Promises (The Mortal Instruments College AU)

Chapter Two: First Classes and Afternoon Reading

Clary awoke to her phone blaring loudly next to her. Snoozing the alarm, she sat up. Her laptop was open in front of her, but it was off. She must have fallen asleep in the middle of what she was watching the night before. She got out of bed and checked the time on her phone. The screen read 5:25am, Thursday, August 28th. She didn't see the point in starting the school year on a Thursday instead of a Monday, but it wasn't her situation to control.

                “Better get moving,” she told herself, stretching and yawning before gathering up her stuff and walking out the door. She decided to get up early to take a shower before her first day of classes. Once Clary got to the showers, she found that a few other girls had the same idea as her. She found an empty stall and went inside, yanking the curtain shut after her. The shower took about fifteen minutes, so Clary had no need to rush to get dressed or finish getting ready.

                After she finished up in the bathroom, she returned to her dorm. This was the first time that day she realized that Isabelle hadn’t returned back to their room that night. All of her stuff was still either piled up on her bed or her desk. She must have stayed somewhere else, Clary thought, confirming her thoughts from the night before. Deciding not to pay her roommate’s whereabouts anymore mind, Clary gathered up the things she needed for that day’s classes and walked out of the room at 6:15.

                Her first class wasn’t until 7:00, so she walked to the dining hall to grab some breakfast before starting her day. Pancakes were being served. Since they were her favorite breakfast food, Clary piled a few onto her plate and drenched them with maple syrup. She wolfed them down and looked around at the people occupying the hall. A lot of students were crowded around tables, but one of them stood out. The cause was most likely that he was staring in her direction.

He had light, white blond hair that had a messy look to it, but not a bad messy; it was an intentional messy. His eyes, a deep and dark color, twinkled as he watched her. Praying the heat would stay out of her cheeks, Clary arched her eyebrows at him, matching his gaze. He returned her look with a smile. She looked away and finished her food, feeling color rush lightly to her face. She tossed her plate and left to find her class without seeing the boy again.

Her classes were mostly the basics of what she needed for freshman year. First up was Biology. Then Math and Psychology 101 back to back. Clary’s next two classes, however, were a bit different. She had talked her advisor into letting her get into Shakespeare & the Classical Tradition and Art & Its Growth, which were both sophomore classes. It had taken a lot of convincing, but Clary knew she would do fine in the classes, and her grades proved it.

At the end of Psychology 101, she had half an hour for break. Clary chose to spend that time walking around campus and getting to really know where things were. While passing one building, she spotted Isabelle, who was talking animatedly to another girl, walk by. Well, now I know she isn’t dead. That’s good, she thought. Soon after, she made her way to her class with a few minutes to spare.

Clary sat towards the back of the room and opened up her sketchbook to do a little doodling before class started. Off in her own world, she didn’t notice someone in the row behind her watching over her shoulder.

“I thought you were a freshman. You shouldn’t be taking this course until next year, so why’re you here?” A voice asked. It was familiar. Clary jumped slightly and turned in her seat to look up at the golden haired boy she’d met yesterday.

“The class seemed interesting, so I chose to take it instead of a boring freshman literature class,” she said, closing her sketchbook to keep the boy’s prying eyes away from it. It was only artwork, but it was personal. Nobody else had ever seen it except for her.