High school can never be fun when you have what can only be described as an imaginary friend. Especially when the cutest girl thinks that you're crazy.

I don't own Rise of the Guardians.

My Imaginary Brother

A part of Jamie - a small part, mind - kind of dreaded starting High School and possibly meeting a girlfriend.

It had clicked a long time ago, longer than he cared to admit, that he shouldn't broadcast that he still believed in Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Sandman... the lot of them. All of his childhood friends stopped believing - even Cupcake, though she held out a long time. She was fourteen when she finally looked at Jamie and said, "It was a game. We had good imaginations. Don't tell me you actually believe."

"Of course not," Jamie had answered with a giddy laugh, though he crossed his fingers behind his back.

And about Jack Frost... well. Jack was the annoying older brother he'd never had but always kind of wanted. Until he became really annoying.

"What's the capital of Nepal, Jamie?" Mrs Armitage asked.

"Moscow!" Jack shouted, from where he was perched on top of his staff.

"Moscow?" Jamie said. "No, wait. Not Moscow." But of course the damage was done. He was known, by the end of the week, as being the Freshman who believed that Moscow was the capital of Nepal.

Jack got an earful that afternoon when they were walking back to Jamie's house. "Do you realise how embarrassing that was? I tell you, when I'm eighteen I'm coming down on you like a tonne of bricks."

Jack grinned. "You have to admit, that was fun."

"First impressions, Jack!"

"Yes. So you might want to stop talking to me so loudly." Jack motioned behind him, where a girl he recognised from his new class was gaping at him.

"Gah." She was cute too, which added a bit of salt to the wound. "Well, that's just great. I have so much fun with you," he muttered under his breath.

Jack laughed. "Speaking of, I have to go. Suffolk is long overdue for a good snow day."

"Suffolk?"

Jack scoffed. "It's obvious that your abysmal geography knowledge isn't only my fault. It's in the east of England."

Jamie pulled a face at him before Jack called on the wind and shot out of sight. Jamie sent a small smile to the girl behind him, who blushed and ducked her head.

Okay, she was really cute. Jack was going to pay.

But it wasn't as if the Guardian was anywhere close to being an idiot. He came to sit (or float, or perch... whatever he felt like doing) in their dining room just about every evening. Of course Sophie prattled on about some things to him (she didn't understand secrecy very well) and he talked to her as well. He pretty much avoided Jamie, seeing as he'd gotten a rather viscous glare from him. Once his parents left the dining room Jamie finally felt at liberty to shout at him a bit (quietly, of course).

"Do you have any idea what it's like for me when you go zooming off? I have to deal with a normal life, Jack, as well as having a prat like you for a brother."

Jack smirked. "Do you want to have a snowball fight?"

"Yes! Yes yes yes!" Sophie said, bouncing in her chair and gazing at Jack in adoration. He grinned down at her.

"Come on, Jamie. Everything will be fine."

Jamie pretty much gave up any hope of having a normal school career then. Too bad Jack didn't understand popularity too well.

Jamie did, though. But all he knew was unpopularity. A part of him blamed Jack, but he didn't mind that much. It was only when he started talking to the girl he'd been walking in front of the day before that it started to bother him.

"Hey, I'm Jamie," he said. Starting off small was good.

The girl blinked. "Henny," she responded with.

And then there was an awkward silence. Already.

Jack, who was twirling his staff around, gave a short laugh. "Smooth, Jamie. Smooth."

Jamie resisted throwing his bag at Jack's annoyingly amused face. That would just mean awkward questions.

"So, um... how are you finding school?"

Henny raised her eyebrows. "Fine."

Another awkward pause. Jack appeared to be humming the French national anthem, looking up at the sky and summoning some small snowflakes the way he tended to do when he was bored.

"Maths, though, am I right?" Jamie said desperately, grasping at anything. Jack paused in his humming and chuckled, rolling his eyes.

Henny's expression froze into place at a polite, wide smile. "Um... yeah. Maths." She looked away. "I really should get going."

"Yeah, okay. Speak to you later."

Another slight pause. "Okay," she said, a mildly bewildered expression on her face.

Jamie slapped his forehead with his palm when she walked away. "Yeah, I would have done that if you hadn't."

"Shut up. It's entirely your fault anyway."

Jack laughed. "Just keep on going the way you are. And hope she likes awkward people."

"Why did it have to happen in front of the only cute girl in my class? Why couldn't it have been in front of... Matilda?"

"That's not very nice, Jamie."

"I'm not in a good mood."

The bad mood lasted longer than most. His parents let him hole himself into his bedroom and brought him some dinner later on in the evening, which was around the time Jack came. Jamie threw him one of the sausages; he'd taken to giving Jack a bit of food when he could.

"Sorry about the bad mood," he said. Jack shrugged. "Just dreading the next few years, really."

"They'll go by before you know it."

Jamie gave him a sardonic look. "I'm not three hundred years old."

Jack smirked.

"And there's more to it. Henny's cute."

"I suppose."

"You don't understand what it's like to have a crush on someone, though."

Jack's expression became a bit fixed as it started to snow in the room. But the snow was a regular occurrence, really, so it didn't bother Jamie.

"I really think I do like her, but she thinks I'm an idiot and... you do understand, don't you?" Jamie said. He gaped at Jack.

Who leaned a bit too much on his staff so that it slipped on the floor. He fell against the desk before standing upright, his skin going an off-white (the closest he ever came to blushing). "Of course not!" He backed away a bit. "I've never had a crush on anyone. That I can remember," he added.

Jamie could tell that he was hoping they would go to discussing his past or his memories or something like that. But after being the only one who ever got embarrassed, he felt like torturing Jack a bit more. "It's Tooth, isn't it?"

"No."

He'd answered a bit too quickly.

"I knew it."

"Knew what, exactly? There's nothing to know!"

"You have a crush on Tooth."

"Jamie..."

"Jack and Tooth, sitting in a- woah!"

He slipped over on a patch of ice which had formed under his feet. "That wasn't nice," he muttered, getting up and dusting the snow from his shoulders. "Will you stop the snow?"

It gradually stopped. "Listen, you owe me for all the times you've embarrassed me. You have a crush on her, don't you?"

"No. Not a crush."

"But you find her attractive?"

"Who doesn't?" Jack said, before jerking backwards, almost slipping over on his own patch of ice. His expression was one of chagrin. "I mean... you know. She's pretty." He shrugged. "Doesn't mean anything." He coughed and rocked on the balls of his feet. "I have to go," he said mildly. "Snow day in... Russia."

"She likes you too, you know." Jamie said.

Jack picked up the staff and shot out of the window quicker than usual.

Jamie noticed that Jack was quite a bit quieter than usual over the next couple of days, at least until Jamie told him to suck it up and go ask Tooth on a date (at which point Jack shouted angrily at him, until Jamie threw a snowball at him. Jack was really a very easy person to make happy).

Jamie stayed well away from Henny, who appeared to be grateful for the distance. But he couldn't control everything. To the very obvious horror of Henny (obvious by her facial expression) they were put in a pair to complete their English term project together. Jack was almost crying with laughter at this point. And it wasn't as if Jamie could hit him when there was his entire class staring at him due to his comically pained expression. He made a mental promise to punch him that afternoon.

"So... um... this'll be fun, huh?" Jamie said. He leaned back and tried to look nonchalant. "I've never written a children's book before."

Henny gave a half-smile. Which looked kind of forced.

"You should write it about me," Jack said. He swung his staff over his shoulder.

"We could write it about Jack Frost," Jamie said, ignoring Jack's grin. "And how he's an annoying prick."

Jack laughed. "If it was me talking to her, she would be a lot happier."

"Shut up."

"I'm sorry?" Henny said, looking mortified.

"I wasn't talking to you. I... was talking to... myself."

Jack was laughing hysterically at this point. Henny had a careful expression on her face. "Okay," she said meekly.

At that precise moment, Jamie told himself that he would never even try to have a girlfriend.

"You know what, I think she's warming up to you."

Jamie glared at Jack in response.

"No. Seriously. She was watching you when you walked away."

"Because she thinks I'm crazy!"

"Well, you do have an imaginary friend."

"God help me, I will stop believing in you if you don't start to behave!"

"The ship's already sailed with that one. Do you want to know how many times I'm on the naughty list?"

Jamie grunted.

"Two hundred and forty two," he said proudly. "And that's only since I became a Guardian."

Jamie blinked. "How many times am I on it?"

"I don't know. North only told me because I annoyed him too much about it. I was on it four times just because I bugged him so much." He paused. "He still hasn't told me how many times I was on before I became a Guardian, but it must be a few thousand."

"But you cheat. No other child has been alive for so long."

"Tooth's older than me."

Jamie smirked. "Coming back to Tooth again, are we? But she's just a lovely person anyway. I bet she's never been on the Naughty list."

Jack's skin tinged an off-white.

"You should really just ask her out."

"You should really just ask Henny out," Jack retorted.

Jamie rolled his eyes. "Oh, and, by the way-" he said, remembering his promise. He punched Jack's arm, who stumbled into the wall and frowned at Jamie. "That's for what you put me through today."

Which only made Jack laugh more.

Jamie was sinking into a black pit of despair when they started their project. They'd planned to start drawing some ideas together at the park, but someone... someone... made it snow. Which meant they had to go in. Where, of course, Sophie was talking loudly to Jack.

Henny's expression would have been amusing, had she not been so cute. All Jamie could think about was how he'd actually taken a cute girl back to his place and she was looking as if she would rather die than be there.

"Sophie, why don't you take your... friend... outside?" Jamie said desperately. "Look. It's snowing."

"Jack Frost made it snow!" She shouted. She ran up to the window. "Thank you, Jack!"

"You're welcome, Sophie."

Jamie glared at Jack and went to the living room, where he tried to have a normal conversation with Henny about the book.

"I was thinking... your Jack Frost idea... minus the annoying prick part... it's not bad. The Adventures of Jack Frost the Winter Spirit or something like that. We could make Father Christmas his dad."

"We could add in the Easter Bunny."

"The Tooth Fairy?"

"Jack Frost and the Tooth Fairy could have something going on..."

"Jamie!" Apparently Jack had come back in.

"Part of the story could be that he's too chicken to ask her out..."

"Oh, for the love of..."

"Uh... okay." Henny seemed a bit freaked out.

Jamie sighed. "I'm sorry. I know I'm acting a bit strange..."

"Not at all."

"I can guess what you think of me."

"Uh..."

"And I want you to know that I am actually normal. Just easily distracted."

"Okay."

"She's looking freaked out again, Jamie."

Jamie had to restrain himself from throwing a cushion at Jack's smug face.

"And anyway..." he said loudly; "Let's get started, shall we?"

"Okay," Henny said weakly.

"We can sketch out the characters."

"I'm terrible at drawing." She smiled then, and Jamie had to pinch his leg to distract himself. Because... damn. She was cute.

"I can draw," he said.

Jamie could tell Jack was getting bored over the next ten minutes, to the point that he said, "You two are really boring. I'm going to go see if I can get on the Naughty list five times in the rest of the day."

"Maybe Jack should ask Tooth out," Jamie muttered under his breath (earning a slightly scared look from Henny and a sardonic look from Jack). "Sorry," he said to Henny. She shifted in her chair.

Jack didn't come back for a couple of hours, and was grinning widely when he collapsed next to Jamie on the sofa. Jamie frowned at him. "Froze the Warren," he explained. "I tell you, outrunning a kangaroo is hard."

Jamie leaned his head into his hands. "Idiot," he muttered, hoping that Henny would think he was talking about himself.

"That's fantastic, Jamie! I didn't know you were so good at drawing."

"I should be more handsome," Jack said, looking over Jamie's shoulder. He laughed at Jamie's expression. "I'm kidding. You're the boss."

Jamie thanked Henny, before she said, "I should really get going."

"You know what, I think she may be warming up to me," Jamie said to Jack once she'd left.

Jack ruffled his hair. "Sure, kid. You'll be together forever."

"Speaking of..."

"Shut it."

"You could just..."

"No."

"Jack..."

"I'm not listening!" he said childishly, putting his hands over his ears.

"What if she asked you out?"

"Uh... no. I couldn't let a girl ask me out."

"It's fine for a girl to ask a guy out."

Small flurries of snowflakes started falling down from the ceiling.

"No. Could you just drop it now?"

"Sure, Jack."

And he completely blamed Jack for the snowball which hit his face, though it was actually Sophie who threw it.

The snow in the living room took quite some explaining to his parents when they came back. He managed to get them to believe that he and Sophie decided to try to make a snowman inside, which lead to the two of them having to clean it all up. It was the most valid explanation, as, of course, it was impossible that it should have started to snow indoors. Even Jack helped, which was quite a rare occurrence. Usually he made the mess then flew off to leave others to clean it up.

The next day was significantly better, mostly because Jamie had made Jack promise that he wouldn't stay in school with him and he could finally act normally without Jack distracting him. Although it was quite a bit more lonely.

He flew in as school ended and walked home with him, but he was quieter than usual.

"Okay, what are you thinking about?" Jamie finally asked when he was positive they were alone in the house. Even Sophie had gone round to a friend's house.

Jack shrugged. "Nothing in particular."

"Well, you're acting very oddly."

"Am I?"

"Is this about me teasing you?"

He gave a short laugh. "No. I deserve the teasing, I guess."

"But you know I'm right?"

"Drop it or I'll make you seem really weird."

"I just care about your happiness, Jack."

He sighed. "I'll be fine. Really."

Jack was lighter after then; back to how he had been. He made it snow in the park, just enough for a snowball fight, which surprised Jamie's mother. "We're getting a lot of snow, aren't we?"

Sophie and Jamie exchanged a look as Jack grinned at the two of them.

Henny came round the next day (Jamie kicked Jack out a few minutes before she was due, but he wasn't sure how long it would last). Sure enough, he was perching on his staff a few minutes before she left. But up until then he was getting along with her swimmingly. He even thought that she might have a thing for him. But then Jack popped his head through the door and startled him and he started acting weirdly again (not his fault). Jack earned a glare from Jamie but a minute later they were play fighting.

"You... are... embarrassing... me..."

"Because you're such a bad fighter?" Jack retorted, holding Jamie on the floor.

"No... shut up. Because everyone thinks I have an imaginary friend!"

Jack chuckled. "What a shame. Anyway, I just came to annoy you a bit. North needs me back at his workshop."

"What for?"

"I have a feeling it's about freezing the Warren," he said, smirking. He sighed. "Anyway. I'll see you later." He jumped out of the window and in the next second was flying at breakneck speed through the air.

Jamie expected Jack to be, at the very least, in a bad mood when he finally made it back (about two days after) but he most definitely... wasn't.

"What is going on with you?" he asked when Jack once again didn't respond whatsoever to his questions. Actually, it took a shove for him to finally pay attention.

"What?" Jack said.

"Why are you so happy?"

"I'm always happy."

"No; it's different this time."

Jack smirked. "Let's just say I took your advice."

Jamie's mouth dropped open. "About..."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Yes...?"

"Tooth?" Jamie continued in a whisper.

Jack's smile was enough to confirm it. "You're kidding!" Jamie shouted.

"Actually, I'm not. This time."

"I'm so proud of you!"

Jack laughed. "Sure, sure. Now for you to woo Henny. I'll help you, seeing as I'm obviously the master."

"I'm going to ask her out at some point."

"Go on, then."

"What, now?"

"You have her number, don't you?"

"Uh... yes."

"Then phone her!"

"Urgh. I would never have badgered you to ask Tooth out if I knew you were going to be this annoying about it."

Jamie's phone fell on the ground next to him. "Go on," Jack said.

Jamie picked up the phone and frowned at it. "She'll probably think I'm annoying." But he started going through his contacts, albeit half-heartedly.

Jack was smiling when he looked up. "You're sure?" he asked. Jack nodded.

She picked up the phone almost immediately. "Jamie?"

"Hey, Henny. I was just thinking... I drew a bit more and I'm not doing anything else today... are you busy?"

"No."

"Do you want to come round, then?"

He turned away from Jack's smug expression.

"Yeah, sure. I suppose I can't really start writing without you anyway. I'll be over in about ten minutes."

As soon as Henny hung the phone up he dived for some pieces of paper.

"Don't tell me."

"Shut up, Jack."

"You haven't even started drawing. So you're screwed."

"Not at all," Jamie said, pushing a quick sketch of Bunny to the side with a grin.

Jack picked it up. "Not bad. He should look more annoying."

"Shut up or I'll make you really ugly. And I'll make Tooth some overweight, middle aged hippo."

"You'd better hope I don't tell her that."

"It's your fault."

Jack laughed. "It's always my fault." He ruffled Jamie's hair as the doorbell rang.

"Dammit, that was quick."

He finished one of the feathers before getting up and making his way to the door, muttering, "Your girlfriend is really tricky to draw," out of the corner of his mouth.

Henny was gushing about the drawings for quite a while; everything from the style to the shading (what was it with girls and complimenting? Jamie really didn't get it), and finished with, "I wish I could draw like you, Jamie."

Jack winked at Jamie when she said his name. Jamie half understood why; her voice had softened. He gave Jack a meaningful, yet fleeting look, and thankfully he understood. "Good luck, Jamie," he said with a laugh. "I'll come see you tomorrow to see how it went." Another wink and he jumped out of the window.

Jamie was nervous as soon as he left. It was strange; she didn't know that anything had changed, but everything had. They were truly alone.

And she was damn cute.

"Listen, Henny..." he said, leaning forwards. "I know that I'm still acting a bit... strangely sometimes. But I want you to know that I... like you." She didn't look up for a minute. "So I was wondering... would you want to do something as maybe... more than friends?"

She finally did look at him. "Yeah, you do act a bit oddly. But I suppose I wouldn't mind. You're funny." She grinned. "Why don't we go to the cinema now? As... more than just friends."

And Jamie was never happier that he had taken Jack's advice.

Jamie's first girlfriend, then. It's not as if it's going to last; I had more fun with Jack and Jamie's relationship and bromance anyway.