A/N at bottom…
Enjoy
"Izzy! Hurry up before all the hot water runs out and I have to kick your ass!" Clary banged on the bathroom door in the early hours of the morning, groaning. Her hair was up at all angles and her face was marked with lines where her face had pressed into the seam of her pillow.
"Relax, we have ages before school," Isabelle called from the other room over the sound of the shower running.
"If you ages you mean twenty minutes then yes, we do," Clary replied as she headed towards her door to use the spare public bathrooms at the end of the floor. As she opened the door, she jumped back when she saw a figure standing in front of her, their hand raised, ready to knock.
Clary put her hand on her hip and raised her eyebrows. "You aren't stalking me now, are you Wayland?"
A smirk spread over the boy's face as he took in her just-woken-up appearance in a glance. "What an outrageous assumption, what makes you think I'd want to be anywhere near a scholarship student? I might catch your disease," he teased.
"Funny," Clary glared at him from under her long lashes. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"
"What, so you could have applied some makeup and brushed your hair? I'd much rather observe you in your natural habitat," he shot back. "And how could I have known you'd be in Izzy's room?"
Clary frowned. "Izzy as in Isabelle? As in Isabelle Lightwood?" A dark cloud made her body feel heavy as realization hit her. He was here to see Isabelle. They were probably hooking up, or at least making out a few times a week, Clary guessed. And suddenly she felt so stupid for allowing herself to feel the excited butterflies in her stomach and allowing her heart to skip a beat when she saw him standing in front of her.
"The one and only," Jace nodded.
"Um, this isn't her room. This is my room," Clary mumbled, absentmindedly combing her fingers through her hair. "Hers is next door. But she's in the shower, which is where I should be going, so if you'll excuse me…" she tried to push her way past him but he stayed blocking the door way, his arms holding onto the frame on each side.
"So you're the freshman buddy my sister's been talking all about. I'm sorry, it just didn't click when she was talking about how nice and cool and friendly you were."
"Wait, back up. You're sister?" Clary gave him an incredulous look.
"Well she's not my girlfriend."
"But you two look nothing alike."
"That would make sense seeing as we're not actually related. The Lightwoods' adopted me when I was ten," he admitted, staring at his feet.
"Oh, I… I'm… s - ," she cut herself off from her apology, thinking that Jace wasn't someone who liked to be pitied. "I'm so late. Or I mean, I'm going to be if I don't get to the showers."
She managed to push her way past Jace for a moment before his hand came to rest on her shoulder, sending small electro currents through her arm. "So you're coming to our house in the Hamptons for the long weekend?"
"What?" Clary asked.
"Isabelle said she was going to ask you, I guess she hasn't gotten around to it," Jace frowned.
"Ask me what?"
"She was going to invite you to our holiday house for the long weekend next week."
Clary sighed. "I can't even think about the weekend right now. So far I've been here for one day and have already accumulated at least seven hours of homework. And I was supposed to go see my mom that weekend."
"I'm sure your mom will understand if you want to spend some time getting to know your new friends. She'd be happy that you were fitting in."
"I wouldn't say 'fitting in' exactly."
A sudden flash of anger passed through Jace's eyes but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. It was almost… possessive. "Aline and Kaelie haven't said anything else to you, have they?"
Clary shook her head quickly. "No. It's just, this school's not the most welcoming place I've ever been."
"The people here aren't that bad once you get to know them."
"Easy for you to say. You holiday in the Hamptons and probably travel by helicopter. You're one of them."
"Private jet, actually," Jace corrected.
"Oh, that makes it so much better," Clary snickered.
"Look, just tell your mom you'll go visit her the weekend after. I promise my family isn't as stuck up as the parents of the other students. I want – I mean, Izzy wants you to come. She really likes you."
"Why isn't she inviting her sophomore friends? I'm sure they'd be a lot more fun."
Jace let a sly smile creep across his lips. "I don't know, I think you could be pretty fun if you tried."
"You didn't answer my question," Clary said, completely ignoring the suggestion behind his words.
The boy's face turned from amused to serious in a second. "Isabelle doesn't really… get along… with the girls in her year."
"What? Why not?"
"Ask her," he said hastily.
"Oookay, I will," Clary replied carefully, a look of suspicion written across her features.
"I've gotta go. As unopposed as I am to being late, even I have to make a good first impression to my new teachers. Tell Izzy I stopped by," he said, spinning on his heels and rushing to the elevator.
As Clary watched him walk away, there was a part of her that longed to follow him.
"By the way," he called back over his shoulder. "I'm loving the drool marks on your chin."
I'm so sorry the past two chapters have been so short, but I'm on holidays at the moment and I was in a rush to finish this just because I didn't want you guys waiting. Again, please review. It means the world to me reading your praise, no matter how short it is! I promise the next chapters will be more filled and longer.
Xx
xPerfectImperfectionsx
