4/26/21

2

Clary's POV

I sit against the cool bench with my back propped against the table, watching the group of teenagers chat. I rode to the bowling alley with Alec and Isabelle, where we met up with Jace, Maia, Jordan, and much to my dismay, Sebastian.

"He's really not that bad." Jace tells me quietly, pulling me out of my train of thought, "who?"

"Sebastian." He answers and a small scoff escapes my lips, "easy for you to say, it seems you two are quite alike." My voice remains even behind my cold words. Jace stares at me blankly before a small half-smile crawl onto his lips, "you make a lot of assumptions for someone who doesn't know me." He doesn't seem offended; instead, I would say his tone is amused, "sure, we're friends, teammates, whatever, but we aren't the same." I cross my arms defensively at his words. "Friends reflect who you are," and my eyes narrow at him.

"I'm sensing some hostility," Isabelle cuts into our conversation, sliding herself in between Jace and I, "Jace, it's your turn to bowl." She tells him. Jace rises from his seat, rubbing his hands on his black jeans, walking over towards the lane. "You know," Isabelle starts once Jace is out of earshot, "for what it's worth, Jace is deeper than he seems. If you guys spent less time trying to get a rise out of each other and more time getting to know one another, you'd probably find you have a lot more in common than you think you do." Though I find it hard to believe, I purse my lips and nod nonetheless.

"So, Clary," Alec calls to me and I turn my head to him. He and Sebastian stare at me from across the table, and Maia and Jordan are now talking amongst themselves, "Are you training at West Point seriously? Or just for fun?"

"Well, I boxed in a competitive fashion when I lived in Florida, so I figured I should keep doing it now that I live here. I enjoyed training with Luke so I might as well stick around for a bit." Alec hums in response, "So, what days of the week do you train?" Sebastian joins the conversation.

"Why?" I ask, my eyebrow furrowing at the question, "because, we," Jace plops down next to me, pointing at himself, Alec, and Sebastian, "all fight there. We are there almost every day, unless it's a game day, that is." Jace tells me and my teeth clamp down on my lip - I don't think it's too late to switch gyms - "oh, cool. I'm not sure yet, hopefully I'll be there a lot to get myself back in shape." I respond.

"Back in shape? What do you mean?" Sebastian asks and I sigh. This is starting to feel a lot more like an interview than a couple of friends hanging out, "I have a record to keep up." I stand up from my seat, "I am going to grab some food, I'll be right back," heading over towards the concession stand to order a snack to keep me occupied while we are playing, but my plans are derailed when I see someone I recognize, "hey," I get the attention of a skinny kid with glasses who is standing in front of me. When he turns to look at me, his expression seems to resemble that of a deer in headlights, "I saw you today, right? You work at the gym with Luke?" He smiles at the realization, "yeah, I work the front desk there. My name is Simon."

"Hey Simon, I'm Clary."

"Oh, I know," he says, and my eyebrows knit together in confusion, "oh, you know, you're totally not famous or anything." I scoff at him, "hardly, I have a few wins, that's all." He rolls his eyes at my response, "humble, I see. I don't know much about boxing, but I do know Luke was quite excited to tell me all about the big hitting, southern boxer moving to our gym. I must say; I was expecting you to be taller. Does that give you an advantage? I always thought height gave boxers an edge, but I guess you could go for the knees because you're small." I zone out of his rambling, quickly losing interest. Talking about myself has never really been a favorite topic of mine.

"My height doesn't really affect me, it's about strength actually." I tell him simply. Our conversation doesn't get much further as Isabelle, and a tall, slender man walk up to me.

"Hey, are you coming back? It's your turn and the boys are getting restless." Isabelle asks me, to which I nod, looking to Simon, "you can join us, if you'd like." I offer him, not giving Isabelle a chance to protest, "I can't, I'm here with my sister, but I appreciate the offer. I'm sure I'll see you around at the gym." Simon's eyes bounce between Isabelle and I, lingering on Isabelle for just a moment too long, "it was nice to meet you." I tell him sincerely, before watching him walk off, "who are you?" The tall guy standing next to Isabelle asks me.

"Who are you?" I ask him, rather than answer, to which he cracks a smile at me, "Magnus Bane, Alexander's boyfriend." It takes me just a moment too long to connect the dots that Alec and Alexander are the same person, "Clary." I respond.

"Hey!" Jace catches up to us rather quickly, and loudly, "can Clary please throw her stupid ball so we can keep playing?" He exclaims, throwing his arms in the air with a loud sigh. Isabelle and Magnus begin to follow him back to the lane blindly, so naturally, I do too.

I half-heartedly throw the bowling ball down the lane in an attempt to appease the boys, before returning to my seat. I find Magnus gazing at me as he takes a sip of his water, "I thought you would be tanner." He tells me, and I hum in confusion, "what?"

"Oh, when Alexander told me that Isabelle's friend had just moved from Florida, I expected a more sun-kissed complexion." He tells me and I snort, "tanning has never been my strong suit."

"But you're definitely toned. Do you enjoy working out?" He asks me, and I glance down at my arms, "I fight at the same gym as the boys."

"I've never liked that Alexander fights. He'll come home with black eyes, cuts, and bruises, whining all the time." Magnus sounds exasperated while making fun of his boyfriend, "seems a bit too dangerous for my liking. Trust me, I enjoy watching Jace and Sebastian getting knocked around a bit, but Alec doesn't need to be involved with their stupid behavior." I let a small laugh slip past my lips, "hey, we don't force him to do anything." Jace cuts into our conversation, sliding onto the bench so he is sitting next to me, "plus, half of those bruises are from football practice. Jordan is one hell of a defender." Jordan perks his head up at the mention of his name, before flashing us a smile, "yeah I am."

"You and Sebastian are bad influences." Magnus tells Jace, crossing his arms over his chest. I look away from the conversation to see Sebastian walking back towards us from the lane. He's kept his eyes on me all night, but has seemed to get the hint that I'm not interested in getting to know him after our little interaction at school today.

"So, how good are you?" Sebastian asks, sitting down across from me, next to Isabelle, "what?" I ask.

"How good at boxing are you?" Sebastian phrases the question in a different way, and I notice the looks of curiosity from everyone else sitting with us, "oh," I pause, contemplating how in depth I was to go, "well, I left Florida undefeated, and I intend to keep it that way." Isabelle lets out a whistle, "damn, when I asked you to come along with us today, I didn't expect you to fit in so well." Her words stun me to my core. I don't think I've ever heard someone tell me that I fit in before. I would like to say that Isabelle's kind words haven't begun to melt away my hard exterior, but the kind, black-haired girl has definitely grown on me. I worry about how genuine they all actually are, seeing as they do keep people like Sebastian around. For now, I'll take Isabelle's kindness with appreciation, but I am still wary of everyone else.

"So are you actually strong, or do you just fight dirty and have easy matches?" I hear Sebastian taunt from across the table.

"Well you fight at Luke's don't you?" I question him, and he nods with a smirk, "perfect, so next time I see you, we can fight, and I'll kick your ass, and then you can decide for yourself if I'm strong or not." The table falls silent at the threat, my body rigid and radiating tension. Nobody dares to say anything, until Magnus breaks the quiet with a barking laugh, "I like her." he stumbles over the words in between his giggles.

"Easy killer," Jace says, "I see your temper matches that fiery head of yours," He raises his eyebrows at me, as I clamp down on my tongue to stop myself from flinging nasty words at him.

"Come on Clary, we had a small misunderstanding this morning, don't you think it's time we kiss and make up?" No. I glance at Isabelle, "sure." I grunt out without budging, "we can forget this morning happened, but I'm not kissing you." The corners of my lips jut up a little in a small smile, and Sebastian throws his hands up into the air, "I'll take it!"

Jace claps his hand lightly on my back, "Great, Red and Sebastian are cool, does that mean we are all friends again?" He asks, and I shrug his hand off my shoulder, "Don't-" he cuts me off, "-call me Red, I know, I just don't care. Can we please get back to bowling, I'm winning and want to keep it that way."

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"Thanks guys." I tell Isabelle and Alec as I step out of Alec's sleek black car at the gym. Isabelle steps out of the car as well, walking next to me over to my bike, "it was so nice getting to know you tonight. I'm glad you and Sebastian were able to make up." She tells me with a smile.

"I wouldn't say we made up - I forgave him, but I won't forget - if he acts up again, I will knock him out." I tell her seriously. Isabelle tosses her head back with a laugh, "I hope you do," she pauses, "can I give you a hug goodbye?" She asks me kindly, and I contemplate it for a moment, before opening my arms. Isabelle lets out a girlish squeal before pulling me into a tight hug.

When she lets me go, I wave goodbye to Alec, stepping onto my bike, and turning the transmission over, starting up the engine with a roar. The streets are still busy with traffic, New York living up to its name as the city that never sleeps, but I still make it home faster than I expected.

I pull up into my house, and park my bike. Mom's car is parked out front, but I highly doubt she is awake. When she's not home, she's at the art studio painting, but when she is home, she's in her room, either sleeping or staring at the wall. Slipping through the front door, I call out - "I'm home!" -just in case my mom cares. I dump my backpack out on the kitchen table and dig through it until I find my sketchbook. Tucking my book and pencil case under my arm before turning to head up the stairs, "where have you been?" I hear the floor creak as mom comes into view, "I was out with some kids from school." A sad smile appears on mom's face, "that's good honey." As I walk up the stairs, "did you have a good day?" I ask my mom, getting into my bedroom. When I don't get a response, I check over my shoulder to see that my mom is nowhere to be seen. I let out a heavy sigh, feeling frustrated all over again as I kick the door shut behind me, and throw my sketchbook down on my bed with a thud.

I take a quick, hot shower and change into a pair of sleep shorts. Now that I feel clean, I climb into my bed, propping my sketchbook up on my knees - hoping that a little bit of drawing is just what I need to help me fall asleep at a decent hour.