Chapter 1: Bad To School

"Mom, please," Clary begged for the umpteenth time.

"Clary, you know I don't want to do this. This is hard for me too," Jocelyn said. "Sending my little girl to boarding school," She shook her head, like she couldn't believe her words.

"Then don't send me," Clary said. "I really don't want to go."

"Well, maybe you should've thought of that before burning down a model house!" Jocelyn exclaimed, exasperated. "You're lucky Mrs. Lewis didn't press charges." What she meant was You're lucky your best friend, Simon Lewis, was your partner in crime and the model house was his mother's model house and she couldn't possibly sue her own son and his beloved best friend.

"It was an accident," Clary said.

"But the party wasn't," Jocelyn countered. "If you and Simon didn't throw a party there in the first place, there wouldn't be a fire and the house wouldn't be turned to ashes and I wouldn't have to leave my own gallery opening to see my daughter in handcuffs." The party was Simon's idea. He thought it was their one-way ticket to popularity before their junior year began. Oh, how that took a miserable turn.

"But Mom–"

"No, Clary! I don't want to hear anymore. We're already on our way," Jocelyn said quickly.

Even though Simon's mother–she was a realty developer–didn't press charges, there was still the arson and trespassing charges. Luckily, no one at the party was hurt, or they would've had to face a lawsuit too. Jocelyn had hired a lawyer for Clary and after Clary and Simon were cleared of penalty, they were required to see a child psychologist, to make sure they weren't unstable or potentially dangerous, who suggested they attend boarding school for discipline rectification.

Clary sagged into the passenger seat, hugging her arms around herself and dreading the life she will have. If kids at regular schools were already mean, she could only imagine what kids who were handpicked by adults who specialise in teen angst were capable of.

xxXxx

Jocelyn drove slowly as they entered the gates of Idris Boarding School, allowing Clary to take in the sight of her new school and home. The lawn was expansive and perfectly manicured and the buildings looked Victorian. There was a fountain in the middle of the circular driveway. This place was one thing Clary would never have described a boarding school for troublemakers. It was beautiful. That may have been because this wasn't just a regular boarding school–it was a boarding school for the privileged, for rule-breaking boys and girls who had six-figure trust funds.

They parked and got out of the car.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think this was a Lord's manor instead of child prison," Clary said.

"It's not a child prison, Clary. Don't be so dramatic," Jocelyn scolded. "It's one of the best boarding schools in the country. You'll get the best learning experience here."

They began unloading Clary's things from the trunk. One by one, Clary's suitcases were stacked next to the car.

When they were done, Jocelyn sighed sadly. "Do you want me to follow you inside?" she asked Clary.

Clary shook her head. "No, it's okay."

"Okay," her mother replied. Clary could see tears welling in her mother's eyes.

"Mom," Clary began.

Jocelyn hugged her before she could say anything else. Jocelyn didn't say anything, just held her for a long time.

She finally let go of Clary to look at her with glazed eyes.

Clary could feel herself starting to cry too. But she willed herself to continue steadily, "I'm really sorry, Mum. I know I disappointed you."

Jocelyn held Clary's face and stroked her cheeks with her thumb soothingly. "I'm not going to say it's okay. Because what you did was not okay, what you and Simon did. But I still love you. No matter what, you're still my daughter."

Now, Clary really cried.

After saying goodbye and giving her mother one final hug, Clary made her way to the front office.

xxXxx

Clary tried to follow the map the clerk gave her to find her dorm, which was at the west building. But somehow, ended up on the east building, the opposite side. Not even fifteen minutes being in this school, she was already lost. Nice, Fairchild, Clary thought to herself.

Just when she thought her luck couldn't get any worse, someone ran into her, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

"Ugh," Clary grumbled. "Can't you see where you're going?" she asked angrily, rubbing her shoulder.

"Sorry, sorry," the voice was male and it didn't sound very sorry.

A hand with slender fingers offered to help Clary up. Clary took it and stood. The face that greeted her had golden eyes and golden hair. Even his skin was golden, probably from spending time under the sun.

"I'm Jace Wayland," he introduced himself.

Clary was momentarily stunned by the gleaming boy in front of her. "Clary," she said when she snapped out of her reverie. "Clary Fairchild."

Jace stared at her face for a moment before stooping down to pick up her fallen things. He inspected Clary's class schedule.

"Um..,' Clary said.

"You're new here," he said. It wasn't a question. "This is the one place you should avoid."

Clary returned him a puzzled look.

"This is the east building, opposite the regular dorms. This is where Blackwell Hall is," he pointed to a building behind him. "That's where they keep kids who are really bad," he lowered his voice like he was telling a campfire horror story.

Clary swallowed. "Really bad?"

"Those who got into monumental trouble with the school rules last year," he explained.

"Oh," Clary eyed the building. Then looked back at Jace. "Are you in Blackwell Hall?"

"Yes." A grin was playing on his mouth. "Come on, I'll get you to your dorm."

"N-No. I can find my way," she said quickly. "Besides I have a map," she held the said map up to show him.

"And you successfully made it to your desired location," his every word dripped with sarcasm.

"Fine," Clary relented. She really needed to get to her dorm anyway, it was almost evening.

On their way, Jace pointed out all the school buildings. He was really very polite which made Clary wonder what was it that he did to earn him a spot in Blackwell Hall.

When they got to the west building, Jace placed Clary's things in front of the girls' dorm entrance. The boys' dorm was located further down the walkway which was where Simon was probably settling in at the moment. Clary very much wanted to see him but she would get in trouble if she so much as breathe on their door.

Clary didn't even realise until now that Jace had, in fact, carried all her things all the way here.

"Thank you so much," Clary said.

"You're welcome," he said. "See you in English tomorrow," he told her before jogging back to Blackwell Hall.

xxXxx

The door to room 108 sprang open before Clary's fingers reached the knob.

"You must be Clarissa Fairchild!" said the girl with dark hair, dark eyes and dark eyeliner, standing in the doorway. "I'm Isabelle Lightwood. But call me Izzy."

"Hi," Clary croaked, stunned by her enthusiasm. "You can call me Clary."

"Well don't just stand there! Come inside," she ushered Clary inside.

The room was spacious, it was much bigger than what Clary had in mind. And they had individual beds, two on one side and two on the opposite wall. Separating the two beds was a small nightstand and there was a desk on the other side of the bed for every bed. There were closets on the far wall.

"This is Maia Roberts," Izzy said pointing to a girl with curly dark hair sitting on the bed, who didn't even bother to look up at Clary. "And that's Aline," she gestured to a pretty Asian-looking girl. "Penhallow," Izzy continued. "Her Mom's the headmistress." Izzy widened her eyes. Aline rolled her eyes.

Clary put her things on the only unoccupied bed nearest to the door. Next to her bed was Izzy's. She began unpacking her things.

She noticed that her roommates didn't talk to each other much, which was odd, considering it was summer break and they should've have stories to trade. Clearly, they weren't friends.

When Clary finished organising her stuff, Izzy huffed, "Finally." and dragged Clary out of their room. They descended the stairs and went out the door.

A soft breeze greeted them.

"You have no idea how boring it is living with those two! It was like that for the whole year last year," Izzy complained. "My parents might need to send me to an asylum, eventually."

They began walking towards the back of the building. Clary could see a lake further ahead.

"So," Izzy said. "What are you in here for?" It sounded like a question a prison inmate would ask of another.

"I…uh," Clary was suddenly out of words.

Izzy laughed. "Don't sweat it. I already know."

"What? How?"

"I read your student file," Izzy answered breezily. Clary gaped at her, but Izzy continued seamlessly, "I have to know what kind of roommate I'm getting. And you didn't disappoint." She winked.

Clary shook her head. She didn't even want to know how Izzy got hold of her files.

"To make us even, I'll tell you about myself." Izzy cleared her throat. "My parents are politicians. I have two brothers, one of them goes here, by the way. He's my older brother, Alexander. Alec. But I miss Max. I wish he would start acting up and go here already. Anyway, I used to take things from the boutique in–"

"You mean shoplift," Clary said.

"Whatever," Izzy scoffed. "It got my parents' attention the first few times, but after that, they just sent their PA to get me at the police station. And they couldn't risk their reputation so here I am."

"What about Alec?"

"Fights. Like most of the boys here."

They stopped and Izzy said, "Lake Lyn." There were shrubs and wildflowers around the lake. Beyond the lake was a forest, dense with tall, dark trees. "That's Brocelind Forest."

After seeing the whole school compound, Clary realised everything was about to change. So far the people she's met had been nice but Clary knew that it was only a matter of time before that changed.

And that's chapter one! More characters will be introduced in the next chapter. I'm just laying the groundwork here. I honestly don't know where I'm going with this. I had this idea of turning all the characters into rebels (don't think Jace is all sweet just yet). Opinions are welcome and review please! x

Disclaimer: All names belong to Cassandra Clare.