She smelled like vanilla.
A sweet scent that made his body take a sigh of relief when she was close. He imagined it was what home smelled like. When she was near him, her warmed honey scent calmed the raging storm inside him, a magic that no other possessed. The weight on his shoulders lifted, his body felt light and for once he felt hope rise in his heart.
He turned and took a glance at the girl next to him, her long golden hair fell in waves down her back, endless green eyes trained on her notebook. Her cheeks were high, her lips curved into a natural pout. Her eyelashes were endlessly long, her neck a graceful pathway of sun kissed skin.
It wasn't until she had put down her pink gel pen and looked up at the teacher, he realized he had been staring. He averted his blue eyes quickly, hoping to whatever God was listening that she hadn't noticed. A blush burned his pale cheeks and he sunk deeper in his chair. With his chin down he noticed his notebook was barren of any actual information but instead filled with small doodles of pointless thoughts. The stark difference between the smooth curve of pink, girly swishes of ink and his sloppy dark blue chicken scratch made him lean forward so she wouldn't see.
If she did look at him today.
The bell rang and the sound of chairs being pushed back, backpacks being filled, chattering friends echoed in the small classroom. He gave a sigh through his nose before standing, pulling a blue knit beanie from his sweatshirt pocket. With a forearm over his desk, he shoved everything into his open backpack, his eyes rose for a moment to glance at the blonde. She put everything away with a delicate hand, her purple shoulder bag was decorated with small flower pins and charms. He looked down at his own bag and his frown deepened. A deflated black Jansport with more safety pinned holes then zippers.
He turned to leave, disgusted with his own comparisons, when someone called his name. It was a tinkling sound, a voice that he didn't think could form his name of all names on her tongue. He turned and looked down at the girl of his daydreams, her smile directed at him. His heart skipped and a small smile quirked its way to his thin lips.
"You dropped this." she said and held out his blue pen to him. He felt his face drop but placed a polite smile on. His disappointment didn't have to be evident.
"Oh. Thanks." he said and took it from her. She wasn't phased by his ripped jeans or faded grey shirt. She didn't care about his shoes or his white hair. She steer away from him and his reputation. She looked at him in the eyes and for the first time he felt seen.
"I thought you might need it." she giggled, walking towards the door with him. He made sure to hold it open for her. He turned to leave, his shoulders slumped a it at his own misfortune.
"Wait! Here." she unzipped a small pocket filled with colorful gel pens, a rainbow in her purse, and fished out a midnight blue one. "You can have one of mine, you know, just in case."
His heart beat fast and he felt like a fucking idiot. It was a pen! But for someone reason it was as if he was a knight and she was the princess who had given him her favor. He took it from her hands and gave a rare smile, as slight as it was.
"Okay but I cant promise to actually use it." Lie.
She giggled, "You better, Jack, or Ill be heart broken. That pen was chosen especially in your color."
"Fine. I'll use it only when you're in class." he replied, his head tilted with a playful smirk and hands in his sweatshirt pocket. She gave a sassy smile back and tucked her hair behind her ear,
"Ill hold you to that. Does that mean you'll actually show up to—"
"Punzie!" a feminine voice called from down the hall. The two teenagers looked over the girls shoulder to see Elsa and Flynn making their way over to them. Jack kept him face schooled as much as possible though he was not happy that they had interrupted his first real conversation with Rapunzel since he had transferred last year.
Rapunzel was the school sweetheart. She was popular and loved, she was smart and kind. It was only natural that the popular kids had sank their proverbial claws into her. Elsa smiled at the two of them, her cheer uniform swooshing with every step. Flynn flanked her, his handsome looks and smooth talk got him good enough grades to still be on the football team. Their eyes sized him up instantly and he felt a smart ass remark form on the tip of his tongue.
"Punzie, we were waiting for you. We're going off campus for lunch." Elsa said, placing an arm around the smaller girl's shoulders. "Sorry to interupt,—…ummm…"
"Don't hurt yourself, I'm leaving anyway." Jack sneered, turning a heel and stalking down the hall.
"God, rude much?"
Her words destroyed the feeling of contentment that had once been, shattering the semblance of hope for something with Rapunzel. He wasn't asking for much. He wasn't even asking to begin with. He just wanted to be something other than 'that kid I have in four classes'. He shut his eyes tight before he fell into the temptation and looked behind him. He only caught the faint gold of her hair and flutter of her floral dress before the sea of hungry students swallowed them.
The week went by and he had gone to every class, armed with his new midnight blue gel pen. He was going to give up, he was going to cut his losses and leave whatever he felt on Monday behind him. But every time vanilla filled his senses, he was a slave to the way her smile curved upwards, to how she twirled a golden lock around her small finger. She sat by him in the classes they had together, greetings had turned into conversations. Passing goodbyes turned into walks to her locker. Their friendship was a single brick missing in a large wall, just big enough to slip words between. He was breaking social norms but breaking things is what he was good at.
"It's not going to work." The meek voice of his friend burst through he daydream, reminding him that he was waiting for Hiccup to go to lunch. He had been watching a certain blonde as she talked animatedly with another cheerleader Anna. Her hand gestures matched her facial expressions, both full of unhindered emotion. He tore himself away just as she looked down the hall in his direction.
"Huh?"
Hiccup gave him an annoyed look. His best friend had been mooning over the blonde for awhile but this was the first time he seemed to be enamored to the point where it was unhealthy to hope that much. They began the trek to the lunch room.
"This thing you have with Rapunzel. It's not going to work. If you haven't noticed were not even on the same spectrum as her. Not even the same ball park. I'm talking two different playing fields miles away from each other."
Jack frowned at his best friends logic. He wasn't wrong. Jack was the troublemaker of the school. Already alienated by being a foster kid in a small town, he had taken up the nasty habit of skipping class, getting into fights and causing trouble for fun. Not to mention his looks were a bit odd. Hiccup was his first and only friend, a small lanky boy with shaggy brown hair and freckles. He was too smart for most social circles, too antisocial to care, and his fake foot didn't help his status either. People had stopped messing with him with Jack around. He had to admit that Hiccup was right about Rapunzel but hated it also.
"Don't you think I know that, Hic?" He sighed, sitting down at their usual table. "But she's different, she's…Rapunzel."
"The same Rapunzel who was crowned homecoming queen, the dance you got suspended from. The same Rapunzel who sits at the popular table, laughing it up with the people who bully us—"
"You."
"Irrelevant. I just…don't want to see you hurt when it call comes crashing down."
There was a moment of silence before Jack laughed and took the apple from Hiccups packed lunch, "Awww you do care."
Hiccup smiled and shook his head. Just like Jack to run from anything too serious. Both ate their packed lunches, talking about classes and new video games coming out. Either one noticed the set of football players making their way to the table. A large hand slammed down on the table, shaking the metal and wood. Hiccup paled, his green eyes snapped to the imposing figures. Jack glared at them, his ire rising.
"So a little birdie told me you got the hots for Rapunzel?"
The leader of the group was none other than Dagur. His too square of jaw and hooked nose left something to be desired but his brutal competitive side made him the all star of the team. The other two were just for show. Jack smirked,
"Hearing voices? You should get that checked out." He took a bite of his sandwich, turning away from the brute as if he meant nothing. Hiccup looked down at his food, waiting for what he knew was coming.
"You think you're funny don't you, asshole?"
"Not as funny as your face, but I try."
Dagur snatched the front of the boy's blue hoodie, forcing him to his feet. The football player was only an inch and a half taller than his white haired victim, a little broader, but that didn't phase the troublemaker. Dark sinister brown bore into icy blue.
"Stay the fuck away from her, Frost." He hissed, "Last warning."
He shoved the boy away. Jack rocked on his heels but kept his shoulders square, jaw set in anger. He watched as the three of them as they walked back towards the popular table. He could see Rapunzel smiling at something Elsa had said, not a care in the world. He was ready to sit back down when he had heard Dagur run is mouth again.
"That little fucker better stay away from my bitch."
His rage was back with vengeance. He turned towards the retreating football neanderthals, Hiccup grabbed on to his sleeve, "Jack don't—"
"I didn't know you liked girls, Dagur." He smirked, there was something dark in his humor. A promise of a fight in his eyes. Adrenaline had already started to pump into his limbs in anticipation.
Dagur turned around quickly, his face almost red with his anger. "You little shit!" He charged at the underclassman, Jack moved away from the table just has the larger boy tackled him to the ground. Bodies hit the ground, grunts seemed to draw a crowd as people came to cheer.
Their enthusiasm was lost on Jack, his focus on the fight. A fist hit him square in the face, once, twice, before he threw back his head and headbutt his assaulter square in the nose. Before he had time to recover, Jack had used his time window to send an elbow into his face, rocking his body just enough to use the momentum. Unlike Dagur who relied on brute strength to incapacitate his weaker victims, Jack was used to fighting bigger guys. He had fought for Hiccup since he got here, taking down guys who thought weaker meant an open target. He hated those people. He refused to be weak again and he would never let any one hurt the people he cared about, physically or emotionally. And he defiantly wouldn't let Dagur get away with calling Rapunzel a bitch.
With a swift movement, Dagur was under him. Her name rang in his head and all this disappointment came rushing back. He was a nobody, an outcast. Some foster kid not worth the time. He hated school, mostly because he couldn't feel more alone than in these crowded halls. He was a jerk, he was sarcastic and selfish. He wasnt good enough for her.
He never realized that with every self loathing thought he had brought back his arm and landed another blow to the face underneath him. He didn't realize that the fight was over, he didn't see the red that stained his cut and bruised knuckles, he didn't hear his name over his grunts. His eyes were unfocused, his knuckled white as he kept the boy down with a fist gripped in the front of the blood stained shirt.
"Jack!"
Not good enough.
"Jack!"
Never good enough.
"Jack, stop it!" Small hands grabbed his pulled back arm. Without thinking, Jack turned and threw out his arm to dislodge whoever had him. It wasn't until she had fallen to the ground with a hard thump that his eyes met scared green ones.
His eyes widened, fists loosened. She sat only a foot away from him on the cold ground. Her brightness was dimmed by the fear in her eyes, her beauty had turned into tragedy as her pink lips trembled. His world came crashing down at that moment.
He did that. He made her look like that. He had pushed her down, his fallen angel. The smell of vanilla was lost in the scent of copper that filled hide nose. There was no remedy for loneliness now, there was no comfort of hope. Any chance he had was gone.
Strong hands grabbed his arms, he didnt fight it.
He was tired of fighting.
He was tired of breaking things.
Jack sat outside the principals office, his forearms rested on his knees, head down. He ignored the look and whispers of passing teachers. He paid no mind to anyone who offered him bandages or ice. His lip was split, his eye was starting to sting as the broken blood vessels started to take on color. It was sure to be a mix angry blues and reds tomorrow. He was too busy looking at his hands. A calloused hand was like an art piece as blood went finger painting across a pale canvas. His knuckles were split and bruised so he wasnt sure where his blood started and Dagurs began. It was a sick master piece of his rage.
"Can I see it?"
He looked up and couldn't keep the shock off his face. Winter blue met summer green and everything seemed to fall away. Rapunzel gave him a smile and sat down in the chair next to him. She placed a small first aid kit in her lap then took his hand in hers. She was already prepared with a warm wet towel, wiping the blood clean from his skin. Her fingers were soft under his palm, her eyes watched her work.
"Why are you doing this?" He asked brokenly.
"I went to the nurses office to see how you were and she told me you refused help. So I grabbed what I could and came here." She answered. "Your pride, Jack Frost, should be national monument."
"You know what I meant."
There was silence. It was the most deafening sound he had ever heard. She placed the towel on an empty chair. She traded it for a cotton ball and antiseptic.
"Hiccup told me why you got into the fight." She said quietly. He winced and pulled air between his teeth as she cleaned the open wounds. The blonde lifted his hand to her lips and gently blew on the cuts, soothing the sting. He almost turned away to hide the blush on his pale cheeks.
"That doesn't excuse—"
"It was an accident."
"The fight was deliberate! I wanted to—"
"You were just defending—"
"Stop making excuses for me, Rapunzel!" He yelled, yanking away his hand. "This is what I do! I get in fights, I hit people, I break things! Stop trying to see the best in me because you're only going to be disappointed. You're only going to hate me and I won't break you too."
There was that silence again.
"Are you done?" Her voice was soft and melodious. He turned to her with shock written on his face. She took his hand once more and began to wrap the bandage around his knuckles with gentle fingers, soft skin running over ripped flesh like silk. He was at a loss for words. She looked up at him, his bandaged hand in hers still. She looked at his eyes and he felt seen again. He felt naked and exposed, open for the taking. The ball was in her court and she could break him just as easily as he could break her.
"I don't care about any of that, Jack. You're not a bad person because you make some dumb choices." She giggled, "You're actually the most genuine person that I know. You're not going to break me but it will make me sad if we stop being friends."
All at once that wall had crumbled. There was no barrier, no line, it was just the two of them. Her words made all the pain, all the heartache, all the loneliness disappear. She didn't care about how broken he was or what he looked like. She looked at him and everything was okay. She made him want to be someone deserving of her friendship, of her. A bright smile, full of white as snow teeth, graced his lips. His blue eyes brighter than clearest of waters.
"We can't have that now can we, princess."
Rapunzel laughed, two fools smiling at each other outside the principals office; the smell of vanilla filled the space and Jack knew he was home.
