Authors note: Hey guys, this is my first fanfic so just seeing how it goes. Disclamer: all characters etc. belong to Cassandra Clare. Enjoy :)
TESSA POV:
A lot of things irritated Tessa and it really irritated her when people were too lazy to put books back in the right place. You pick up a Dickens book? Why put it back in the Shakespeare section? Tessa was in a bit of a mood. She had been shelving books for hours and all Clary had been doing was sitting at the cash register drawing.
"You could help me, you know, Clary." Tessa stated for what felt like the hundredth time.
"I told you, I'm busy. I'll help when I'm done."
"What are you drawing then that's taking so long?"
"I told you, I'm not telling."
Tessa sighed and sat cross-legged on the ground, mentally adding "procrastinators" and "secrecy" to the list of things that irritated her. Tessa pulled her brown locks away from her face and piled them into a messy bun on the top of her head, before she turned her attention to the bottom shelves.
Both Tessa and Clary had gotten jobs at Luke's bookstore during the school break. It didn't pay much, but Tessa didn't mind because she got to be in a room filled with pages and words and made up worlds. Being around Clary was a bonus, however she had been preoccupied with her sketchpad and hadn't been much fun. Clary worked at the till most of the time while Tessa shelved books, but they didn't exactly get a lot of customers, especially on the night before school started back.
Tessa was startled from her thoughts a moment later when the bell on the door sounded from the front of the bookshop. They had customers?
"Why do you want to go in here, William? This is just a dusty old bookshop." A gruffly voice spoke as the people shuffled through the store. Tessa froze. Was that the Herondale's?
"Because I am wanting a book. Would you care for one, Jace?"
Tessa would recognize that voice anywhere. Will Herondale. The beautiful boy with the silky black locks and stunning array of features that could make Tessa melt inside. The boy Tessa barely knew, but also felt like she had known her whole life. The kind of boy she only read about in books. The boy she had been secretly crushing on for most of high school. But she doubted he even knew who Tessa was.
"Red?" Jace Herondale drawled, addressing Clary, whom Tessa couldn't see but could clearly picture with a scowl on her freckled face.
"Congratulations! You know your colours! Tomorrow you can learn numbers!" Clary replied sarcastically from the till.
Trying not to draw attention to herself, Tessa tiptoed over to the shelf of books blocking her view of Will. Tessa leant over the tower of books she was sorting through on the ground and peered around the shelf.
"Holy, Dickens!" Tessa yelped, as the pile of books collapsed on itself causing her to go crashing to the ground, where she lay in heap surrounded by the fallen books. What a way to draw attention, Tessa thought.
"Need a hand?"
Tessa looked up and her eyes widened. He stood before her; a perfect mess of raven black hair gathered around his head like a halo. Stray curls hung effortlessly over his forehead and framed his angular face. Bright blue eyes looked down at Tessa questioningly and she realized Will had asked her a question. He reached down and helped Tessa up from where she had fallen. He touched her! They practically held hands! Millions of butterflies swarmed in her stomach.
"T-thanks," Tessa stuttered, not taking her eyes off Will.
"You could say you just fell for me," Will grinned, making her heart summersault.
"What, no, the books... They…" Tessa blushed and began to restack the books. Will smirked and picked up the books at his feet. Why was he talking to her? Why was he helping her? Was he just being polite? Oh God, she probably looked like a mess in her old overalls and hair falling out of its bun…
"Dickens, aye?" William mused, glancing sideways at Tessa as her cheeks turned a shade darker, realizing he was referring to her frightened cry from before. "Not my favourite author. I recently read A Tale of Two Cities, actually, but-"Before Tessa could be surprised that he had read A Tale of Two Cities, Clary screeching at the top of her lungs cut off the raven-haired angel.
"GIVE ME MY BOOK BACK, JACE HERONDALE!" Tessa turned around to find the tall, golden soccer player, dangling Clary's sketchpad above the five-foot redhead, smirking at her failed attempts to reach it.
"Come on Red, I knew you were short, but not that short." Jace laughed and started to open up the sketchpad. Then Clary stood up on the counter. Tessa knew this wasn't going to end well.
"I SAID GIVE IT BACK NOW!" Clary jumped from the till and launched herself at him. Both Tessa and Will ran towards them. Clary was on Jace's back, reaching for the book that was just beyond her grasp, when Will plucked her off and set her down on the ground.
"I know I'm irresistible, Clary, but you don't have to throw yourself at me." Jace smirked and dropped the sketchbook as Clary glared into his golden eyes with a look of malice.
"I think we should go…" Will muttered as he looked between the two of them, a small smile playing on his lips. Tessa's heart dropped as he walked away from her, leading Jace out of the bookshop. When they reached the door, Tessa could have imagined it, but he briefly looked back at her before Tessa and Clary were left alone in the shop, the door softly thudding closed behind them.
CLARY POV:
"Jace Herondale is such an ass," Clary stated as she put her precious sketchbook back in her bag. Who was he to think he could touch her property, let alone steal it.
"Didn't you guys used to be friends though?" Tessa asked cautiously, aware of how Clary might react to the subject. Clary whipped her head around to face Tessa, and then her expression softened.
"We were before… Before, you know what happened, which I will never forgive him for. I don't know how I was ever friends with him. I don't know how Izzy puts up with living in the same house as him, its hard enough living next door," she spat.
Clary lived next door to the Lightwood's; the family consisted of Mayrse and Robert Lightwood and their children; Alec, Izzy and Max, as well as Jace who was adopted. Until almost two years ago, Clary and her family had been close with the Lightwood's. Apparently, Clary's parents had been friends with Mayrse and Robert when they were in high school together. After Clary's father left them and Clary's mother was pregnant with her, Jocelyn moved them to Alicante where they ended up living next door to the Lightwood's. Clary and her brother, Jonathan, grew up with the Lightwood children and Jace. The two families would do everything together and Jace, Alec and Izzy were like siblings to Clary and Jonathan.
But of course that was all history now, as of two years ago. When Jonathan died. Now the two families, except for Clary and Izzy, had drifted apart and didn't get along. Clary and Jace got along the worst of all.