Changed

Summary: Tessa Gray moves to America after not being able to bear the bully, William Herondale, at her previous school. With four years gone, she returns to the London Institute. Will things between her and William Herondale change?

Quote: "Change is not always accomplished peacefully, but that does not make it disadvantageous." (Clockwork Prince, Chapter 1)

(Author's Note: Hello, I decided this fanfiction needed a little bit of an update: layout, grammar, vocabulary. And as this is the first day of a new year: why not now? My previous chapters will be edited and online hopefully very soon. I hope you enjoy!)

Chapter 1: A New Start

Love is a strange thing.

It twists and turns what is not meant to be changed. It comes unnoticed and sly, sneaking its way into the mind and shifting with thoughts that claimed certainty.

Tessa balled her hands to fists, her fingernails digging deep into her palms, the shocks of pain preventing her from releasing her anger onto the person in front of her.

William Herondale was a cruel creature, inhuman in emotions, and unpredictable in decisions. His remarks did more damage than a knife would ever be able to do. Tessa knew that she should not let his words influence her in any way, as her aunt and brother told her from time to time again. But even with the great advise from her family -well, what was left of her family- the pain his words caused her would not, could not be prevailed.

Words, Tessa thought, words can be beautiful, but most of the times, they are formed to destroy. Like tiny little shards of glass that seem so harmless they cut their way into your skin, your being. They carve out their own path of cruelty, and even when they are so small, they stay and create more pain than was ever predicted. No knife, no sword, no spear, no weapon can do as much damage as a simple sentence can.

Tessa straightened her back and blinked away the tears of misery, which were about to fall and wet her cheeks. She was struggling with holding in all the emotions that yearned to break free. That was one of the things she admitted Will to be good at: concealing his true feelings.

"Stop." Tessa snapped, she felt just a little bit stronger as she said that, only the feeling lasted but a few seconds. Her voice threatened to shake; somehow, she kept it firm and steady.

"Stop it." For a moment Will looked unnerved, the lines at the corners of his mouth were harsh, as if he were suffering a great deal of physical pain. But then that was gone too. His features smirked at her, his triumph obvious.

Without another word, she spun on her heel and left, running as fast as she could. Tears were streaming down her cheeks freely; soon Tessa tasted salt from the drops that had reached the corners of her mouth and her lips. She threw herself against the door to the girls' bathroom and fell on the tiled, cold floor. Her brown hair was plastered to her face by the wetness of her tears, and her glasses lay on the ground. Tessa picked them up as she crawled to one of the corners of the room, praying no one would notice her.

Tessa was used to his remarks, he bullied her every day, but this time he had gone to far. He had crossed an invisible border in Tessa her mind.

He could tell as much cruel things as he wanted to, but never, never had he insulted her family. Never had he ever brought up the fact that her parents were dead, that lots of her family members were gone.

Yet now, he had.

And it hurt, it hurt so much that tears would not fall. No, instead of cringing and fleeing, Tessa was angry, furious with him, and also with herself. And as those emotions racked her mind, she felt stronger than she had ever been before. And she had told the principal everything.

Mrs Branwell was a small, young woman with a strange sense of authority surrounding her. She had always been watchful when it came to bullying, and Tessa knew she must have known about William's actions. She also knew Mrs Branwell was waiting for the moment that she, Tessa, would bring the subject up. And right now, in the flash of all the frustration Tessa felt, she spilled it all.

Mrs Branwell had reacted in a way Tessa had not expected her to. Disappointment crossed her features more than any other emotion did, and she told Tessa to meet her in her office the next day after school.

As Tessa left the room and turned to the exit, two persons approached her, more specifically… Gabriel Lightwood and William Herondale stomped their way towards her. They hated each other, but right now there were looking quite the team. She knew she should turn away and run, for their faces weren't looking very cheerful, yet something held her nailed to the ground. Fear, she realised. Fear, because she knew why there were here. She closed her eyes, and hoped it would hurt less that way.

Two hands gripped her violently and brought them to her back, twisting her arms while doing so, and stings of pain ran from her shoulders down to the tips of her fingers. One of the other two hands she had been expecting slapped her in the face, hard. She urged herself not to scream out in pain as that same hand hit her again. Her eyes flew open and she was staring into the face of Gabriel. One glare was enough to cease her from saying anything.

The hands released her and shoved her forward.

"Don't you dare tell Mrs Branwell anything again." Will hissed, Tessa nodded weakly, and she ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Let me get this straight," Mrs Branwell began, her bird-like face turning red with anger. She was livid, and Tessa shrank back in her chair.

"You both hit Tessa, because you bullied her, and she had told me so?" Her glare flicked from Will to Gabriel, and back to Will. Will lamely nodded his head, and Gabriel managed a small "yes". Her frustration disappeared as quickly as it had come, and disappointment took its place.

"You are suspended from school for two weeks!" She exclaimed, and horror filled both Will's and Gabriel's eyes.

"But-" Will stammered. Tessa had never seen him so defeated. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, a feeling she would never have considered ever feeling bubbled up. She pitied Will in this instant, and that flash of a feeling caused her to say the next.

"Don't suspend them, Mrs Branwell." She was aware of the pairs of eyes fixed upon her.

"It's not needed. I know this will continue, whatever reason Will and Gabriel have. I will leave this school immediately. My brother will contact you about this in the evening; I'm going home now. Goodbye." Tessa stood up with a certain kind of grace she never knew she had, and left the room in a hurry.

"Tessie? Are you sure this is the right decision?" Nate thumped down on the red couch in his living room. Nate was 24, and actually her cousin, but since her parents' death, she had grown up with him being there for her as a brother. He had his own apartment in London, and Tessa had lived with him from the moment he had become eighteen. Tessa nodded, although she wasn't very sure about it herself.

"We will have to call Aunt Harriet if I can live with her in New York. I can go to school there." Nate smiled and ruffled her hair affectionately. Tessa returned his smile and hugged him tightly.

She would miss him, as well as she would miss Cecily and Sophie. But she would try to survive as best as she could.

"Goodbye Tessie, I will miss you. Have fun!" Nate told his cousin as they stood on the airport in New York, he embraced her and then helped her load her trunk into Aunt Harriet her car. Tessa stepped into the car, and waved through the window as the car drove away. To a new life.

(Author's Note: I hope you liked it! Feel free to Review, Follow & Favourite, I love you all, and have a nice day, Jill)