Chapter 4

Clary saw Jace every day. Whenever Isabelle called Alec over, his group of friends came too: Magnus because he wanted to talk fashion with Isabelle and Jordan to see Maia. Clary wasn't sure why Sebastian kept returning; she thought it was to see Isabelle, because he certainly talked to her often, but his perpetually bored expression indicated that he didn't want to be there. She was even more confused by Jace's presence. He barely contributed to the conversation, and the only conclusion she could make was that he was there for decoration. She never spoke directly to him herself, though Simon enjoyed making cracks at Jace with Clary as his audience.

During class, he sometimes greeted her with a "Hey, Picasso," to which Clary would reply with a terse "Hi." He never called her by her given name, and barely spoke to her in class. And every day, he would be the first one out of the door.

In the mornings, he would join Alec and Magnus while they were walking, but Alec and Magnus carried the conversation, sometimes including Isabelle. Although neither he nor Clary spoke most mornings, neither of them made an effort to start a separate conversation.

After a week of this, Clary had to admit to herself that she had a crush on Jace. Every time she saw him or he spoke to her, she wanted him to talk to her. But she was too shy and nervous to make conversation, and nothing ever came of it. All of this served to make her feel incredibly young and stupid. She had a crush. Crushes were for little girls.

Sebastian was also making her uncomfortable. He had lost his bored expression and had begun paying equal attention to both her and Isabelle. While Jordan and Maia were in their own little bubble and only surfaced once in a while to join the others' conversation, Sebastian was inclusive and talked to everyone. Isabelle was happy during this time, with only a few worried glances at Alec and Magnus together. She and Clary had not talked about Alec after their discussion that day, but with the intuition of a best friend, Clary knew that Isabelle worried excessively about Alec's well-being.

School was relatively easy, which came as a relief to Clary. She enjoyed her art class despite the awkwardness that pervaded each silence with Jace, and threw herself into the project the teacher assigned. She had to paint a landscape, and she was thinking about where to go one day when Alec gave her the perfect idea.

"Hey Clary, my mom was wondering if you and your mom are going to come with us on that road trip again for the long weekend?"

"You mean the farmhouse? Yeah, definitely. Do you even have to ask anymore?"

The Lightwoods always invited Clary and Jocelyn to their annual Labor Day road trip to an old, isolated farmhouse in the midst of beautiful forest and fields. Luke Garroway, a high school friend of Isabelle's parents and Jocelyn, rented it out to them sometimes. It was a peaceful spot, and Clary immediately realized that it would be perfect to paint for her assignment.

"Thank you so much Alec!" Clary clapped her hands in glee, but stopped when she felt people looking at her. "What? I'm still a freshman, I can be childish sometimes!"

"You're welcome Clary, but what did I do?" Alec asked, looking confused. Magnus snorted.

"Ever so modest, Alec. Why don't you just take the credit for making the girl excited? Oh, haha. That sounds wrong."

"Shut up, Magnus," Alec and Clary said at the same time.

"Anyway, I just realized that that's the perfect spot for me to do my art assignment," Clary continued.

Jace groaned. "I haven't even thought about that yet. Why are freshmen so overachieving?"

"Hey, you were like that last year, dude. During baseball practice you complained about your studying for every test. We were like, that class is a joke. Why are you even worried?" Alec laughed at Jace, who glared back.

"Sophomores can be superior about this. You definitely were. Anyway, Alec as a freshman was probably the most whiny, worried-for-no reason, overachieving freshman in the world," Jace retorted.

Isabelle giggled. "He definitely was."

"No one asked you, Izzy," Alec grumbled.

Isabelle laughed and stuck her tongue out at her brother. The others laughed at the siblings' display, used to it after a week of Isabelle and Alec's squabbles.

"Well, anyway, I can't wait. Thanks for inviting us again, guys," Clary replied to Alec.

"It's really no problem. I can't even imagine that trip without you! And what would I do if I was stuck alone with my two brothers for that period of time? You're probably the only thing keeping them alive," Isabelle joked.

Clary laughed. "I am, aren't I?"

Alec groaned. "Isabelle is such a witch in the morning. How can you stand her?"

Isabelle laughed. "I think I'm actually something that rhymes with witch, but Alec is too wimpy to say it out loud."

"I am not!"

"Alec is so whiny. I can't believe you're the older one here," Isabelle snorted.

"Ha, only child here." Clary grinned as Isabelle, Simon, and Alec turned to her.

"Lucky," all of them groaned. Alec and Isabelle glared at each other, causing Magnus to start laughing at their expressions.

"Simon, why are you even complaining? Rebecca's been out of the house for a year already."

"But when she was there, it was like an episode of "Everyone Hates Simon.'"

Clary noticed that Jace seemed to withdraw from the conversation, slouching and looking away from the group. She was sure there was something up with him, but she didn't want to invade his privacy. Frowning to herself, Clary realized this wasn't the first time Jace had sunk into silence when the talk of family came up. Her imagination came up with all sorts of horrible scenarios, but she scolded herself for being so dramatic and trying to find out the reason for his behavior. If he wanted to keep a secret, he could. She was in no way entitled to know.

A/N: This story is going to cover two sections: Clary's first year knowing Jace, while she is still immature and has a crush on him, to her sophomore year and possibly beyond, when she is more mature. It's a story of growing up. But also love. So if you're willing to wait it out, you will see Jace and Clary get together. But I also want to develop the side stories of Alec's sexuality and his relationship with Magnus, and also Isabelle's realization that flirting with a bunch of guys isn't the best way to find a great boyfriend. Do you think I should go through with that?

Please review and tell me what you think!

~Sami