As soon as the assembly had ended, E. Aster Bunnymund found himself surrounded by women. He stiffened his posture, making sure not to let one of them behind him. Bunny knew what could happen when women liked a man, and it sure wasn't pretty. Each and every one of them was talking at once, and Bunny could swear he was going deaf.
"Hey!" All of the women, including Bunny, swiveled around to find the source of the male voice. Bunny was simply shocked by what he saw, and he knew he wasn't the only one enjoying the view; a few of the girls surrounding him swooned.
A little farther down the hallway was a group of students; four from the looks of it. He barely registered the female and two other males of his rescuers, almost physically unable to tear his gaze away from the smirking teen in dead center.
Bunny took the opportunity of half of the crowd paying attention to his main saviour, asking and answering his questions, to give him a head to toe sweep. Roughly about 5'9", with a lithe yet athletic figure, stood a boy with the purest white hair he had ever seen; it looked like freshly fallen snow, and Bunny simply wanted to reach out and comb his fingers through it.
He vaugely noticed a snowflake design hoodie and tattered jeans. At this distance (only five feet away), Bunny could make out blue eyes. They were almost every shade of blue he could imagine, and they were so bright and full of life. Bunny only realized he had been staring when lovely blue met emerald green. And his breath hitched.
Jack talked with the girls for a little while, possibly helping the new guy escape. He didn't seem to catch on to the plan, however; Jack almost frowned, but he revitalized his smile, doubling his niceness for the girls surrounding him.
After feeling eyes boring into his very frame for a little while (maybe a minute), Jack had the sense to look up. And man alive, was he glad he did. The eyes that stared a hole through his face belonged to none other than the handsome (hot), rugged (so, so hot) transfer student.
Jack faltered mid-sentence, caught up in the eyes he could finally see. Dark greens pierced the first layer, and at least three other light greens softened his look. They reminded him of Spring, of the first bits of nature coming up from the earth after a hard winter, feirce and strong.
When the girls started quieting, questioning his behavior, Jack knew he had to think of something fast; he managed to snap out of his haze long enough to remember plan B that would save them both. He only hoped that his new 'friend' wouldn't hate him for it.
With an almost practiced art, Jack let an expression of realization cross his face, then broke out into a wide grin. "Aster?" He quickly made his way through the crowd, flinging his arms around Bunny like he was greeting an old friend, which was what he planned to act out.
"Holy hell, dude!" Jack laughed, looking up at his rescuee, hoping he'd understand this plan at least. "When did you get so tall? That's so not fair!" Bunny seemed to understand this time, and with a quick glance somewhere behind the crowd of gaping women, let his face warm with a smile. He threw his arms around Jack's middle, giving a light squeeze.
Bunny chuckled, the sound making Jack's heart flutter, and gave the shorter male a noogie. "Not my fault, Frostbite. Blame genetics; mostly that your's made you a pipsqueak." Jack pulled away slightly, glaring playfully up at his 'old friend'. "Whatever, Kangaroo." He then broke into a smile, grabbing Bunny's hand and giving a pull. "C'mon, you've got to meet my friends!"
Bunny followed Jack like he had known him his entire life, a relaxed smile on his lips, another line of teasing banter escaping him. "You have friends? That's surprising." The sea of dumbstruck girls parted before them, and with a signal to move on from Jack, the group of five headed to their claimed part of campus: Mr. Moon's old office.
Only once the door closed behind the last person did Jack let go of Bunny's hand. The smaller male immediately breathed a sigh of relief that turned into infectuous laughter. Bunny was the last to join in, a few chuckles escaping.
He watched as Jack finally stifled his laughter, rubbing a sore side, then looked to Bunny with a grin. "I can't believe that actually worked." Jack snickered at this, plopping down on an old plush chair. His other friends took their customary places in the room; Tooth hopped onto the worn mahogany desk, North pulled out a beautifully carved rocking chair and sat in it, and Sandy reached into a box for his favorite pillow and blanket, snuggling up on the floor.
Only Bunny remained standing, and he immediately felt awkward. The other four were staring at him, for some unknown reason, and it made him uneasy. He glanced at Jack, who held his gaze for a second, before breaking out into another trademark grin. "So." Bunny's eyes flickered to the other occupants before settling on Jack again, daring to probe for an answer.
"So... Why'd ya help me out, mate?" Jack smiled somewhat secretly, drumming his fingers on the armrest of the chair. "Because we like you." "'We'?" Bunny couldn't keep the curious tone from his voice. Jack smiled wider, gesturing to Sandy, Tooth, North, and finally, himself. "Mr. Moon told us about you."
Jack stood from his chair, stepping closer to his 'prey'; at least, that's what Bunny felt like at the moment, but like hell he was going to let it show. "Oh yeah? Can I ask what he told ya?" Bunny crossed his arms again, suddenly worried. How much did Mr. Moon know?
North took this time to stand as well, his booming voice warm and thick with his accent. "You love children!" Bunny was taken a little aback. His eyes widened some, but then he relaxed a little, nodding in confirmation. "I...I used to manage the Easter hunts back in Brisbane. Easter egg hunts, that is." He cleared his throat, lightly pulling at the collar of his sweater.
Tooth stepped in, nearly floating over to him. Oddly enough, he realized, she was staring at his mouth. She quickly looked him in the eyes, her purple contacts almost blinding him. With a smile, she continued for her friends. "We love children, too!" Bunny fidgeted a little, somewhat uncomfortable that he didn't understand what was going on.
"Oh? Well, thas'nice I suppose. If ya don't mind me askin'..." Bunny glanced once more at the smiling faces surrounded him, then finished his question. "What're you getting on about?" Jack took this as his cue to step in again, a grin almost breaking his face.
"We're 'getting on' about a childrens' fair! In the Spring! We do it every year, and we really want your help!" Bunny could hear the excitement plain and true in Jack's voice, and it lifted his spirits a little as well; it also gave him an enormous amount of relief to know what they wanted of him wasn't horrid. "Really? That's what yer up and about?" The happy faces around him now reassured him.
"Well, I have to think for a bloody minute, I just got he-Of course I'll help, you pansies. Don't be lookin' all dejected. Crickey." Bunny now sported a small smirk; he had only said the first bit to see their reactions, and their almost-rejected faces were somewhat funny, and somewhat hard to bear.
Jack jumped back to his excited self, nearly bouncing in place. "So, are you in?" Bunny pretended to think about it a for a second, before growing his own grin, sticking out a large, calloused hand for a handshake. "I'm in."
The bell unfortunately rang at this point; it startled Bunny with its shrillness. When he settled down, he noticed that everyone was packing up their things to head to class. Something dawned on him; He'd never actually gotten the name of his saviour, save for his last name when the shorter, blond boy had held up a sign. When they'd thought that through, he'd never know.
"Uh, before ya leave.." Bunny almost froze when everyone looked at him confusedly, instead of just the teen he'd been eyeing. He coughed, forcing himself to look casual. "I never got your names, y'know." Jack smiled again, and pointed to the largest male in the room.
"Nicholas North, Jr. Center of the football team and master woodcarver." Jack pointed the rocking chair for effect, North smiling all the while. "I am Russian, still learn English. Call me North, new comrade." Bunny nodded, and Jack continued down the list.
"Titiana Green, or Tooth. Student Council secretary and future pediatric dentist." Tooth smiled wide, her eyes once again going to his mouth. "I saw you have the most wonderful bicuspids..." Bunny gave her an awkward smile, making a point of keeping his mouth closed.
"That's Sanderson Mansnoozie, or Sandy for short. He's considered the head of the Art department; besides the teacher, of course." Jack let out a small chuckle, and Sandy let out his own silent laugh. "And then there's me."
Bunny raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms again. "Still don't have your first name, mate." Jack grinned a little lopsidedly, a hand reaching around to scratch the back of his head. "Well.. It's Jack. I'm Jack Frost."
Tooth took this time to pipe up, adding her own title for him. "Manages the Art department with Sandy, Borger's favorite babysitter, and, before you came along, the most popular with the ladies." She giggled some, noticing that Jack's face had a certain flush to it.
"Yeah, well, nobody expected him to be such a..." Jack suddenly cut himself off, wide eyed and red faced, and said a hasty goodbye to his friends. He tore out of the room like the devil was on his heels. Bunny made a face, mostly of confusion. Had he said something wrong?
Tooth, however, smiled knowingly (he wondered how much she knew), and asked him to pull out his schedule. "Since you're new, I'll show you to your first class!" She laid a hurrying hand on his shoulder, and pushed him out the door.
Bunny handed her another crumpled piece of paper (he really should be more organized), and while she glanced over it, he watched the other two males walk down the hallway. The short one, Sandy, gave him a wave and a warm smile, before he and North disappeared around the corner.
When he faced Tooth again, she was smiling sympathetically, and had folded his paper back neatly. He looked at his paper, wondering what had given her that look. All he saw was his schedule. First period was English IV AP with...
"Sorry, Bunny. You have Mr. Black first."