Differences

1. Paradigm Shift

Alexander Gideon Lightwood walked into Idris High as he always did; with his sister, Isabelle, next to him. After walking in, he saw his best friend, Jace Herondale, holding hands with his girlfriend, Clary Fairchild. Jace waved and ran over to him, dragging Clary along with him. Clary greeted him and then started a conversation with Isabelle.
"Hey, Alec!" Jace greeted him as well. "Did you hear about that debate about Downworlder's rights? That Downworlder dude got completely roasted! Governor Morgenstern isn't having any of that!"
Alec cringed, though not visibly. The segregation against Downworlders wasn't his favorite topic. He just didn't see the difference between them, except for the non-Downworlder birthmark that appeared on the back of every non-Downworlder's hand. Alec's younger brother, Max, always said that it looked like a diamond with bunny ears. Alec wanted to reprimand Jace, but instead he just said,"No, I was doing homework yesterday. I didn't watch any TV."
Suddenly, Isabelle gasped. Taking Clary's hand, they rushed off together towards Simon Lewis, Izzy's boyfriend and Clary's best friend. Jace sighed, waved goodbye to Alec, and walked after his girlfriend. Alec looked around, alone, and saw a small Latino Downworlder boy, probably only a sophomore, cornered against a locker by Sebastian Morgenstern, the son of the governor. Everyone knew that he only went to Idris High to bully the Downworlders. He almost went to help to boy, but his parents knew the Morgensterns. Both of their families hated Downworlders, and if his parents found out that he stood up for a Downworlder... Alec hated just thinking of what his father would do to him.
Suddenly, a boy with pale hair, probably a junior, walked up to Sebastian and put a hand on his shoulder. No mark, he was a Downworlder. Alec moved close enough to hear them, but not be noticed.
"Leave Raphael alone. He never did anything to you." The boy said to Sebastian, who looked disgusted at having a Downworlder touch him.
He flicked the Downworlder's hand off of his shoulder. "Don't touch me, filthy Downworlder." Sebastian said, grabbing the pale haired boy's shirt.
"It's fine, Mark, just go." The Latino boy, Raphael, said. But the pale haired boy, Mark, didn't budge and stared Sebastian in the eyes.
"No, Raphael. Go." Mark said. Raphael decided not to argue anymore and ran. "You treat Downworlders like they're nothing. But we're the same as you, we just don't have a mark on our hand. That doesn't make us less than you."
Sebastian snarled, and punched Mark in the cheek. He didn't stop until Mark was on the ground, bleeding. Sebastian looked as if he expected him to beg for mercy, but Mark said nothing, so Sebastian just stood up and walked away. A girl whose hair matched Mark's ran next to him once Sebastian left. She helped him up and wiped the blood off of his face.
"Thanks, Helen." Mark said. Alec decided at that moment to walk away, but he noticed Raphael looking at him, trying to decide what kind of person he was.
"Hey, Alec." A soft female voice whispered in his ear. He spun around and saw Aline Penhallow, the girl that Jace and Isabelle set him up with. She laughed. "You are sooo easy to scare." Alec tried to look angry, but ended up smiling. He didn't love Aline, but she was a nice friend and never tried to talk about Downworlder stuff with him, which he was grateful for.
"Did you finish your Calculus homework from last night? I had trouble with number sixteen." Alec asked, and they slipped into casual conversation. He was listening so carefully to Aline that he didn't realize a black haired boy with golden eyes gazing at him in interest.