Okay, guys, so this is my first fanfic so I hope it's not too rubbish… I've changed some of the characters relationships to make it fit, please don't be mad at me. Please review with any suggestions, etc., I'd love to hear from you. I haven't deliberately copied from anyone, sorry if it is similar to anyone's.

Thanks for choosing my fanfic!

Lu xxx

Jace stared out of the window. The girl was walking down the street outside his house, huddled against the wind, her long red hair flying around behind her like fire. She came past every morning on her way to school – Jace had started noticing her about three weeks ago, and every day since then he had seen her go past with that nerdy kid in Jace's year. Jace had assumed – and hoped pretty hard as well – that the boy was her brother. Simon, he thought his name was.

Jace ran his hand through his golden hair as the pair crossed the road and walked out of sight. What was wrong with him? He had never acted like this before. It was almost as if he was jealous of Simon, walking with the girl, laughing with her. He felt almost – almost as if he should be the one doing that. It made Jace shudder. This was just a faze. It would pass soon. He sighed, pulled on a black jacket, and made his way downstairs.

His father was sat at the table, drinking his coffee and reading the paper. Stephen Herondale was a well built, serious man, who was constantly wrapped up in work and other matters. He didn't seem to notice as Jace walked in. He just sat reading the paper, as usual with a frown. Jace reckoned he'd only seen him smile a couple of times since Céline had died. Céline. Not really his mother and yet the only mother he had ever known. Thinking of her, his chest seemed to tighten.

"Good morning, Father." Jace quickly pulled out a chair and sat down, helping himself to a bagel and buttering it quickly. His father didn't look up. Jace took a bite out of the bagel, and then set it down.

"I trust you slept well?" Again no response. Sighing, Jace wolfed down the rest of his breakfast. His father always seemed to be like this in the morning. He was never quite sure whether his father was listening – it was impossible to tell. Wiping the crumbs off of his mouth, he dropped his plate in the sink and began to scrub. Stephen was particular about little things like cleanliness and what sort of crystal his shot glasses were made from. He saw a faded red pickup truck draw up outside the house. Jace grabbed his bag off of the back of his chair and looked back at his father.

"I'm off now Father." Stephen continued to look engrossed in the paper. "Don't worry if I'm not home when you get back, I have football training after school and then Alec might be taking me to Taki's." This earned a grunt from his father, and taking this as a sign that his father had understood he walked out of the door and down the path to the car.

Jace swung himself onto the bench seat in the front of the truck next to Alec's sister Isabelle, who was in the year below. She was fiddling with her long black hair and it was tickling his face.

"Iz would you mind doing that to someone else? A duck perhaps?" Jace had always hated ducks. He had no idea why

"Hmph" She swung her hair around like a whip, and it smacked right into Alec's face, causing him to swear colourfully and swerve in the road. Righting the car he glared at Izzy.

"Will you quit it? Just keep your hair to yourself!" Izzy slunk back in her seat and kicked her feet on to the dashboard in a sulk. Jace smirked at her.

"So…you still up for Taki's today Jace?" Alec looked at Jace through his hair, the exact same shade as Izzy's, which had partially fallen over his eyes.

"Sure. My father seemed so interested in my out of school activities that he nearly looked up from his newspaper." Alec sighed. Jace was always like this about his father – seemingly indifferent, even joking about it, but he knew it hurt Jace inside. He wasn't the sort of person to show it, but Alec had been his best friend for as long as he could remember. He had learnt to recognise it when Jace was upset. And also that it was best just to let it be.

"I won't be coming," said Isabelle, "Because I have a date." Isabelle had announced this as if it was a big thing. Alec just blinked.

"Aren't you going to flip out and do that big brother thing?" She looked disgruntled, disappointed even, as if she expected Alec to be more protective.

"Iz, I hate to break it to you, but you've been out with every boy in your year. Alec is bound to be used to it by now. I know I am." Jace raised a bottle of water to his lips.

"Yeh? Well this boy is in your year." This had a slightly better impact. Alec raised an eyebrow. Jace just carried on drinking, oblivious.

"Really? What's his name then? So I can beat the crap out of him if he hurts you?" Izzy smiled. This was what she had been aiming for.

"His name is Simon. Simon Fray." Jace spurted water all over the windscreen. For the second time that journey, Alec swore and swerved.

"By the Angel Jace, what the hell was that about?" Alec asked.

"Nothing," said Jace, still sounding a little dazed, "Just… choked." Both of Isabelle's eyebrows shot up. Any higher, Jace thought, and they would fly into her hair.

"Hmm. If I didn't know better, I would have said that it had something to do with my choice of date." Izzy smirked.

"Who, Simon? Well, I didn't think nerds were your type. I thought you preferred something a little less…geekish."

"Excuse me; I can go out with whoever I like!" Isabelle probably would have said more, but at that moment Alec turned the truck into the car park, making an enormous splash as it went through a puddle. They had arrived at St. Xavier's.

Clary Fray's morning was going badly. Firstly, she had been completely soaked when a red pickup truck had gone through a massive puddle right by her, and then she had found out she would have to walk home on her own that evening because her brother Simon was going on a date. She still had issues walking around the streets on her own after what had happened to their mom a couple of months ago. Right now, she was arguing with Simon about it in the corridor.

"Simon, why do you have to go straight away? Why can't you come home for a bit first?"

"Clary, when this girl asked me out she said we had to go straight away, no exceptions, and this girl, by the Angel she's wonderful, and I don't want to ruin my chances with her!"

"Simon, you know I feel terrified after what happened to Mom! And now you're gonna put me in that situation for a girl? Who is she to be that special anyway?"

"Isabelle Lightwood." At that Clary just stared at him. Beautiful Isabelle Lightwood. She was the most popular girl in Clary's year, especially with the boys, way more interested in lip gloss than math class - so basically the complete opposite of Simon. Clary honestly had no idea how Simon had ever pulled her. So she asked him.

"How the hell did you manage to swing Isabelle Lightwood?" Simon shrugged.

"She just asked me out, told me where and when before I'd even had a chance to say yes, put her number in my hand and walked off." Clary thought this was extremely unlikely; for example, Isabelle was more likely to have pressed her number into his hand, kissed him full on the mouth, and flounced off leaving him completely dazed. However, she never had a chance to say this to Simon because at that point her best friend Maia grabbed her by the arm and started telling Clary about her date with her boyfriend Jordan. As Maia dragged her away, Clary looked over her shoulder and saw Simon smirking. She shot him a venomous look and tried to look interested in what Maia was saying. It was going to be a long day.

"…and so then he took me to the park, and we kissed for ages, and fed the ducks in the pond and stuff, it was great! Clary, are you listening?" Clary turned her head around quickly. Maia had stopped and was staring at her, her deep brown eyes questioning.

"Sorry, Maia, I'm just completely out of it this morning." Maia looked at her more with concern now.

"Hey, what was all that with Simon? You guys, like, never fight. Ever. It's hard to believe that you two are siblings!"

"Oh, it was nothing," Said Clary, waving it off, "We just had a little …disagreement over his plans for tonight." Maia gave her a look. "Come on, it wasn't anything serious! Honest!" Maia seemed to relax, but still looked a bit concerned.

"Well, okay then." Clary sighed. Luckily, at that moment the bell rang. The girls hurried off to history, and pretty soon, they were giggling. Things were almost back to normal.