Shadowhunters: Awakening

Chapter 1:

Sitting on the steps of the Brooklyn Art Academy, I waited patiently for my sister to come out. She was inside interviewing with the school board. I felt nervous, hoping for the best. My sister wanted to go to this school badly. 

My sister, Clary, finally walked out of the building, an excited look plastered on her face. "I did it!" She says, pulling me into a hug.

"I knew you would," I say, pulling away from her. "Now let's go. I need food." I continued I hadn't eaten breakfast today so I was hungry.

"Alright, let's go to the cafe. Simon is meeting us for coffee." Clary tells me as I link my arm with hers, practically dragging her down the street.

Clary faked being upset when we arrived, making our friend, Simon, jump up from his seat.

"Give me the Professor's names and I will end them," Simon says.

Clary and I both look at him suspiciously at this.

"You know, with a scathing email to the dean." Simon continues.

"Don't bother" Clary says, handing him the acceptance letter as she takes the seat across from him. I walked across the table, sitting beside Simon. Simon opened the letter, seeing that Clary had been accepted.

 "What?! The sad face, really? Well played, well played." Simon says as he and Clary do a handshake.

"Now both Frayes are in college. Clary in the Art program and you in your advanced writing program." Simon says, ruffling my hair. 

"Stop! I'm not a child." I tell Simon, swatting his hands away. I pull a small mirror from my bag, fixing my hair.

"You're the youngest one here, so technically you are the child," Clary says with a laugh. I took notice that her smile faltered at my interaction with Simon. But the smile came back fast before he could notice.

"You're only older by like 5 minutes," I say, rolling my eyes.

"You know, it's weird. They kinda liked my assigned work, but they flipped out over the drawings for our graphic novel." Clary tells Simon, as she puts her giant art folder on the table.

One of the drawings catches my eye. I look closely at it, feeling a sense of familiarity. Simon and Clary continued to talk, as I tried to rack my brain, trying to figure out what the drawing was.

I shook the thought from my head, as a waiter placed two cups of coffee in front of Clary and me.

"Thank you," I mutter, taking a sip of mine.

"...We are celebrating tonight. Yes, with Maureen after our gig." Simon says.

"Absolutely," Clary says.

"If you weren't like my brother, I wouldn't even go.  I'd rather be home, preparing for my classes. They start next week and I don't think I'm ready yet." I say, thinking about the advanced writing program that I had gotten into. 

"Forget about class. Today is a big day, for many reasons. A) Clary got accepted, and B) It's both of your birthdays today. Your 18th to be specific. We have to celebrate." Simon exclaims.

"Exactly, can't I spend my own birthday at home?" I question.

"Nope, we're all going to celebrate," Clary tells me, tossing a crumpled napkin at me.

I sigh in defeat, knowing that I wouldn't win this battle. As the older twin, Clary always had the upper hand, persuading me to follow along on her and Simon's adventures, even if they were reckless and dangerous. 

I think back to mine and Clary's 15th birthday, Clary and Simon wanted to sneak out and 'borrow' Simon's mom's car. I remember saying it was a dumb idea, but they dragged me along anyway. Hours later, we were locked in a cell at the police station, waiting for our parents to come to get us. Simon had sped through a red light, almost causing an accident.

"So, what's the deal with you and Maureen?" I hear Clary ask.

I froze upon hearing this. I knew that Simon liked Clary, she just hadn't realized it yet.

"What deal? No deal? We just sing together." Simon says.

"You seriously don't know she's been crushing on you this whole time?" Clary questions.

It's true. While Simon has been pinning after Clary, Maureen has been pinning after Simon. 

"What? No. No." Simon says.

I pick up my cup and take another sip of coffee. Simon was oblivious to Maureen's affection, just as Clary was to his. Thankfully, I never had issues like this. As I didn't have many friends outside of Simon, Clary, and Maureen, that also meant I had no experience when it came to dating. Being over-cautious doesn't bode well when making new friends

"Simon, how can someone, as smart and perceptive as you, not realize that the person sitting right there is in love with you?" Clary asks.

At this, I choke on my coffee. Clary looks at me confused, while Simon just blushes. Simon knew that I knew about his crush on my twin, mainly because he told me when we were younger. Simon grabs a napkin and hands it to me before turning to face Clary again.

"I guarantee you I'm not the only smart, perceptive person to make that mistake," Simon says.