Changed
Quote: "Change is not always accomplished peacefully, but that does not make it disadvantageous." (Clockprince, Chapter 1)
(Auhtor's Note: Hello, I can't tell you how much I enjoy rewriting this and being back here on the site. I decided to make Will a lot nicer, so Tessa will begin to question her judgement sooner rather than later. Enjoy this chapter! This chapter begins four years later than where the first chapter ended.)
Chapter 2: Around the Corner
Life is beautiful,
But then suddenly, when you turn a corner on the road of your journey, one single thing breaks down everything. And you are left at a new start, forced to make the best of the new road you are now following.
"No! I will not go back to that school. Not as long as William Herondale still walks around there alive!" Nate sighed and racked his hands through the fair strands of his hair as he tried to explain Tessa why she had no other option than to return to the Institute.
"Tessie, you know about my financial situation; Aunt Harriet's funeral needed to be paid, and she did not leave us any money. I questioned every school in London, and only the Institute is prepared to offer you a scholarship. I just can't afford any other school without a scholarship, I'm truly sorry," He plumped down unceremoniously on the red couch in his apartment, on which he and Tessa had talked so much, but never had they ever argued. Tessa sat down next to him, her elbows resting on her knees, chin leaning on her palms.
"I know you're right, Nate. It's just… I don't want to go back, I don't want everything to happen all over again. I'm just so worried life will be like hell, when it has been so marvellous back in New York." Tessa frowned a little, wrinkles appearing in her already tired-looking face.
"Well, that was before Aunt Harriet had to leave so immediately. I'm just lost, I don't know what to do to make things better." She scrunched her freckled nose at her self-pity. Nate almost laughed; even now she hated being weak, it was a feeling she had grown in New York, and he was proud of her because of that. He hugged his cousin from the side.
"I know you are lost, Tessie. That's because I am too." He mumbled and he let go of her, smiling reassuringly.
"Think about it, you would be able to meet Sophie and Cecily again. And I don't think anyone will recognise you at all before you tell them your name. As long as that new first impression is strong, you're fine." Tessa smiled back at Nate and thought about the opportunity of reuniting with her old best friends. It had been four years ago, when Tessa left all of a sudden, and much had happened it that time.
Tessa had moved to New York, to start a new life, but life had been surprising, as she had come to know family of some people at the London Institute. It was humorous and unreal to meet the people of whom she had heard quite some silly stories about. She had grown up and become much stronger, not to mention the great physical change she had experienced. Friends had forced her into having an actual social life, and she had gotten a boost in her self-esteem.
With having Isabelle and Magnus as friends came many advantages on the subject of beauty and fashion. If you could call being forced into clothing way out of your comfort zone an advantage. Yet Tessa had ended up with achieving long, wavy, soft-brown hair; a stash full of make-up basics for natural, every-day looks; and a closet full of clothing, at least half of which she wouldn't even dare to pull on.
Together with Clary and Simon, she had accomplished a constant, balanced self-confidence; and a trunk full of manga comics, not that manga was truly Tessa's thing, but Clary and Simon could be just as convincing as a person with a certificate for persuasiveness.
From Alec she had learned to accept herself for who she was, and to not care too much about other people's judgements.
Jace… Well, Jace had taught her, without out even meaning to, how to stand up for herself and handle incredibly handsome, sarcastic guys, whose self-esteem had gone a little bit over the top. Although Tessa didn't know so yet, this skill would come in particularly handy in the future.
A new life, a new school, and new friends had made such an extreme change that Tessa agreed it was difficult to recognise her; she sometimes hardly recognised herself.
Two days. Two days until Tessa would return to the Institute, two days until she would see her childhood bully again. It sounded absolutely terrifying, but somehow she wasn't half as afraid and nervous as she had thought she would be. Her trunk lay in the corner of her room, already packed. Tessa sighed; she had to leave most of her books behind, and that frustrated her more than anything else that was about to happen. Though after remembering all the hours she had spend in the massive library of the Institute, it didn't seem like such a big problem anymore.
Tessa picked up her phone, looking at all the messages on the display. She had texted Sophie and Cecily a few days ago that she would be changing schools again. Yet she didn't tell them to which school she would go. Tessa grinned; she was curious if they would recognise her.
Will Herondale rolled his eyes at his sister as she hit him in the arm.
"Watch out, I will drop this on your head if you don't stop." Cecily grinned devilishly and poked him in his side.
"Then you will lose the bet." She remarked and Will snorted, although he wanted to groan, because the trunk was pretty heavy.
"It's not like you could carry it anyways, little sister." He mumbled, and Cecily chuckled amused.
"Oh, I think you know I definitely can, big brother." And she nudged him with her elbow. Fortunately for Will, they were now by the taxi, and he could drop the trunk in the back. He again prevented himself from groaning by biting his lip, because if he did he would have to endure weeks of pestering from his younger sister. And that was worse than dragging twenty of those trunks to the taxi, not that they would fit.
He opened a car door, and collapsed on the seats, Cecily laughed at him from the other side, as she stepped in too, pushing Will away from her seat.
"Thank you, dear William, that was very generous of you. You have proved today that you can be a gentleman, even when you mostly don't act like it." Will rolled his eyes skyward again, and Cecily grinned back just as wickedly as before.
"As if you're so ladylike, Cecy." Cecily sat up straight and pulled her T-shirt straight, folding her hands in her lap.
"I am very much a lady, Mr Herondale. You simply refuse to acknowledge it." Laughing, Will pulled the door closed, and told the chauffeur to start driving.
After fifteen minutes of sitting in comfortable silence and looking out the window, the taxi halted in front of an enormous building, which Will and Cecily knew as their school: the London Institute. They both got their trunks out of the car and dragged them along to the hall, where they could dump them, so they would not have to carry them all day.
It was quiet in the school, for Will and his sister were always one of the first students to arrive, because their parents started working before the holiday was over. Clearly they were not the only one whose parents dumped their kids at school early, because a girl with brown hair was walking with her trunk in tow, while chatting through her phone.
When she moved closer Will noticed how tall she actually was for a girl, and she was not even wearing heels. With her simple white top, skinny jeans, and blue converse, she looked like a girl Cecily would befriend, instead of the usual stuck-up girls at the Institute.
"Jace, goddamn it, just hand the phone over to Clary, I want to talk to her." Her voice was a pleasant one, with an American accent, as she half scolded the boy named Jace through her phone. Apparently Cecily observed it too, because she pushed Will with her elbow, gaining his attention, and whispered.
"Jace, Clary, and a New York accent. Does that tell you anything?" Will immediately realised and nodded, not wanting to give in to the fact that his sister was quicker in connecting the dots than he was.
The girl pushed her phone in her pocket and discarded her trunk next to the other ones. She stood still a little awkward, obviously waiting for something.
"Hey." Cecily said. Oh yeah, that was what she was waiting for. Will acknowledged her with a slight nod, and let his sister do the introduction, knowing what was about to come.
"I'm Cecily, and this is my… friend, Will." The girl laughed, to both Will and Cecily's surprise. Will rolled his eyes at his sister for the umpteenth time.
"I'm not Cecy's… friend, I'm her brother. She likes to say it to try and embarrass me, but I assure you, I am entirely single." He reached forward and shook her hand. The girl looked utterly surprised at his behaviour, or was it his stunning looks? After a few seconds of silence, the girl responded.
"I know, Will. We've met before." Will frowned; he really could not recall meeting this girl, and he was sure that if he had met her, he would have remembered; a girl with such a length and casual look didn't go unnoticed at this school. His sister seemed to realise something though, because she perked up all of a sudden, and her eyes widened. She literally threw herself on the girl.
"No way! You sneaky, little thing, not telling me you were coming back!" The girls hugged, and Will stood aside, uneasily awaiting an explanation. When Cecily finally freed herself from the taller girl's hug, she was grinning like crazy. Will cleared his throat.
"Uhm, I really don't want to offend you, but I don't recall ever meeting you." Cecily's grin disappeared within a flicker of a moment, and swallowed. The willowy girl straightened her back, with her eyes full of fire. Will himself was startled for a second.
"I am Tessa Gray. It's very nice to meet you." Immediately everything clicked into place, and Will stared at her with wide eyes. Tessa Gray, the girl he used to bully when he was younger and stupid. He had learned from that mistake, his mother had given him quite the lecture, and one glare from his father was enough to realise he had done something gravely wrong. But what Will had never done was apologise for his actions. One, because Tessa had moved to America and two, because he didn't know how.
Now she was standing right in front of him, anger reflecting in her eyes. Somehow Will was happy it was anger she was feeling; disappointment would have been even harder to bear. It was evident that she was expecting at least an apology from him, but Will kept a silence. In Will's mind there were only two options available in this complicated situation: either run, or put on a guard. And since Will knew that putting on a guard wasn't going to better the situation at all, he ran. Well, instead of running, he staggered away rather lost, not knowing were he was going.
(Author's Note: Did you like it? Review, Follow & Favourite! A great thanks to Marie E. Brooke for pointing out some errors in my last chapter. Have a nice day, and I'll see you guys soon, Jill)