Chapter 2

The morning alarm went off for Jace Wayland right at seven. Unlike most teenaged boys his age, he didn't hit the snooze button, instead he got out of bed and onto the floor. There he found his favorite book, held open with two weights. He started reading from the top of the page as he began doing pushups. His mind was completely fixated on his favorite characters that he let out a little groan only when he had gotten to the bottom of the second page and had to stop his routine. He picked up the weights and turned the page, setting it up for tomorrow morning.

He changed out of his boxers and into his running shorts, grabbing his mp3 player and sneakers before heading out for his morning run. He ran a little faster than usual, his story ringing through his ear buds, building up to the climax he'd been waiting to hear. His feet pounded the pavement as his heart raced, not from exertion, but from the excitement of the story. There was nothing he enjoyed more than getting lost in the fantasy world of books.

Jace did the same loop every morning, the scenery not important to him. He liked the run; it cleared his head and gave him the time to be immersed in another story. He didn't notice that he had company until he felt his arm tapped. Jace glanced over and sighed.

"Hi, Jace," Isabelle said, keeping stride with him.

While Jace had gotten up and thrown on workout clothes, it was clearly not the case with Isabelle. Her black hair was tied back in a perfect ponytail, and her makeup light, but done. She wore fitted yoga pants and a bra top, leaving her toned stomach on display. She was nearly as tall as Jace and was able to keep stride with his long legs easily.

Jace nodded, not wanting to stop his book, but the girl kept talking and he knew it was rude to ignore her. He hit pause on his player and yanked out the ear bud closest to her.

"So what do you think?" she asked, clearly not realizing he hadn't heard a word she'd said.

"About what?" Jace asked. His natural curls bounced in his face and he wished he had thrown the top into a ponytail like he usually did when he ran. He had been too excited to finish his audio book.

"Did you not hear me?" she pretended to chide. "What were you listening to?"

Jace's eyes lit up. "I was listening to the new Douglas DaVinci book. It's a wicked story about a race of ogres who…"

"Books? Really, Jace, I don't know what I'm going to do with you," Isabelle said, rolling her eyes. "I was trying to ask you about the winter dance. We would look so hot together coming in. You could wear black to match my hair and I could wear gold to match your eyes."

This hadn't been the first time Isabelle had asked him out. The girl knew nothing about him even though they had been in the same social circles for the last five years. It was clear that her interests were nowhere near the same as his, so he wondered why she kept trying.

"I don't think I'm going," he said diplomatically. He knew that his friends would likely try to drag him there, but he didn't have any interest in going, and even less in going with Isabelle.

"You have to," Isabelle said as she thrust her bottom lip out so far it stuck out just about as far as her perky breasts.

"I'll think about it," he said, feeling irritated. "Which way are you heading?"

Jace always turned left onto Charleston Way and Isabelle had been watching his routine enough to know this.

"Left," she said with a smug smile.

"Okay, well I will catch you later then, I'm heading this way." Jace slowed abruptly and cut behind her, taking a right. He popped his ear bud back in and turned on his story, not hearing the frustrated sound come from Isabelle as she was forced to run the other way.

"Running alone?" Maia asked with a smug smile as she caught up to her friend on the street, her jogging shorts nearly as short as her friends.

"Jace," Isabelle grumbled without any other explanation.

"Why do we even hang out with him, Isabelle? He's boring."

"He's beautiful," Isabelle responded darkly. "And I'm going to make him mine."

~~XXX~~

By the time Jace made it to school, he was back in a good mood. The end of his story had left him buzzing and he felt the excitement of deciding what book he'd read next. He sat in the library, tutoring in the first block. He loved sharing his love of literature with those students who needed a little extra help in English. His friends never really understood his love of books, and the people that did always regarded him with suspicion, not believing that he could be intellectual when he was so good looking; so it was a catch-22. He was the most popular boy in school and yet he always felt like an outcast, no one really understood him.

Jace glanced up at the clock and was certain that his student was not going to show, he was already twenty minutes late for a forty minute time slot. He began to peruse the shelves, his hand running along the books as if he could sense the good ones by touch.

The library was quiet, not many used it in the first block, preferring to stay home and sleep if they didn't have a morning class. It was Jace's favorite time of day. He plucked one off the shelf at random, loving to find hidden gems that way, and made his way to the large bean bag chairs set up by the windows. He sat facing the library, the books provided a more serene view to him than the hijinks of his classmates making their way across the field to their classes. Quickly he became enraptured in his book.

He heard the beanbag beside him become occupied but he was too engrossed to look up.

"Hello, Jace," the soft but distinct voice of Magnus Bane spoke.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Jace asked, surprised to see his pseudo friend.

"Just had to pick up some study stuff," Magnus replied.

Jace eyed him skeptically, he never knew Magnus to pick up a book. The boy was brilliant and offbeat—having skipped two grades already—even if he did make Jace feel uncomfortable at times. Jace could never quite put a finger on it, how there was always something different about the Asian boy with the dark eyes. Even now, he seemed to be looking at him in a way that made Jace believe he knew something that Jace did not.

Magnus' eyes flickered up and then he smiled. "I gotta go, I'll see you later."

Jace looked confused but waved goodbye to him before turning back to his book. It wasn't long before the sound of a soft sigh made Jace roll his eyes internally. There was no way Isabelle had come to the library to study. Jace looked over his book and was startled to see a different girl in front of him. She hadn't been sighing at his looks, like he was used to, but at the bookshelf. Her hoodie was pulled up over her head so Jace couldn't see who she was but he couldn't help be transfixed by the way her hand softly brushed across the books. Jace found himself moving before he could realize it. He needed to see who it was.

Jace had had his fair share of girls vying for his attention. He'd never really paid much attention to any of them, although he knew how to keep a polite conversation; so he wondered how come he felt so nervous as he approached the petite girl at the bookcase.

Her fingers hesitated over a certain book and then she plucked it from the shelf. Jace was grateful to see that he knew the book and had his opening.

"That's a great read," he said as he moved beside her.

The girl's face turned abruptly and looked up at his. Her red hair fell from the opening in her hood and her eyes looked fearful for a moment before they regained their composure. The angry scar that crossed her face made Jace blanch, he had never really looked at it up close and he wondered what could have happened to her to get it.

Clary saw the pity in his face and snapped, "Who asked you?"

Jace watched as the girl quickly strode off. His first reaction was to forget her, she obviously didn't want to talk to him, and yet, there was something in her eyes that moment before she regained her armor that haunted Jace for the rest of the day.