CHAPTER 25

Izzy didn't leave Clary's side until lunch. They sat down with Simon. Alec and Magnus were not around. Clary was really jumpy. She knew that Izzy was going to tell Jace what happened with Sebastian.

Izzy and Simon had their hands on the table, their fingers interlocked. Clary looked at them suspiciously. "Are you official yet?" she asked. Clary thought it was adorable when they both blushed and nodded. Clary smiled. They deserved each other. Simon would respect Izzy and she would kick his ass if he didn't. Surprisingly, they made the perfect couple.

The first few minutes of lunch were boring. Clary just stared at the wall, dreading the moment when Jace sat down, and for good reason. Before Jace had even placed his lunch on the table, Izzy's hand was out of Simon's grasp and slamming on the table. "Are you stupid Jace? Don't even answer that, I'll do it for you. You are and idiot Jace. A total idiot!" Clary was worried that people would hear Izzy shouting, but they were all engaged in their own conversations.

"What exactly did I do?" he asked.

Izzy was furious. "You left Clary alone after first period and Sebastian decided to stop her in the hallway!" Izzy was pointing fingers at Jace all the while.

Jace's head snapped towards Clary. "Clary, you said your class was right across the hall! You saw him?" he asked. Clary nodded and tried to avoid the look he was giving her. "What did he say? Did he hurt you? I know I promised Clary but I can't do this anymore! Where is he?" Jace said standing up from the table.

Clary grabbed his arm and pulled him back down into his seat. "It was across the hall, but I had to go to my locker. Yes I saw him Jace. He was being an asshole as usual. I'm not hurt, just a bruise on my wrist and I swear on the angel Jace, if you go after him I will move away and never talk to you again and I'll have Jon beat you up!" Clary could feel tears forming. She pushed them away.

Jace sighed. "Let me see your wrist" he said in an annoyed tone. Clary groaned and held out her hands. "Which one?" he asked. Clary pointed to the wrist that Sebastian had grabbed. Jace carefully pushed her sleeve up and gasped. Clary looked down. Her wrist had gotten worse since this morning. She pulled her other sleeve up and compared the two.

The wrist that Sebastian had grabbed was a lot darker and the bruise continued to fade up her arm a little. It didn't help that Sebastian had wiped off any makeup that was there, clearly exposing the color of her bruise.

Jace slammed his fist into the table making everybody jump. "Clary, how you expect me to just sit here and do nothing?" he looked like he wanted to punch something. Probably Sebastian, Clary thought.

"I know it's hard Jace, but I need you to stay calm. You can just hit him at football or something. It'll be pretty obvious that something is wrong if you just beat him up and Jon will get curious. Please Jace, I would do it for you" she pleaded.

Jace looked into Clary's emerald eyes. They were filling with tears and longing for his agreement. Jace sighed. "I want to know exactly what happened" he said.

It was Clary's turn to sigh now. "After you left, I went to my locker. I was walking away when I walked into somebody and dropped all my books. They helped me pick them up and by that time, the halls were empty and class had started. When I realized it was Sebastian in front of me I tried to run, but he grabbed my wrist. He saw me flinch and he found my bruises. He told me that he liked leaving marks on me and he pinned me against the lockers. His hands were going up my shirt and I could feel him about to kiss me. That's when Izzy came and kicked his ass. She took me to class and followed me around all day" Clary looked up.

Everybody was staring at her. She hadn't told Izzy what Sebastian had said so they were all in shock. Jace was the first to speak.

"How come Izzy gets to beat him up?" Jace asked. Clary could tell he was jealous.

Izzy stepped in and answered. "Because unlike guys, girls don't need reasons to fight. We could say or do anything we want and no guy would be wise to question it. I could argue that I kicked him because I have my period and people would believe me. No guy just attacks another guy. Sebastian would know what you were doing Jace" she said.

Jace grinned. "You kicked him?" he laughed.

Izzy nodded. "Right in the sweet spot. It was a pretty good hit too" she said proudly.

"Well at least we know somebody can beat his ass. So how are we going to make sure that Sebastian doesn't get Clary alone? Should we all take a Clary shift?" Jace asked.

Clary groaned. They were treating her like a little kid, even though she did need protection. It was clear that she could not fight off Sebastian and that he would not stop until he got what he wanted.

Izzy had a plan. "Alright, I got it. Jace will walk her into school and to first period. After class, wait with Clary until I come get her and I will stay with her all day until lunch. I'll walk her to math and Simon can meet up with us after that and take Clary for the rest of they day. We will all meet at Clary's locker after school to walk her out. Sound like a plan?" she asked.

Everybody nodded. They spent the rest of lunch going over their plan and making sure it was impossible for Clary to be alone.

At Jon's Table…

Jon sat down and pulled his lunch out. He was eating in peace while his teammates talked among themselves until Sebastian sat down next to him. "Hey Jon" he said. Jon was hesitant to answer. He remembered Simon's warning that Sebastian was a bastard. He also remembered Izzy's warning to stop being so protective.

"Hey Sebastian" he said. Jon was hoping that their conversation was over, but he did not have such luck.

"So I was talking to coach and he said we qualified for the championship. Our game is Friday." Sebastian said.

"This Friday?" Jon asked. Sebastian nodded.

"Anyways, we are going to win, I'm sure. We need a victory party for afterwards. You should throw it" Sebastian said.

"Don't get too confident. The other team could be good" Jon warned, but Sebastian just waved off the warning. Jon thought about it for a minute. Overprotective brothers don't throw parties where their little sister would be if he knew there would be alcohol and making out all over the place. He could prove to Clary that he wasn't too protective and that he could control himself when he wanted to.

"I'll throw the party" Jon said.

Sebastian grinned. Jon was an idiot. On Friday night, he would be in Clary's house with Clary and everybody else would be too drunk to notice. "Awesome, I can't wait" Sebastian said.