"Training?" I placed my daggers on the nearby table "For how long have you been using the bow and quiver?"

"Since I started training"

"Wow nice, but why only bow and arrow and not swords?"

"well, everyone trained with swords, someone had to be different right? Besides, I never liked the blades, didn't go well with me"

"yeah right, for someone as tall as your bow and arrow makes you look more intimidating than seraph blades,"  I said under my breath as he stopped and looked my way 

"you said something?" 

"uh yeah, just wanted to ask where you preferred to hit when it comes to demons, I have heard they can be killed by aiming at either the head, chest, or heart" I changed the question quickly 

"Chest actually, because that's how far I have been with my bow" He answered fixing his bow

"Seriously?" He shoot an arrow at the target as I threw my dagger at the center of the target

"you can stop judging me," he said as he shot another one 

"I'm not judging anyone" I walked up to the target to withdraw my dagger from it smiling 

"You had that judging face when I spoke. So I know" he said as we both looked and smiled.

"Sorry for not judging, knowing a guy who's been training with this all his life and still can't get a perfect shot? " I said as I laughed and kept my dagger away

"Mind if I try?" I asked walking over to him as he nodded

"You know how to use it?" he asked as I nodded, set the bow, and pointed it at the target.

Took a deep breath and fired and the arrow shot the left side of the target assumed to be ahead.

"Wow, how did you do it?"

"Practice, years of it. I was always trained to be ready to defend myself and kill anytime" I said handing him his bow back

"Can you teach me that?" he asked me as I glanced at him and nodded

"Sure " I nodded "Can you tell me why you haven't been able to aim at the heart or straight for the head?"

"Well demons move a lot so you can't get a straight hit, and the pressure of pulling the string does leave my body a little shaken" he explained

"hmm, understandable, but you need to focus if your focus is strong then no matter how much the person moves, your shot won't miss. I can teach you a trick, but you might want to practice this shaking up." I explain

He nodded, grabbed another arrow, and set the bow in range.

I walked to him"Now ease out, your body's too stiff," placing my one hand on top of his and the other on his bicep, I made him lighten his grip a little on the arrow from his hand instructing him.

Pressing his shoulder area and moving it to his elbow "This area of your hand is quite stiff, try to relax it a little and take a deep breath" I told him the pressure points as I could feel his muscles while moving.

He nodded as we made eye contact with my hand still lingering on his shoulder, "Shoot" I said as he let go of the arrow with his eyes still staring into mine as the arrow hit the target.

I saw we were gazing at each other more. "Shit, I made it awkward I shouldn't have gotten this close. What might he be thinking of me right now?"

I took a step back and looked at the target, the arrow hit the center of the head "Not bad, still way to go" Withdrawing the arrow from it.

"You think so?" He asked putting his bow down

"Yeah, just need a little more practice, and about the shaking part, well holding the string for too long does take its toll on a person. But there's also a trick to it." Placing the arrow on the side table I stood next to him

"Shoot another one," I said as he nodded and did the same thing and this time the arrow hit the left chest area

"See, you can do it too, now let's switch things up a bit. Let's move it a little and see if you can still hit it ." I pressed a button on the remote as the target started moving.

He shot his arrows but wasn't able to get a perfect aim at times he would miss the target and hit the wall, "Well you need practice, but don't worry you'll be able to do it quite quickly" he nodded as I stopped the targets.

"Well I wish I could stick around but I'm a little tired after last night. I'll be in my room for now. You keep up with your practice. Might take you at least a day or two to learn. But don't do it for more than an hour a day." Walking back I picked up my daggers as he smiled back and I went back to my room.

I needed rest for so long as I lay I dozed off to sleep, meanwhile Alec entered my room hoping to return my dagger that he saw on the table. He saw me sleeping and slowly kept the dagger on the side table, walking over to me he tucked me in properly covering me with a blanket.

He smiled and watched me for a minute or two sleeping
"She looks so calm and cute while sleeping, She looks so at peace when sleeping. Must be quite tired"

He thought to himself as he moved a little closer to me to push a strand of hair out of my eyes and tucked it behind my ear. Watching over me as I slept, jerking himself out he remembered I was sleeping and decided not to disturb me, and quietly walked away and closed the door gently on his way out.

"Looks like someone is sneaking around Veronica's room. Since when did you become the stalker type?" Jace remarked smirking 

"Fuck!!! Jace, you scared me" Alec jumped around seeing Jace suddenly appear in front Jace laughed at his reaction

"What were you doing in her room sneaking around?" Putting his arms around Alec's shoulder he asked

"I-I wasn't sneaking around" he stuttered "I went to return her dagger and found her sleeping so just kept it and walked out quietly. That's it. No, sneaking around" Shifting his gaze from Jace he responded

"If you say so but your face is saying something else, you liked watching her sleep. You have started liking her Alec" he punched his shoulder

"No, no why would I like Veronica, I'm engaged, I have a duty and besides feelings are just a distraction. I-I don't like her." He stated stuttering

"Says the guy who's gone soft on the new girl and is helping her around," He asks

"I'm not going soft on anyone. I don't.."

Jace patted his back "It's okay, relax. I'm just pulling your leg and feeling for someone isn't wrong Alec. You might also feel something for Lydia after marriage too, so it's okay" Jace walked away while Alec returned to his room thinking about his conversation with him along the way

I woke up after an hour or so feeling fresh and relaxed finally, just the kind of sleep I needed I got up and saw the blanket over me

"who did this? I'm sure I didn't have the blanket on when I fell asleep, Might be Izzy" Shrugging my shoulders I got up and went to the mirror, fixed my hair and clothes, and walked out to the kitchen.

"Hey, sleeping beauty"

"Evening Mocking-bird," I said as Jace and I laugh hugging each other

"So how was your day? Anything special?"

"Nothing special just took a break. All of this was getting way too hectic even for me so just needed to get some rest " I said sitting beside him

"By the way how's Clary, I haven't seen her the whole day," I asked after ordering a coffee

"Well, I'm good and also in a great mood. What about you?" Clary came up to me and hugged me by the shoulders as she responded

"Oh, I got to rest so I'm in a great mood. You wanna have some coffee?" I asked looking up as we ordered another one.

I spent my time in the kitchen talking to both of them it felt like I haven't talked to either of them for long.

"Well I'll see you then for shopping, and also do inform Izzy meanwhile you're at it," She says

"Okay ma'am," I said as we went our separate ways I saw a boy almost the same age as Emily hanging around my room trying to hide or something 

"Hello there little stranger, how can I help you?" I said moving closer as the boy looked up and smiled he had blonde hair and black eyes, and a cute smile 

"I got to know there's someone new here, so I wanted to meet them," he said

"I see, well my name's Veronica. What's yours?" I asked him sitting down at his level

"I'm Max Lightwood. I'm the younger brother of Alec and Isabelle Lightwood" he smiled

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Max. Was this the only reason you came to my room?" tilting my head I asked

"I caused a problem in my rune class I was hungry and I was trying to create a nourishment rune but it started a fire," he said as I just looked at him in shock he seems like the younger version of those two 

"You know Max those two runes don't look similar at all by the way "

"well, they did to me," he said

"you know what I might be able to help you with that. Wanna draw these runes with me? How does that sound to you?" Extending my hand forward I asked as he looked at me thinking

"I would like that" he took my hand as we walked into my room. He sat on my bed while I took out my sketchbook and pencil, and showed him as I drew both the runes separately for him to look at as he drew them

"So Max, I hear you go to one of these shadow-hunter schools. Do you have any friends there at school?" I asked as he kept drawing

"I do, but just two. Others don't like me as I have problems with runes and at times it does not go well"

Meanwhile The Lightwoods

"did you find him?" Izzy asked Alec running back to him after checking the corridor

"no, I don't know where he would go to?" Alec said worrying for Max

"Let's look that way," Izzy stated as they started walking to the bedroom area to find Max, Alec passed by my room and stopped to look back, and called Isabelle 

"Izzy here,"  he said as she rushed to my room. Both of them were stood near my door as they saw me and Max talking and looking back at each other in relief 

My Room :

As he completed drawing I said "You know what Max, when I was in school I also didn't have many friends to talk to, and the others made fun of me too for some reason. But it didn't bother me because I had 2 best friends Jessy and Jason and they were always by my side."

"But why did they tease you? And isn't having a big group of friends what looks cool, it shows how powerful you are," he asked as he looked

"Well, I can't tell you the reason right now. I might tell you later on but hear me out having a large group of friends doesn't make you strong you know why? Because most of the time the friends we have are not there when we need them. In comparison to a small group,  you all know and help each other out. Max always remembers fewer or good friends are like a fist of our hand, who are always together we just need to look for them. Our fist is considered the strongest part of our body can you tell me why?"

"Because it gives us strength and it becomes equal when we close it."

"Exactly, it's the same with friends Max. If your friends are good then you all will be equal and strong at the same time. It doesn't matter if you have fewer friends what matters is that they value you, support you and always fight for you when you need them. Are your friends like that? I asked looking over at him

"they are, they care for me and fight for me too when necessary," he says with a smile and happiness in his eyes

"See that shows you already have such good friends in your life. So you don't need to worry if ?"

"the number is less, but that does not mean I don't know how to make friends I choose those who will help me and play around with me," he said smiling as I smiled back and gave him a high-five