Disclaimer: I. am. not. Cassandra. Clare.

Chapter 8: New Disappointments

Jace

I couldn't wait for school. I was going to get to see Clary and make sure she was alright. I got ready quickly, and dashed downstairs.

When I got downstairs, nobody was ready. So, naturally, I wait like a good brother for Alec and Izzy.

When they come downstairs, I practically dragged them out the door.

"Jace, calm down. What's the rush?" Alec asked.

"I just wanna get to school," I mumbled.

Izzy just rolled her eyes and said, " That's complete bull shit, and you know that. What you really want is to see Clary and make sure she's alright. Which is the same thing all of her other friends want."

I drove faster, and Izzy screeched. "Jace, don't do that!" she yelled.

When we finally pulled up and we piled out. I started searching the crowd for a cloud of red hair. When I saw it my heart stopped. She had her head down and was walking quickly. I dashed over to her Alec, Isabelle, and Simon following me.

"Hey, Clar-" Simon starts to say, but she turns away and runs off.

I walk to first period slowly, concious of the fact that she'd be there. When I walked in, she was sitting as far from where she usually does as possible. I sit down next to her.

"Hey, Red," he said.

She ignores me and begins some weird-ass book called Clockwork Princess. I try to get her attention.

"Come on, Red," I said. She continued ignoring me.

I tried over and over again to get her attention, but she wouldn't respond.

At lunch, she never showed up to the lunchroom. So, when I finished eating, I went to go look for her. I remembered something about her being able to go to the art room during lunch, so I head there.

When I get to the art room, I peeked inside. Sure enough, she was inside. She was painting something. I watched her a little longer before I turned away.

I went to the locker room to get ready for next period. Gym goes by in a flash and then it was off to Inventions 101.

When I got there, Clary was sat in her usual spot. I sat down next to her, just as Mr. Branwell walked in. He said something about a project, and then paired me with Clary.

"So what do you say? Are you going to talk to me? Or, are you gonna do this yourself?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes, grabbed a sketchbook, and started drawing. When she turned the picture around, it was a mechanical duck.

I screamed. "We're not doing that!" I exclaimed.

She shrugged and drew a metal hand.

"Great, so how do we make it?" I asked.

She started explaining what to do and I nodded. When she finished, I said, "That sounds good."

She turned away and started reading her damn book again. Without thinking, I snatched her book up. I read the back. It looked interesting enough, but I don't know why she was reading it.

Her hand shot up, and she said, "Mr. Branwell, Jace stole my book."

"Mr. Herondale give Miss Fairchild her book back," Mr. Branwell said.

I handed it back to her and she read until the bell rang. We went to Study Hall, and she started reading again as soon as we got there.

I started reading over her shoulder. She didn't seem to notice, as into her book as she was. It was interesting, but I didn't really understand why she was being so antisocial.

In fact, I didn't understand why she wouldn't talk to any of us, not even Simon. I wasn't sure what we had all done to make her upset, but whatever it was I was trying to fix it.

I cared about so much as a friend. And I couldn't understand why her she was limping slightly. Almost as if she had been kicked. But, that couldn't be. Who would hurt her?

I was still speculating on all of this, when the bell rang and school ended. I walked to my car slowly so that I could drive to Taki's. I was meeting Alec, Izzy, and Simon for coffee.

When, I got there, I slid into a booth. When they got here, they sat down in my booth.

"So, is anybody else going to say something about the fact that Clary's avoiding us," Izzy said.

"Well, I tried irritating her into speaking to me, but it didn't work," I said slowly.

"She didn't even eat today," Simon whispered.

"I know," Alec said quietly.

"I'm so worried about her," Simon said in a depressed voice.

"So am I Si, so am I," said Izzy work tears in her eyes.

"She was limping earlier," I said suddenly.

"What!" they all said in unison.

"She was so sad looking too," Izzy said.

"I hate to think that she was somehow hurt," said Simon.

"Me too," I said quietly.

We sat for a few more minutes before I got up and walked away. I went over to my car, and got in it. I drove off in silent contemplation. I was so worried about Clary, and was exhausted from worrying about her.

When I got home I walked to my room in silence. I say down on my bed, and begin to think.

A/N: So, here it is chapter 8. I hoped you guys liked it! It was very hard for me to right Clace like this, but there will be good things in the future for them, I promise. Thank you to all of you who faved/followed/reviewed especially imaginemotherofdragons and Incognito69. You guys have been so supportive. Thank you for the encouragement, please keep reviewing. Please fave/follow/review. I love you guys so much.

-Claressia Heronstairschild