I would just like to thank everyone for their support! I really do appreciate it. On with the story! To answer a question in a review, I do expect this to turn into Clace, but it may be quite a slow burner!

As soon as I woke up, I was behind myself. Not the best of starts for an already stressful day. Jon was waiting in the kitchen, dressed in a pair of sweats and a tank top, when I got downstairs to scoff my breakfast. He was full of advice – who to avoid, things to watch out for. I wasn't sure if everything he was saying was true but I absorbed it all the same.

"Right Clary, let's get you to school – you want to come, Jon?" My mum had entered the room, wearing a zipped up coat over the top of her pyjamas. Jon looked downcast, shaking his head.

"Maybe next time." I smiled, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly. Jon smiled, appreciatively. Mum asked me twenty questions in the car, about myself, about Jon, about the funeral. I managed to shrug her off with vague answers the entire way. The school was ridiculously large and old-looking. I'd thought in my head that maybe I would recognise it vaguely but it looked completely foreign to me. The floods of students surging towards the building were quite intimidating. I could already hear Jon's words resounding in my ears at the sight of letterman jackets and cheerleading costumes. I wasn't sure what Jon was worried about. I was probably the most uncoordinated person to ever step foot onto this school's soil. There was zero possibility that I was going to be trying out for cheer and if this school was anything like my previous one, if you weren't involved with the team, you didn't exist. That was just the way I liked it. I was more worried about people talking about the crash. Somehow I didn't think I was ready to have those conversations.

I headed straight for the reception to register myself and was momentarily distracted by the flyer for football tryouts attached to the wall. Luckily for me, the woman at the reception desk was very attentive and quite lovely. She showed me to my form room and helped me out with a few basic directions, before leaving me on my own again. The classroom was large and more importantly empty. 2-seater desks were scattered around, all facing a white-board at the front of the room. A white-board that had 'Ice-Breakers!" written upon it. Fabulous. According to Jon earlier, the forms had undergone a shuffling so I wasn't surprised about the ice-breakers on the first day. What did surprise me was that they had mixed junior and senior forms together. I stood at the front, waiting for more people to enter. Everyone seemed to be coming in in pairs. I was quite relieved to see Simon come into the room a short while later, on his own. He slid in next to me at the far-side of the room.

"Everything okay?" He asked and I nodded in response. A few football players and cheerleaders were the last into the room circulating amongst themselves, unsurprisingly. Our form tutor was right behind them. She was a stout little woman with large vibrant glasses and curly hair. She looked like a drama teacher of some sort, her every move exaggerated.

"Ice breakers everyone!" She was gesturing for people to sit down but the football group were ignoring her, laughing amongst themselves. She moved herself over to the football players. "This will never do." She tittered, most of them still ignoring her. "Seating plan!" She sang and everyone in the room, but me, unanimously groaned. She started off by seating the football players and cheerleaders individually at desks, so that not one of them was sat next to one another. She then started filling in the gaps with the rest of us. I kissed away my slim chance of sitting with Simon. I ended up sitting next to a boy in a letterman jacket. His hair was dark and tousled, his stance casual. He seemed unfazed by the seating plan as he was talking to a blonde-haired guy who was sat in front of him, leaning back. The pair of them eyed me suspiciously as I took my seat.

"All right Red." The blonde smirked as though he'd cracked a funny joke. I put my bag under the desk, waiting for further instruction about these ice-breakers, resisting the urge to make a blonde joke. Unfortunately for me, the first one included talking amongst our group of four, each of us had to tell three statements and one of them had to be a lie. I didn't even know what I was going to say. Anything I could think of kept flashing back to what was going on at home.

"I'll start us off!" The peppy girl next to the blonde-haired guy smiled. "Let me see…" She tapped her chin with her pencil.

"For god's sake Lily." Blonde-guy moaned.

"1 – I have a 4.0 GPA. 2 – I looooooove football. 3 – My favourite subject is … math! GO!" She laughed, obnoxiously.

"I thought this was meant to be difficult or at the very least insightful…" The blonde trailed off.

"2." The dark haired guy laughed. "My turn. 1 – I'm having a party this weekend. 2 – You're all invited. 3 – To celebrate me finally and deservedly getting quarterback."

"Definitely 3, right Seb?" The blonde laughed.

"Not quite Jace – 2." Sebastian smiled. "You're not invited." He gestured to Lily who pulled a 'Do I care?' face in response.

"You're not going to be quarterback – let's be honest."

"I've got more chance than you have." Sebastian ran his hands through his hair. This was uncomfortable to listen to. Jon had played quarterback and from what I'd heard, he'd been a pretty decent one. Now here they were, arguing over his spot.

"Everyone knows Jon will get quarterback again." Lily put in her two cents. Sebastian scoffed.

"Keep up – do you see Jon anywhere? He's probably still messed up from the crash – poor bloke."

"Pretty nasty one from what I've heard." I couldn't bite my tongue any longer.

"If football teams are meant to be close, why haven't any of you been to see him?" I piped up.

"How do you know we haven't?" Sebastian queried.

"It's obvious you're both speculating. So I'm guessing you haven't actually seen him." I shrugged.

"Very clever." Jace commented. "He doesn't want to see us. He doesn't want to see anybody. So as the good friends we are, we're going to honour his wishes. Anyway, it's your turn."

"Uh-"I muttered. "1 – I want to be an artist. 2 – I've lived in Arizona the last few years. 3 – I dye my hair." I stumbled through. They all looked at me before each deciding on a different number.

"You're correct." I gestured to Lily who had said 3. She celebrated with a fist pump before launching into another 3 about herself. I didn't see the point in this game. It wasn't breaking any ice – it was just making me want to go home. The tutor must have read my mind as she changed the activity to making our own personal flags that consisted of symbols that we associated with ourselves. Thank you Jesus. Something I could do without having to talk to anyone. Jace set about to get some pencils, but I'd brought my own so I got straight down to it.

"I don't think I caught your name." Sebastian smiled, a little closer into my personal space than I would have liked.

"You never asked." I muttered, drawing a rectangle.

"I'm asking now."

"Clary Fray." I answered simply.

"That's an unusual name."

"I suppose so." How do you respond to a comment like that?

"You don't have much to say do you? Are you new this year?"

"Yeah. Used to live here when I was little, moved away, and came back." I replied, focussing on sketching.

"I might have known you from when I was younger then?"

"I doubt it." I smiled, starting to pen in some symbols.

I was so glad when lunchtime rolled around just to escape Sebastian's constant questioning. I spent the first part of lunch hunting out my locker and wondering if I could somehow escape home before we had to do these 'outside' activities.

Sebastian's POV

There was a certain mystery about her. Something that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

"I wonder if she's going to come on Saturday." I mused, walking alongside Jace.

"Who?" He said confused, climbing up onto one of the benches outside, lunch in hand.

"That girl from form, Clary I think she said her name was."

"Did you specifically invite her? Or are you classing you telling just Lily that she wasn't invited as her invitation?" Jace raised an eyebrow, picking at his sandwich.

"Well when you say it like that– crap." I muttered.

"Just ask her once we go back to form." Jace suggested.

"We're doing outside ice-breakers aren't we? Hopefully I can catch her by herself."

"She doesn't strike me as the type to have loads of friends. Didn't you say she was new? Chances are she'll be by herself." Jace smirked.

Clary's POV

Simon had clearly managed to perfectly execute my idea, as he was nowhere to be seen after lunch hour. Shame he hadn't taken me with him. I kept to the outskirts of the group, hoping that I would just be ignored in the excitement of whatever sort of sports they were arranging here.

"You alright there, Clary?" Sebastian appeared at my side, hands stuffed into his jacket pockets.

"Fine thanks, just trying to blend in."

"Speaking of blending in, did you catch my invite earlier?"

"Invite?" I repeated, watching what was going on in front of me.

"Yeah, to my party this weekend. Feel free to bring a friend."

"Oh, thanks. I'll think about it."

I wasn't going to go. What would I even do at a party like that? I'd stick out like a sore thumb. Mum picked me up once school was over, but Jon was nowhere to be seen. He called me into his room when I got back.

"How did your first day go then Porgy?" I rolled my eyes at him. He knew I hated being called Porgy but once he'd discovered it, it had stuck – Person of Restricted Growth.

"I'll let you get away with that, just this once." I laughed, sitting myself down next to him on the bed.

"So, you were just telling me about your first day…" He trailed off.

"It was pretty lacklustre. I was sat next to a couple of people you probably know, they were talking about you so." I filled him in.

"Oh?"

"Sebastian and what was the other one called – Jace?" Jon nodded along.

"They're both pretty sweet guys." Jon started off before his face turned grim. "You didn't tell them about m-"

"No." I shook my head. "I haven't even mentioned that we're related." I was just about to get embarrassed until Jon seemed happier.

"Good. It's not like they need to know is it? You just sit with them in form class."

"Well Sebastian invited me to a party this weekend, I said I would think about it but I don't think I want to go."

"I think you should go."

"What? Why?" I said confused.

"It would be good for you to get out. It would make me quite happy if you went." Jon admitted. I looked at him frowning.

"Jon…"

"Please." He said simply and I couldn't deny him. Oddly, I felt like I owed him and if it would make him feel better me going to one silly little party then that's what I was going to do.

"Fiine!" I moaned, overdramatically. "You owe me though." I shoved his shoulder and he bounced back. "I'm going to go and scavenge the cupboards and look for something for dinner. Do you want something?" I asked, getting to my feet.

"Help me up and I'll come with you. I don't trust you to make something by yourself."

"Hey! Less of the cheek you!"

Thank you for reading my stories, I really do appreciate it. Reviews make me happy!

All of my love, until the next time ~Sapph