Hey guys! I'm back with the next installment of "The Truth about Growing Up". Last chapter got 20 reviews, which is amazing! Thank you guys for all your continued support! It means so much to me! To answer last week's question: My top OTPs are Kennash (Reign) Spoby, Haleb, and Ezria (Pretty Little Liars) Katniss and Peeta (Keeta?) and Finnick and Annie (Fannie?) (The Hunger Games) Clace, Malec and Sizzy (The Mortal Instruments) Rose and Dimitri and Lissa and Christian (Vampire Academy) and last but not least, Sydrian (Bloodlines). That one holds a special place in my heart, because MY name is Sydney! Also, this one may not count, but I am in love with the two characters in the novels I'm writing, Sean and Vanessa and John and Audrey. Honorable mentions: Jasper and Alice, Rosalie and Emmett, Carlisle and Esme from Twilight, and any couples in Sarah Dessen books.

Enjoy the Chapter!

Disclaimer: I wouldn't be in high school if I owned The Mortal Instruments.

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Chapter 13:

We were half way back to my house when Clary swore under her breath. She had been silent up until that point.

I glanced between her and the road. "What's wrong?"

She ran a hand over her face. "I am ninety percent sure I left my curling iron on."

"So do you want to go home and – wait, you use a curling iron?"

She waved me off with a flick of her wrist. "Just to control some of the most unruly curls. Yes, I would like to run home first."

I made a sharp left turn onto a side road, cutting off a minivan whose owner honked at me. "Sorry!" I called, even though I knew they couldn't hear me. Clary's house was only a couple of roads over from where we were now. It only took about two minutes to get there.

Clary was too busy fumbling with her keys to notice that there was already a car parked outside her house. My eyebrows knit together. That wasn't Jocelyn or Luke's car. "Clary-"

She finally looked up and cut me off. "Jon!" she squealed. She was out of the car almost before it was fully stopped.

I hurried after her. Her brother was home? "I thought he was at college in Pennsylvania?"

Clary ignored me and burst through her unlocked door. Jon was sprawled out on the couch and nearly jumped out of his skin when we walked in. "Clary?" he asked. Again, I was ignored. "What are you doing home? Shouldn't you be at school?"

Clary launched herself at him and hugged him tightly. "I could ask you the same! I'm home because….it's complicated. Long story. Why are you home?"

As Jonathan launched into an elaborate story about his school having a mold issue and being evacuated, I made my way down the hall to Clary's bedroom. I wanted to make sure that her curling iron wasn't actually still on. The last thing she needed was a burnt down house. I walked through her room and into her bathroom. The curling iron was not only off, but put away under her sink as well. That girl needed her head checked.

When I walked back into the living room, Clary was sitting on the couch with her head cast downward and Jonathan was standing above her with an angry expression and his arms folded across his chest. What the hell happened while I was gone? "Um, is everything okay out here?"

Clary started to wipe hastily at her eyes. "Everything's fine, Jace. You can go home if you want," she said.

Jon glared at me. I forgot he wasn't too fond of me. "What are you doing here, Herondale? Haven't you done enough?"

"Jonathan," Clary hissed. "That's enough."

I walked over to the couch slowly. "What does that mean?" For Clary's sake, I refused to start a fight.

Jon stepped toward me. He was a few inches shorter than me, but he was much bulkier, where I was leaner. "It means," he spat, "that you got my sister in trouble, and you got her hit by some asshole."

Clary stood and tried to push Jon away, but she was largely overpowered.

"Clary," I said gently. "It's okay. I'm going to head home, okay? Just let me know if you need anything."

Jonathan scoffed and plopped back down on the couch. Clary glared at him and dragged me toward the door by the elbow. "I'll walk you out." She dragged me all the way to my car, and then she let go so she could grab her bags out of the back seat. "He gets me so mad sometimes! I got involved all by myself. You didn't do anything wrong! I don't know why he doesn't like you. I mean, it's not like you ever did anything to him!"

Clary was rambling. "It's okay. Really," I interjected.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Jace. I'll call you later tonight, okay? Maybe we can get some pizza at your house?"

I gave her a small smile. "That would be nice. I'll tell Izzy to grab Simon, and maybe we can even convince Alec and Magnus to come."

She grinned from ear to ear. "Awesome! And don't worry – I won't bring Jonathan."

I laughed. "Good. I don't think Maryse wants to have to clean blood out of her carpet."

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Magnus's tall frame was spread out across the small loveseat, and Alec was sitting on the floor in front of him with about twenty movies laid out. "I don't know! Why do I have to decide?" he was saying.

I rolled my eyes and detached myself from my position in the doorway to the family room. The Lightwood's house was so large that they had a more formal living room, and what they called the family room, which was a living room with a larger TV and more comfortable furniture. "Because" I explained, "you have the most neutral taste out of everyone."

Alec glared at me, though the look contained no malice. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Magnus drawled lazily, "that Jace would pick an action movie, Simon and Clary would pick some Marvel movie, Isabelle would probably pick a Nicholas Sparks movie, and I would pick Mean Girls. God, I love that movie."

I laughed. "Even I'll admit that the movie is funny. Though I couldn't watch it nearly as much as you do."

Alec threw his hands up, promptly cutting off Magnus's reply. "Alright! I'll pick one!" He closed his eyes and ran his hand over the movies like he was picking a tarot card. Suddenly, his hand stopped and he reached down and grabbed the movie beneath it. He opened his eyes and read the title aloud. "Mean Girls."

Magnus had rolled off the loveseat and onto the floor he was laughing so hard. My jaw had hit the floor along with him. "No freaking way. You did that on purpose! There is no way-"

"What are you guys yammering about?" Izzy asked as she skipped in, dragging Simon behind her.

Magnus opened his mouth to explain, but was cut off by another fit of laughter. I rolled my eyes and turned to her. "While Alec was complaining about having to pick out a movie, Magnus and I were discussing the movie Mean Girls. Then, Alec picked out a movie with his eyes closed and just so happened to choose Mean Girls."

Izzy blinked. "That's funny, I guess."

I flicked my wrist at her. "You had to be here."

"Apparently. Well, I love that movie! I haven't seen it in ages!"

Simon rolled his eyes. "I hate that movie. The girls are all awful people! And you made me watch it with you last week!"

Izzy turned toward him and wrapped her slender arms around his neck. "Yes, but we weren't actually watching the movie, so it doesn't count."

Simon grinned and put his hands on her hips.

Before he could say something that would make me gag, I spoke up. "Okay, not in front of us, please! Have you guys heard from Clary? She was supposed to be here like, a half hour ago."

As if on cue, she burst into the room. "I'm sorry I'm late! Jon is home and-"

"Jon's home?" Izzy interrupted. "What's he doing home?"

Clary gave her a sharp look. "I was getting there." Uh oh. Clary was never snappy like that. When she saw Izzy flinch slightly at her tone, she sighed. "Sorry, that was rude. Jon told me he was home because his school had a mold problem and needed to be evacuated. Then, when he tried it on my mom and Luke, they didn't believe it. So, he told them the truth, which is that he dropped out of school."

"What?" Simon and I asked in unison. I tried to ignore it. I didn't like thinking that he and I were thinking the same thing.

Clary flopped down on one end of the couch. "I know! He and my parents have been fighting for a good two hours. I had to leave a note saying where I was going because I couldn't even break in for a second!"

I sat beside her. "Why did he drop out?"

She shrugged. "No idea. I was trying really hard not to get involved."

There was a beat of awkward silence, until Izzy spoke up. "Well, Alec picked out Mean Girls-"

"Not on purpose!"

"-and I'm going to go order pizza. What do you guys want?" Everyone started yelling different things, but stopped when Izzy raised a hand. "I'm getting a large pepperoni, a large meat-lovers, and a large half cheese and half peppers and onions. If you don't like it, you order your own pizza."

With that, she walked out punching a number into her phone.

Simon stared after her. "Isn't she amazing?"

Clary snorted. "More like terrifying." She was acting more like herself by the minute.

Alec got up and put back all the movies except for Mean Girls, which he took out of the case. "What are you doing?" I exclaimed.

Alec froze. "Putting the movie in…?"

"Without Izzy? Are you nuts?" Simon chimed in.

Alec set the movie down. "Sorry! I wasn't thinking. Apparently."

Izzy strolled back in. "They'll be here in about forty-five minutes." She glanced at all of our nervous expressions. "What?"

Simon pulled her down to sit with him on the large recliner. I ignored the fact that she was half in his lap. "We were just talking about how wonderful you are."

Izzy laughed. "Oh, I'm sure you were." She turned to Alec. "What are you waiting for? Put the movie in, dork."

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I'm sorry this is kind of short, and possibly filled with mistakes, but I have midterms the next two days, so I've been studying all day and I am now brain dead. The next chapter will be more of their friends night/possibly triple date. I promise it will be filled with fluff, which I'm sure you guys could use after all the angst lately! As always, I am completely open to suggestions and constructive criticism. Please review and let me know what you thought! I could use some love and smiles during my two days of midterms!

Question: I'm too tired to think of a question, so how about you guys ask me questions? Nothing super personal, or else I won't answer it!

Love always,

YesIWriteForFun

P.S. People keep asking me, and I promise Clace WILL happen! However, this story is about them coming together, so I'm sorry but serious Clace won't happen until closer to the end of the story :(