Catastrophic Love

Chapter Nine - Tessa

"And I trust you," he said. "I don't know why -- I've just met you -- but I do.

- James (Jem) Carstairs

-

Tessa was very nervous, and not in the way she usually was. This nervousness wasn't mixed with regret and dread, she felt as if thousands of tiny butterflies were trying to fight their way out of her stomach. She'd spent most of her day lounging around. It was her first day at the Herondale's house where there was so much tension without school. Jessamine was due to pick her up in under five minutes and though she was 100% ready to go, she didn't feel like she could be herself around Jessamine. It was a very uncomfortable thought, and she was struggling to think straight.

"Do you really want to go?" Cecily was sitting on the kitchen counter, her usually beautiful hair was messy from laying on the lounge with Tessa all day.

"I guess? I don't know, maybe not but I do need a dress."

"I could come with you instead?"

Tessa shrugged and smiled. "It's too late now to back out, that would make me a horrible person."

Cecily returned Tessa's smile and jumped down off of the bench. "Call me if anything goes sour, I can always come and get you."

"Of course, thank you." Tessa flicked her eyes to the window, just in time to see Jessamine's car pull into the driveway. "I'll see you later, wish me luck." She waved goodbye to Cecily and walked out of the door, faintly hearing Cecily's 'good luck'. She really hoped this afternoon would go better than she was expecting it to go.

Jessamine's car smelt strongly of heavy perfume. Throughout the whole car ride, Tessa tried her best not to breathe too deeply. They'd made small talk every now and then after Tessa hopped into the car but it was difficult to make conversation with someone she'd barely ever talked to. When they finally reached the shopping centre, Tessa was more than happy to get out of the awkward, stuffy atmosphere of the car.

"I think we should just go straight in and get a dress for each of us." Jessamine looked down at her watch. "I've got something to do a bit later, and I want enough time to do my makeup." Tessa thought Jessamine was already wearing makeup.

If she has somewhere to be, why are we doing this right now? Tess thought to herself, but, being rude was not going to get her anywhere in this situation. "Okay, that's fine." She replied after a moment's of hesitation.

The only shop that sold formal looking dresses was a little bridal shop, small enough that it would have gone unnoticed by Tessa if Jessamine hadn't pulled her inside. Despite it's small size, there were a lot of dresses to pick from. The dresses came in a range of different colours and styles. Before Tessa had the time to sift through the never-ending choices, a hand gripped her tightly from behind and pulled her to the dressing rooms.

"I picked out two dresses for myself!" Jessamine was alternating between two dresses in front of her body, one being a lacy, long white dress while the other was a pale pink, mid-length cut. "Which one is better?"

"The white one." Jessamine made an approving nod before shutting the dressing room door behind her. Tessa had a sneaky suspicion that the white dress had some from the bridal dresses section. A couple of minutes later, Jessamine emerged in the white lace dress. Tessa had to admit, it suited her perfectly. Her slightly tanned skin and long, beautiful, blonde hair created a gorgeous look with white.

"Eh, I don't know... My hips look way too big." Jessamine cringed at her reflection, turning to the side. She walked back into the dressing room and shut the door without another word. Tessa sighed, she'd hoped this wasn't going to take very long but if Jessamine was unhappy with a dress that gorgeous, they may be here for a while.