~Clary~

He looked so happy. And so did I. His hair was too long, acting like an unwanted curtain to his eyes—and yet the smile on his face was undeniable. Only now did I realize that at the time when the picture had been taken, during the summer before going in to our Sophomore year, Jace hadn't been looking at the camera, but at me. He'd been looking at me. My cheeks had been badly sunburned and my hair had been in an disasterous excuse for a messy bun, off-centered and drooping down the right side of my head, the ponytail trying to conceal my mass of curls threatening to snap, and my glasses—oh, don't even get me started on my glasses. They made my eyes—that were crossed goofily—look enormous. Like two green moons about to fall right out of the sky.

Jace's best-guy friend Jordan had taken the picture, if I remember correctly. The three of us, Jordan's now-girlfriend Maia, and a few other friends of ours had decided to go on one last 'adventure' before school started up again. Of course, at the time, none of us could drive and the ones that could didn't have cars yet, so we had to stay close to home. But that hadn't stopped us from having a great time. We'd gone out to lunch, scavenging through our pockets for every last nickel and dime to pay for it, then we'd raided every single shop nearby and messed around like monkeys after having just escaped from the zoo. And then, to finish the day off, we'd gone to the park—where the picture had eventually been taken.

One picture, a day's worth of memories. I smiled, lost in reverie, thinking of the good old days when my crush on Jace had been so minute that I didn't care who the hell he dated; he could've dated a forty year old woman over me and I wouldn't have cared—well, actually I would have because that's just wrong, but... You get the point. Back then, Jace hadn't cared if I was a girl; he'd spit water at me in a fancy restaurant, would throw popcorn at me half-way through a movie, would shove me out of the way to go inside first, and would throw me over his shoulder and into the pool when I'd refuse to go in myself. Of course I didn't want that now, but I wanted to be as close as we'd been when life had been so much simpler.

Now Jace was hyperaware that I was a girl. He'd ask the waiter to fill my glass up with water when it was almost empty, he'd put the popcorn in the middle of us and would let me grab a handful before he grabbed one for himself, even if we went for it at the same time. He'd always let me go first. Now, he held the door open for me, now he hugged me as if he were afraid that I'd break in half, now he actually thought before he said anything to me, as if afraid he'd offend me or hurt my feelings. He was such a gentleman, and I appreciated that, and he went out of his way to beat up creeps like Sebastian whenever they got near me, but at the same time it didn't matter to him that his girlfriend was a total bitch to me and already building a wall between us. If he was so adamant to make sure my wellbeing never got corrupted, then why on earth was he eating out of Emily's hand? He was there when Emily had called my glasses cheap trash, and what had he done about it? Nothing.

It didn't matter if Jace was willing to punch Sebastian in the face hard enough to induce him into a coma if he was just going to let his new, trophy girlfriend claw into me with her contention without doing anything to put an end to it. Why couldn't he just punch Emily? Now, I know that he'd probably go to prison if he did that—I'd only been exaggerating. Kinda.—but he could at least do something. But he probably never will because she's a beautiful, tall, smooth-talking, walking sex magnet.

Why God? Why give monsters like Emily that kind of power over men? Over my best friend that I'm irrevocably in love with?

I placed the photo back on my nightstand, sighing in defeat, and snuggled under my covers, grabbing the book I was supposed to be done with by tomorrow for English. I only had about thirty pages left, but it was already eleven-o'clock and I was more tired than usual. Just before I could open to the page I'd left off on, my phone vibrated to the right of me, illuminating the the blanket it was underneath. "This better be important," I muttered under my breath, lazily retrieving my phone to see if it was worth the interruption.

It was a text. From Jace.

You still awake?

I rolled my eyes before typing a quick response. I am but I'm reading.

For pleasure?

For English, Jace.

I wanted to ignore his next message, pretend like I didn't care anymore what he had to say to me—whether it be in person or via text message, but I was only kidding myself. I couldn't even look at my book until my phone began to vibrate again. I was too eager when it came to Jace, even after he'd been a big, fat jerk to me. I needed to get over him. Like soon. Like now.

Emily says she likes you

I nearly laughed out loud and had to swallow back bile. That bitch. Okay, I texted back.

..Do you like her?

She's fine. For the spawn of satan she's fine. Just fine.

His response was almost instant. Are you okay?

I wanted to answer truthfully and tell him to eat dirt with Emily, but I knew that wouldn't play out too nicely, especially since Emily had Jace wrapped around her finger and she'd probably be one of those girlfriends that checked their boyfriends phones whenever they weren't looking; she'd probably check Jace's phone even if he was looking.

I'm fine, I sent, rolling my eyes, my cheeks flushing with anger.

You don't sound it.

You can't hear me. How would you know.

Clary...

Jace...

Do you want to hang out tomorrow? Maybe go see a movie after school's out?

Before Jace started seeing Emily, I would've jumped out of bed, turned on the radio and danced around my room like a madwoman, squealing with excitement, but when I texted him I'm busy, it wasn't just because I didn't want to avoid him and the possibility of Emily tagging along, it was because I truly didn't want to. I loved Jace, it was undeniable and I'd probably never be able to stop, but just because I loved him didn't mean I was willing to drop whatever it was I was doing, even fake a stomach ache to get out of class to meet him in the music room like I'd done so many times before, if he wasn't going to respect me enough, let alone even acknowledge the fact that he'd watched me get hurt, knowing very well he was partially to blame, and not apologize. He was so oblivious and infuriating, I swear...

I miss hanging out with you, was the next message I read from him. If he did, he sure didn't act like it.

I scoffed to myself, trying push the image of his 'sad' face away. I could see it so vividly in my mind that it was a struggle not to tell him that I missed hanging out with him too; how could you turn away from his golden eyes widening, glistening over, his lips tugging downward self-consciously, his brows furrowing as if he were a wounded puppy, lost and confused as to why anyone could possibly be mad at him? How? Gosh. Might as well make Jace undeniably cute, too, God. It was a good thing that he wasn't really standing front of me, or else I would've tossed my dignity out the window and welcomed him back without another question asked.

I'm sure Emily would be more than happy to go with you if you asked, I texted him.

Emily's not my best friend, though.

Trying to sucker me, huh? Not going to work, bud. You'd have more fun with her anyways, I retaliated, ignoring his last message altogether.

No I wouldn't Clary. She's not you and she never will be. Okay? I'll pay for the movie and for the popcorn and I'll be the perfect gentleman. If you don't want to go to a move we can do whatever you want.

I sighed. He made it so hard to be mad at him sometimes. It wasn't fair.

I'll think about it, I sent him after a beat, a tinge of regret pooling in my stomach.

Great. Meet me by my locker and we'll be on our way(;

Cocky bastard. I rolled my eyes and laughed despite myself, sending him a quick goodnight text before throwing my phone to the foot of my bed and finally tuning in to read my book.

After a day of successfully avoiding the She-Beast, eating lunch with Jace, Jordan, Maia, half the football team, a dorky friend name Simon and his girlfriend Isabelle—lucky for me Emily didn't have the same lunch period as us—and acing an impossible Spanish test, I was on my way to my locker a few minutes early before the final bell rang.

I was actually looking forward to seeing a movie with Jace—yes, I'd finally agreed to go, but only after he'd promised to take me to dinner afterwards. I returned my books to their rightful shelf, retrieved my backpack, shut the crapy locker door and turned to find Jace—but someone was there. She-Beast was there. Oh God. She stood before me with her twig-thin arms crossed over her generously under-clothed chest, her left hip jutting out, a tell-tale sign that she meant business, and a nasty scowl taking over her too-perfect features; jealous, overbearing, bitchy girlfriend was not a good look for her.

She stared down at me coolly and shook her head in undisguised disgust. "So," she said, her voice painfully sharp, "I asked Jace if he wanted to come over, you know to hang out like what normal boyfriends and girlfriends do, maybe eat dinner and put a face to my father's name—only to find out that he's taking you to the movies. And dinner."

I twisted my lips together; she was talking to me as if I were a dog that got into the pantry and ate half the food. What made her so superior and gave her the audacity, the right, to treat me as if I was lower than her, as if she were a shinning star in the sky and I a mere dust particle on some homeless guy's jacket? "We're friends, Emily," I told her, keeping my voice level. I was tired of her. "You're Jace's girlfriend. I'm Jace's friend. I'm not trying to get in your way or steal him away from you; we've been friends for a long time. There isn't anything romantic going on between us and there never will be anything romantic going on between us." I'll say... "You can hate me all you want, and make fun of me, but there's no reason for you to be angry over who Jace hangs out with other than you—"

She scoffed and narrowed her eyes. "You're lying through your teeth," she seethed, taking a daring step forward and backing me against my locker. "I've asked around, little Clary," she said, almost in a mocking manner. "Everyone knows that you're in love with Jace. Everyone. They see you for what you try to pass yourself off as; a little, innocent girl pathetically pinning over her best friend. They think you're the 'sweetest thing in the world'. They feel sorry for you. But I don't." Her face now hovered inches apart from my own. Her perfume was overbearing—she probably sprayed half the bottle before she met up with me with the intention to visit Jace afterwards. "You may have big eyes and freckles," she spat, "and you may look harmless, you may look as if you're okay with Jace ignoring you, but listen here: if Jace had any interest in you at all, he would've done something about it by now. Don't you think? The only reason he still has any association with you whatsoever is because he feels terrible that your whore mother died—" I visibly flinched and she smiled evilly, encouraged to continue "—and he's afraid you'll do something reckless without him in your life.

"You're a burden to him. The reason he's never asked you to be more than 'friends' is because he doesn't even want to be friends with you; he will never like you how he likes me. I want you out of his life. I want you to stop dragging him down with you. I want you to stay. The hell. Away."

Then a manicure-hand was reaching towards me and I recoiled backwards, afraid she was going to hit me, but instead she yanked my glasses off. As the world went blurry, I heard her throw them to the ground, I heard her stomp on them with her high-heel stilettos, and not only could I hear what she did next, but I could feel my glasses being kicked at me, bouncing limply against my jean-clad shins.

"HEY!"

Unable to see much, I looked towards the source of the much welcomed intruder. It wasn't Jace unfortunately—he hadn't been able to witness the cruelness of his girlfriend towards me—but it was still someone I knew. Someone that could tell Jace without it resulting in my head being severed from my body. Jordan. And he wasn't alone.

"What the hell's the matter with you?" Maia practically screamed at Emily, as I busied myself with trying to find my glasses. Man was I blind without them. My eyes burned with unshed tears and my cheeks were hot, my movements disoriented and shaky; I could hardly keep it together. "Get away from her!" I felt Maia and Jordan stand next to me, opposing Emily, and I could almost see their enraged expressions. Suddenly a hand was being placed on my shoulder and I stood up, receiving my very much broken glasses in one of my open hands. "Are you okay, Clary?" Maia asked me, her voice softening as she guided my fingers around the no-good frames

I nodded vigorously, staring down at the black blob. Even though I couldn't exactly see them, I knew that they were beyond repair and that it'd be silly to put them back on again. How was I going to be able to see normally without them? I didn't have the money to get them replaced, and knowing this made trying not to cry that much harder.

"It was an accident," I heard Emily say, laughing in a friendly manner. "Right, Clary?"

My lack of response was answer enough and I glared at where I thought her face would be.

"It wasn't an accident, you bitch," Maia snapped. "Jordan and I saw the whole thing."

"As soon as Jace hears about this, your ass is going to be dumped," Jordan said confidently. "The last person who messed with Clary ended up missing school for an entire week." I knew Jordan was lying—I didn't get picked on or anything and the only people that bothered me at all were idiots like Sebastian—but it still fortified his threat satisfyingly, and, at that moment, I wished more than anything to see the look on Emily's face. She'd been caught redhanded. Finally. I bet she knew this, too; surely Jace couldn't ignore Jordan, especially if it had anything to do with me getting bullied, even if the bullier was his I-can-do-no-wrong girlfriend.

"I swear it was an accident," Emily said after a moment's hesitation. She was out of breath and her voice was unusually high, on the defense-mode.

Maia laughed without humor. "Was it an accident, too, when you stomped on the glasses you pulled from her face and dropped to the ground? Did you 'accidentally' kick them at her?"

Knowing her cover was blown, Emily turned into the Emily only I knew. "Like Jace will believe anything you three have to say," she said menacingly. "He's in love with me after only three days of knowing me. He trusts—"

"Jace loves and trusts Clary now more than he will ever love and trust you," Jordan backfired. "When he hears about this, you're going to wish you never moved here."

She barked out a sharp laugh. "Jace has seen me be nothing but nice to Clary. The last thing he'd believe is that I broke her glasses one purpose."

"We've known Jace since we were kids," Jordan spat. "I know Jace and I know that he won't fall for any lie you come up with in that twisted little head of yours. Jace isn't anything if he's not loyal to his friends."

"My dad's the principal," Emily suddenly said, sounding slightly panicked, though regaining her earlier confidence with each word she spoke. "And he won't be too happy to hear that you three are messing with me for no reason just because I'm dating your guys' best friend and you're all jealous—"

"Ha!" Jordan laughed.

"Your daddy won't be to happy to hear what you did to Clary, either," Maia retaliated.

"He'll never believe any of you—"

Emily was interrupted by the boy in question himself. Jace. "What's going on? Clary—what happened to your glasses?"

"Em—" was all I could get out before I myself got interrupted.

"Clary and I accidentally bumped in to each other and they fell," Emily said quickly, morphing her voice into that of a concerned, innocent girl's, undoubtedly putting on the facade that Jace had grown to know...and love. "It was all my fault—and I told her that'd I replace them with my own money, but...she's convinced that I did it on purpose," she exclaimed, sadness and fake tears seeping into her sentiment. "Maia and Jordan think so, too."

"Jace, the bitch is totally lying," Jordan said.

"Don't you dare call her a 'bitch'," Jace snapped, making my eyes widen. "Of course Emily didn't break Clary's glasses on purpose. You are all being ridiculous—"

"Jace," Maia practically shouted, "yes, she did. We saw the whole thing; Emily was shouting at Clary—she had her trapped against her own locker—just as Jordan and I were leaving Mrs. Bucher's classroom. Then she, for no reason at all, took Clary's glasses. She threw them to the ground, stepped on them, and then kicked them at her. Emily did it on purpose," Maia breathed angrily, "and Clary did nothing to her."

Emily let out a fake sob. "They're lying Jace. They hate me and I don't know why! What did I ever do to you guys?"

I waited to hear Jace's response, praying to God, if he was even looking out for me anymore, to make Jace see the truth and choose me. It wasn't Jace who spoke next, however. "I swear Jace, I swear that I didn't do anything wrong, not intentionally. I was on my way to invite Clary to spend the night this weekend, as a way to get to know her better, and-and she told me that she didn't want spend any more time with me than she had to, and tried to walk away. I should've just let her go—it was my only real fault that I tried stopping her. And then she pushed me away from her and the next thing you know her glasses are broken and I'm getting yelled at. I didn't do anything Jace—I would never lie to you."

I stepped forward, seeking out Jace's head of golden hair. I knew I was looking straight into his eyes. I could feel it. With as much conviction I could muster, I pleaded with him, begged him, cried for him to believe me, to believe the girl he'd known his whole life. His best friend. "Jace, you know I would never lie to you. Even before I met Emily she found me in the library and threatened me to stay away from you." I wished that I could see his face. "She's insulted me—she did it right in front of you just the other day and you were completely oblivious. Jordan and Maia aren't lying to you. I'm not lying to you. She didn't come to my locker to invite me to a slumber party," I said, a tear spilling over the side of my face. "She came here because she was angry that I was going to see a movie with you; she thinks I want to steal you away from her. She's convinced. And then she broke my glasses because she could. Because no one was around to stop her. For no reason, Jace.

"The moment I found out it was Emily that you were so excited to tell me about, I nearly..." I trailed off, shaking my head slightly. "I didn't tell you sooner because you were so happy; you've never talked about any other girl the way you talked about Emily. I thought I could deal with it, as long as I'd still have you in my life as my best friend, but now she's trying to turn you against me. She wants me out of your life—if this," I said, my voice cracking, holding up my now broken glasses, "isn't proof enough, then...I don't know what is."

It was silent and waiting to hear the boy I love's response was literally like holding my breath underwater and not knowing how much longer I could last; I couldn't see anything, I couldn't do anything but wait. "Clary..." Jace said, trailing off. "I don't understand—"

At that I completely broke down and started balling, not even caring about who was around to see me. I was almost positive that by now the remaining members of school were all gathered around us, their interests bubbling over, texting their friends to come back and enjoy the show. He didn't believe me. I didn't have to see his face to know that Jace was torn, torn between his best friend for infinite years and the girl he'd just met days ago. His voice, not unkind but still noticeably unsure, was answer enough.

"Choose," I screamed at him. "Choose right now. Me or her. Choose."

He hesitated, his breathing hitching. "Clary—"

"Choose, Jace, goddammit!"

"Clary—I...I can't do that..."

I laughed cruelly and shook my head, wiping at my cheeks. "You can't choose between me and that bitch?" I'm sure everyone was surprised; I've never sworn aloud. "I'm your best friend, Jace! You're basically just throwing that all away...I'm always there for you," I cried, becoming hysterical, my breathing turning erratic. "She only just got into your life... and I wish she never had...You're so blind. God, you're such a jerk. You're the biggest asshole I know."

"Clary," Jace said almost instantly. I could feel him stepping towards me. "You are my best friend. I love you to death...But Emily's my girlfriend—you can't ask me to choose between you guys. I can't—"

"Yes you can!" I screamed back at him.

"Why are you doing this, Clary?" Jace sputtered, disbelieving. "Emily wants to be your friend. She's making an effort...And you're so stubborn and set against her that you won't even give her a chance. Why can't we all be friends? You're being irrational—"

I looked up and shook my head. "Oh my God."

"Enough," Jace snapped, no longer trying to be understanding and calm. "You're my best friend, yes, but you sure as hell aren't acting like it. Stop being like this. You don't have to be jealous, Clary. You're not being replaced. If you can't accept that I'm with Emily, do not try to make me turn against her, just deal with it. I can't just choose between you—"

"You just did," I said, concealing my angry tears. "You chose her. You know that I would never lie to you, especially not about something like this. Two other people—your friends—are standing behind me and yet you still don't believe me. If you're going to choose her over me, even though you know me and how I am, then there's no reason for me to stand in your way any longer."

"Cla—"

"I'm done being ignored. I'm done listening to you talk about girls to me when I am. Right. Here. I will never be good enough, I will never compare to you or matter enough to you for you to choose me over some pretty face that you hardly know. I've done so much for you, I've been with you through everything, and we have a lifetime full of memories together," I said, letting out half a laugh and a cry at the same time, pressing my lips together to keep a sob at bay, "and you're willing to forget about it, and all for a girl that's threatened to wreck my face and ruin my life.

I took a deep, shaky breath. "Don't ever talk to me again. Don't ever look at me again. Don't ever rely on me again—because I am done. Have fun with Emily. You two deserve each other."

Then I turned towards the direction of the school's exit, ignoring my name being called after me. If there were any other people around, I didn't care enough to notice. I didn't care. Period.

Okay, I know that was just about as cliché as it gets, but, hey, I tried. I'll probably go back and edit the fight scene to give it a little more depth, but I wanted to get this chapter out as fast as possible and not make you guys have to wait any longer. Clary finally grew a backbone, at least, like what a lot of you asked for(: I thought it'd be more realistic to have Clary snap sooner rather than later because, let's face it, even the strongest person alive couldn't deal with an Emily in his or her life.

Sorry if it sucked...I really tried. Review your thoughts, comments, questions, suggestions; anything. I'd love to hear from you guys!

Until next time, peace(:

Will be edited soon.