So, I got sick of reading Jack/OC pairings where the girl he falls in love with is broken in some way, and needs him, and a-l-w-a-y-s already believes in him, or starts believing in him almost immediately. I've got nothing against those of you who write that, but it's gotten a little old. So, I'm trying something else. Here we go...

I don't own Rise of the Guardians, or "The Christmas Song" (that's actually is it's name! Who would've guessed?!).

Chapter 1 - No Such Things as the Guardians

"Hey, Ava, where you headed?"

Ava turned catching sight of one of her best-friends: Jamie Bennet. He and his girl-friend, Pippa, were walking hand in hand towards her. "Hey, Jamie, Pippa. I was just heading home. Giant test in U.S. History tomorrow. You?"

Pippa nodded. "Oh my gosh, I heard some people complaining about that in the hallways today. We were going to go to the park, spend some time together." She blushed faintly, softly smiling at Jamie. Now sixteen, he'd finally caught up with her in height.

"Isn't it a little cold for tha—" Ava paused mid-sentence, realizing that maybe Pippa was lying. "Y'sure you're not trying to catch Jack Frost, again? I can't believe you two still believe in that stuff," Ava teased.

Jamie's grin disappeared. "Look, I know that you didn't move here 'til a few years ago, but we've told you about that night when we met all of them. How could we not believe in them, after that? It was amazing, how we defeated the Boogeyman tog—"

"Alright, alright! I don't have time for this right now, Jamie! Like I said, I've got to study. I'll see you tomorrow, I guess." She turned around and began walking home, avoiding snowbanks and ice as much as possible.

Ava hated when he brought that "battle" up. How could he believe that had actually happened? Ava was sure that it was just a dream he had had and shared so many times with his friends, and in such great detail, that they had started believing it, too. She'd read about how you're memory could invent things, add details that weren't there, fill in gaps that it thought needed filled.*

"Jack Frost is not real! And neither are any of the other 'Guardians'," she muttered under her breath.

She yelped when a snowball knocked her cream-colored beanie (her favorite one, with the sequins sewn into it) right into a pile of roadside slush.

"Oh, gross!" she exclaimed, picking the beloved hat out of the dirty snow, doing her best to wipe it clean. She turned back, expecting to see someone laughing at her expense, ready to scold the person for messing up her hat, but was surprised to see no one there.

"Not believe in Jack Frost, now, Ava?"

Jack had been following the raven-headed girl home, messing with her in any way possible. He wanted to get back at her—in defense of Jamie, of course. Not that Jamie was aware that he was doing anything. He had been so caught up with Pippa, and defending the good names of the Guardians, that he hadn't even noticed Jack was floating right above him, listening to the entire conversation.

So far, he had knocked her hat into dirty snow (three times), iced the sidewalk just when she was stepping in a clear spot (twice, and both times she had lost her footing and almost fell), and knocked snow from an overhead tree-branch, right onto her head (at least seven times, but probably more; he'd lost count). He'd had quite a bit of fun messing with the poor girl, who was now avoiding trees religiously.

He flew down, hoping to catch a glimpse of her face. He was startled to see that she looked genuinely angry, her cheeks pink, muttering unintelligibly under her breath, searching carefully for obstacles that now needed to be avoided if she didn't want to arrive home soaked more than she already was. She also looked pretty cold. Her perfect white teeth—Tooth would be so proud!— were chattering very loudly, the very tip of her button nose a bright red. Her well-manicured fingers were shaking, and he noticed that her incredibly warm-looking boots had snow spilling out the tops of them. That can't be good for her feet...

He decided that she'd probably had enough for one day, and zoomed off, up into the clouds, debating whether or not to make it snow lightly. He should probably wait until the girl was home, so she wouldn't get any more wet and cold. But other children in Burgess had been wanting a snow day for a while. He supposed he could always make it snow harder, and just wait until the girl got home. Unfortunately, now he'd have to follow her some more, to see when she would get home. He rocketed back toward the ground, looking for her.

Ava sneezed as she (finally!) stepped through her front door. Great… After what she'd been through, she wouldn't be at all surprised if she got sick. It was like the snow itself was out to get her. Jamie would claim it was his oh-so-beloved Jack. Hopefully she could warm herself up, take some Vitamin C, and still be well enough to go to school tomorrow. The last thing she needed was to miss a test, especially in U.S. History.

She hummed her way to the kitchen, singing softly as she got out a mug and started making herself hot chocolate. "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire/ Jack Fro—" She smacked her own forehead. "No! Jack Frost isn't real, now stop thinking about him!"

After placing the mug in the microwave, she pulled off her soaked boots, then her socks. She slipped out of her pale blue coat, matching cream mittens and scarf, and pulled her beanie out of her coat pocket, inspecting it to see if it was permanently damaged. Luckily, it didn't appear to be.

The microwave beeped at her, letting her know that the water was now piping hot. She pulled it from the microwave and mixed in her favorite cocoa powder, breathing in the delicious scent of warm chocolate. She let it sit for a minute, and went to find a bottle of Vitamin C tablets. On her way to the medicine cabinet, she noticed that there seemed to be a lot of snow falling. Sure am glad I'm not out in that. Maybe I'll get lucky and school will be cancelled.

She went back downstairs, dug her History binder out of her bag, grabbed her mug of cocoa, and settled in for what was probably going to be the longest- most boring study session she had ever had.

So... yeah. Tell me what you think!

And before people start asking, I do not have a regular update schedule. I happen to be a high-school senior in a really hard gifted/talented program, and I have four other on-going stories. I write when my muse hits, or when I force it to help me out 'cause I feel terrible for not updating. That being said, next semester should be somewhat easier than this one was.