Because of the Fire by 13BlueBananas

Chapter Two: Welcome to Burgess Junior High Part II

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Rise of the Guardians or its characters. I only own the plot. All rights to respective owners.


The first half of the day wasn't too bad, considering Jack's luck.

Before the bell rang, he compared his schedule with Sandy's and it turned out that they had first, third, and seventh period together. That was three more classes than Jack thought he would have with his only friend.

Second period was... hectic to say the least. The gym teacher, Mr. Rick, was a nice guy. He didn't even take notice of Jack's hair. The downside was that he was loud. Really loud. So loud, in fact, that when he said, "So you're the new student? Erm, Jack Frost?" (and he did look at Jack weirdly when he read his last name off the sheet) all the other students immediately looked up from their conversations and stared at him. The good thing was that the class was doing a soccer unit. With his smallish size and considerable agility, Jack was practically built for that sport. He was, naturally, last to be chosen for a team, but the opposing side looked like they were regretting it. Especially when he kicked the ball (accidentally, mind you) into some buff guy's face and almost broke his nose.

Third period was Pre-Algebra. Even though he didn't understand anything that the teacher was talking about, Jack was just thankful they hadn't stuck him in Algebra I. Mrs. Crigger was more laidback than Mr. Rick, so that was a bonus. She let him do whatever he wanted as long as it looked productive until class ended ("Just until we start a fresh unit," she'd said. "This one's almost over anyway."), and she placed him in a back seat. By this point, he was so used to people gawking at his hair that he didn't even notice their questioning gazes. To top it all off, Sandy was in the seat next to him.

Fourth period was the easiest class so far. He walked in, Mrs. Druier pointed out an empty seat, he sat down, and then he pulled out a book and started reading. Apparently, every Monday the class had a reading day. Some of the students were whispering to each other anyway, throwing him glances and gesturing towards him with their hand. About half the class had phones hidden in their book. Jack himself was only pretending to read the book the teacher had loaned him, opting to observe his classmates instead. After about fifteen minutes, he started staring at the random posters around the room. They were cheesy; saying things like BAD SPELLERS, UNTIE! and TOILETS ONLY FOR DISABLED ELDERLY PREGNATE CHILDREN. Commas exist for a reason. At least this room had some color to it instead of the plain white walls and tiles (or polished wooden floor, in the gym's case) that all the other classrooms contained. Mrs. Druier's classroom was more colorful than the art room, Jack mused.

So yeah, he was having a good day so far. He should have known his luck would change…


Everything went wrong at lunch.

It was divided into four shifts: One for each grade. The fifth graders had first, sixth graders had second, etc. It was during his lunch shift that Jack discovered the kid he had pulled the Easter prank on when they were ten still went to the school. That 'kid' wasn't a kid anymore, though. Aster Bunnymund— the last name being what gave Jack the inspiration to pull the Easter-themed prank— was one of the biggest eighth graders Jack had ever seen. Tan, brown hair, and green eyes, too. He could see some of the girls at a nearby table sneaking glances at him. But this wasn't what was bothering Jack.

What was bothering Jack was that the only two people he knew were sitting at the table with Aster.

Sandy, Tooth, and some other huge kid (Seriously, what was with all of the buff guys in this grade?! The school must be supplying steroids or something.) were all laughing and talking. Tooth looked over at Jack standing awkwardly near the lunch line with his tray and waved him over, patting an empty seat. He started walking over to them just as they looked over. When he sat down, he was met with two beaming smiles and two confused frowns.

"Hi, Jack!" Tooth greeted him enthusiastically. He offered her a tentative smile in response. Sandy grinned and offered him a fist. Jack's smile grew and he punched it, rolling his eyes when Sandy clutched his hand dramatically to his chest in mock pain.

"Who is this, Sandy?" The guy sitting next to Aster asked.

Sandy facepalmed at having completely forgot to introduce each other. "Sorry, guys," He said as loud as his damaged vocal cords would allow him. "This is Jack. Jack, these losers are Tooth, North, and Bunny."

They all rolled their eyes at their introduction.

"OK, I know where the nicknames Tooth and Bunny came from," Jack said, smirking at the former. "But where did 'North' come from?"

"My full name is Nicholas North, but I also have Russian heritage," 'North' explained.

"Oh."

Bunny looked mad with a hint of suspicion. "Ya been here before, mate?" Well, at least the accent hadn't changed.

Jack knew that he shouldn't, but he couldn't help but to say, "Yeah, I have. Remember fifth grade? I remember fifth grade, Bunny." He put emphasis on the name just to annoy him.

Normally, Aster was okay with people using his nickname, but not Jack. Not this white-haired freak who just showed up and already thinks he owns the place. Especially when he could see his friends holding in their laughter at the memory of when he first got it. He turned red from a mixture of anger and embarrassment, clenching his hands into fists.

Sandy saw this and said, "If it makes you feel better, Jack's last name is now 'Frost'," This time the group couldn't contain their laughter. Even Jack joined in: He couldn't deny that his name was strange.

"You even have the hair to match!" North chuckled out.

"Is that why you dyed it? To match your name?" Tooth asked with a chuckle.

Before Jack could answer her question, Bunny cut in. "Could ya be any more original?"

Jack didn't really like the way he said it, like an insult, so he shot back, "I could, Bunny. I could. But I think that white hair suits me. Sandy agrees," He said.

Sandy's eyes widened. Don't you dare try and drag me into this!, they screamed.

Bunny's hands were curling and uncurling, like he struggling to contain himself. Just for kicks, Jack ruffled his messy hair. It was funny seeing the Australian almost lose it right there and then. Tooth, Sandy, and North glanced at each other and shifted uncomfortably. The tension was so thick that you could almost see it.

"So, Jack," Tooth said, trying to ease up the atmosphere. "Why'd you move?"

So nobody remembered. Jack wasn't sure if he should be grateful or angry about that. Seriously, it's not like house fires were and everyday occurrence in this small town! On the other hand, nobody would pity him either. Jack hated pity. He hid his inner turmoil under an indifferent mask, but couldn't stop his body from tensing up at the seemingly harmless question.

"Oh, my uncle got a promotion and was transferred here," He replied, successfully getting away with not answering her actual question.

"What job does your uncle have?" North wondered.

"Only, like, the coolest job ever!" Jack exclaimed, a genuine smile lighting up his face. "He's a video game designer." Both Sandy and North's eyes went wide with slight envy while Bunny just scoffed.

"Please, mate. My dad travels around the world for a living. Sometimes 'e takes me with 'im."

To Bunny's extreme annoyance, Jack only rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Bunny. You have to admit that my uncle has the better job."

"That'll be the day when Christmas is better than Easter."

"Hey! Christmas is always better than Easter!" North protested.

"Look what you've done, Jack," chastised Sandy.

Tooth groaned. "Here they go again..."

"What did I do?!" This came from Jack.

"They always do this: Argue over which holiday is better. Easter or Christmas, Easter or Christmas." Tooth complained.

"Alright, Santa, Kangaroo, calm down." Jack interceded.

North was the one to groan this time. "Not you, too!"

"What did you just call me? I'm no Kangaroo," Bunny said in an annoyed tone.

"Sure about that?"

Following North's example, Sandy and Tooth left the table to dump their trays and get away from the inevitable fight between the two. As soon as they were out of earshot, Bunny leaned across the table and got right in Jack's face.

"I don't think you answered Tooth's question earlier."

Jack suddenly felt uneasy. "I'm pretty sure I did. Are you deaf, Kangaroo?"

"You can call me all the names you want," Bunny said coldly. "But at least I still have a family." With that he leaned back into his seat.

Jack flinched and, as hard as he tried to stop them, tears started pooling in the corners of his eyes. He didn't know how he even remembered that— Bunny never seemed to pay any attention to him— but at the moment he didn't care. He had to get away before he lost it in front of everybody. He stuffed his shaking hands in his hoodie pocket and left with a muttered, "I'm going to the bathroom," just as the others arrived at the table again.

"What did you say to him, Aster Bunnymund?!" Tooth accused with a glare.

"Nothing," He replied vaguely, watching Jack desperately weave through the tables.

North sighed, then got up and followed him.


Why. Did. It. Have. To. Be. Him?! Why Aster Bunnymund?! Why did it have to be that the one person who could hold a grudge for all eternity be the only one that remembered? Jack was curled into a ball in the far stall, alone as far as he knew. Jack didn't appreciate pity, but he would have preferred it over the low blow that Bunny had sent his way. Was he really so heartless? Or just desperate? Heartless and desperate?

The sound of footsteps echoed in the bathroom. Just out curiosity, he peeked under the stall door. A pair of black boots standing just outside greeted him.

"This stall is taken," He said in an annoyed tone, though in reality Jack was doing all he could to keep his voice from shaking.

"I know you are not actually using bathroom, Jack," The owner of the black boots said. Now Jack wasn't an expert on the other students, but he was pretty sure that there was only one Russian kid in his grade.

"But what if I was, North? Then this conversation would be so awkward."

"Let's talk."

"We are talking."

"About Bunny."

"He's a jerk, I know."

"I will not ask what he said, but we also need to talk about other stuff."

Jack got up and opened the stall door. He met North's serious stare and raised an eyebrow. "Well now it's awkward."

North looked like he was about to smile. He did for a fraction of a second before it faded into a frown again. "Bunny may be cruel sometimes, but he is one of the most loyal people I know."

"OK?" Jack said in response, not sure where this was going.

"Very loyal. But he likes everybody in the group to bring something special with them."

"I don't have any money... Or anything valuable in general."

"Not that. Is inside you."

"I'm not giving him my organs, North."

"No!" North looked annoyed now. "A trait. Bunny is stubborn. That means that he doesn't give up very easily. Tooth is an excellent photographer, she has scrapbook full of our friendship. Just in case we have fight and forget the good times. Sandy's always there to talk to, just if we need to get something off our chest."

"And you?" Now Jack was really curious.

"I point out details," he said, then added at Jack's confused look, "The things we would otherwise take for granted. Observation is a wonderful thing."

"That's great?" Jack started walking out before North grabbed his arm tight enough to bruise. He probably didn't realize his own strength, because when Jack winced he loosened his grip a little.

"But if you are going to join us, you need to bring something too."

Jack scoffed. "What am I supposed to bring?"

"I have no idea. That is for you to find out."

"Well, I'll just be that guy who hangs out occasionally. I'm not really into the group thing."

North let go of his arm and it took all of Jack's willpower not to reach up and rub it.

"You are welcome to—"

A group of five people dressed all in black entered the bathroom. The spotted the pair immediately, and the seeming leader of them stepped forward and said, "Well, well. Look at these two gay wads, boys," The other members of his group laughed menacingly at that and Jack turned red. With anger or embarrassment, he wasn't sure. "Who is this, Nicholas?" The Goth stepped forward and looked Jack right in the eye. "Jack Frost? Is that even your real name?"

North growled.

"Pitch."


A/N: Yay! I've updated! Behold in all it's glory! No?

I was originally going to include ALL of the school day in this chapter, but then I thought, "Let's just leave them on a cliffy!" And this happened. Yeah. I also got lazy. Thank Jane for being the majestic beta! You would be reading errors everywhere without her.

THANK ALL OF YOU LOYAL READERS! Don't forget to leave a review :3