to hell." She snarls and Jace stands up from his seat, setting me behind him and putting his arm out in front of Isabelle.
"Get out of here Verlac, or I am going to be the next one to hit you across the face." Jace says, his voice very calm and very even. Sebastian backs up a bit, hands up.
"I see, have a good day." He says, and I watch the bastard walk away. My hands are shaking in my pockets. Everything that he has said made me think of my father when I made him mad. All of my memories begin to flood back and my vision begins to get blurry with tears.
"Clary!" Isabelle says as I brush past all of my friends and rush into the hallway. I might as well go to the locker room. Nobody should be there, and it's my next class. I clench my fist when I realize that I left my forgot my backpack and everything at lunch. I sit down on the bench, glancing around and I sniffle. I hate guys.
JACE'S POV
"Let me go talk to her." Isabelle says and I shake my head no.
"I'm going to go." I tell her and Izzy throws her hands up in the air with anger.
"Why?" She yells and I continue to shake my head.
"'Cuz I said so. Grab her stuff and bring it with you when you head to PE, I'll be there with her." I tell Izzy and she sighs.
"Fine." She grumbles and I sling my backpack over my shoulder, and walking down my hallway.
I walk up to the girls locker room and cracking the door open.
"Clare?" I ask gently and I hear he sniffle.
"Not now Jace." I hear her say and I just sigh.
"Is anybody else in here?" I yell and when nobody responds, I walk into the locker room, locking the door and checking my phone. We have six minutes. I walk around the room, finding her sitting on a bench, her eyes blotched and red.
"I'm sorry." I tell her and she doesn't look up from her shaking hands.
"You didn't do anything." She says, her voice cracking and I take her shaking hands in each of mine, pulling them into my lap.
"Breathe, nice and easy." I tell her, trying to calm her down but it's not working.
"He called me my dads favorite words." She admits and we both fall silent. Her dad is completely disgusting.
"I'm going to kill Sebastian." I tell her, and she tightens her grip on my hands. Sebastian can't get away with doing this type of shit to her.
"No." She tells me, but I decide to keep pulling. I need to get her mind elsewhere.
"He deserves a solid ass beating." I tell her with a smirk, standing up, and she stands up next to me.
"No." She says again, kind of matching my smile and my alarm begins to beep.
"I got to go. Izzy is bringing your stuff. Come talk to me when you are done." I tell her, giving her hand a final squeeze before leaving the locker room, right before the bell rings. I walk into the boys locker room, dropping my backpack and opening my locker.
"God. Sebastian is such a dick." Simon says, walking into the locker room, him and I being the only ones in the room.
"Yeah." I agree with him as he finds his locker.
"Is Clary ok?" He asks and I nod.
"She's ok, just a little shaken up." I tell Simon and he nods, pulling out his gym clothes.
"Verlac is so dead!" Alec yells, storming into the locker room, followed by a few other guys who don't really know what is going on.
"Why?" I ask, changing shirts.
"The way he talked to Clary, but especially the way he talked to Izzy. Just because she broke up with his worthless ass doesn't give him the right!" He yells, basically foaming at the mouth and punching the locker.
"If he does or says anything else, to any of us, I will rock his shit. I promise." I tell him and he sighs.
"Ok, sounds like a plan." Alec grimaces, beginning to change. I change into my shorts and walk out of the locker room, banging into a small ginger.
"You ok Fray?" I ask her and she sighs, glancing over to see Isabelle walking towards us.
"If he talks to me again..." Clary trails off and Isabelle walks over to us, putting her arm around Clary. I watch Clary tense up quickly, before leaning against her a little bit
"I'm not working out today!" Izzy announces as Alec walks over to us, and I laugh.
"Ok Iz." I say with a smirk, walking into the gym.
*LATER THAT DAY*
"Damn Fray, that's impressive." Jace says over my shoulder as I shade a part of my drawing of the factory next to the Institute.
"I'm good at like on thing." I tell him as I continue to draw my art for homework.
"I'm sure you're good at something else." Jace says, leaning on me a little bit.
"Not really?" I say back and he pokes his head in front of me, covering my sketch book so I have to stop working.
"Can you play a musical instrument?" Jace asks and I shrug.
"I can play the piano. I've always wanted to play the guitar but my father never let me. He claimed it was to masculine." I say and Jace nods, smirking a little but. Sometimes I wish I knew what he was thinking, he makes me nervous when he makes those faces.
"Well, today is your lucky day." Jace says, standing up and I raise my brow. I follow him with my eyes to the closet and he reaches inside, pulling out a really pretty, dark colored guitar. Of course he has a guitar, why wouldn't he?
"Whoa." I say under my breath and he hands it to me. I feel like this is way to expensive for me to be holding.
"Do you know how to play?" I ask him, running my fingers over the strings and he sits down across from me.
"Yeah, my dad taught me before he died when I was twelve. This used to be his guitar. Along with street fighting, I would stand in the subway and sing and play for cash. Here," He says, adjusting the guitar in my hands, "so if you hike the guitar this way and be able to play any cord." Jace tells me, putting his hands over my own, and helping my fingers move against the strings.
"It's easy." He shows me how to strum. We spend about an hour together, he shows me how to play one cord.
"Play a song," I tell him very forcefully and he sighs.
"I haven't played a full song in years." Jace tries to brush me off but I lead forward, bringing my face to his and shoving the guitar into his hands.
"Do it." I say, doing my best to sound like batman and he role his eyes, strumming quickly on the guitar and I lean back on my hands, crossing my legs and listening with a small smile on my face. He plays a short rock song that sounds like Rolling Stones but he doesn't sing, he just hums along. When he finishes, putting the guitar down, I look at him smiling.
"Well that was amazing. That's hidden talent number two." I say with a wink and he laughs.
"I have others, but you'd probably kill me if I tried to show you those." Jace says with a smirk and I roll my eyes.
"Keep your nasty minded thoughts to yourself." I tell him with a smile.
"Funny. I was always told sharing was caring." Jace tells me and there is a knock on the bedroom door. Jace hops to his feet very quick, racing to the closet and lightly putting the guitar inside, shutting the door and walking back towards me. Does he not want anyone to know he still plays?
"Light's out kiddos. Izzy, Alec, and Simon should be back from work soon." Ms Wayland orders us, opening and shutting the door quickly and I yawn, standing up.
"I wanted to take a shower." Jace grumbles and I smile.
"Good, you need one, you stank." I tease and he rolls his eyes.
"Yes, I'm sure I do. I smell like body spray, deodorant, and mangos." Jace says and I cork my brow.
"Why mangos?" I question and he leans forward, shaking his hair in my face and I crinkle my nose. He's not wrong, it smells like mangos, "why mangos?" I ask a second time and he just chuckles.
"I like my mangos." Jace tells me and look that makes me want to challenge him but I put my hands up in surrender instead.
"Sounds good." I say with a smirk and he continues to chuckle; I stand up from the bed.
"Goodnight." I say, kicking his shin lightly and he takes my hand, using me to help himself to his feet.
"I'm going to take a shower, don't wait up and don't tell Ms. Wayland." He tells me with a wink, going to walk away before stopping and looking at me strangely. Sometimes I think I am an alien to him.
"I'm going to try something, please don't kill me." He begs of me and I can't help but go ridged as he walks towards me. He wraps his arms gently around my shoulders, pulling me into a him. I lighten up a bit, putting my arms around his waist, excepting the hug.
"Why would I kill you for hugging me?" I ask into his chest and he laughs.
"You hate physical contact." Jace responds, still embracing me. He's not wrong, I have never likes hugs but this is ok.
"Sometimes." I rest my head on his chest. I've never had much physical contact, especially since my mom died. I will admit, I have kind of missed it.
"Goodnight Jace." I tell him, pulling away and walking over to the dresser, pulling out some shorts and a tank top. I wait for Jace to go into the bathroom before quickly changing. I walk to my bed, climbing up and curling under the covers.
I end up not actually falling asleep until everyone is home and passed out. I check my watch, it is almost four in the morning. By the time I fall asleep, it is almost six in the morning and I have to get up in two hours.
