Hey anyone who's still reading!! Sorry it took so long, what's it been, a year? Anyways literally just finished this chapter so enjoy!! Love y'all!
Clary was getting ready for school the next morning. The dinner get-together was this evening and her mother said there was a good chance Clary might see the two older kids at school today. Clary wondered if she would like either of them. The girl didn't look just awful, but she still made Clary uncertain. The boy might not be that bad. Clary sighed, she would have to do her best to make friends with one of them. She had promised her mother after all.
Clary looked out her window before heading downstairs for breakfast. Surprisingly the new family was already preparing to leave. The older boy, Clary had learned his name was Alexander, was chasing Isabelle around trying to get her into the car. Clary couldn't help but smile at the scene before her, she'd always wondered what it would be like to have an older brother or sister. Sometimes she got really lonely and wished she had someone to play with.
Alexander had finally caught Isabelle and now playfully dragging her towards the car. Clary couldn't hear any conversation, just giggling and playful squealing. Clary took a mental picture of the two siblings to remember for school. Maybe they would get along after all. Still smiling, she turned and headed downstairs to breakfast. Her mother was fixing pancakes in a last minute attempt to bribe her daughter into being nice at school and at the dinner. Clary didn't really need the bribing, not now anyways, but she was definitely not turning down pancakes.
After Clary had been dropped off at school by her dad she headed up to the third grade room. Most of the kids were already there including Isabelle and Simon. Simon was practically the only kid in school that didn't tease Clary about being a midget, (well, him and Magnus Bane) and he was probably the closest person Clary could call a friend besides Jace. Simon always sat with her at lunch since the first day of kindergarten and they both shared a mutual love of Star Wars, manga, and a few other things most people would consider geeky.
At the moment Simon was in the corner reading a comic book and Isabelle was saying hi to everyone. Clary could see him peeking out from behind his comic book every once in a while and she realized he wasn't actually reading it, but more spying on Isabelle. Clary wondered what he thought of the new girl, who as it seemed, had no trouble making friends with everyone else in the classroom. She also wondered if the black haired girl would even bother to 'waste her time' on Simon, who appeared to be in a sort of daze. Perhaps he liked Isabelle, she was pretty enough. Clary didn't know what she thought of that yet.
The teacher came in asking everyone to take their assigned seats and then introduced Isabelle (or Izzy, as she liked to be called) to the rest of the class. Clary didn't know if it was a curse or blessing that Izzy was assigned the desk between her and Simon in the front. At least she seemed friendly enough, and Alec had looked decent, so how bad could Izzy be?
Izzy, as it turned out, was very smart and quite social. She loved to answer questions and was usually right. Most answers also came with a very amusing anecdote involving how she knew the answer, several of them embarrassing stories about her older brother Alec. Izzy was polite and not afraid to get an answer wrong, though Clary did catch Simon whispering the answer to her a few times. It was harmless enough that she decided to leave it alone.
By the time lunch came around Clary was willing to ask Izzy if she would like to sit with her and Simon (and sometimes Magnus Bane) when Izzy walked strait over to Clary and announced (and slightly demanded) the she and Clary sit together (Simon was of course invited too, surprisingly by Izzy herself). The dark haired girl happily flounced over an open table and started to eat her lunch. Clary and Simon followed a bit in delay as Izzy had picked the table in the middle of the cafeteria, very far away from the one they sat at in the corner.
They were quickly joined by Magnus (who seemed delighted that they were sitting at a new table) and Simon's sort of friends (just because they were neighbors) Matt, Kirk, and Eric. Clary wasn't surprised when Alec decided to sit with them and filled the table. Usually it was Clary, Simon and Magnus at best (Matt, Kirk, and Eric didn't sit with them for the most part). Clary learned that Izzy was only a little older than her (they were both nine) and Alec was a year younger than Magnus (Alec was eleven, Magnus twelve). Best of all, Izzy and Magnus quickly hit it off together talking about glitter. (Magnus was a bit odd and had a weird obsession with glitter. He would have been a gigantic target for bullies if it weren't for the fact that his dad was really rich and was always donating loads of money to the school. So Magnus was mainly just left alone).
Clary smiled as everyone seemed to be getting along. She quickly filled Simon in on the new family and that her parents used to go to school with their parents. She would occasionally talk to Simon or Magnus if she was particularly bored.
Izzy would definitely make things a whole lot more interesting. For one thing Izzy easily could have been in the more popular group. She had a fun bubbly personality and was very likable. Instead she was sitting here with Clary, Simon, and Magnus, who had to be the three biggest social outcasts in the entire school. The fact that Izzy was "wasting her time one them" as some people would say was impressive even to Clary.
After lunch was recess, which was spent mostly talking. Clary wasn't that athletic and neither was Simon nor Magnus. Matt, Kirk, and Eric left them, but they weren't more than good acquaintances with Clary so she really didn't care. Izzy and Alec on the other hand seemed to be very athletic.
Izzy seemed to be more hyper than her brother, so she occupied herself on the monkey bars. Alec liked to climb really high and just sort of sit there as if he were scouting the whole area. Simon, Clary, and Magnus sat off a little more close to the side in the shade and were eventually rejoined by the two siblings.
Clary learned that the little boy she had seen earlier was Alec and Izzy's baby brother Max, he was two but people often thought he was younger because he was so small. Clary could relate to that, she thought. Everyone always thought she was at least two years younger than she actually was. Alec had asked if she was in an advanced class or something and a look of mild surprise crossed his face when Clary told him she was the same age as his younger sister.
According to Alec, their mother Maryse, was going just as nuts over the dinner tonight as Jocelyn. Izzy said their mom was always like that and didn't see what Alec was talking about. Both confirmed that apparently their parents had been really close when they were younger. Izzy said she wished the grownups would just go out to eat and leave them with Alec as a babysitter or something. Clary had to admit it sounded better than having the whole Lightwood family over at her house.
The rest of the day went well. Simon, Izzy, and Clary all made fast friends. Clary liked it because Izzy did most of the talking, Clary could stay quiet and listen as Izzy happily chatted away. At pick up Izzy waved and said "see you later", Clary gladly returned the gesture. She also got a better look at Izzy parents. Maryse look a lot like her daughter and Robert looked similar to Alec.
Luke told Clary he was proud of her for getting along with the Lightwood children and when Clary got home Jocelyn seemed like a giant weight had been lifted off of her when she was told Clary seemed to be making friends with Alec and Izzy. Then she made Clary sit still while she curled and groomed her daughter's hair before making Clary wear a dress, something that Clary rarely wore because she didn't like them.
Clary didn't like getting dressed up, especially since she didn't get the point. She was already getting along with Izzy, why was her mother punishing her further? Clary was far from a girly-girl that Izzy was and sitting still while her mother dressed her up was not Clary's idea of fun. She didn't see why Jocelyn was so worried about making a good impression on people who were supposed to be her old high school friends and considered holding her breath until she passed out, just to spite her mother. That however, would not be well received by her father so she didn't do it.
Jocelyn had been cooking all day while Luke was at work, he owned a small bookstore and Jocelyn was a stay-at-home mother who made extra money painting (she also had money from her family, but Clary was less aware of that). There was a chicken, and potato salad, peas, salad, a million other things and a buttermilk pound cake for dessert. To say Clary was impressed was an understatement. She had never seen so much food in her life, specifically because her mother wasn't one for cooking. She must really be trying to impress these old friends of hers. At least Clary had gotten pancakes and a cake out of it in one day.
The Lightwoods arrived at five thirty, Izzy skipped in, the skirts of her dress swirling around her. Alec, on the other-hand, looked like he had been forced through the same torment as Clary of being sat in a chair while being groomed by his mother. His hair, which had been rather messy at school, had been combed and even gelled. He had also been forced to wear clothes that he didn't wear every day, as his shirt and pants looked new unlike the ones he wore to school where frayed and had holes in them that were not stylishly put there (Clary only knew this stuff because of Magnus).
Max was indeed very small, if Clary didn't know how old he was and saw him tottering around the yard earlier she wouldn't have guessed the little boy was older than a year old. Alec was holding him and the little boy was looking around curiously with wide eyes.
Dinner didn't start until six so Clary took the Lightwood kids up to her room. Izzy, being slightly nosy and maybe a little entitled, made herself at home and poked around in Clary's stuff, briefly searching through her closet and examining the objects on her side table. Alec did nothing to stop her and sat down in the middle of Clary's floor, looking around in his own way of examining her room.
"You have a lot of books," Izzy remarked, having now made her way to Clary's bookshelf. "All of Harry Potter and the Lemony Snicket books. Oh! And The Magic Treehouse! I love those! Laura Ingles Wilder, The Chronicles of Narnia, the Grim brothers. A bunch of… comic books? You're a nerd like Alec."
"My dad owns a book store," Clary explained. "And I'm a geek." Not that she expected Izzy to know the difference. The other girl didn't even care and went on to explore Clary's art stuff. She didn't really like Izzy looking through her stuff, but she did put it back and didn't look through Clary's art book, though she did look through the pictures laying on Clary's desk.
"You're really good," Izzy said, picking up the picture of a squirrel Clary was working on. "Alec can kind of draw, he's more into the adult coloring books. I don't have the patience for them." She made a slight face and went back to looking at the pictures.
"My mom's an artist, my dad says I got it from her." Clary said starting to feel a little uncomfortable with how far Izzy was pushing.
Thankfully Izzy let it drop and started talking about herself. "Dad says I'm a lot like Mom when she was younger. We don't know what happened to Alec, he's just like that." There was a protesting indignant sound from said brother but Clary couldn't help but agree. Alec's quiet demeanor didn't seem to match either of his parents.
"Does Max match anyone?" Clary asked more as a joke as the little boy was only two.
"He's kinda like Alec," Izzy said surprisingly. "Quiet and observant, though more friendly and less grumpy."
Alec let out another sound of protest except it was followed by talking this time. "I am not grumpy," he said defensively.
"Yes you are," Izzy argued. "See, that right there is grumpy. Maybe if you smiled a little more-"
"I smile plenty!" the older brother interjected.
"I saw him smile when he was chasing you around the front yard this morning," Clary put in. both siblings looked at her startled. "I can see your front yard from my window," she quickly added. Alec and Izzy looked through the window, a perfect view of their front yard. Izzy suddenly squealed with delight.
"We could send each other messages! My window's actually right there!" she exclaimed pointing.
"But they're not close enough for you to read anything unless you hung up a banner. And you would have to yell to hear each other." Alec observed making Izzy frown.
"Oh you're not fun!" Izzy said slightly sulky now. "You always ruin everything with your logic."
"What about Morse Code?" Clary suggested. "We could have lights in our window."
"Izzy only knows S-O-S," Alec said monotonously. Izzy, on the other hand, seemed enthralled by the idea.
"But Alec knows it! And he's pretty good at reading it too! Learned it in Boy Scouts before Mom and Dad pulled him out."
Clary wished she could raise an eyebrow in question, but it was a feat she had yet to overcome. Instead she decided to just ask. "Pulled out?"
"The scout master called Alec gay after he learned Alec could braid hair. And he only knew that because he was trying to figure out why Alec was better than his son at knot tying. Alec got beat up by the other boys and when Dad found out he was furious."
Clary must have looked horrified because Alec quickly input, "Don't worry, I didn't like it anyways. And after that Dad made it his job to teach me all the manly things I need to know. And I don't have to sell popcorn anymore."
"Yeah, no one likes popcorn," Clary agrees. "My dad's a Boy Scout leader. You could join their troop if you wanted. Simon's in it, and Eric, Kirk, and Matt, and surprisingly Magnus, along with a few other boys. My mom wants to start a Girl Scout troop but no one's really interested."
"I'm a Girl Scout!" Izzy cried happily. "Tell your mom I'll be her first member, I thought I would have to miss cookie season this year."
"Izzy was the top seller in the county last year," Alec informed her. "She's rather competitive."
"Then she'll be glad to know there's only going to be one other rivaling troop here. Camille Belcourt's mom mad a daisy troop back in kindergarten and she only allows rich snobby girls in, that's the main reason my mom wants to start a troop but Camille's put everyone off to the idea."
"Well that means we have to make a troop and beat their snooty little butts!" Izzy declared as if declaring war. Clary could see what Alec meant by competitive.
"Guess I have no choice now," Clary joked to Alec who nodded seriously.
"Clary! Dinner!" her father called from downstairs.
Izzy skipped downstairs and proudly announced that she and Clary were going to form a Girl Scout troop and Alec would join Luke's troop. Clary and Alec looked at each other, sharing a look not being able to back out now. All the grownups were quite pleased with this and lead on a long discussion over dinner excluding the children about the subject of troops.
There was a lot of catching up to do and after dinner, Clary took Izzy and Alec to the back yard, after being allowed to change into pants. She wanted to take them to the clearing where she met Jace, but it almost felt like betraying Jace. She didn't know why, it's not like Jace would be there. Pushing it aside, Clary walked into the woods and towards the clearing.
Once there Izzy made herself busy quickly scaling a tree. Clary wondered how Izzy could be so graceful and nimble in a dress. Alec sat in the middle of the clearing like he had in her room and looked around. "This is nice, do you come here often?" Izzy asked, her legs dangling from a tree branch. Clary looked up at the impressive height Izzy had managed to climb in such a short time, and the more impressive feat of not being dirty in the slightest.
"She does that," Alec said from behind her. "It's like magic, but she never gets dirty."
"I'm pure of heart, it repels the dirt," Izzy claimed proudly.
"That doesn't work for me," Clary said and Alec laughed.
"So you come here often right?" Izzy asked again and Clary nodded.
"Cool, this is our new hang out," it was said so finally that Clary couldn't find a way to argue.
"She does that too," Alec said.
Clary's head swirled for a second. She had chosen to bring them out here. But what about Jace? Would he trust her if she brought other people out to their spot? It wasn't even their spot, and it was only Izzy and Alec. Still, Alec was the type to immediately tell a parent.
Clary inwardly groaned and nodded her head. "Sure, that sounds awesome."