Mount de Luna High school. Ch 1
For a picture of what the winged staircase looks like visit this link /i/15166/Richmond_over_500 it's the eighth image down. Enjoy the story.
Chapter 1: Beginning.
Jack stared out the window of the car, vaguely aware of his latest foster mom, Angela Overland, a brown eyed brunette woman in her late 30's, chatting away from her place at shotgun. His latest foster dad, Mike Overland, also a brow eyed brunette in his early 40's, was driving the blue convertible to Jack's latest home.
"Now I understand at your last home things didn't work out, but I'm sure you'll like it here. The school is nice, the students are… interesting, and our house is nice and cozy. I'm sure you'll feel right at home." Mrs. Overland babbled. Jack just stared out his window and turned up the volume a little bit on his iPod. His favorite song "Echo" by Jason Walker came on and he began to hum along with it, thinking of how this song fit him so well. It always seemed that, even when he was surrounded by people in an orphanage, he was all alone. He was the constant loner and most of his previous foster parents had sent him back because he "didn't quite fit" with their family. The schools he had gone to where all the same too, no one would notice him or even if they did they didn't acknowledge him. He had once tried to say hello once but they just walked right on by. Sometimes it felt like he was screaming his name like a fool at the top of his lungs, to have only his echo reply.
"Jack. Jack? Did you hear me?" Mrs. Overland's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Um… no, could you repeat that last bit?" Jack asked sitting up.
"I said we're here." She said smiling kindly.
Jack hadn't been her first foster child who had zoned out during the drive home. She remembered her other foster children that she and her husband had raised. Joey had been taken by the state from his parents because of abuse, Paul had been abandoned at birth, and Augustus had just seemingly wandered to the orphanage on his own. Each boy had been about 14 when they came to Mr. and Mrs. Overland's home, and they had taken care of each of them until they turned 18, except for Augustus who was now 18 but was still in high school, and where now either attending college or had a family of his own. But never had she and her husband taken in someone who's family had died so tragically. She didn't know the specific details but was willing to give this boy the attention and chance that no one else had given him. With that thought firmly in her mind she looked ahead through the iron gate at her home, hoping that Jack would like it here.
"Wow." Jack breathed. He was now staring out the window at a large, almost castle-like, house. It was made of grey bricks, had a big red front door, a fountain, and a dozen windows. Jack's jaw was hanging open in pure astonishment.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Lets go see your new room." Mrs. Overland said a cheery smile illuminating her features. They all got out of the car, Mr. Overland unloaded Jack's one suitcase, and they all made their way to the front door.
If Jack thought the outside of the house had been amazing then his mind was officially blown when he saw the interior. The front entryway walls where painted a cheery warm red, with wooden floors and red wood furniture with colorful paintings on the walls. A winged staircase lead upstairs with a hallway leading off into the house.
To his right was what appeared to be a set of very large double doors that took up most of the wall.
"That's the ballroom, I teach dance classes in there and we occasionally hold parties in there too." Mrs. Overland pointed to the big doors.
To the left was a glass door leading to a parlor. The walls in there where white with silver colored lamps and pale green lamp shades on either side of a large plush looking white couch. Across from the couch was a couple of single chairs and a glass coffee table between them. On the farthest wall was a fire place with a family portrait above it. In the portrait Jack recognized Mrs. Overland but there were also three boys he had never seen before.
"Who are those boys?" Jack asked, pointing to the portrait as he followed behind Mrs. Overland, Mr. Overland had already gone up the stairs and turned left.
"They're our previous foster kids. The tall boy in the back with grey brown hair and brown eyes is Joey, our first foster child. The boy with brown hair and eyes standing next to Mr. Overland is Paul our second foster child. And the boy with red hair and green eyes standing next to me is Augustus, our third foster child. Joey and Paul have already moved out but Augustus still lives with us, in fact he is about a year older than you." Mrs Overland said climbing the stairs. Jack followed close behind her. It didn't take them long to find Mr. Overland standing in front of a red-brown wood door.
"After you." He said with a sweeping gesture to the door.
"Ok." Jack said hesitantly opening the door and exposing a nicely furnished room. The walls were white and so was the carpet, the bed was black with a ranging variety of blues on the pillows and cover, the drawers where white, a black desk sat in one corner along with some black and white bookshelves, and there was a black flat screen tv on the wall opposite the bed.
"I'll leave the basic introduction to you, I'm going to tell Augustus he's here." Mr. Overland said giving his wife a quick peck on the cheek as he left.
"Do you like it?" Mrs. Overland asked after a moment of silence. She had designed the room herself but had left enough of it to be redecorated or redone if needed. She had done this for all her foster children, and they had liked it but also made some of their own changes. Augustus had painted autumn trees on the walls of his, once solid blue walled, room and added some gold accents to his bookshelves, Joey had pinned so many basketball posters all over the walls that you couldn't see the color of the walls, and Paul had painted his walls a summer green and added various shadows of people doing other sports.
"It's great." Jack said in a bit monotone voice.
"I'm glad you like it, of course you can make any changes or additions you want to it." Mrs. Overland said happily, obviously ignoring the monotony manner in which he had replied. "Our room is on the opposite side of the house, the door has a golden tree on it. And Augustus's room is diagonally from your's and has a red leaf painted on it. The dinning room is downstairs through the door and to your right, the library is in the opposite direction, and there's a pool in the back. If you get lost one of the staff members would be more than happy to help you find your way. I'll leave you to get settled, see you in less than an hour for dinner." And with that she left.
Jack flopped down on the bed with a loud sigh. At least this couple was nice and they had done this sorta thing before. He didn't dare to hope that things might workout this time. He had so often had his hope crushed that it almost didn't seem worth it to hope anymore. A knock sounded at the door.
"Come in." Jack sighed sitting up. The red headed boy from the portrait opened the door and came into the room. He looked just like the picture except instead of a suit he was wearing a red shirt, and blue jeans.
"So you're the new boy." He stated more than asked.
"Yeah, the names Jack, Jack Frost." He said standing up from his bed and extending a hand towards the red head, trying to be nice.
"August Autumn." He said, shaking Jack's hand. He lowered it and sat back down.
"What number is this for you?" August asked.
"Twelve." He sighed knowing exactly what August was asking about.
"Family number twelve. You sure get around don't you?" August chuckled.
"You could say that." Jack said tiredly.
"Nice to meet you Jack, see ya at dinner." August said simply and headed out.
Jack decided he'd better unpack while he had the chance. He heaved his suitcase onto the bed and flipped it open. Inside were five pairs of well worn pants, four equally well worn shirts, a dark blue jacket, pajamas, and a few personal things. At the top was a picture of his family, before the accident. Tears sprang to his eyes as he remembered that night over 8 years ago. His parents had been driving home from his piano recital when they were hit by a drunk driver.
Jack could distinctly remember his mother scream as his dad tried to swerve out of the way, the next thing Jack knew he was waking up in the hospital with a broken arm. As he called for his mom and dad a nurse had come in to tell him that both were dead. Jack burst into tears and the nurse was kind enough to hold him as he cried.
Jack's dad's brother should've taken him in but he was deemed unable to care for Jack, considering he was an alcoholic. So Jack was placed into an orphanage and from there into foster care. He had gone through 6 families and none had liked him. Now he was here, at a new house, with new people, and no hope left.
Another knock sounded at the door. Jack wiped away the tears and placed the picture on his desk.
"Come in." He said. A man dressed in a suit entered. He looked just like a butler from a movie, except this guy had a full head of black hair.
"Dinner is ready, sir. Mrs. Overland has asked me to escort you to the dinning room." He said with a slight English accent. Jack rolled his eyes, Mrs. Overland must have forgotten that she had given him directions to the dinning room already.
"Whatever. Lead on Mr.?" Jack mumbled then paused waiting for the man to tell him his name.
"Mr. Greyson." He said quickly. And with that they exited the room and headed downstairs.
The dinning room was spacious and painted a welcoming red. Mr. And Mrs. Overland along with August, were already seated at the rather long table. Jack took the seat across from August and next to Mr. Overland. Servants entered and placed out the meal. There were big juicy steaks, creamy mashed potatoes, and a crisp looking salad. Jack's stomach growled as the delicious smells wafted about the room.
After they were all served Mrs. Overland struck up a conversation.
"So Jack, do you have any interests?"
"No."
"Really? A boy your age usually has some kind of hobby or something."
"Well I don't."
"Then maybe I could help you find one."
"No thanks."
"Oh, alright." She said a little crest fallen. The meal continued on in silence until Mr. Overland cleared his throat.
"Jack," he said, "you'll be starting school on Monday which will give us time to bond a bit. It's tradition for a new family member to pick out some sort of activity the Sunday before they start school. What would you like to do?"
"Nothing."
"Since he doesn't want to can I pick?" August asked hopefully.
"No, it's Jack's decision." Mrs. Overland said calmly.
"I don't really care, and I don't want to because I'm not a part of this family." Jack muttered the last part under his breath but they heard him anyway. After an awkward silence, Jack got up and left.
"Jack…" Mrs. Overland called after him, standing up to follow him.
"It's ok, Angela. He just needs sometime to adjust." Mr. Overland said, patting his wife's hand in comfort.
Mrs. Overland eyed the door but sat back down, muttering, "If you say so dear."
Jack wandered the down the hall, towards the direction of the library. He just needed to be alone for a while, but that's how he had always been. He found a glass door that lead into the library and quickly lost himself looking through the books. The library was fairly large, composed of two stories, which where connected by a spiraling iron staircase. Along with bookshelves it contained many plush armchairs, a couple tables, lamps, and it even had those cool sliding ladders along the . There where a lot if the boring dictionaries, biographies, and other books like that but mixed in was a variety of other books.
He spent the rest of the night and most of the next day roaming through the books. He was in the middle of a particularly interesting book when someone entered the library.
"Master Jack?" A voice called in, breaking Jack from his trance.
"Hmm, what?" He looked over his shoulder to see a middle aged woman, about in her 40's with cinnamon-sugar hair and pleasant brown eyes, carrying a tray of covered food.
"Your lunch, sir." She said and set the plate down, uncovering a ham sandwich and a glass of apple juice.
"Thank you again, Mrs. Green." He said, she had brought him breakfast earlier.
"A boy your age should be outside, enjoying the summer while the weather lasts." She commented as she wiped her hands on her apron.
"I prefer the winter months." He said as he took a bite of the sandwich. It was perfect, not to dry or soggy.
"Even so everyone should get some good ol' vitamin D now and again." She smiled in a grandmotherly fashion. "Why don't you head to the park. A couple of teens I know like to hangout there on Sundays, usually doing some kind of thing with the little kids in the local neighborhoods."
"No thanks." He groaned.
"Well, if you change your mind there's a bike in the garage." She patted his back and left.
Jack was about to pick the book up when a piece of paper fell out of it.
The note read, "Carpay Deim- seize the day."
Jack slipped the piece of paper back in the book.
"That's weird." He mumbled. Jack thought for a moment then gave a shrug.
"Why not go for a ride?" He thought to himself and headed out the side glass door of the library. He found the garage easily enough, as well as the bike. It was clear it had been used many times with the dings and scratches in its silver and blue paint but it was in good repair. Once Jack was through the main gate, he took off down the road. He sighed a bit as the wind rushed past his face, Mrs. Green was right, it was a beautiful summer day. The birds were singing and it was pleasantly warm, not sweltering hot. The park wasn't to far from the house. It was a beautiful place with trees, flower beds, a couple sports fields, paved jogging trails and a tennis court. As he rode deeper into the park along the paths he discovered other things as well. A basketball court, benches, picnic tables, swings, a play-set for the kids, ponds, even an outdoor stage area with carved stone bleachers. On one of the seats hidden in the shade of a group of trees was a girl. She was hunched over a note pad, drawing or writing something down feverishly. She looked up when she heard Jack's bike but looked back down so quickly he didn't even get a good look at her face. Jack shrugged and pedaled on. He passed a sign that read, "Carrousel, reptile/bird house, and wishing well." The carrousel was to his left, the reptile/bird house straight ahead and the wishing well was to his right. He headed straight. The building appeared soon enough, it was fairly large with a large netted area with birds flying around in it. Jack parked his bike in a bike stand and headed inside.
"Would you like to make a donation?" A girl asked as he walked in. She was short even with her pump-heeled sandals with violet eyes and black hair that stuck up in a peak on the back of her head*. She wore a green dress with a violet belt around her waist, over a yellow shirt and blue skinny jeans. Her hair was kept out of her face by a yellow green head band with a yellow feather stuck into it. Jack couldn't help but notice the shark tooth necklace dangling from around her neck. She didn't seem to mind other people's space because she was about only five inches from his face.
"What for?" He asked while taking a step back from the over enthusiastic girl.
"For operation 'Smile'," She smiled taking a step towards him and holding up a pamphlet, " it's an organization that goes around the world and helps people, especially kids, with clefts in the mouths, teeth repair and that sort of stuff."
"Uh… I left my wallet at home, I'll have to get you next time." He said, quickly patting his pant's pockets for his wallet but not finding it.
"Alright, nice to meet you…" she trailed off, clearly waiting for him to introduce himself.
"Jack, Jack Frost."
"Nice to meet you Jack, I'm Toothiana Punjam Hy Loo*. You can call me Anna for short."
"Nice to meet you too Anna." He said and continued on. He walked slowly, gazing at the odd assortment of reptiles and amphibians. He paused by a glass terrarium that was suppose to have a tree frog in it, but he didn't see it. Said tree frog suddenly jumped and landed with an audible thump on the glass, effectively startling Jack.
A passing little girl giggled at the look on Jack's face and skipped along, her blonde hair swaying back and forth. Jack humphed and walked on. The next time he stopped was next to a crowd of five boys about his age. It didn't take him long to figure what they where all looking at. A large black snake was getting ready to strike at a little white mouse, that seemed to have accidentally wandered in from the outside. The little creature seemed frozen with fright and doomed for sure, but just as the snake was about to lunge a black mouse came from behind it and nipped the snakes tail. The snake hissed angrily and struck at the black mouse. It hit the glass, causing the boys and jack to jump back. All but one boy though. A boy with black hair and grey eyes hadn't even flinched when the snake struck.
The black mouse had grabbed its friend and they where about to make their exit when the snake caught the black mouse in a coil. The white mouse bit the snake, distracting it long enough for the black mouse to wiggle free and them to escape.
Jack sighed with relief that the mice had escaped,he glanced over at the black haired boy to see him looking disappointed.
"I thought the snake would win for sure." One boy mumbled to the others.
"It would have eaten that white one for sure if that other mouse hadn't shown up." Another boy commented.
"Hey Pitch," a third boy called and the black haired boy turned to look at him.
"What Keith?" He said in a cold voice.
"Looks like we got a new kid." Keith, a red head with green eyes, said tilting his head in Jack's direction. The other boys turned to look at Jack. Each boy was wearing a black leather jacket, black jeans, black tennis shoes, and a black T-shirt with a ghostly white horse on the front.
"What's your name new kid?" Pitch asked sizing Jack up.
"Jack Frost." He said, nonchalantly placing his hands in his signature blue hoodie.
"I'm Pitch Black, and these are the Nightmares," Pitch said and gestured to the other four boys, "that's Brick Smith, Keith Leafson, Rob Blare, and Mike Adams."
"Where you from?" Rob, a thin pale kid with brunette hair and hazel eyes, asked.
"Burgess. But I just moved here." Jack said.
"What school you go to?" Asked Brick, a sturdy boy with short black hair and brown eyes.
"Umm, Mount de somethin'. I don't remember." Jack shrugged.
"Mount de Luna. Your in the same school as us, what year?" Mike asked, a copper top with red brown eyes.
"Junior."
"Same for us, see ya around Jack. Maybe you can hang with us sometime." Pitch said and motioned for the group to move on.
"Uh, see ya." Jack said confused by their sudden exit. Mrs. Overland hadn't been kidding when she said the teens here where interesting.
Jack continued his walk and finally arrived at the bird area. There was an indoor enclosure that connected to the outdoor one by little bird houses. There were separate netted areas for different birds. There was a large crowd of kids gathered around a netted off area in the corner. Inside was a rainbow of parrots, either clinging to the netting or perched on branches. A tall teen with an Australian accent was talking to the kids with him in the area. He had green eyes and spiky grey-ish black hair.
"Take the cup in your hand and hold it out straight and steady." He demonstrated this and soon a couple parrots where perched on his arm and hand, lapping up juice from the cup. Jack watched as the kids imitated him and laughed as parrots landed on their arms too. Jack smiled as the little blonde girl from before gently held her cup out to a smaller parrot that was hanging from the netting, apparently it's wings had been clipped so it was unable to fly over to her. Once the birds had drained the cups they flew off and the Australian let in the next group of kids.
"Are you coming over for dinner?" The little blonde asked the Australian.
"You bet Sophie, tell your mum I'll be there around 6. Now run along, looks like your brothers looking for ya." Aster gave Sophie a quick hug and ushered her on her way. A young brunette boy took her hand and led her out the exit. Jack was about to follow them out when Aster called him over.
"Oy, you with the white hair, ya you, snowflake. Come over here."
Jack walked over and to him.
"I aven't seen you around here before, you new or just visitin'?"
"I'm new." Jack sighed, trying not to let the snowflake nickname bug him.
"Ya got a name?"
"Jack Frost."
"E. Aster Bunnymund, most just call me Aster." A kid tugged Aster's arm and led him away, "sorry I gotta get back to work. See ya around Jack."
"Yeah, see ya around." He huffed and walked outside and right into someone. The collision knocked Jack to the ground when he looked up he saw a guy with sandy blonde hair and gold eyes and another guy with blackish brown hair and blue eyes. Both were well built but the sandy haired boy was shorter and skinnier than the other.
"You ok? Very sorry, I must watch where I'm going next time." Said the boy with blackish brown hair in a Russian accented voice.
"I'm fine." Jack said as the two boys helped him to his feet.
"Allow me to introduce us. I am Nicholas North, you may call me North. This is my friend, Sanderson Mansnoozie. He prefers to be called Sandy." North smiled happily.
"I'm Jack Frost." Jack sighed, these people sure did like to get to know the new guy in the neighborhood.
"Nice to meet you. We're actually heading to pick up a couple friends to grab a snack. Would you like to join us?" North asked him eagerly. Sandy smiled and gave a thumbs up.
"Uh no thanks, I… uh… gotta get home." Jack lied. Sandy's smile fell a bit but he shrugged and waved.
"Oh, then we will see you around, yes?" North said with a farewell pat on the back.
"Yeah sure." Jack said and walked off. He walked back around the building and grabbed his bike. On the ride back to the house he almost wished he had gone with them. It would probably be better than heading back so soon.
Not wanting to go back just yet, he slowed his pace to a smooth glide. He passed by the weird stone theater again but the girl was gone. Growing curious about the place he stopped his bike and left it on the grass. He wandered down the stone steps to the main area. It was basically a cavernous area with a couple covered outlets for when they needed lights. Vines grew over the outer lip on the top, giving a slightly whimsical effect to the space.
"Hello?" Jack called in. "Hello, hello, hello?" His voice echoed back to him.
"Echo!" He called louder. "Echo, echo, echo!"
"What?" A different voice called back. "What, what, what?" It echoed.
Jack turned around to see the girl from earlier, the one who had only given him a passing glance, sitting in a corner closer to the stage hidden in shadow. She still had her note pad on her lap.
"Oh you weren't… uh nevemind… I'll just leave." She picked up a backpack from the ground and stepped in to the sun light where Jack finally got a good look at her. She was thin and a bit shorter than him but had long legs. Her hair was black and her eyes, when she looked at him, where grey almost black. Her skin seemed almost unhealthily pale.
"Wait, you don't have to go.." Jack said taking a step towards her.
"Shadow! Shadow where are you!" Pitch's voice called, his voice carrying a distinct angry tone.
"I have to go." The girl said, her eyes betraying her fear. She turned and ran up the stairs, a piece of paper slipping unnoticed from her notebook, and then she was gone.
Jack walked up the stairs and picked up the piece of paper. It was a drawing, a very detailed drawing of a bird getting ready to fly. Jack didn't know what to do with it so he carefully folded it up and put it in his hoodie pocket.
On his ride home he couldn't help wondering who the girl was. She had replied when he had said echo, but she left when Pitch called for someone named Shadow. Did she have two names? Was one just her nickname? And why did she have such dark colored eyes?
He caught a glimpse if her getting into a black Ford Mustang V6 as he left the park. Pitch was inside it already, when he saw Jack he gave a slight nod of acknowledgement before driving away.
So she was called shadow, but why had she responded when he said echo? He shrugged these thoughts from his head and focused on getting back to the house.
Once he arrived he went straight to his room. When he opened the door he found a black and ice blue backpack, notebooks, binders, and a variety of school supplies, all brand new. A note was attached to the backpack. He ripped it off and read
"Hope you had a good ride, these are for you and there are some new school cloths in your closet. If anything doesn't fit let me know and we'll get one that fits. Hopefully they are to your liking. -Mrs. Green & Mrs. Overland."
Jack looked in the closet and pulled out a blue shirt with a white skateboard on it. It looked like it would fit him perfectly, so did all the other clothes in it. He put the shirt back and began organizing his backpack. He finished quickly and headed down to the library to wait for dinner.
"So Jack, what did you do today?" Mrs. Overland asked him over their dinner of stir fry.
"Nothing much, went to the park and met some people." He shrugged then quickly shoved some food in his mouth. He found out that she would refrain from asking him a question until his mouth was empty, so if he kept it full she would leave him alone.
"That's nice, so who did you meet? Maybe we know them." She asked as soon as he was done chewing that bite. She was catching onto his tactic and changing hers to accommodate.
"Um… Toothiana Pajama or something like that. Uh… Aster Bunnymund, Nicholas North, Sandy Mansnooze and some guy named Pitch Black." Jack tried to remember but he was sure he had messed up on a couple names. He looked up as a fork clanked against a plate. He looked over to see August turning bright red from anger.
"Stay away from Pitch, he's nothing but trouble." He said in a suppressed growl. Mrs. Overland looked at August then back to Jack.
"He's right, Pitch is one of those boys that likes making other's miserable just for a laugh." Mr. Overland said solomly.
"What did he do to make you hat home so much August?" Jack asked curiously.
"He let me in his group, had me help vandalize a historical statue, and when the cops pulled up he left me to take all the blame." He said, his green eyes flashed with anger as the memory came back to him.
"Yikes." Jack whispered.
"Besides Pitch, the other people you met are fine, their all about your age too." August said, wiping the memory from his mind.
"Thanks for lettin' me know." Jack said.
The meal continued on in silence.
"I did meet one other person but I don't know her name. She has black hair, black eyes, and really pale skin." Jack said after a bit.
"Sounds like Shadow, Pitch's younger sister. I don't know that much about her." August said scratching his head, "I'd stay away from her, last guy that tried to get close to her ended up with a broken arm."
Jack thought back to when he had seen her, she hadn't looked like she could hurt a fly.
"Did she break his arm?" Mrs. Overland asked, vocalizing Jack's question.
"No, Pitch did. I never would have pegged him as the over-protective-brother type." August answered. The meal finished with no more talk about Pitch and his sister. But Jack couldn't stop thinking about her.
"I guess I might see her tomorrow." He thought to himself as he slowly drifted off to sleep that night.
Thank you for reading please review! :)
*Imagine Tooth except her head feathers are her hair and her hair is a dark brown nearly black and her body feathers are her clothes basically.
*Punjam Hy Loo is the name of Tooth's home in the third book, "Toothiana and the tooth fairy armies."
One more thing North's description is from the books not the movie.