Author's note: Hi there, I am back after a very long time. I was wondering if anyone would like me to continue this story from where it is or if they want me to rework it and go from there. Here is an example of a reworked chapter 1. I did not want to change too much here, but I can try to improve the story by reworking it if that is what you guys want.

Thank you!

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High school can be tough when you are a nerd with virtually no friends. Simon Lewis fit that category perfectly; he had his best friend in the world, Clary Fray, but she was his only friend. One reason for Simon's lack of friends was his extreme sarcasm. Adults usually rolled their eyes whenever he made quips at them, and his peers simply ignored him. Other than Clary, the two had been best friends for as long as he could remember and even, she wasn't amused by his humor some of the time.

Simon's sense of style was also a problem. Instead of searching for presentable clothes, he looked for graphic t-shirts that say things like "Chick Magnet" which tended to cause most girls (especially the popular ones) to avoid him. Even at special events instead of wearing a tux he would wear the graphic t-shirt with a tux on it and jeans. His clothes mainly came from second-hand stores, so they were almost always the wrong size. Simon also did not have the money for new glasses, so he wore a broken pair of glasses duct taped together.

All in all, he had unkempt hair that was long in need of a trim, awful clothes, dorky glasses, and a difficult personality. His appearance alone was usually enough to cause people to avoid him but the few that still tried to talk to him were quick to avoid him after hearing his sarcastic statements.

Clary was the only person who he hung out with at all through the years, which repelled the other girls even more because the two were so close that the student body was under the impression that they were dating every year. Which Simon would not mind at all, but Clary was practically oblivious to this and everything else that had to deal with the other sex. Which was why Simon and Clary worked so well together, they both struggled to get along with other people.

The two met over a decade ago in kindergarten and had hit it off in no time. Their mutual interest in anime, the arts, and comic books kept them together over the years. Ever since, the two regularly had sleepovers (which they still did) and even slept in the same bed until the fourth grade or so.

Tomorrow was going to be a big day for the pair as it was their orientation day as college students at New York University Tisch School of the Arts. While Clary was majoring in art, Simon was majoring in music. It was both of their dreams to pursue a career in the arts and the two ended up choosing somewhere close to home but not too close.

Simon was staying over at Clary's because they were too excited about starting college to sit around in their own rooms.

So, Clary started with a smirk, "How do you think you will fare with the ladies at college? Are you planning on dating a new girl every week?"

At this Simon laughed before responding in a sarcastic tone, "Oh yeah, during my time here I plan on getting to know each and every girl personally, if you know what I mean."

Clary started giggling, "Yeah I can picture it now."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Simon did not like her tone.

Clary shrugged, "Oh come on you know I love you, but to be honest your luck with girls is awful."

Simon knew she was right and let out a sigh, "Well you're not wrong, but it's not like you have had any luck either!"

Clary was silent for a moment, she seemed to be thinking over what to say next. "Oh yeah, well I bet I can get a boyfriend before you end up getting a girlfriend."

"Yeah okay, like that would ever happen."

"Okay, but in all seriousness let's promise that if we do start dating someone that we still look out for each other first alright?" Clary said. Simon's face dropped once he heard her comment, he did not even want to think of her with someone else, it was fine when they were joking around but he wasn't serious. If Clary ended up dating someone, she would probably leave him behind or at least hang out with him way less. If Simon was the one dating Clary, he would not want someone to be spending that much time with her even if they were "just a friend."

Clary picked up on the change in Simon's tone, nudged him with her shoulder and asked, "Hey what's wrong? Are you planning on ditching me for some other girl?"

"No that's not it," Simon clarified. "It's just that dating other people was the last thing on my mind, you know, you and my music are my two main priorities. Once we move into our off-campus apartment tomorrow I was planning on devoting myself to you both." This caused Clary to sigh in relief.

"That's good, I was worried you would be abandoning me for some bimbo. Well not to change the subject, but are you planning on having any live shows in the future, or will I be the only one to have the pleasure of listening to you play your songs?"

"Well to be honest it isn't exactly as simple as it sounds, it is hard to find a venue that will let a solo act like me without a fan base play for them," He explained in an exasperated tone. Was it really too much to ask that he be allowed to play at a local venue? He was even turned down at a few retirement centers, Simon didn't even think they turned anyone away.

Wanting to end the conversation and wrap up the night, Simon gave Clary a kiss on the forehead, "Goodnight Clary."

"Goodnight Simon," Clary said as Simon headed to the spare bedroom where he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the soft pillow on his bed.

Simon awoke the next day to the rattling of his alarm which he had hooked up to the radio so it would play different songs every morning to wake him up. This morning his phone was playing one of his favorites "You Belong with Me" by Taylor Swift. Simon couldn't help but laugh at how an unrequited love song was playing, it was like the universe was poking fun at him and his feelings for Clary.

He haphazardly rolled out of bed before making his way to the bathroom to take a shower. Singing in the shower had become a routine for him, because it passed the time and counted toward practicing his vocal range. Today's song happened to be a new one he had just written called Fragile World.

After showering and drying himself off for a few minutes, Simon grabbed a towel wrapped around his waist and made his way to the door. As he grabbed the doorknob and turned it, he was surprised to see a familiar redhead on the other side of the door who looked equally surprised to see him. His cheeks started turning crimson red and he floundered around looking for the right words to say. The fact that Clary would be up by now was a complete surprise to him since he usually had to shake her awake on school days. Before either of them could say anything Simon bypassed Clary and hurried into the guest room slamming the door behind him.

Oh God he thought, that was probably the most awkward thing that's happened between them in a while. Trying to push the thoughts about the bathroom incident out of his mind he started to change into a cobalt shirt with a picture of a Dalek on it from Doctor Who and a pair of blue jeans. Who said he had no sense of style?

An hour later Clary's mom, Jocelyn, and her husband Luke (who was a father figure to him) had arrived with the moving truck so they could take all of their things to their new apartment in one go. While Jocelyn motioned for Clary to come over and talk to her, Luke walked over to him, "So Simon, when are you going to make a move?"

Simon, who was taking a sip of his coffee, started to choke on it and had a coughing fit for a few seconds. He figured plausible deniability was his best option, "What do you mean exactly?" He was rewarded with a 'you know what I'm talking about look.'

"Obviously I wanted to know when you are planning on making your move on Clary! With the two of you away from prying eyes now you'll have plenty of opportunities to test the waters with her."

"No offense Luke, but your advice kind of sucks, we are going to be roommates now. Do you know how awkward it would be if she turned me down and we had to stay in the same apartment together, not to mention what it would do to our friendship," Simon pointed out with a depressing sigh.

Luke nodded to himself before responding, "Well you never know until you try, and I guarantee that you have a zero percent chance at dating her if you never tell her how you feel, which is definitely lower than the fifty-fifty chance you have of her saying yes to you," Luke countered with a seemingly strong argument.

"Oh yeah, well maybe you're right but that doesn't mean that I have to listen to you now does it?" Simon pouted, "I can always wait and make a decision later on anyway, what's the rush?"

"As your elder and as a wise adult let me tell you this, there are thousands of guys for her to choose from at college. If you don't act quickly, it could very well be too late." With that he walked away and started to help load the boxes into the truck.

Within an hour they had all of the essentials that they would need packed up and ready to go. They had decided that Jocelyn and Luke would unload the boxes in Clary and Simon's new apartment while the two went to orientation.

Looking back Simon wished that he would have listened to Luke's advice, because things changed pretty soon after they made it to orientation.