Clary Morgenstern hated moving. Hated the hurrying around, the packing, the moving. Most of all the changing. She'd had to leave her school and friends behind, the house that she'd grown up in. All because her parents had to pick a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and move to god-forsaken England.

What was wrong with Brooklyn anyway? There were plenty of interesting jobs there! Her parents hadn't been that open-minded when she'd brought it up, and repeated the same meaningless babble about 'how fortuante they'd all been' and how 'couldn't she be a bit more grateful like her brother?'

Jon couldn't care less really, whether they were moving or not. He sat in the back of the car with her, competely and utterly expressionless the whole way. Of course he wasn't worried! Highschool was easy for him; all Jon had to do was walk through the front doors with his trademark smirk and there you have it, top place in social society just like that!

Clary was the complete opposite. It had taken her all year to make the friends that she'd just left behind, and they probably weren't going to miss her as much as she was going to miss them. And she wouldn't walk through the front doors like Jon; her bet was she was going to trip on something and hurtle through them.

She sighed, leaning her head back against the seat as the worries invaded her mind. Jocelyn was staring at her worriedly in the rear-view mirror, "Honey, it's going to be okay. Your Dad and I looked up Alicante High recently and it looks to be a very nice school..."

"Looks to be," Clary pointed out, dragging a lazy hand through her red curls, "It's still full of teenagers Mum, and teenagers are always horrible, wherever you go." Jocelyn frowned at her, her bright green eyes crinkling at the corners in concern. It was times like this when Clary wished she looked like her mother, who was stunning in every way possible, with rich, wavy red hair and elegant bone structure. Clary's hair was always a peramanent frizz, no matter how many times she tried to tame it with a brush, and her face was round and chubby, like a baby's even though she was sixteen.

Her brother, on the other hand, looked exactly like a younger verison of their dad, with white-blonde hair and similar height and facial features. They both had green eyes like their mother.

Jon laughed from next to her, tapping away on his phone, "It doesn't help that you always mumble when people talk to you and hide behind your hair. Not the best first impression, you know." Clary scowled at her brother, who looked up briefly to see her expression and just laughed harder, "And faces like that don't help either!"

"Both of you quit squabbling!" Valentine barked from the driver's seat, his fingers bone white on the steering wheel, "This is a big change for all of us so the least you could do is to suck it up for the last few hours until we get there! Alright?" It was the kind of question that Clary and Jon knew not to answer when Valentine was in a mood like this, and just nodded silently. Though when their father's attention was back on the road, her brother stuck his tongue out at her, smirking devilishly. Clary had to bite her tongue to keep from giving him a few colourful retorts.

Jocelyn was biting her lip as she turned around to face her two children, "You don't need to worry about it Clary. It won't be so bad, you'll make new friends, wow some more teachers with your amazing art skills..." Clary managed to give her mother a grudging smile. She loved drawing, or anything to do with art in general. When she had a pencil in her hand, she felt like she was born with it, and the minute it touched the page, she was inspired.

Her mother smiled back before turning around to face the front and Clary was instantly bored. How long had Dad said? A few hours? This was going to be torture... She tried to crane her neck as subtly as possible to see what Jon was doing on his phone and saw he was texting a girl, presumably his girlfriend from Brooklyln. He'd mentioned earlier about breaking up with her as soon as they arrived, since he'd decided a few hours ago that long-distance relationships didn't work for him.

Asshole, Clary had thought and now she felt a stab of pity for the girl whom Jon was sexting right this minute, unfairly stringing her along until he didn't feel like it anymore. She was about to point this out when she read the most recent message and was offically, emotionally, scarred for life.

Jon looked over at her and smirked at her face, whispering under his breath so Mum and Dad wouldn't hear, "Naughty sis! You know better than to read anything this X-rated." Her cheeks flamed, an annyoing habit of hers whenever she felt any particularly strong emotion.

"Says the person that wrote it!" She hissed back and he chuckled, going back to his X-rated connversation on his phone. Clary rolled her eyes and turned away, resting her cheek on the window and reaching up a hand to trace the raindrops pattering lightly on the glass as it had started to rain.

Was moving to England going to be 'not so bad' as her mother had put it? Was this Alicante High really going to be okay? At the moment, the devil on her shoulder was winning out the angel. Who said this was going to be any different to similar situations she'd read in books, where the main character went through hell trying to fit in? She groaned internally, the image of bitchy girls whispering and giggling in groups as she passed, the scoffing of boys betting as to who would deflower 'Carrot' first filling up her head until she thought she would drown in the humiliation of it all.

'Carrot' was the nickname she'd been opted at her last school, for her insanely red hair and insanely short height. Of course, it was absolutely hilarious how both names for her started with the letter C, so hilarious... She felt the beginning of tears prick her eyes as she remembered a jock come up to her at lunch one day, whispering in her ear that he liked her, that he'd like to see her out of school sometime... She'd been so stupid, smiling like an idiot until he announced for the whole of the school to hear in the cafeteria, "Oh, I'm flattered Carrot, really I am, but don't you think that it would be awkward with me being like, five feet taller than you? Maybe give it a few years sweetheart!"

Everyone had laughed their asses off as she fled the lunch hall, and for the next few days, boys went around yelling sweetheart after her in the corridor and girls hunched down to match her height, sniggering. In a way, Clary should've been over the moon that she was moving away but it only made her more worried to be the new girl at a whole new school. She saw it as an unknown threat.

Back to the present, she heard Valentine ask her mum for the map, saying something about a final road. Final road? They were almost there? She jolted upright, nearly banging her head on the window the same Jon calmly took out his earbuds and leaned forward in interest. They were driving down a road, terrraced houses on each side, the occasional pub on the corner, and Clary took the oppurtunity to stare at the people they drove past. They seemed normal enough, but that only made her more nervous.

Then Jocelyn called out, "There you go guys! The highschool's coming up, just up that road!" Clary bit her lip, craning her neck to see a large redbrick building ahead, that looked almost like a church, with a huge stain glass window set above the front steps. It depicted an angel holding a sword and a cup in each hand.

"The school was originally a church," clarified Jocelyn, confirming Clary's earlier thoughts, "So the whole layout is very religious and grand. They have a big thing about angels, fallen and otherwise, all that stuff. Very interesting!"

Jon cocked an eyebrow but didn't comment, putting his earbuds back in. Clary, however, leaned forward until her forehead was touching the window, sighing at the grand design of the highschool, somehow lifting the worry from her heart. Then the view of Alicante High disappeared as they drove down another road, and she slumped back down in her seat.

Valentine pulled in a few minutes later, and the car stopped. Clary nudged Jon and he turned off his phone and opened the car door. She did the same, and found herself looking up at a house. Their new home.

After dragging her suitcase out of the boot, she trudged up the front steps, the wheels scraping agaisnt the tarmac as she made her way over. Just as she was about to step up to the front door, a football sailed past her, narrowly missing her head and bouncing off of the wall.

She heard a shout, "Dammit, Alec! Why'd you have to kick it so hard?" And then, a boy came running up to her, grabbing the ball from the ground.

"I'm so sorry, my brother's a real douchebag sometimes..." The boy faltered off as he met her gaze, his mouth slightly open. Clary found herself blushing because the boy was very attractive. As in so attractive that it should be illegal. He had blonde hair, curling close to the nape of his neck, and a beautifully, chiselled face. He wore a blue football jersey with shorts, which betrayed strong muscles and biceps. His eyes were mesmerising, a rich golden colour like champagne and Clary found herself swallowing almost as if she were drinking it.

"Oh, it's fine," she blurted out, realising the awkward silence they'd dropped into, "Um, I've got a douchebag of a brother as well, so I understand..." The boy grinned at her, tossing the football around in his hands.

"I don't remember seeing you around before. You just moved here I take it?" She opened her mouth to answer when she heard Jon shout her name, and a sickening dread collected in the pit of her stomach. Oh God no, if Jon embarrassed her now...

"Cla-ry! Why the hell did you just shoot off like that? I thought you'd end up hibernating in the bloody car after all the depression you seemed to be on the way up here..." Jon joined her on the steps, dragging along his own suticase. When he noticed the boy standing next to her, his green eyes narrowed slightly and a smirk teased at his lips.

"Whose this hunk you've already set your eyes upon, Lissy?" Oh great, he was even using that damn nickname! Clary felt her cheeks start to heat up as she stared at the floor, wishing it would come alive and swallow her whole.

"This hunk has a name. Jace Lightwood." the boy answered and Clary looked up, her hair falling in her face. Jace was smirking at her brother, unruffled, and she could see how it unnerved Jon to have someone so unaffected by him. In their last school, everyone knew not to get on his bad side but Jace looked as intimidated as a lion next to a gazelle, "You must be the douchebag of a brother I've heard about."

Jon looked outraged whilst Clary struggled not to laugh out loud. Jace saw her expression and his grin grew wider, showing white teeth. She was surprised; usually boys around her age had teeth that looked absolutely revolting. Jace's were mirrors compared to them. But then again, comparing the likes of Jace to ordinary boys was simply not fair.

Jon grit his teeth, "So, Lightwood? Why are you even here?" Jace shrugged, holding his football.

"Little accident that's been taken care of, nothing more." His golden eyes lingered on Clary again, and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, a bit unsettled by it, "You guys going to Alicante High?"

Clary opened her mouth to reply but Jon beat her to it, "We might be. What's it to you?" She sensed the challenge in those words, but Jace didn't react except to shrug again, undeterred by it.

"Then I guess I'll see more of you soon. Until then, Clary and Douchebag." He gave them both a wink before running off, throwing the ball in the air and catching it as he ran.

Jon clenched his fists as he watched him go, "What a dickhead! Why were you even talking to him, Clare?" She barely took notice of him, too busy replaying the previous scene in her head and couldn't help the small smile that she betrayed.

"Jealous much Jon?" She teased and he rolled his eyes, walking up to the door of their new home. She followed him with a smirk, as they both waited for Jocelyn and Valentine to finish unpacking the boot.

Tomorrow, she and Jon would be joining Alicante High. She only hoped that the other students were as nice as Jace seemed to be.

Hello readers! Thank you for reading the first chapter of The New Girl. Do you think I should continue with it?

Please review/favourite/follow!

~InfernoAlive