Chapter 4

Isabelle stood next to Maia at her locker. The hallways were mostly empty but filling up fast as the warning bell sounded. The general noise of students permeated the hallways as Isabelle seethed.

"I'm going to kill her," she spat. "Did you see what she did to Jace?"

"She didn't push him in front of the car, Izzie," Maia countered.

"That's not the point. He should have been walking me home and this never would have happened. Did you see his leg? It's broken! How are we supposed to dance together at the winter social if he has a broken leg?"

Maia was quiet in thought for a moment before she answered, "Oh! I know." With a flick of her hair she started hand jiving.

Isabelle rolled her eyes; good friends were hard to find.

"Come on," Isabelle told her friend. "The dance is Friday, we need to get to class so Jace can hurry up and ask me already."

Jace didn't even notice as Isabelle came into class, his mind was elsewhere. He had been told to stay home from school for a couple days but he didn't want to. He wanted to see Clary again. After the way she had looked at him at the accident—he just needed to see her.

With his leg propped out between the rows of desks, his injury was obvious. But other than the broken leg, a few stitches on his forehead, and a stiff back, Jace had come out fairly unscathed.

"Hi, Jace," Isabelle said, sitting down next to him.

Jace glanced up in surprise, not having expected her to talk to him again after the way he had talked to her the day before.

"Hey," he said warily.

"So the dance is this Friday," she reminded, and Jace looked at her like she was crazy.

Jace glanced down at his leg. "I won't be doing much dancing," he said.

Isabelle laughed. "Of course not, but you still need a date," she said pointedly.

"Maybe," Jace conceded, "but it won't be you. Isabelle, the way you treated Clary yesterday...you're just not the kind of person I would be with."

"But I'm pretty," she whined.

"Not to me," Jace whispered, and turned to face the teacher as the class began.

~~XXX~~

Clary had forgotten to put her hood up before she left for school, she'd been more interested in getting there to see if Jace was alright. Unfortunately by the time she got there, the bell had rung and she had to go to class. The entire forty-five minute period seemed to drag as she wondered about Jace. She had heard people talking in the halls about him, but without friends of her own, there was no one to relay the information back to her.

When the bell rang, she raced out of class, ignoring everything but seeing for herself that Jace was alright. She was so caught up that she didn't realize until she was standing in front of his locker she had no idea what she was going to say.

"Clary, hi," Jace said, surprised, as she approached him.

"Hi," she replied, ducking her head down. "I was just…I wanted to…are you okay?"

Jace smiled but she didn't see it, her eyes were firmly glued to the grout between the square tiles on the floor.

"I'm feeling much better, thank you."

"I'm sss…I wanted to apologize for telling you to stay away yesterday. I thought you and Isabelle…"

Jace stood confused for a moment. "You thought me and Isabelle what?"

"That you were trying to play a prank on me," she admitted softly. "But I know you weren't, at least I don't think you were, and I felt bad about the accident and I…" she grabbed her bag off her shoulders and pulled out a book, thrusting it at him, "I brought you this."

Jace looked down at the cover of the book. "I haven't read this one," he said excitedly. No one had ever given him a book, save his family.

"It's one of my favorites. I thought you might like it."

"I love it," was his heartfelt response.

Clary finally found the nerve to look up, and what she saw made her breath catch. Jace was looking at her, his eyes kind and his smile real. He was looking at her face and not recoiling.

"Okay then, enjoy," she said quickly. She made to leave but Jace grabbed her arm to stop her from going.

Turning back to face him, she fidgeted uncomfortably. "I wanted to ask you something," Jace said, his hand moving up to run through his hair. Clary didn't say anything, so he continued, "I was hoping you'd come with me to the dance."

Clary's face fell; he was still out to embarrass her. Her head turned away as she tried to hide her disappointment, and in doing so, her eyes met the curious look of Magnus Bane. She remembered his words.

You should trust that friendship, before it's too late.

Clary looked back at Jace, and she knew she had to take the chance.

"Okay," she said, and smiled as Jace pulled her into an appreciative hug.

~~XXX~~

Clary frowned as she looked in the mirror. It had been years since she had worn a dress, and even then it hadn't been a dress like this.

Jocelyn gasped as she entered the room. "Look at you," she cooed to her daughter. "So grown up and so beautiful."

Clary fought back her initial response to chastise her mother for lying to her, after all, they both knew she wasn't beautiful. But with her hair in a large messy braid falling down her shoulder, and the way the ivory dress fell just off her shoulders and flared out at her hips, she couldn't argue that she almost looked good.

"Here, let me get your picture before Jace shows up," Clary's mother said, holding up the camera.

Clary, who hadn't had her picture taken without a scowl in possibly her whole life, lit up at Jace's name, and Jocelyn was quick to catch the moment. Clary rolled her eyes at her mom but she couldn't help the smile that stayed on her face.

The doorbell rang and Jocelyn let out a happy squeak. "You wait here, it's good to keep them waiting. Make an entrance."

Clary would have argued but the sound of the doorbell sent panic into her heart. What if she had been wrong about everything? It wasn't too late to pull out and not go to the dance. She surely did not want the night to end up like Carrie.

She had to make a choice. It would be easy to go back to the way things were, keeping to the sidelines and never letting anyone in, but where was the reward in that? She would spend the rest of her life in the shadows, never enjoying the light of love or even friendship. It wasn't something that Clary was going to risk any more. Without a glance back to the mirror, Clary headed downstairs to meet her date.

Jace stood at the bottom of the stairs, his palms sweating. His palms had never sweat before. Clary's mom, although nice, was hovering, and he felt petrified that he was going to have the wrong reaction and she would kick him out.

"Clary is a very special girl," Clary's mom told him.

"Yes, Ma'am," Jace responded.

"She can be very misunderstood but her heart is in the right place…"

Clary's mom's voice became foggy because at that moment, Clary appeared at the top of the stairs. She looked like an angel, her red hair like a fire that warmed her face, bringing color to the pale landscape. Her shapely legs stepped one in front of the other as she came down the stairs, and when she reached the bottom, Jace had finally found his voice again, barely.

"Hi."

"Hi," she replied and she looked down, his stare making her nervous.

"You look really pretty," Jace said earnestly.

Clary looked at him and smiled. "You do, too…well not pretty, but you know."

Jace laughed and the tension was broken, causing Clary to laugh as well.

"Okay you kids, let's get you together for a picture before you go," Jocelyn said, ushering the two out the back door and over to a lattice of flowers.

Clary looked up to Jace, just as he looked back down to her, and the picture was captured.

~~XXX~~

Isabelle's friends looked at her dubiously. They had never known Jace to be that mean but Isabelle was assuring them quickly.

"He's bringing the beast here as a joke. Maia is announcing the Winter King and Ice Queen and that is when it will happen. Just remember what you are all supposed to do."

Still unsure, they nodded their heads, all except Magnus, who was watching Isabelle with a curious eye.

When they had all wondered off to the refreshment table, Magnus approached her. "It's not too late to call this off."

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Jace is counting on us. He needs our help."

Magnus shook his head. "Learn to be nicer," he suggested plainly, and then headed off the other way.

"What do you know?" Isabelle mumbled after he left. "You wear more eyeliner than I do."

~~XXX~~

Jace's friends had been a lot nicer than Clary had expected. With the exception of Isabelle and Maia, who had been keeping their distance, all of the popular clique had been by to say hi and chat throughout the night. Clary felt like the whole thing was a dream. Of course there were still people whispering behind her back, but for once she felt like it might be out of jealousy instead of fear.

"Do you want to dance?" Jace asked as a slower song played over the sound system.

"Okay," Clary responded shyly.

Jace's hand was warm on her back as he held her close. Her whole body felt like it was flushing and she wondered if he could hear her heart pounding over the music.

"Thank you again for the book, I loved it," Jace said.

"You read it already?" Clary replied surprised. "I only gave it to you two days ago."

"I couldn't put it down. The author really knows how to spin a twist…" Jace trailed off. Habit had taught him that people tuned out about that time.

"He does," Clary agreed, and Jace met her eyes and smiled.

The rest of the dance was spent talking about books, his favorites and hers. By the time the last bar of music played, Clary had already agreed to loan him about five of her books and take seven in exchange from him.

"Can we have your attention please," Principal Herondale spoke through the microphone set up on the stage at the east wall of the gym. "It is now time to announce the Winter King and Ice Queen for 2013. Maia," he said, calling the girl up to the top of the stage.

Maia took the envelope from him and opened it up, smiling when she read the names. Behind her sat a table with a cloth over two objects. She pulled up the cloth on one side to reveal a crown.

"The Winter King is Jace Wayland."

There were many claps and cheers that came from the audience. Jace had not left Clary alone all night, and when he took off to collect his crown, she suddenly felt the evening turn ominous.

Magnus came to stand beside Clary while Jace made his speech. He was charming and witty, just what was expected from him. It was almost an act, or perhaps the way he was with her was the act.

"That boy is crazy about you," Magnus said as if he could hear her thoughts.

"He barely knows me," Clary said almost defensively.

"Does that change the way you feel about him? Barely knowing him?"

The questions were rhetorical, so Clary didn't respond, but she was surprised when she turned that Magnus was gone.

"And the Ice Queen is…" Maia's voice came through the microphone again. "The Beast!" she cried out and flipped the sheet off the table, revealing a set of big furry ears on a headband.

"Come on up here, Clary," Isabelle said, coming up on the stage. "Come get what you deserve."

The gym was quiet and everyone looked at Clary. A few people snickered but Clary held strong up until the moment Isabelle went up to Jace and slipped her arm through his.

Clary felt the bile rise up in her throat. She needed out, and fast.

Thankful that she had worn flats, she spun and raced out the door. She briefly thought to pause for Jace and see if he'd come after her, but the image of Isabelle and him standing there on stage was burned in her brain.

She didn't end up having a choice however, her lungs didn't seem to be working and she could hardly see through the tears in her eyes. She ran as far as she could into the parking lot and sat down against the guardrail, burying her face in her hands.

It only took a couple minutes before she heard her name.

"Clary! Clary!"

He had come for her. "Jace?" she said, standing up.

"Clary," he called again as he saw where she was. When he arrived at her, he pulled her to him in a tight hug. "I didn't know she was going to do that, you have to believe me."

Clary searched her heart and answered, "I believe you."

"Why is she so mean?" Clary asked, her tears slowing.

"She won't be anymore," Jace assured, causing Clary to look confused.

"Turns out Magnus had his own plan. He was behind the curtain on stage. As soon as you ran out, he stepped out and cut Isabelle's hair all off. Turns out the reason she keeps her hair so long is she has a huge bald spot on the back of her head."

Clary looked shocked and then she burst out laughing. Jace pulled her tight to him again and joined her.