"Do you catch a breath when I look at you? Are you holding back like the way I do? Cause I'm trying and trying to walk away, but I know this crush ain't going away..." —Crush, David Archuleta


"Miss. Gray" he called out, looking around the classroom for the familiar brunette. He spotted her sitting in the middle row staring down at her lap. He almost smiled, almost. She was reading, he could tell from the way she moved her hand down towards her lap every few minutes to turn the page.

"Tess" he said a bit louder and her head snapped up this time, her cheeks immediately flushing with colour under his amused gaze.

"Yes, Sir?" she said a bit hesitantly and bit her lip. This was the third time she had been caught not paying attention in his class this week, she wondered if she was going to get a detention slip. It suddenly occurred to her that he had called her 'Tess', no one called her that. Sometimes Tessie or even some of the posh teachers called her Theresa, but never Tess.

"I take it then, that you are present? I called your name a few times Miss. Gray, in future do be so kind as to respond or I'll get into bother for marking you as absent" Will said, a light sense of fondness colouring his tone before his dark blue eyes flickered away from her and he began today's English lesson.

Tessa nodded once even though he wasn't looking anymore and felt embarrassed as the students around her whispered laughs to one another. The male on her left looked over at her and grinned pleasantly.

"Reading again?"

"Of course Jem, I hadn't finished the last chapter and I'm dying for the ending!" she chuckled quietly whispering back to him.

"Ahh. Then perhaps you ought to keep your excitement contained, I don't think Mr. Herondale is much in the mood to be lenient with you today" he smiled and leaned away focusing his gaze back on the front of the class.

Tessa smiled to herself as she followed his gaze, Jem was right but still, the book was so enthralling! She watched as Will moved around the class handing out study notes and when he reached her desk she put her hand out to take it. He smirked slightly and just before she could take it he pulled it back, quickly switching it and handing her one from the bottom of the pile, Tessa's eyebrows furrowed as she looked up at him.

"Sorry" he murmured before setting it on her desk and walking on, she looked after him confused before her eyes caught sight of a small print at the bottom of the page.

'Try to pay attention in class, wait behind at the end.' Tessa gulped and folded the piece of paper in half; she ought to have known there'd be punishment. She sighed quietly and looked at the board; she wondered what he might say to her.

After Class

"Alright, that's all for today. I want everyone's notes on chapter seven of Wuthering Heights tomorrow, no excuses. Miss. Gray" Will said, stopping Tessa's motions to quickly move out the door, she sighed and said a quiet goodbye to Jem before walking over to his desk. "Yes, Mr. Herondale?"

He waited until everyone had left the room before he loosened the tie at his neck and unbuttoned the top two buttons before collapsing into his desk chair. Tessa stood nervously at the side of his table, shifting her weight from her left to her right foot; he was fiddling with the papers on his desk when Tessa couldn't bare it anymore."I'm sorry Sir, but I really have to go, my mother will be—"

"Well you should have thought of that when you began reading during my lessons."

Tessa frowned, it was true she hadn't been paying attention this morning but that was before he had even begun the lesson at all. "Sir, not to be rude, but actually—"

"Don't answer me back" he interrupted her smoothly and smirked when she visibly bristled with annoyance at being cut off."My point is that you are clearly not focused this year Tess and honestly I think you're going to fall behind quickly if you don't pull your head out of the clouds and focus on your studies instead of those trashy novels you're so fond of."

His little speech unfortunately was wasted on Tessa, she wasn't sure what had taken her so long to notice it but it just hit her. Her English teacher was bloody hot! She could see his mouth moving but she wasn't listening to the words as her eyes moved over his face, down his neck and stopped on the opening of his shirt where his collar bone was just visible. Her knee's suddenly felt weak and she thought she might faint from the heat, suddenly she heard her name being called. No not her name, his name for her.

"Tess? Tess... Are you listening to me at all?" he eyed her curiously and watched as she seemed to come out of a daze before she nodded once, hot colour rising in her cheeks and he quickly glanced down at the desk."Yes Sir, I mean of course Sir. I-I-" she stammered and tried desperately to not notice the way his eyelashes fluttered when he looked up at her, she'd kill for eyes like that. She had the insane urge to kiss him and the thought shocked her so much she nearly fell backwards. Instead, she stumbled back and caught hold of the desk behind her.

Will's eyebrows shot up and he looked at her oddly, "Have you been drinking?"

"No of course not! I just slipped!"

"On what..."

Tessa stood up and fixed herself looking flustered, "I just did ok!" she snapped before grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. She had to get out of here now before she said or did something else to humiliate herself.

"I'm sorry Sir, I'll pay attention, and I won't read. I have to go now!" she span on her heel and headed for the door, just as she turned the handle he spoke up.

"No you're right, you won't. But you'll also be coming in for extra lessons during lunch and intervals. I won't have anyone failing my course. Understood?"

Tessa wanted to bang her head against the door, was he nuts? She just nodded once and ran out the door as fast as she could. When she was outside she spotted her mum waiting for her in the car, she sprinted over and climbed in the backseat.

"I'm sorry I'm late, the teacher was talking to me about extra homework."

"Oh... Are you not doing well honey?" her mother said while looking at her in the mirror, Tessa smiled slightly and shook her head.

"Just need a bit of help, that's all!"

She nodded and pulled out of the car park, Tessa sighed and leaned back against the soft leather seat of the car. How could she have been so blind? No wonder all the girls wanted to take English this year, she'd thought it was unusual that Jessamine had been so keen. All that girl was interested in was boys and sex. Which, made perfect sense now. Since Mr. Herondale was a boy, or man... And screamed sex appeal. She groaned annoyed with herself. What was she thinking? He was her teacher! That was sooooo wrong!

When she got home she dropped her book bag at the bottom of the stairs and walked up to her room flopping down on the bed and screaming into her pillow, 'God... I need help' she thought before rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling. Private lessons with quite possibly the hottest guy she'd ever met... Hell on earth.

The Following Day

When the bell rang signaling the end of fourth period Tessa blew her fringe out of her eyes, everyone else was heading to lunch. She on the other hand was heading to English. She was filled with a mixture of dread and excitement. Dread for anything she might do or say to scare Will, and excitement to get to listen to his husky voice as he read literature to her. Did it get any better than that?

Will pushed through the bust corridors as the students hustled past him heading for the dinner halls, he frowned at how annoying it was to try and go against the movement of the crowd but then realised that not long ago he had been part of the very same type of crowd. Being a twenty-one year old teacher was hard going, a lot was expected from someone who had the brains to get a teaching degree by the time he was nineteen and then a masters at twenty. A lot of persuading had gone into him getting this job and he had to prove he was up to standard, which was exactly why he was making sure no one in his year was failing his course.

As he reached the door to his classroom he pulled out the keys and unlocked the door, as he was about to push it open he heard a silky smooth voice call to his attention.

"Mr. Herondale?"

Will scowled to himself before he looked to his side seeing a young pretty blonde girl. His eyebrows pulled together, he was pretty sure she wasn't part of his class.

"Yes?" he said a bit impatiently.

Jessamine smiled and flicked one of her long blonde ringlets over her shoulder before letting her eyes rake over his strong frame. He was better in person than the photo's she'd got hold of from the staff records. All lean and muscular, and completely dressed in black. She wet her lips before speaking.

"Sir, I don't think you know me but I actually applied for your course this session. But due to small numbers I wasn't successful, I was hoping you could maybe..." she made an act of looking shy, "fix it?"

Will wanted to sigh in frustration; this wasn't any of his damn business! Not only that... This girl was a bit all over the place, and didn't look like the typical English student he was used to seeing. No, she looked exactly like the type of girl he was used to dating. Short skirt, tight top and a perfect little hour-glass frame. But he had no interest in her whatsoever, and he certainly didn't have time to stand around and watch as she flipped her hair and shimmied her hips.

"Your name, Miss?"

"Jessamine Lovelace."

Will nodded once and opened the door halfway, "Well Miss. Lovelace, I suggest you go find someone who cares. Because you've got the wrong guy" and with that he brushed her off and heading through the door. Jessamine stood there a little surprised, she wasn't used to being told 'no'. She bit her lip pondering this for a moment before shrugging and heading down the corridor. A slight smirk spreading across her lips, 'Hotter than I expected. And mean? Jack-pot."

She really ought to have been paying attention to where she was walking though.

Tessa came skidding around the corridor; she was going to be late if she didn't get a move on. She'd been caught up talking to Jem and explaining why they couldn't go out for lunch like they'd planned to do. Jem wasn't her boyfriend, but the whole school acknowledged their friendship as being not quite romantic, but definitely something sparking there. Tessa saw Jessamine a second before it was too late and quickly moved to the side, banging her shoulder against a locker and nearly sending her crashing onto the floor. She grabbed hold of Jessamine's arm to steady herself, "I'm so sorry!"

Jessamine gave a shout when she grabbed her and quickly pulled her arm back to her side, "What the hell are you doing to clumsy little shit!"

Tessa's eyes widened and she looked at her a bit shocked; her mother had always said it was distasteful for a woman to swear. And she was right; it sounded awful coming from Jessamine and made her seem half as less attractive as she might've thought her on a different day.

"I said sorry, there's no need to get so annoyed about it."

"Do you know how much this top cost? Oh wait, no, of course you don't" she sneered at her, though it was pointless, Tessa really wasn't interested in her bitchy comments. She fixed her own top into place before giving the fakest smile she could and saying, "You're right, I don't. Nor do I care, bye now!"

Jessamine looked after her as she sprinted down the hall and came to a stop in front of Will's classroom, her eyebrows went up as Tessa walked through and she heard a faint, "About damn time Tess."

Tess? He called her Tess? Jessamine glanced around the empty hallway before walking to the small glass window on the door and secretly peeking in to have a look. Tessa was taking her books out and Will came over to sit on the edge of her desk with a book in his hand also. It seemed like a pretty ordinary thing, extra lessons maybe? But Jessamine couldn't shake the weirdness of a teacher calling her 'Tess'. She stood outside the door, hidden from view and decided to stick around to listen in for a bit.

"Do you enjoy wasting my time?"

Tessa sighed as she sat her book on the table, "No. I got held up, I'm sorry."

"In future do leave your appointments open for me, or shall I make a booking?" Will spoke sarcastically and he flipped open his book to the chapter they were currently working on in class.

"What is it with people today? I said I'm sorry!" she snapped at him, and then immediately felt like an idiot for doing so. He looked down at her and raised an eyebrow; she blushed and looked down at her lap. He was the teacher, she was the student, and she was going to have to keep reminding herself that. He was just so young looking that she often forgot she wasn't speaking to her friend or classmate.

"You did. But sorry isn't good enough" she looked up at him as he spoke getting ready to explain everything and apologise again, when she noticed him smirking at her. He was teasing her? She felt her blood boil under his amused expression and it took everything in her to bite her tongue and just nod.

The rest of the time seemed to run pretty smoothly, he asked her questions on various passages and she explained them easily having an in-depth understanding of the book and characters. Will frowned to himself, he knew now that Tessa didn't actually need any help at all. In fact, she was sure to pass with flying colours. He shut his book with a light snap and pushed himself off her desk walking to his own to drop the book on it. At least he'd have one less thing to worry about then.

Tessa gathered her notes together and placed them inside her bag before standing up and pushing her chair under the desk, "Are we finished Sir, can I go?"

Will nodded and walked over to the door opening it for her, Jessamine had left long ago when the scenes from within the classroom had bored her and she lost interest.

Tessa smiled at the gesture and heard her brain whisper, 'Oh would you look at that, handsome and charming. You should just walk up to him and—" she stopped her thoughts before they ran away with her. He was looking at her a bit impatiently now and all previous thoughts of him being in any way princely vanished. She hurriedly walked over to him and as she was going out the classroom she turned to say thank you but caught her foot on the rim of the door and tumbled forwards.

It happened very fast and one moment the ground had been swooping up to meet her and the next she was pressed very tightly to something warm and wonderful smelling. She blinked a few times before her gaze met with bottle blue orbs and anything she'd been thinking to say died on her lips as she just stared up at him.

Will had been caught off guard when she suddenly fell and without thinking had reach out and caught her, he had been about to make a snarky comment on her brain not being attached to earth but had got a bit sidetracked on the way she was now staring at him. Her grey eyes were wide with shock and he could see the small flecks of black around the irises of them, while her lips were slightly parted as though she were about to speak but lost her words. His gaze settled there, noticing what an attractive colour of pink they were. And as soon as he thought this, he knew he had to let her go quickly.

"Are you alright?" he said, a bit huskier than usual as he set her upright and took a step away from her. Tessa nodded once, she couldn't trust her voice not to wobble. He nodded back and they just looked at each other silently before Will said, "Same time tomorrow then" and pushed the door closed walking back to his desk.

Tessa stood in the hall for a moment longer than necessary before she slowly walked down the hallway and out into the school grounds. Jem spotted her and smiled widely walking over and easily putting an arm around her waist, "Good lesson?"

"Huh? What?" she looked up at him and then flushed at being caught day-dreaming, "Oh yes, yes it was very... Interesting."

Jem nodded and pulled her over to a table pushing a small box towards her, "I hope you don't mind, I bought you lunch. I thought you might be hungry."

Tessa smiled fondly at him and opened the box, "Thanks Jem. I'm starving."

That was a total lie, she couldn't even think about eating. Her brain was working overtime in trying to remember the exact shade of blue around the pupil of Will's eyes. Something between midnight blue and navy she thought. Jem noticed her lack of conversation but didn't comment, leaving her to her thoughts.

When she had managed to eat at least half of the lunch he had bought her she pushed the box away from her smiling up at him, "Thanks again, sorry I didn't manage to eat it all.."

"That's alright, I know girls are always thinking of their weight and such, but Tessa you are quite lovely. Such rules really ought not to apply to you."

Tessa grinned at him, Jem was always so polite. So kind, considerate, thoughtful, well-mannered... And a tad boring. She truly did care for him, and she thought he was undeniably handsome. He'd been nominated for Homecoming last year even though he wasn't really a senior. The voting polls though weren't allowed due to his age but it was certain that he'd win it this year. Tessa really didn't care for those kinds of things, and honestly she would bet her soul that Jessamine or one of her posy would be clawing to get it. They could fight over it, she didn't want it.

"So, I was thinking..."

Tessa blinked and pushed her thoughts away listening to him, "Yeah?"

"Well..." he looked a little awkward before he glanced back up at her, his cheeks slightly flushed. You... You like me, right Tessie?"

"Of course I do Jem."

Jem frowned, he could tell by the innocent look on her face she had no idea where he was going with this."Good. So then you'd have no reason to turn me down for a date then?" he kept a straight face as he spoke but his heart was hammering against his chest so hard he wondered if she might hear it.

Tessa opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again. She had known he was going to ask sooner or later, everyone told her that he liked her; everyone said they were the perfect couple—everyone except her. She bit her lip and thought it over; would a date really do any harm? She could sort out how she felt about him, set him straight and then they could both move on from it. 'Besides, you might like it' she thought, 'how often does a little bookworm get asked out by a hot guy everyone likes? Uh, never! You dingbat, say yes!

'She nodded then, a bright smile covering her face and lighting up her eyes, "Sure! Why not?"

Jem sighed audibly and she laughed at him, he gave a sheepish smile and pushed his silver hair out of his eyes. A gesture that Tessa thought was highly attractive, especially when Mr. Herondale raked through his dark—she cut herself off again feeling ridiculous and when she flushed Jem looked at her confused.

"What is it?"

"N-nothing! I'm just so flattered you asked" she lied smoothly, 'liar liar' her mind sung to her.

"Well you shouldn't be... I think the whole student body is waiting on us making it official."

Tessa froze, what did he just say? He asked for a date, that was all, she was sure of it! She decided to not correct him just yet; after all, she might want to make it official depending on how the date turned out.

"So where are you taking me?" she took a sip of her drink looking at him.

Jem smiled slightly, he was pleased that she seemed somewhat eager for it. He'd been planning to ask her after school, but she'd probably get held behind in English again so he'd just gone for it now. Though, he'd had their date planned for like the past two years since he'd met her.

"I thought I'd take you to that little beach bistro at north side? Then maybe we could go see a movie or go for a walk down the beach, whatever you prefer?"

She smiled again, 'Nice. A bit cliché, but nice effort.' Tessa felt bad as soon as she thought this, what had she been expecting, a visit to China? She rolled her eyes at herself and then laughed when Jem looked a bit insulted.

"Sorry, that wasn't to you. That was to me. Yeah that sounds lovely, I think I vote beach walk over movie. Nothing really in the cinema I want to see at the moment."

Jem nodded, "Then that's what we'll do."

As he said this the bell rang and everyone got up heading back in for the last two classes of the day. Being the gentleman that he was, Jem carried Tessa's book bag and walked her all the way to the door of her maths classroom. She smiled and took the bag from him, and then waited for him to leave. He didn't though, he looked a little embarrassed and then leaned down to quickly peck her cheek before saying, "I'll call you" and quickly walking off in the other direction.

Tessa flushed and stared after him, noticing that he had gone in the opposite direction of his history class. She smiled at this and touched her cheek, 'That was daring. Perhaps we underestimated him...' she grinned then shaking her head to herself and walking in to take her seat.