Hello, all!

So, if you haven't guessed... in technical terms, I was challenged to do this. My great friend, SilverCarstairs, dared me via Facebook. So, here I am, writing about a ship I know she loves... and this is my way of saying thank you to her for everything she has said to me on reviews.

Of course, much love goes to Morning and Eve and Issi Herondale as well. And all my previous reviewers. But mostly to those three... because... well, I'll explain in a moment.

These were my Terms & Conditions:

1. Something that has to do with my past/previous life. AKA, as SilverC says, "mermaids". This stemmed from me telling her that I drink so much water I would've been a mermaid in a prior life.
There has been a modification. Scratch the mermaids. It is now based in the future and genetic modification.

2. Must contain Jessa and Wessa, as well as her special ship... Heronstairs.

3. I must tag at least one person to do the number challenge.

YES. This is the Number Challenge. In this case, I have chosen the number 17. Why? Because I am to soon turn 17.

I also have chosen 3 specific people to tag to continue this: Issi Herondale, SilverCarstairs, and Morning and Eve.

Aaaaand here are their Terms & Conditions:

1. It has to do with their past. Their choice. Or...It can be... some crazy plot line, which I shall PM them about.

2. Hopefully it's TID/TMI/TDA/TLH, etc. related. If this chain continues... then it shall branch out everywhere else.

3. Must tag AT LEAST one person to do so.

So... you all know the rules, right? Pick a number. Any number. You have that many days to post that many chapters and have to have that many words. So, at 17, I have to have 17 chapters in 17 days with either 1,700 words or 17,000 words. I'll do 17,000.

Shall we get started?

Enjoy, everyone! :)

Year 2170

TESSA'S POV

Flawless. Perfect. Impeccable.

What do all those words have in common? Other than being synonyms of one another? Other than being adjectives?

My brother, Nathaniel Gray.

Popular. Spoiled. The favored one.

And then there was me.

Plain, boring Theresa Gray.

But please, call me Tessa.

You're new here, aren't you?

Well, let me show you around a little bit.

Oh, and you might want to hang on; things are about to get a little intense.

When a teenager turns thirteen years old, they are to undergo genetic modifications. This does not change any habits or natural talents you may have obtained in life. Just the way you look.

And believe me. Where I'm from? Everyone has had this procedure done.

Well, save the few unlucky ones.

They say it doesn't hurt, that they give you some kind of anesthesia, some kind of medicine that never allows you to feel pain until the healing process is complete. They say it only takes a few hours.

But the neat thing is that you get to choose what modifications you want done.

My brother Nate got his cheekbones altered, along with his jaw and his nose. I hardly recognized him when he came out of the operation.

But I guess that was the point.

However, my parents could only afford to have one child to have the procedure, and since my parents favored Nate, he got the surgery. It even came with lifetime warranty and any additional operations for him in the future. It also allowed him to choose where his family moved.

And in this case, he chose London, England. He uprooted the entire family from our comfortable life in New York City, New York, just so he could really get a new life.

So here I am, standing in the hallway by the front door of the house my family and I lived in on the outskirts of London. I wore a long-sleeved plain pink dress, my brown tresses falling down my back, and no makeup. My grey eyes looked sullen and wild from lack of sleep.

I sighed. Why couldn't I be pretty like everyone else?

I picked up my messenger bag off the ground by my feet, slung it over the shoulder, and headed outside to go to school.

I hugged my text books to my chest, trying to curl in on myself enough to disappear. Perhaps if I could only blend in...

There was yelling off to the right of the hallway. A crowd was gathering, and voices were yelling and booing.

I frowned. That's odd. No one ever created trouble in the London Institute.

I cautiously approached the circle, standing on my toes to see over all the people. Being tall for a girl had its advantages. It didn't take me long before I spotted Gabriel Lightwood, a cocky son-of-a-bitch-top-of-the-social-food-chain-because-they-can-afford-as-many-operations-as-they-want, stood over another boy, about the same age. Gabriel was a year ahead of me in school, but one of the prettiest in the school. He had perfect, rich chocolate-colored hair that was always shiny, and mesmerizing green eyes that always stared straight through me.

"Get out of my way, Lightworm," the boy seethed. I couldn't see him, just his arm and leg from where I stood.

"Make me, Herondale," Gabriel sneered. He raised his arm and shoved the boy's shoulder.

The boy stumbled back a little bit, and I was able to catch sight of him. I gaped, suddenly understanding why people were gathering around to watch.

A non-modified was facing down Gabriel Lightwood...

But he was pretty, in his own way. He had jet black, curling hair and startling violet-blue eyes, an elegant face...

Yet it was obvious that he was normal. Like me.

If that could even be considered normal...

Just as the boy was stepping forward, a silvery figure jumped between the two.

"Stop," a gently, lulling voice said.

I watched as the boy stepped into view. I recognized him as James Carstairs. He was one of the few kids in the school who hadn't wanted genetic modification, yet his parents made him get it. They gave him too much, and his hair and eyes turned silver. He was... beautiful.

James was something of a feat. It was said that he never got angry with anyone, never raised his voice... and that he was an incredibly talented fighter and musician.

All of which I will never be...

Though his parents didpractically disown him a few months earlier.

Gabriel sneered. "Whatever, Carstairs. William, you're lucky your boyfriend stepped in or I would've kicked your ass."

The dark-haired boy, William, stared down at his feet. The crowd around me dispersed, and then it was just me and the two boys in the hallway. They were murmuring closely together, almost intimately, when they looked up and noticed me standing, blinking at them.

Jem's silver gaze fixed right on me and he smiled. "Hi there. I'm James Carstairs, but they call me Jem."

I flushed, staring down at my feet. Why was he being so nice to me? "I'm Theresa Gray, but I go by Tessa," I muttered sheepishly, humiliated that I'd been caught staring. I risked a chance to look at the boys.

Will was staring at me curiously. "Are you related to Nathaniel?"

Of course he knew who that was...

I nodded. "Yeah."

"He's a douche bag," Will said, shaking his head.

I smiled. "That he is."

"So if he's..." Will started.

I bit my lip. "We couldn't afford it. I don't like to talk about it. I know I'll never be pretty like anyone else. But hey, it was nice meeting you two. Stay out of trouble," I said, turning on my heel and walking to class.

Alright... So. I know that sucked immensely. I know it did. And I apologize. But this was my challenge so I must fulfill it!

There you go, SilverC. I expect you to review since you made me do this challenge!

And... because of her, each chapter will be named after a song. In this case it's "Everybody's Fool" by Evanescence.

Anyway! Stay tuned!

And please, review so I can get feedback and what not. :)

I love you all!

XOXO!

Caitlyn :)