You guys could never guess how many cookies my family's making for Chinese New Year! I mean, there are like half a dozen kind! And they're sooo good….

Isabelle was running all over the place.

The girl moved so fast, Clary had to blink a few times to ease her aching eyeballs. Mr. Pangborn was late to class, so Izzy had used the free time to talk to the others. Clary's brain only caught the words "my house", "fun" and "parent free". Yes, she was a total art geek, but even she knew that Isabelle Lightwood was going to throw a party at her place. The girl lived for fame.

If she was honest, she kinda wanted to be invited. She had gone to a party or two, but they were middle school parties. She was in high school! Parties at those ages are totally wicked. Well, so she heard. But neither she nor Simon had been invited to the cool kid's house. Girls who would be there on every good party in the world would be Kaelie and Seelie, the school's most popular cheerleaders. Or maybe even Maia the hip-hop dancer. Those, girls, though, she most despised. She secretly thanked God that she had no classes with them.

Even when lunch had started, she got no word from Isabelle about the party. Sure, things were okay between them now, but she supposed the idea of having a redhead nerd in her party would ruin the mood or something. Though, that didn't stop her from drawing a sad face on whatever food Ms. Fairchild served that day.

Simon looked up from his glasses when he noticed the depression oozing out of her. "Last week's cold?" He asked.

"Nah, I'm over that."

"Then, why do you look like you're dying?"

"Ha ha. I'm just not in the mood for," She held up a spoon topped with something green, "whatever this thing is."

After the bell rang, they dumped their trays into the bin. Before she went out the cafeteria, she caught sight of the Lightwoods. Isabelle looked like she was pumped for the party. Alec made a face of disapproval. Jace…well, Jace was Jace. He only had that grin plastered to his face. Every so often, he'd wink at some passing girls. This made Clary clench her fists. What made Seelie, Kaelie, and Maia better? Clary had looks. She was cute.

Then she actually looked down at her body. No curves. No shape. No height.

Right. She forgot those details.

Jace hasn't met her eyes in about a week, too. Since their whatever-you-call-it meeting at her house, he seemed so far away she couldn't reach him no matter how far she stretched her hand out to him. He would flirt with those cheerleaders, make a sarcastic remark to the History teacher's face, or just play it cool and not pay attention. They hadn't talked in awhile. He didn't even steal her pencils during class anymore. She remembered his promise to keep his distance, but she didn't realize he meant he wouldn't interact with her at all.

It hurt her a little every time new people came into his life, while she was somewhere in the outcast crowd. They'd be in his circle of friends, while she wasn't even in the same room with him, much less in the same world with him. She was a nobody, while Jace Lightwood was everybody's star. Stars aren't friends with nobodies, she thought bitterly.

Now here she was, sprawled on her couch with her sketchpad. Her fingers had worked overtime with this particular drawing. It might've been her best artwork. The picture showed her, at the far end of a hallway while a boy was surrounded by fans at the other. You all know the popular boy in the sketch, am I right? Yes, that's correct. It's Jace Lightwood, luring people into him with his devilish grin. Clary? She only watched from afar, trying to give him the space he suddenly built between them.

The sky was dark outside. The faint sound of crickets hummed in the air. It made her relax. Well, until her phone blared alive.

She jumped at the buzzing sound from the vibrating contraption on the table. She quickly snatched it up and brought it to her ear. "Clary here."

"CLARY!"

She instinctively brought the phone away when the high pitched voice shrieked. "Uhh…who's this?"

"It's Rebecca! Listen, do you have any idea what happened to Simon?" The girl asked worriedly. "He has a black eye!"

"What?" Clary jumped. "HOW?!"

"I don't know! He said he got into a fight…"

"No way. Simon's not like that. He doesn't pick fights unless−"

"Clary, it's fine!" Simon's voice came in. "Becky's just over reacting!"

"That black eye is the size of China!" Becky countered.

The two Lewis siblings went into a sort of spat at the other end. "Guys!" Clary finally cut in.

"Sorry." They both said.

"I'm gonna come over. I'll be there at ten."

"Wow," Clary mused. "That is one big black eye."

Simon groaned, placing the bag of ice on his throbbing eye. His glasses were nowhere to be seen. "It's no big deal."

"Simon Lewis!" Rebecca yelled from across the table. "I've been asking you over and over again. WHO DID THIS?"

"Becky," Simon pleaded. "Chill, I don't want you to come banging on the guy's door and have a chat with his mom or something. That'd be a total break down for my ego."

Clary rolled her eyes. "You can't expect us to let this slide, Si. Whoever punched you−"

"It was Jordan Kyle, okay?" He suddenly blurted out.

For a minute, the girls were quiet. Rebecca's large glasses slipped down her nose, but she didn't move to shove it back up. Instead, she jumped onto her feet and made a wild dash for the keys.

"Whoa, Becky!" Simon waved his hands in front of him frantically. "Relax!"

"Where are you going?" Clary questioned.

"To kick the guy in the face for hurting my baby brother!" Then, her dark brown hair was the last thing they saw before she slammed the front door shut behind her. Five seconds later, the same door opened slightly, Rebecca's embarrassed face peeking inside. "Who's Jordan Kyle?"

"Maia Robert's boyfriend." The two teens answered.

Rebecca winced. "Tall, muscular boy with the tattoos?"

"Got kicked out of a couple of schools." Clary added.

"I think he got into the police station once." Simon continued.

The older girl went fully inside, closing the door much quieter than last time. "I believe a more…peaceful way would do the trick."

"Ya think?"

After she seated herself back on her chair, facing the two friends, Simon finally explained, "I kinda forgot my Fairy Tail manga in Jace's car the other day, so I figured I could've come over to his place and get it back."

"Wait a minute," Clary cut in. "You last got into Lightwood's car last week, right?"

"Yeah."

"And you just remembered it now?"

"Uh-huh." Clary paused before nodding her head for him to continue. "Alright, since they're holding that mega huge party, nearly everyone in the block knew about it. The music was so loud I could hear it from the bus station! I managed to get to his house, but unfortunately I met Jordan Kyle, making out with Maia." He shivered in disgust. "I guess I killed the mood by coming, so he sort of…ya know…" He gestured to his bruised eye.

"He uppercut you just because you saw them kissing?" Rebecca inquired.

"Pretty much."

Rebecca was going for the keys again, but Clary beat her to the front of the living room. "Where are you going?" It was Rebecca's turn to ask that question.

"To Jace's place, duh." She threw her coat around her petite body rather clumsily. "I'm gonna give those jerks a lesson."

"You can't do that!" Simon yelled.

"You'll get squashed!" His sister added.

The feisty redhead just rolled her eyes, smirked, and slipped out of the house. She vaguely heard the concerned Lewis siblings from the other side, but she kept walking. Jordan had gone way too far. Simon was just trying to get his manga back. What's the harm in that? There was no need for Jordan's fist flying around the room!

Her dorky friend was right. The blaring of music reached her ears as soon as she stepped out of the bus. It wasn't hard to find the place. A tall church-like house loomed in front of her. It would've been more innocent looking like real churches, but the paper cups, cigarettes, and couples making out in the yard weren't at all innocent. She tried to blend in, but seeing as no one paid her attention (either because of her height or mere unnoticeable presence) she easily got into the loud building. Rock n Rolls music pierced her ears painfully, the smell of alcohol and smoke burned her nose, but the thing that made her skin crawl was the scene in front of her. Maia was wearing clothes that showed too much skin, and she was in a deep make out session with her boyfriend, Jordan.

Clary felt the rage building up inside her as she slapped her hand furiously against his arm. The couple broke apart in surprise, both glaring at her. Maia's lips turned into one of disgust as she eyed her plain jeans, paint smeared shirt and oversized coat. Yeah, probably wasn't the best choice of clothes. Jordan held the same expression.

"Well," Maia purred. "Look at what the cat dragged in."

"Jordan," Clary hissed. "May I have a word with you?"

"Uh, no thanks," He backed away. "I don't want to be seen with a geek. Anyways, why are you even here? I doubt you were invited."

"You punched my friend," Clary continued. "You better have a good reason for doing that."

"That glasses-wearing dork?" Jordan laughed. "Oh, that's rich. A geek defending a geek."

"Geeks don't belong here," Maia raised her chin in mockery. "Go and do your homework or something."

"I'm not finished with him," Clary pushed the taller guy's chest, but only managed to get him irritated. "Simon had a black eye because of you. Are you gonna apologize or what?"

"Hey, he walked in on us, okay? The punk deserved it." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Don't call him a punk," She gritted her teeth.

"What are ya gonna do about it?" Maia shoved her shoulder harshly, raising her arms in a challenge. "You're nothing but a sore loser. And losers are made as punching bags for us." She smirked. "So, it's entirely your fault if you come into our turf."

"Your turf?" Clary found unbelievable strength as she pushed Maia's shoulder in turn. The girl actually stumbled back. "It's a free country, damn it!"

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," Maia stepped up until their noses were inches apart. Her brown eyes held a fire that should've made Clary quiver, but instead it made her stand her ground. "You have no business here. We can do whatever we want, whenever we want."

"Oh, you think you're a queen or something?" Clary suddenly snatched the backwards cap from Maia's head. She caught the girl's surprised and outraged stare before putting it on herself. There were some whistles and cat calls from the teens surrounding them, but she paid them no attention. "You think you're better than everyone, don't you?"

"Because I am, you bitch." Maia threw her jacket off, throwing it to the wide-eyed Jordan who had shifted away from the girls. A few boys whooped when they saw the girl's exposed stomach due to her very short grey tank top. "Better than you, anyway."

"Oh, I'm so scared," She also threw her coat, the rough material pooling around her feet.

"Bring it on, loser,"

The brunette threw her arms outwards, making a dive towards Clary's hair. Never before had the short girl been grateful for her lack of height. Since Maia was almost a head taller than her, she managed a quick dodge. Clary Fray, sixteen year old art geek, was having a fight with the school's popular girl. They were a clash of nails, screams, and hair as they flew around the hallway, the others cheering them on to bring in more entertainment.

Clary's hair felt like they were going to be pulled out any second until a voice boomed, "STOP IT!"

Like it? Love it? Hate it? Well, I had fun writing this chapter, but it's getting late so I'm gonna end it with a cliffy. Until next time!

What do you guys think about Maia so far?