authors note; woo, i finally got enough muse to get a new chapter written. i like this one a lot, and it was fueled by real life, gotta' love that, no? haha. well, i'm so sorry that it's about two weeks later than promised, but, life gets in the way, blech. i hope that y'all love it, i'm not going to reply just yet to all of the comments, simply because i don't remember which ones i already have commented to and which ones i haven't, my apologies. gah, this whole authors note 'll turn into one huge apology if i don't stop soon. okay, so basically, in this chapter, things get a little spiced up, a little out of character, i think, but maybe that's just my paranoia. comment please, and i'll respond next time, promise. next chapter should be up soon. =] -hands everyone cookies for sticking by me through all of this long hiatus- oh, and has anyone read the family honour series - karen ball? if so, that'll be my next fanfic, keep an eye out for it. 3

erin anne.

now, let the story continue! -trumpets sound a fanfare-


Study hall, the class right after lunch, personally, it was her favourite class. Shutting her locker, she looked towards the open door to the lounge-like room that served as study hall, running her hand through her red hair that had only recently reached beyond her shoulders, she shrugged and picked her bag up off the ground and headed for the room, pausing to say hello to one of her old friends of sorts, she heard someone laughing from inside the lounge.

"Oh Jace, you're so funny!" What? Peeking her head around the door, she felt like a spy, but, it was somewhat worth it. Clary could practically feel the blood boiling in her veins as jealousy surfaced. The perky blonde cheerleading captain sat, practically, in his lap, her hand resting on his knee, and a grin set on her face. And Jace didn't push her away. Clary's green eyes flashed with anger, and seemed to become all the more green as jealousy became the sole component in her emotions.

"Thank you Elisabeth." His tone was laid back, he was calm. Clary knew his tones, and there wasn't even the hint of annoyance in this one. But, now he stood up, and this made the precious cheerleader pout. Clary's face contorted in a twisted sort of grin. HA! She was unhappy. Poor poor little stereotypical cheerleading slut. Clary watched as Jace nodded to the other girls who were all pooled around him and then floated out of the room, via the other door. She waited for him to turn around as he walked down the hallway, his blond hair tickling the collar of his shirt, and a tear formed in her eye for the first time through all of that. What was she? Dirt all of a sudden?

Reaching up, she wiped the tear from her eye and composed herself before walking into the classroom, taking a seat by the window, on the opposite side of the class from the cheerleaders.

"Oh! Clary! How perfect!" The squeal of the captain caught her attention. What, did the girl just want to rub it in her face? "Hey, so your brother is pretty hot. I figured I'd tell you first, seeing as you are his sister and all, but, since he's new and all, what better way to get his name out than dating the cheerleading captain, right?"

"H-"

"So, no hard feelings girls, but he's mine." She announced this to the rest of the class. What had made her think that Jace was her brother. They'd just found out that he wasn't, she wasn't going back to that grief. But before she could set 'Elisabeth' straight, she was sauntering out of the classroom, her swishy mini-skirt swishing right along with her. What on earth?

The bell rang releasing class for the day, she hadn't had any classes with Jace that day, most of their classes together were on first block, rather than second. . . which meant that the only time that she'd be able to talk to him was after school. Walking with her hands stuffed so far into her jean pockets, she stalked out of the door, her red hair catching the glint of the autumn sun and casting it aglow like a lion's mane. Bag over her shoulder, she scanned for Jace's motorcycle somewhere in the parking lot, but, she couldn't find it. That was odd. Usually it stuck out like a sore thumb in this crowd, but, that was just it, the crowds were to thick that she couldn't see anything in the lots.

Oh well, at least she knew where he usually parked, walking down the stairs and into the parking lot on the left side of the bus lane, she found it a little odd that there was a cluster of people in this lot, usually, they were in the other one. Pushing through a few people, apologising to them ever so often, she finally broke through the throng, only to find Elisabeth on Jace's arm again.

Her blood boiled again, he didn't even see her yet, he was facing the opposite direction.

"Jonathan Christopher Lightwood, you have some explaining to do. Now." Her tone was deadly, there were some perks to having a Shadowhunter as a mom, and hanging out with them as often as she did, she collected a few talents, like his deadly tone that she was now using against him.

Jace spun around, dumping Elisabeth to the ground, which, she had to admit, amused her. "Clary." His tone was pained, like he'd just realised something. "Clary, I swear by the Angel, I can explain." This confused a few people. Angel? But, Clary knew exactly what he was talking about, and it wasn't something you did lightly, swearing by the angel. Angel Raziel.

"Then you'd better start explaining, because it'll take quite a bit." Her tone was still hard, and it had caused a few of the people to back away. But now Elisabeth was standing again, brushing off her outfit with a scowl.

"Clary, sweety, I thought we'd talked about this during study hall." Sweety? No one called her sweety except for Jocelyn and Luke, and occasionally Jace. "I thought you were alright if I asked your brother out." Her tone was still venomous.

"Brother?" Jace and Clary both said at the same time. Elisabeth looked from one face to the next, confusion evident.

"Yes, I heard Clary telling her father? that since you were there last night, whatever it was that had happened had been taken care of. And then that she'd tell you something. Why would he say something to someone outside of the family?" Jace was dumbfounded, and Clary was still glaring at both of them.

"He was there last night having dinner with me. His girlfriend!" This made Elisabeth back off a little, not much, but a little. Jace walked over to Clary, taking the bag off her shoulder and setting it by the motorcycle.

"Elisabeth, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, but Clary isn't lying." Elisabeth was now visibly fuming, furious that she didn't get the hot new guy. "Come on Clary, lets go home." He leaned down and kissed her cheek, attempting to calm her down, but the grin in it told her that he was also trying to piss of Elisabeth for tricking him. He hadn't known, he knew that a lot of girls reacted to him that way, but, he hadn't expected her to do something like that.

"We're talking when we get home, do you hear me Jace Lightwood?" Her tone was a little softer, but, still cold. He wasn't getting out of this that easily. Hell no.