Chapter 3

Clary sat on the grass cross-legged, her brown paper lunch bag tucked in the middle. She was up against the chain link fence, facing the school. That way no one would be able to sneak up on her. She'd had enough mean pranks pulled on her over the years to know the strategic place to sit. But today was different, she was lost in thought, her defenses down.

It wasn't that the blonde boy got a jump on her, Clary still saw him coming. It was that she had no time to make an escape by the time she did notice him. After all, she was thinking about him, it hadn't seemed real that he was walking toward her.

"Hi," Jace said, and sat down next to her. Clary thought her eyes would pop out of her head.

"What do you want?" Clary replied, but her voice was too surprised to hold the venom she usually used.

"I was just sick of the inside. Very noisy." Jace's nonchalant words accompanied with his stiff posture made Clary feel very wary.

"So why didn't your friends come out with you?" she asked, and then dug around her lunch bag pretending she didn't care.

"They're the ones who are the noisiest."

Clary giggled, and then froze. Jace went still as well. He didn't think he'd ever heard Clary laugh and it was shocking how sweet it sounded.

"What do you got for lunch?" Jace asked, peeking over to break the tension.

"Just a sandwich," she replied uneasily.

"Me too," he said but there was nothing in front of him. Clary looked and raised her eyebrow before remembering her face, and she turned back to hide.

Clary couldn't remember the last time she'd had a plain average conversation with anyone. Maybe it had never even happened. She didn't know what she was supposed to do, or say. She grabbed a pack of tiny cookies and opened them up. She shoved a couple in her face and then offered him the bag.

"Cookie?" she said, spitting cookie bits out as she did. Her face burned as her embarrassment rose.

Jace chuckled and grabbed a couple and shoved them in his mouth. "Sure," he replied, spitting cookie bits as well. Clary glanced over at him cautiously and then she began to smile. Jace's bright, beaming smile dazzled her and she sat staring at him for a moment.

"Did you start that book?" Jace asked.

"Yeah," Clary replied, dropping her guard for a moment. "I love how the author pulls you in right from the prologue. It feels like a story you've read a hundred times, but at the same time, it's completely new…"

Stopping abruptly, Clary grabbed her things and bolted. Jace watched her run away in shock, and then he saw what had caused her to flee.

"Jace!" Isabelle waved and called as she jogged over to him. "There you are."

Clary rounded the side of the school and she slammed her back against the brick wall. Her breath was frantic. How did she let herself get so caught up? Of course Jace was with Isabelle, he was her friend; they sat together every lunch. She didn't know how she could have been so blind, letting him lure her into conversation. Clary went over and over what she said in her head, wondering what could be used against her. One thing was for certain, it would not be happening again. Clary was done with Jace before he had the chance to hurt her.

She glanced up and saw a familiar face watching her. The dark eyes of Magnus Bane seemed to burn her skin. He approached her and she held herself tall, ready for a fight.

"You are different."

"How would you know what I am?" Clary snapped back.

He made a thoughtful sound. "Not different enough…yet. You should trust that friendship, before it's too late."

Magnus turned and walked away. A stunned Clary yelled after him, "Before what's too late?"

But her question went unanswered, and Clary made another quick exit.

~~XXX~~

This was not Clary's day. She felt confused and discombobulated and now she felt pain as her head smashed against the locker.

"Listen here, beast," Isabelle said with her hand holding Clary to the lockers while Maia stood watch. The two had cornered her after the final bell. "Jace is mine. You stay the hell away from him or you're dead."

Clary was too stunned to respond. Isabelle sounded jealous. What did she think Clary was going to do with Jace? Then she realized this was all part of their plan.

"You tell Jace to stay away from me," Clary roared, and slapped the other girls hand away.

A sharp intake of breath caused both the girls to look over and see Jace standing right there looking at them.

"Jace's coming," Maia spoke, her voice cheery.

"Thanks a lot," Isabelle seethed under her breath. "Jace, it's not what it looks like. She was threatening me…"

"Save it, Isabelle," Jace replied, unimpressed. And then he moved himself between Isabelle and Clary, earning a glare at the back of his head from the raven-haired mean girl. "Are you okay?"

Clary's eyes darted from Jace's to Isabelle's. The panic rose up in her and she felt lost. Having no idea what their plan was, Clary reverted easily back into what she knew best. "Didn't you hear me? I said stay away from me."

"You know what? Fine," Jace said, backing away with his hands up. Clary pushed down the tears she felt rising as he took off down the hall.

"Don't forget that about men, beast," Isabelle said once Jace had left. "They might want to party with a freak every once in a while, but they aren't after baggage. That's why Jace will cool down and come back to me. I'm beautiful, he belongs with me."

Isabelle turned and linked arms with her friend before they both sauntered off down the hall. Clary felt the tears falling, but she let them this time. She slid down the locker until she hit the floor, her body shaking with her sobs. She buried her face in her arms as she let the emotions overtake her.

She sucked in and held her breath when she heard footsteps; peeking up from her arms, Clary saw the back end of Magnus disappear around the corner.

"Just great," she mumbled to herself as she watched him. Now the whole school would know that she was in the hall crying.

Clary swiped angrily at her tears and pulled herself up off the ground. She slung her backpack over her shoulders and pulled her hood up, starting her walk home.

Even though she wanted to keep her eyes down on the pavement, she had to glance up to safely cross the street. She could see Jace, walking about a block in front of her, his posture stiff and his blonde curls bouncing angrily on the back of his head.

Clary knew it was her fault but she couldn't figure out why he was so upset. He'd obviously wanted to have gotten away with his plan. Clary huffed and ducked her head.

She didn't see the accident but she heard it. The tires seemed to scream as the car halted. Clary looked up just in time to see Jace flying up over the hood of the car and into the windshield.

"Jace!" Clary cried out as her body moved before her mind was able to catch up. Her feet pounded against the sidewalk as she quickly covered the block of space between her and Jace.

The man from the car was already on the phone to the police when Clary arrived. Jace was still lying on the hood and she climbed up next to him.

"Jace," Clary said softly, looking down and brushing his cheek. His eyes were closed and Clary couldn't tell if he was breathing.

She stared at his face, a thin cut at his hairline bleeding a small trail of red down over his eyebrow. Clary's fingers brushed gently, clearing the blood from his forehead.

"Jace," she said again.

"Clar…" Jace's eyes flickered open.

Clary let out a shuddering breath. "Jace," she replied with a bit of a smile.

"You came," he said, his voice quiet and rough.

"Well more like I watched you get ran over. What were you thinking?"

"You made me mad," he said weakly.

"So you throw yourself in front of a moving car?"

"You know, teen angst and all," he teased, and Clary laughed, but it sounded more like a sob.

The ambulance sirens grew and grew until Clary could see the lights pull up behind them. Jace tried to sit up and Clary pressed him back down.

"Don't move," she said.

"Okay," he agreed quickly, his face wincing still from the pain of trying to move.

Soon she was pushed out of the way, Jace disappeared into the ambulance, and Clary was swept away to make a statement. She ignored the looks she received from the police officers, after all, there were much more important things to do than worry about her scar. Jace was on the way to the hospital and Clary needed to get there.

"Clary! Clary!" Jocelyn Fray's voice carried over the general noise of the bystanders.

"Mom," Clary called out and waved so her mother could find her.

Jocelyn ran up and wrapped her arms around her daughter, squeezing her tightly and causing Clary to squeak.

"I'm okay, mom," Clary said, and while she tried to push out her embarrassment, it was the first time in a long time she had felt her mother's love.

"You're free to go," the police officer said to Clary and he offered her his card. Clary took it and went home with her mom in a daze.

Clary couldn't get her mother to stop following her, the shine of the concerned parent had worn off and was now rubbing her nerves.

"I'm fine, mom, I was nowhere near the accident," she explained as she searched through the bookcase in the living room.

The case was nearly to the ceiling and had a wide selection of books. Clary had read most of them, but there was one in particular she was looking for.

"It just makes you think," Jocelyn replied, sitting down on the chair facing her daughter's back. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."

"Something did happen to me," Clary reminded her, not unkindly, but her focus was elsewhere.

Jocelyn was quiet and Clary was able to concentrate on her task. Finally, seeing the one she was after, she plucked it from the case and turned around, a triumphant expression on her face that soon fell when she noticed her mother's tears.

"What's wrong, mom?" Clary inquired.

"I try to be a good mom," she sobbed. "But I always get everything wrong."

"No you don't," Clary replied awkwardly, not sure what to do with her mom's outburst. "You're a great mom, really."

Jocelyn stood and wrapped her arms around her daughter and pulled her tight. "Let's have some girl time," she asked. "We could watch a movie? I'll make popcorn."

Clary, still clutching the book in her hand, looked at her mother and sighed. "Okay, mom," she agreed.

Her mother smiled brightly and Clary ran and put the book in her bag while her mother made popcorn. She hoped Jace was doing okay, but she was going to have to wait to find out.