a/n: um hello so this is a TID one/twoshot for everyone who is pissed at me for falling off the face of the TID fanfic archive for two months. yeah well when i sit down and try to write the inspiration just leaves me. I'M TRYING HARD
thank you for your patience. i am actually slowly working my way through chapter six, and the chapter will be posted soon. but for now let's sit back and enjoy this, yeah?
disclaimer: lol cassie clare owns TID
part I
kindergarten
Tessa is confused about her best friend.
Her name is Tatiana.
What she likes about her is her sandy brown hair, which is almost the same color as her hair. She also likes her green eyes, so bright and lively in comparison to her stormy, dull grey eyes.
She likes how they crinkle at the edges when she smiles. She doesn't have them herself, but she enjoys looking at Tatiana's.
She also offers her candies during snack time and lets her try on the one particular sparkly purple skirt that is always hung inside the toy wardrobe during playtime.
What she doesn't like about her is that she always tells her off— "Oh, Tessie, you are stupid!" "Oh, Tessie, you cannot do it like that!" "Oh, Tessie, will you ever be like me? Mommy says you wouldn't."
And she is always bossy. She never lets her talk to somebody else, like Sophie or Jessie or Cecy.
"Tessie!" Came Tatiana's eager voice as she grabs Tessa's arm rather forcefully. "Tessie!"
"What?"
"Tessie! I have a boyfriend!" She starts to spin in circles, her pigtails bouncing, the grin on her face emitting jubilance.
A boyfriend. Tessa's heard of that word before, something that her brother Nate had discussed with Aunt Harriet over the dinner table, but she's still not exactly sure what it means.
"Boyfriend?" A look of confusion replaces the curiosity.
Tatiana rolls her pretty green eyes. "A boyfriend, stupid. Like a boy who you want to marry when you grow up."
Tessa cocks her head to the right and lets out an unconvincing ohhh. Tatiana ignores this, spins Tessa around and points to a boy with midnight hair.
"Will?" Tessa says, still unsure why the annoying but cute blue-eyed boy would suddenly be her best friend's boyfriend.
Tatiana grins and nods her head. "My mom's invited his mom for tea, and she's brought him along. We played Barbie together, and I think he likes me."
"Will likes playing barbie?"
Tatiana doesn't look so sure about this. "Well, he was there with me… He watched me."
"He watched you play?"
"Yes."
"So he is your boyfriend?"
"Yes." Tatiana starts to sound impatient.
She seems to notice the look of the unconvinced on Tessa's face, so she gives a little frown. "Watch me." Then she flounces over to Will, who is playing lego with Jem Carstairs, her floral skirt fluttering, and gives him a tap on the shoulder.
Tessa rarely sees Will Herondale smile. In fact, she is sure that she has never seen him smile at all. His best friend, Jem's head turns just as Will's head does, and a scowl sets on his face.
"What?"
For a second, Tatiana looks uneasy, but the expression is immediately wiped away. "Will! Are you coming to my house later for barbie and tea? I mean, I'm your girlfriend, right?"
Tessa wonders how a boy of five, perhaps six could give such an intimidating glare. But it is true. The look on his face could probably let a grown adult to back slowly away from him, as if he was a lion about to pounce on prey.
She also wonders why he looks so angry. It's not like Tatiana did anything that bad…
"No." Will finally says shortly, and turns back to playing with lego bricks. Tessa cannot seem to explain the stab of satisfaction that shoots through her body as Tatiana's mouth drops open.
Tatiana is angry as she walks home. "He likes me! He does, Tessie, you'll see!"
Tessa is about to respond when hands appear from behind and pushes Tatiana face-first onto the green grass. Immediately her flower barrette slides off of her hair and onto the grass.
"No, I don't."
Will is standing behind Tatiana. "I don't like you. Mom just made me go watch you play Barbie. You didn't think that did you?"
"Oh," Tessa replied. "That explains why you dislike her."
Tatiana sits up, her face stained with tears, dirt with grass. Will giggles, and so does Tessa— she knows she is being mean, but she can't help it.
"I hate you!" With another shriek, Tatiana takes off running down the field, wiping her face as she runs.
"I think that goes for both of us," Will says as he watches Tatiana's brown hair disappear into a bush.
Tessa nodded. "The truth is, I don't like her that much, although she's my best friend. She's very annoying."
Will looks surprised. "Well, Jem is my best friend, and I really like him."
She shrugs. "I guess I picked the wrong best friend."
He nods in agreement. "Yep."
Tessa gives a slight smile. Will then does something she doesn't expect— he picks up Tatiana's flower barrette off from the grass and hands it to her.
"Huh?" She stares at uncomprehendingly at the flower in his outstretched hand.
"A flower. For you."
part II
elementary school
Tessa makes a face at Tatiana and her friends. They're all clustered together at one lunch table, giggling and batting their eyelashes at the boys. Tessa thinks it's gross.
Will Herondale doesn't have much of a reaction— he simply looks bored.
She wonders if he still remembers her from that day Tatiana had fell onto the ground. She wonders if he still remembers the flower he had given her, but not really given her. He'd acted like she never existed for the past few years.
Tessa knows why Tatiana is making those faces at Will and his friends. There is a little "Christmas Performance" coming up, and apparently they would have to be paired up, boy-girl and slow dance around the stage.
It is a nuisance how most of the children aren't capable of waltzing and at least has to be instructed once by a teacher.
Tessa swallows at the thought of being paired up with someone she doesn't know. Maybe she will be paired up with her brother?
She goes back to eating her sandwich.
"I hope I'm gonna be paired up with Gideon!" Sophie, her best friend practically shouts in her ear, and Tessa's hand reaches up to cover it. She grimaces.
"Gideon Lightwood? Tatiana's brother?"
"Yeah!" Sophie looks ecstatic, but Tessa wants to tell her what she thinks.
"Dream on, Soph."
The teacher, Ms. Branwell gives them a while to pick their partners. If not, she would arrange them herself.
She watches the children wander around, swinging her legs to and fro while she is sitting on her desk.
Tessa swallows and retreats to a corner of the classroom, not daring to make eye contact with any boy. For some reason, her heart sinks when Tatiana approaches Will and asks him if he could dance with her.
It lifts up again as he says no.
Tatiana's face falls, and for a split second Tessa feels sorry for her. She is starting to get desperate, as most of the boys in the room are already standing with a girl. She doesn't want to be paired up with Gabriel Lightwood.
Will's eyes turn away from Tatiana and searches the room, as if he is looking for someone in particular. When the pair of eyes reach Tessa, he smiles slightly and makes his way towards her.
"Can we pair up?"
Tessa's mouth drops open slowly. The most popular, cutest and most wanted boy is standing in front of her, asking her if he could pair up with her for the Christmas Dance after saying no to the other girls. After he had ignored her for four years. Why her? Why not perfect, popular Tatiana Lightwood? Why not pretty, blonde Jessamine Lovelace?
"M—Me?"
"Yes, you." Will says, rolling his eyes. "Tessa."
"Why me? You— you don't even know me," Tessa stutters.
He smiles. "I do. Remember that time in kindergarten? I gave you that flower. You still have it, right?"
Slowly, Tessa smiles. "Yes."
So he does remember.
"Stop stepping on my foot!" Tessa protests as they work their way through the dance moves. "It hurts."
"Sorry. I'm bad at dancing."
Tessa laughs. "So am I. I have no idea how." She throws an envious over-the-shoulder look at Jessamine Lovelace, who is twirling gracefully around like a gazelle.
"What do you prefer, other than dancing then?" Will inquires.
"I prefer reading," Tessa says, thinking about the piles and piles of books on her bookshelves, everything she had been collecting since she was in preschool.
A smile appears on his face. "Really? Me too! I love books. They're awesome! I've seen this quote online— a reader lives a thousand times before they die."
"That is so true!" She beams. "That's gonna be my new favorite quote!"
When Tessa gets home, she searches up all Will's book recommendations, smiles, and marks them down on a sticky note.
At the night of the Christmas Performance, the spotlight shines on Will and Tessa as they waltz around the stage, occasionally stepping on each other's feet and secretly laughing.
Tessa is happy, and her heart leaps as she gets lost in Will's dark blue eyes. They are the color of the sky just on the edge of night.
They are fascinating.
a/n: i hope you liked it. this will probably not be a oneshot and might be continued, just tell me what you think.
nicole out -POOF-
