Chapter 6: Love Bites

Tessa twisted her hair back into a chignon about an hour before they had to leave for school. Tessa was pretty nervous today because this would be the first day she'd see and possibly talk to him since the party. It had surprised her when he had not called to say hi, ask her out, or even check on her condition. So it wasn't that big of a deal but it still angered Tessa that he didn't have the decency to call. Maybe he wanted her to call she had thought, but every time she had he wasn't home, according to Cecily. Was Will avoiding her? He probably was, thinking she was desperate or something along those lines. So that's why Tessa had decided to react as if his little hero act was just a kind gesture and nothing more. She stabbed a pencil to keep the twist in place.

Will looked at the clock, rolling over. He still had another half hour before he had to get up or be dragged from the bed by his sister who was now singing away in the shower down the hall. He tried to close his eyes but all he saw was big grey ones that seemed to sparkle. He had been thinking of Tessa for the majority of the weekend. He attempted to shake it out though. He couldn't like her though. Because if he did, she'd turn to ash in his hands, metaphorically speaking. That's what happened with Ella. He had decided this the night of the party. That night he had dreamt of his older sister. Her face flashing against his eyes like a slideshow, showing her laughing, smiling, glaring, and then her face at the wake. Pale and peaceful as if she was sleeping, but she wasn't Will had known. Strange that when you look at something still it appears to be moving the way it had appeared her chest was moving but it wasn't. Ella was dead and it was Will's fault. He pressed his palms into his eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

Tessa yanked at her lock, it finally clicked and slipped into her hand. She dug through the stacks of books that crowded the bottom of her locker, finally coming back up with her copy of Wuthering Heights. It was reading day in her advisory and she decided she would refresh her memory of Heathcliffe and his extreme sexiness. Okay the Tom Hardy version of the movie had literally ruined her perception of Heathcliffe's physical appearance. She caught sight of inky black hair in her peripheal vision. She turned abruptly, leaving her locker open but she didn't seem to notice.

"Will!" He stopped dead in his tracks, and turned to face her. It took everything she had not to gasp at his appearance. He had bags under those gorgeous eyes and his hair was disheveled and his face was very pale. "Will are you okay? You look like you're going to be sick." Tessa walked over to him, her foot just happened to catch at the hem of her jeans causing her to lose her footing. She felt herself start to fall but was then enveloped in strong arms. She looked up at Will who smirked down at her. She dropped her hands away and stepped back to pick up her book.

"Wuthering Heights? Too sappy for me." Will noted. "By the way you should be careful, I can't always be there to catch you." He winked. Tessa fought back a sneer. That was a little rude. "What do you want?" Will looked down on her. Someone is grumpy she thought. She shrugged and pursed her lips trying to look nonchalant.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping me at the party. So thank you." Tessa cocked her head, gave him a fake smile and turned on her heel, kicking her locker door shut as she passed. "Nice seeing you by the way." She called over her shoulder. What was up with Will? He was nothing but nice to her at the party. What the hell?

Tessa was walking to the library, and as she neared a corner someone flew into her, knocking her to the ground. She heard a thump next to her and was happy to see the other body had bumped to the ground as well.

"Oh my God! I am so sorry, I wasn't looking and then boom." A very attractive looking boy stared at Tessa. He looked foreign with his dark hair that was possibly darker than William's and brown eyes. He smiled as if his whole heart was devoted to that one gesture. "Are you okay?" He looked over at her, concern crossed his face.

"Oh I'm fine. I wasn't looking either so it wasn't your fault." Tessa waved off. The boy stood, stretching a hand down to her to help her up. She took it with a smile and let him pull her up.

"I'm James Carstairs, but everyone calls me Jem." He still had hold of Tessa's hand and shook it lightly.

"I'm Theresa Gray, but everyone calls me Tessa." Tessa smiled up. He looked at her with slight recollection.

"Oh yeah! You're Clary's sister aren't you?" He grinned and Tessa nodded.

"You're friends with Will aren't you?"

"Sadly, I am."

"I actually just ran into him. He's in a pretty sour mood today." Tessa noted.

"Really? He seemed fine this morning. Oh well. So where are you off too?" Tessa tried to not think about that first part.

"The library."

"Oh I'll walk you." They turned around the corner. "So why aren't you dressed up for Spirit Week? Aren't you a cheerleader? I thought it was kind of mandatory."

"I don't know. I might dress up for Favorite Movie Character day. And I'm not a cheerleader anymore. I was disowned for dancing with Will at Alec's party." Tessa looked ahead.

"Wow I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up. Sometimes I am such a ditz." Jem chuckled.

"No it's fine, you didn't know and I honestly don't care. I just thought if I got on with the Cheerios I'd have a chance at this school. You know?" Tessa glanced up at Jem.

"Yeah, but you don't need to be friends with those ugly souled girls. By the way I like that Glee referance." Jem smiled and Tessa giggled. She liked Jem, he had a genuine kindness to him and Tessa liked him. He was kind of a Mr. Bingley in a way. Tessa smiled.

Many of you read my other story Love To so you know I've been very busy lately what with the school semester coming to a close. Plus I had the chapter about ¼ of the way done and my dad broke the computer so he kidnapped it today. Now I am on my dad's DJ laptop (yes he's a part-time dj). Any who I shall attempt to update this weekend but I can't make any promises. And just a little author's note I didn't know how to explain Jem being sick so I am just using his appearance in the epilogue of Clockwork Princess. I don't want Jem to be sick because I kind of love him so… please leave a review of what you think and I really want to thank everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed. You guys are freaking awesome :) Plus if any of you have a good idea of how Ella died I'd love to know because I have a few but they aren't amazing.

Heart - Emma