Chapter Two:
Clary and Jace were never meant to be friends. They ran in two different circles in school. Jace was the popular kid who was the star soccer player who could do whatever he wanted in life. Clary was the art girl who didn't socialize with many people. She had Simon, and that's all she needed in life.
Clary couldn't wait for the day she could graduate and move to England and pursue her art career. She wanted out of this town, this state, this country and she was counting down the days until that happened.
Jace didn't know what he wanted to do with his future. He knew he didn't want to stay where he was, but he also didn't know where he wanted to go. Life was a giant grey area for him, and he knew he should figure out what he wanted to do, but he just really wasn't sure.
Jace was sitting in English class and not paying attention at all. He didn't care about the Canterbury Tales, all he could think about was the game that was tomorrow. He was staring out the window when he heard his name being called.
"Do you know the answer Jace?" The teacher asked, and Jace just sighed and rolled his eyes.
"No." He simply said.
"Were you even paying attention?" The teacher asked him.
"Not really." Jace said and she rolled his eyes.
"Detention Jace. After school today, I have a job for you to do." She said and he nodded. The rest of the class went by quickly, and when the end of the day Jace met his teacher in her classroom. "Nice of you to join me, as you know I am also the art teacher here, and I have a meeting with the teachers and no time to clean up the art room today. Would you mind helping me out?" She asked and Jace just nodded his head. He made his way to the art room and was surprised to see that it wasn't empty. Sitting at a canvas was a redhead that looked lost in thought as her brush moved effortlessly across the blank sheet. Jace cleared his throat and she jumped and turned around.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Detention. Mrs. Caroli asked me to clean up the art room for her while she's in a meeting." Jace said. She looked at the clock and cursed.
"I didn't realize it was so late." She said as she started cleaning up her area.
"You don't have to do that." Jace said and she looked at him. "It's my job to clean up after all."
"I don't mind. I made quite the mess." She said as he grabbed some paintbrushes and they both headed over to the sink. "How about you hand me the brushes and I'll rinse them off?"
"Sounds like a plan." He said as he started collecting more. Clary wasn't thinking properly and pushed her sleeves up over her elbows so they wouldn't get wet. She was humming to herself when Jace came over and handed over a few more brushes. He was about to turn around when he saw the faint marking of scars running along her arms. Left and right, were both marked with similar lines that looked old. He didn't know much about Clary, only that she was really into art, but this spiked his interest. He was curious what had happened to cause such marks and if it was still going on or if it was in her past.
It was weird to Jace, to be in a room with a girl and she wasn't shoving her boobs in his face, or swooning, or trying incredibly hard to flirt. Clary didn't once bat her eyelashes at him, or voluntarily lick her lips, or giggle at everything he said. He found her company quite calming and familiar, almost like they had met in a past life or something. He decided that he wanted to keep this going, and that Clary would be a good person to get to know, and he planned on getting to know her.
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Music was blaring in Izzy's ears as she walked through the halls of Idris Area High School. She was waving to her 'friends' and all her admirers. She knew she was pretty, and she knew how to use it when she wanted to get her way. On any normal day she would stop and flirt, and gossip with all her friends, but today wasn't that day. Izzy had gone out partying a couple nights ago and hooked up with a random guy. She was having fun, living her teenage years the right way, and she didn't care what people thought of her, because everyone loved her.
Izzy had everything going for her in life, but when she had a pregnancy scare, suddenly her whole perspective of life changed. She could be carrying another life in her right now, with a guy she didn't even know, or remember his name, and that was a scary thought for Izzy. She didn't want that, at least not yet. Settling down was something Izzy only thought about sporadically, she wanted to start a business, and get her life together before she even thought about anything that involved a man. Of course finding a man that would be able to handle Izzy's attitude, and high maintenance personality, and drop dead gorgeous looks was a problem. No guy ever showed interest in her, but in her looks, or her status, or in who her parents were. Which is why Izzy kept her heart guarded. She wasn't going to let some guy walk into her life, make her feel like a princess and than completely crush her, nope, Izzy wasn't about to let that happen. She was independent and she didn't need anyone who didn't need her.
Simon was probably the nerdiest guy you'd ever meet. He wore gamer t-shirts, and glasses, and he played D&D, and he was in a god awful band that had a new name every week. His only friend that was of the opposite gender was Clary, and she was like a sister to him. Although he didn't have a lot of social skills when it came to girls, he understood them. Growing up with a sister, and a mom, and having Clary as a best friend gave him a lot of practice with understanding and helping them. He certainly wasn't the person that you'd expect to know exactly how to get a girl to laugh after she just cried for 3 hours, but he could do it, and when Simon saw Izzy sitting under a tree looking very alone and sad, he decided that the worst thing that could happen was she asked him to leave, and he walked over to her. She looked like she was inside her own head, and when Simon cleared his throat and she looked at him, he knew this was probably a terrible idea.
"Why are you sitting with me?" She asked in a very judgmental tone, which didn't catch Simon off guard, but that didn't mean it wasn't hard to hear.
"You looked like you had something important on your mind, and I thought maybe you'd like to talk about it." Simon said and Izzy laughed.
"The last person I'd talk to is you Sherwood." Izzy said and Simon sighed.
"It's Simon, but I thought I'd ask." Simon said as he got up. "I hope whatever's bothering you works itself out." He said as he walked over to his car. He pulled out of the parking lot leaving a confused Izzy. She knew she was rude to him, but she didn't really care. How she felt wasn't an open invitation for nerds to talk to her. After another 20 minutes Izzy got up and went to her car and made the drive home. She went straight up to her room and avoided any type of conversation with her family, right now she just wanted to be alone, and to forget that she thought she as pregnant, she wanted to leave that wild life behind her. She didn't want to feel like this again, and she was certain that no matter what happened in life, she would never be 'that girl'.
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Alec had always been the black sheep of his family. Izzy had the role of 'daddy's little girl' down to a science, Jace was adopted and for some reason his parents felt the need to give him more attention because of that fact, and Max was the baby. Alec was always just there. He would watch out for Izzy when she decided to get wild, or back Jace up when he was about to get in a fight with someone, and he watched Max whenever his parents asked.
When Alec graduated high school and went off to college it was a whole new world. He didn't have to be responsible for anyone but himself, and he didn't have to hide who he was. He could be whoever the hell he wanted to be without any repercussions if anyone found out from his family. Alec loved college, and he loved being independent of his family, and the fact that he had Magnus was a plus as well.
The day Magnus saw Alec on campus he was captivated. He would get lost in his sapphire blue eyes, and his fingers wanted nothing more that to grab his jet black hair and kiss him until he couldn't breath. The first time they spoke it had been the dumbest conversation. Magnus asked his if he like cheese, and they talked about cheese for a good 10 minutes. When they had to go in different directions for class, Magnus couldn't get the smile off his face, he liked Alec, and he knew that he had some effect on him as well.
They flirted for a couple weeks, and one night Magnus saw Alec taking a walk at night and he decided to join him. After walking in silence for a couple minutes Magnus couldn't take it anymore and kissed him. It was the most spectacular kiss either one of them had ever experienced and they couldn't get enough of each other. They would sneak around the library, or find an empty room on campus to make out in. It was all very new to Alec, but he was lost in the euphoria of Magnus Bane and he never wanted it to stop.
Magnus knew that Alec was new at expressing his sexuality to people. He assumed that he was still in the closet at home, and that finally being able to be true to himself was exciting and invigorating. Magnus knew that this wouldn't last long. He knew that being involved with a closeted guy was going to be hard, and infuriating at time, but Magnus couldn't get enough of Alec either. His lips were like ecstasy and he was addicted.
It was a normal Tuesday and Alec and Magnus were both done classes, and Alec's roommate was gone for the rest of the night so Magnus and Alec were making out on his bed. They were getting hot and heavy when a knock on the door broke them apart.
"Shit. I forgot my parent's were stopping by tonight." Alec said as he pushed Magnus off of him. He fixed his clothes and tried to fix his hair when another knock sounded at the door. Magnus sat down and sighed. Alec opened the door and there stood Maryse, Robert, and the youngest Max. "Hey guys."
"Alec!" Max yelled and launched himself at Alec.
"Hey Max, you ready for that soccer game tonight?" Alec asked and he nodded enthusiastically. "It's good to see you guys."
"You too Alexander." Maryse said and Alec nodded. "I didn't realize you had company." Maryse said as she eyes Magnus over Alec's shoulder.
"Yea, I forgot you were coming. That's my friend Magnus, we were just studying." Alec said quickly.
"Oh, are you both studying the same thing?" Robert asked and Alec shook his head.
"No, he is a fashion major." Alec said. "We both have tests at the end of the week, and decided to study together so we would motivate each other to not give up and take a nap." Alec said nonchalantly. Lying was so easy for Alec because he had been doing it for years.
"Very well, we should get going. We don't want Max to be late. It was wonderful seeing you Alexander." Maryse said. "Nice meeting you Magnus."
"You as well Mrs. Lightwood." Magnus said. They all said goodbye and Alec shut the door and took a deep breath.
"That was close." Alec said as he smiled but Magnus was less than thrilled. He grabbed his back and grabbed his coat. "Where are you going?"
"I'm leaving." Magnus said.
"Why?" Alec asked confused.
"I can't be involved with a closeted gay Alec, I've done it before and it's not easy or fun."
"Magnus." Alec started but Magnus cut him off.
"Alec, I like you, a lot. These last few weeks have been amazing, but I just can't do that again. I can't pretend."
"I'm not ready to come out yet Magnus." Alec said and Magnus walked over and put his hand on Alec's cheek.
"Call me when you are Alec." He said and he walked to the door and left leaving Alec crushed and confused. He liked Magnus and he liked being around him and kissing him and being able to be himself with him, and he just lost that.
Alec didn't even know where he was going but he couldn't stay in his room. He grabbed his keys and his wallet and threw on his coat. He started walking down the street and when he found a bar he went inside. He wanted to forget that Magnus left him, and that he was too cowardly to come out to his parents, and that he wasn't truly happy with hiding but it was all he knew. He downed his first 4 shots without a second thought and his mind started becoming fuzzy, and that's exactly what Alec needed.