Middle School of Bones - A Mortal Instruments Story

Chapter 15

It was already night when we got out of the City of Bones, and Jace got us another ride back to the Institute. The five of us decided that the party would be the best way to talk to Magnus Bane, so we had a little more than an hour before we had to head back out again. I was beyond excited. Two parties in two nights. I wondered if this was a preview of what high school would be like.

When the elevator doors opened to the basement, Isabelle took my hand and pulled me down a hallway before I could do anything but shrug helplessly at Simon.

Isabelle let me go once we reached her room. She rifled through her closet, which was surprisingly bursting with clothes despite the ones already covering her floor. 

"What are we doing?" I asked.

"You can't go to Magnus's party looking like that," she said. She finally pulled out a black dress and held it up to me. "This should fit. You can change in my bathroom."

The bathroom looked just like her bedroom, black and cluttered. There was a large mirror on one wall, and bottles took up all the space around the sink. I made sure not to knock anything fragile off as I got changed. 

The dress was floor-length on me, and the neckline drooped several inches below my collarbone, which was far more than my mom would have approved of. I tugged the straps up to fix it. I called out to Isabelle through the door. "Uh, it's a bit big."

Isabelle had changed into a black dress as well, only hers fit her perfectly. There was a thick strap that ran around her shoulders, and the skirt ended just before her knees and clung to her legs. Her long dark hair fell down her back and flowed around her. She was stunning.

"Oh wow okay." Isabelle grabbed a pair of scissors from a shelf and bent down. "That tank top usually fits me." 

She cut the bottom off and handed me the thick strip of fabric once she finished. The dress ended slightly above my fingertips. I smoothed the skirt with my hands to try and even it out. Isabelle grabbed a handful of pins from her counter and pulled the extra length of the straps in the back to tighten it in the front. In the mirror, I thought I almost looked like a Shadowhunter.

Isabelle dragged a chair in from her room.

"Sit," she said. "I'm going to do your hair and makeup." I sat. Even if I didn't look like I hadn't slept in a week, I still wouldn't have argued. Mom never let me wear makeup.

Isabelle patted a brush with light powder. "Close your eyes," she directed. I did, and I felt her dust the powder on my eyelids. 

"Why are you doing all this?" I asked her once I heard her put the brush down. "I mean... you're not usually nice. No offense."

Isabelle shrugged and selected some sort of stick from the bag. She unscrewed it. "Dressing up is the best part of going to parties. Neither of my brothers even like going unless it's for a mission. And it's not like I can bring any friends around here. I hate being the only girl. Look up."

She held the brush to my eyelashes, and I tried not to blink. "Maybe once your brothers have girlfriends."

Isabelle snorted. "I'll think about that."

There were tons of girls I knew who wanted to date the Lightwood brothers and Jace Wayland. From the rumors I'd heard, they hadn't dated anyone at school. I suspected now that was because they were dating Shadowhunters instead. Which probably meant Jace already had a girlfriend who was a million times cooler than me. I felt a little bit sad, but I kind of was expecting it already. I'd learned so much about him, yet he was still such a mystery.

"How did Jace end up here?" I asked. Isabelle had moved on to my hair and was pulling a brush through the knotted red strands.

"He came to the Institute when I was seven," Isabelle said as she tugged. "He lived in Idris with his dad, but then he died. Jace doesn't have any other family, so my parents agreed to take him since he was Alec's age. Which worked out so well. But anyway, you're done." She spun me back to face the mirror. Instead of the usual limp waves my hair hung in, she'd curled them into pretty twirls around my face. The rest of my hair was pulled up and out of the way. And my makeup made me look fierce and maybe a good few years older.

"Isabelle- How?" I gaped. Isabelle laughed. 

"Come on, let's go check on the boys. We have to make sure they've left us enough weapons. We're going to need them."