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CH 3

"Hold on a second. So what you're telling me, is that your relationship is basically a cover-up because your," he paused. "Gay?" he whispered.

"That's exactly what we're telling you," I say feeling a little annoyed and flushed at the same time. I was sitting in the middle of Alec's bed, while he was standing; leaning against the wall and Jace was sitting in the armchair next to the bed.

"Well, that makes sense….." he said thoughtfully.

"Excuse me?" I ask at the same time that Alec says "what does?"

"Alec, come on man, I've known you my whole life."

"I'm still not following," Alec replies.

"Look, you may not look the part, and you aren't all flamboyant, but we've all kind of known. Why do you think mom and dad were overly excited about you having a girlfriend? Which, I may add, that Issy and I were surprised as hell."

"You aren't going to say anything right?" Alec asked worried.

"Of course I wouldn't. Come on, I wouldn't ever do that," Jace says, standing from the arm chair and giving Alec one of those bro hugs. I used their distraction of brotherly bonding and slipped out of the room to go home.

Well, we just told Jace that our relationship is a fluke because Alec wanted to hide his sexuality. Jace, I have to admit, took it rather well. Now, I'm left to wonder what Alec plans to do next. I mean, yeah, we let the cat out of the bag to one person, but does Alec plan on keeping up appearances or was Jace the first step to coming clean to everyone? If he does come clean, I hope he leaves our "fake" relationship out of his confession. I can handle my Ex leaving me because he realizes he doesn't quite play for my team any longer, but I don't know if I could handle being the girl who FAKED a relationship with a guy for over 2 years. Even if it was to help him hide his true self. I just don't know what any of this means yet, maybe I should have stayed to talk more about this with Alec, but being in that enclosed room with Jace was causing my body to overheat.

"Clary!" Speak of the devil. I turn around to face him as he's lightly jogging towards me.

"Hey Jace," I attempted to sound indifferent, as if hearing him say my name didn't cause my body to tingle, but I'm sure I failed.

"Why'd you take off like that?"

"I just wanted to give you guys some alone time. I'm sure you have a lot of questions for Alec," I say shrugging.

"Not as many as I have for you…." He said it so quietly that I almost didn't hear him.

"Do you now?" I ask, curious as to whether he'll understand about why I did what I did, or accuse me using his brother. "Ask away."

We started walking toward my house, which wasn't too far down the street. I can feel the damn hummingbirds fluttering in my stomach, making me anxious and nervous all at once…Now that he knew, would he still say sweet things to me, or was he only interested because he thought I was taken; making me a challenge for him? Alec did mention that he didn't invest his time in girls.

"Well first off, how did it start?"

"You mean us dating? Didn't Alec tell you?"

"Yes, but I want to hear it from you."

"Well, when we were pledges, our 2 houses threw their annual first formal to celebrate us becoming members. By that time, he and I were already attached at the hip. We hung out every day since we'd first seen each other. I really did like him at the time. It was no surprise to anyone when he said yes to be my date. Anyhow, the formal was when it happened; we were crowned 'Pledge King and Queen'. While we were on stage, Alec turned to me, kneeling down and asked me to be his sweetheart-not girlfriend, but it was one in the same. I've never really had a boyfriend so-"

"Wait, what?" he asks laughing. I would glare at him, if I didn't enjoy the sound of it so much.

"Yes, Alec is/was technically my first boyfriend," I stated sighing. "Stop laughing," I demand, but playfully. "Excuse me if I've always given my education my undivided attention! Can I finish now?"

"Yeah, sorry," he said as his laughter began to die down. "Sorry."

"Whatever, anyway, where was I? Oh right-so, I decided in that moment that I wouldn't mind having a boyfriend. Well that, and the fact that everyone was watching us. After a few months, a peck on the lips became a peck on the cheek, his embrace became more of leaning into each other's sides, and well, as far as cuddling, we never really did that to begin with. When we were about a month or so away from spring break, I finally came to the decision that maybe we should just break up. I was pretty conflicted because Alec really is an amazing guy, and he wasn't a huge distraction from school like I always expected a boyfriend to be. But, I asked him to meet me at O'Malley's, and began to give him the break-up speech. I told him that we were growing apart and I just felt that he wasn't interested any longer. When I got up to leave, he stopped me and confessed everything. He kept apologizing, saying he was trying his hardest to not be the way he was and the next thing I knew, he was crying. I couldn't leave his side, and after talking it out with him, I came up with the idea of keeping up appearances, which he agreed. And, well, you know the rest."

"So were you ever in love?"

"No, but I do love Alec dearly."

"What do you guys plan to do now?" I gave him a sideways glance, and he was giving me that intense stare that he's so good at.

"Well, I'm going to support him in whatever decision he decides to make," I respond, shrugging. "Jace, can I ask you something?"

"I'm an open book," he says smiling at me. I rub my arms even though it isn't cold, but I'm trying to rub away the goosies he's giving me.

"Does this make me a bad person? You know, lying to all of my friends, my family…your family?"

"At first, I thought you were using him when you guys began to tell me, but now, I think you're an amazing friend. So no, you're not a bad person, not in the least."

"Do you think Issy's going to hate me for lying to her?"

"Nah, she'll know you're doing it for Alec, even if she gets a little upset at first; it won't be at you."

"What about your parents? Oh wow, they are going to really hate me," I say as I put my face in my hands. Jace gently grabs both of my wrists in one hand and pulls them down.

"Hey," he says worriedly. "Will you look at me?" I keep my head down while I respond to him.

"I don't know why we didn't think this through; all of the people it may effect." He tilts my face to his and I realize his touch is sending tingles throughout my whole body.

"Listen to me, I strongly believe that there isn't one person in the world who could possibly hate you," he whispers. "Like I said before, I may not know you personally, but I really feel like I do. Clary you are such a good person, and a great friend; from what I have heard, to what I now see with my own eyes. I'd really like to get to know you better, to have a friend like you," my heart dropped a little; I thought we had a connection, but maybe I was wrong. "Maybe even….." he trailed off, not wanting to finish.

"Thank you Jace. I guess I don't feel too bad anymore," I reply smirking at him. I turn away and out of his grasp that I was still in. I look around and realize we're a couple blocks past my house. "Oh my, looks like we weren't paying attention," I laugh lightheartedly.

"You mean you weren't. I had no idea where we were supposed to be going," he states Jokingly. We turn around and head back towards my house. We walk in a comfortable silence, but I miss the sound of his voice, so I spark up another conversation.

"So, do you plan to join the football team?"

"Yeah, that and swim."

"Swim? Really? I didn't know you swim." Actually I didn't know much about him at all, except the few things I've heard.

"I'm not the best, but I'm not too shabby."

"Well then, I'll make sure you're given a fair tryout to make sure of that."

"What are you, like the captain?" he laughs.

"Actually, yes, I am."

"Wait, hold up…..Your the president of your sorority, you sing in a band, play electric and acoustic guitar-"

"And the keyboard and piano too."

"Okay then-now you're captain of the swim team? What else?" he asks in disbelief.

"Captain of the cheer/dance squad, the first JUNIOR as president of Iota Zeta Iota, I make the Dean's list constantly, I was head of IAU's debate team, but I handed the reigns over due to scheduling conflicts, and I'm the events coordinator for IZI and the Alphas."

"Whoa, Alec wasn't joking- you are extremely involved in school and extracurricular activities. It's amazing you even had time for a, you know, relationship."

"Yeah, well, Alec isn't an attention whore, so he makes things a little easier, seeing as we don't do the things other couples dwell on."

"So-"

"Here we are-home sweet home," I say gesturing to the house before us.

"Wow, this is nice-almost as big as-"

"Just as big, if not bigger than the Alpha house," I cut him off sarcastically, which makes him do that beautiful laugh again.

"Well, see you tomorrow then?"

"Maybe, I have morning classes and then I'm going to be extremely busy later, but-"

"Open mic, right?" I nod. "Right, so I'll see you there."

"Are you going to go, or going to try out?" I ask suspiciously.

"Wait and see. Oh and by the way-you left this," he says as he hands over my messenger bag that I didn't even notice was strapped around his chest. I take it from him, thanking him politely. "Bye Clary."

"Bye." I watched him leave and made my way to my room to shower and sleep.

I was exhausted today. I couldn't sleep a wink last night, thinking about what Jace said. He seemed so interested, but then he said he would like to friends with me. Then he almost added more, but didn't and I just kept thinking about what he was possibly going to say. This is why I didn't waste time on guys; they take your mind off of what's important, like school!

Now here I am at O'Malley's finishing up with the stage. The place is crowded, and pretty loud. We had a list of who all signed up for the auditions, but I didn't see Jace's name on it and was slightly disappointed. I didn't even see him amongst the crowd. I wonder what he did today, whether he had a good day or not; STOP CLARY! You see, guys will do that to you! Make you wonder ever so much about them and their days! I tap the mic earning the crowd's attention, explaining the process of how this all works. We changed up the rules a bit at the last minute. The singers are to choose one song from our list and if they don't get boo-ed, they get to play a song of their choice after everyone else has gone, but that song has to be done acoustic style. We were going to have 2 acoustic songs on the list but decided that just because you can sing one way, you may not be able to another. We start the party off by performing the first song. I'm not going to lie; sometimes the people auditioning really are that horrible, so to keep everyone interested, we perform in between every couple contestants. We open with Panic at the Disco's, The Ballad of Mona Lisa. Our entire band voices the lyrics together, giving the song that little special effect it needs. I do most of the solo parts, them joining in mostly at the chorus and runs.

The song is over too soon and we begin our first round of contestants. Unfortunately, every single one of them were boo-ed. It was time to please the crowd again, and we did Go Radio's, Rolling in the Deep (Adele cover). I loved her song, but I liked Go Radio's version much better. This next round of contestants wasn't as bad. We put 4 out of the 6 on the list to go solo. The funny thing about this round is that they all chose the same song to perform, Between the Trees', Words. Our next run we decided to slow it down a bit with Straylight Run's, The Perfect Ending. I couldn't help but think of my situation with Alec on this one, and my emotion showed through the music as clear as crystal. By the time it was over, my eyes landed right on Jace as he watched me. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping for him to show because I really was. The next few performers went and only 2 out of the 6 made the solo round this time. Our next song was requested by Jordan, my friend Maia's boyfriend, and I knew he must have upset her again. Sometimes guys just don't think, I swear. Luckily it's one of my favorites. So we play Secondhand Serenades, Fall for You, and I make sure to let Maia know it's for her before we began. I didn't want anyone thinking I was singing to another girl, no matter how beautiful the song. After the last round went, none making it, we are getting ready to start the acoustic round when Jace suddenly runs up on stage, huddling with the band. I had no idea what was going on, but they seemed to, so I just sat back and watched him begin. I was amazed as he performed Taking Back Sunday's, MakeDamnSure.

From the cheers and looks around the crowd, we may have found our next band member, but we did still have our acoustic round, and who knew if he'd be able to manage that. After his performance was over, we began our second round with 7 contestants ready to go. I didn't find any of them appealing, probably because I was awaiting Jace's turn. And of course he blew it out of the water with another favorite Secondhand Serenades, Never Too Late, that he performed on the keyboard. I noticed that he changed up a few of the lyrics, but kept the chorus the same. Regardless, he did an awesome job! We closed up the night with No Doubt's, Sweet Escape, & Paramore's, Misery Business. We promised to have an answer of who made the band by morning, and partied the rest of the night to the Dj's music.

The nice thing about O'Malley's was that it was within walking distance to Greek Row, the neighborhood that housed our campus's fraternity and sorority houses. I ended up being the last to leave since I wanted to help out with the clean up, which I did every time, unless of course I couldn't.

I began to make my way down the street towards my neighbor hood when Jace was suddenly there.

"Hey, mind some company?" he asked.

"Sure. What are you still doing here?"

"I was helping out in the back, just finished unloading some crates into the cellar. Now I'm here with you," he says smiling.

"Oh, thank you, for helping."

"Not a problem. Hey, you were really good tonight."

"Thank you, you aren't so bad yourself. Tomorrow, we'll count up the votes and let you all know who made it."

"Think I stand a chance?"

"I'm not too sure…. It's going to be a tough decision."

We began to laugh and talked the rest of the way. We mostly discussed our hobbies and pet peeves. Even though his presence still made my body heat up, and goosies rise on my skin, I found comfort in the feeling. In fact I didn't want to go without it.

"So if you pass your Pledge exam, do you have an idea of who you want to ask to the formal?"

"Well, I'm not too sure. There's this one girl I've had my eyes on, but she's in a relationship." I felt a pang of disappointment hearing he was interested in another girl, but who am I kidding, he's a guy.

"You should still ask her, but just keep in mind, she has the chance to turn you down. I believe the only unavailable girls are Maia, Tessa, Aline, and Kaelie. They're all going with their boyfriends."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Yeah, you named the girls who aren't available, but left yourself out."

"Well, Alec and I will probably go, but I perform most of the night anyway. Plus I'm responsible to organize the event too, so I won't have much time for my date."

"Unless your date helps you with the event, and is up on stage performing with you. Then you'd pretty much be together the entire time right?"

"Alec helps with the event, among a few members-the Pledges are required to help though. But he's not in the band. Sebastian's with Kaelie, I'm going to have a pledge ask Simon and Mel, but none of them really help with the decorating, or organizing; they stick to the band responsibilities only. So, no. I don't see myself sticking with a date the entire time." He suddenly came to a halt, so I stop to look back at him.

"Okay, I know I'm not an actual Pledge yet, but, if I pass, and I make the band, will you consider being my date?" Was he, he seemed-he is! He is nervous, his usual confident façade has slipped, and he's now looking at me waiting for an answer.

"You can't ask me like that…. You have to do it in front of everyone, at the party we host after the exam. But, if you're serious, I won't say no. Of course, because I have a boyfriend technically, you have to get his permission first."

"My goodness, you guys make this so difficult," he says chuckling.

"Well, life's not easy now is it," I say looking at him.

"It feels easier when I'm looking into your eyes," he says softly.

Jace suddenly grabs my hand and pulls me close to him. We are standing near a large oak tree, obscured from the naked eye by it's shadows, and still a few houses down from the first Greek home that starts Greek row. His other hand suddenly goes to the back of my neck, his fingers splayed into my hair. Before I could register what he was doing he leans forward, but stops millimeters from my lips.

"Can I kiss you?" he whispers. Unable to take the tension any longer, I snake one arm around his neck and the other under his arm that's at my neck and pull him in. To say it was magical is an understatement; it was beyond words. I feel like my body was on fire, his touch was so warm against my skin, and I wanted so much more. We eventually pull apart, and stare into each other's eyes; neither of us wanting to move. "I don't know what's going to happen with you and Alec, but I do know that I want to be the one to be there for you no matter what. I can't fight what I'm feeling towards you, and I know we literally just met yesterday, but I've had the biggest crush on you since we were kids."

"Jace, I-"

"You don't have to say anything, just know that you have me, okay?"

"Okay." I can't wipe the stupid grin off of my face, and it's seems as though he can't either. Did that really just happen? Oh crap, what did I just do?

"Clary?"

"Hmm?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"You," he gives me a look wanting me to go on. "I just, I don't know what this is; I'm not sure what to expect with you."

Please lemme know how you all like the story so far! Does anyone of u believe in love at first sight? I do, or else I wouldn't have married the guy! Lol unlike my other story, this one isn't pre written, I write it as I post it. Sooo if u guys wanna give me some ideas, im open to them! Thank so much for the support! XO 😘