I do not own anything. Nothing is mine. Well, the specific AU idea. Nothing else.

Alec tapped his pen on the table. There weren't that many new sophomores this year, and signing people in was as boring as boring could be. Well, maybe things could be more boring, but signing people in was pretty boring. He didn't know how the attendance office did it day after day. And preschool teachers? Daycares? Alec knew two jobs that were not for him.

Alec glanced to his left. Helen, at the junior table, didn't seem as bored. She was one of those people who didn't seem like she was just doing it for college apps. She really liked helping people. Alec was pretty sure that's why'd they'd originally become friends, but he didn't think about that too much. His friendship with Helen was a good one, and as the oldest in his family it had been nice to have someone older to take him under her wing a bit, even if she originally became his friend out of pity. Helen definitely knew by now that Alec could deal just fine. There seemed to be even fewer new juniors, and only two new seniors had shown up, and the senior rep had left already.

"Is that all?" Helen asked Alec. "I think everyone I was supposed to sign in showed up and are on the tour already."

"One more for me." Alec glanced at the list, where the one uncrossed-out name sat stubbornly keeping him inside. Mr. Starkweather had said they should pack up as soon as everyone showed up. He didn't want them to have to stay at school any longer than they had to, especially in the middle of summer vacation.

"I can stay until you need to pack up," Helen said. "In case you can't reach-"

"I'll be fine," Alec said.

Helen started to pack up, sorting the sign-up sheets and paperwork and putting the pens into drawers. Alec watched her, leaning back in his chair. Helen was one of those older siblings who was half sister and half babysitter, and she had the organization skills to go with it.

Someone cleared theur throat in the doorway and Alec looked up. A boy stood there, the sun very much reflecting off of his clothing.

"Is this the new student sign-in?" The boy stepped in and Alec blinked. Alec hadn't met anyone with quite that sense of style before. It was very bright. Also glittery. It fit together though, somehow, in a way Alec could barely manage with jeans and sweaters, let alone a glittery jacket over whatever that was.

"Yeah. Are you-" Alec glanced at the sheet. "Magnus Bane?"

"That would be me." Magnus walked up to the table. "Am I late?" He held up a few signed sheets of paper. Up close, Alec could see that Magnus's carefully gelled hair was also imbued with glitter.

"Well, you're not early." Alec held out a hand for the paperwork. "There wasn't really that much of a timeframe, though, anyway." Magnus handed Alec the sheets.

"And who are you?" Magnus asked, leaning on the table. Alec leaned back a little.

"Alec," Alec said. "I'm, um, also a sophomore. I'm your assigned buddy."

"I get a buddy?" Alec looked up from Magnus's pile of papers. Magnus looked amused. Alec couldn't help but notice that while Magnus looked mostly Asian, his eyes were bright green. It wasn't a bad combination. At all.

"To show you around. And stuff." Alec flipped through the sheets. They were all signed properly and in the right order. He filed them away and got Magnus's schedule from a box on the table.

"So, I'm Alec Lightwood and I'll be your buddy." Alec set the schedule in his lap, slipped on his fingerless gloves and wheeled around the table. Magnus stepped back a half step, and out of the corner of Alec's eye he could see Helen sigh.

Alec bit his lip. This part could get awkward. People never really expected a teen in a wheelchair. Magnus, however, slipped easily out of his surprise.

"I have science first period," he said. "AP physio?"

Alec looked at the schedule. "With Jeremiah? So do I." Alec started towards the doorway, gesturing to magnus with a nod of his head. "Um, first I'll take you to meet the teachers, then to get your student ID and stuff. The freshmen are already getting here, so you might have to wait in line Magnus followed, a little bit behind. Alec didn't say anything, and neither did Magnus. Alec really hoped he wasn't expected to say anything. Jace and Isabelle would know what to say.

Alec turned the corner of the building and Magnus stopped short. "What and why is that?"

"That's our mascot." Alec looked up at Magnus, who was nodding approvingly.

"What's he doing in the roof?"

"The seniors like posting him around campus. It's a thing." Jonathan Clave High School's mascot was a huge, grinning, slightly perverted-looking angel with eyes that bore into one's soul. It was about seven or eight feet tall, a plastic monstrosity donated by some alumnus or other who probably wanted a laugh, and since then it had had the habit of popping up in random places around the school. Around October it usually was given a witch's hat, and in December it usually was dressed up like Santa.

Alec continued towards Jeremiah's classroom. He hadn't actually officially met Mr. Jeremiah before, but he'd heard good things. He got to the classroom and knocked twice.

"Come in," the teacher answered from inside.

Alec reached for the classroom door, but Magnus got there first. "It's against my policy to let attractive people open their own doors," Magnus said. Alec felt himself blush and quickly hurried into the classroom with his head down. Magnus had a kind of intimidating social grace that Alec sometimes thought he was doomed to be surrounded by. His sister, his best friend, and now his new kid buddy. Was Alec the only awkward person in the history of people? He'd thought teenagers were all supposed to be socially inept, but maybe not.

"Mr. Jeremiah, hi." Mr. Jeremiah's eyes hopped from Magnus, the height he'd expected, to Alec, the height he had not. "I'm Alec Lightwood and this is Magnus Bane. I'm taking him on the new kid tour." Teachers didn't always show up, and it wasn't mandatory, but the really dedicated teachers usually came to school for the new students' tour. "We're in your first period AP physiology class."

"I'll be glad to have you." Mr. Jeremiah smiled. There was something about him that was vaguely weird, but he mostly seemed like a friendly guy. "Did you get the summer homework?"

"There was summer homework?" Magnus smiled. "Just kidding. I got it."

Mr. Jeremiah smiled back. "Wonderful. Do you have any questions?"

"I think I'm good," Magnus said.

"Well, you can always reach me at my email address. It should be on the website." Mr. Jeremiah turned back to his computer. Alec wondered whether teachers actually and summer work or Mr. Jeremiah was just fooling around. Anyway, it was obvious it was time to go. Alec and Magnus thanked the teacher and turned to leave.

Magnus opened the door again. Alec couldn't tell whether Magnus was actually being polite or it was because of the wheelchair.

"Over here's the gym," Alec said. "You have PE second period. If you play a sport, you could probably make that count instead."

"I'm a theatre kid," said Magnus. "Sports aren't in my vocabulary."

Alec nodded. "There's a dance team," he suggested. "My sister's on it."

"That's more my style," Magnus admitted. "Do you play any sports?" The question had been casual, but when Magnus registered who he'd asked, his face froze. "I mean-"

"Archery," Alec said. "I'm a competitive archer."

"Oh," Magnus said. "I didn't know that was a thing. Archery isn't really a typical answer."

"I'm not exactly a typical person," Alec said, and regretted it. He hoped Magnus would take it more as a joke than a bitter thing. Sometimes people got that wrong.

"Oh, no," Magnus said, and wiggled his eyebrows at Alec, "you are not typical."

Alec had the feeling, at that point, that the wheelchair had nothing to do with it.

"ALEC!" Isabelle waved madly from across the quad. "Hurry up!"

Alec glanced at Magnus and shrugged, moving his hands quickly over the wheels. He made it to Izzy and Jace before anyone got in line behind them. Isabelle's mouth was turned up in excitement, her cheeks bright, her leather jacket and black jeans making it clear she was dressed to impress. Jace looked more nonchalant, but his tapping fingers gave away his true feelings.

"Nice jacket," Magnus said to Isabelle. "I have the same one."

Isabelle scanned Magnus from head to toe, looking up a little to examine his hair. "Maybe we should twin sometime," she said. Magnus grinned.

"You're a freshman?"

"A freshman with very good fashion sense," Isabelle said.

"You give us food poisoning every time you cook, but at least you can hang pieces of cloth on yourself and make it look good," Jace said. "I, on the other hand, don't need the cloth to look good."

"Jace, no one wants to think about what you look like without the cloth," Isabelle said. Alec leaned back in his chair and tried to tamp down his rising embarrassment.

"I'm Jace, anyway," Jace said to Magnus. "This is Isabelle."

"Are you the sister on dance team?" Magnus asked Isabelle.

"Yeah, they're holding auditions until August twenty-fifth. Which is in, like, three weeks," Isabelle said. "Are you any good at dancing?"

"No, I'm fabulous at it," Magnus did a little turn in place.

"You should audition!" Isabelle tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. Magnus shrugged.

"I have a question," he said. "Completely unrelated. For Alec."

"Um, okay," Alec said. He had a pretty good idea where this was going, and he subconsciously rubbed his knee. People usually asked.

"So, why do we have to turn half the paperwork in at the new student sign-in and half here? It doesn't make sense." Magnus folded his arms.

"Oh," Alec said. That wasn't what he'd expected. "I think that's because there's some paperwork all the students have and some only new ones have. You usually have the district transferrals, or transcripts, stuff like that. Then this is more medical stuff, making sure you have supplies and activity paperwork, that kind of thing. Stuff you submit every year."

"I still think it would make more sense to do them both at once," Magnus said. "Really, they should hire me."

"You're almost as modest as Jace," Isabelle observed. "A real humble guy."

"What can I say? I believe that one shouldn't downplay their talents just to seem humble."

The line moved, and Alec nodded when Isabelle moved to push him. She, Jace and Alec's parents were the only people he'd really feel right allowing to push his wheelchair. Alec would let his little brother, Max, but since Max's head barely cleared the seat back Alec didn't quite trust his ability to keep it going in a straight line.

The four of them reached the sign-in table.

"Isabelle Lightwood," Isabelle said. The woman behind the desk scrolled through her computer.

"And he's Alexander?" she asked Isabelle, nodding towards Alec. Like the chair cancelled out his existence.

"I'm not checking in today," Alec said, drawing the woman's gaze down. He was above her eye level, anyway, since she was sitting at a desk and he was tall. "It's only for new students, right?"

"You can check in today, if you want," the woman said.

"I don't have the paperwork."

"Well, anyway, I have my paperwork." Isabelle slammed her paperwork on the desk. Her lips were in a tight line. She hated people ignoring Alec even more than Alec did.

In which I start another fanfic even though I have several just sitting there unfinished. Whoops. Anyway, please review! Reviews mean the world to me. Shoutout to Shadowhuntingdauntlessdemigod for being the best fanficiton buddy anyone could ask for! Also she's really good. Her Jessa fanfic almost made me cry.