1

Reintroduction

Jack

"Jack, can you please stop staring at me?" His sister snapped as she lay upside down on his bed.

"Sorry, Em. I don't realise you were training for the circus." Jack laughed, clutching his side. His sister loved to lie in awkward positions, no matter how uncomfortable. One of her favourite was lying on his bed, upside down.

"Oh yeah because we all know that I can do trapeze." She replied, her brown eyes wide.

Sarcastic little shit, Jack thought. He did love his sister but nothing could match to her level of sarcasm even though she was only ten years old.

Jack groaned as he stood up from the wooden floor, his mother had yet to put the carpet in the new house so they were stuck with boring concrete and wood until his mother got her butt in gear but she was busy working, trying to sort her new job out. Jack knew they would never let her have her old job back, it had been six years since then, his sister couldn't even remember it.

"Do we have to go to school?" Emma moaned swinging herself into a sitting position on his bed.

He gave a quick smirk. "Sorry, kiddo. Rules are rules and I guess we have too."

Jack turned around so his sister wouldn't see his nervous smile. He was dreading it. Everyone would be there. Six years, that wasn't enough for everyone to forget. However he secretly hoped his old friends would talk to him even though he had cut contact all those years ago, something that he regretted.

"Fine." Emma huffed and she stood up. Her clothes were slightly rumpled but she didn't seem to care.

Jack frowned as he remembered that he was still stuck in his pyjamas. He really needed to get dressed.

Running his hand through his brown hair, he watched as Emma walked out of the room and he quickly began to get changed. His stuff was still in his suitcase so he chose the same pair of skinny jeans that he had on yesterday and pulled his old blue hoodie over his head and turned towards the mirror that hung on very bland white walls.

His messy chocolate hair looked ten times worse than normal so he grabbed a hairbrush off his table and tore through it. Once it was done, it looked a little better and Jack tried to wink to himself in the mirror, trying to cheer himself up much to no avail.

He sighed, his dark copper eyes scanning himself.

He took a deep shaky breath. He could do this, he would do this. Making sure to calm himself, Jack reached for his rucksack in the corner of his room and walked down the stairs.

His sister was waiting for him and her arms were crossed. Her hair was now tied up and brushed against her shoulder. Her satchel had been strapped up too tight, resting near her hip instead of slinking down by her ankles.

"That happy mood disappeared quickly from this morning." Jack commented.

Emma scoffed. "Mom made me tie my hair up. Said that it's too long and could get stuck in things like a door. It's stupid, this whole thing is stupid."

"Oh, Emma! It's for the best, now come on you two off you go! I've got to leave for work in a minute." Their mother called from in the kitchen.

"We're going Mom!" Jack called and pulled Emma outside the house. The sun was beating down on them as they started to move away from their home.

It was quiet as they walked side by side on the sidewalk. Jack found himself staring at all the different shops, the gas station was still here looking worse for wear. The houses all looked the same, it was like no time had passed at all but it had.

Six Years. That was all it had been.

"Jack." Emma said, tugging on his arm.

"Yeah?"

"This school will be nice, won't it?" She asked.

"Oh course, I used to go there, remember?"

"Oh yeah. I keep forgetting we used to live in Burgess before. I guess I was too little to remember it."

"Not much has changed for you then." Jack teased.

"Hey!"

They came to a rest outside Burgess Elementary school. Jack looked at it and it still remained the same. He turned his head away from it, he didn't want to remember those painful memories.

"Well I think you'd better get a move on, kiddo. I'll be back to pick you up, that okay?"

Emma nodded before heading through the parking lot. Jack watched her until she was gone through the threshold of elementary school students who were all heading towards the building. Jack began to walk again towards Burgess High School. It was five minutes away and then he would face one of his biggest fears; returning to all those memories.

Holding onto the strap of his backpack, Jack looked at his timetable. He had homeroom at the very top of the school so ran up the stairs, dodging various students who all looked disgruntled. Luckily so far no-one had recognised him. However that didn't mean that someone would eventuallywhich made the fifteen year old very nervous.

He was starting in his sophomore year of high school, like most of his old friends.

Entering into homeroom, the teacher looked up at him in passing and gave him a gentle nod. Jack sighed with relief, at least he wouldn't have to introduce himself yet which he was sure he would have to do in his other subjects.

He walked to the back and saw an empty seat, without a moment's hesitation he sat down and looked around at the other students busy looking bored out of their minds, when he saw a girl next to him with the frizziest red hair he had ever seen. Jack swallowed, it was Merida; one of his old best friends.

Jack tried to turn away before she could catch him looking at her but it was too late and the girl scowled.

"Why ye starin' pretty boy?" She asked leaning against her desk, her scottish accent swimming through her words. She still hadn't lost the accent then.

"Nothing, Merida." He said calmly, trying to hide his smirk. He had forgotten how much he had actually missed her. Jack was a little sad inside, she hadn't recognised him? Did he really look that different or had she forgotten about him, her favourite rival to beat in sports?

"How do ye know ma name?" She asked, curiosity blazing in her blue eyes.

"Come on, Mer. Is that any way to treat an old friend?"

The penny dropped. "Jack?" Merida yelled in surprise and she almost knocked herself out of her seat.

"Miss Dunbroch, would you please be quiet." The teacher said from the front before going back to his work. Merida ignored him.

"The one and only." Jack smirked. He could still feel his heart beating frantically, she wouldn't say anything, would she? About that dreaded day?

"Jackson Overland, it's been a very long time! Ye look so different short stuff!" Merida teased and Jack knew that Merida hadn't really changed at all. There she went, back to her favourite insult. That insult wasn't exactly true anymore, he may have only been fifteen but he was above 5′10. He wasn't sure how tall Merida was now but he must have been taller than her.

"Do I? I thought you of all people would be able to recognize me, Mer."

"I thought ye looked familiar but jus' figured that I seen ye around before." She shrugged.

"So I'm not that replaceable, Mer?"

"Oh lay off," Merida chuckled. "It's been six years since ye left, Jack. Ye never sent us a letter or explained where ye gone. For all we knew, ye had gone too." Suddenly the subject took a dark turn and Jack recognised the look she was giving him, almost like sadness. He had forgotten;that day had affected every one of his friends.

"No not me, Mer."

"Do ye, ya know, think of her?"

"I-I don't want to talk about it, Mer." He said darkly and the two were quiet.

"Well. I bet everyone's gonna be excited when they realise ye back." Merida said, trying to change the subject.

Jack perked up. He couldn't wait to see his old friends! He hoped they would recognise him!

Just at the moment, the bell rang for first period and Merida stood up first, grabbing her bag from off the floor. Jack noticed that she wasn't very tall at all, maybe around five foot three. He almost laughed, she had always been taller than him but he had the advantage now.

"Come on short stuff, let's walk to lesson with each other, I bet ye 'ave a lesson near me."

Jack smirked as he stood up and grabbed his bag. He turned to see Merida. Her face was a picture as she looked him up and down.

"When did ye get so tall!" She cried and Jack laughed.

"When you got small, now come on let's go." And a shocked Merida followed him out of the classroom door.

Lunch couldn't come quicker, Jack had to stand in his first three classes explaining who he was. Some recognised him from elementary school and had given him a quick hello before going back to their work. Luckily no one had brought anything up about why he had left, apart from Merida but they had always been close.

He walked through the hallways when he caught a glimpse of Merida's hair, standing near the cafeteria with another boy and girl. Jack smiled as he recognized who they were and quickened his pace. He couldn't wait until he saw them.

As he drew nearer to the cafeteria door, the girl was the first one to notice him and she began to charge into a sprint. The next thing he knew, she collided into him and felt a bone crushing hug. He hugged the girl back as she struggled on her toes to hug him.

"Hello Punzie, it's good to see you." He said with a sincere smile as he pulled away from the hug.

Rapunzel's green eyes were brimmed with tears and he moved one of the locks out of her hair. It was still a lovely long blonde and reached to around her thighs. It had certainly got long.

"Six years Jack. No word! Nothing! I missed you, every day I thought something had happened to you! The teachers said you had moved away with your family but I thought you disappeared! Why didn't you tell us you were leaving, Jack?" Rapunzel asked, tears streaming down her cheeks out of happiness. Her best friend was back.

"I don't know." Jack said honestly. "But I'm back now, that's all that matters, right, Punz?" He asked and bent down to her level.

Rapunzel nodded and he straightened up. They walked back together to Merida and the boy who looked quite shocked when he got an eyeful of Jack.

"Hey, Hic." Jack said and Hiccup blinked in surprise.

"Jack, is it just me or did you just completely change over the last six years?" Hiccup said crossing over his arms.

"Well I'm not the only one." Jack said gesturing to all his old friends. Hiccup had changed the least. He still resembled a fishbone with his limpy arms and straggly brown hair. However the boy was one year younger than his friends, he had only just entered his first year of high school.

The fourteen year old was still looking at Jack as if he was an illusion.

"Hic, it's me. I'm really here." Jack said, staring into Hiccup's green eyes.

"I know I can see that but six years? That's a long time, maybe I'm still in a dream. Jack Overland is back, I must be dreaming."

Jack laughed.

"Come on gang, let's go eat!" Merida cheered and grabbed Jack by the arm. Everyone followed and Jack thought it almost felt like the same as six years ago but there was one person missing who could replace the hole in his heart.

Merida lead them to a table and they all sat down. Jack got his sandwiches from out of his bag and began to munch on them. Hiccup and Merida went to the lunch line while Rapunzel stayed seated with him.

"Hey, Punz? You not getting anything to eat?" Jack asked through a mouthful of sandwich.

"No not yet, I'm waiting for someone." Rapunzel answered with a smile.

Just at that moment Rapunzel called to a boy walking across the cafeteria. "Eugene, over here!" The boy came trotting over to their table and gave her a quick kiss. Jack watched in amazement.

The boy then took the spare seat next to Punzie and looked at Jack in shock.

"Who are you?" He asked, taking hold of Rapunzel's hand.

"An old friend. I moved back here after I left a couple of years ago." Jack replied, finishing his last sandwich.

"Oh I haven't introduced you two yet." Rapunzel said with a giggle. "Jack, this is Eugene, my boyfriend."

Jack had figured that much out already. Six years, maybe things had changed, he thought as he shook hands with Eugene. But just how much?

Once school had finished, Jack's four best friends and all decided to come and visit his new house. They were all very excited and eager to meet his sister again. Rapunzel kept talking about how much she wanted to see how the little girl had grown. The last time they had seen her, she had been four.

Once they were by the elementary school, Emma ran out and started waving to Jack. She said goodbye to some friends and sprinted to him. She seemed to be bouncing with excitement.

"Jack, that was the best day ever! Everyone loves me." She bragged and puffed out her chest.

"Well of course they would, you're the queen." Jack replied causing Rapunzel to giggle. Emma then realised that Jack wasn't on his own.

"Jack who are these people?" She asked.

"My old friends from when we used to live here. They knew you when you were younger." Jack said and began to introduce each one of his friends to his sister.

"Well, what are they doing here?" She asked rudely.

"Emma, don't be so coy. They're coming to the house and to see our mom. We were quite inseparable when we were younger. Let's go."

The five of them headed towards and chatter filled the air. Jack realised how much he had missed this, walking home with his friends. But he knew it still felt different and but all of a sudden Jack felt the hairs on the back of his neck standing up as they reached his house. He felt like something was watching him but he didn't know what. He looked around before he couldn't see anything.

Everyone crossed the road and headed into the house. Jack walked in last but took one last look around the yard and the forest at the back. He still couldn't see anything so closed the door behind him.

However unknown to Jack, a dark figure lay in the trees watching, they were quite well camouflaged so he wouldn't have been able to see them. The figure stood up on the branch they had been kneeling on. "Well, things certainly have changed." They smiled before turning around and flew back into the trees.