Hey, everyone! I'm back with another story! I have this problem with never finishing anything I start and I hate when people do that when a story is good, I'm like "NO PLEASE! I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!". So for your benefit as much as mine I have decided to stick with stories with not a lot of chapters: onshots, twoshots, threeshots and so on (not exceeding 10 chapters). That way I can still write you all a kind of-good story and still feel complete by the end of the day.
I know, it's a win-win situation.
Please, stop I know I'm a genius! Stop please your praise is just too much!
Jace: You know you're talking to yourself...right?
Oh, shut up Jace! You're just jealous they're praising me.
Jace: Uh huh...that's it.
Anyway, I don't own any of the characters except for the plot. Enjoy!
Clary frowned as she stared at her friends; what they were asking her to do was social suicide. Not that she had any social standing to begin with though it was at least nice to pretend she did. When you were invisible, it was easy to pretend people walked into you because they wanted some of your awesome to rub off on them.
She said it was "'easy", not "sane".
She bit her lip as Maia, Jordan, Magnus and Simon all looked at her hopefully. She was the missing puzzle piece; she was the most important player. She was the person they would all least expect, the person who could slip in and out without them checking for damage. She was the one that could take them all by surprise and massacre them all.
She was their Atomic Bomb.
She was invisible.
"I don't know…" Clary twisted her fingers together so hard her knuckles cracked in the silent room. She red hair was pulled back in a pony tail because the stray curls had bugged her and she was sick of having to itch her nose when the wandering strands tickled her freckled bridge.
"C'mon Clary, please." Simon said as he bent on his knees in front of her, his brown eyes bigger from the magnification of his glasses. He had lovely eyes, if they weren't hidden behind the ancient lens he liked to call his glasses. "'You carry the fate of us all, little one.'"
Clary frowned. "Did you just quote "Lords Of The Rings" at me—"
Simon rolled his eyes. "That's not the point, Clary!" He took a breath and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. His hair was cut shaggily across his forehead, like he had gone to town on them with a pair of scissors. Clary had to refrain from brushing those bangs out of his eyes; she wished he would wear the contacts his older sister Becky had bought him. Maybe it would give him the confidence he needed. "It's not like they don't have it coming! Every one of them has asked for this, we can't stand by and let them bully us any longer."
But they hadn't bullied her; they had done something far worse.
Pretended like she was nothing but air.
No, not even! Air, at least, they knew existed. It was what kept them breathing and laughing, at others expense. It was what kept them alive to tease, torture, and belittle all the rest of the student body. Air had a purpose to them, an important one.
They didn't even give her enough respect to know her name.
It really wasn't that hard.
C-l-a-r-y like the herb.
A-d-e-l-e like the singer.
M-o-r-g-e-n-s-t-e-r-n.
See? Not hard at all
Well, Morgenstern was a bit tricky.
That was the moment Clary agreed. When she thought back to every time they had looked right through her, for every time they took and hid Simon's glasses in the boys locker room, for every time they snickered about Maia and called her a lesbian (when she was clearly in love with Jordan), for every time they'd put crushed chalk in Jordan's locker and made the faculty think it was drugs (that had happened twice), and for every time they had made fun of Magnus because he wore colorful clothes and was gay.
Clary looked at each of her beaten down friends, the same ones that she had movies nights with and played silly truth games (mostly Magnus and Maia) or played video games with (mostly Simon and Jordan). The people who would have given her the world if she had asked for it, the people who had sang silly songs just to make her smile. The ones who took the time to remember her whole name.
Clary Adele Morgenstern.
"Okay, I'll do it."
There really wasn't much to be said about the situation she found herself in. The role she played was easy, go in and come out with the intel, she knew that this was all it was going to take to make them hate her. But there really was no fighting it and if it made her friends happy…then so be it.
Social Suicide thy name is Clarissa Morgenstern, Clary thought triumphantly as she walked as confidently as she could toward the group of "populars" that were hanging out by the fountain.
You see, every day when Jace Lightwood and Sebastian Verlac finished their football practice they would all meet and poke fun at people from their glorious seat at "the fountain". Why anyone stayed after school to experience this torment was beyond her. The "populars" lived life in a food pyramid sort of way.
The "geeks, dorks, wallflowers, artists, stoners, Goths, etc."(who had their own pyramid) all were at the bottom of the pyramid. The next section was "the wannabes" these were the people who wanted to be a popular but were still trying to find their place within their "cult". They were basically dogs and treated as such. If they obeyed they got a treat, if they didn't they were knocked down on the social triangle and that to them was the unthinkable.
The next was the "dancer-prancers" which was the dance team members. The only reason they were on the social triangle was because they had great bodies and a sluty mentality, the leader of this brain-dead band of girls was co-captian Kaelie Queen and her sister, who was captain, Sesily Queen or Seelie Queen as they called her. Clary never understood why Sesily would want to have a nickname that remained Clary, herself, of a child's toy but whatever floated her boat!
The next was the "cheerleaders" which was lead by the foul beast Aline Penhallow, she was conniving and evil. She was striking with her clean cut cheekbones and soft Asian features. She took down anyone that was in her path and Clary didn't really want her razor cutting eyes locked on her to be the next target. But she knew it was inevitable with what she was about to do to all of them. Clary had heard of a lot of horror stories about Aline.
She believed every single one of them.
The next was the "footballers" which was a no brainer and didn't need to be explained. They were lead by Sebastian Verlac in this part of the pyramid. He was co-captain of the Angel's and was as ruthless as they came. His black hair and even blacker eyes gave off the aurora that he was sinister and twisted; applied with the feral smile, which reminded Clary more of a rabid dog than a human being, that he always used, Sebastian was down-right scary. And handsome. But then again, weren't they all.
The second to the top was Isabelle and Alec Lightwood. They held their own air of royalty, so to speak, and were in such a position from their beauty and connections to the school and the social triangle. They were practically destined to be in that spot. Each with black, glossy hair; Alec's hung in his electric blue eyes while Isabelle's fell like a waterfall down her spine. Each had delicate features from their cheekbones to their sensual lips. They were beautiful as much as they were intimidating. They didn't bother anyone much, mostly keeping to themselves. But she had seen them standing back with hard expressions while others were being teased, allowing it to happen was just as bad as performing the act in Clary's book.
That was why she had agreed to help her friends.
Now we reached the top of the pyramid, and whom but is perched on top of this social triangle of high school you ask. Why, none other than, the infamous Jace Lightwood.
See how Isabelle and Alec had "connections" to the pyramid now?
He was a mean boy with a twisted wit and a keen talent for imputing sarcasm and narcissism into any topic of conversation. He was rude, nasty and beautiful but Clary wouldn't admit the last part out loud. He was practically made from a gold colored pencil. His hair always in a tousled mess of curls that gave off the persona that I-just-woke-up-and-rolled-out-of-bed-with-this-hair-because-I-was-made-of-perfection. His eyes looked as if the heavens had poured molten gold doubloons in his iris's and add stardust to make them sparkle and glow. His chiseled jaw, permanent smirk, and muscular physique (hours of practice for football; being the captain was a commanding job) made him irresistible to the opposite gender.
He was the living, breathing embodiment of the God Apollo.
And yet, in that moment, as Clary watched him toss back his head and laugh as Aline shoved a girl trying to balance too many books, she had never seen someone so ugly.
Clary took a breath and nodded to Simon, who already had the camcorder rolling behind her; he gave her a reluctant smile back and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. She squared her shoulders, her small stature not helping the situation any, and walked with quick strides to the sprawled out girl all the while twisting her fingers together with nerves.
The group at the fountain laughed as the young girl was collapsed on her hands and knees; the soft, tender skin of her palms were scraped up and red with rage and she looked like she was trying to hold back tears, her lips were clenched together in a straight line and her eyes were blinking rapidly. She was a pretty girl; Clary had an art class with her. Jenny, she thought her name was.
Clary knelt on the ground to help Jenny pick up her books, putting out a hand to help her stand; she held the stack of textbooks out to Jenny. Clary smiled as juggled the stack and tucked a curly piece of flaming red hair behind her ear. The girl smiled back timidly and took the pile of textbooks from her, as Clary's weak arms screamed out in relief. Those books were much heavier than they looked. "Thank you."
Clary waved her hand like it was nothing, which in truth, it really was. Being nice was easy, plus it made her stomach flutter with warmth. It made her feel proud of herself for helping someone else. It made her feel better about herself in a way. "No problem, Jenny. See you in 2nd period."
Jenny blinked before smiling fully. She had a wonderful smile; with straight, white teeth, that she was sure had cost a fortune, it made her whole face light up. "Yeah, see you then Clary."
Clary felt a soft flutter in her stomach, someone had remembered her name.
Maybe she wasn't as invisible after all.
She looked back toward the group of bullies with a new found purpose. What she was about to do, had to be done. Their rein needed to be put to an end and how else did you overthrow a King? Clary watched as Jace leaned into Aline and whispered in her ear with a smirk. Aline smiled back devilishly and lightly nipped at Jace's lips. He pulled back and brought his attention to another girl, much to Aline's disappointment. Clary felt her lips curl up in disgust.
You rally his people against him.
A king is not a king without his subjects.
Jace Lightwood's rein needed to be put to an end and Clary was going to be the one to tear him down.
It was the start of World War 3.
Let the games begin.
She walked forward feeling the nerves she had felt before build in her stomach. Her palms were already sweaty and she felt out of place with her paint splattered shirt, jeans and boots. "Um, excuse me?" The group of teens continued to talk and laugh, the girls flirting with the football players and leaning precariously into them showing, without a doubt, right down their shirts.
No self respect at all.
"Excuse me?" Clary cleared her throat and tried again but it still had no effect on them. She looked at Simon questioningly but he simply shrugged.
"Hey!" Simon yelled, his glasses falling slightly askew. Everyone creased their conversation and looked at him, each with a different form of disgust. Clary could feel the pressure their eyes weighed on him as he nervously raised a shaking hand to straighten his glasses and brush the hair from his eyes.
"What do you want, Rat Boy?" Sebastian said as he lightly pushed a blonde girl, Klara, off his lap and smiled that rabid-dog smile. His jet-black hair gleamed off the shining sun and made him looked like a demon, staring down its prey. "I thought we already had a discussion between 3rd and 4th period."
He was referring to when he and Jace had shoved Simon's head into his own locker and then in the toilet in the boy's bathroom.
A flare of hot anger spiked up in Clary's stomach as Simon's face flushed and his voice began to shake. A few people let out laughs and giggles behind Sebastian, the result only egging him on. "We-we-well you see—"
"Obviously, you came back for round two." Sebastian said as he lifted himself from his seat and took a few steps toward Simon menacingly. Simon looked downright horrified, like he had totally forgotten what they had come to do. The panic in his eyes, like he truly was prey, was sickening; this wasn't the boy who had purposed they fight the "populars". This wasn't the boy that stood up for Mac O'Brien in the third grade because another boy had stolen his lunch money. This was a shell of that boy; this was the person Simon didn't want to be anymore.
Clary's feet moved on their own accord, intercepting Sebastian's pursuit toward Simon. Maybe it was because she had never truly been bullied before(well not the way Simon, Maia, Jordan or Magnus had). Maybe it was because she felt the strongest need to protect her friend or maybe it was because she was stubborn and reckless, she'd never know. But whatever it was, it made her lift her head up and raise her eyebrows at Sebastian with a bored and disinterested expression, like she had so many better things to be doing than be here. She felt empowered and strong, she could do this. She knew she could.
She crossed her small arms across her, even smaller, chest and stared up at him. "Actually, we came to do a project. If you'll listen we'll tell you what it is." He didn't say a word, just blinked down at her like she had appeared out of thin air. Clary rolled her eyes before continuing. "We were told to interview the most important members of the school. We figured who would know the school better than the people who rule it?" Sebastian smirked at the compliment and Clary had to resist the urge to snicker. Boy, were they were in for a surprise, all of them were. She felt slightly sick giving them a compliment but she knew it was part of the plan. It's didn't make it taste any less like acid in her mouth though. "See we need to interview the 5 most important people in the school. We figured you might know who they were."
Sebastian smirked again and sat back down, leaning back in his seat. "Well you thought wisely, Ginger Bread." Clary almost groaned out loud, like she hadn't heard that one before. "You're looking at one of the most important people, right here." He pointed to himself with a feral smile.
Tiffany, a key person in the "wannabe" section of the pyramid jumped forward. "And Aline, she's another one." Aline tossed her glossy, short, black hair over her shoulder and smiled fondly at Tiffany, like one would smile at a pet. Tiffany was getting major brownie for that one.
"Don't forget Jace!" Another girl yelled. "He's the most important!"
"Oh darling, that's impossible." The blonde God in the back of the table, completely surrounded by women smirked his trademark grin and it made Clary's betraying heart jump in anticipation. His golden cat eyes cut deep into Clary's mind and for a moment she was afraid he knew what they were up to. That he could see the whole plan in her mind before she even had a chance to execute it, but he studied her for only a second before he shifted his gaze to the girl who spoke. Clary felt a weight being lifted from her chest as she sighed in relief, earning a confused look from Simon that she ignored. "I'm unforgettable." He finished off his egoistic sentence with a wink.
A mass of giggling shook the table
It worked.
They were eating out of the palm of Clary's hands.
Hook, line and sinker.
They had them all right.
Clary felt the smirk before she knew it was there. "Perfect."
In the end, they ended up with the following:
Jace Lightwood (of course)
Sebastian Verlac
Aline Penhallow
Kaelie Queen
Seelie Queen
It had all been too easy, really.
Clary bit her lip and thought of another question to ask them. She had scrawled a list of questions to ask each of the 5 "poppies" as Simon had started calling them. She bit the end of her pencil before snapping her fingers and smiling as she scribbled another one down.
The plan was simple, in fact it was written out on the paper before her. They would tape and interview each of the "poppies" and then, like any good reporter would do, they would fiddle with the truth a little as well as fiddle with the video. Clary felt that small stab of guilt in her stomach. What they were doing wasn't right, it made them no better than the "poppies", didn't it?
Mr. Harrison broke through Clary's haze of guilt with his clear but monotone voice. "Please discuss among yourselves, or with a partner, what you feel most applies to you: Dispositional or Situational Theory."
Clary watched as everyone separated and moved around the room, meeting up with friends and laughing as the room filled with chatter. She brought her gaze back down to the piece of torn and doodled parchment in front of her. Her A.P Psychology class continued to talk around her as she softly colored the corner of her paper. She didn't have any friends in this class, just one of many classes she suffered through daily. She wished she could make the day go by faster so she could just get to her 3 art classes already. Her first period was boring when it came to partnership and interesting when it came to lectures. Clary loved psychology but the amount of friends in the class was depressing.
The desk in front of her squealed as it was shifted and Clary lifted her gaze and sat back sharply when Isabelle Lightwood's face appeared before her. Alec's hovered behind her, always her shadow.
Clary brought a hand to her fast-beating heart, her hair was tousled around her head in fiery red curls. "You scared me."
Isabelle didn't beat around the bush when she spoke next. Her plump lips were in a hard, straight line and her dramatic eyebrows in a deep frown. "I know you're up to something."
Clary blinked quickly, trying her best to cover the question sheet in front of her. But it was two on one as Alec moved with lightning speed and grabbed the sheet from under her hands. "Stop! That's not-"
Alec raised an eyebrow, much to Clary's envy, as his blue eyes glanced over the sheet. He handed it to Isabelle without a sound as she scanned over it as well. Clary really wished she hadn't doodled herself standing on top of a collapsed and unconscious Jace wearing his crown on that piece of paper. Isabelle raised her eyebrow next and handed Clary the piece of parchment back.
She glanced down in shame, she had let them all down now. Isabelle and Alec would tell Jace what they planned for sure now. Their was no way they would let her and Simon publicly humiliate their adopted brother! Clary let out a sigh. "Let me explain."
"Thank you."
Clary blinked again and stared at Isabelle Lightwood like she had grown two heads. Was she crazy or just certifiably insane. "Excuse me?"
Isabelle smiled as Alec took a seat to Clary's left. The black and pale beauty actually laughed; it was seriously happening. Clary had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. This couldn't be real right? "I like you, Clarissa Morgenstern. You'll be just what Jace needs. Knock him down a few pegs." She paused and exchanged a looked with Alec, who nodded. "Maybe you can bring our brother back."
Clary looked at Alec next, who nodded again. "He didn't use to be like this..." Alec trailed off as his deep eyes blazed over.
Isabelle nodded vehemently and grabbed Clary's hands in hers. The rings on Isabelle's fingers dug into Clary's flesh, but instead of feeling pain she felt relief. The pain reminded her she was awake and not in a dream. "He really didn't. You have to believe us, he use to care...but some things happened..." She looked at the ground before her expression was hard again like a stone. "Count us in. Whatever it is, we're in."
Clary stared at the Lightwood siblings as they gazed back at her. She saw the truth in what they said, she found she believed them.
That was how Clary recruited the Lightwood's.
The plan was simple.
Demolish the Social Pyramid.
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