So, um... This is a day late... and I'm extremely sorry. I've been so stressed with school at the moment. So I'm sorry, but I'm sure you'll live with a 24 hour delay... right?

Anyways I apologize in advance cause I hardly edited this at all... like. At. ALL. So I'm sorry, but I wanted to get it up for you guys.

ENJOY :D

The first few lessons of the day blurred together. My thoughts were either jumbled, racing and erratic, or non-existent. I spent my entire maths lesson contemplating my existence on this planet, at this school, in this class, in this moment. Three weeks, my mind whispered at me, that's all you've been here for. Three weeks and you've completely messed everything up.

Only, I hadn't exactly messed everything up. I had momentarily beaten the bully, gotten the girl and was in the process of pulling together a small band of friends. Yet, everything seemed wrong. It all seemed fake, and as though it was tearing at the seams.

Break up with me on Monday.

That's what Clary had said. She was crying and she was distraught. Maybe something else had happened to push her to say that. But the question was, am I going to do as she says? Of course not. She needed to talk it out. Something was going on, and all I really knew was I had to be there for her.

Simple as that.

So as the bell for lunch echoed through the halls of the school, I kept that thought circling through my head. Simple as that. Simple as that. Simple. As. That.

She spotted me before I spotted her. She was alone at the table, staring at the door as I walked in. She must have run there, because it seemed like she was the first one there. The first wave of kids crashed through the door with me. She gaze locked onto mine instantly, and suddenly simple was out the window.

I walked straight towards her. I encompassed her in my arms and whispered, "You need to tell me what's going on."

She took a moment to reply, but when she did, her voice was icy cold. "Do it."

Something in me seized up. I felt my muscles tense. Do it. Break up with her. I pulled away, a little shocked. I had thought for sure that it had been an in-the-moment statement, but here she was, telling me to go through with it. "Clary, I – "

"Do it now, Jace," she cut me off, "Before you get hurt."

"Get hurt…?"

A wave of quiet rippled across the cafeteria. The usual haughty banter and laughter died down to a few select murmurs and whispers. I took a step away from Clary and turned to see what everyone was looking at.

Of course, it just had to be Seb. He strode into the room with Jack and the rest of the football kids behind him. I felt something in me crack. I felt like I had been betrayed, even though I had never put much trust into those boys in the first place.

"Newbie," Seb said coolly, "What are you doing?"

I swallowed, building up m courage. "I dunno. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Standing…?" Jack muttered with a small sense of humour that was shut off immediately but Seb's glare.

"Oh!" I said sarcastically, feeding off of the small burst of humour Jack had given me, intentionally or not, "That would be because I am standing. What's the matter Seb? Did I knock out your eyes accidentally when you attacked me?"

I expected some sort of retaliation from him. In the past, I had been able to rally him up at least enough to shake him, but now he was a mask of calm. "You keep running that sarcastic mouth of yours Herondale. We'll see how far you can drag yourself with that."

"I'm worth more than you think I am, Seb," I said quietly, feeling new Jace resurface. A hint of desperation for everything to be fine worked its way into my voice, and I hated it. I was cracking, and it wasn't only me who knew it. I could see the knowledge of it behind Seb's malicious grin.

"You're not worth anything," he snarled.

I thought it was over, and I turned away from the other boy. I saw a small cluster of people standing behind me, and a small amount of confidence leaked into my complete and utter gloom. First I saw Clary, he fists clenched by her side. Then I saw Alec, his face a mask of stormy calm. Clinging to his shoulder was Seelie, but I could see that she was purely lapping up the drama. I saw that Simon had also crept into my corner of the ring, hanging at the back of the crowd.

I turned back to Seb, a small smile playing on my lips. But, somehow, it died as soon as I saw his face. Despair overrode any sort of hope I had left in me. Of course I should have known it wouldn't be that easy…

He raised his hand, and clicked his fingers together once. The sound seemed to echo through the room. "Alec," he called, "You're coming with me now to go see the coach about getting my captaincy back."

I spun around to face Alec in shock. He was looking down and away from me, but I could see the anger – however brief and fleeting it may have seemed – there. But without a word, my ally nodded and shuffled over to stand beside Seb. Naturally, Seelie gave a little excited squeak and trailed behind her boyfriend, looking relieved to be on her natural side. I felt myself sink further into that despair, but hope cracking like fine china.

"Also," Seb added, "We'll talk about whether it's in the teams' best interest to keep certain players on the team when they haven't earned their spot like the rest of us."

A few boys, minus Alec and Jack, murmured in agreement.

Crack.

"Simon," Seb called in a sing-song voice, "You and I also have some matters to discuss. Come here, would ya?"

My stomach dropped in icy realisation. Crack.

I watched, my jaw on the floor, as Simon shuffled over to Seb, shooting me a regretful look. "Thanks for getting all goss for me. Couldn't have done it without you, you little creep. No one stalks like a Lewis."

"Thanks…" Simon muttered dejectedly.

The smile on Seb's face was now so wide that I was scared he might split his lip. At least, I might have been scared if I wasn't too busy drowning in shock and betrayal. But I knew what was next, and I knew that I needed to get away from this situation. Everything was falling apart – I was falling apart. The cracks spread out from the centre of my heart and mind, and I knew that Seb would keep on chipping away at me until I shattered. It was only a matter of time… only a matter of seconds.

"Clary," Seb said, his voice turning icy and tainted with malice, "Get over here. You can stop pretending now."

I tried to catch her gaze, tried to reach for her hand, but she brushed past me, her head bent, to stand by Seb's side. I saw a tear fall from her chin, but I never saw it manifest in her eyes. I didn't see her eyes again. I couldn't see if the emerald there was sad, happy, angry or shocked. I couldn't tell what she was thinking, and that's the thing that hurt the most.

There was no more cracking to be done. I felt it, and I know that Seb sensed it. I felt myself shatter, and I knew that there was no way to put me back together any time soon. This school – Seb, Seelie, Alec, Simon, Jack, Clary – they had shattered me.