Ring in 2017 the right way- with a new chapter! There's a fire in the grate, my cat is sitting on my keyboard, my sister's boyfriend is making hot chocolate, and I can't leave the house because the ground is covered in about three inches of solid ice. Seems like the right time to proverbially set pen to paper.
I haven't said this in awhile, so to protect myself from some typa court case, rights to Cassandra Clare (:

"I got a job!" Tessa grinned, running down the hall in Fell House, the boys' dormitory, and banging on door 14. "Will! Jem! Open the door!"

"Five more minutes!" There came a thump. "Jem, get the bloody door. Jem please. I guarantee its for you, no calls for me before eight." There was a muffled thump. "James Tenshuaka Carstairs! Manners!"

"You missed a syllable William. Get the door."

A few more muffled curse words, and the door opened to show a thoroughly disgruntled, extremely shirtless, and entirely pissed Will. That is, until he saw who was at the door. Then his eyes brightened. "Good morning, sunshine," he drawled, leaning against the door frame.

"Everybody decent?" Tessa asked, breezing into the bedroom. "Nice boxers, by the way," she smiled.

Will glanced down. "Thanks. I like to think they're sperm whales."

"Everything's an innuendo with you, isn't it." Tessa hopped onto the desk, her stockinged feet swinging, as she was already in her school clothes. "Good morning Jem."

"We are talking about my underwear here," Will replied, shutting the door. "I've shown you mine—you show me yours?"

Tessa twitched an eyebrow, beckoning him closer. "Well, there's not a lot to tell," she whispered in his ear. "You see, there's not a lot to them." She heard his breath hitch, and smiled. "But they're a pale purple one could almost call lavender. And you see, I have this love affair with lace, so there's rather a lot of that." She leaned even closer so her breath fell on his ear. "And there's this little bow…" she sighed. Her eyes locked with Jem, and she winked.

Jem burst out laughing. "My god Will, she had you so good. Its not even eight and, well, you've raised the flag, haven't you."

Will, blushing, covered it with a smirk. "A good screw, Jem. That's what you need."

"Apparently, you too."

Will threw a slipper at the other boy. "I'm going to have a shower." He slammed to dorm room door shut.

"He's not going to jack off in the communal showers, is he?"

"What, wank? Wouldn't be the first time, would it. What'd you say to him?"

"Just described my undies, that's all."

"A word of it true?"

"Not one."

Jem snorted. "But you said you have news? You better have, if you woke everyone up. But then, that little show might just have been worth it."

"No, I do!" Tessa was grinning again, bouncing off the desk. "I got a job! A real job! I mean, its not at a library or anything—apparently they get all the help they need through volunteer work—but it's at a coffee shop that's not too far from campus, so I can do one day after school as well as weekends, and, I've calculated it, since I get paid minimum, if I work 18 hours a week—which is totally doable, I think—then I get around 60 pounds a week, which means 240 a month, which means that, in the next eight months or so of school left, I will make nearly two thousand pounds, which will pay, well, some of my tuition. And that's not counting the extra shifts I can take on holidays and breaks and stuff. I mean, Charlotte said I'd have to get a job if I want to stay, and so!" She grabbed his hands and pulled him to his feet. "Aren't you excited for me!"

Jem flushed as the covers fell away to reveal his shirtless chest and low riding pajama bottoms, but Tessa was too excited to notice. She gripped him in a brief, tight hug. "Uh, wow Tess," Jem tugged a shirt over his head. "That's great. Really, that's awesome."

Tessa was practically singing. "I get to stay, I get to stay!" She picked up his hands and danced him in a little circle. "We have to celebrate. How does one do that at a boarding school?"

Jem grinned. "Will might be the expert on this, but, typically, one has a party."

"Well, seeing as I have no money, no alcohol, few friends, and a scholarship to keep, that might not be a go. But I'll think of something."

She opened the door and blew a kiss to Jem. "Anyway, just wanted you to know first."

Jem smiled at her. "It's really awesome Tessa. Way to go."

As she shut the door, Jem buried his face in his palm. "Way to go? What the hell Jem. Real smooth."

Will slid back into the room, his hair dripping on the wood floor. "Everything okay? Tessa looked stupidly happy."

"Oh yeah, she got a job."

A grin broke out across Will's face. "Did she really! Oh I passed her in the hall and didn't say a thing. I've got to go congratulate her, I'll be right back."

He dumped his towel and shower caddy on the floor and hurried back out the door.

"And that," Jem said to himself as the door shut once more, "is what you should have done."

As the lunch bell rang, an announcement came on the speakers. "Theresa Gray to the principle's office. Theresa Gray to the principle's office please."

Tessa glanced over at Sophie, who was in her English class. It turned out that she only worked for Charlotte in her spare periods and after school, as a way of subsidizing her scholarship.

"She seemed in a good mood this morning," Sophie shrugged. "So unless you've done something awful in the last four hours…" She shrugged. "Good luck."

"Yeah," Tessa swallowed, gathering her books. "Thanks."

"Mrs. Branwell will see you now," said the strangely formal woman at the office desk, her voice as tight as her slicked bun, as Tessa bounced on the sides of her feet in the office five minutes later.

Tessa smiled. "Thanks." The door creaked slightly on its hinges as she opened it. "Uh… hi."

"Hello Tessa. Have a seat, please." Charlotte was all smiles and easy manners, so Tessa didn't think anything was wrong. "I heard you got a job."

"Yeah! It's at the coffee shop, Bits and Pieces, just off campus."

"Yes I know. You put me down as one of your references."

Tessa flushed. "Was that okay?"

"Oh yes, perfectly fine. And since you have a job, I can assume you're committed to staying at the institute?" Charlotte quirked a brow.

"Yes. Absolutely yes. Very committed."

"Well, in that case, I suppose it's time we set you up with your roommate."

"Why not before now?"

"Well…" Charlotte stirred her tea. "She's a bit… particular."

"She's an absolute nightmare!" Tessa complained that evening, sprawled in Jem's bed. "Honestly, I don't know how I'm going to live with her for the next year. You two are so lucky you got roomed with each other."

Jem and Will glanced at each other, and both started laughing. "We hated each other at first," Will said.

"That's a bit strong. You hated me. I just wanted to be friends."

"You were a lonely bugger, weren't you."

"And you, a moody wanker."

"Ah, to be back in first year," Will said, and the two boys sighed.

"All to say," Jem continued. "You shouldn't make any snap judgements about your roommate. You might end up being friends."

"What did you say her name was?"

Tessa wrinkled her nose. "Jessamine Lovelace."

"Oh god," Will put a hand over his face. "You're shitting me. Really?"

Tessa frowned nodding.

"So basically, you're screwed."

"C'mon Will, she's not that bad." Jem turned to Tessa. "Just a bitter ex girlfriend."

"Jem," Will said quite seriously, "Jem, she wanted to be a singer, but can't sing for shit. So she tried to be a model, but they said she was too thin, so she binge ate, and the next agency said she was too fat. So she said, 'fuck it, I'll just be a prostitute,' and since she was already a whore, it wasn't that far off. And we didn't date, we hooked up once, at a Halloween party, after which she stalked me through the park in 800 euro shoes, the whole time complaining about how I was ruining them and better buy her new ones, because how else was she supposed to catch an older man if her best shoes were wrecked. That bitch is crazy."

Tessa groaned. "Well… fuck."

Tessa knocked on the door of her new dorm, a backpack on her back, balancing a milk crate with a pair of shoes and a couple books on her hip. "Hello?"

The door opened in a flurry of pink. Jessamine offered her a soft smile, her hot pink silk dressing robe settling at the tops of her thighs. "Tessa! Perfectly on time, too. I can see we're going to be fast friends." She grabbed the crate from Tessa. "Please, come in come in! They brought the other bed in only a bit earlier, and I'm afraid I haven't quite reorganised, but it'll be quite cozy, I think, once we've got it sorted. Oh I'm so excited!"

"You are?"

"Aren't you? This is perfect. You're new, you're American, you're mysterious. We'll have fun, I'm sure of it."

Tessa looked around at the walls papered in a soft cream shade of floral silk, and the heavy, dark wooden furniture that lined the room, the ornate navy blue rug on the floor, shot through with gold. A small crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. The whole room was tastefully opulent, but the blatant display of wealth made Tessa a little sick to her stomach.

"Come, come, sit. We have to get to know each other! You're looking a bit better since I saw you at breakfast that first day. A little less yellow. Is London treating you well?"

Tessa squirmed. "I suppose."

"Fantastic. And you've been shopping I see, gotten out of that little pinafore you had before. Though I do wish you'd taken me. We could've found you something much nicer than… this."

Tessa glanced down at Sophie's jeans and her school sweater. "I haven't had the chance to shop yet, so Sophie was kind enough to lend these to me."

"Oh well, we simply must go. How's Saturday?"

"Can't, I'm sorry. I have my first shift."

Jessamine looked taken aback. "Oh? You work? Where?"

Tessa smiled. This girl would probably never work a proper day in her life. "At Bits and Pieces."

"Oh adorable, I love that shop. Are you a barista then?"

"We'll see. As I said, my first shift is Saturday. Eight to Two."

"Right. How about after that?"

"I have to go to the police station. I'm helping them find my brother."

Jessamine grinned, smelling gossip like a cat smells a rat. "The police are after you're brother?"

"No." No way in hell was Tessa going to tell Jessamine anything about her family. Though, looking back, she knew a fair bit already, given how indiscreet Tessa had been at breakfast that first morning she was at the Institute. "They're just looking for him. After all, I suppose I reported him missing, didn't I."

Jessamine opened her mouth, then closed it with a smile. "So evening shopping then? We can go for dinner, get some clothes that fit, a new bra, something to wear to a party? I'll pick you up form the station whenever you call."

Tessa fiddled with the sheets still folded on her bed. "Thanks Jessamine, really, but… I haven't any money."

Jessamine grinned. "No worries. My treat."

"Axel, Hi." Charlotte welcomed the small man into her office. "How are you?"

"I'm alright. And you?"

"Fine, thank you. What brings you here today?"

"Come now Charlotte," Mortmain smiled, "we both know why I'm here." He pulled a chequebook from his pocket and waved it in the air.

"Well, another donation to our engineering and auto department maybe? The automaton project was a great idea by the way. The kids are loving it."

"I was thinking this time, the library. How about expanding the classics section? Round it out wit ha few more tragedies… Tolstoy, I was thinking. Hardy. A new sofa set."

Charlotte smiled. "We're always looking to expand the library. Any contribution would be huge."

"Right, right." He scribbled out a cheque, and slid it across the desk like in an old movie.

Charlotte's eyebrows swam up her forehead, but she just nodded. "Thank you, Axel. That's very generous."

He leaned forward across the desk. "Now. How's my star pupil doing?"

"Well. Very well. She's got a job, she just moved in with her new roommate, any teachers that have reported have said all good things. She has fallen in with a few trouble makers, but, well, Will's more sass than real harm. Things are looking quite good for Miss Gray."

Mortmain folded his hands in his lap. "Good. Excellent."

"May I ask… what is your relation to her?"

He smiled, baring small teeth in a textbook curve of the lips. "Nothing of import. Just someone who hopes for her to succeed."

HEcks ya! Happy New years eve! Who's ready to see the death of 2017!? I mean, it hasn't been that bad a year for me, personally, but I'll be glad to see the back of it. This chapter ended up being a little more… not racy really, but raunchy? I'm going to pin it on my last little binge of Skam and Skins—two shows I absolutely recommend, incidentally.
Anyways, R&R please!
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