Because of the Fire by 13BlueBananas

Chapter Six: To Choose a Side

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


~Recap~

And to make his situation worse, he was pretty sure that his aimless wandering had landed him in the slums...

"Hey, Frost! Get over here! We need to talk about something!"

And through the cruelty of fate, said Goth and his cronies spotted Jack from their spot on the crumbling stairwell of an equally crumbling arcade.


Great. Jack's eyes darted around, looking for a possible escape. There was no need, however, as Pitch's group got up from their seats and started walking towards him.

Next time, he vowed he would just ask for directions to the school.

"Come on, don't be so tense! We're all friends here, right?" Pitch said with a glint in his eye that promised nothing good.

"Yeah... Sure, man. What do you want?" Jack replied, trying to hide his distaste for the whole situation.

"What do I want? I don't want anything but to talk. One of those deep conversations, you know?" Pitch gestured between the two of them, putting on a mock-vulnerable face.

"About what?" Jack asked hesitantly.

What he got in response was a smirk. "You know what."

Jack had to resist the urge to groan. How did he always get himself into these things? He tried to put on a brave face as he faced the group. "Actually, I don't think I do. Care to enlighten me?" He crossed his arms.

Pitch's cronies snickered.

The bully smiled— a creepy, twisted thing— and said in a fake-caring voice, "Why, about you joining our soccer team, of course!" He sized up Jack, "We could always use another player."

A few Goths took some steps forward.

It was hard to resist the urge to take a few steps back. Did these guys ever bathe? "Really? 'Cause if all these fine gentlemen here are on your team, you seem good to me."

Pitch's smile got wider. "Oh, we're good, alright. The best in the district. So what do you say, Jack? Want to join the winners?"

Obviously, Jack did not want to join a group of smelly, child-hating demon spawn just to play soccer. Now, how could Jack phrase his answer without offending anybody (and therefore resulting in lots of possible pain)? "No thanks. Soccer isn't really my thing."

The smile dropped into a harsh frown. "It will be. Come on, guys."

The group of troublemakers (although, Jack wasn't really one to talk) left him there, standing alone with only one thought on his mind: How do I get home from here?


He ended up standing outside a random cafe and mooching off their internet for directions. It was already late, and he was pretty sure it would be past one by the time he got home. Aunt Grace is going to KILL me...

And, about an hour and a half later, he was right.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" His guardian screeched. If she wasn't careful, she would accidentally wake up… oh, say, the entire state.

"I got lost," He offered weakly. He knew he was in trouble, even if he had the best excuse in the book.

"LOST?! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT TIME IT IS?!" She took a deep breath to compose herself. "Why didn't you just call me?"

So you wouldn't realize that I lied to you. "Because I thought you would be asleep by now."

Her face was devoid of all emotion. This was more terrifying than if it had been full of anger. He hated that look from her. "We will talk about this after school. I'll think of what to do with you in the meantime." And with that, she turned around and walked to her bedroom.

"Great. Just great."


Jack sat on his bed, head in his hands. He knew he should be sleeping—it was one thirty— but he was at a loss. He loved soccer, but this was the first time it was causing him trouble. Ever. It was usually his escape, so he couldn't help but feel… well, betrayed.

'Cause oh, yeah! He had a group of Goths trying to capture him!

He didn't know if he wanted to join Sandy and Tooth's group and play on their team, or give in and join Pitch's, or just not play at all.

What a day.

The teen sighed, and finally turned off his light. He went to bed feeling lower than he had in a while…


A/N: CREDIT TO MY GLORIOUS BETA PHANTOM J. RYDER FOR HELPING ME WRITE THIS. CO-WRITTEN CHAPTER HERE. I know I said shorter chapters and faster updates. I'm sorry. You probably don't want to hear excuses, but it's hard to write when I'm currently drowning (hehe, sorry, Jack xD) in another fandom right now.

There's also the fact that I hate how this is turning out. I may or may not completely rewrite every chapter I have for this story, as well as outline the rest of it like I should have done in the first place. I'll leave the original (this one) up, though. It would be rude to delete all of your lovely reviews/favorites/follows and such. It's not a definite decision, but if I do then I'll let each and every one of you lovely people know.