Chapter 9

El Tango de Will:

Clary knocked into Jonathan as they walked down the hallway.

"So guess what I did today…" Clary laughed lightly to herself, finding hilarity in the situation. Yes, she'd have to deal with Jocelyn and possibly Luke but that wasn't so bad.

"I can't sorry. Calculus just fried my brain." He shrugged.

"Well my fascist teacher doesn't believe in whispered conversations in her classroom. So now I am stuck in after school detention with Jace, his cousin Will, and Will's best friend Jem. Oh and get this Tessa also was sentenced to detention for arguing with the teacher so yeah me right. I deserve the awesome award." Clary grinned toothily at him.

"Am I supposed to be proud of you? What's next stealing hubcaps and pawning answer keys in the girls' bathroom. Or worse, smoking in the girls' bathroom!" At her brother's surprising reaction Clary's stomach was metaphorically flailing about on the ground between her feet. She swallowed, waiting for her brother to deliver the final disapproving blow. But it didn't come. Instead he curled his arms around her shoulders pulling her into a very uncomfortable hug that consisted of Jon grinning like an idiot and Clary's face mercilessly smashed into his rock hard pectorals.

"Just this once sissy I'll let you get by. I'm sure your teacher was being extremely unreasonable. However, if this is to happen again I will oh so to willingly read the contents of your diary to the whole school at the next school function." He gazed menacingly down on his sister who smirked.

"You don't even know where it is."

"It's shoved underneath your mattress." He said indifferently. Clary hissed turning on her heel. She really ought to think about a lock for her door. But as she was debating the next time she'd visit the hardware store she bumped into her cousin Tessa.

"Can you believe that troll of a woman would give us detention just for speaking against her word? I feel sorry for her husband that's for sure." Tessa growled as the two neared the Library where they were serving their sentences. There were six tables set up, one for each student. Clary took the one closest to the back seeing as how the only other open one was in the front between Will and Jem. Tessa took the seat begrudgingly, deciding instead to glance around the large room and attempt to decipher the reading from that far away. The teacher, Mr. Wayland, came into the room looking as bored as ever. He said this would be over in two hours and we had to read or work on homework for that time.

Tessa slouched down in her chair, letting her legs rest against the table's edge. She flipped her book, Pride and Prejudice open and started to sink into the lovely world of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. Her cousin on the other hand, had retrieved her iPod and sketchbook, flipping it to a new page. Will stood and stretched, then proceeded over to the empty chair next to Tessa. He sat down, snatching the book from her hands.

"Really?" He scoffed, tossing the book on to the table top.

"What? It's a classic!" Tessa growled. Gathering her book back up she shot a glare at Will who only grinned infuriating Tessa more.

"Yeah it's a classic if you're a hopeless romantic."

"Well next time I ask for an opinion on the reading I'll make sure to ask you then won't I. But for the time being I'd like to enjoy the book that I am reading with no negative comments about it whatsoever. Or is that too much to ask of self-important being?" Tessa snipped coldly, gathering her things and moving back to where Clary sat.

"What happened?" Clary huffed, dropping the bit of charcoal on her in progress river landscape.

"I hate him." Tessa shrugged.

"Oh honey surely you don't hate him." Clary tried to coax her cousin into serenity. In reality Clary felt kind of bad for Will. She knew he obviously liked Tessa, but he wasn't doing a very good job at going about and wooing her.

"No? Well I didn't realize that the urge to sever someone's head and mount it on a pike was a showing of affection." Tessa pushed her palms into her eyes.

"Okay so you strongly dislike him…"

"No, Clarissa I hate the guy." Tessa glared over at Clary. Clary grabbed Tessa's hand with her own and stared her down with her bulbous green eyes.

"In through the nose out through the mouth." Clary commanded.

"Clary, this is no time for one of your weird yoga lessons."

"Now Theresa."

"Fine." Tessa started to do as she was told. "How is this supposed to help?"

"Just shut up and concentrate." Clary whispered.

"This is ridiculous." Tessa snatched her hands away.

"Well it was either this or an awkward forty five minutes of listening to Enya. But it's your choice." Clary threw her hands in the air and returned to sketching. The boredom of the situation was getting to Tessa, so she stood and went to search the shelves for a new book. She just picked a name she knew and loved, Perks of Being a Wallflower, and started reading it in one of the secluded corners layered with bean bag chairs and pillows. She felt the space next to her shift as someone sat down next to her.

"Don't you have someone else to bug?" Tessa snapped but soon regretted it when she saw it wasn't Will but Jem.

"Okay, I'll leave."

"No, stay please." Tessa smiled sheepishly feeling a blush creep over her face.

"I wanted to come back here and apologize for what Will said. If it makes you feel better I scolded him." Tessa giggled causing Jem to smile. She liked when he smiled. It was as if he put his whole being into it. She blushed as she realized she was just staring him down. She turned the book so Jem could see the cover. "Have you read this?"

"No actually. I hear the movie is good."

"Oh the book is amazing. All the realistic teen problems are literally thrown into this one 9th graders life. It's just amazing really."

"I like the way you talk about books." Jem gave her a small smile.

"Thanks. Books are a passion of mine really. What about you? Is there anything you're really fervent about?"

"Uh…you promise you won't laugh?"

"Of course not! Scouts honor!"

"Okay, well I like to play the violin."

"No kidding?"

"Nope."

"I wish I was musically talented but alas I was born with no musical bone in my body."

"That's a shame."

"Oh believe me I wish I was. You know a fun fact about me I only listen to Clair de Lune because I wish I could play it."

"It's a beautiful piece. You know Jace plays the piano, maybe he could teach you." Jem smiled and Tessa returned it.

"So when did you learn how to play the violin?" Tessa had discarded the book and put her full attention into Jem.

"I learned how to play it in Shanghai when I was younger. My mother and father both appreciated music and encouraged me in learning to play."

"Oh you used to live in China? Well that's cool."

"Yeah, my parents and I moved here because my father had inherited half of the Carstair's wealth and my grandfather's company."

"Who owns the other half then?"

"My uncle Elias, but it's mostly my father's because Elias is still pretty young and he just got married."

"Oh that's sweet." Tessa cooed. She had always been somewhat of a hopeless romantic so just the drop of the word marriage made her swoon.

"What about you though?" Jem smiled and nudged Tessa's shoulder.

"Well I live with my aunt, Jocelyn, and uncle, Luke. My parents died when I was little. So my aunt adopted Nate and I and we've been her children ever since."

"Oh I see."

"I miss my mom sometimes. When I was younger I used to cry every night missing her and her scent. My aunt would sometimes have to come in and lay down with me until I fell asleep. I consider her my mom now. It hit Nate harder though. I was only three when they died but Nate was five close to six. He didn't cry as much as I did but he never wanted to play. At one point my aunt had to send him to a clinic to have him checked out. But he's better now. We're better." Tessa smiled sadly. She was absentmindedly playing with the necklace that had been given to her for her seventh birthday. It had been her mothers.

"My parents died too." Jem said softly. This caught Tessa by surprise. Her breath hitched in her throat and she turned to Jem.

"Do…do you want to talk about it?"

"Yeah."

"You don't have to. You don't need to feel that you have to tell me because I told you. I'd understand."

"No, you deserve to know. I think that even though I met you only a few days ago that you're going to be important in my life. It's kind of a gut feeling I suppose. I felt the same thing with you that I felt with Will. A kind of connection." Jem shrugged. Tessa just nodded and stared at his wan face. It was a hard thing to do. Talk about someone who you loved yet they weren't really there anymore. Tessa understood what Jem was saying though because she had just done the same thing. She had never talked to anyone outside her family about her parent's death. But for some reason she had just dropped it on Jem, a boy she hardly knew.

Jem cleared his throat nervously. "You know how I said my father inherited half of the family business? Well it was worth a lot of money. My family was worth a lot of money." He paused to look at Tessa. "When I was about seven or eight my father had fired one of the employees, Yanluo Lijiang, the head of the China branch. He tried to hit on my mother while we were visiting for some deal and after he had been let go he saw it as my mother's fault that he had been fired. In retaliation he took all three of us captive. To torture my parents he injected me with some drug that was mostly sugar. He killed my father first and when the police finally arrived my mother had also died from stab wounds. The police took me to the hospital for tests. I was then diagnosed with type 2 diabetes from the constant injections. I remember being alone. Somehow I ended up back in New York with my uncle. He wasn't my legal guardian however because of his age so I was sent to live with my god parents Charlotte and Henry. Henry now runs my father's part of the company here in California and Uncle Elias runs the part in New York. I'll inherit the business after college we've decided." Jem smiles at Tessa, but tears are blurring her eyes. She notices that his eyes as well are slightly tearing up.

"I'm sorry Jem." Tessa pulls him into a tight embrace. He rubs her back.

"It's okay. I'm okay really." Jem sits back and smiles.

"Well isn't this just heart warming? Sadly I ran out of film for my mental camera so I can't capture this tender moment." Will smirks as he leans against one of the book cases.

"You're heartless." Tessa glared up at Will.

"Oh I'm heartless? Well we can't all be perfect like you." Will grinned.

"William, that's enough. Leave her alone." Jem seethed. Will's grin dropped and his eyes widened as he loss hilarity in the situation. Tessa could tell that Jem rarely yelled at Will or rarely lost his temper with anyone. He was just that kind of person. Will was taken aback by his friend's reaction however. But a split second later he had recovered. He bowed which in Tessa's opinion was somewhat racist towards Jem.

"As you wish Master James." And with that he left the two alone. After a few moments Jem turned back to Tessa.

"I'm sorry about Will. He usually isn't like this, he's not this cruel."

"He hates me. I get it." Tessa shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"Quite the opposite actually. You interest him. He may even like you." Jem snorted.

"Well the feeling isn't exactly mutual." Tessa grinned. There was a little awkward silence before Jem spoke.

"Tessa, I was wondering if maybe we could go get something to eat after we get out of here."

"Sure, that sounds great." Tessa beamed.

So the flu sucks…I promise I was going to update last week but my new job started and then Saturday I threw up. Sunday was probably the worst and finally I was able to eat successfully on Monday. But die to missing school on Monday I had a back up on Geometry homework and I had to finish this really annoying reading assignment. I rarely hate books but this book my English teacher is having us read is just not my cup of tea. But I am feeling better and have successfully taken the homework by the tail and bludgeoned it unmercifully. Now if only I can find a way to get through my job. To those who are looking for jobs refuse taking a secretary job for H & R block during tax season. But it'll get better right? Right?

Any who make my life extremely happier by reviewing or following or favoriting the story. When you review you make me feel committed to updating to please you honestly.

(Air hugs to you all!) –Emma