Tessa Ch. 4 - Reflection

It's time, at last, for the final chapter of Tessa's little side story. It's been really interesting for me to show a different side of events for the beginning of SaS, so hopefully it's been similarly enjoyable for all of you as well.

Like all the other chapters, this one isn't the most complex, but I still had plenty of time to dig into the important parts of the story. On a surface level, I was able to show a lot of little events that help explain some of the background details for SaS Book One, but that was never my main goal for this series. Yes, it's nice, but if that was the only reason I wouldn't be interested in sharing this story.

The real drama comes from giving us a chance to explore Tessa and her unique worldview, and that's why this chapter is the last one.

The main scene, the focus of the whole chapter, is Tessa's date with Raine. Above all else, I wanted to show how cute these two are together, but to also make it clear that Tessa is pretty absent. I've been dropping little hints here and there that Raine is smarter than Tessa gives them credit for, and sadly those hints were all leading to this moment.

After their incredibly cute dinner, which also gives us a fun explanation for why Tessa loves that rainbow knife so much, Raine finally drops the act. They confess they know Tessa has been hiding something from them, and while she tries to deny it, Raine says the quiet part out loud: they know about Tessa's magic.

This whole scene was pretty uncomfortable to write. I think it's obvious that Tessa is in the wrong here, but that unfortunately puts us in a situation where Raine is absolutely correct to stand up for themselves. I wanted to create a scenario where we see exactly what effect Tessa's behavior has on the people around her, even though she refuses to recognize it. She's always been pretty sloppy, and she clearly never expected Raine to put the pieces together of all her late nights, random studying, stuff like that.

This conversation sucks. Fighting with someone you love is a horrible experience, and I did not enjoy finding ways to paint just how hurt Raine is. Their conversation, unfortunately, has been underscored by the constant notifications overwhelming Tessa's phone, and when she finally picks it up, she gets the unfortunate news that Amara is missing.

Here, again, I wanted to show that Raine is doing all this out of love. They obviously want Amara to be safe, and since they've realized the relationship is basically over, it's as good a time as any for the two to part ways.

The next scene is pretty short, as we mostly just need to see how panicked Nick is. Everyone mobilizes to try and find Amara, and Tessa gets distracted when she feels weird magic emanating from the Science Building. I always enjoy showing big scenes from multiple different angles, and this was a fun opportunity to show Tessa in the moments leading up to discovering Amara, which we've already seen in Chapter 5 of SaS.

I cut here, however, and that was a decision I waffled back and forth on. Sure, it might have been interesting to see the start of that conversation from Tessa's POV, but I feel like ultimately it wouldn't have added much. We've seen that conversation before, and I try not to repeat full conversations when I have the chance.

Ultimately I'm happy with ending the scene where I did, especially since Amara's demonic heritage isn't the point of the story. We're here to focus on Tessa, which means following her back home after a full day of magic nonsense. We end the chapter by tying the final loose ends off regarding her fight with Raine. They did exactly as they said they would, and moved out of the apartment.

I always wanted to end with Tessa finding the knife, the last bit of love given to them by Raine, and just collapsing under its weight.

It was a little weird writing such a bitter chapter after the triumph of DoD and SaS 4. However, from another point of view, Tessa's little side story has a bit of hope buried in the corners because we know where it's leading. This side of Tessa, the one that's determined to keep magic hidden from everyone, is the same side that we see Nick break through in Book Three. Over the course of the first Act of SaS, Tessa has slowly grown a little more open and emotionally honest. Honestly, I wonder if there might have been a version of SaS where Tessa gets more focus, and we see this a little more clearly, but ultimately I'm happy with where things left off.

I say all the time that I want my characters to all feel like protagonists of their own story, and Tessa is often my go-to example. She's got all this mysterious coven baggage, a tragic backstory, her own emotional problems, and we only catch glimpses of it in SaS.

I'm fully aware that Tessa might be the least explored girl in the main cast, but I'm still overjoyed she's here.

I hope you enjoyed her little side story as much as I did!

Nyx ♥