I took the bag from Jace's hands and took off in the direction of the stairs. I was leading the Jace in the direction of the roof. It was beautiful up there, the air was clear. There was also the added benefit of it being far, far away from Malec.

Until he wasn't following me anymore.

I whirled around in 2.4 seconds, nearly dropping the food, and was able to push through the crowd easily in my desperation. As promised, Jace was standing just outside the door, his hand on the knob. I set the food down on the ground and prepared to leap.

Jace flicked his head to the side and caught sight of me. Alarm slowly crept into his face. And then the world shot into fast forward. Jace's hand landed on the doorknob and he went to twist it, but by then I had already shot forward and landed in between Jace and the door.

Unfortunately, this was a very tight space.

Jace's nose was less than an inch from mine. I was breathing heavy and he was too. My back was pressed up against the door and it seemed like Jace was getting somehow impossibly closer….?

His hand was still on the doorknob. I don't know why, but somehow I just needed to protect Alec. If somebody disrupted what he had with Magnus now, it would never stay that way. Alec would go into hiding and he'd never let himself be happy with the person he truly wanted.

I flung my head forward and my lips collided with Jace's. The shock was enough to send him stumbling at least a few feet away from the door. At first, the thrill of victory and success coursed through me. But then I realized exactly what I was doing.

I was about to pull away when I noticed something. Jace was kissing me back. His lips were soft but desperate, like he needed this. It was mesmerizing. I'd never be able to snap out of this if –

It was Jace's hands snaking around my waist that was finally enough to yank me out of the dreamlike state. I pulled away and forced a laugh.

"Ha-ha! Guess I just had to see what the fuss was about! Totally underrated!" I choked out the words, but they didn't seem forced.

But Jace's eyes were hazy. He wasn't hearing any of the words I'd said. I couldn't detect exactly what emotions were hidden in his eyes, but there were a lot.

"Jace?" I asked, as if I didn't fully understand the multitude of what I'd just done. But Jace had kissed plenty of girls. Why was I any different?

Jace shook his head aggressively, muttered something that sounded a whole lot like "holy ship" and walked away.

0.o.O.o.0

Jace didn't speak to me for the rest of the night. I didn't even see him. Of course, I left almost immediately. I made my way home and closed the door. My mother wasn't home. I could revel here in my emotions all alone.

It didn't seem like it should be such a big deal. Jace was obviously experienced. All I had done was kiss him –

The revelation came so hard and fast that I sat up straight in bed and gasped loud enough to cover the T.V. show that had been playing.

I'd never been kissed. Never…not until now. I kissed Jace. All because I was trying to protect Alec? That didn't seem right. Shouldn't I kiss someone when I love them? But hadn't it been wonderful? It was great. It was perfect.

It was everything I wanted it to be. Whoops.

But I couldn't tell Jace that. It's not like I wanted to date him. Mildly attractive, remember?

Either way, I probably wouldn't see Jace for another week or so. I know he was always busy with his Modeling Madness. That was fine with me.

I went to sleep happy that night because I'd finally been kissed.

0.o.O.o.0

The next morning was absolutely horrendous. Getting up at five in the morning with a major emotional hangover and still having far too little food for my liking was worse than anything else I could think of.

But somehow, I managed to dress and look appropriate in enough time to eat plenty of food and make it out the door.

At school, things seemed worse than they usually were. People were hectic and silent at the same time. I rolled my eyes and found my way to my locker.

"Hey," Simon said cheerfully as he fell against the locker next to mine, making me jump in shock. "You excited?"

"No," I answered. "Why would I be? It's Monday."

His brows furrowed, but then he seemed to realize something and he started laughing. "Oh, funny."

I looked at him quizzically. "Huh?"

"You're not kidding?" he seemed shocked. "I thought he would've told you."

Just then, a massive noise erupted from the end of the hall. It sounded like the school was suddenly transformed into a concert, or an arena. I turned to find out just what was causing this chaos when –

"No!" I shouted. Your favorite Auro teen model came cascading down the hallway in a white t-shirt, dark jeans, and a leather jacket. Jace was surrounded by a horde of screaming girls (some of which don't even go to my school) who he was trying to politely fend off.

"He really didn't tell you? Jace is coming to our school," Simon explained.

"For how long?" How could he have not told me?

"The rest of the year!"

Okay. Kiss or not, that is definitely something you tell someone who's supposed to be your best friend.

That's when Jace's eyes brushed over mine…and then brushed right off. Like he didn't even know me. Like I was just another face in the crowd.

"Maybe he's like, incognito?" Simon suggested.

"Incognito?" He'd obviously noticed how upset Jace's action had made me. "He's a model, he's obviously not in disguise!"

"Well maybe he's not supposed to know anybody here. After all, you'd get mobbed and most likely murdered if those girls knew you and Jace were close," he did have a point. And Simon was probably right. But I was still mad at him for not telling me about coming here.

I turned around and slammed my locker shut, trying to push through the crowd for my first class of the day.