SilverCarstairs: WHY WOULD SHE BE RELIEVED IF IT LANDED ON NATE? I don't know. Making out with your brother is a little to Sebas and Clary for my taste. That would be a hella plot twist! Lmao
I Love Will Herondale: Sorry I'm upping the score to Jem: 3 and Will: 1. Oops! :3
frytjeeeh: Thanks, but I'm keeping it strictly Jillessa for now. Sorry if you're disappointed!
Misskelly: We'll see, I guess... :3
rjacobs: I'm glad! Hope you're just as excited for this one!
bow down to me peasants: IKR?! I loved the ending soooo much! Katniss' face was amazing, Francis captured it so well.
claire: Thanks. You'll find out...
Guest: Jem: 3 Will: 1
Personorwhatever: Sorry, but I do have a reason for my absence which will be down in the author's note.
Guest: Don't worry. I know exactly what you mean. I felt the same way for a while after reading the books. Thanks for reading!
Guest: I'm assuming this is Wessa's score, hmmm? :)
Guest: I'm kind of having an inner battle with my brain on whether or not I should give out spoilers or not, but nope, sorry. Ain't happening. Thanks for reading!
Guest: Contradicting, a bit? Thanks for your review!
Percabethlvrknowsall: Ok then...
DISCLAIMER: I'M PRETTY SURE WE'VE ALREADY ESTABLISHED THAT I'M NOT CASSIE...
Jem gave Tessa a sincere smile when he saw who the bottle pointing at him. It wasn't a smirk like Will's, but a kind, encouraging, and genuine smile on his face. Tessa was frozen to her where she was standing. Jem took hold of Tessa's hand and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles as a reassuring gesture. A very short, blonde girl held open the door to Arabelle's closet.
"Your sevren finutes is carting now," Tessa heard Gideon say. She couldn't hear him very well from inside the closet. The closet wasn't very big and was completely dark except the door was bringing light into the closet from the very edges of the door. The light barely made Jem's silver hair visible.
She grasped onto the clockwork angel hanging around her neck. Of course Jem wouldn't make her do anything that she wouldn't want to. Tessa then realized her grip was getting progressively tighter on his hand, nearly to the point of a death grip. She released her hand a bit, but Jem squeezed her hand again for only a second.
Jem slid down the wall and to the floor, letting go of her hand. Tessa followed right after and sat next to him on the floor, her right knee touching his left. "So," began Jem, "this is rather awkward."
Tessa didn't say anything, she just nodded. Jem looked at her with compassion and said, "You do know we don't have to do anything, right?"
"Yeah, I know," said Tessa looking down at her knees.
"I don't know why the upperclassmen think that these dares are so funny. They really aren't. They're all kind of embarrassing, you wouldn't believe what I had to do last year," said Jem.
Tessa, know looking up at Jem with one eyebrow cocked higher up on her face than the other one, asked, "What exactly did you have to do, Carstairs?"
"I had to flip off a five meter platform onto pavement," said Jem with a smile starting to break across his face, "I screwed up my wrist, but two days later I had to go practice because I couldn't tell Coach about it for the reason that it involved leaving the dorm after 10 o'clock." Jem started to crack up with a chuckle. "It hurt like heck for weeks after that. It was horrible; the worst way to start Year 9 ever."
Tessa couldn't help but laugh out loud. With her luck there were probably a few people listening in to the closet that would probably think that they were doing something other than just talking, but she didn't really care right now. "That would be pretty horrible," she stuttered out between laughs, gasping for breath. "You're lucky you didn't crack your head open!"
"I didn't even have the worst dare," said Jem, "that honor went to Will. His dare was horrible and everybody watched it to make sure he did it, too. Your brother had a pretty bad dare a few years ago, as well. His is the stuff of legend."
Tessa made note in her mind to ask Jem about this later. Tessa asked with a small snort, "What could be worse that hurting your wrist for weeks on the first weekend of school?"
"No, there is worse," he said as he smiled at his knees, "Will had to break into the pool and skinny dip. Nothing was supposed to go wrong until Lightwood walked into the pool and got pretty angry with Will," said Jem. "Of course Will is a bit sassy, so he talked back and got himself suspended from the first two meets and had to put in an extra hour in the water for three weeks after that stint. It did get him respect from most of the older kids."
"Well, it kind of serves him right. He is a jerk sometimes," said Tessa. "I really don't think he likes me very much. I can't blame him much though, I didn't make a very good first impression."
Jem looked at her with a concerned face and took Tessa's hand again, "You really can't blame yourself, Tessa. Will is a jerk sometimes, it's in his nature," said Jem. "And Will certainly doesn't hate you. After all, he chose to sponsor you."
Tessa was shocked. Her eyes wide and mouth agape she said, "He chose me? But why would he choose me? He doesn't like me at all!"
"He likes you, Tessa. I think he likes the way you manage him. Well, he probably doesn't like it, but he certainly has respect for it," said Jem. "You were actually my first choice, but Will got to choose first,so…"
Tessa was silent with unbelief. "Even if Will is mean to you, he's mean to everyone at one time or another, Tessa. You're obviously very smart and witty to match Will, you're so kind and patient, and," his eyes scanned across her face, "ni hen piao liang.
Tessa's eyebrows furrowed, "What does that mean?"
"Your hair's coming undone," said Jem. He tucked a strand that had come out of her ponytail back behind her ear. His hand lingered on the side of her neck. His hand eventually cupped her neck.
He leaned in a bit as did Tessa. Her eyes darted closed and, before she knew it, his lips were on hers. His lips were soft at first. He then brought his fingers up her neck and into her hair, dishevelling her ponytail and making her hair fall down and over her shoulders and collarbone. The kiss deepened as Tessa wrapped her biceps around Jem's neck. Tessa's heart was hammering in her chest. She was afraid Jem would hear.
A knock came on the door and they broke apart quickly. "Thirty seconds to put yourselves together," said Gideon. Tessa could imagine him saying this with a grin.
Jem smiled at her and brought his band back to her neck. "You're beautiful, Tessa."
This caught Tessa off guard. Tessa's eyes were wide as she inquired in astonishment, "Wait, what?"
"You're beautiful Tessa. I sincerely mean that," said Jem. Jem clambered to his feet and offered a hand to Tessa. This time, Tessa's lips were on his first.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a few angry PMs from a few Wessa shippers after this chapter, but don't worry, it is Jillessa for right now. Gaaahhhh, I feel like such a horrible person right now. I left you guys for two weeks with a cliffy, but I am proud to announce that, as of 8:53 p.m. CST last Saturday, I reached my goal of 50,000 words! VIRTUAL MANGOES TO YOU ALL! Thanks so much for whatever you have done to contribute to this story be it reviewing, following, favoriting, or even just visiting! HELLA THANKS! I enjoy writing this story so much, and to make up for my absence, I have two more post queued for this week. I'll probably see y'all on Wednesday. Until, then THANKS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!
THANKS ~Calliope