A/N: This is a very important chapter for Clary. I hope this clears things up for some of you. :)

Chapter 11

(Clary POV)

I was so mad at Jace that I could barely function. How dare he do that to me? It was bad enough with Aline, with knowing that they had been together intimately, but now I was just furious. I had suspicions that Jace hadn't always been faithful to me, but now there was proof. And it was with Evangeline, the new girl. I'd even asked him if he was attracted to her! I felt like such an idiot for believing that he loved me.

I arrived at the Institute to talk to Evangeline like I'd agreed to with Izzy. I needed to give that girl a piece of my mind. She had seemed so nice and sweet, but apparently I was wrong about her. She would just help Jace cheat on me, probably over and over again if I stayed with him. I was right to dump him. He totally deserved it!

The only thing that I wasn't happy about was the possibility of seeing Jace around the Institute. I was so angry with him that I didn't know how I'd react. I decided that I'd handle it if the situation came up, but I wasn't going to think about it until then.

When I got to the main living room of the Institute, I saw Evangeline sitting on a couch and looking at me guiltily. The sight of her made my blood boil with rage, but I repressed it. I needed to talk to her first, and try to be civil.

I sat down on a chair near her and opened my mouth to say something, but words started tumbling out. "Why the hell did I catch you and Jace kissing?" I yelled at her. "You knew that we were together! I thought that you and I could be friends eventually but I guess I was wrong!"

With every word, the pain in her eyes deepened until eventually, she was tearing up. Her lower lip trembling, she sniffled, "I'm truly very sorry, Clary. I didn't know what was happening. We were just talking and he seemed really nice and charming… And then all of a sudden we were kissing. I know that it's wrong, and I feel terrible about it. It's all my fault."

Seeing her hurt like that started to tug at my heartstrings. Before me was an innocent girl—even though we were the same age, I could tell that she was not nearly as self-aware or mature as I was. That made it easier to forgive her, somehow. And I knew Jace's effect on people. I had been a victim of his charm as well, and after he kissed me the first time, he had hurt me too. I could relate to the beautiful girl before me, even as tears started flowing from her shiny blue eyes. I was moved with pity… Me, the fiery Clary. There was just something so broken about her.

I walked over to the couch and sat next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders and starting to rub her back for comfort. I couldn't stand to see her crying like that, even though Jace had cheated on me with her. Evangeline was so sheltered her whole life… I could tell that she was really naïve about romance. I couldn't find it in my heart to blame her much. "Hey," I said softly, "I understand. I'm not as mad at you as I was."

She sniffed again and turned her pale, teary face to look at me. "Are you sure?" Her naïveté was obvious. I even bet that Jace had been her first kiss. She and I were kind of in the same boat, since I had been completely innocent before Jace, too. Except for inappropriate jokes, but that's because I was friends with Simon.

"Yeah." I sighed then, thinking of the night before. When Simon had told me that he still loved me, and I kissed him. We had done more than kissing, as well. I felt guilty about it now, like I was using his feelings to take out my anger on Jace. I knew that Simon would do anything for me, and I felt that I had manipulated him into sleeping with me. Well, what can I say? We were both in a dark place. "And besides, I dumped him. I'm sick of him hurting me. I guess if you really like him, you can have him."

"Oh no," she said emphatically, "I could never do that. I feel so awful about everything. I don't think that I could ever date him or anything like that. I'd only think about how we had both hurt you, and how Jace could possibly cheat on me in the future, too."

I gave a dark laugh. "Well, that's fine with me. It would be kind of weird for the two of you to start going out." Suddenly, I heard some footsteps approaching us from the hallway, and I saw Jace poke his head through the arch leading to the living room. He looked sheepish and gaunt, like he hadn't slept. I found that I didn't care, and jumped to my feet, stalking over to where he was. "Get out right now, you asshole," I told him in no uncertain terms. "Or I will cause physical harm to you." Isabelle had been giving me tips on fighting those with a size/strength/speed advantage, and I was definitely angry enough to apply them to Jace.

"I just want to talk to you," he murmured, "since I heard your voice. Clary, I—"

"I don't care," I said. "Get the fuck out of this room. I'm talking to Evangeline."

"But Clary, I'm sorry and—"

"NO!" Without thinking, I slapped him right across the face, like I had when we barely knew each other and I thought he was a jerk. I supposed that was the right opinion of him to have. "I don't care about you and I don't want to get back together. And that's final."

He was silent for a few moments, watching my face and searching it for any vacillation. But my mind was made up, and I think he understood, because he said, "Fine," and turned around to walk back down the hallway. But as he turned, I saw him cast a glance at Evangeline, who was quietly drying her tears on the couch.

I went back over to her, a new plan forming in my mind. I couldn't stand to be here with him in the house. "Hey, do you want to go out for lunch?" I asked her. "We can talk and get to know each other better." My anger with Evangeline had all but disappeared, and I found that I wanted to become friends with her. I could see why Izzy wasn't mad at her, too. It was just something very… pure about her. She exuded that energy, and also a type of magnetism. I felt compelled to spend more time with her.

She smiled weakly. "That would be great. Are we going now?"

I helped her to her feet. "Let's."

We ended up going to Java Jones for coffee and lunch, and having tons of fun. I found that Evangeline was really likeable, just as I had suspected. She and I had a natural friendly chemistry and played well off each other, me the artsy redhead and she the innocent foreigner. She was funny, too, in a genuine way. Evangeline cheered up a lot over those few hours, and so did I. And we became friends. I used to have trouble finding female friends, but it just felt natural with Evangeline.

My phone kept going off with Jace trying to call and text me, leaving voicemails and everything. Eventually I just turned the sound off, because he was being really irritating. And hearing constant choruses of "A Whole New World" (okay, don't judge me, it's my ringtone for when Jace calls) didn't help anything, but it did let Evangeline and me discover our mutual love of Aladdin and other Disney movies.

When I was turning the sound off, though, I realized that I'd gotten a lone text from Izzy: "I had a great idea that we should have a mini-party 2 clear the air. How about 2nite?"

I brought it up to Evangeline, and we decided that it was a great idea to have some friends come over to the Institute for a little get-together. And even if Jace was going to be there being annoying, I could probably ignore him. And maybe Simon would realize that we weren't meant to be after all. I was done with men for the moment.

I texted back, "Sounds great!"

A/N: Yay, everything's looking up! :D Please review. xoxoxo