Chapter 8

Tessa POV

When she came back to consciousness, she felt herself being carried. She opened her eyes, blinking a few times, and the first thing she saw was a frantic Will, who was carrying her somewhere, and quickly. She tried not to blush, but failed miserably. Next, she moved her head a bit from side to side to shake off the feeling of nausea, exhaustion and dizziness, which happened to be a great mistake, because she immediately found herself trying to clutch her head from the intense headache she had. Will seemed to feel the movement of her hand, and looked down at her.

"Tessa," he breathed out, and started walking slightly slower. Next to him, Cecily, who Tessa hadn't noticed yet, turned her head towards her. Tessa smiled weakly at her, who smiled back encouragingly. There seemed to be only very few other students in the hallway, and all of them were giving the trio confused glances, although some of them even seemed to be slightly worried. Tessa, however didn't exactly have the energy to focus on that.

"What happened?" Tessa asked. She couldn't help but feel so incredibly confused. She remembered sitting on the bench and talking to Clary and Cecily, but nothing came to her mind after that. Will looked at her again with a worried look on his face.

"Clary said you haven't been feeling well today, and how you were about to go to the nurse's," Will started, "and then you fainted. We're taking you to the nurse's office now." Tessa did indeed remember dark spots entering her vision back in the other hallway. She nodded, her eyelids starting to feel heavy and her stomach being one big mess, and she was afraid she would throw up if she didn't go unconscious - again.

"Will, you can put me down now," she said but Will only continued walking and Tessa sad his jaw clench slightly. "Will-" she started again, but Will sighed and interrupted her.

"No Tessa, I'm not going to let you walk after what just happened. Besides," he continued, ignoring the glare Tessa sent him, "We're here now." They stopped in front of the nurse's door, and Cecily knocked. Will still didn't let Tessa go, even though they weren't walking, but Tessa had a feeling she wouldn't get Will to let her go so easily, and Tessa was too drained of her energy to either argue or try and somehow jump off his arms. Usually, she absolutely loathed being carried like this, but Will's arms being around her felt good, somehow.

The door opened, and the three of them stepped in. Well only Will and Cecily stepped in, but Tessa also got in, although she didn't, you know, literally step in. She turned her to Will's chest and closed her eyes, feeling too sick to really be embarrassed.

"What happened?" she heard a faint voice ask.

"She was feeling nauseous and dizzy, and she's been tired all day, and she just fainted in the hallway when we were on our way here," Cecily replied.

"Would you put her on the bed, please," the nurse asked. Tessa felt Will move, before he placed her on a bed - that felt more like a bench - and drew his hands away from under her. Tessa opened her eyes and put her hands on the edge of the bed to steady herself. She saw the nurse come closer, but Will didn't back away. Instead, he stood by Tessa even when the nurse checked her eyes, her temperature and some other stuff.

Tessa was so dazed she didn't notice the nurse talking to her. "Sorry, what did you say?" she asked drowsily.

The nurse looked at her in the eyes, an unreadable expression on her face. "I asked you if you've hit you head in the past twenty-four hours or so." Tessa felt like she was thinking about the answer for several hours.

"I...fell down the stairs yesterday and I think I may have been unconscious for a minute or so, but it really wasn't that bad," Tessa lied. She could feel Will's hard gaze on her, and her hands were beginning to sweat from the nervousity that came from his gaze.

The nurse sighed. "I'm afraid you might have a concussion, although I am not quite sure, so I want you to visit the hospital." Her statement made Tessa's eyes go wide, but the nurse didn't see this since she turned to Will. "Do you think you could drive her? Otherwise we'd have to call an ambulance, and I don't know how long that might take."

"Is that really neces-" Tessa started, but Will cut her off.

"I'll drive her," he said. Tessa sighed, but felt grateful nonetheless. If she already had to go to the hospital, she'd rather not make a fuss about it and call an ambulance.

The nurse talked with Cecily and Will a little more, but Tessa wasn't able to pay attention to any of the conversation. She was pulled back to earth, and to the room, when she felt Will tug at her arm.

"Come on," he said softly, looking into her eyes, "I'm taking you to the hospital." He helped Tessa get up, and she held on to his arm to keep herself more steady, to which Will responded with a quick, concerned look at her. The nurse opened the door and they exited when Tessa suddenly noticed that Cecily wasn't with them anymore.

"Where did Cecily go?" she asked, looking around. Will looked at her even more concerned now, but the nurse, who was still holding the door, said:

"Sometimes when some gets a concussion, they have a hard time focusing on anything, even conversations that are happening right next to them," she explained and Will nodded. They continued walking while Will explained.

"The nurse couldn't send both of us with you to the hospital since there wasn't any need for two people to take you, so Cecily had to go back." Tessa smiled at this; she knew Cecily would do anything to get out of her social studies class, but luck didn't seem to be with her this time.

They continued walking, although a little slower than normal as not to hurt Tessa - even if it wasn't her legs the problem was in right then. They got to the parking lot, and Will carefully helped Tessa get in the car before he himself got in. Will started to drive, and during the car drive Tessa couldn't help but close her eyes and try to get at least some sleep. However, she didn't exactly succeed as Will constantly wanted to check that she hadn't fainted.

They finally got to the hospital. Again, Will helped Tessa, and once they were in the hospital Tessa felt a sense of relief. This wasn't school with people running around and yelling and giving her glances. Instead, she was finally at a place where somebody would help her and treat her. She wouldn't have to do that by herself for once.

A nurse came and led Tessa to a doctor's office. She took one glance at Will, who was staring right back at her, before disappearing around the corner.

Sophie POV

The police, after Sophie's mom had called them about the message, had messaged other police stations about the situation and even they had tried to find Teddy, but without any luck. Sophie was scared to leave her house, which meant it was always hard for her to get up and go to school when all she wanted to do was hide in her sheets all day. Anyway, she had gotten a call from Cecily after school asking her if she would come shopping for homecoming dresses, and Sophie, in the heat of the moment, had answered yes, because she loved shopping. Now, however, she didn't know if she would actually be able to go, especially since anyone could spy on them, or hurt them or...

"Sophie?" her mom said entering the room. Sophie looked up at her. She'd gotten most of her looks from her mom; the eys, the hair, the shape of her nose. Her hands though, Sophie had noticed, she had gotten from her father. Soft hands with almond-shaped nails. Her mother had longer and bonier fingers then Sophie and her husband. "Shouldn't you be going to the mall by now?" she asked softly.

"I..." Sophie started, uncertain. "I'm not sure if I want to go anymore," she mumbled, feeling like a little child. Her mother immediately seemed to know what was wrong and came to sit by Sophie on her bed.

"Honey, I know you're scared. I mean, I'm absolutely frightened for you. But the mall is a safe place, and when I think rationally, I know that the chances of something happening to you are minimal, and I don't want you to stop living your life because of him, or because of what happened. So I want you to go to the mall, buy the most beautiful dress you can find, buy it, and wear it to homecoming like the princess you are." Her words of encouragement did make Sophie feel better, but how much? She had no idea.

Sophie sighed. "Fine. I'll go."

So a few hours later Sophie was at the mall with Isabelle, Cecily and Clary, although Clary was supposed to leave soon due to having to work on some art project with Jace.

"Has anyone heard of Tessa?" Cecily asked while the girls were walking between the different racks that held multiple different-colored dresses. Everyone shook their head.

"Can't you ask Will?" Isabelle asked. Cecily shook her head.

"I've called him several times, but he hasn't answered ye-" she was interrupted when her phone rung. She looked at the caller ID and said, "How ironic. It's Will," before answering the call. "Hey, what's up? How's Tessa?" There was a small pause. "Okay, yeah." After that, they had a brief conversation before Cecily ended the call.

"Thank God we already found a dress for you Clary, because Will said he just dropped Tessa and him off at our place and he's driving over here right now," she explained.

"So Tessa's alright?" Clary asked. Cecily shrugged.

"She had a pretty bad concussion, but apparently she managed to tell the doctor that she didn't need to stay at the hospital overnight. The doctor allowed her to go home as long as there was someone with her. Apparently her brother is away for a few days so Will just invited her to our house since my parents are at home either right now. Although I'm not sure if it's wise to leave the two of them alone in the house, if you know what I mean," she said with a smug smile. Sophie scrunched her eyebrows.

"Ugh, don't insert any images to my head Sophie. Besides Tessa has a concussion and I don't think she'd do anything anyway."

"Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed some...tension between them."

"I admit, they would be really good together," Clary said.

"I ship them," Isabelle admitted. "I think Tessa would be good for Will. Besides, just imagine the two of them together. So damn cute!" She said, her voice becoming high-pitched at the end. The others laughed.

"Yeah, I think so too," Sophie said. "But I know someone else here who would look pretty amazing together with a Herondale. Although this Herondale has blonde hair and hazel eyes," she said wiggling her eyebrows at Clary, who turned as red as her hair.

"There is nothing going on between the two of us Sophie," Clary said defensively.

"Oh, I dodn't say there was anything going on, but there definitely could be."

"I agree with Sophie," Isabelle said before Clary could say anything. She rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. I'm going to go wait for him, he'll probably be here soon. Bye guys," Clary said, smiling and waving at them when she left.

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When all the girls had found their dresses and shoes (and, in Isabelle's case, lots of new makeup) they decided to go to a café before leaving the mall. Once they were done, Sophie walked with them to the parking lot underneath the mall.

"Um, Sophie, I think you've got a ticket," Isabelle said pointing to her car. Sophie furrowed her brows and got closer.

"That's not a ticket," she said. "It's an envelope." She took it from where it was placed on the window, already dreading what would be inside. She opened it and took several pictures out of it, feeling her blood draining from her face.

Inside the envelope was several pictures taken during that week, all containing Sophie. There were even two pictures that had been taken that day from the mall.

"Oh my God."

XxXxXxXxXx

Clary POV

Her and Jace were sitting on his bed, Jace leaning against the wall at the head of his bed and Clary to his left sitting cross legged, facing him. They had come quite far on the project already, and Clary though it was coming along rather well, although she wasn't sure if she wanted for them to be done quickly - not that they were anywhere near done. Clary couldn't help but steal glances at Jace's gorgeus face. He had high cheekbones that cast some shadows over the hollows of his cheeks, and his jawbones were very sharp. His golden eyes were framed by long lashes that any girl would be jealous of. Clary hadn't even realised that she found these features attractive in a boy, not until she'd seen Jace. Yes, Clary might have been a little attracted to him, but she thought it didn't really matter. Jace could have pretty much any girl he desired, and considering Clary wasn't anything special, she probably wouldn't be the number one on his list.

"Are you staring at me?" Jace mumbled, making Clary come back to earth from her haze. He spoke quietly, as if not wanting to disturb the calm aura in the room. Clary shook her head.

"Sorry, I - I was just-" Jace grinned at her.

"Oh, it's completely alright, you know. You're not the first person to do that." Clary huffed at him.

"I was just artistically admiring your face structure. Any artist would love to draw you," she said. Jace sat up more straight and turned so he was right in front of her.

"Do you want to draw me?" he asked with his voice low. Clary gulped.

"Of course I would, but I like to draw a lot of people," she lied. She didn't actually draw other people's faces often. She felt Jace's hot breath on her face, and only then did she realise just how close they were. If she would lean just a little bit forward, their lips would touch and she could kiss him. His eyes dropped to her lips before looking in her eyes again...

And her phone rang. Clary internally groaned. She turned to take her phone, but not before seeing an almost disappointed look on Jace's face.

"Hey mom," she said into the phone.

"Hey honey, where are you?"

"I'm at a friends house. We're working on an art project together," Clary answered, suddenly having a feeling of slight sadness go through her that she couldn't exactly explain, but that she knew had something to do with Jace.

"At nine in the evening?" her mom asked. Clary looked at the clock. She hadn't realised it was so late already. "Is there something going Clary?" Jocelyn asked in her mom voice.

"No mom, I'm sorry, we didn't realise it was so late," she said, which caused Jace to look at the clock too. "I'll be home soon, okay? Bye mom," Clary said ending the call. She sighed, and started packing her bag. "I'm sorry, I need to go, otherwise my mom will start freaking out over me staying away this late." Jace smiled at her and helped her pack her bag.

"It's okay, I should have checked the time. Come, I'll follow you downstairs," he said, getting up from the bed and giving his hand to Clary so she could get up too, but didn't let go once she was standing. To be fair though, Clary made no indication to let go either. Once they got to the door, Clary said goodnight to Jace, walked to her car and started driving home with the feeling of Jace's hand in her mind.

Some Wessa and Clace for you guys. Also, the Lightwood brothers will be introduced soon, although not in the next chapter (perhaps the chapter after that). Anyways, do you have any suggestions as to what should happen in the story?

Also, I was supposed to port this chapter a few days ago, but I wasn't able to upload the document to the Doc Manager! Did anyone else have problems with this? I googled it, and it seemed like a lot of people weren't able to do that. Well, at least it's here now!

Btw, I only have two tests and one presentation left before everything's over (for now)! But in two weeks we have a one week long break from school and I'm going on a skiing camp, but were not allowed to have phones or anything there, and I won't be home so I won't be able to write then, which means that next chapter might be up next month (hoping that I won't start procastinating).

Thanks for reading this chapter!

Xx, V