CHAPTER 2

AN at the bottom! Enjoy…

JACE POV

Those girls had left quite an impression.

Seb had called dibs on Ella, and Simon was looking after Izzy like a lost puppy. They were all attractive; Ella with pristine blonde curls, slate grey eyes, low cheekbones, thin pink lips, slim and tall figure; Izzy with ebony hair, smouldering dark eyes, full dark lips, high cheekbones, slender, model-like figure.

Clary was cute from afar, gorgeous up close. She had hypnotic leaf-green eyes framed by scarlet lashes and eyebrows, pale creamy skin, full pink lips and a perfect cupid's bow, and fiery red hair with streaks of orange, gold and almost pink colours in it. She was petite but very slender with perfect curves. I had decided to watch her for a while, see if she was worthy of the Jace Herondale. If she was, she's mine.

"Yo, Herondale? You in Clary land?"

Sebastian's condescending voice brings me out of my reflection. I thought I had been discreet about my attraction to a certain redhead, but then again Seb had always been able to read me like a book.

"How can I help you, my Lord?" I said, voice dripping sarcasm. I turned to him, my face a carefully blank mask designed to conceal my emotions which worked…. Most of the time.

"We're going to Long Island Sound for the weekend to swim; guy's night - weekend - out." piped up Alec. He ran a hand through his already tousled black hair, looking nervous. Alec had a scar on his chest from his time messing around on motorcycles, which led to a shard of glass from the helmet being lodged in his chest from a nasty collision with a small Toyota. None of the guys apart from me had seen it, and the scar wasn't exactly discreet.

"We're leaving tonight." Jordan informs me as we walk towards Seb's giant Cadillac and my Porsche Carrera in their respective spaces in the school parking lot; right at the front. We got these spaces as a "rite of passage" in our school – date a girl then break her heart. It was nasty, yes, but if you didn't do it then you were shunned forever. I had done mine in freshman year with a girl who moved to England a year ago. Nothing special; we'd dated, then I broke up with her. End of story.

"So you have half an hour to pack clothes for the weekend, towels, trunks, sunscreen and all that jazz - we'll meet at my house before heading off to Idris." finishes Seb. I can't wait – Idris is one of my favourite places in the world; lush green fields, sparkling water, small woodlands, quaint town, nightclub, girls. Maybe that would get my mind off Clary… So I shrugged and said,

"Guess I'd better get on with it."

CLARY POV

I was itching to swim, but there was one tiny problem...

"Are we swimming in the Hudson River?!" I yelped. I'd seen that river from a distance and it looked positively disgusting. There was rubbish, plastic bags, cigarettes and rotten food floating in the water and the water was murky and dark with litter and algae. As a Calypsaï, I swam in nothing but the best. Apparently, the East River was just as bad, if not worse. Ugh.

Ella laughed, her grey eyes lighting up with amusement and surprise at my suggestion. "Hell no! We're going to a place called Idris in Long Island Sound, I think. The water is supposedly fresher there. But if you insist on swimming there, feel free to do so – alone." She teased, winking at me, her dark lashes fluttering.

"Just for the weekend?" Izzy asked. I could tell she was just as thrilled as Ella to be getting out of town, even for just a couple of days. Plane flights don't sit well with us Calypsaï, as our realm is really either fresh water or salt water, preferably not polluted.

"Just for the weekend." Ella confirmed with a smile. "C'mon, c'mon, get packing! Sunscreen, towels, pyjamas, underwear, daywear, and most importantly, TWO-piece swimsuits! Go, go, go!" Ella dashed towards her room, already packing. I plodded up the carpeted stairs to do my least favourite part of the trip; packing.

Izzy followed me up without a word.

"But- but-" I protested. If you have met Isabelle Lightwood/Trueblood, you will know to avoid her when she's packing or shopping if you value your life.

"No buts. I'm packing for you." She got a mischievous smirk on her face that told me to dread this, because it was not going to be enjoyable on my part. We all know how much Izzy loves to play dress up. With me especially.

I sighed. I guess that was that.

SEBASTIAN POV

That Ella was smokin' let me tell you! I noticed Jace gawking after Clary. Man, that boy needs to get laid! Now that he's broken up with Aline (hallelujah to THAT!) he is free to get down and dirty with pretty much whoever he likes. That Clary chic seems pretty cool, and although she's not his usual type, e.g. a whore, he will probably benefit from someone who counteracts his… er, jerkiness. Hopefully.

Now don't get me wrong, I think Jace is great, having known him my whole life I know Jace is great, but he needs to settle down at some point, preferably with someone level-headed and down-to-earth like Clary. She is ideal.

I was currently packing my blue board shorts with QUIKSILVER written repeatedly in increasingly dark shades of blue the nearer the bottom the lettering got. I had already packed my multicoloured purple, yellow, green and red shorts. I didn't bother with many boxers - just one for the night (I'll wear my shorts during the day.) What can I say, I'm a guy. I grabbed two wife beaters in white and in yellow, sunscreen, a towel, deodorant, tooth brush and tooth paste, and I was set to go.

"Jordan! Simi! Let's move!" I hollered down the stairs. Luckily they were ready and waiting in the living room, with duffel bags at their feet and converses on.

We left for the Cadillac and waited for Jace, Alec and Jon to arrive, but knowing Jace we'll be here for a while.

ELLA POV

"Jesus Izzy! I am NOT bringing that!" I heard Clary scream.

I chuckled quietly. Although Clary did lack a fashion sense, she was being brutally attacked by the world of naughty bikinis. Izzy had this belief, along with "nothing less than seven inches" – and that belief was "you can never have too many shoes/bags/bikinis/clothes". She could live at Victoria's secret, for the amount of time she spends there.

I was sitting on the couch, with my Jim Thompson beach bag packed and ready to go next to me. I had a blue and violet bikini with blue netting over the cups and a halter neck with matching blue and violet string bikini bottoms and a white bikini with black whirls and swirls all over it with a bra-style clasp and straps with plain white string bikini bottoms. I had packed spare white denim shorts and a Breton top and a Victoria's Secret nightgown. Spare underwear was hastily shoved to the bottom of my bag along with my phone and phone charger in case we had a repeat of the yacht experience in Seattle and had to get in contact with Camille, Magnus, Raphael, Helen or even Valentine or Stephen in an emergency. It was unlikely, but now, after that particular incident we were even more cautious than before.

After five more minutes of pregnant silence from Clary's room along with the occasional growl or grumble, she and Izzy appeared. Clary wore light blue jean cutoff shorts and a white tank top along with a long necklace with an amethyst on it. She had an evil scowl on her face with was covered with make-up, courtesy of Izzy. Small amethyst studs in her ears completed the look. But Izzy was looking radiant and pretty pleased with herself for managing to make Clary pack some likely sexy bikinis.

Izzy wore a layered white sundress with white strapped wedges. Ray-Ban Wayfarers covered her eyes, while I was handed a pair of Ray-Ban Aviators. Izzy twirled the car keys around her left index finger and carried two beach bags in her right hand. Hers was practically bursting and was overflowing with make-up cases. Clary's was surprisingly empty after a session with Izzy packing for her, but it was still looking pretty bulky.

"Ready to roll?" Izzy asked. She had murmurs of confirmation from me and a still-scowling Clary. I didn't blame Clary; that long spent in a room with Izzy and clothes is enough to try the patience of a saint. I'm just glad that Izzy has deemed me "fashionably capable".

"Then let's move. Idris, here we come!" With the occasional grumble from Clary, we followed Izzy to the car in the early evening light.

JACE POV

What to pack... I didn't realise that I had so many clothes! Maybe Amatis had bought me some more while I was at school.

Shit! Amatis! I hastily dialled my adoptive mother and listened to the dial tone while impatiently tapping my fingers against the desk. After a moment, Amatis picked up the phone.

"Hello, this is Amatis Graymark." Came her soft, sweet voice through the receiver.

"Hi Amatis, it's Jace, I was just wondering if it was okay for me to spend the weekend at Sebastian Verlac's beach house? I'll be back by Sunday evening at the latest if I do go." I said as politely as possible.

"Oh, hello, Jace. Yes, that's fine with me, but make sure you are back by Sunday evening at the latest, otherwise you're grounded. Might I ask who you're going with?" Amatis asked formally, as always. In all the years I'd known her, never once when I called her during working hours did she speak to me casually.

"Thanks Amatis, I will be back by then, and I'm going with Seb, Jon, Alec, Jordan and Simon. Is that okay with you?" I asked. I knew she wasn't too fond of Jon because he once got drunk at a party down the road and came in, barely able to walk, to my house looking for me. Unfortunately for him, Amatis answered the door rather than me, and she'd been on his case ever since.

"That's… fine, fine with me, as long as you don't get into trouble or bring any girls home. I don't want my adoptive son to be a father anytime soon, Jace." She knew that I wasn't a virgin, mainly through guesswork and drawing the lines, but I had never brought a girl home before so I didn't see what the problem was. But I knew that I had the all-clear. This time, anyway.

"Thanks Amatis, I'll try to behave." I said.

"No problem Jace, just be good, I'll see you on Monday morning because I have a late conference in the city. But you are going to school on Monday, no matter how tired or hungover you are. Understand?" This was normal for Amatis – she tends to be blunt. And away most of the time.

"Yes, Amatis. Bye."

"Bye Jace. Have fun." And she hung up on me. I frowned at the phone, then turned back to my previous dilemma of clothing and organisation in my bare, tidy bedroom. It was quite a difference from Sebastian's room, clothes strewn everywhere, bin overflowing, Playboy posters stuck on the walls and ceiling. I wondered how he moved in that room, let alone found anything under the layers of mess. It made me itch to clean. And Detox everything in sight, although that probably wouldn't go down well.

So far I had red board shorts in my spacious duffel bag and was deciding between my black and white board shorts or my black and gold board shorts. They both complemented my complexion and fitness equally well, and I could never decide between them. They were similarly patterned but in different colours and combinations; one in swirls and curls, one in geometric shapes.

"Ah, fuck it," I said and grabbed a pair at random; the black and white ones.

I tossed a couple of plain T-shirts and boxers in my bag and the necessary toiletries. And my new Usher cologne that I had nagged Amatis for for weeks before she finally relented.

I raced down the stairs and out of the door; Alec and Jon were waiting in my onyx Porsche Carrera which purred like a kitten. I saw with annoyance that Alec had taken my spot in the driver's seat scowled, my mood brightening ever so slightly when I saw that Jon had hopped in the back and had left the passenger seat free for me to sit in.

"Sorry, I had to call Amatis to explain where I was going." I apologised, a rare thing from me.

"You took your time, your Royal Assyness." Jon commented.

"Yes, Captain Obvious."

"No need to be rude, Sergeant Sarcasm."

"Right back at you, Comrade Comeback-" I was rudely interrupted by Alec.

"Now's not the time. We're late!" and with that, Alec peeled out of my drive. In my car, might I add. My mood darkened once again and I drowned out the noise of the engine with my new red Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. Still scowling.

IZZY POV

Oh my God, Clary is going to be the death of me. I knew she was fashionably challenged, but this is ridiculous. Her stubbornness is seriously wearing on my already thin patience. I ended up chucking two sets of lacy lingerie (thank God she had a C cup now), a black ruffled dress, black stylish gladiator sandals in her tiny shoe size, and two Victoria's Secret bikinis in; a pink, purple, blue and gold stripy halter neck (my favourite) and a pink, black and gold spotty bra-style halter neck. Much to her distress; let's just say that Clary and pink do not have a nice relationship, but she looked remarkably good in the colour because it brought out her slightly rosy cheeks and the pinkish streaks in her fiery red hair that I was sooo jealous of (not that I would admit it, of course).

We were currently in my orange Lamborghini (what can I say? Cam is pretty successful, what with her job as a doctor and all) which I was driving. The drive to Idris wasn't too bad, according to the GPS system. It consisted of main roads away from New York then a small coastal highway leading to small winding roads with the occasional wooden sign to a town we'd never heard of.

After a while, we could see sparkling blue ocean water and pristine white sand. In Winter, this place would be quiet filled with only the locals and some elderly people from the nearby nursing home (the peace and quiet supposedly did wonderful things for people intending to recuperate), but as it was Summer it was bursting with tourists coming here for the weekend. The stores were open, restaurants and cafés were bustling with people, and souvenir shops were crowded and thriving under the warm sun. Although the Seattle episode happened in Winter, we were forced to report to Valentine in the kingdoms so our mission was delayed around six months. I saw people ranging from toddlers, teenagers and grandparents here; families or friends come for a few days away from the chaos of the city. A large sign read IDRIS in block letters.

"Here we are, girls," I announced.

A chorus of "okay"s resounded inside the car before Ella asked where we were staying.

"A small beach house called... 'Calypso Lodge'. Oh, how ironic!" I replied.

"It's about a mile from here, right at the edge of town by Alicante Cove." From what I could see, Alicante Cove was a neat, litter-free cove with clear waters, white sand and lots of vegetation growing on the cliffs bordering it. There were numerous caves dotted in the cliffs; perfect places to escape to when we wanted to hang out and relax before and after our nightly swims.

We drove on towards Calypso Lodge, bursting with nervous energy and the desire to swim. Once we had arrived, Ella swivelled around from her position in shotgun to lay down the rules.

"Ok, first of all - no changing in broad daylight. If we're at the beach, we will stay in human form. Okay? Also, do not lift your tails above water and change when you are quite far out in a remote place. I think that's all."

"Wait!" Clary exclaimed. Ella and I turned to look at herexpectantly. "Izzy is banned from the kitchen!" Okay, so I wasn't a natural, but surely my cooking wasn't that bad? Apparently so.

I glared at Clary. "Love you too." I said dryly.

She rolled her vibrant green eyes, a smile on her face, and leapt out of my car to head inside, scope out the space and un-pack. After chucking our bags down, Clary scoured the Internet on her MacBook Air for things to do in Idris. Five minutes later she is showing us an all-ages club downtown. It opened at 10:00pm - in an hour. I wondered why a small town like this had a nightclub when there was a nursing home nearby. "Good for recuperating" my ass.

"But we don't have any clubbing clothes!" Ella cried. She looked crestfallen; we all knew that Ella loved her partying.

"About that... I may have, er, packed some...?" I said timidly. It was the truth – that was why my duffel bag was so full and heavy; it was brimming with make-up and clothes.

Both girls turned to me incredulously and I smiled nervously. I could see Clary's dread written all over her features behind Ella. I grinned maniacally. Ella broke the silence with a large grin on her face.

"What are you waiting for?"

JACE POV

Alec neatly turned into Seb's driveway and left the engine running as he saw Seb's Cadillac pull out in front of us. Alec executed a perfect U-Turn and followed him to Idris. By this time it was about 9:30pm and Jon and Alec had been talking about the new club in Idris - Metropolis. Sure, I thought. But I was all up - cute girls and alcohol? Sounds great to me.

Seb pulled into his sister, Cecily's beach house. Cecily was his identical (female) twin who was in London visiting her cousin, Gabriel.

So Seb had it for the weekend. I was surprised that he hadn't invited the whole school over for a party. The beach house wasn't exactly small – it was three storeys and painted a cute baby blue colour with white window sills and trimmings. It was made of wood with soft creamy carpets, marble bathroom floors and a spacious kitchen and a well-equipped games room in the basement. The windows were large, making the rooms lighter and feel larger and more airy. The sandalwood door and furniture left a strong but comforting smell wafting throughout the house. Cecily had plenty of taste and the room was filled with abstract art with bright colours or just black and white that contrasted the blue and white walls. It had Seven bedrooms and four bathrooms; plenty for all of us.

Alec quickly parked next to Seb and jumped out, followed by me and Jon. We wore jeans and a range of coloured T-shirts; adequate clothing for clubbing. I was almost surprised that a small town like Idris had a nightclub, but the tourist industry was in full swing on Friday nights, weekends and holidays. Metropolis was about a five minutes' walk, so we left the cars at the house and walked. From 100m away you could hear Katy B's "Katy on a Mission" pounding out of the speakers. Around the entrance are two burly bouncers, a long queue, and drunken teenagers leaving with partners and/or friends. The queue moved towards the scuffed brick building fairly quickly, and after a minute I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Metropolis, huh?" I turned to see Izzy, Ella, and you guessed it... Clary.

CLARY POV

Izzy's done it again. After the boring journey, Izzy pulls out three outfits.

For me, dark-washed slim-fit jeans, and a cobalt blue halter top that was loose and flowed down my body. This look is completed by silver hoop earrings, a silver Tiffany's bangle and Izzy's 5 inch stiletto silver sparkly heels. A touch of sparkly silver eyeshadow, black sparkly mascara and bright red lipstick compliments the look perfectly. My red hair is left in tamed curls down to my waist.

Ella wore a black cut-out mid-thigh dress with a gold Tiffany's key necklace and gold criss-cross open toe heels. She wore plain gold studs and her hair was straightened and left down. Normally, when curly I reaches her bra clasp, now it reaches the small of her back easily, so it goes to show just how curly her hair is.

Izzy wore a dark one sleeve red chiffon dress that ended at mid-thigh along with gold pumps, dangly pearl earrings and a gold pearl necklace. She had done her ebony hair in a complex French braid.

"It's not far - we can walk." said Ella.

We headed towards the club, the booming base discernible from down the road. 'Metropolis', the neon flashing sign read above the dirty walls of the brick one storey building.

"Metropolis, huh?"

As I said this, a familiar-looking blonde boy swings around and states at me, Ella and Izzy.

"Jace?"

"Clary?"

"What are you doing here?" I asked with what I hoped to be a charming smile. By now, Jace's companions had seen us and turned out to be Seb, Simi, Jordan, Alec and Jon. They were smiling and conversing with Ella, Izzy and I and before long were were in front of the large bouncers standing outside the entrance of Metropolis like guard dogs on duty. They looked us up and down. After asking for ID, which we happily provided, we went into Metropolis and were met with a pounding bass and drunken teenagers stumbling around. There was a dimly lit bar and a dance floor with a gyrating crowd lit by multi-coloured strobe lights. Our group headed towards the bar and Izzy ordered some kind of strawberry daiquiris for all of us. I don't know how she found out about these drinks - we hardly go clubbing. A bunch of slutty girls were clearly hitting on Jace, but strangely he didn't seem interested.

After a while, our group gravitated towards the floor and danced. Jace came over to the stool next to me. The bartender had given me a dozen shots of vodka and coke, courtesy of Izzy, and I felt like I could climb Mount Everest. I felt free; something that is rare, when you know that the fate of your entire race - the Calypsaï - rests on your shoulders. It felt surprisingly good – I had thought that losing your inhibitions would be scarier - and Jace had never looked more alluring to me. Sure, I'd dated before, but Ella, Izzy I were still virgins because of fear of what would happen between "mundanes" (humans) and Calypsaï. Our race mated in human form on remote beaches or islands - beds were a foreign concept, literally.

"Clary, you okay? You look pale. Well, paler." shouted Jace over the music.

"Pale?" I giggled. "Me? Never! Are you- hic- high, Jace?" I asked. Suddenly I felt a little wobbly. Was the floor shaking?

Two Jaces came over and looked at me in concern. "Clary, I think you're drunk. I'm going to take you to Seb's place, okay?" but by this point, I wasn't concentrating on Jace, or his words. I was fixated by the bright lights that resembled angels falling, falling from the sky.

AN: I hope you liked this (early) chapter, once again because of your wonderful reviews, and thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter. The next chapter will be out in a day or two, so please continue with the reviews/favourites/alerts.

Thank you to:

- blali for your 'follow'

- 07 for your review

- Beth (guest) for your review [it came up on my email but not on the review page – not sure what that's about but thank you anyway]

- mortalinstrumentsgurl1 for your second review of the story (thank you for sticking around!)

*Links*: (sorry if web pages are confusing) [also on my profile] These links are ONLY the clubbing outfits:

CLARY'S JEANS:

. ?productid=324210249

CLARY'S TOP:

. /imgres?q=blue+halter+neck+top&num=10&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1639&bih=771&tbm=isch&tbnid=EiAOvLT_-EdRJM:&imgrefurl= . /krispoutlet-m1/halter-neck-t43&docid=Dn03dDIppTyvHM&imgurl= . &w=250&h=325&ei=183oUKDsEYuviQfu_IHoBA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=478&vpy=100&dur=995&hovh=255&hovw=196&tx=84&ty=123&sig=107504096012700187663&page=1&tbnh=145&tbnw=110&start=0&ndsp=47&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:100

CLARY'S BRACELET:

. /search?q=tiffanys+silver+bangles&hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=uWXkUK6oGYGptAap3oCYDQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=320&bih=416#i=12

CLARY'S SHOES:

vegan-heels/sparkle-sparkle-vegan-silver-glitter-heels

ELLA'S DRESS:

.

ELLA'S NECKLACE:

.

ELLA'S SHOES:

.

IZZY'S DRESS:

. /search?q=one+shoulder+red+dress&hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=u3DlUKezGsfnrAeQk4DgCg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=320&bih=416#i=4

IZZY'S SHOES:

. /search?q=gold+pumps&hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=NXHlUNrXDsz7rAe9poGYDg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=320&bih=416#i=3

IZZY'S EARRINGS:

. /search?q=gold+pearl+dangly+earrings&hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=hXHlUIPXDIWqrAf_mIHwAw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=320&bih=416#i=0

IZZY'S NECKLACE:

. /search?q=gold+pearl+necklace&hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=unHlUPrsAYmzrAeknYFQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=320&bih=416#i=6

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Thanks for reading once again,

-Physalie00