Heyyyyy guysssss :D Here is the new (and late) chapter. Hey, better late than never, right? And if you want an excuse – I had an essay due today and I spent the last two days all working on it rather than finalizing this chapter, because I actually had the majourity of the chapter finished on Saturday, but didn't have the last two paragraphs XP but don't be mad, because this chapter is longer and it's not a filler chapter.
Anyways, continue on with reading :3 and remember to review at the end :3
"So, your brother basically turned your living room into a winter wonderland?" Ria giggled out after Jack had told her the events of the previous night during their shared History class. "How hard was it to clean up afterwards?"
"Heh, he did, but winter wonderlands are sort of my thing," Jack replied with a smirk. "And Ana and Aster had to clean it up, actually; thank god."
Ria laughed again. "Poor Ria." She turned back to her textbook, and then to the teacher who was walking into the classroom. "Did you read for today?" she murmured to Jack.
Jack, who admittedly had never even cracked open his history book yet, slowly nodded, hoping that he hadn't spent the years they were discussing playing around in the snow and letting the time pass by without a care. He glanced at the board and thanked the heavens that their discussion topic for the day was none other than the Great Depression. He had been hyper-aware during that time, knowing the conditions of the children who had to suffer through that specific time of history.
Knowing this, Jack informed Ria of various facts and details of the Great Depression, earning him a grateful smile and an "I owe you one" from the cheerleader. Soon after, the History teacher began her class and Jack zoned out, doodling random frost designs in his notebook.
However, he was brought back into the mundane classroom when he heard Ria's voice. He looked up from his current design of a bunny in his notebook to see Ria explaining to the class the causes of the Great Depression that he had just told her about.
Jack beamed inside at this, and another feeling of victory passed over him after Ria had finished her explanation; after she finished talking, Ria gave Jack at light squeeze on the shoulder, and when she moved her hand, she brushed it by his hair just below his ear. Jack tingled at the feeling, but it was a good tingle. He liked it.
He quickly finished the doodle of the bunny, and moved on to draw an outline of a female figure on the page. It didn't take long for Jack to realize that the figure he had in his notebook was a sketch of Ria, standing in front of a scenic forest. Ria didn't seem to notice it, so Jack was quick to turn to the next page and begin another doodle, this time, of a snowy mountain.
He didn't know much about girls and their unusual ways, but he did know that drawing pictures of them in his notebook would come off as a little bit undesirable to those mysterious creatures. And he didn't need Ria to think of him as undesirable.
The bell rang, and class was dismissed. Ria leapt at Jack, engulfing him in a hug. "Thanks so much for the mini-lesson before class!" she exclaimed. "Totally saved me there."
Jack awkwardly hugged her back, not expecting the sudden gesture from the brunette. "Uh, no problem, Ria."
Ria released Jack from her embrace. "Let's go meet Ana and Seth for lunch," Ria told the winter spirit, "they're probably already waiting for us."
Jack nodded, and walked beside Ria as they rushed to get to the cafeteria. In the lunchroom, there were familiar rows of round tables where the people sat down and ate. Jack spotted Ria and Seth in the back corner of the cafeteria, seemingly laughing together about an unknown subject. Jack quickly pointed them out to Ria, who stared at them for a second, and then laughed.
"They look like they're having a good time," Ria mused to Jack and herself. "I think they're hitting it off pretty well, let's not interrupt them."
It took Jack a moment to realize what Ria meant and when he did, a twinge of jealousy pricked him. The tooth fairy was already getting a boyfriend, yet he still had ways to go with Ria. "So where are we going to go?"
"Here, I can introduce you to some of my other friends that I believe you haven't formally met yet," Ria assured Jack with a smile. She began to walk towards the exit at the back of the cafeteria. Jack followed slowly, unsure who he would meet.
Until now, he had only met her preppy cheerleader friends, Seth's basketball jock friends, and various people who talked to him in his classes. None of them seemed to be people who would be hanging out behind the school during lunch. And granted, Ria didn't look like someone who would be hanging out behind the school during lunch either, except... she was doing exactly that.
When they pushed through the doors (thankfully not getting caught by the teachers or Ana or Seth) and turned the corner away from the cafeteria windows, there was a concrete platform with a rail and steps. Two boys and two girls were sitting at the platform, either on the steps or on the rail.
Ria greeted them with fist bumps and high fives, while Jack only greeted them with a soft "hello", having no idea who these people were.
"This is Jack, by the way, the new kid," Ria introduced. The strangers all grinned and waved and said their greetings. "Jack, these are my friends from elementary school: Kat, Finola, Lugia, and Caspian." Ria pointed each one out as she said their names.
Kat seemed to be the oldest, looking around 18 years old. She donned a ponytail of long black hair, tied with a feather hair tie; tight black jeans; and a brown leather jacket.
Finola, the other girl, had long wavy brown hair, black rimmed glasses, and wore a very large purple scarf. She looked the friendliest, a huge welcoming smile on her lips. She enthusiastically waved back to Jack when she was introduced.
Lugia was the tallest of the four and had the most unusual hair: it grew past his mid back, almost to his waist, and was a silvery-white colour with dark blue highlights that matched his eyes.
Caspian, the last to be introduced, was dressed in all black, save his hair. His hair was just a shade darker than Lugia's with a black stripe running through the bangs.
Jack thought of them to be a strange group, but nonetheless, they seemed nice.
Ria headed over to take a seat on the steps next to Kat, but Jack just stood at the base of the stairs, not knowing what to do next.
"Com'ere, Jack. Sit down, chill, get to know us," Caspian finally said, waving Jack over and gesturing to the empty space on the rail next to him. Jack complied, and took the seat on the rail.
"So, where are you from?" Kat piped up, "what brings you here to the outskirts of Philadelphia?"
Jack answered the questions with no problem, already having gone through the process with Ria and Seth, as well as their friends. Before long, Jack was laughing along with Ria and her group. He discovered that he had quite a lot in common with all of them – having a love for winter and nature, the colour blue, sketching, and coffee (let's not forget coffee).
Jack briefly wondered why it took so long for him to meet these people, but he didn't inquire. He was just too excited about having more friends with whom he could hang out and goof off with. And that fact that North would be impressed with him only encouraged Jack to continue his banter with them.
However, the topic of the conversation turned to the party Ria was throwing that weekend.
"Are you going?" Finola asked, her voice soft and quiet, as it always was. "It's always one of the best parties of the year." Ria beamed with pride at that remark.
"I don't know..." Jack admitted, placing his hand on the back of his neck.
"Awww, come on, Jack!" Lugia exclaimed, smacking Jack on the back. "You know it'll be fun. Booze, girls, music, you name it!"
"Um..." Jack stuttered, unable to decide whether or not he should tell them about Rebecca's invitation. "I'll think about it…"
Kat, having already proved herself the most brash, cut in and quickly asked, "Has Rebecca gotten to you?" Jack's face contorted into an expression of surprise causing Kat to add, "of course she has. Look, Jack, I don't mean to sound rude, but Rebecca is one of the biggest bitches in school. I know everyone thinks she's all that, but they haven't gone to school with her since preschool. And it doesn't hurt to add that she's completely stuck up and has her rich famous daddy get anything she wants."
Lugia and Caspian nodded at Kat's statements, while Finola said, "It's true – we were all there when we first met her. She's not a pleasant person to be around." She looked at Jack. "Does that convince you to come to Ria's party?"
Jack smiled. "I'll see if I can, and I'll ask my sister if she can. What should I do about Rebecca then?"
Ria answered this time. "Ignore her, of course. Nothing shuts her down better than someone who doesn't care about who she is."
The group laughed while Jack nodded.
After lunch, Jack felt pleased with himself as he made his way to his next class. How could he not? He had most likely secured his weekend plans with his newfound friends, and found a solution to decline Rebecca's invitation (because let's be real, Jack never had any intention of going to Rebecca's party in the first place).
But maybe he hadn't quite thought it out, because he heard a loud, high-pitched shriek behind him, down the hallway. He turned around, and saw Rebecca, seething and prowling towards a Ria with a large grin on her face.
Welcome back to the Author's Note xD So I wanted to say that I'm almost to 150 reviews :D Only 17 reviews to that milestone C: so I would really appreciate if you could just leave a review – however short or long – about what you think about the story J
I'm also looking to change the title, so if you have a good title for the story, leave it in a review or PM me! J
Thank you so much :3 you guys are awesome
Until next time,
Shevil