Thanks for the reviews guys! I'm glad you're liking the story!
Disclaimer: Anything that doesn't sound original is Cassie Clare's.
Tessa woke up the next morning to her alarm buzzing. She checked her phone. 6:30. She got out of bed and quietly made her way to the wardrobe. Tori was asleep and facing the wall. Tessa pulled out her school uniform and made her way into the bathroom. She stepped into the shower, the hot water waking her up. She stepped out and wrapped a towel around herself. She took the uniform out of its packet and stared at it. There were 4 skirts, 2 in black, 1 in white and 1 in navy blue. There were 3 white shirts, made of thin material and long sleeved. There were also two navy blue shirts of the same material and length. There was also a blazer with the school emblem on it, for chilly days. Tessa put on a white shirt and black skirt. The skirt hit her mid-thigh, a little short Tessa's taste. She sighed before she gathered the rest of her clothes in her arms and made her way barefoot out of the bathroom. Victoria was still in bed, snoozing away, even though it was nearly 7. Tessa figured she should wake her up.
"Tori, wake up. It's seven o'clock. You have class in an hour, get up."
Victoria covered her face with a pillow. "No Tessa, don't make me."
"Get up Tori."
"No."
Tessa had to take the other girl by the arms and literally drag her out of bed. She hit the floor in a heap.
"Alright, I'm up! I'm up!" she said, standing up and raising her arms in surrender. She walked over to her wardrobe and when she opened it, half a dozen pairs of shoes fell. She began to swear colorfully in English and French. She shoved the shoes into the wardrobe, leaving a pair of boots out and stalked into the bathroom, coming out 15 minutes later, dressed in a navy shirt and the white skirt, looking much more awake. She smiled. "That's better. Grab your book bag and we'll head over to the dining room for breakfast. Tessa nodded and grabbed her bag along with Tori's, handing it to her. "Thank you Tessa. How did I function this long without a roommate?" she said as they exited the room.
"Because one of us would wake you up every morning" said a voice from behind them. They turned to find Sophie and Cecily leaving their room, dressed in the uniform. "Very true." They made their way to breakfast in silence, still groggy from sleep. They were the first ones to arrive, and they retreated to the table in the center. While Tessa and Sophie opted to eat lightly and took just fruit and a slice of toast, Cecy and Tori loaded up with eggs and bacon. Tori began to explain the schedules as they ate.
"Alright, so you have first period chemistry with me and Jem today. That isn't the case everyday. The schedule rotates through eight periods. You have all eight periods on Mondays, and you drop two each day for the rest of the week. You have next period math with Sophie and Mark, who's behind a year. You have history with Will and Thomas. You have English with me and Will. You have French with Gabriel and Sophie. Since you're enrolled here for the Writing diploma, you had to pick two writing electives. Will's the only one us doing that program, and coincidently, you both chose the same extra electives, European Literature and Creative Writing. You also have a mandatory fitness class and mandatory free period, which occur every other day. You'll have those classes once or twice a week instead of four times like the others. Any questions?" Tessa had one. "What exactly happens in the free period?" "We'll, it's an hour you have to do anything you want. You can go to the library, make up work, meet with a teacher if they're available, do homework, whatever you want. I usually go the library unless the free period is first period. Then I sleep in for an extra hour" she said, wiggling her fingers. "You did that a lot of mornings anyways."
This comment came from Mark, who had appeared with Gideon. "Hasn't anyone told you? I don't take nonsense from the peanut gallery " replied Victoria scathingly. He sat next to her, while Gideon took a seat next to Sophie. Victoria had finished her breakfast, and was neatly setting her used napkin in the center of the table. "The boys usually come down a little later, closer to the start of class. Although, like Mark said, I could've given most of them a run for their money with the amount of tardy detentions I scraped up last semester. I should probably try to be on time" she said to Tessa.
At that moment, they were joined by Gabriel and Will. Will dropped into the empty seat next to Tessa, much to her annoyance, while Gabriel sat on his other side. From what the boys were wearing, Tessa deduced that the boy's uniform consisted of khaki, black or navy pants with either a yellow, navy or white shirt. Will picked up Tessa's apple and took a bite out of it, setting it back on her plate. "Jem and Thomas are heading straight to class, they weren't feeling very hungry. Which is probably good for them, especially Thomas, because he has Anatomy first period. Who knows what they'll dissect" he said. "Oh stop, Will. It's not like pig dissection happens on the first day of class."
Tessa choked on her orange juice with Cecily's response. She looked at her apple in disgust before she gently shoved it back towards Will. " Did you really have to do that? Here, I wasn't hungry anyways." "I only wanted the one bite" he said. Victoria stood up, hoping to do some damage control before it was really needed. "Will, either eat the apple or toss it. Tessa, grab another one on the way out. We'd better get going; I'm not going to let Mr. Cartwright mark me late on the first day. We'll see you guys later." Tessa and Victoria stood to leave, leaving their plates near on a stand near the trash.
They made their way to the cellar of the school. "All of the science labs are here. It's the newest part of the school, being constructed about ten years ago" Victoria explained to Tessa as she pushed in a big glass door, leading into a white, pristine lab. It looked like something straight out of a college. Victoria led Tessa to the back, where Jem was already seated at a lab table, scrolling through his phone. He grinned when he saw Tessa and Tori. "Morning. I can see you're on time today." Each table had space for two students, so Tori let Tessa sit next to Jem while she sat in front of them, swiveled on her stool to face them, her elbows on the their table. She scowled at him. "I know I've had an issue with being on time to class, but why has everyone insisted on picking on me all morning?" "Because it's easy to annoy you." She scowled at him again before she turned to talk to a girl who had just arrived. Jem turned to Tessa.
"Good morning. Did you sleep alright?" "I'm fine. I'm still jet-lagged, so I was up for a while." "You'll get used to it. My mother is Chinese, so we often travel to China to visit relatives. The time-difference between here and there is a bit more than the time difference between here and New York, so I get what you're going through." At that moment, Mr. Cartwright walked in with a stack of books, and began distributing them to each student. When he saw Tori, he smiled. "Ms. Montclaire, I see you have decided to grace us with your punctuality today." The entire class burst into a fit of laughter, causing Victoria to redden. "Honestly, guys. It's not like I was late to every single class last year!" Tessa gave her an apologetic smile and turned to , excited to start the new year.
Tessa's morning went by in a blur. Each class was fast-paced and rigorous, and Tessa arrived at lunch already loaded with reading in Chemistry, 50 problems of review from math and she had to read Of Mice and Men for English class by Wednesday. She dropped her loaded book-bag near their table, sighing as she sat down. "Already tired? Wait until next week, that's when they really start cracking down." She looked up to find Will lowering himself into the seat beside her, a sandwich in his plate. "Where is everyone else?" she asked."They'll be coming." The European Literature classroom was right near the dining the hall, so Tessa and Will had been the first to arrive. Tessa couldn't wait for the others to arrive; Will had chewed her brains throughout European Lit. Tessa had barely made it in time to class, and the only empty seat in the class happened to be next to Will. He then proceeded to fill her notebook with crude drawings, and then make nasty comments about the number of questions she asked. Cecily slipped into the empty seat on Tessa's other side, a salad on her plate. "What a morning. Apparently, they've replaced Ms. Durham with a new bat who goes by the name of Ms. Worthinghall. I have so much history homework to do because of her." She angrily stabbed a piece of lettuce, shoving it into her mouth. Victoria rushed in at that moment, pulling Tessa to her feet.
"All of you bring your stuff, we're eating outside today. It's so nice out and our tree is free." They made their way to the academic courtyard, and found the others seated on a blanket. They were already plowing through lunch, a book open in front of each of them. Lunch was a quiet affair, as everyone wanted to get a head start on their homework. Tessa's afternoon went by quickly, and soon it was three o'clock. She didn't really know what to do, so she made her way to the dorm, where she found Victoria in the process of changing into shorts and a tank-top.
"Why are you in such a rush?" asked Tessa, setting herself on her bed. "Tessa, I don't know how I forgot to mention this, but I play on the girl's football team during the fall, and on the tennis team in the spring. I have practice every day from 3:30 to 5:30, and games on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting tomorrow. Don't expect me back before 5:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and I'll be gone from 6-8 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I've gotta run, so I'll see you later. Oh, and don't be in the bathroom when I get back." With that whirlwind discussion, she dashed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. "Well, it was nice talking to you too" Tessa muttered. She didn't want to start doing her homework; she had just spent all day in classes. She changed into a casual blue dress, with beige birds printed over it. She was in the process of deciding what to do when she heard a knock at the door.
She opened it to find Jem and Will standing there. "Hello. We were wondering if you would like to come into London with us. We weren't in the mood to start homework, and Victoria just ran by with her football gear. I figured you might need some company." said a smiling Jem. Tessa stared at him and a sullen Will, who was leaning against the wall opposite the door, hands in his pocket.
"How long were you planning on staying out?"
"Until six-ish" replied Jem.
"Alright, let me grab my bag." Tessa scooped up a cross-body bag and slung it on her shoulder, closing the door behind her. "Lets go!"
Jem and Will took her to Trafalgar Square, where there were plenty of shops and cafes nearby. Tessa took pictures on her phone of the popular tourist attraction, and then the three of them had some gelato from a nearby vendor. Jem was talking animatedly, explaining all the things Tessa had to see in London. Will was silent, occasionally slipping in a sarcastic comment here and there. Tessa felt rejuvenated when she entered the dorm a little after six. She found Victoria lying flat on her bed, reading Of Mice and Men. Her was damp from her shower, and she was dressed in the same sweatpants and top as the night before, hair in a ponytail. She sat up when Tessa entered.
"Hello, I saw the note you left me. Did you have fun?"
"I had really good time. Jem was good company, and we went to Trafalgar Square."
"Glad to hear it. Anyways, I'm going to try to finish this before dinner" she said, waving the book.
Tessa nodded and slipped into the bathroom, showering and changing into casual clothes. She worked on homework until eight o'clock, when Tori got up and said she was going to head down for a bite to eat. Sophie, Thomas and Gideon were at their table, nearly finished with the meal.
Victoria dropped next to Thomas, who seemed to be half asleep over a piece of chicken. She slapped him playfully on the back of his head."Wake up, Thomas!" He groaned before he propped his head into his hands, picking at the remainder of his dinner. Victoria turned to Tessa. "We don't always eat together. We try, but everyone has such different schedules, especially with sports. Cecily plays rugby, and her schedule includes games on Saturdays. Gideon also plays football. In the winter, Will swims while Gabriel and Mark play hockey. In the spring, Sophie and I play tennis, while Cecily and Jem are on the athletics team. And everyone is involved in some student organization or another. Remind me to give you a list of the student organizations when we get back to the room. You should probably join one or two." Tessa nodded as Sophie started to speak. "Hey Tessa. We came down as Cecily and Mark were finishing dinner. Will and Jem haven't shown up yet, but they'll probably be here later. And Thomas said that Gabriel wasn't feeling well, so he's skipping on dinner tonight." Victoria raised an eyebrow at that comment.
"Oh really? Thomas, are you going to your room after this?"
"I left all my stuff in the library, Tori.I haven't been to the room since I left at six, and I didn't plan on going back just yet."
"Alright, I'll bring him something to eat then." She got up, and tossed the remains of her pasta, picking up a plate of salad on the way out.
Tessa finished the rest of her dinner, and took a longer route back to the dorm with Sophie. The path took them outside, into the brisk evening air. They walked by the pond. Noticing a few ducks on the bank, the girls walked over to them and tossed a few bits of croutons that Sophie had brought out. "Sophie, what exactly happened with the ducks from last year?" asked Tessa. Sophie began to laugh.
"I really shouldn't be laughing, but Victoria had suggested that we take the ducks from the pond and stick them in Will's bed, who had borrowed her statue of the Eiffel Tower for an art class and somehow managed to break it. It was one of her father's prized possessions. Well, for some reason, Will has always hated ducks, so you can imagine the amount of screaming we heard when Will discovered them on his pillow. Needless to say, he was not happy, and Victoria spent a week in detention for it. But to this day, she claims it was worth every shelf she cleaned for Ms. Durham ." Tessa laughed at her story. She could just picture an angry, screaming Will. Sophie shivered as a gusty wind blew by them. "Let's go. I still have homework to do and I want to go to bed early." Tessa nodded and the girls made their way back to the dormitory. Tessa went to her room and finished up whatever homework she had the energy for before she passed out in her bed at ten o'clock, lights still on.
This chapter was a little dull, but I wrote it to establish a routine. I hope you guys like it! Let me know what you think!
In other news, I finished reading The Midnight Heir yesterday, and I was an emotional wreck afterwards. I also learned that 2 am is not a good time for reading. =\