CLARY'S POV
In art class, they had a substitute. In any other class, Clary loved having subs, just not in art. Subs in art never knew what they were doing and so they never got to accomplish anything. Clary could already tell that today would be no different than any other time they had a sub.
"So your teacher left me instructions," the lady said. Her name was written on the board but all it said was Mrs. M. "She said to draw something in the class with your own sort of twist to it. So you can get out of your seats, listen to music, and talk quietly. I don't care just make sure this is turned in by the end of the period."
Clary sighed as all the other students happily started chatting. Clary tilted her head up so that she was looking at a vent in the ceiling. She began to sketch out that corner of the wall except instead of just doing the vent she added an octopus monster crawling out of it. She was just about finished with the initial sketch of it when her phone went off.
Will: You've got art right now, right?
Clary furrowed her eyebrows and opened the message to reply.
Clary: Yes, how did you know that?
Will: I have connections.
Come out in the hall.
Clary: Why?
Will: Just do it and you'll see.
Clary rolled her eyes but asked to go to the bathroom and left class. Once she was out she looked in both directions down the hall to see nothing. She sighed and took a couple of steps forward only to kick a small, wooden box. Clary lifted it to see that it had her name written on the front. She opened the box slowly to find a necklace sitting atop a note. The necklace was all too familiar.
It was a very small, rusted metal slice of pizza that could be combined with seven others to make one large slice of pizza. They had gotten these necklaces in the fifth grade. Clary had no idea what happened to hers. She pulled out the note and read it to find that it hardly said anything at all.
Remember this? Do you miss it as much as I do?
She wondered who wrote it. It certainly wasn't Will because he hadn't gotten a piece of the necklace. Was it Jace? That would make sense since they were cousins after all. Clary sighed and put the items back into the box. She reentered her class and immediately put it into her backpack.
She remembered the day they had all gotten the necklace very well. Things had seemed like they would last forever back then. If she could go back and tell her 10-year-old self how it would all end in the future she would.
She did miss it all though. Clary jolted up in her seat. Did she just think that? Did she still actually miss all her old friends? She had been trying so hard to convince herself that she didn't. But why? She didn't even know why she didn't want to be friends with them again herself. Clary bent back over her drawing deep in thought. It took her the entire rest of the period until she finally realized it. Her subconscious was on a far deeper level of thinking than she was herself.
MAIA'S POV
At lunch, Maia decided to sit with Jace. She had seen that they had the same lunch period but he was always with his friends and she was always with hers. Today that was going to change. She strolled up to his table and motioned with her hands for some of the boys sitting there to scoot over. When they finally obliged she happily sat across from the golden-boy.
"I've started with Clary," she stated. "How did things go with Alec?"
Jace seemed slightly startled but got over it relatively quickly. "Not good, Jordan struck out at making plans with him. What happened with Clary?"
"I talked to her this morning," she said. "And then I left a little box outside of her art class and had Will text her to find it." Jace was nodding his head appreciatively when Maia spoke again. "And I copied your handwriting for the note."
"What?" He demanded.
"I know some people who went all Veronica from Heathers on it." She shrugged. "All I had to do was show them something that you wrote and boom."
"Okay," he sighed. "But why did you find it necessary to do that in my handwriting?"
"Well, I wanted to see if after all this time she would recognize it and just in case she finds out who wrote it and gets mad." Maia smiled shamelessly.
"Devil woman," Jace sighed. "Why did I ever agree to any of this?"
"Because you looove us," Maia teased and Jace rolled his eyes. "But next I'm going to talk to Magnus and Jordan is going to talk to Isabelle."
"What about Simon?" Jace asked curiously.
Maia waved a dismissive hand. "He's easy, he's always been quick to forgive and forget." Jace just nodded his head with pursed lips like that had been exactly what he was thinking.
"I just want to say thanks, Maia, for trying to help me get my life back on track," Jace said.
Maia just shrugged but was happy. "That's just what I'm here for, Jace."
ISABELLE'S POV
"Izzy!" Isabelle looked around in the crowd of people for who shouted her name. She was just outside the cafeteria when she spotted Jordan pushing past people to get to her. "Hey, Iz." This had been the first time that the boy had actually spoken to her and she was a little shook.
"Hey, Jordan," she greeted back slowly.
He glanced over at the cafeteria doors. "You've got lunch now?" She nodded. "Cool, cool. So, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with Maia and me later. It's been forever since we've seen each other and we were hoping that we could just catch up with you."
Isabelle narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. "Really?"
He nodded. "Yeah, you and Maia used to be super close and I know for a fact that she would really love to just have a talk with you. You know, like a real talk where we can all sit down and get to know each other again."
Isabelle glanced up at the clock. She wondered what class Jordan was supposed to be going to now. "I'll think about it," she ended up saying. "But you should probably head to class before you become late. Bye Jordan."
He smiled despite Isabelle's indirect answer. "Bye Iz." With that, he turned and half jogged off through the dwindling crowd. Isabelle stayed there a moment longer before entering the cafeteria.
Earlier that day Simon had said that she and Magnus were welcome to sit with them. She still felt awkward though. Hopefully today Clary would actually want to talk. With that thought in her mind, Isabelle walked over and took the seat across from Clary.
"Hey, you guys," she said. Clary looked up half startled and Simon smiled at her.
"Hey Isabelle," Simon greeted her but Clary didn't say anything. She just dug around for something in her backpack. Just as Magnus sat down beside Izzy Clary pulled out a small box. She set it down in front of the two who stared at it confused.
"Do either of you," Clary started opening up the box and taking out the items within. "Recognize this handwriting?"
Isabelle didn't even notice the note at first though. She was stuck on the necklace that laid beside it. A wave of nostalgia seemed to punch her in the gut and she forced herself to look away from the friendship necklace. She picked up the note and recognized the handwriting immediately.
"Yeah it's," she started but then hesitated. Isabelle set it down with a sigh. "Yeah, that's Jace's handwriting." She glanced over at Magnus who had the same look of sadness on his face except he seemed to be angry too.
"Where'd you get that?" Mags wondered.
"William texted me earlier," she said clearly upset. "It was sitting outside of my art class and by the Angel, I do not want to hold on to this."
"Why do you think he would leave this?" Simon wondered looking over the note and the necklace. "And why for you out of everyone else?"
"Well that's obvious," Magnus scoffed and everyone turned to him. "Jace had a crush on Clary when we were kids."
"He did not," Clary objected. Magnus just shrugged.
"Yeah, hate to break it to you but he really did. If anything he probably thinks that out of all of us he has a shot at getting Clary back."
"No way in hell," Simon laughed. "Clary practically told him off when he tried to talk to her yesterday. If anything she would be the last of us to befriend him."
Isabelle and Magnus glanced at each other again. "Not," said she, "the last. The last would most definitely be Alec."
"Care to elaborate on that?" Clary asked. "I've tried asking Jace and Maia and no one wants to tell me what happened between the two." She looked exasperated. "So, go on, explain."
"Wait," Isabelle said. "Maia knows what happened? Who told her?"
"Don't try and change the subject." Clary scowled. "Tell me what happened already."
Isabelle sighed giving in. She knew that by telling Clary this it would just make the girl hate Jace all that much more. But she told her. She started at the beginning with Jace making the football team and went all the way down to when Alec and Magnus started dating. She basically explained to them, in detail, their entire Freshman year. They both looked appalled.
By the time the story was over the bell rung. Everyone collected their stuff and began to leave but before they all parted ways Clary stopped Simon.
"I'm probably going to be late to your car today," she said to him loud enough that both Magnus and Isabelle could hear. "There's a certain golden-boy that I need to talk to."
JACE'S POV
"Jonathon Christopher Herondale!" Jace looked up from his motorcycle at the sound of his full name. It came from a familiar voice, so familiar that he was a little scared to look up and see who it was. He took his helmet off his head though, got off his bike, and turned to see Clary storming towards him. She walked straight up to him and slammed a small wooden box down on the seat and looked up at him. "What the hell is this?"
He looked down at the item and raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea," he said running a hand through his hair.
Clary rolled her eyes. She took the helmet out from under his arm and held it back away from him. "You get this back when you tell me the truth."
Jace scoffed. He crossed his arms over his chest mad that she took his helmet. "I am telling you the truth, I have never seen that thing before in my life."
"Open it," Clary said. She held the helmet under her arm now and nodded towards the box. "Go on, open it."
Jace furrowed his eyebrows at her but picked up the small thing and pried open its lid. Inside he found a small note and an old friendship necklace. This must be the box that Maia had been talking about. He read the note noticing that it did look like it was in his handwriting. He closed the box and shook his head. "I didn't do that."
"I'll believe that when pigs fly," she said and then she laughed dryly. "Actually no, I'll believe that when Alec forgives you because that is far less likely to happen than pigs flying."
Jace's mouth parted slightly. "He told you what happened." He guessed quietly.
"No," Clary said. "Isabelle and Magnus did. And I can't believe that you, even this new jock you, would ever do something like that. You are not the person I used to know, Jace. Your Angel wings are wilted."
She threw his helmet down on the ground and began to turn around but Jace caught her arm. "That person," he started when she turned back to him, "that did all that to Alec is not me. I hate him, and if I could go back and change what happened I would."
Clary pulled her arm from his grasp. "That person wasn't you, but I don't recognize this new you so I can't decide if that's who he is now." She walked away from Jace before he could try to stop her again. He watched as she approached a car- likely Simon's- and got into the passenger's side.
Jace kicked the helmet that still laid on the ground. He ran both his hands through his hair before picking up the helmet and putting it back on. He was about to get back on the bike when he noticed that Clary left the box there. He picked it back up and opened it again, this time taking out the note and the necklace. He was about to put them back in when he noticed that someone had written something on the back of the paper.
He looked back up over to where Simon's car was driving away before putting the items back into the box and getting on the bike.
CLARY'S POV
"Are we," Clary started as she entered Simon's room with a bottle of soda in her hand, "going to the football game on Friday? It is the first of the season."
Simon thought about it for a moment. "Well sure if you want, but I mean literally everyone that you don't want to see is going to be there. AKA Jace."
Clary shrugged as she sat down. "It's not like we'll be forced to talk to anyone. It's just that Sebastian has really been bugging me about going to it. He said, and I quote, that if I don't go he will 'take all my art supplies and throw it in a river.'"
"Harsh," Simon commented. "But I guess we can go. It might be fun."
"Alright," Clary said. "That's decided, looks like we're going to the game."
"In the meantime," Simon said taking Clary's soda from her and taking a sip before returning it. "Will invited us out to Taki's later, remember. You wanna go?"
"I don't know," Clary responded wearily. "I think he might be trying to do something because he was the one that texted me about that box that Jace had left for me. What if he invited Jace to Taki's too?"
Simon shrugged. "You could always ask Jem," he suggested. "That boy has an inability to lie."
"Very true, I'll just call and ask him. What time did Will want to meet up?" She asked as she searched for Jem's contact information.
"At four," he replied checking the time on his own phone. It was almost three. "Speaking of time though, I have to meet with somebody at Java Jones soon."
Clary stood up. "What for?" She wondered as she hit call and listened to the ring on her phone.
"A stupid school project, we just have to go over something really fast but I can meet you at Taki's at four." Clary nodded in acknowledgment and understanding. Simon waved bye to her as she made her way out of his room and then the house. Jem picked up before she was out the door.
"Hello?" The sound of his voice was comforting. Jem had always had a sort of aura to him that made him one of the most relaxing people Clary knew.
"Hey, Jem!" She greeted back. "So, I was just wondering about this little get together at Taki's that Will is forcing me to go to. I know Will, and that means that I know he probably has some sort of plan to get Jace and I talking again. So, I just have one question: is Jace invited too?"
Jem was silent for a moment before he sighed and answered. "Yes, Jace was invited to Taki's," Clary scowled into the phone though she knew that Jem couldn't see it. She reached her house but instead of going inside she leaned against her car. "But," the boy continued intriguing Clary, "he suddenly backed out last minute. So, yeah he was invited but no he's not going."
Clary smiled. "Wonderful, that's all I needed to know. I'll see you guys in a bit." She hung up the phone but before she could turn around to get in her car she saw Simon exiting his house. He looked up and saw her standing there so he waved. Clary waved back but she noticed something odd about the expression on his face and the hunch of his shoulders. She'd known Simon all her life and she could tell when something was up with him. Right now, something was definitely up.
SIMON'S POV
He was already there when Simon arrived. Jace had been sitting in a booth staring intently at the door and the moment Simon entered he'd caught his eye. Simon walked over and casually sat across from the blonde. It was strange being this close to him, Simon thought considering they had spoken once since school started and the conversation had lasted all but two seconds before Clary angrily sent him away.
Jace pushed the little box across the table and motioned at it. He seemed exceptionally apathetic, but Simon figured that he was anything but. "So, you were the one that left that little note in here for me," he stated. "Alright, not too surprised, but I won't lie I kind of hoped it had been Clary. Now just explain what the fuck that means."
Simon took out his note and read over it. During lunch when Clary had shown them all the box he had taken the opportunity of hearing her say that she didn't want to keep it to write a note for Jace. He knew that there was a very high chance she would leave it with him. He also knew what he had said in the note. The others had seemed none the wiser but to him, it was pretty clear.
I know you didn't write this.
I know you didn't make this for Clary.
Meet me at Java Jones after school.
And he'd said nothing else. Just that but it had clearly done the trick for here he sat with the expected recipient. Simon knew Jace well enough to know that one, he would never have had the idea to come up with this, and two, even if he did he's not this corny. It was clearly Maia that made it and framed Jace.
"It means exactly what it says," Simon stated with a shrug. When Jace narrowed his glare at him he sighed and continued. "Do you see this little 'X' that's hardly visible in the corner of the paper?" Simon pointed to it showing it to Jace. "That's the signature of the girl that did this. Maia isn't the only one that knows people, okay, this girl has a black market for this kind of shit. And anyway, I figured you probably don't even have your old necklace anymore. That, and passing notes isn't really 'Jace Herondale's thing.' Jace Herondale's thing is more of ignoring you until you finally get peeved enough and go talk to him yourself. At least that's what you were originally trying to do to Clary, wasn't it?"
Jace had raised an eyebrow. He seemed surprised that Simon had figured any of this out. But over the years the boy had picked up a knack for this sort of thing; he could smell a lie from a mile away and could read any person like an open book. Even if they were like Jace: glued shut.
"So, what if I was?" Jace finally said. "It didn't work because I broke down and I talked to her first."
"She meant a lot to you, still does," Simon said it as a statement yet Jace found himself nodding in response anyway. "I want to help you." Jace raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Clary's my best friend, my sister and I want what's best for her." Simon leaned forward on his forearms. "I'm like Nostradamus, alright, I see all, I know all. I can help you if you let me."
"Don't you know about what I did to Alec?" Jace wondered and Simon nodded.
"Yeah, I do and I think you're a pompous jackass who doesn't deserve any friends." Simon glared at Jace and paused before continuing. "But, I have faith that the old Jace is in there somewhere. So far, I've reconnected with Isabelle and Magnus, I plan on trying to talk to Alec but if I have an in with you, I'm assuming that automatically means I have an in with Maia and Jordan, am I wrong?" Jace shook his head slowly. "Exactly, I like to consider myself as a sort of bridge, Jace, because you see I can talk to Clary when no one else can which allows me to connect her to the Lightwoods and although they want nothing to do with you I am now connecting them to you. I am a bridge and you need me." He stood up then. "Now I have to go but think about that for a little while. There are things you didn't know, Jace, things that you should've known."
Without another word, Simon turned and left Java Jones. He could see the shell-shocked look on Jace's face before he went and he knew that the boy wouldn't need to think about it. Simon would be damned if he didn't have their friend group back together within a month.
