“I’m legally and physically an adult now, you don’t have to worry.” The words from an earlier conversation replayed over in her head a few times throughout the night. What was it? The first time she had ever told her mother no, and she couldn’t even enjoy it. There was something nagging at her, a sinking feeling in her chest, a knot tied in the pit of her stomach- “I don’t know how to explain.” The words came out as her eyes shifted towards her best friend. “She’s been acting so odd today. It’s not like we’re off to murder anyone, I mean it’s my eighteenth birthday--- why is she acting like this now? Mom’s never been so strangely protective.” Simon tried to reassure her that everything was fine, that she needn’t worry, that her mother was probably overreacting to the feeling that soon she would be an empty nester. Offering her friend a half smile, she shrugged her shoulders and told him he was probably right even if she found no comfort from his words. Clary had left out the major details that had her concerned-- the strange heirloom her mother had presented her with as a birthday present and the look of panic in Jocelyn Fray’s eyes when Clary had insisted that she was going out tonight and that they had all day tomorrow to talk. She tried her best to mentally shake it. The decision to go out was her first as an adult and she was going to enjoy it one way or another. “Come on let’s go inside.” They had been loitering outside the night club for about a half hour now. It was the only club in town that let in eighteen year olds and it had been her decision much to her friend’s dismay that she wanted to go dancing tonight. Grasping his hand their fingers intertwined as they made it past the door man. The energy of the crowd, mixing with the volume of the music, and flashing lights was a great distraction for her. She pulled Simon immediately over to the dance floor as she wasn’t quite brave enough yet to try out her new fake ID. As her fingers released his they found a new place over his shoulders and her hips settled into a rhythm that moved with the beat. Her friend wasn’t quite as comfortable with dancing, or the large crowd of the club he stiffened like a board, his hands barely touching her hips. His feeling of discomfort completely obvious as she started to move causing her to laugh. She was about to lean over to his ear to tease him of his stiff behavior when suddenly a body knocked into hers sending her forward into Simon’s arms. Frowning, her arms fell from her friend and down to her sides as she took a step back to get a look of who had been so rude without even offering an excuse me or some sort of an apology. It was just a normal bump to get by, the guy would have probably knocked her over if she hadn’t been holding onto Simon and her friend made no acknowledgement of it “Hey!” she called out to the back of a guy who had already ventured a distance away from them, he kept walking without and didn’t look back. Perhaps the music was too loud. “Some people,” she uttered, as Simon looked at her confused. “I’ll be right back. I have to use the lady’s room.” Holding up a finger, she parted ways from her friend. Her eyes scanned the room for the guy who had bumped her. When she didn’t see him, she ventured further into the club. The all black clothing he had been wearing caught her attention from the corner of her eye, her body turned as she took a few quick steps chasing after it. Yet when she found her body in the place where he had just stood he was nowhere to be found. Deciding it was time to go back to Simon and give up on chasing the mystery stranger Clary turned quickly bringing her body in contact with the man she had been searching for as she ran straight into him. “Excuse me!” Her voice was impatient as her hand settled on his bicep, leaning closer to him so her voice would be understood over the music she spoke, “Do you make it a habit of running into people or just being in the way?” Clary wasn’t sure why she was provoking this stranger, or why she had even left her friend in the first place to search for him. Everything had just been so different today, she felt different. Even now, the previous worry seemed to dissipate as she stared down the guy in front of her, the feeling replaced with something else she couldn’t quite pinpoint as her lips felt suddenly dry. “Why don’t you watch where you’re going from now on?,” she quickly added her voice wavering, as the redhead dropped her hand from the stranger’s body and took a small step back.
