Hello =) So here's chapter 6, like I promised. Enjoy!
To LizzyLuvYou: Chris is Tessa's best friend, and I wanted him to have a special nickname for Tessa. Will already has claim to the name Tess, and Tera was the next best thing I could think of. Thank you for the F&F!
Gabriel's POV
The next morning, Gabriel blinked awake to see sunlight streaming through the tall glass windows. He sat up groggily, suddenly remembering he was at home, and not in his dorm. In broad daylight, he could see the mess he and Victoria had made of his room from the night before. He saw his pants and her dress scattered on the floor, along with the scrunched up throw rug. Victoria wasn't anywhere in sight, and it wasn't until he sniffed a whiff of something sweet that he guessed where she might be. He walked over to his closet and pulled on a pair of sweatpants, deciding to forego the shirt. He made his way downstairs and into the kitchen, where he found Tori, wiping something off the stove that was settled in front of the window. He smiled when he saw her. She was dressed in just his light blue shirt from the night before, open at the collar. She turned when she heard the door opening, and grinned at him.
"Good morning! I made you breakfast" she said, gesturing to the plate she had set at the breakfast bar. A crepe, true to her French lineage. She had also made their favorite kind, with strawberries and chocolate. She sat down on the other side, a plate in front of her too. They both ravenously, having eaten minimally the night before. Satisfied, Gabriel licked his fingers, and pushed his plate away, leaning his elbows on the table. He could see Victoria raking his torso with her eyes. He wiggled his eyebrows at her.
"I know I'm gorgeous Tori, but I don't think that staring at me is going to help anything." She raised an eyebrow at him, pushing her own plate away. "Oh, so you thought that I was staring at you? Well, two can play at this game." She stood up from the bar stool, and slowly undid the top button of Gabriel's shirt. He rolled his eyes and took her hand away from the button, pulling her over to his side of the stopped her in between his knees, pulling her close to him. She cupped his head in her hands. "Tori" he started "I was kidding. I love you to the moon and back. You know that." He leaned into her and kissed her once before he pulled away. "So what are the plans for today?" Tori smiled at him regretfully. "I should probably go back to Institute." Gabriel looked at her, confused. "Tori, I do want you here-" "Gabe, I didn't mean it like that. I need to do my homework today, because I'm going to hang out with Will and Jem tomorrow. I should probably check up on Tessa too." He took her hands and kissed them once. 'Alright, if you insist." "It'll be good practice staying away from each other. It's character building." With that, she slipped out of his grasp, and made her way upstairs.
She put on her dress from the previous night, and left Gabriel's clothes folded on his bed. Holding her shoes and bag in her hand, she made her way to the front door, where Gabriel was waiting. She gave him a tight hug. "When are you coming back?" she asked. "Probably tomorrow afternoon. Father wanted me look for some papers in his study for a meeting he has in Shanghai tomorrow. I could do with a break from Institute." "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then." They kissed once more and he watched as Tori made her way to the street, and hailed a cab, tossing her things into the back seat and riding away.
Tessa's POV
Tessa was woken up the next morning by a loud knock on her door. The sun was already up and shining away. Tessa rubbed her eyes and stumbled towards the door, opening it to reveal Jem and Will. Jem grinned. "Morning. We figured it might be a good idea to bring you breakfast, since the kitchen staff was already clearing away most of the food. Tessa blinked again. "What time is it?" Will checked his watch. "It's nearly 11." Tessa moved away from the dor. "Come in, then." The boys picked their way into the room, and Jem set the toast, fruit and coffee on Tessa's desk, which happened to be the only clean spot in the room. The boys took a seat in each of the desk chairs, turning towards Tessa who was sitting on the edge of her bed. "Tessa, how are you feeling now?" asked Jem. Tessa took a sip of the coffee. "Better. I think I've slept most of the alcohol off." He nodded.
"James?"
"Hmm?"
"What happened?" Jem opened his mouth to speak, but it was Will who launched into the story, explaining how he pulled Tessa away from Scott, and how they came back. Tessa was filled relief and confusion. She was glad that nothing had happened, but since when was Will so kind? It was a little unnerving."If it wasn't for your own stupidity, you wouldn't have been in that situation anyways" he concluded, leaning back in his chair. Tessa's jaw dropped. He would find a way to be a jerk.
"What do you mean, my stupidity? The only thing I did was have a drink, which, if I remember correctly, everyone did."
"What could you possibly remember, you were passed out for most of the night."
Tessa rose to her feet. "Why did you bother helping me then, if I was such a nuisance?" He stood too, matching her glare.
"Because I had nothing better to do."
"You never seem to have anything useful to do, do you?"
"There's plenty of use in the useless if you care to look for it."
"Spare me, Will. You should've just let me get molested then. It's not like you care what happens to me. It's not like you care about what happens to anyone."
Will's eyes widened, and he made his way out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Tessa groaned and sank onto her bed. She regretted the words the minute she'd said them. Jem was staring at her, mouth open.
"Tessa, I know you didn't mean, but you should know that Will does care about you. He cares about everyone. In fact, he's made it sort of his job to look after everyone since his sister died."
Tessa looked at Jem curiously. "Sister? He had another one?"
Jem nodded. "Ella. She was one of the kindest people, but one night, when she was coming home from an ice-cream place, she was hit by a truck. It took her two days to die, the poor thing. Will hasn't really been the same since then."
"Then why is he so sarcastic all the time?"
"It's his way of telling people that he's fine. That he doesn't need anything else."
"I should apologize."
"Yes, you should, but not right now. Give him some time, and go to the library in the afternoon. I usually find him there when he's in a bad mood."
Tessa nodded and bit into a piece of toast, wondering what on earth she was ever going to do with Will Herondale.
From here on, the story is from Tessa's POV unless explicitly stated.
She had taken a shower, and was dressed in jeans and a striped long-sleeved shirt to battle the October chill. Jem had gone to the music room to work on a piece for a competition, so Tessa enlisted Sophie's and Cecily's help, and Tori's once she'd come back to the dorm, to clean up the mess in their dorm. Once the room was neat, Tessa had grabbed two cups of tea from the beverage bar in the dining hall, and went to the library to find Will. She didn't have the patience to search the whole library, so she started with the corner where they had first run into each other. She was lucky, and she found him reading Wuthering Heights on a window bench, completely engrossed in it. Tessa sat opposite him on the seat.
He didn't look up until Tessa had cleared her throat. "I know I'm not the Queen of England, but would you care to have a cup of tea with me?" she said, holding the extra cup out like a peace offering. He eyeballed it over the book and pulled his feet down, dog-earing the book and taking the cup of tea from her. They both stared at the cup in their hands until Will said "Tessa, you didn't come here to have tea with me. What do you want?"
Still looking down at her cup, Tessa said "I want to apologize for being so rude this morning. I had no right to say what I did. You were only looking after me, as you do with everyone. I am sorry."
Another awkward pause. "I should not have been so rude either, saying that you brought Scott onto you. And for that, I apologize" Will said.
They looked at each other from the corners of their eyes, and smiled. Tessa picked up Wuthering Heights with her free hand. "I thought you hated this book. You called me fickle-minded for it, remember?" He laughed. "I had, but I was reading it again, just to see if there was anything I missed. I clearly didn't." She rolled her eyes, but grinned despite herself. And they sat there, dwindling away the rest of the afternoon, talking about books and sipping tea. For once, they had a peaceful conversation, without screaming, arguments or slamming of objects.
From here on, the story is in Tessa's POV, unless explicitly stated.
Within a few weeks, the brisk autumn weather was turning into a bleak November. It rained for days on end, and with everyone kept inside all the time, tempers were bound to get high. Fall sports ended, so Tessa often played victim to a surly and stressed Tori, who didn't have something to keep her busy in the winters. However, Tori really lost her temper one day at dinner, causing a spectacle in front of the entire student body.
The school was having a semi formal dinner one Monday night, in an attempt to raise some spirits. And everyone was in a good mood, laughing and chatting even after they'd been finished eating. Out of nowhere, a girl appeared and tapped Tori on the shoulder. "Tori, I haven't spoken to you in a while." Tessa watched everyone at the table suck in a breath. Tessa, who sometimes forgot she was the new one, looked over at Sophie. She shook her head, indicating that she would explain later. Tessa nodded and turned to look at Tori who sitting across from her. A muscle in her jaw was twitching dangerously.
Tori stood up behind her chair and turned to face this stranger, giving her the fakest of smiles. "Jessie, I know it's been a while." The girl was blond with brown eyes, and she was short too. "Did you hear that I've been made the head cheerleader this year? They say that this position is given to the most popular girl on campus" she said, matching Tori's smile. "Well good for you Jessie. However, waving poms-poms and cheering for the boys is not my style. I'd rather have them call for me" Victoria said, sitting back in her seat with a satisfied smile. Jessie rolled her eyes. "Well, if my recollections are correct, they were doing exactly that during Year 9. Remember?" she said nastily. Victoria spun to her feet and turned fast to face Jessie again, crossing her arms. "And whose fault would that have been? Because if my recollections are correct, you were the one who drugged my drink. Some friend you were." At this moment, a boy had come up to Jessie's side.
He was blond, like Jessie, but that's where the similarities end. He was tall and lanky, and he had these black eyes that creeped Tessa out. He kissed her on the cheek. "Hey baby, I was wondering where you-" He followed Jessie's gaze to Victoria, and grinned nastily.
"Hey Victoria."
"Shut up, Jonathan."
"How easily you dismiss past love."
"I hate your guts."
"And I can't stand your presence, so it looks like we both have to deal with the unpleasantries."
Gabriel rose from next to Victoria's empty seat, and stood behind her, hands on her shoulders. "Tori", he whispered in her ear, "Sit down, they're not worth your time."
"No Gabe."
"Tori, come on."
Jessie spoke up. "You should listen to your boyfriend, Victoria. Everytime you speak, you cause trouble. The last time you spoke up, I remember it involved ratting me out Headmistress Branwell about the cigarettes."
Victoria smirked at Jessie. "You deserved it. After the party incident, I had no reason to try to cover you. Although, the party incident taught me that your boyfriend over here is an asshole. But, he is an extremely good-"
Victoria didn't get to finish her sentence, because at that moment, Jessie slapped her across the face. "How dare you!" Jessie shouted. Tessa squirmed in her seat; everyone was staring at them now.
"Hold up. You come to my table,interrupting a perfectly good dinner, asking me how I am, and you have the nerve to slap me and then tell me to hold my tongue?" With that, Victoria picked up her cup of coffee and tossed it all over Jessie's white dress. She leaped back and squealed, and watched as the brown liquid dripped down the front.
At that moment, Dean Roberts showed up. Tessa had met him once, and he was a kind man, offering to help her tack up some notices to a bulletin board. But right now, he did not look happy. "Girls, I don't know what happened, but I want both of you in my office right now. Let's go." Victoria scowled at Jessie and the two stalked their way out of the room, leaving the entire hall staring after them.
Gabriel scowled at Jonathan, and sat down in his seat before another argument could get started. Tessa mixed her cup of tea in front of her. "Sophie, who was that girl? And what happened between her and Tori?" Sophie sighed and leaned back in her seat. "The gracious girl you just saw was Jessamine Lovelace. The rivalry between the two of them started Year 9. They knew each other before school started; their parents were friends. The girls were actually best friends, and they were inseparable." Tessa raised an eyebrow. "They were best friends?" Will looked up at her. "Yeah. The problems really started because they got put in different houses. But they still were together as much as they could. And then Jessie met Jonathan."
Cecily spoke up. "Now let me tell you about Jonathan. He is the biggest tool that I have ever come across. He's dated about half the girls on campus, and hooked up with many more. But for some reason, Jessie took an interest in Jonathan. Victoria had warned her against him. And then they both went to a party that Club Pandemonium put on that January. Jonathan had drugged her drink, and before she knew it, Victoria was dancing on table tops. Jonathan had even kissed her afterwards, and that was when Jessie found her. She was furious that Victoria was kissing him, but she doesn't even remember the night. She woke up the next morning in Club Pandemonium, her shirt off and asleep behind a couch. Since that day, there's been a constant war between the two of them. If you thought that scene was bad, you should see them during the House Olympics. It's awful" Cecy finished, shaking her head.
"House Olympics, what's that?" asked Tessa. "It's an annual competition held for the students from First through Fourth form." replied Thomas, who threw his napkin onto the table. "Each house competes by form and dorm, and the winners in each form get some sort of prize. They start in February. It's pretty fun, but really competitive. Anyways, who wants to join me in the common room?" he said, rising to his feet. The remaining girls, Jem and Will agreed to go with the hopes that no one was using the monopoly board. Mark and Gideon headed to the library to do some research for an assignment. Gabriel decided to go to Dean Robert's office to see if he could fend of Victoria's temper before she came back to the dining room.
I apologize for the drag of a chapter. I wanted to originally finish the chapter with Will and Tessa in the library, but then I realized it was too short. Then I added in this extra bit of plot with Jessamine. It was going happen, so I figured I should stick it here. For you Wessa shippers, I think you're going to like the next chapter. Stay tuned. Au revoir ;)