Hey guys :) So, I'm sorry for not updating in forever…it won't happen again. Promise. I was in vacation (AND IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!). And then I got back, to the real world, where I have to do homework and remember to update, which is quite hard. ;D
Thanks to maxwaylandgrey for being my beta. :D And for listening to me rant about my crush (HE IS SO AMAZING AND HIS SMILE AND WREIDJGFNRWSHJGDF. I am never like thisss oh my god the end of the world AHHHH). ...*clears throat* Also, thanks to SportyNo1 for always being there for me, and to two wonderful ladies, frizzyhead101 and firelady101. ;D
Thanks to everyone who reviews, and to you who add this to your alerts. (But it'd mean the world to me if you reviewed!)

…speaking of…

Review?:)


Clary was grounded. Again.

Her mother didn't listen to her when she said that she wasn't feeling well enough to go to the gala that day. When she escaped from her house, Jocelyn tried another tactic.

She took Clary's phone away with a smirk on her face. "Now you go out without it," she'd said a few hours ago before shutting Clary's door.

What her mother didn't know, however, was that going to many boarding schools over the years taught Clary to have a backup plan. So, as soon as Jocelyn was out of earshot and sight, Clary took out her iPod, hid it in her hoodie pocket, and went out the door.

It was chilly outside, a rarity if you knew California like Clary did now that she'd been there for three weeks. Simon arrived tomorrow. She could NOT wait until she saw her best friend. She would DIE.

She was so happy, thinking about Simon, but then Jace came into view, and her good mood vanished into the thin air.

"Clary," he said, sounding pleased with himself. Clary wanted to slap him.

"Jace," she said sourly.

"Why do you hate me?" he blurted out, and by the widening of his eyes, she knew the question hadn't been planned. He just came up with it.

"I don't hate you." She chose her words carefully. "I just don't like you."

"Is there a difference?"

"Yes," she said. "You have a chance to make this better if I dislike you. If I hate you, though, you have no chance at all."

"Good to know I have a chance," Jace said.

"Barely."

"It's something," he said, not looking like the cocky, confident guy she'd met at the party. But then it changed.

Then, Kaelie came into view, and Clary saw red.

"I'll see you later, then." She nodded at Kaelie, who muttered a greeting directed to her. She didn't have a chance to reply, though, not that she wanted to anyway. She was gone before she could make up her mind.

Clary couldn't explain what came over her. She didn't like Jace—not that way or in any way—but she knew the feeling she just experienced.

Jealousy.

She cringed internally. There was no way Clary liked Jace, and there was no way she was jealous of Kaelie. She turned up her iPod's volume to the maximum level and kept walking, fully aware that some people were staring at the girl blasting angry music, the girl wearing combat boots and a hoodie in LA in the middle of the summer.

Sometimes, being different is all you can be.

Clary walked over to the empty side of the beach. There she sat, staring at the ocean, wishing she could swim endlessly until she got to the very edge of the world. Then, all there was left to do was fall.

"Clary."

She groaned. Seriously? It was him again—his voice, his golden eyes, his blond hair. She couldn't get rid of him. He was everywhere, taking up her space, not letting her think.

"What do you want?"

"I just want to understand," he said.

"Understand what?"

"Why you hate me."

She groaned and said, "We've been over this, Jace."

"And I have no answers still," he complained.

"Fine. Want an answer? I'll give you one. I hate guys like you—guys who think they hold the world in their hands. The ones that think everyone loves them. That's you. And that, by the way, is not true."

She wanted to stand up and storm off angrily, but she didn't. She had nowhere else to go.

"Well, what can I say? I'm an optimist." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. He sat down next to Clary, observing the sea as the waves crashed on the shore. "It's complicated," he said quietly.

"Then make it simple for me," she said. "Because if not, then I won't know what you mean, and I will still dislike you."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"It's a long story."

"And I've got time."

"Never mind." He stood up abruptly, his cocky smile back. "See you around."

She said nothing. Instead, she looked back at the waves, her thoughts going back to the fall.

Maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

/

Jace tried to distract himself the whole night, but his thoughts kept going back to Clary, to the way she seemed like she had him figured out. And maybe she had, but she didn't say anything. Jace knew she was a loner, keeping to herself most of the time. But she was also strong, stronger than anyone could understand at that moment. People underestimated her, and she knew how people could be. It made Jace catch his breath every time he was near her.

Which was why he was going to do this tonight, no matter what the consequences meant.

Kaelie was flirting with some guys from the bonfire last night, but as soon as she felt Jace come back, her head snapped up. She saw him, her eyes narrowing instantly, and excused herself from the guys. They all looked fixated on her beauty and who wouldn't be? Kaelie is one of those extremely hot girls who any guy would kill to date.

"Are you done now?" she spat at him, the words full of venom and hatred. He eyed her. He actually felt sorry for her, for the way this was going to happen. Because, at the beginning, she was the girl he wanted.

The first time he hooked up with her. The sex was so good, and she wasn't clingy at all. Jace wanted a girl like that, but Kaelie disappointed him, being everything he didn't want her to be. While he felt sorry for her, he knew he was going to do this the only way he knew.

"Yes." Jace took a step closer to her. "We're done."

"Good. Now, if we can get back to the bonfire, that'd be great." She looped her arm through his and started walking, but he wouldn't budge. His expression was serious.

"When I said 'we're done'," said Jace, snatching his arm back, "I meant us. You and me. Me and you. We're over, Kaelie."

"What?" she said, nearly shouted, narrowing her eyes until they looked as if they were closed.

"You heard me," Jace said. "We. Are. Over."

"I knew it," she muttered and then repeated it louder. "It's her. You're . . . I don't know, but you won't leave her alone. It gets creepy." She was trying to embarrass him. Jace grinned at the ridiculousness of the situation, and started walking away. He wanted to feel bad for her. And he did, in a way. Mostly, though, he just knew he had to get away from her, because she was going to get really, really pissed, and she was a force to be reckoned with.

"We're over!" he heard Kaelie shout behind him. "OVER, YOU SON OF A BITCH."

"I know," Jace shouted back.

She heard the sob escape from her lips as he climbed into his car.

/

By the time Clary made her way to the bonfire, a large group of people were circled around beside the fire. Something had happened—a fight, or a drunken, dying person. Clary shrugged. It was probably the former, but she didn't have the energy to start caring.

She went over to the keg—because there was one. Someone handed her a beer, and she chugged it down too fast, the alcohol burning her throat slightly. It felt raw, like she might've been getting a cold. She held her hand out, and another beer was handed over to her in no time. She chugged that one down, too.

"You."

Clary knew that voice. That voice was too high-pitched, too whiny, and it came from a blonde California girl whose boyfriend was stalking Clary to the point where she wanted a restriction order.

Kaelie.

"Yes, it's me," Clary said after turning around and finding everyone staring at her. "So?"

"You know what," the other girl spat.

"I don't," Clary said, confused. The other girl looked at her with pure hatred.

"Where is he?" Kaelie asked, ignoring the way Clary kept saying she didn't know what the hell she was talking about. "WHERE IS JACE?"

Her voice was way too loud in Clary's ears. "I don't know," she said.

"Yes, you do!"

"How the hell," Clary spat, her fury getting the best of her, "should I know where your boyfriend is?"

"Ex-boyfriend," Kaelie corrected painfully. "Not that you didn't know that."

"I didn't." Clary wasn't shocked that they'd broken up. Jace seemed bored with her, only liking the sex. Unwanted images of him naked flashed through Clary's mind, making her blush.

"He left me for you," Kaelie said, bringing her back to the present day. Kaelie choked on her own tears and continued, saying, "He left me for you, and you don't even care."

"I don't like him," Clary said evenly.

"You don't know him."

"I don't," Clary said through gritted teeth.

"But you will." Kaelie's words surprised her. "You won't be able to resist it. He will crawl into your skin, make his way into your veins, and he will stay there. He will break your heart, shatter it into a million pieces. It's what he does." She shrugged while Clary tried to ignore the shivers that went up her spine. She couldn't think about it. She wouldn't.

"I won't get to know him." Clary found the strength to speak only a heartbeat later. "He won't get anywhere with me, okay? So just . . . go get him back or whatever."

"You don't get it, do you?" Kaelie inched closer to her. "Once he sets his eyes on a target, he will go after it until he gets it, uses it, and throws it away." She looked utterly hurt. Clary considered being sympathetic for a moment, but she shook her head.

"Not me," Clary said, walking away from the bonfire and towards her house.

If she only knew.

/

"So you and Kaelie are over, then?" said Isabelle, brows furrowed in confusion. "Why?"

She knew the answer.

"You know why," Jace grumbled. "Now shut up."

"You and Clary would make a cute couple." She snickered. Jace threw a cracker at her face, saying nothing.

"You agree," Isabelle observed. Jace just glared at her. "Look," she said, "I know how you feel."

"No, you don't."

"No," she admitted, "I don't. But leave her alone."

"I can't, Izzy," he said, a hint of panic in his voice. "I can't do it."

Isabelle took a bite of her cracker, set it down, and drank some water, all while staring at Jace. He knew she was trying to get him to understand something, but his mind went blank the minute he started thinking.

"You'll have to," she said. "If you don't, she won't get near you. Ever."

"Your confidence in me is amazing." Jace rolled his eyes.

"It's not you, Jace." She jerked her head toward the door. "It's her. If she doesn't call or visit, she doesn't want you."

"Or she wants to see someone else," Jace said, thinking of Max, his little brother, talking about manga with Clary. Jace wished he could like that, but at the same time, he didn't want to. All he wanted was to hold that redhead in his arms.

"Yeah." Isabelle nodded.

"That'll change."

"You can't change things," she protested.

"Who the hell said that?"

"I say it," his sister said. "Look, I know you're really desperate right now, but you cannot go do this. I am a girl and girls understand. Okay?"

He nodded mutely, unbelievably listening to his sister. He just got out his iPod and listened to a few tracks before relaxing. Music always made him feel better, whether he's had the shittiest day or the best day.

"Go sleep," Isabelle said, patting his head. "You've got a long night ahead of you."

Jace groaned, putting his head in between his knees.

Tonight. The night Kaelie's parents visited.

Shit.

He was going to have a long talk with Maryse.


***I only own the story, not the characters or the books or whatever. And this is the only time I will ever say it, so read CLOSELY. I am not Cassandra Clare. I'm not a redhead, I'm not married, and I don't own Jace. If I did, life would be perfect.***