Chapter 4
Disclaimer: As of yet, my attempts to kidnap fictional characters from Cassie's head has proved futile, however I will persevere.
Extra Credit
"Ruffled hair, a loose shoestring
Covered arms and a nosering
he's just misguided, I think" - Nina Nesbitt (I adore this song)
Despite Alec's decision to solve the mystery that was Magnus Bane, he found it rather difficult, due to the man being continuously absent. It was as if Magnus went to a different school. He never turned up to class, wasn't involved in any clubs or teams and couldn't be found in the library, canteen, mini mall (yes the school had a mall) or one of the other places Alec had looked. He had almost given up all hope of ever seeing his sparkly saviour again, when he encountered him the next maths lesson….
Even though Alec's love for maths was eternal and unwavering, he was beginning to hate certain aspects of the lesson, in particular the part where he was made an example of to the whole class. He was certain that the majority of his peers hated him, due to Mr Hilton's constant boasting on Alec's behalf. Nearly every lesson he was called to the front to solve a complex equation or explain a particular theorem (although this was less common, as if would often result in a crimson Alec stuttering and mumbling incoherently) and today was no exception.
"Alexander, if you could, please come up here and show the class how to calculate the volume of this pyramid, using it's angles."
Alec felt himself blush as everyone's eyes turned towards him. Slowly he got to his feet and began the long walk to the board. As much as he wished he could just flip Mr Hilton off and become a cool kid, he didn't want to get in trouble, for fear of losing his scholarship and having to leave.
So he did what he was told and took the marker and began writing down the correct formula. He was just completing the final line of working when the door slammed open, and a whirlwind stalked in. Alec dropped the pen in shock as he took the latecomer in.
The boy was taller than Alec remembered, his hair once again spiked into a neat crown upon his head and streaked with blue. His enticing eyes were lined by black and his brows were furrowed. Golden rings covered his ear, from lobe to cartilage and a tiny stone glistened on the side of his nose. He wore tight, black skinny jeans, a blue tank top and a bikers jacket, adorned with silver chains. He was hot, intimidating and undoubtedly Magnus Bane.
Alec gaped at the man, shocked to see him there. He looked a huge deal more scarier than when Alec had last seen him and his eyes seemed cold and hard and not at all sad.
"BANE!" Mr Hilton barked, his glasses almost flying off his face. "Where the hell have you been these last few weeks. You have missed a huge portion of the syllabus and you have a heck of a lot of catching up to do. Don't even entertain the idea you can get away with this, just because you think your Gods gift to mankind I-"
"-Oh Mr Hilton," Magnus interrupted, his voice ten times more silky and seductive than Alec had remembered. "I know I'm God's gift to mankind….some men more than others" he said the last part in a low murmur paired with a wink to Alec, causing him to turn an unhealthy shade of red. He prayed that no'one saw either the wink, or his reaction, as that would be pretty difficult to explain.
Thankfully, Alec wasn't the only one who didn't know how to respond to Magnus' flirtatious cheek. Mr Hilton stared flabbergasted at the man, his mouth opening and closing like a fish until finally he snapped, "go to your desk Bane and keep that smart mouth shut, I'll deal with you later." Shooting the older man a foxy grin, Magnus sauntered to the desk besides Alec's abandoned one, wafting the smell of vanilla as he went.
"Alexander"
The voice smashed through his Magnus induced coma, and he came to his senses, only to realize he was still at the front of the class, bathing in his unwanted spotlight. Grabbing his fallen pen, he hastily scribbled the final part of the question and willed Mr Hilton to let him go back to his seat.
"Excellent work as usual Alexander," Mr Hilton chirped after graffiting Alec's work with ticks. "Now that's how you do maths." He then shooed the mortified boy away and continued his dull lecture on trigonometry.
Alec sank back into his seat, relieved, sending Simon a small smile. Then grabbing his fountain pen he began to take notes, trying his hardest not to look at the person seated on his right. However after he had written the same sentence three times, he gave in and shot his neighbour a sneaky glance. Magnus was chewing on his pen thoughtfully as he gazed out of the classroom window, completely zoned out.
Alec gulped, subconsciously noticing the sensual way Magnus wrapped his lips around the top of the pen, his mind immediately going to the gutter. He closed his eyes to dispel the image, it would do him no good to linger on things he couldn't have. When he reopened his eyes however, he was greeted by green/gold swirls gazing right at him.
Magnus's gaze seemed to go right through him, it was as if he was trying to read Alec's mind. His head rested on his slender, ring-laden fingers and he seemed to be concentrating. Alec squirmed in his seat. He hated most people staring at him, let alone an unbearably sexy man whose eyes held all the intensity of an FBI agent. He was on the verge of a mental breakdown when an angry voice snapped his dazed mind to attention "Bane, are you paying attention?" Mr Hilton snapped.
"Yes of course Mr Hilton," Magnus sneered without breaking eye contact with Alec, "I find nothing as riveting as your croaky, monotonous voice." Alec had never heard anyone (except maybe his sister) manage to use as much sarcasm in one sentence as Magnus just had. Mr Hilton spluttered his face turning slightly pink, "How-How dare you! Get up here now if you think you're so smart."
Sighing in exasperation, Magnus finally finished his scrutiny of Alec and strutted towards the front of the room. His T-shirt rose slightly as he walked, and Alec thought he caught a glimpse of a black design etched onto the curve of the other boy's hips. When Magnus reached the board, Mr Hilton thrust a marker pen into his hands then stormed to the back of the class. "Well then Mr Bane, if you're so clever then you can teach the class. GO ON! Teach them how to find the correct angle using Sin." Mr Hilton cried his hands flailing wildly.
Magnus' answering grin was pure evil. Alec felt a pang of sympathy for Mr Hilton as he was sure that the teacher would not like whatever Magnus was thinking. The boy turned to the board and began drawing on it with the marker. Everyone craned their necks in an attempt to see the picture, but Magnus blocked their view. After a few minutes, in which Alec could see Mr Hilton was starting to regret his little "punishment", Magnus chucked the pen on the ground and stood back. "Now that class," he smirked "that is how you use sin to find the correct angle."
There was a long silence as everyone stared at the picture that he had drawn. It was a (surprisingly impressive) sketch of two men in an extremely compromising position. Alec felt his skin flush and he tried his best to look anywhere but at the board. He wasn't the only one though. Some people, like himself, were red and awkward looking, averting their eyes. Whilst others laughed hysterically and applauded Magnus' guts. "MAGNUS BANE!" A loud voice shrieked and Alec turned to see Mr Hilton looking furious. "GET OUT OF MY CLASS NOW, COME AND SEE ME AT LUNCH!"
"It would be my pleasure," Magnus purred as he stepped from the room, blowing a coy kiss to Mr Hilton on the way. At that moment, Alec realized just how lost Magnus Bane was.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
It took Mr Hilton the rest of the lesson to calm the class down. The only thing anyone was talking about was Magnus Bane and his hilarious prank. By the time everybody's attention was on the board, the shrill bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson. Alec made his way to the door, with Simon, his stomach growling in anticipation for food. Just as he passed the doorway however Mr Hilton called, "Alexander, would you stay a minute." Shooting a frustrated look to Simon, Alec turned and headed back to the desk.
"Yes Sir" he said avoiding his teacher's intense brown eyes.
"Well Alexander, I was wondering if you could do me a tiny, tiny favour, you see-"
He was interrupted as the door slammed open and Magnus strutted in and slumped onto a nearby desk. "What do you want Sir?" he drawled, "make it quick, I have a hot date."
"Well Mr Bane, as you very well know, you are failing this class dramatically, you don't turn up to lessons or tests and you are constantly misbehaving and distracting my other student."
Magnus rolled his eyes. "Alexander however," Mr Hilton continued, "is top of the class and potentially a mathematical genius." Alec flushed and fidgeted uncomfortably. "Therefore, I propose, that you Alexander tutor Mr Bane until he gets his grades up."
Alec stared in shock at his teacher...sure he wanted to get to know Magnus but not as his Maths tutor. Magnus would think him even nerdier than he was and probably hate him too. "Are you sure that's a good idea," Alec said, pleading with the teacher.
"Jeez cupcake," Magnus sniggered, "I'm not that bad." Alec felt his face grow warm and he spluttered "No it's not that I don't want to tutor you it's just-I-I can't-"
"Look Alec," Mr Hilton interrupted. "I know Bane is a bit of a challenge," Magnus snorted at this, "but I can promise an abundance of extra credit and a shining reference."
Alec bit his lip, despite his original misgivings, he had to admit that seeing Magnus about maths was better than not seeing him at all. The decision was also helped along by the ambitious part of his brain that screamed for extra credit. "Okay, I'll do it," he sighed. "When do you want to meet up?" he asked turning to Magnus.
"Thursday lunch in the library," the man replied before jumping off the desk and heading towards the door, "now I would love to stay and discuss curvy graphs, but I'm terribly late."
"Magnus wait," Mr Hilton said, before the boy could leave the room. "Look…..I just want you to know that I know that this year's been hard for you, what with losing your mother, but I understand and my doors always open."
Magnus stiffened at the mention of his mother and his eyes turned icy, "Don't you dare speak of my mother," he spat, "you know nothing." Then he stormed from the room, slamming the door behind him.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"THE, Magnus Bane," Clary gasped her mouth open. Alec, Simon, Clary, Tessa and Camille were sat amongst the flowers on the schools beautiful lawn, soaking in the bright sunshine, (well Tessa, Simon and Camille were, Alec and Clary were burning). "Yes, Magnus Bane," Alec repeated squinting in the bright light.
"And he agreed to let you tutor him," Tessa asked looking shocked. "Yes!" Alec sighed. Glancing around the group he saw looks of disbelief on the faces of Simon, Tessa and Clary. Camille, by contrast, looked angry, but Alec wasn't sure if this was due to the sun. "I don't know why this is such a big deal," Alec scowled.
"Well," Simon started, running his finger through his straggly hair, "the thing is that for the last, year or so Magnus Bane has been a total outcast. He hasn't had a decent conversation with anyone unless he wants to get in their pants, and even then he keeps it brief. Then you come along. He defends you from Jonathan, flirts with you through maths and then agrees to let you tutor him. I mean this is as weird as the time Mr Starkweather wore a string vest on non-uni day."
Alec considered all that Simon had said, now he came to think of it, it was strange that such a notorious bad-boy, was being so nice to him, Alec Lightwood of all people. "But why is he being so nice to me?" Alec wondered aloud.
Tessa gave him an incredulous look, "really Alec, are you that oblivious," Alec blinked, unsure what to say, "I mean, He clearly likes you."
"What! He...likes...ME?!" Alec scoffed incredulously. "Why?" He added, confused. It wasn't like he was fishing for compliments, he just genuinely couldn't fathom why someone like Magnus, would ever even look at someone as shy, nerdy and awkward as him.
Tessa smiled gently, "well you're smart, cute and quiet, nearly the complete opposite of Magnus. Not to mention you have beautiful blue eyes, perfect skin and a face and body to die for." Alec's mouth fell open and his eyes widened.
"She's right man," Simon agreed, "I mean, I'm not into dudes, but if I was….." he trailed of awkwardly, causing Clary to giggle.
"The question is," Tessa continued, "do you like him back?"
The breath rushed out of Alec's lungs at the casual way Tessa mentioned his sexuality. "NO!" he cried, digging his fingers into the soft earth beneith him, "why would you say that? I-I'm not...I don't like guys," he stuttered desperate to cover his tracks.
Unfortunately none of his friends were, a- stupid or b- willing to humour him.
"Yer, and Clary's not really ginger," Simon snorted. The red head in question elbowed Simon hard, before addressing Alec. "Alec, it's okay. You don't have to tell us if you're not ready, but just know that it doesn't matter to us if you are gay. You'll still be our smart and sweet friend."
Alec breathed slowly for a few minutes as he calmed his heart rate and allowed Clary's words to sink in. Finally he whisperred, "you're right….I am…..what you said."
"So, do you like Magnus?," Tessa prompted gently, "and don't feel ashamed if you do. Practically the whole school wants to sleep with him. I Mean, the guy's sex-on-legs and he really pulls of the whole, "I hate everyone" thing."
Alec blushed furiously, but gulped and nodded at Tessa. Like Tessa said it was pointless to deny his attraction to Magnus Bane, he was beautiful and he knew it.
Camille, who had been silent throughout the conversation, growing angrier by the second, jumped to her feet and glared at Alec. "Look Lightwood," she spat, "I don't know what you're playing at, but stay away from Magnus. He'll only break your heart, trust me. If he can't talk to his best friends , then he certainly won't talk to some poor loser who can't even admit he's gay." Sending Alec one last glare she stormed off towards the school, her designer bag swinging wildly at her side.
The group sat in a shell shocked silence for a minute before Simon quipped, "jeez, what was up her ass"
Tessa scowled at the boy, before answering, "her and Magnus have been friends for ages and they dated for," she looked at Clary uncertainly, "a year?"
Clary nodded. "Yes about a year. They where very close, always together and best friends. They'd hang out with us quite a bit. Magnus was so funny and bright, I swear he was always laughing," the smile on her face then faded and she spoke softer, "then everything changed. Magnus' mum died and he withdrew from everyone. He broke up with Camille a week later and, I don't think they've spoken since. It was nearly a year ago, but Camille is still healing. She gave her heart to Magnus and he broke it. Look Alec," she caught Alec's eyes and stared at him intently. "What Camille said to you was complete rubbish and way out of order, but…...I want you to promise me that you won't trust Magnus, not until you're sure. I like you Alec, and I don't want to see him break your heart."
Alec sat back, his mind bubbling with the girls words. His brain seemed torn on the subject of Magnus. The logical part of him, advised that he should stay as far away from the train wreck that was Magnus Bane, but the other part ached to discover the boy's secrets and peel back the walls that separated Magnus from everyone else. He wanted to know Magnus bane, but was he worth the risk?
A/N
Sooooo, more Magnus, and yet he is still a pretty enigmatic character. One minute he's the class clown, the next he's in a mood. He's a puzzle alright, good thing Alec's smart. One thing we do know, he is a bad, bad boy ;)
RangerofFiction- Thank you, YOUR AMAZING! I'm glad you can see an improvement in my writing :)
MagnusBane800- good questions, I'll try and anwser them all in the next chap, and maybe Magnus did interfere just 'cause he thought Alec was hot, he can be pretty shallow :)
L'ecureil- loving the enormous review, gold star! I really love the ideas, in fact what you said about Magnus keeping his hands busy was interesting and I have thought up some "distractions" that will be revealed in Chapter 5 or 6. Your advice about constructing a plot is really useful and Ive started putting together a few ideas. Thank you, and I hope you keep reading. xxx
reader666- Awww, thanks. Sebastian is horrid isn't he, I plan on making him a big part of the story later, but for now magnus has it all under control.
xSleepingSidewaysx - glad you like it, keep reading xx
and the tree was happy- loving the username, very quaint x update is not as soon as i wanted but...
Mish Herondale- I like you ;)
Next chapter will be their tutoring session in Magnus' POV and if this chapter alone gets over 10 reviews I will post the next chapter tomorrow, if not you'll have to wait till Sunday, so get reviewing.
lot's of virtual love
Amy
xxx