Hey everyone! I'm back with another story! As I said in the last chapter of Forbidden Love, I would be writing another TID fic. Except, I wasn't sure when… I was aiming for another few weeks. But the idea was much too tempting, so here it is! Once again, it's another AU story, but this time set to modern day. Well, here's the first chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing :)
Theresa Gray had never been abroad. Come to think of it, she had never even flown on an airplane. The whole experience was pretty intimidating, being her first time actually leaving New York City. She was quite glad once she had landed in the fabulous city of London. That's right, Tessa Gray was going to be spending a year abroad in London, but had no idea what to expect of it.
Except, Tessa knew nothing about London, or England in general. Okay, okay maybe she knew a little bit, but that was just from the books that she read; Heathcliff on the moors, parts of A Tale of Two Cities, and Harry Potter. Maybe a little bit of Doctor Who, which she watched with no shame. There was the British Museum, that was free, and St. Paul's Cathedral that miraculously survived World War II. There was the creepy Tower of London where lots of people were beheaded. There were pubs everywhere and people ate fish and chips. And the people here had crooked teeth and bad breath. But that was about it.
Tessa's father, Richard Gray, had practically forced her into studying abroad for an entire year. It was Tessa's senior year, and Richard believed that she ought to gain some worldly experience before she headed off to college. This meant sending her to his hometown to study in the Institute right here in London. Tessa begged and pleaded her father to at least allow her to spend her last year of high school at home. He ignored these shouts and reasoned with her. Unlike other schools in England, the Institute was modeled after American high schools, so Tessa was grateful for some amount of familiarity.
So here Tessa was, in her new dorm room at the Institute unpacking her bags. Since she had to fly to London, Tessa had to make due with very few belongings. At least she had all of her favorite books with her.
Tessa mentally chided herself. She was in London! Any other American teenager would kill for such an opportunity. Tessa knew that this was more for her father than for herself. He was big in the movie industry; one of those directors that made those cheesy romance movies. Richard Gray enrolled Tessa in the Institute more for the sake of his image than for his daughter's. The whole "worldly experience" crap was just a cover-up for this. He was just trying to show off how wealthy he was.
Tessa sighed. All she wanted was to finish up in New York City. Her dream was then to attend New York University and major in creative writing; from there, she wanted to become a published author, but it was a stretch. She had to make use of the most here to really spice up her application.
Tessa and her parents had arrived in London in the early afternoon hours and went straight to the Institute, which was located in the Temple area of London. Upon reaching the Institute, they were greeted by a cheery young man named Gideon who helped Tessa to her room. He quickly introduced himself, saying he was a recent graduate of the Institute and was a sort of supervisor for the dorms. Tessa wondered to herself why someone like him would be working here instead of studying in college. He had his reasons, Tessa supposed. He showed Tessa to her room, where she would be living alone; apparently everyone here had single dorms. She was on a floor with only girls who were upperclassmen. Tessa could get used to be the sole new girl among them. Evidently, everyone else had been here since their freshmen year and the senior class was only twenty-five, so basically everyone knew each other. This was a huge difference from her public school in New York, where her class had over six hundred! Tessa had some adjusting to do, and hoped she wouldn't be alone.
As Tessa busied herself with unpacking, her parents helped her with removing her stuff from her bags. Tessa's brother Nathaniel couldn't come along with her send off. Tessa missed Nate, but she understood that he was extremely busy with work back in the city. She would see him during the Christmas holidays, though.
"Tessa, it's getting late," her mother, Elizabeth Gray, said.
"What?" Tessa asked, then she understood. It was past nine at night and they had been here for so long setting the room up. Her parents had an early morning flight the next day to go back to New York. "Oh, right." Awkward silence.
Her parents turned to look at her. To Tessa's surprise, their eyes were glistening. She never thought that her father in particular cared for her. He walked over to grasp her arm, then choked out, "well, Tessa. We wish you best of luck. And we'll miss you." Then, even more to my surprise, he hugged her. "Study hard and make us proud. Don't go messing around and beware of boys."
He laughed, and her mother joined in on the laughter. She came over to Tessa and also hugged her. "We love you Tessa. We'll call you as soon as we get back home."
Tessa realized with a pang that home was now London, not New York. "I love you too," she said to her parents.
They said their goodbyes and then left.
And now Tessa was alone for good. Well, at least until the holidays in December. She sunk down onto her narrow twin bed and unleashed the tears she didn't even know she was holding until now. She tugged one of the pillows to her chest and held it tight, trying to calm herself down. A knock at the door snapped Tessa back into attention.
She walked over to see a girl Tessa's age and height standing at the doorway. She was pretty with dark brown hair and luminous hazel eyes. "Hey. Are you okay?" she said. She had a sweet sounding voice that made Tessa feel welcomed.
Tessa shook her head, her puffy eyes giving it away.
"It's alright. The first time is always the hardest. I cried too." The girl placed a comforting hand on Tessa's arm. "My name is Sophie Collins by the way. I live in the room next door." Tessa then suddenly noticed that Sophie had a British accent. Tessa thought this was an American school, but thought it better not to ask.
"Theresa Gray, although, everyone calls me Tessa," Tessa said, "I'm new here."
"Ah, so you're the new senior girl here. Well, welcome to the Institute." Sophie tilted her head and eyed Tessa curiously. "Why don't you come over to my room? I can give you some hot tea and biscuits."
"That would be lovely," Tessa said, forcing a smile.
"Well, come along," Sophie said linking her arms through Tessa's as if they were already the best of friends. She marched Tessa to the room next door and flung the door wide open. Tessa gaped at the room in front of her. It looked like someone had been living here their whole life; Sophie had definitely made herself at home. She had made good use of the space, apart from the bed, desk, chair, mini-fridge, and sink already there. There were posters and pictures covering every part of the wall and clothing was already neatly arranged in the closet. There was also a bunch of knitted stuff alongside a beautiful quilt thrown on her bed.
"Did you make these?" Tessa inquired.
Sophie shrugged. "Yeah, but they're not the best."
"Are you kidding me? These are amazing! I can't even sew a button," Tessa exclaimed in awe.
Sophie laughed. "Come, sit down. I'll go make you some tea." Tessa seated herself on Sophie's plush bed while the other girl filled a mug with water and put it in the microwave. She then went to her closet then reached to the top shelf, bringing out a box of shortbreads. She offered them to Tessa, who happily took them and bit into the buttery awesomeness of British treats.
"Any preference for tea?" Sophie offered.
"Black would be nice, thanks," Tessa said. Sophie went off to get the tea, and Tessa took the time to look at the pictures tacked onto the wall. They were all of the same people alongside Sophie engaged in various activities. There was a very tall boy who was lanky with brown hair and emerald, green eyes. There was another dark eyed haired boy with almond shaped eyes and carried an aura of peace and calm around him. Then, there were two others, a girl and boy, with matching jet black hair and startling dark blue eyes.
"Those are my friends," Sophie said behind Tessa, handing Tessa the mug with the seeping tea. She pointed at a picture of the five of them together standing in a grassy park, posing for the picture: Sophie standing next to the green-eyed boy, then the two with black hair, and finally the boy with dark hair.
"That's me with Gabriel, Cecily, Will, and Jem," Sophie said, "Well, I mean that's all my friends except for Jessamine. She transferred this year to another school in London. But you'll be able to meet the rest of them in breakfast tomorrow." Breakfast? Did that mean that Tessa had already found a group of friends here in London?
Sophie went on with explaining. "They're all in our year except for Cecily, who's a junior. She and Gabriel have a thing for each other, you know? Oh and she's Will's younger sister. Speaking of Will, he's strictly off limits. He's dating Jessamine, and they've been together for a long, long time. And Jem is probably the nicest boy that you'll ever meet, although he's never really dated before." There was a hint of wistfulness in Sophie's voice, and Tessa deduced she was single. Tessa felt for her, she supposed. She had only two crushes back in New York, but never acted on them.
Tessa, wanting to change the subject, was about to ask Sophie what classes she was taking when Sophie's phone buzzed.
"Drat," muttered Sophie, "that's my mum calling. Well, it was nice meeting you Tessa! See you at breakfast tomorrow morning, yeah?"
Tessa nodded. "Of course. And thank you so much for the tea."
"No problem," Sophie beamed at her, "well, bye for now."
Tessa waved goodbye and left Sophie's room. She quietly shut the door before turning around and slamming right into a wall. No, not a wall. A boy.
"Argh," he said, stumbling backwards.
"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" Tessa exclaimed. "I totally did not see you there."
The boy steadied himself and straightened up. Only then did Tessa get a good look at him under the lights of the corridor. And what she saw made her lose her breath. First thing she noticed was that he was tall. Tessa was tall for a girl, and never had to look up at a book. But this boy was at least six feet. He had messy black hair and dark blue eyes that complimented each other beautifully. That's what he was. He was beautiful.
"No worries," he said cheerily, "I didn't see you either." He, like Sophie, also had a British accent.
Tessa said nothing to this. She was taken away by his accent, which unlike Sophie's, had a certain lilt to it making it almost musical.
"Does Sophie live here?" he asked, raising a dark eyebrow.
Tessa still said nothing, probably appearing very stupid. She already loved his accent.
"You know, Sophie Collins?" the boy said again. "Your height? Dark hair? She makes awful knitted things and such?" He regarded Tessa with amusement. "Did I interrupt something? Were you going to bed?"
"Oh, Sophie!" Tessa said a little overenthusiastically, and mentally slapped herself. "Yes, she does live here!" Tessa surprised herself by how fake she nearly sounded. She felt her cheeks burning from pure humiliation.
The boy didn't show any evidence of seeing this, but regarded her with further amusement. "Ah, I see," he grinned, revealing dazzling, straight white teeth too perfect to even be real. "Well, the name's William Herondale, but you can call me Will. I live on the floor above. The all boys' upperclassmen floor."
"Oh cool. I live next to Sophie," Tessa said lamely, "I'm Theresa Gray, but you can call me Tessa." So this was Will, one of Sophie's friends. Was he the one who was off limits? Tessa racked her brain, but apparently forgot. Must have been the jetlag.
"I see, you are American," Will observed. "Are you the new girl?" he added. Tessa nodded. Seemed like everyone knew about her in this place.
Will stepped around Tessa and knocked on Sophie's door. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Tessa. I'll see you around." He gave her a polite nod and entered Sophie's room. Tessa couldn't get over the way he said her name: it started with a hard T, followed by a caressing S, ending with a breathless A. And said in a sexy British accent, it was ten times better.
Tessa entered her room and shut the door behind her, leaning against it. She exhaled, letting go of a breath she had no idea she was holding. Right then, she knew that this year was going to be a lot better than she expected.
And this concludes the first chapter! So what did you think so far? I'm gonna warn you all, but I probably won't be getting back to this story until I finish my other fic. So maybe another three or four weeks or something? Yeah.
So what do you say? Three reviews to let me know that y'all are interested? I appreciate any feedback!
Cheers!
~The Pale Red Queen