Chapter 1

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the TMI characters.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Ugh!" I groan as the alarm clock breaks through the serenity of my subconscious. Seriously, this is my tenth new school in six years, can't I sleep in for once on the first day?

Or at least let me get rid of my hangover.

I'm about to fall back asleep when my dad yells, " Clarissa! If you fall back asleep I'll ground your sorry ass for a week."

I groan and pull myself out of bed yelling back, "Fine! I'm up!" I trudge over to my bathroom and start the water. I start to strip down and groan at the sight of a hickey on my neck. Damnit! When the fuck did that happen last night!? Even more important, who the hell gave it to me?

I decide to worry about that later and get in the shower. Once I'm out, I dry off a little and run a brush through my red mane of curls.

I go into my room and check the time. 7:24. I lazily throw on black high-waisted jean shorts, and a maroon crop top with silver studs on it. The hickey is still visible so I go into the bathroom and cover it up with makeup. I do the rest of my makeup then pull some Vans and a leather jacket on and check the time again. 7:46.

I grab my backpack, keys, and helmet then run to the front door. "Bye Dad!" I yell as I close the door. I throw my helmet on and and get on my bike.

The bike was a birthday present from my dad. I love the feeling of freedom that comes with it. It's the one thing that made me feel truly happy. After my parents got divorced when I was ten and my dad moved away with me as soon as he won custody, the happy kid I was just started slipping away. I wonder if my mom and brother still live in Brooklyn? Not that I'd ever really want to see her again. She had her chance to reach out to me when I was younger and she didn't. Some mom eh?

I pull into the school parking lot and every single head turns towards me. Some guys yell, "Nice ride!" as I ride past. Some girls are surprised it's a girl riding it. As soon as I stop I hop off the bike and take off my helmet, shaking out my now air dried curls.

A few guys let out some wolf whistles and I roll my eyes. I start walking towards the building and this guy with dark brown hair and dark eyes comes in front of me. "Hey baby. Why don't you give me a ride sometime," he says with a smirk.

I roll my eyes and reply, "Right after you drop dead asshole." I start to push past and he grabs my arms and leans closer to my ear.

"You sure you don't want to go somewhere private?" he whispers seductively into my ear.

I turn my head and whisper back, "Sure. Why don't we go somewhere and you can," I raise my voice and almost yell right in his ear, "piss off you perve!"

He winces a little and I march towards the school building ignoring the cheering at my remark from a group of boys in football jerseys. I got my schedule through email so I already know to head to art aka my favorite subject.

I make a quick stop at my locker then head to the art room. I'm not paying attention and bump into someone. I would have fallen on my ass if a pair of strong arms hadn't caught me. When I look up, all I see is gold.

Golden eyes, golden blond hair, golden tan skin. He smirks a little and says very smugly, "I would say this is odd, but I'm used to girls swooning over me."

I roll my eyes. "I'm sure you are Goldilox. Now can I get up?"

Goldilox helps me stand straight up then holds out his hand. "I'm Jace. Jace Herondale."

"Clary Fray," I say taking his hand firmly. It feels like there's a bit of a spark when we touch but I brush it off.

"So what brings you to Alicante High Red?" Jace asks still smirking.

I roll my eyes at the nickname and look up to look him in the eye. "My dad and I just moved back here. We used to live in Brooklyn six years ago but moved after my parents divorced."

"Where did you move to?" Jace asks seeming amused by my confidence in telling him this.

"All over. LA, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, St Augustine, Seattle."

"So I take it your dad's not a fan of staying in one place. That or he just knew one day you'd find your way directly to me," Jace says smirking confidently. I'm about to retort that I'm the reason we kept moving and that he was being an ass, but he gets a call. "Wait here." Fat chance. I may have given Jace a chance had he not come off of a total player. What other guy would be interested in me like that.

Once he's turned around and on the phone, I start walking to the art room. I lose sight of Blondie in the crowd and silently give thanks. I'm usually not quick to judge, but he seems like a total asshole.

When I get to the classroom I take a seat in the back. I may love art, but not so much where I want to sit in the front. I'm sketching when someone takes a seat next to me.

I look over and see a gorgeous girl with long black hair and black eyes. She smiles at me a little. "Hi, I'm Isabelle Lightwood, but everyone calls me Izzy. You are?"

"Clary Fray." I smile back and go back to detailing the drawing. It's a picture of an angel that looks like me holding herself as blood runs down her arms. Her wings are still flawless as they curl around her.

Izzy looks over and her eyes grow wide. "Woah! You're really good!"

"Thanks." I smile at her and close my sketchbook as class starts.

A middle aged man stands at the front of the classroom about to start talking when none other than Goldilox runs in. Oh great. "Mr. Herondale. Would you like to tell me why you're late?"

Goldilox just smirks and says, "Oh you know Mr. Hawkins. Just searching for a hot girl." He glances at me and smirks as Mr. Hawkins rubs his temples. I roll my eyes quickly.

"Just take a seat Jace." Jace takes a seat at the table next to mine and Mr. Hawkins continues, "Now we have a new student, Clarissa Fray."

He motions to me and I correct him. "It's just Clary, actually."

"Right, Clary then. Today you're all gonna draw something that makes you who you are today. You have the entire class period. Start now," he states and sits down at his desk after handing out the paper.

I start drawing an old family photo from before the divorce. My mom and Jonathan stand on one side and Dad and I stand on the other. The picture looks torn and tattered and has a large rip down the middle separating Jon and me. The faces of Jon and my mother are blurred showing how I haven't seen them in a while.

I start to get hot so I take off my jacket and suddenly everyone is looking at me. Probably because of my self harm scars. Most of them are pale and old, but there are still some light pink ones. People start to mutter and look at me. A blond girl goes up to Mr. Hawkins and he nods in understanding to whatever she said.

"Miss Fray, will you cover up your arms? It's distracting to the other students," Mr. Hawkins says eyeing my scars.

"I would sir, but I'd rather not get heat stroke." I see Goldilox trying to hold back laughter out of the corner of my eye.

Mr. Hawkins sighs a little. "Then maybe you should do something about the things on your arms."

I get extremely annoyed and snap. "God, you all act like you've never seen a scar before! So I have scars. What I do with my body is my choice! I may not be incredibly proud of the choices I've made, but I'm not ashamed of them either!"

People make oooo sounds and Goldilox claps slowly. Mr. Hawkins looks like he's about to say something, but the bell rings. "Here. Here's the freaking assignment." I put the drawing on his desk, grab my bag and jacket, and walk out of the classroom.

I'm heading to English when Izzy runs up to me. "Hey Clary! You're pretty cool. Wanna have lunch with me and my friends?"

"Sure Iz. I'll see you later then." I walk off to English knowing I'll have to hear bull shit about my scars all day.

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