I was glad to see that Simon was alive come Monday morning. I hadn't heard from him at all on Sunday and I was starting to worry. As I entered the form room, he waved at me boldly from his seat at the front as I made my way over to my own. None of the football players were present, nor were the cheerleaders. Lily was sat looking excited at the table in front of me.

"I wonder if Sebastian realised I went to his party." She smirked looking really proud of herself. I cocked an eyebrow.

"Did he see you there?"

"No." She sniggered to herself like she was sitting on a really funny joke.

"Then he probably hasn't realised." I muttered, sitting down myself. As the room started to fill out, I noticed that Aline and her group were also in this form group. They were sat nearer Simon's side of the room. Just as the bell was about to sound, Sebastian and Jace slipped through the doorway and slid into their seats. Lily immediately went to open her mouth but Sebastian cut her to the punch.

"Yes. We know you were at the party. No. We don't care." He smiled. Her face fell short as she turned back to face the front, in a huff. Jace and Sebastian ignored my presence for a little while which was perfectly fine by me. Jace finally spoke to me about fifteen minutes from the end.

"I've thought about what you said by the way about Jon." Jace said catching Sebastian by surprise. "I think I might message him." Somehow I had to backtrack this.

"I don't know Jon though, maybe it isn't a good idea." I said simply. "I wouldn't take my advice on it." Jace looked at me thoughtfully as he accepted what I was saying. He was about to open his mouth but our tutor cut him off.

"Group projects!" She smiled happily as she passed out pieces of paper to each set of four people. "Group projects!" Jace and Sebastian rolled their eyes in sync. I glanced the paper in front of me. We had to pick a subject from the list that we had been given and give a presentation that lasted the duration of form class to the rest of the group. It classed as homework, so we weren't allowed to just do it in form. How wonderful. Lily took the paper in her hands and immediately eyed both of the boys.

"Don't you even begin to think that me and Clary are doing all of this. We're going to schedule meetings outside of school and we're going to make the best presentation in this room. Are you even listening to me?" She was talking to them but they were talking amongst themselves. "If you don't put satisfactory input into it then I'll just tell our tutor that you haven't helped and you won't get credit for it. Then I suppose you won't be able to play football will you?" They both shot her a look as if to say 'you wouldn't'. She smiled wickedly before making everyone exchange numbers so that we could keep in touch and organise meeting up to work on it. She didn't let us escape form without organising our first meet which was set for later that night. None of us could decide where to meet so we opened a group chat to keep up communication throughout the day until we found a suitable place.

Lily: Guys, take this seriously! I've been waiting two periods for someone to start this discussion about where we're going to meet, hurry up!

Sebastian: Keep your knickers on.

Jace: Calm your tits.

Lily: I mean what I said. If you haven't decided where we're meeting by last period, I'll go and tell our tutor that you guys have explicitly told me that I have to do all the work.

Clary: If you're so desperate for a meeting place, why don't we just meet at yours Lily?

Sebastian: Yeah, what she said.

Lily: We can't meet at my house. My Dad doesn't let me have boys in the house. Sebastian, what about your house? You can have parties there, so why not study meetings?

Sebastian: I can't. My parents are still going wild about the party, I'm not allowed anyone over at the minute. Not while they're home anyway. What's wrong with your house, Clary?

Jesus where do I start? What do I say?

Clary: Sorry, my mum doesn't like having people in the house. That leaves Jace?

Jace: Uh. Fine. You lot can come to my house. Meet me around the corner after school. I'm not having people see you get in my car Lily.

Lily: Charming.

When school was over, I made my way over to the corner where Jace had asked us to meet.

"Hey stranger!" A voice called. I looked behind me to see Jordan slouching against the wall. "What happened to the leather pants?" He laughed as I approached him. I looked down at my jeans and t-shirt combo.

"Somehow I get the feeling that they're against school regulations." I laughed, holding my books against my chest.

"Shame." He laughed. "Anyway, where are we off tonight?"

"Jace's." I said, rolling my eyes before launching into an explanation about the project and Lily's pushiness.

"I'm sure you have a thrilling night ahead of you. I better not keep you, catch you later." He patted my shoulder as he walked past, strolling down the street. As I was walking around the corner, my phone started vibrating in my pocket. I removed it, half expecting it to be Lily ringing me because I was late. It was Jon.

"Hey, what's the matter? Do you need me home?" I answered.

"No, no. I've got good news."

"Oh?" I questioned, full of hope.

"You know how I had my appointment today? The doctor wants to try me on crutches." I inhaled. "It's early days yet but it's a start and it gets me out of this flaming chair."

"That's brilliant, honestly."

"I knew you'd be happy about it. Give me a knock when you get home."

"I will do, see you later."

"See you, Clary."

Just as I put the phone down, a pair of heavy hands fell on my shoulders. I nearly jumped out of my skin. It was Sebastian. I quickly shoved my phone into my pocket as he joined me in step walking around the corner.

"What's up?" He asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Nothing. That was just my mum."

"Checking up on you is she?"

"Something like that."

Lily was waiting around the corner, her hand on her hip. She zoned in on us as soon as we rounded the corner.

"Where's Jace?" She said to Sebastian. He shrugged.

"He's coming, don't worry." He smiled. "Do you think he'd leave a girl like you waiting? Actually – hold that thought…" He trailed off, trying to wind her up. I slapped him across the arm but he just laughed. He looked like he was going to come out with something clever when Jace came bombing around the corner. He pulled up against the curb, winding his window down.

"Get in losers." He smiled pearly white, sunglasses adorning his face.

"You get in the front Lily, go on." Sebastian urged. She didn't need to be told twice. I turned to face Sebastian, watching him suspiciously before opening the back door and climbing across the seats. He hopped into the back next to me, flashing me a smile. I placed my bag on my legs as I looked out of the window as Jace drove a bit fast for my liking. His house was like nothing else I had ever seen in my life. It was gigantic. He drove the car around, parking it in the underground garage as I just about managed to pick my jaw up from the floor. The garage led straight up into the main entrance which was decked out in marble. It was unreal. Even the smell of it, it was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. I didn't even have the words. Jace led us up the stairs into his bedroom which could have easily housed my entire first floor. He waltzed straight over to one of the sofas draping himself over it as Sebastian sprawled out on a snuggle chair. Lily and I just stood in the doorway, both of us playing out our next move. I took the plunge, feeling watched, sitting myself on a separate snuggle chair next to Sebastian. I kept my legs firmly on the floor, sitting on it rather stiffly. Sebastian looked at me and pouted before patting the seat next to him on the snuggle chair. He got more than he bargained for when Lily placed herself next to him. She pulled out a large binder from her bag and slammed it down on the table that we surrounded.

"I've expanded the ideas out a bit. Fleshed them up a little bit and this is what I've reduced it down too." She muttered under her breath as she flipped through pages of ideas.

"And where did you find the time to do this?" Jace asked, casually as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Over lunch." Lily said as though it was obvious. I had a read through her ideas.

"Well which one do you want to do Lily?" I asked. It made more sense to give her the choice considering she was easily the smartest out of all of us.

"I want to do the newspaper." She said simply.

"But how would we do a presentation on that?" Sebastian asked.

"The process and then we present the physical newspaper. It plays to all of our strengthens."

She had a point.

"Doesn't that mean we can work separately and just compile?" Jace suggested.

"No." Lily shut him down. "We're going to meet once a week." Jace rolled his eyes. "At least."

We started by discussing ideas ranging from world news to school stories.

"We could write a piece about Jon." Lily piped up. All three of us shot her a look.

"What do you mean?" Jace asked, sitting up.

"Well nobody knows what's happened to him. He's just fell off the grid. It's like a mystery." I shook my head, partly in disgust, the other part disbelief.

"No." I said before Jace or Sebastian even had a chance to open their mouths. "He's just lost his father. He needs his privacy." The tears were coming hot and heavy now as I excused myself from the room. I tried and failed to find a bathroom, stopping as I reached a bay window that looked out at the grounds. I stood there for a few moments, breathing deeply until the tears subsided.

"That was a little sudden." Jace said from behind me. I wiped the remaining tears away.

"Sorry." I said in a small voice. Jace chuckled lowly.

"You needn't be sorry. You basically said what we were thinking." He said. "Are you sure you don't know Jon?"

"My father died. Not too long ago." I divulged, my chest heaving.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Were you guys close?" He asked. I broke down. I shrugged, guilt spreading. Jace grabbed a hold of my shoulders pulling me into him as he comforted me. I slipped out afterwards, not wanting to have to go back into the room with Sebastian and Lily. I'd already embarrassed myself enough in front of Jace. As soon as I got home, I knocked on Jon's door. He called me in.

"I'm not going to lie. I thought you'd be home a little earlier than this." He smirked, indicating for me to sit down. I saw his wheelchair in one corner, his crutches propped up against the window. I explained to him why I was late.

"Anyway, enough about that. How often do you have to use these then?" I gestured to the crutches.

"A couple of times a day. I can't use them fully yet, I still have to use the chair. But I have to keep trying them."

"So will you be coming back to scho-" I started but he was shaking his head.

"Not for a while yet. Not until I can walk comfortably on those crutches." I nodded understanding. Our conversation was interrupted when a sharp knock rang out on the door. I crept into the hallway and peeked out of the spy hole. It was Jace.

Thank you for reading! Until the next time, all of my love.

~Sapph