Izzy had expected Simon to text her right away. In her experience, shy nerdy boys were the type to call basically the second they got a girl's number, especially a girl like her. Though she had to admit that technically she had little experience with shy or nerdy guys. They weren't generally her type, but somehow Simon was. She wasn't really sure why, but something about him appealed to her. So when November began without a call from Elevator boy, Izzy found herself surprised. Almost two weeks and the guy hadn't so much as texted her. She was trying not to take it personally. Plenty of other fish in the sea and all that, so she just hit up bars like usual, and tried not to think about it.
It didn't take long for Izzy to realize that the guy from her first night in town was a rarity around these parts. Izzy was a little picky when it came to men. She liked sharp dressers. Guys who took a little pride in their appearances rather than just hanging out in baggy tees. A few muscles never hurt, nor a chiseled jawline, but in general she liked classy guys best. She liked to be really attracted to the guy, as she always had a better time that way. Izzy often found herself disappointed when she went to the bar just down the street from campus. Sometimes she'd go out and just flirt with a bunch of semi attractive guys, then go home alone. It was still an okay evening all the same, though Izzy really was finding less fish in the sea here than back home.
Also her classes were turning out to be not as interesting as Izzy had hoped. They were very intro-like, and she was having trouble staying awake during her three hour lectures. This was probably why she was thinking so much about what her major should be, in the hope it would make her classes more interesting. The problem was that there were so many majors to choose from, she didn't yet have a clue which she wanted to devote the next four years of her life to. Marketing looked kinda interesting, though she wasn't taking that intro course till next semester. She was enjoying her psychology course quite a lot more than Econ 101, and Izzy's mandatory Introduction to Humanities first year class was total crap as far as she was concerned. Since her lucky roommate had already taken the course last year, Izzy was stuck complaining about it alone. With the lack of game in this town, Izzy was spending an increasing amount of time with Maia these days, who seemed to have quite the opposite problem.
"Remember that ex I told you about?" Maia asked when she returned to the dorms after class on Friday.
"Yeah," Izzy replied, turning in her chair to speak to Maia.
"Well I saw him today," Maia said. "In the school!"
"But you said he lives in your hometown?" Izzy replied.
"Yeah he does," Maia exclaimed. "I have no clue why he's here, and now I am worried he is gonna see me and then come over and talk to me, and it's gonna be awkward and sucky and, yeah."
"You know you could always just say no to the talking," Izzy reminded her friend with a shrug. "Walk away."
"Yeah, but he's so clingy," Maia whined. "I can't picture that working."
"This is why I try not to get involved with clingy guys," Izzy stated. She was very glad Maia didn't know anything about her being annoyed that Simon hadn't called. He was making her feel needy, which annoyed her to no end. Though she had technically jilted him in that elevator, at this point, it felt more like she had only teased herself.
"Too late," Maia groaned as she laid back on her bed and covered her face with her hands. "Already got involved, before he was clingy."
"If he's around the school I bet he has classes, which means he's been here since September," Izzy added. "That's two and a half months and he hasn't talked to you. Maybe he's just here for school and it had nothing to do with you." Maia sat up and gave Izzy a very skeptical look.
"I am not that lucky," Maia stated, blankly.
"Fine," Izzy sighed, then added hopefully. "So what do you want to do about it?"
"Stay home and watch tv in my sweats," Maia answered.
"Lame!" Izzy groaned. That was not what she'd had in mind. This lack of a wingman was killing her game. She'd had a group of friends back home who usually went to clubs with her. So far, here it was just Maia, and she was not very reliable. She could go to the club by herself, but it just wasn't the same.
"Sorry," Maia muttered. "I am not really up for going out tonight."
"Fine," Izzy sighed turning her head to the side dramatically. "I shall just have to entertain myself then."
As Maia settled in for a evening at home, Izzy left the dorm rooms in search of a more entertaining way to spend her Friday night. Since she'd started at this school, Izzy hadn't seen as much of her brother as she'd expected, though she knew this mostly to be because Alec spent so much of his time with his boyfriend. She knew Alec would love it if she and Magnus got along better, but first impressions were hard to change. It had really twisted her insides when she'd heard the distress in her brother's voice while he and Magnus had been fighting, or whatever it was they'd been doing with all that failure to communicate. Alec was happy again, which meant Izzy had been glad to be wrong in that particular case, but she couldn't help remembering the tone in Alec's voice when he'd called about their problems, the anxiety there.
Though she supposed that she really had nothing better to do tonight, so maybe it was time to fix that. Alec could usually be found at his boyfriend's apartment, and so Izzy decided to pay them a surprise visit. Though on her way, she also got out her phone and texted a few of the girls she sorta knew from class, in a vain hope they'd be interested in doing something tonight. But by the time she reached Magnus's front door not a single one of them had answered her. Just as she had predicted, it was Alec who answered the door.
"Hey Iz," Alec greeted her. "What brings you to Magnus's?"
"I knew it was where you would be," Izzy replied, walking in without an invitation.
"I am not here that much," Alec disagreed. "This isn't my apartment, Iz."
"It's mine," Magnus's voice added. Looking over her brother, Izzy could see Magnus sitting on the couch. "And you don't like me, remember."
"I never said that," Izzy replied coolly, moving around Alec to address Magnus. "Beside if I never came here, I'd never see my brother. Really Magnus, you should start charging him rent." Magnus laughed, a short sharp sound void of humour.
"He already has a renter thank you." The voice was female and unfamiliar. Izzy turned to see a petite redhead sitting at the dining room table. Izzy had never met this redhead before, or maybe she had. Was this the girl she'd once see making out with Jace?
"Izzy this is Clary," Magnus did the introductions. "Clary this is Izzy."
"Hi," the redhead said. "You're Alec's sister right?"
"That I am," Izzy replied.
"I guess you'd know me as Alec's roommate's girlfriend," the redhead replied.
"Or Alec's boyfriend's best friend," Magnus added.
"I think you said your name was Clary," Izzy laughed and Clary joined in. "I'll call you that."
"Works for me," Clary replied before turning back to whatever she was doing, which Izzy suspected was homework.
"So what's up Iz?" Alec asked as he turned and walked with her back into the living room where Magnus was.
"Noth-ing," Izzy said drawing out the word. Alec gave her a very dubious look. "Okay, fine I'm bored. You happy."
"Wonderful to know you value my company so highly," Alec said sarcastically as she sat down on the couch next to Magnus. Izzy observed them very close as Magnus's arm went around Alec. It was such a casual gesture, easily accepted. Either they were both very good actors, or they really had worked it all out. Izzy had known this of course, but seeing it, somehow surprised her.
"Pfft," Izzy dismissed her brother's sarcasm as she sat opposite them. "I just hate to be bored."
"Don't I know it," Alec laughed. "From the time you picked a fight with boys half your age on the swings, to when you were caught sneaking out, your only defense was 'But I was bored.'"
"And don't forget," Izzy grinned. "But it was fun."
"Ah yes, that was one of your favourites too," Alec replied.
"Still is," Izzy chirped. "So what are you all doing tonight?" Alec shrugged, mumbling something about a television show they were watching. Izzy sighed, covering her face with her hand.
"What is it with couples?" Izzy asked. "Are you all just content to exist or something? I mean I understand every now and then staying in, but you people stay home like every night, hibernating or something."
"You make us sound like a different species," Alec laughed.
"You so are!" Izzy replied. She turned to Clary and added, "You seem way cooler than these coupled ones. Why don't we go to a club together."
"Sorry also a hibernating couple," Clary replied.
"Yeah, but with Jace," Izzy dismissed her argument. "Since there's no way a guy like that sticks to one woman, you should be free to shop around too."
"Izzy," Alec grumbled turning to her, clearly annoyed. "How many times do I have to tell you that Jace is totally different now, or do you really think I'd be friends with the same jerk we both knew back in high school?"
"Yeah yeah, but I'll believe it when I see it," Izzy replied, disbelieving, then added with a slight whine. "Man, I thought University would be more fun than this. No one wants to go out or do anything interesting. I am suddenly counting the days till Christmas."
"Me too!" Clary added enthusiastically. She had her chair turned away from the table now, seemingly giving up on the papers and textbooks scattered across it. "Since we spent the summer with his mom, Jace said he'd do Christmas with my family. It's gonna be great."
"Great as a way of describing bringing Jace home to meet your mom is rather a strange thought," Izzy admitted. "For Christmas, I think I'll ski like usual. What do you think Alec? Or maybe mom and dad have a Cruise planned like two years ago?"
"It was three years ago," Alec corrected. "And I haven't really thought about Christmas yet Iz."
"Why not?" Izzy asked. It was then that she saw it. That nervous expression on her brother's face as he turned to Magnus. It made her a little wary. Was there something not right there again?
"I just haven't," Alec replied. "Come on Iz, it's barely November."
"What do you want to do for Christmas Alexander?" Magnus asked softly, turning to face her brother. The way Alec and Magnus were looking at each other now, it almost seemed to Izzy like she and Clary weren't in the room. She was sure the couple had completely forgotten they weren't alone.
"That's easy," Alec whispered, his eyes locked with Magnus. "I want to spend Christmas with you." There was silence for a moment before Alec spoke again. "I'd love for you to come home with me for Christmas, meet my parents, my little brother."
"What if they don't like me?" Magnus asked.
"They will," Alec replied smiling. Then Magnus turned to Izzy and back to Alec, clearly reminding Alec how his meeting Izzy went. "Izzy doesn't count," was Alec's pre-school level come back.
In the silence that followed, Izzy felt her phone go off. Eagerly anticipating a reply from one of her classmates, she unlocked her phone, however the message turned out to be from an unknown sender.
'So I'm not really sure why I'm messaging you,' the unknown message read.
'If you told me who you are,' Izzy texted back quickly. 'I might be able to help with that. ;)'
'Oh sorry this is Simon,' he texted back. Izzy grinned down at her phone, glad to not be rejected.
'What took you so long?' she replied.
'Good question,' Simon texted.
'Are you going to answer my good question?'
'Nope,' Simon replied.
'And why not?' she asked, typing and looking down at her phone, totally ignoring what was going on around her.
'Too embarrassing.'
'Where are you?' Izzy inquired. She would let him keep his reasons. It wasn't her business anyway. What was her business was finishing where they'd left off in that elevator, and boy did she need it tonight.
"Who are you texting?" her brother asked. Izzy looked up to see the room suddenly focused on her.
"I think I've figured out what I'm doing tonight," Izzy replied while adding in her head or rather who I'm doing. "All this lovey dovey oowy goowy eyes, was making me sick anyway. Bye." She waved at them as she turned to leave, feeling her phone go off as she closed the door behind her.
'My dorm room,' Simon's reply displayed on her phone.
'Building and room number please,' Izzy texted back as she started walking to school. Simon took so long to reply, that she was just stepping onto the edge of campus when he finally sent her his location. Reaching the dorms, Izzy decided to make a short deture.
"You're back early," Maia said as Izzy walked in.
"Just need to change," Izzy replied. Maia was indeed in her pjs, sitting at her laptop watching some cheesy movie, just as she'd promised.
Izzy consulted her wardrobe and quickly selected a tasteful black satin strapless dress. She loved its elegant sweetheart neckline, and the way it hugged her curves. She decided on her nude coloured short kitten heels so she wouldn't seem too tall. In situations like this, when Izzy knew for sure she'd get lucky, there was one other thing she brought with her. Slipping it into her purse, Izzy made a brief stop at the bathroom before heading to Simon's dorm.
As Simon greeted her at the door, Izzy realized what his appeal was. Simon was staring at her as if slightly in shock. She knew her outfit was killer, but Izzy also held herself well in a small heel, showing off her assets to their highest potential. The way Simon was looking at her made Izzy feel like the sexiest woman alive. There were certain benefits to hot nerdy guys it seemed.
I GIVE UP!
I tried doing the schedule thing. I really did, but I suck at it. Updating so freaking slowly is dumb and I don't wanna. I have like three chapters finished that are just sitting there staring at me, mocking me with their completed word count-ness. :( The idea was that I'd work more on my original stuff because I was writing this less... but as it turns out that doesn't work. I seem to be able to obsessively write just one thing at a time so maybe its best to binge write this till I'm done (though that might take a long while...) then focus on other things.
... that lasted what... like a month? sigh. I am such a spaz. Oh well. I hope people will at least be happier with faster updates. *shakes head at self*
To Guest who said:
A lot of times I tend to read your story twice on two different devices ( start on one than finish it on the other) then I will sometimes go back and read my fav chapters, so I apologize on making you think that number of views don't make sense with the number of reviews but I know it is not just me. I would like to say I love your characters personalities a lot, and how you keep some of it the same and then you add your own twist to it (Bravo, job well done). I always look forward when you update it. I have noticed I been a lot less suicidal then I have been because you never fail to put a smile on my face or make me laugh so thank you. I love the Clace scenes. Keep up the good work.
My reply:
Awws that's so cool that you start on one thing and finish on another. I do that sometimes too when I read fanfic. Though I can tell you that that does not affect the views that much since there is a views section and a visitor's section. I can tell if a single chapter has been viewed many times by the same people. There is one chapter in particular in my Royal Dilemma story that gets about 10x the views of all the rest of the entire story. Yes, it's the only smut chapter of the entire story… LOL. Awws thanks! And wow well I am glad making you smile helps you with that. I will strive to continue making you laugh. :D
Sneak Peek Chapter 64
"Well if you are interested in a good time then I can show you a few things." She moved closer, slowly. "Starting with flirting," Izzy continued taking another step forward while swaying her hips. "Then touching." Now she was running her fingertips down his arms. "Kissing." She brought her fingers to his lips gently putting pressure on them and Simon felt a shiver move down his spine. He'd been attracted to Clary, but this was different. There was no affections here, no decade of emotional longing. His breathing was erratic and he could feel that his body wanted her, even if his heart was unaffected. The next thing Simon knew his hands were on her hips, pulling her in as he whispered his consent in her ear. She grinned clearly glad he hadn't sent her away.
"But before we do this," Izzy explained suddenly taking a step back and holding out her hand, placing one finger on his chest. "You have to promise me something."
"What?" Simon asked, nervous and slightly stunned. His mind blank while also going through a million ridiculous demands at the same time.
