He was always there.
His beautiful brown eyes always had that curious and interested look to them as they stared into the window at the black board, that was hanging on the wall in the classroom. Suzanne Saledhill, who had begun teaching the children of Burgess five years earlier, had very soon in her career seen the boy appear outside the window, staring into the classroom every day. He never, ever seemed to even think about skipping a schoolday. Sometimes, he even looked like he was sick while it was still snowing outside, but he always showed up.
When Suzanne had first noticed him, the first thing she saw were the old and terrible clothing that he wore. The boy had to come from a poor family, a family that wasn't able to pay for him to go to school. So, because Suzanne had a very kind heart, she started writing even more than she had done before on the black board, since she knew that he could only see into the classroom, not hear anything that she said.
Another thing that she noticed about the boy was that whenever somebody looked at him, he seemed to look to the ground or just simply somewhere else, like he was ashamed of standing there. And these five years passed, and even though all of the children knew that he was there, no one ever said anything. At least, not until one afternoon when a blizzard was raging outside. The storm was so terrible, that no one in their right mind should have been outside, but - of course - if you looked out the window, you could see the brown-haired boy standing there, ignoring the blizzard.
Annie, a girl in the class, then raised up her hand.
"Yes, Annie?" Suzanne asked.
"Why can't the boy come in? Why is he always outside?" The girl lowered her hand and everyones heads turned to the window. As always, the boy looked away when he saw that someone was looking at him.
"I don't quite know, dear Annie. Perhaps he comes from a poor origin, and simply cannot afford to go inside."
"But that is ridiculous." The girl then said. "He is obviously sick, and just look at his clothes! He can't stay outside in this weather. Miss Saledhill, please invite him in."
"I am not sure if I can. There are rules, you know."
Then the whole class started protesting, asking her to invite the boy inside. And after Suzanne had finally managed to quiet the class down, she agreed to go and get the boy. But, of course, not until the class had promised to be on their best behavior.
She walked out of the classroom and closed the door to it behind her, so that she was standing in the hallway of the little school. She then moved toward the main entrance. The old wooden door creaked as she pushed it open. Suzanne stuck her head out of the little gap she had made, careful not to make her hair wet, and called to the boy. "Darling, come inside!"
The boy simply stared at her, like he wasn't sure if it was really him that she was talking to.
"Boy, please hurry up inside. The storm is messing up my hair." Suzanne then complained and the boy nodded. Then, he ran toward the door and Suzanne moved out of the way so that he could get in the warm building. After brushing off some of the snow that had gotten stuck on the boy's brown cloak, he looked up at the teacher.
"Thank you for letting me in." He said and bowed. Suzanne's heart skipped a beat. This was the first time that she had ever heard him speak. She had only seen him, never heard anything that he said - if he ever did say anything while standing outside of that window. And even though the boy was poor and sick, he still showed the teacher manners and respect. She smiled.
"You are most welcome. Now tell me, boy, what is your name?"
"Jackson Overland Frost, madame." The boy answered. Now, that name sounded awfully familiar to Suzanne.
"And what name do you go by?"
"Jack. Jack Frost." Responded the boy and her smile grew warmer.
"So you really do exist." She muttered and the boy tilted his head slightly.
"Excuse me?"
"Oh! You see, I have two children. Heather and Matthew. They've talked a lot about you, and since I thought that I knew everyone in the village and I didn't know any 'Jack Frost', I assumed that you were... well, imaginary." Suzanne quickly explained. But the boy didn't seem to take it very personally. In fact, he grinned.
"You're Suzanne? Heather and Matthew's mother?" He simply asked and she nodded.
"Yes, I am. Now, I have a question for you, if you don't mind me asking."
Jack nodded. "You can ask me."
The teacher hesitated a little bit before she finally opened her mouth and asked the question, hoping to get the answer that she had longed for, for so long. "I've seen you standing outside of that window very often. Actually, the whole class knows about you. What makes you want to go, and look inside the window?" Okay, so her question did not sound at all as professional as it had sounded in her head, but it got to the point so she was happy with it. The boy looked down at his toes before answering.
"Well, I just... my family doesn't have a lot of money. They can't pay for me to go to school. So I thought... that I would go to school anyway, even though it's not exactly... going to school. I just..." He paused and looked back up, his eyes looking through his dark brown bangs. "I just want to be a little bit educated. But I am sorry if I have caused your teaching methods any problems or distractions, or just, anything at all. I know that I shouldn't have done this and I truly am sorry. I can... I can go, if I am in your way."
"No, not at all, dear child!" Suzanne exclaimed. "Listen to me. The children that are in my class usually always try everything that they possibly can to get sick, just so that they can skip school. I've seen them leaving their coats on purpose at home, going out for a walk in the snow without any shoe-" She glanced at the boys feet who were bare and wet from the melted snow. But the boy only smiled. "Yes?"
"Oh, I am so sorry, Jack. I didn't mean to..."
"Don't worry, Miss Saledhill. It's fine, really." The boy answered before she could even finish her sentence. "You were saying?"
"I was just saying that you should be an inspiration to all of the kids in my class. They try everything that they can to get out of school, just because of their flaw of laziness. But you, you are always there. I have never seen you miss a day of school." She stopped and stared at him with a curious look on her face. She had gotten an idea. "Tell me, can you read?"
"Yes, I can." Answered Jack, nodding.
"Can you write?"
The boy scratched the back of his head, awkwardly. "Well, I don't really know. I mean, I've never tried to. I guess I could. I've seen you write enough on the black board to know how to write..."
Suzanne smiled. "Would you like to join the class?"
She saw Jack's eyes widen at her words. "Join... join the class? What do you mean? I don't have the money to-"
"You don't have to pay." Suzanne interupted, holding up her hand.
"I don't... have to pay?" The boy repeated, his eyes only widening even more.
"I will teach you for free, and if the school district will require any payment, I will be happy to pay for your education."
"Miss Saledhill, why are you being so nice to me? You don't even know me." Jack asked her.
"Well, I would think that I do. My children have told me enough stories about you so that I can understand your character." The teacher answered, staring into the boy's eyes.
But he shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't accept that. I appreciate your offer, but I have been raised to-"
"No, please Jack. I want to teach you. I really do. I have never seen a teenager like you so eager to learn, so passionate for getting an education. As for the payment, just thank of it as a 'thank you' for taking care of my children so often for me. You really made them happy, and I would like to give you something in return. Just tell me, Jack. Would you like to join the class?"
The boy smiled widely. "I would love to, Miss Saledhill."
"Well, then." Suzanne said. "I have stayed long enough away from the class and I have to continue teaching the children." She made him a signal with her finger as she walked toward the thin door that lead to the classroom. "Come with me."
He really couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. He had never actually been inside of the classroom before. But his bare feet slowly carried him into the classroom, where Suzanne Saledhill proudly announced to the class; "This is Jack Frost. He will be joining our class. Please make him feel welcome."
And so, Jack Frost joined the class in the end of October. He made a few friends, actually, and really felt happy there. And he came to school everyday, was the first one to arrive and the last one to leave - except for the teacher, of course.
It wasn't until one day, on the last day before the school would go on their Christmas vacation, that Suzanne noticed that Jack's seat was empty. Her mind became worried about her favorite student, wondering where he could possibly be. Maybe he was sick. It wouldn't come as much of a surprise to her, considering Jack's old and thin clothes and his bare feet. But really, he had come to school before when he had had a fever.
Around noon that same day, while in the middle of teaching the class more about world history, Suzanne Saledhill heard a small knock. She didn't have to go open the door, because the visitor who had knocked opened it himself. It was a police officer.
"Officer. What seems to be the problem?" Suzanne asked professionally, and saw the excited look on the children's faces at the corner of her eye. It really wasn't every day that they saw a police officer.
"Ma'am, do you have a fifteen year old student enrolled in this class, named Jackson Overland Frost?" The man asked her, his face showing pure sadness.
Suzanne nodded. "Why, yes I do. But I am sorry, he is not present at the moment." Again, for probably the millioneth time, she glanced at his empty seat. "In fact, I do not have a clue why he is not."
"I am not here to talk to Mr. Frost, ma'am, I am here to talk to you about him." The police officer said, and paused for a moment.
Oh, dear. Suzanne thought. What problem has he gotten himself into?
"Mr. Frost died yesterday."
Suzanne's heart almost stopped beating and her eyes immedetily watered up. "I beg your pardon?"
"Frost was found dead yesterday, ma'am."
"He's... he's dead?"
"Yes. I am sorry."
She looked down at the ground. "How... how did he.. die?" She heard her voice crack in the middle of the sentence and could already hear some sniffling in the classroom.
"He fell through the ice in the lake that is about a half a mile south from the town. He actually..." The police officer hesitated. "He actually gave away his life to safe his little sister. The boy was a true hero."
Later, the nameless river got it's permanent name; Jackson River.
And even as the months passed slowly, when the winter started melting away and the bright green grass started showing up, Suzanne was always certain of one thing.
He was always there.
I am sorry if I got any information in this chapter wrong. I tried my best to keep it realistic, even if I'm not really sure if they actually had police officers in 1700-something. At least, in this story they did.
Okay, I know that Jack does not exactly seem like the school type, but this idea of a story has just been bugging me for days and is now finally leaving me alone after I wrote it.
I just feel like there aren't a lot of FanFics about it when people that knew Jack Frost in his human life find out about his death. And even though they are really sad, I still have to write a few of them.
Review and favorite, if you have the time ;)
