Hi again guys!

Sorry it's been a bit of a while, but school just started again and I've found myself ridiculously busy. With that being said, updates might be at this pace for a while, at least until the new year.

But the last chapter is still giving me tingles o.o -happy sigh-

Anyways, things get interesting again ;)

So on we go!


I gave it a day before I spoke to Isabelle again, partly because I didn't know what to say to her after disregarding (albeit accidentally) her feelings for Simon, but mostly because I was wary that she might claw me.

I bit my cheek as I walked into first period, fumbling distractedly with the necklace that once again hung on my neck. Isabelle was sitting in her usual seat behind me and writing something in her planner, her long hair swung over her shoulder and head resting in her hand.

She looked up on hearing me approach and smiled surprisingly brightly in my direction. "Hi, Clary. I see you're feeling better," she observed, not a hint of a bitter or unusual tone to her voice. She gestured to my necklace and I chuckled nervously.

"Yeah I'm doing better, thanks," I paused, fishing for words that might somehow fix this situation. "Listen, Isabelle, I'm sorry," I started to say. Then I stopped, watching her face. The surprised expression on it told me that Jace hadn't told her that I knew about her secret crush.

"For what, exactly?" Isabelle asked, raising an eyebrow.

I sat down in my seat and turned around so I could lean towards her, not wanting the rest of the class to hear the conversation. "For not realizing you liked Simon," I finished, figuring it was better to just get everything in the open.

Her eyes widened in understanding but then quickly narrowed. Isabelle set her pen down against her planner. "You'd think you'd have better things than me to talk about when Jace comes to meet you late at night," she remarked pointedly.

"You tell him and Simon everything about me too, you have no right to talk," I said and stuck my tongue out at her, although her wordshadmade that dumb blush rise to my face.

She scowled back, but I knew that she had forgiven my lack of insight as to her feelings for Simon. She had hidden them very well, in my opinion, so it wasn't totally my fault that I hadn't picked up on them. I smiled to myself as I turned to face the front of the classroom.

Maybe everything wasn't going to turn out as badly as I had thought.


The day passed considerably quicker now that most of the weight of my issue about Isabelle had been lifted off my shoulders. But now there was another problem that I had to face: Simon.

In my hurry to see him, I had arrived for lunch much earlier than usual. It was pretty obvious that he was ignoring my texts and calls, especially since it usually took him no more than five minutes to reply to a message. Thankfully, Simon would be forced to face me at lunch today. I gathered my courage as I walked towards the double doors leading into the cafeteria.

A hand on my arm stopped me just as I reached the doors. I turned, my first thoughts turning to Jace or Isabelle.

It was neither. Surprisingly, it was Sebastian Verlac who had caught my arm. He smiled and jerked his head towards the side of the hall before heading that way. I followed him a little off to the side of the doors, simply just to see what he had to say. All I knew about Sebastian was that his parents were obscenely rich; perhaps even more so than the Lightwoods. The only other thing I knew was that he was one of Jace's friends. Other than that, we had pretty much ignored each other for all of high school.

My curiosity rose. "What is it, Sebastian?"

His smile quirked at the sound of his name, drawing my attention to the confident curve of his lips. It was a very charming smile. "Nothing really, I just wanted to say hi," Sebastian replied. He continued to smile at me, casually sticking his hands into his pockets.

I raised my eyebrows as I waited for him to say something else. Looking at him closer though, a surprising thought struck me.

He's handsome.

I pushed the idea aside as he spoke up once again. "I'm sorry we haven't talked much Clary. I think I'd like to get to know you," he offered, sounding completely sincere.

By this point, I honestly had no clue where he was going with this. I couldn't think of any motive he might have to get to know me of all people. Maybe he was just being genuinely friendly. "Sure, Sebastian," I agreed slowly, trying not to let my surprise show too much.

"I'm glad," he said warmly, flashing another attractive smile. I smiled back, trying to appear remotely normal. "So, I noticed something was up between you and Jace." Of course he would bring it up, "Anything the matter?"

Annoyance prickled somewhere in my head. As cute as Sebastian was, I didn't need anyone else prying into the affairs of my confused heart. "Nah, it's all good now.
I informed him, trying not to sound rude but still dismiss the question. "Thanks though."

I made a move to go back toward the cafeteria, but he put a hand out to stop me. He didn't look too convinced with my answer.

"Okay, but I just want you to know that I'm here for you if you'd like to talk about anything concerning him. I'm probably one of Jace's closest friends." Sebastian threw another gorgeous smile in my direction, yet I couldn't help but wonder how genuine his words were. One of Jace's closest friends, hmm? I couldn't recall Jace talking much about him ever, and he had certainly not made a point of hanging out with him often enough to warrant close friendship.

"I'll keep that in mind," I said sweetly, and pushed past him into the cafeteria.

Well, that was weird.

My confusion with Sebastian, however, was immediately forgotten when I spotted Simon sitting at the table next to Alec. It seemed that everyone else still hadn't made it. Perfect.

I practically ran to take the seat next to Simon, smiling brightly in response to his surprised face. Alec seemed to be studiously ignoring us, as if he knew all about the tension between Simon and me.

Then again, knowing the gossipy habits of our friends, he probably did.

Once I had settled into the chair, Simon angled himself away from me like a little kid avoiding eating his vegetables. I scoffed and leaned forward on my folded arms so that my face was in his line of vision. I waved in his face, but he kept his gaze fixated on a spot on the opposite wall.

It wasn't until Jace appeared carrying his lunch to the table that Simon made any sort of noticeable reaction. As Jace sat down, Simon nodded his head and said "Hey," to which Jace responded with a nod and "hey," of his own.

Looking between the two, I made a comment that wasn't entirely aimed at anybody, "What's with the 'hey' thing?" I mused, partly to make conversation and partly because I was actually wondering.

Simon raised an eyebrow, "What 'hey' thing?"

I was thrilled that he had made a normal response, but I tried to hide my glee, gesturing toward Jace and back to Simon. "You know, the 'hey' thing guys do. Like when you saw Jace you said 'hey' and he said 'hey' back," I explained. "What's wrong with hello?"

Simon sighed. "'Hello' is too girly," he said, his tone making it seem as if it should be obvious. "Real men are terse. Laconic."

I was far too excited that he was taking part in a conversation with me. "So the less you say, the manlier you are?" I clarified.

Simon nodded. "Exactly. That's why when badasses great each other in movies, they just nod. The nod means, 'I am a badass, and I recognize that you, too, are a badass,' but they don't say anything because they're Wolverine and Magneto and it would mess up their vibe to explain."

"You realize no one else but you two reads comics right? We have no idea what you're talking about." Jace looked between me and Simon with an unreadable expression.

"Good." I responded and smiled at Simon. A small smile found its way to his face and my spirits were automatically lifted. Maybe things in between our friendship weren't so hopeless after all.

"I'm glad to see that everyone's smiling."

We turned towards Isabelle as she came to take her seat next to me. I was worried for a second that she would be upset at seeing me and Simon together, but she nudged me with her shoulder to express her approval and smiled.

"Hate to interrupt the sunshine and puppies, but is there any reason for Sebastian to have his eyes locked on you, Clary?" Jace said, though something in his tone a little off. His gaze was still on his food, so I turned around in confusion towards where Sebastian usually sat.

Jace was right; Sebastian had been looking at me. When he saw me looking back, he gave a little wave, sending yet another brilliant smile. I waved back in slight disbelief and turned back toward Jace.

"I'm not sure?" I said, unable to make it sound like it wasn't a question. "He did try to initiate conversation with me today though," I remarked. "It was kinda weird."

"Oh?" Jace's eyebrows rose in faint surprise. "And what was it that he said?"

The blush that followed my memory of the conversation made Jace's eyes narrow suspiciously. I fumbled for an answer before he could assume anything. "Nothing really, he just said he wanted to get to know me," I assured him.

Simon snorted. "Yeah, get to know your-,"

Isabelle interrupted before he could finish sharing his no doubt lovely idea. "Be careful of him, Clary," she warned me seriously. "The Verlacs are family friends so I've known him for a while, and I'm not entirely sure how much I trust Sebastian. Or any of Jace's friends for that matter."

"Touché," Jace muttered.

I rolled my eyes but gave her a reassuring smile nonetheless. "Don't worry Isabelle, I'll be fine."

"Okay, Clary," she said, but doubt still clouded her expression.

I wasn't sure what she was worried about; as handsome as Sebastian Verlac was, he was definitely not my type. It wasn't like I was going to be falling for any guy anytime soon, either. I had kinda just realized that I was in love with a certain somebody, which wasn't exactly something I felt I would get over quickly.


When I got home, my mother was nowhere to be found. The door to her studio stood ajar, the room empty and quiet.

I shrugged any worry aside; chances were that she was taking a nap or had gone out for some groceries. I set my backpack on the kitchen table as I always did and perused the cabinets for a quick snack.

Once I had settled with some brownies and a glass of milk, a stack of mail caught my attention. That was unusual; my mother usually kept the mail in her office after she finished reading it.

The envelope on top was the only one that had been opened; curiosity brought my hand forward and picked the envelope off of the pile.

The mail had been addressed to the wife of Valentine Morgenstern.

I gasped in surprise at my father's name. When I was young, my mother had forbidden me from speaking of my father and never even mentioned his name. One rainy afternoon, however, I had come across a collection of letters addressed from a man with the name Valentine Morgenstern to my mother while exploring a box in her closet. When she had found me sprawled on the floor with the letters, she had snatched them out of my hand and scolded me for going through her things. Yet, after my relentless questioning, she had finally conceded that the man had indeed been my father.

But what could this new letter have been about?

Just as my shaking hands had begun to pull the contents out of the envelope, my mother had come barging into the kitchen.

"Clary!" she exclaimed when she saw what I had in my hand. Without another word, she hastily took the letter from me.

"Mom, what-," I stared at her angry face in shock; why was she so vehemently against anything related to my father, someone who I knew nothing about?

"Clary, go to your room." She pointed her finger towards the stairs, and I saw that her hands were shaking, her finger quivering in the air.

"Mom, but why-"

"I said your room, Clary." She had closed her eyes and my body unconsciously responded. I picked up my backpack and left the kitchen, still in surprise.

As I got to my room, anger had slowly replaced the surprise. I tossed my backpack onto my bed and paced the room. I had never been sent to my room, even when I was a little kid. Nor had I seen her that angry before…

But she had no right to keep things about my father from me, or to respond in such a way. I just didn't get it.

What could she possibly have to hide about my father?


Sooo.

Thoughts on Sebastian/Clary's dad?

I'll love to know what you think :D

Thanks for all the love, and don't forget to drop a review!

Yours,

~A.W.W