Not your Mundane

Chapter Nine

Chapter 9

Raleigh's POV

As Antony left with Will, the four of us squealed, as if this were a dream.

"Ohmygods that's my ancestor-" Adele says, smiling.

"He is much cuter in real life than the drawings," Ashton whispers in my ear.
I nod, laughing.

As the door creaks open, a pile of men's clothing is thrown in, hitting Rosalie in the face.
"Hey!" She yells, cursing at him in Spanish and Faerie.
Antony's laughter follows as Rose throws her shoe at him, promptly shutting the door.

Adele grabs the clothes that he brought. "These seem a bit big-"
"Ooh! I can fix them!" Ashton and Rose say at the same time.

They all share clothes, and I find the sewing kit in the drawer of the dresser.

The door opens again, and I look up to see Tessa and Sophie Collins. Except we haven't met them yet.
"What in the world is going on?" Sophie asks, her British accent shining through.
Her eyes wander to my hands that are holding the sewing kit, and then to the male clothes that Ashton and Rose both are holding.

"Are those male clothes?" Tessa asks.
Her smile becomes slightly mischievous.
I nod.
"We're resizing them," Rose says. "For Ashton and Raleigh to wear."

Sophie looks mortified.

Adele stands.
"My name is Adele Graymark. It's a pleasure to meet you."
She holds out her hand, and Tessa shakes it.
"I am Theresa Gray."

Adele points at all of us, telling Tessa our names.
I nod when she introduces me, waving.

I turn and wave at Sophie but she still looks mortified.
"It'll be alright, Miss Collins," I say. "We can mend these ourselves, but could you help Rosalie and Adele with their dresses? If you want to, of course."
Sophie nods.
"I will return with their attire."

She walks out of the room.
Tessa walks over to me, her heavy dress probably slowing her down. 

"May I?" Tessa asks, holding out her hand. 
I hand over the kit, sitting back down next to Ashton.

"How are you today, Miss Gray?" Ashton asks.
"I am good, Miss Campbell. And you can call me Tessa, everyone here does."
Ashton nods.
"Well, then, you may call me Ashton. You may use all of our first names."

I nod along with Rosalie and Adele.

"Poor Miss Collins," I say, starting to stitch the hem to fix my waist on a pair of black slacks. "She must be mortified about women wearing men's clothes."
Tessa nods, giggling. "I think she'll be fine, though."

As if on cue, Sophie walks in holding layers and layers of clothing in her arms.
Rosalie and Adele both pale at the sight.
I chuckle.

"And this is why we wear male clothing," Ashton says, smirking. 

All of us finish up the stitching on our outfits, then Sophie gets to work getting Adele and Rosalie properly outfitted.

"It's a good thing that dad taught me about clothing items," I tell Ashton as I walk out of the closet where I changed.
She nods, already changed into her outfit.

"Wow," Tessa, Adele, and Rosalie say at the same time.
"You look good Ral," Ashton says, smiling.
"As do you," I reply.

We definitely pulled these off. In honour of Anna Lightwood.

As the others get dressed, and Sophie fusses at us one more time, before braving the rest of the Institute.

We walked into the dining hall, and all my favourite characters, plus Antony, sat in the chairs around the table. 
Charlotte was at the head of the table, with Henry on her left. 
Gabriel and Gideon Lightwood sat on one end, next to Jessamine Lovelace. Tessa walked over and took her place between Jem and Will.