Sup! Warning guys: I'm so bad at foreshadowing!

You have been warned!

ENJOY! :D

"I'm sorry," Clary whispered before I had the chance to say anything. I still hadn't gotten over the shock that she was here, at my front door, tears making her green eyes glassy, "I'm so sorry, Jace."

For a few agonizingly long moments I just stared at her, my mouth agape. When she looked up at me and the first clear tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek, something in me cracked. I pulled her towards me and encompassed her in my arms. Her body shook and she just kept on mumbling, "I'm sorry."

I finally managed to coax her inside and I sat down beside her on the couch. She wouldn't look me in the eye, no matter how much I tried to make her. "What happened?" I asked quietly, "Why are you sorry?"

There was a long silence, and I saw her mind flicking through things to say. Finally, she settled on, "I can't tell you."

I didn't say anything for a while. She couldn't tell me? "Clary, I'm your boyfriend…"

"Don't!" she yelled suddenly, "You don't know my situation! You don't even know ours!"

I was taken aback by her harsh tone. "Clary…?" I said weakly, reaching out for her. I saw her stiffen as I cupped her cheek in my hand, and I pulled away uncertainly. "What do you mean? I can't know unless you tell me. Did I do something wrong?"

"No," she whispered, "You did everything exactly right."

I couldn't sleep that night. Clary's words played through my head again and again and again.

You don't know my situation! You don't even know ours!

No, you did everything exactly right.

She said one more thing, right before she left my house. Her last words were the words that were causing me so much grief…

"Dump me Jace," she had said, "Break up with. Do it on Monday. Don't let me get too close to you."

I had replied, completely dumbstruck, with, "Why? If you want to break up, then why can't you break up with me?"

She looked up into my eyes one last time. "Because I don't want to leave you. But I don't want to hurt you either."

I went to school on Monday, my thoughts turning to mush with each step I took closer to it. The building loomed up on me until I wasn't standing in its shadow. I tried to brush off my uneasy feelings.

Break up with me on Monday.

My stomach bubbled uncomfortably with anxiety. I spotted a group of familiar boys in letterman jackets standing by the school gates, just watching over the carpark, and plastered on what I hoped was a convincing grin. "Hey!" I waved and made my way over to them.

One boy that I hadn't seen before turned away from me with an arrogant shrug. Another boy, one from my team, shoved him with his elbow, making the unknown boy grudgingly turn around and acknowledge me. I was frowning, confused.

"Hey, what's up man!" The elbow kid, Jack was his name, called back.

"Maybe you should be telling me that." I said suspiciously, eyeing the new kid warily.

"Ah," Jack said, "Don't mind him. He's just naturally snotty."

I nodded, but I didn't really think that was it. And now that this new paranoia was set in my mind, I couldn't help but notice the other boys had gone quiet when I approached them. Jack seemed to be the only one making an effort to include me.

"Jace!" Someone called. I turned to see Simon running up to me.

Once he reached me, he all but latched onto my shirt sleeve. "What are you doing?"

I gave him a confused look. "Talking…?"

Simon yanked at my shirt, and we both stumbled away from the group of boys who had resumed their usual boisterous chatter. "You can't talk to them!" Simon hissed, "You do realise that Seb is coming back to school today, right?"

I did know that, but the words still turned my stomach cold. "I know…"

"I'm warning you, Herondale!" Simon said in a gravely tone, "Get out of that group now."

Simon turned and scuttled away, leaving me confused and torn. I looked back at the boys. Jack smiled and waved me over, and I wanted so badly to go back to them. I didn't know what was going on, but I was sick of it. With a deep breath, I stalked over to the boys. "What's happening?" I asked them. I could detect the tiniest bit of unintentional razor edge in my voice.

Jack just shrugged. "I'm not sure what you're on about. But if anything note-worthy were happening today, I would have to say it's the arrival of Seb. I can see why you might get a bit angsty about that."

I pursed my lips. Was that it? Was Simon just trying to warn me about Seb? If so, I was over being tormented by that prick. If it came to another fight, so be it. But I wasn't about to let him ruin what I had built up here while he was gone. This time I was going to turn the tides on him. I wasn't sure how, but I would do it.

I heard the squeal of tires as a shiny red car pulled into the parking lot. I saw a flash of blood-red hair as Seelie climbed out of the driver's seat. A moment passed, and Seb lifted himself out of the passenger seat, immediately gracing the school grounds with a withering glare. I barely even noticed Alec hop out of the back seat and immediately stalk away, head down and his hands in his pockets. Seb draped an arm around Seelie's shoulders and slipped her a green bill. She grinned and then split away from him, making a bee-line for her loyal, cheer-leading followers.

Seb's eyes locked on mine, and all my brave though dissipated. I couldn't beat him… surely not.

"Newbie," he called as he approached our group, "I see we've made ourselves comfortable."

My stomach shrivelled up. You can do this. If old Jace could rule his school, new Jace can take down one kid. You can do it.

I met his dark glare with my own golden one. I plastered on my most arrogant and confident aura I could muster, pretending that it was Johnathan, Jordan and Magnus at my back rather than Seb's loyal minions. "How'd you enjoy your holiday, Seb? I'm sure you had a blast, skipping through the daises, ringing along to Girls Just Wanna Have fun, plotting new ways to make my life miserable?"

It was a bad come back. Old Jace cursed new Jace for how slack his wits had become. Although, it seemed to do the trick. Seb's nostrils flared. "I'll tell you what, Herondale. You're going to regret ever moving to this state. You think you've got this situation wrapped around your pinkie, but you've got another thing coming for you."

Before I could snap out anything else, Seb clicked his fingers and began to stroll away. Every boy that had stood behind me a moment ago flocked to his side. Even Jack. I saw him pass a sympathetic glance over his shoulder at me, but that was all I got. Something inside of my deflated, but another part of me still had a roaring fire going. I was going to beat Seb. No matter what it took, I would beat him.

I know it's probably getting a tad bit confusing, but bare with me. If you can't already guess what's gunna happen, then I think I'll be revealing it next chapter.

Sorry for my crappy foreshadowing skills!

Thanks for reading :D Follow, fave, review would be lovely :) See you next week guys!