CHAPTER THREE. THE NIGHT CLUB

"THAT'D BE A COOL TATTOO."

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*Please read the author's note at the end. Thank you.*

"Thanks for being our roadies," Maureen said to Wren and Clary. It was after her and Simon's gig and they were loading their instruments and equipment into the back of Simon's van. "Yeah, and thank you, Clary, for being our artist in residence," Simon added, pulling off his shirt.

"Of course," Clary said. Wren's eyes narrowed at Simon. "What, I don't get a thank you for helping you come up with a band name?" She questioned.

Her eyes moved from his face down to his chest, then to his stomach and then back up to his face. She hoped he didn't notice her kinda sorta not really checking him out. "Your name ideas were terrible," he said. "They were better than the name you came up with," she shot back.

"Yeah, you went on stage tonight as Champagne Enema," Clary said, defending the blonde who nodded her head in Clary's direction. Both Simon and Maureen laughed and he finally put on a shirt. "What were we thinking, right?" Maureen said. "That's what I've been saying," Wren muttered. "But now we're, Rock Solid Panda," Simon said, holding up a finger. "Yeah, we are," Maureen confirmed.

"Rock Solid Panda, coming up. I'm feeling inspired," Clary said, shaking a can of spray paint. She walked around to the other side of the vehicle. "My names were better," Wren said as she followed after the redhead. "Paint," Maureen said. "Paint," Simon repeated, grabbing the remaining cans of spray paint and following after them.

It wasn't long until Clary had finished spray painting the van, her three friends watching her work. When she was done, she stepped back to admire her work. Wren had to admit, the girl was talented. "What's that tag?" Simon questioned, pointing at the strange looking symbol that Clary had spray painted onto the van above the words "Rock Solid Panda." Wren's eyes squinted to look at the strange symbol, also wondering what it was.

"Weird, I didn't even mean to draw that. Second time today," Clary said, handing the can of spray paint to Simon who took it to the back of the van. "You know they have confirmed cases of people waking up in the morning speaking French, and they never even studied the language," Maureen said. "Do you think that's some kind of language?" Clary asked. "Sanskrit maybe," the brunette girl replied. She walked to the back of the van too.

"That'd be a cool tattoo," Wren said with a shrug. She began walking to the back of the van when Clary's voice made her stop. "Hey, can you watch where you're going?" She said. Wren turned to see who Clary was talking to. A tall blond male stood in front of her, looking dumbfounded. "You can see me?" He asked. Wren's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Yeah, that's kind of the point, but you obviously didn't see me," Clary retorted. "You have the Sight," the boy continued. "Wait, the what?" Clary asked in confusion. Wren took a step closer to the two, not seeing the weird looks that Simon and Maureen were giving the redhead. "How can I not know who you are?" The blond boy asked and Wren scoffed.

"Has that line seriously ever worked for you? Even once?" Clary asked. The boy just stared at her, almost in awe. "Excuse me," she finally spoke up, her voice soft. The blonde boy turned to look at her, the same dumbfounded look on his face. "So, are you gonna apologize to my friend or keep flirting with her?" Wren finally asked. She usually wouldn't up and speak to a stranger like that, or ever at all unless she had to. But this guy was being rude by not apologizing and she wasn't about to let it slide.

The blond boy's face turned into one of surprise as he stared at Wren. "You can see me too?" He questioned. "Uh, yeah, you're not invisible nor am I blind," Wren replied, looking at him as though he were crazy. The blond continued to stare at her, making her uncomfortable. "Jace!" A male voice called. The blond turned to the voice, turned back to the two, before taking off in the direction he was originally heading in.

Wren rolled her eyes and began to walk back over to Simon and Maureen. "Uh, are you okay Renny?" He asked in mild concern. Wren's eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah, I'm fine. You should be asking Clary that, not me," she replied, leaning against the van.

"Can you guys believe that blond dude?" Clary asked, her friends as she walked back over to them. "You mean the imaginary dude you were talking to?" Simon asked. Wren's eyebrows furrowed further as she turned to look at him. "What do you mean imaginary?" She asked. "Yeah, I mean the guy right there, running into the club," Clary said, pointing in the blond guy's direction. He was, in fact, running into Pandemonium.

"Clary, there's nobody there," Maureen said. "The guy covered in tats, like—"

"What guy are you talking about?" Simon cut her off, chuckling slightly. "Stop messing around, guys. The guy literally just bumped into Clary," Wren said. "Wren, there was no guy," Maureen said. The blonde's mouth fell open. She couldn't believe these two, playing a prank on her and Clary. It wasn't amusing in the slightest and she began to scowl.

"You guys seriously don't see him?" Clary asked. "No," Maureen said. Clary and Wren looked at each other and the blonde just shook her head. "Okay, could you stop making me feel insane?" The redhead asked uneasily. "Could you stop acting that way?" Maureen retorted and Wren glared. This joke was going too far.

"Ha ha, very funny. Joke's on us, right?" She deadpanned. "Wren, what was in your tea?" He asked, before turning to Clary. "And in your latte?" Clary stared in front of her at where the guy had run to before unzipping her jacket and walking forward in that direction.

"Where you going?" Simon asked. "To get some answers," she replied, tossing the jacket to him. He caught it and she began walking forward again. "Remember, your fake ID sucks," Simon called after her. Wren's narrowed eyes looked to him and Maureen and she gestured for them to follow her into the club. The three began walking after Clary.

The music was blaring so loudly that Wren could feel the vibrations in her chest. They had all managed to get into the club. Wren's guess was that the bouncer didn't care enough to look at their IDs, which were fake and did in fact, suck. Wren immediately felt uncomfortable in the club, crossing her arms and slightly hugging herself. They were following after Clary who was looking for the blond.

"I'm gonna go fail at getting us some birthday drinks," Simon said. "I'm gonna go fail with you," Maureen said, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the bar. "Do you want some— Clary!" He called. Clary was paying him no mind and Wren grabbed her arm. The redhead turned to her. "What're you doing, Fray?" She asked. "I'm gonna find the blond," she said as though it were obvious.

"Simon and Maureen were just messing with us," the blonde said. "What if they weren't?" Clary asked and Wren gave her a look. "So, you and I are the only people who can see some blond dude with tattoos, really? Come on, Clary. It doesn't make sense," Wren replied. "You're right, it doesn't. Maybe he's like, a ghost or something," Clary said.

"Ghosts don't exist and if they did, I would not be able to see them and neither would you. Because they don't exist," Wren responded. "I'm not sure that made sense and right now, I don't care. I'm going to find the blond," she said with determination. Wren sighed, "Well, I'm gonna go see if Simon and Maureen got any drinks. Meet us at the bar as soon as you can, alright?" Wren said. Clary nodded before turning and continuing to scour the club for the mystery boy.

Wren maneuvered her way through the numerous bodies and made it to the bar. She spotted Simon and Maureen who were empty handed. "No luck?" She questioned. "Nope," Simon replied. Wren looked at the bartender and sighed. She took in a breath and released it slowly. "Fake it till you make it, fake it till you make it, fake it till you make it," she repeated to herself.

She sucked in another breath before placing a smile on her face, fake confidence rolling off of her body. She leaned against the bar top, her eyes on the bartender and her heart pounding loudly in her chest. Her nerves were getting the best of her and she did her best to push them down. "Excuse me," she began. The man turned to look at her. "I-it's my best friend's birthday and I was wondering if we could have some drinks?" She requested, biting her lip nervously. She sounded like an idiot and wanted to slap herself.

He looked at her, their eyes meeting briefly. She smiled a little wider, though it looked very forced, and tilted her head a little. The bartender looked dazed as he smiled and nodded. "Sure thing, how many?" He asked. "Four," she replied. "And, what would you like?" He asked next. "Uh, whatever you recommend," she replied. "They'll be right out," he said before going to make the drinks.

Wren released a breath, placing a hand on her chest to calm her racing heart as she turned back to the two with raised eyebrows. "How did you do that?" Simon asked and she shrugged. "He didn't even ask you for an ID," he continued. "That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do," she muttered.

"If it makes you feel better, I'm proud of you," Simon said. "Thanks," she replied. "No but seriously, how did you do that?" He asked again, resulting in her shrug. "Sometimes, you just gotta be nice, I guess," Wren said. "Or just be pretty," Simon retorted. She smiled slightly at his words. "Hey, you're pretty too," she said and he laughed.

"So anyway, about Clary," Wren began. Simon looked startled, his head whipping over to her. He then looked at Maureen, who was already looking at him, before turning back to Wren. He gripped her arm and turned back to Maureen. "Would you excuse us for just a second?" He said. Maureen looked between the two before nodding. "But don't be gone too long. I don't want to be here alone," she said.

"We'll just be down the bar, in shouting distance," he called over the music before pulling Wren to the other side of the bar. "Like we'll be able to hear her shout over this music," Wren called to him. Simon either didn't hear her or ignored her entirely. The latter seemed more likely as he tended to do that a lot.

He stopped walking and released her arm. "What do you think you're doing?" He asked her loudly so that she could hear him. "I have an idea for our plan for you to win over Clary," she said back. "And you thought that telling me here, at a club, was the best idea?" He asked. "Well yeah, it involves the club," she said, almost excitedly. Simon shook his head. "We're not starting this here," he said and she sighed.

"Fine, Simon. Then when do you want to start it?" She asked. He began to sputter, looking around the club as if it'd give him an answer. "I don't, I don't know. Tomorrow?" He replied. Wren began to think to see if she had something else to do tomorrow. "That works with my schedule," she told him. "Your schedule? What schedule? You don't do anything but sit around at home and work occasionally. And go to school back when we were still in high school," Simon said.

Her mouth opened in shock. "Wow, Simon. Is my life that boring to you?" She asked. "Not boring, just simple. Mundane, if you will," he replied and she scoffed. "Oh, you're one to talk. Your life is way more boring than mine," she said. "Not true," he retorted. "Oh yeah? Name one interesting thing that you do on a regular basis," she said. Simon began to think of something, anything, but ended up with nothing.

"That's what I thought asshole," she said before walking back over to where Maureen sat. The man at the bar finally returned with their drinks. "Here you go," he said, setting them down on the bar top in front of where Wren stood. "Thanks," she said. "No problem," he replied.

"Oh and by the way," he began before sliding a napkin over to her. "Call me some time, yeah?" He said. Wren looked down at the napkin to see the name Justin with his number underneath. Wren looked back up at him and he sent her a wink. She became flustered and looked at Maureen who gave her a thumbs up and a playful wink.

Simon, who had returned to where they were, watched Justin walk away through narrowed eyes. He then looked at Wren who was looking down at the number with a small smile. "You're not really gonna call him, are you?" He asked. "I don't know. Maybe he'll make my 'simple life' more interesting," Wren replied, giving him a look.

"So you're gonna date him just to spite me and prove a point," Simon said. "This isn't about you Simon," Wren said with a huff. She picked up the napkin and put it in her jacket pocket. Simon leaned over and picked up two drinks. "I'm gonna go find Clary," he informed before turning around and beginning to walk away.

Just then, Wren could see the girl in question frantically making her way through the crowd of people and to the exit. "Cl-Clary! Clary!" Simon called after her. He turned back and placed the drinks onto the counter before making his way through the crowd and going after her. Wren and Maureen followed after him.

They barely missed her as she entered a taxi that had just driven off. Wren watched after the yellow vehicle in confusion. What happened in that club?

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Hey guys, long time no see. Yes, I know it's been a while since I've updated this book (or any book) but I've been busy with school and haven't had the time. School is more important to me than writing so I had to focus on that. Now that it's Christmas break, I'll try to update a bit more but no promises. ALSO, I'm thinking about changing the love interest for this book from Simon to someone else, just wanted to let you know lol. Nothing's set in stone just yet but I had an idea and I kinda want to act on it but we'll see. Hope you enjoyed the chapter; be sure to vote!