Chase

Chapter 7

The next day, Sylvia woke up early, although there wasn't any reason to. Magnus's lesson didn't start until three. But she was buzzing with excitement at the prospect of learning magic. She imagined casting spells, moving things with a few words of power, flicking a wand, like in Harry Potter. Her reverie was broken by a sharp knock at the door.

"Come in."

The door swung open. It was Isabelle, carrying a large pile of neatly folded clothes.

"I figured you needed some more clothes. We can go shopping for a wardrobe later, but for now, you can have some of my old stuff."

"Thanks." It was a small gesture, but no one had ever cared enough for Sylvia to do anything like it before. She was touched. Isabelle was so kind to her, she should be suspicious. But although she had just met her, she trusted her completely.

Isabelle smiled at her. "Come down to breakfast when you've dressed." She left.

Half an hour later, after Sylvia had taken a shower and gotten dressed in Isabelle's black, sequined top with the words Fight me on it, purple leggings and a ripped jean jacket, she headed down the staircase to the dining hall. Clary, Jace, Alec, Simon, and Isabelle were sitting around the table, looking sombre. Of course, it was probably to do with the theft of the Mortal Cup, but even so, she was uncomfortable as she joined them at the table. As she sat down, Alec looked up at her and smiled.

"Magnus said you're going to his place at three for magic lessons?"

"Umm... yeah. I don't actually know the address though, so if..."

"It's ok, I can take you."

Sylvia looked at Alec thoughtfully.

"You're his boyfriend, right?"

Alec blushed. "Yeah, I am. How'd you know?"

Isabelle hadn't told her, but it had seemed obvious to her. "Just the way you two act around each other. Like... you look over at each other just to make sure you're still there, because you can't quite believe they're a part of you. Your eyes soften when you look at each other, because how could you ever be mad at him? He feels the same way, that whatever you do, he could never truly be mad at you. Things like that. You've been dating long enough that you know your way around his apartment, feel comfortable in it, but not long enough that you've gotten used to being with him. That you look over, and you're still surprised that he's yours." She smiled. Alec was looking at her, dumbfounded. "Sorry," she said, as an afterthought. "I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"It's OK." Alec's voice was steady, but she could see, at the corners of his mouth, a hint of a smile. "You're pretty good. Meet me in the hall at 2:30, we can walk over to Magnus's place together." With this, Alec stood up, and left.

After breakfast, Sylvia went back up the stairs to her room. At least, she tried to. She couldn't remember: was it turn right at the first corridor, take the second set of stairs or turn right at the second corridor, take the first set of stairs? The Institute all looked the same! Sylvia tried to retrace her steps, but it was no use. She was lost.

"Need directions?" The boy with the curly hair, Simon, appeared out of a doorway, wearing a t-shirt bearing the words "Trust Your Doctor", with a picture of a man in a blue suit, with glasses and ruffled up hair. So he was a Doctor Who fan. She liked Doctor Who."You look a little lost."

"It all looks the same." She smiled. "Um, I'm trying to get back to my room."

"This is the boys's section. They've divided us up by gender, so nothing...untoward happens. Probably a good idea, with all the couples here."