By the time that the bell rings for next period, Izzy is normal, untouchable Isabelle Lightwood. It may not be the most ideal circumstances for her and Simon to get together, but at the moment I am worried about her getting through the day. Whatever my friend did is taking a serious toll on her.

We both walk out of the bathroom at the same time and back into Mr. Graymark's class room. It is thankfully empty, and I walk to the back and grab my bag, Izzy right beside me. I look at Isabelle, who is standing straight up, and is clearly ready to get her day over with. We both part at the doorway, both of us going to different sides of the building. She is the assistant to one of the normal English professors and I have French. With Simon.

How wonderful.

I am quickly beginning to realize that my sarcastic thought process is not helping my mood at all today. I make it to the second floor with time to spare and hurriedly rush into the classroom. Part of me wants to hide into one of the corners and not show my face to him because I didn't want to hear about it, and the other part of me wants to confront him. Not even on Isabelle's behalf. Izzy was getting what she deserved, she was my friend, but I had to acknowledge that she was the one that started this. I felt betrayed though. Of all people for him to use, why does it have to be one of the people that torments me on a daily basis?

Part of me wants to believe that it is because she is pretty and he knows that Isabelle doesn't like her, but another part of me believes that he is just careless, and didn't even take into account what she did to me in the past. I don't consider myself the center of anyone's attention, but it's kind of wrong when your best friend is doing unspeakable things with the girl that has made your life hell for the past I don't even know how long.

Deciding that the best route is giving him the cold shoulder, but not outright avoiding him, I sit my things by my normal spot and slide into my desk. Not two seconds before the bell rings I see Simon walk into the class and look around. When he sees me, his face pales and his breath catches as he pauses in the middle of the walkway, just staring me down with fearful brown eyes.

Does anyone else find it funny that guys around here are afraid of a short redheaded girl?

Good, so I'm not the only one.

Of course, him stopping in the middle of the walkway causes a major traffic back up and none other than Sebastian Verlac collides into him. I wince as Simon stumbled forward and slams into the desk right beside me. Sebastian gasps and hurriedly grabs Simon by the arm as he pulls him upright. "Sorry, dude!" he exclaims, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Guess I wasn't paying attention."

"I wasn't either," Simon replies, "no big deal."

They are both silent as Simon sits down in the desk next to me and Sebastian takes his normal seat behind me. The rest of the class is already settled down, and everyone is waiting on Ms. Gray to begin. Simon looks over at me worriedly and says, "Hi, Clare."

"I'm surprised that you can talk," I say, shrugging. "I figured Kaelie would have already have sucked one of your lips off." That probably came off more hostile that what I am aiming for, but I cannot help it. I am enraged, betrayed and not just a little pissed off.

"I get the feeling that I'm in trouble," he says sheepishly, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose as he looks at me.

"Not at all," I sneer. "Don't you know that I' m normally like this?"

Simon looks at me seriously and suddenly understanding dawns in his eyes. Finally, the idiot gets why I'm angry. "It's your time of the month?" he whispered so that no one else could hear him.

Deep breaths, Clary, I coach myself; you cannot kill your best friend in an abrupt lapse of self-control. Of course the side of me that wants to rip his head off wants to know exactly why I couldn't do this. Who else would help you with your English homework? The angry part assures me that it would be a great chance for me to see Jace more often. Simon is backing away from me slowly now as I realize that there really is no incentive for not murdering him, and then it hits me. Damn…witnesses.

"You're an idiot," I say with such surety that it makes him look at me with a raised eyebrow. "You don't know a thing about girls and you're a thoughtless friend."

"Clary," Simon says wearily, "unless you've got a crush on me that I've never found out about, I honestly have no idea what the hell you're talking about."

I scowl at Simon and look away, crossing my arms. "Of all people to go and try and make Izzy jealous with, you choose Kaelie?" I demand.

"Who says I'm making her jealous?" Simon asks rhetorically. "Maybe I have started to take an interest in Kaelie as a person that Isabelle never bothered taking in me. Did you ever think of that?"

"You took an interest in a girl that openly drools over my boyfriend?" I demand.

"Can't you just give me the benefit of the doubt?"

"No!"

"Why are you even angry? I didn't even do anything to you!"

"Yes, you did," I finally say. "You could have chosen anyone else, but you chose the girl that makes my life hell on a regular basis! I can't believe you would do that to me."

Before he can say another word, Madame Gray has already walked to the front center of the room. She begins to start shooting off different instructions, and Simon and I never get to finish our conversation.

I make it to the Chemistry classroom already tired and subconsciously wanting to be near Jace again. He is standing out in the hallway, talking to my brother. I know that the bell is extended in between second and third period so people could grab books from lockers, but still, Jon had to go all the way to English.

I catch the last part of what Jon says, "…ing at me, it was seriously freaking me out this morning!"

Jace snorts as I stop beside him, and it is a good thing that I do, because the snort turns into full-blown laughter as he clutches at his side with one arm and wraps his arm around my shoulders for support as he practically doubles over.

"Can I get in on a good joke?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Jon says, glaring at Jace as he replies, "your boyfriend's a jackass." There's no real venom in his voice as he speaks, so I know that he isn't actually angry. Thank God, there was too much drama going around already. Without another word, Jon turns around and walks off, leaving Jace and I to walk inside.

"What was all that about?" I question, smiling as I realize that he isn't going to remove his arm from my shoulders.

"Jon has an admirer," he says, biting on his lip. I see his golden eyes tear up slightly as he tries to stop an onslaught of laughter from bubbling over. I don't get what's so funny about Jon having an admirer. He wasn't exactly unpopular around the school, especially with the female sex. I know personally, having to force my breakfast to stay down as I hear what a few of these girls think of my brother. I mentally shudder at the thought and then banish it from my mind as I begin to feel queasy. I seriously doubt that Jace would find me vomiting remotely attractive.

School could not end soon enough! I am so sick of being around people in general that I just want to go into my room and hide until I am feeling antisocial. I am thinking back to sixth period as I sit in the passenger seat of Jon's vehicle, leaning on my elbow as I contemplate exactly how awkward I felt. I didn't think that were proper words to describe how truly bad it was. Neither Simon or Izzy were prepared to give their seats up, because they were both sure that they were the ones wronged, so I was stuck in between two fuming friends that didn't know that the other was fuming…if that made any sense at all. All I know is that whatever point that they were trying to get across to each other was not made.

"I'm expecting to go through a mental breakdown within the next few days or so," I inform Jon in a serious voice as he begins driving like a bad out of hell down the interstate. "Possibly sooner."

"That time of the month?" Jon asks, his voice almost distracted.

I blink, and openly gap at him. "First off, no," I manage to say after a moment, "and secondly, I am not discussing my…my…."

"Feminine issues?" Jon suggested.

"JONATHAN CHRISTOPHER MORGENSTERN!" I shriek. "Please stop talking, you dolt!"

My shouting startles him, and when he flinches, the car swerved slightly. We go halfway into the next lane, and almost sideswipe a very nice piece of fiberglass that would cost us more than I know how to comprehend.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" Jon demands. "I just was messing with you!"

"Then stop trying to be funny, and try to drive!" I snap, placing a hand over my racing heart. Apparently my body does not appreciate near-death experiences. Who knew?

"Trying?" Jon demands, sounding truly scandalized. "I will have you know that a sense of humor like this only comes around once in a life time!"

"I can tell why," I grumble, crossing my arms.

"Lighten up, Clare," Jon says, nudging my shoulder with his hand. At least I think that he is nudging me, and then I look over and see that he is actually patting it awkwardly. Very awkwardly. Is my brother trying to make me feel better? Oh no, Jon, this only comes around once in a lifetime. "You going to tell me what's wrong?"

I look over at him and blink. "Who are you and what have you done with Jonathan Morgenstern?"

Jon rolls his eyes at me as we turn into our neighborhood. "Is it a crime for me to be worried about my sister?"

"In your rule book, it is," I reply.

"I've lost my rule book."

"I believe it; it's probably under the replica of Mount Everest that you've created out of socks."

"I'm starting to feel less sympathetic, Clarissa."

"There's the brother that I know and love," I coo, as I reach over and pinch his cheek just as he parks the car in our drive way. I jump out of the car before he can react and run into the house. Sometimes I forget the wonders of messing with brothers.

Hey! I've been busy as I don't even know for the past few days, so the update came a bit late, but it's a pretty deep chapter, lol. I hope you all like the thickening plotline! Any suggestions? Lemme know! Oh, and does anyone have any idea about who Jon's admirer might be?