Hello Again! I am absolutely in love with Rise of the Guardians, and really want to know what Jack's life was like before he was transformed... So here's my take on a part of his story... Please let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable... Sadly...
It just wasn't fair.
Elizabeth understood that there was a proper etiquette that young ladies must follow. She understood that her parents were counting on her to find a suitable match to make her family proud. She understood she was the eldest daughter and had to set an example for her younger siblings. But, dammit, she was only fourteen!
So what if she loved her books more than the ridiculous lessons her mother prepared for her. Who needed to know how to paint and dance anyways? There was so much more she could be doing than sitting at home! She didn't want to simply be a doll to put on display whenever her parents pleased. She was independent. She had her stories. She was fine, thank you very much.
The town, however, had other things to say. They thought she was stuck up and worthless and spoiled. They said there was no place for her in Burgess. They told her she put on too many airs.
Well then!
Elizabeth didn't want to sit around and do nothing. She loathed the way the others treated her. Especially her mother.
So that was why she was stomping through the forest, damp-eyed and book in hand. She'd had enough. She refused to be her mother's ticket to Burgess' tiny high-society. She would not - no could not, stand William Burgess. And there was nothing that could change her mind.
She turned around with a huff and plopped down in front of a sturdy oak tree.
Her frustrated scream ripped through the air. A pink bonnet was flung into an adjacent tree.
Pink.
Elizabeth had always despised that color.
She sighed and opened her book. She traced the words and longed for an adventure. Damn her pathetic timidity! She lost herself in the story. She could practically hear the rushing water and smell the acrid scent of gunpowder. All was still. At least it was until he arrived.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Thunk.
"LOOK OUT!"
"OVERLAND!"
Elizabeth was flat on her back, with a lap full of the most annoying, insolent, aggravating boy in the world. Jackson Overland. Oh, curse her luck.
"Fancy seeing you here Lissy," the buffoon smirked at her.
"Oh, you! I can't even-how-what-JACKSON!"
"Oh, lighten up Elizabeth! It's all in good fun."
"Fun?" Elizabeth scoffed. "You call this fun?"
Jack looked up at her curiously, with that infuriating grin of his. "Well, of course you question me, miss high-and-mighty. I'll bet you've never had real fun!"
Elizabeth sat up and shoved Jack off her lap, onto the mossy ground. This was exactly what Elizabeth hated. They put her in a box. They'd never understand her! Even thickheaded Jackson Overland thought she was stuck up. Oh, she would show him.
Elizabeth faced Jack, who was rubbing the back of his head and wincing.
"Who says I've never had fun?"
"Oh, everyone," Jack said bluntly. "You're never outside. You always play by the rules. And you read."
Elizabeth turned red and crossed her arms. "And what's wrong with reading?"
"You don't live! All you do is sit around and plot how to gain a husband…"
Elizabeth's eyes widened and she clenched her fists. "Why, you little. You don't understand! You-you…Damned trickster!"
"Nasty nerd!" Jack shot back. "Come with me, I dare you. I dare you to have real fun. My kind of fun."
Elizabeth tightened her arms around herself. She looked down. Her mother was going to kill her.
"Alright."