Chapter 10

October, then November passed. The days passed in cycles: get up, go to school, avoid Jace and Aline, see Sebastian, stay with Sebastian, go home, leave Sebastian, text Sebastian or Isabelle or Maia or Simon, go to sleep. Isabelle threw another party on Halloween, which ended with Magnus chasing Alec with a bottle of glitter through the neighborhood and the police arriving in response to a neighbor's call to find a rainbow sparkly boy standing triumphantly over another rainbow sparkly boy. There was a Thanksgiving dinner at the Lightwoods, just the two families like old times, including the pranks that Isabelle pulled on her brothers and the sighs of the parents when seventeen-year-old Alec tattled on the girls like he did at eight.

Simon and Isabelle didn't talk. The mutual silence between them was deafening to Clary, who wanted to bang their heads together. Especially Isabelle. Clary loved both her friends, but she hated Isabelle's apparent indifference to Simon and continual flirting.

And then they announced Winter Formal. During the announcements, Clary couldn't help but glance at Jace and Aline, noting with mild surprise that Aline wasn't trying to get the attention of her boyfriend.

I wonder if they're having a fight. Wait, no. You don't care. You have a boyfriend. Sebastian. He's perfect.

Jace is perfect too, a voice in the back of her mind insisted.

Shut up. Jace is an arrogant jerk. Sebastian is kind, sweet, and mine.

On Friday, the voice was silenced. Clary sat on the floor cross-legged, painting the backdrop for Winter Formal photos along with the rest of Art Club. Her mind was so concentrated on the painting that she barely registered the gasps and giggles of other girls around her. She jumped when someone tapped her on the shoulder, and drew in a breath when she saw Sebastian's handsome face. He took her hands and raised her to her feet, then knelt at her feet. When he pulled flowers from behind his back, a sigh went around the room. Clary put her hand to her face, and let the flowers lie lightly in her grasp.

"Will you go to Winter Formal with me?" Sebastian's face was radiant, hopeful.

Clary breathed out. "Yes."

Cheers broke out as Sebastian straightened, then gathered Clary in his arms. She rested her head on his shoulder, and everything was perfect.

Clary lifted her head from Sebastian's shoulder at his touch.

"Getting tired?" he asked, looking down at her. Around them, couples in tuxedos and fancy dresses swayed with the music. Clary stretched, lifting her arms and dropping them around Sebastian's neck.

"A little." The song ended, and Sebastian led her to a table. Isabelle and Simon both sat at the table, neither looking at each other. Isabelle had come with Meliorn, but he wasn't there. Simon came at the bidding of Maia and Clary, who assured him that he would have fun. The pair were surrounded by awkward silence, which engulfed Clary and Sebastian.

Sebastian coughed lightly. "So, where are Jace and Alec?"

Isabelle turned slightly. "Jace and Aline are in that corner dancing. Or arguing. Either one. Alec is with Magnus somewhere. They went outside, I think."

"Arguing?" Clary asked.

"Jace has been moody all evening. Aline's barely tolerated it, and I think she might have called him on it." Isabelle's expression was bland, completely uninterested in the troubles of her longtime family friend.

"That sucks," Sebastian summed up. No one spoke for what felt like ages.

Finally the quiet got to be too much. Clary stood abruptly, motioning to Isabelle to follow her.

"I'm going to the bathroom."

"Why is Isabelle going with you?" Simon asked.

"Girls always go places in groups. Didn't you know?" Isabelle replied without looking at him. Simon looked taken aback, and Clary wondered if those were Isabelle's first words to Simon all night.

Clary opened the door to the girl's bathroom and went inside. She heard Isabelle's heels clicking on the tile.

Clary looked at her friend in the mirror. Isabelle's makeup was perfect, and her voluptuous black hair was gathered in an elegant swoop that cascaded down the back of her deep blue dress. She was the image of the beautiful, ethereal, inconstant girl.

Inconstant. Isabelle's always been inconstant. And it's hurting Simon now.

"Are you going to go to the bathroom or what?"

Clary turned. "I wanted to talk to you."

"I'm here."

Clary took a deep breath and let the words rush out. "What are you doing with Simon?"

Isabelle looked graciously confused. "I'm not doing anything with Simon."

"You are. You're toying with him. Maybe not on purpose, but how can you ignore him like this?"

"I'm not ignoring him!"

"Yes, you are. Ever since homecoming. And it's stupid, because you're the one who danced with him. And put your head on his shoulder. And acted like he-like he was-"

"My boyfriend?" Isabelle supplied incredulously.

"Yes!"

"Look, I'm not trying to lead him on. I didn't-all that stuff at homecoming-I was just being stupid."

"You're being stupid now. Homecoming- that was wonderful. Exactly what I would have wanted for both of you."

"Me and Simon? Why on earth would Simon want to be with me? I'm not exactly his type."

"If anything, you're his only type. He's liked you since he met you!"

Isabelle laughed. "Seven years? A long time to have a crush and not act on it."

"He's not like you, Izzy."

"Exactly! He and I have nothing in common. I can't be with Simon."

"Why not?"

"I-I just can't."

"Don't think you're better than him, Izzy. You aren't. Not at all."

"I know that! That's exactly why- I'm not good enough for him!"

Clary stared. Isabelle had never been humble. She had countless amazing qualities, but humility had never been one of them. Now her best friend's face was close to crying, and Clary felt unutterably guilty.

"Isabelle..." Clary stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the taller girl. Isabelle sniffed, and a tear dripped down.

"Damn it!" Isabelle wiped the tear away carefully, without ruining her makeup. Clary reached over to the towel dispenser and wadded one up, handing it to Isabelle.

Isabelle dabbed under her eyes. "Serves you right, for yelling at me. You should feel guilty," she said with a small hiccupy laugh.

"Oh, Isabelle. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted-or said those things."

"Stop apologizing. Best friends are supposed to call each other on their bullshit."

Clary smiled weakly. "Your language is worse when you're crying, Izzy."

Isabelle laughed, more strongly this time. "It is, isn't it?" She threw away the towel.

"Let's go back. No, Clary. I'm fine," Isabelle added at Clary's dubious look. She opened the door and stopped short.

"Never mind. Let's stay in here."

"What?" Clary asked curiously.

"I hope they didn't see me," Isabelle muttered.

"What? Isabelle! I'm going out if you don't tell me." Clary tiptoed to the door, but Isabelle grabbed her arm.

"No, don't. It's Jace and Aline."

Clary's heart plummeted, and she thought frantically to herself, Sebastian. Wonderful dance proposal. Perfect boyfriend. Yeah.

"Oh. I see."

"They weren't making out or anything, they were just-in each other's faces." Isabelle made a disgusted face at the thought of them making out.

In the silence that followed her statement, Clary heard raised voices.

"Do you think they're having a fight?" Clary whispered.

"Yeah, probably. Jace didn't really pay attention to Aline all night. That definitely pissed her off."

Clary silently agreed. Aline was a pretty high-maintenance girl.

Isabelle crept toward the door.

"What are you doing?" Clary hissed.

"I just want to hear-" Isabelle put her ear against the crack in the door. Her facial expression morphed comically into surprise.

"Oh, my god."

Clary abandoned her former propriety and scampered towards the door to listen, too. She could hear faint voices.

"-can't expect me to do everything for you." That was Jace, his tone angry, but as if he were too tired to put up a fight.

"This isn't everything! This is paying attention to your girlfriend and giving her a good time at a dance. This is what you've done before, at homecoming! This is nothing!" Aline's voice climbed higher at the end.

"Aline, come on. You're being unreasonable."

"Unreasonable? You're the unreasonable one. How can you expect me to stay with you when it's obvious that you put the minimum effort into this relationship? I know you don't really want to be with me. You're just using me as a shield, because I was the first pretty face you saw."

Jace's voice became more animated, furious. "How can you say that? Isn't a bit hypocritical to call me on being with someone just to hide something when that's exactly what you're doing?"

"And what, exactly, am I hiding?" Aline suddenly sounded a little worried.

"You're-" Jace broke off as footsteps passed. Clary and Isabelle jumped back from the door, Isabelle's hand still on the handle as the door opened inward. Two girls entered, giggling. Isabelle and Clary straightened and smoothed out their dresses, walking out the door as normally as they could.

Jace and Aline were frozen across the hall from them. Jace's hands were balled into fists at his sides, and he seemed to be physically restraining himself from bursting out. Aline was in a similar position, her face tight and unhappy, arms folded securely across her chest. The two stared at Isabelle and Clary as they exited.

Isabelle smiled brightly at them. "Hey, guys."

Clary was stone still as she looked at Jace. He met her gaze for a fraction of a second, then flicked his eyes toward Isabelle. Clary felt Aline's gaze on them.

"We're heading back home soon. You guys know where Alec is?" Isabelle asked lightly.

Jace shook his head slowly as Aline said, "No, sorry. We'll be there."

"Alright, see you." Isabelle and Clary walked quickly away, quickly thrust into the swarm of dancing bodies. They exchanged quick looks that said, We'll talk about this later.

At the sight of Simon, Clary's mind wheeled back to their argument. She glanced worriedly at Isabelle, but maintained a composed expression as they reached the table.

Isabelle smiled happily at the two boys. "Still alive, then?"

Sebastian snorted as he took Clary's hand. Simon looked warily at Isabelle.

"Simon, have you seen Mel?"

"He's coming back, over there," Clary pointed out. Simon appeared even more shocked that Isabelle was speaking to him.

"Oh, thanks. I'll just go tell him that we're leaving. We'll go with Alec and Magnus. The rest of you can squeeze into Mom's van, alright?"

"She didn't give us much choice there, huh?" Sebastian whispered to Clary. Clary smiled, but she was preoccupied with Isabelle and Simon's interaction, as well as trying to figure out Aline and Jace's argument. Why did they accuse each other of hiding things? They're the perfect popular couple.

But then, appearances aren't everything.

A/N: I know this update was later than usual, and I'm sorry about that! Suddenly school came down hard-SAT's, PSAT's, competitions, essays-all of that fun stuff. I was itching to get back to this that entire time, haha.

Thank you for reading and please review!

~Sami