A/N: So... sorry about this chapter. It's short. Like the last one. I've been busy these last past days and it's hard to sit down for a long time and write... but a chapter is her, nevertheless. :)
Catherine: Thanks so much! I'm glad you like the story... If you have any suggestions/ideas/comments please review again:)
Ava: THANKSSS! You've been so supportive of this story:)) And I agree. I don't know what's going to happen yet either! But I think more Wessa... Also, I PMed you finally! So just click under your private messaging tab under your account to read it!
~~~o0o~~~
Tessa couldn't stop thinking about it.
The kiss.
The kiss with Jem.
The kiss with Jem while she was thinking about him.
About Will.
She pinched herself roughly, to see if she was dreaming possibly.
She wasn't. She was very much awake.
After the whole kissing incident, she and Jem had left the library rather abruptly and had gone their separate ways. He, to football conditioning, and she to her English Lit class.
Which Will happened to be in.
At the moment, he was sitting behind her, poking her in the back with his sharp pencil.
Trying to push the thoughts of the kiss out of her mind, Tessa whirled around angrily and glared at Will.
He annoyed her so much sometimes, and the smug look on his face didn't help.
"Why, Tess. You finally turned around."
She glared. "What do you want, Will?"
His expression shifted. "How are you liking the book?" He almost looked thoughtful for a second.
"What book?" She glanced at him curiously.
"A Tale of Two Cities," he replied, twirling his pencil on his finger. "I never liked Sydney Carton. And there was too much love. Lucie did not return his love. How was he supposed to live with that? Somehow he did, the weirdo."
She snorted. He was now offending her favourite book. She was surprised, however, that he had read the book.
"Sydney Carton was a perfectly good man," Tessa shot back, angrily. "He loved Lucie, even though he knew his love was unrequited. It was the love that made him happy. Just confessing his love."
Will stared at her, and Tessa felt a blush creep onto her face.
"Well, you certainly seem enthralled with Carton," Will finally replied, opening his heavy english textbook.
"I'm not in love with him, Will," Tessa said, sighing. "I just really like A Tale of Two Cities."
He nodded. "So, who are you in love with, then?" He was back to teasing her.
She just frowned, raised an eyebrow, and turned back around to face the opposite direction.
She was tired of arguing with Will, and she was tired of liking him.
He was just so...
irrevocably interesting and beautiful.
~~~o0o~~~
Tessa was back in her dorm. She and Sophie were sitting on the plush sofa by the fireplace.
Fall leaves swirled outside their window, and the air had a sting-like chill to it.
"So, how was your day?" Sophie asked, sipping her tea.
The girls hadn't seen each other for the whole day because on Mondays, which was what the day happened to be, she had a completely different schedule than Tessa's.
Tessa sighed and frowned into her mug.
"My day was... eventful. What bout you?" She mumbled.
Sophie cast her a confused look, but took another sip. "Mine was great. I think I like someone, and I think that someone likes me too." Her eyes were sparkling now.
"Gideon Lightwood?" Tessa raised an eyebrow at her best friend. Sophie's mouth dropped open.
"How did you know?" She closed her mouth.
"You always talk about him," Tessa said into her cup. "I figured."
Sophie smiled. "Well, yeah, I guess I do. And he likes me. Even with this damned scar." She pointed to her cheek.
Tessa grinned. She was happy for Sophie, she really was.
"Since we're on the topic of boys, Soph," she said, "I need your help."
Tessa couldn't believe the words that cam out of her mouth. She hadn't been planning on telling Sophie about the kiss or Will, but she had to now.
Sophie nodded thoughtfully and said to go on.
"Well," Tessa started, "Jem kissed me today. In the library at lunch." She looked down at her mint tea.
"Ohmygod ohmygod Tessie, I'm so happy for you!" Sophie exclaimed, hugging her friend carefully as to not spill the tea.
Tessa smiled thinly. "That's not just it, Sophie," she said. Her friends smile dropped a bit.
"Sophie. I was thinking about Will Herondale the whole time I was kissing Jem," Tessa said, blushing deeply.
Sophie's eyes widened. "Um, wow, okay. Well, so, who do you like then?" She raised her eyebrows.
"You know I don't like Will, though, right?" Sophie added, before Tessa had a chance to speak.
"Yeah," Tessa said quietly. "I don't know who I like, though. And that's a problem. Soph, thanks for talking, but I think I'm going to go watch a movie or something now. Alone, just to clear my mind for a bit, okay?"
Her friend nodded, and Tessa stood up to leave. She placed her tea mug gently on the marble table, grabbed her coat, slipped into her shoes, and was out the door in the next minute.
~~~o0o~~~
The air grew chillier as Tessa walked further. She had to go to the one place where she knew she would get some time alone.
The library.
It was massive, and made out of oak. It was grand and impressive, and it looked as though Tessa could be stuck in there for hours reading.
She stepped inside. The foyer was warm and inviting, and was lit with many candles.
The candles seemed a dangerous thing to be around books, but Tessa thought they looked beautiful.
She stepped towards the inside, where a librarian smiled at her pleasantly from behind a huge oak desk.
Tessa shivered in excitement, and she sniffed the air. Ah. Books. Gorgeous, old books.
Tessa quickly found a few books and settled comfily into a giant armchair by a small fireplace.
She opened Pride and Prejudice and snuggled down for a content read.
Leaves continued to swirl outside, and the wind picked up, but Tessa didn't notice, because she was too caught up in Lizzie Bennet's life to notice anything else.
She didn't notice the window panes hitting against each other, and she definitely did not notice the one time when Will Herondale came and sat in the armchair across from her and just stared.
She didn't notice when he left just as silently as he came, and she didn't notice the librarian get up to leave and lock up at closing time.
The lights in the library never went off, and Tessa never realized she was locked in...
~~~o0o~~~
Sooo, short chapter, I know I know, but I promise things will pick up when I get less busy. Anyways, to make up, I've included the library scene where Will is watching Tessa read, in his point of view. I hope you all like it!
Will:
I check my phone. It's almost five thirty now. I look up at the building in front of me.
The library. The oak doors beckon me. I have exactly forty-five minutes to find some books and get my mind off things.
Or thing.
Namely, Tessa Gray.
She is stupidly stuck in my brain. I can't get rid of her. I think I actually like her.
But I can't say it to her. And I can't say it to Jem.
I can't hurt Jem. Not after he told me today about how he and Tessa shared a kiss in the library.
No, I couldn't do that to Jem. Couldn't admit my love to Tessa.
This is why I need to read. Some Shakespeare maybe. Something sad and depressing. Just for kicks.
I enter. It's so familiar to me. I come here often.
The librarian smiles at me. "Hello Mr. Herondale," she says, pushing her cat-eyed spectacles up her narrow nose.
"Hello Mrs. Davenport." I smile at her. She is somebody I like. She's been almost like a grandmother to me. Every so often, she brings me a plate of snickerdoodle cookies while I'm reading. Maybe she will today.
I find the three books I'm looking for, then I go in hunt of a nice armchair.
Today, Mrs. Davenport tells me that only one fireplace is working, so I go to find it.
And I see her.
Tessa.
Curled up on the chair closest to the roaring flame, reading a book. I peer at it. Pride and Prejudice.
I wait for her to notice me, to tell me to leave, but she says nothing. She doesn't even look up.
Maybe it's better that way.
I take a seat opposite her and try to read my books. But now that she's here, I can't concentrate.
So, I read her instead.
I read her expressions as she reads. Every smile, tear, and burst of laughter that escapes her mouth in the forty minutes.
When the forty minute time interval arrives, I take a small breath.
I have to let her read peacefully for the last five minutes before the library closes. It's just the nice thing to do, and since I know I haven't been nice to her, I get up and leave, taking my books with me.
She looked so peaceful, and I hate leaving, but I do, anyways.
I wave goodbye to Mrs. Davenport, and exit the library. The wind whooshes around me, and I smell the air.
Autumn. A melancholy month.
Just like how I'm feeling right now.