"You would never leave her?" North asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Never, mate."
They easily arrived in Burgess, feeling woozy and staggering. Teddy seemed to be in verge of vomiting while Jack looks like he was about to faint. Jack knew that North's snow globes or Bunny's tunnels would beat his flying. They both lean on each other a while (in Jack's case, he's leaning on his staff) and try to compose themselves.
Teddy blinked a couple of times, trying to stop her spinning vision. It's her first time going to a magic portal so basically, the outcome would be rough. The girl knew that she can handle dangerous roller coasters, or any other carnival rides but this. This is a whole new level.
"I don't care if for once, I'm going to be late for school. I just don't want to vomit there if needed." She spoke, shaking her head to stop the spinning. Five minutes later, they could now stand up straight and walk like a normal person. They easily noticed that they're in Jamie's neighbourhood which means Teddy's house is near, to their relief.
Teddy looked mischievously and suddenly sprinted, leaving the boy dumbfounded. He easily picks up and took the challenge, playing fair and square. Which means he didn't use his staff to do any form of cheating. In her amazement, Jack can run as fast as his flying. He easily caught up with Teddy but the girl added more speed. Of course, Jack would never back out in a challenge.
They effortlessly arrived in front of Teddy's house, having a tie in the race. They both puff shaking breaths and smiled at one another. "You're fast." Jack complimented while catching his breath. "You too." She grinned and sighed heavily. "Maybe next time, we can have a winner." Jack winked and smirked mischievously.
They entered the girl's abode and thankfully, Arthur already left the house. Teddy looked at the clock and sighed in utter relief. It's only 7'o clock and school starts at eight. "Come on," She said, coaxing Jack to come upstairs. "Good thing I finished my homework before you scooped me out of my house." Teddy chuckled slightly. They swung the door open, no doorknob to hold on and thank God, her bedroom is still in one piece.
No one touched her stuff and she let out another sigh of relief. Teddy brought out her maroon leather satchel and started putting her notebooks and school books. Not having enough space in her bag, she was bound to carry her Romeo and Juliet script and her thick World History book. The girl hastily grabbed a white wrist watch. She hated not knowing what time is it, especially when she's in a hurry.
Teddy closed her bedroom door behind her, Jack following suite. She went inside her parents' room and the winter spirit peeked curiously. He never saw the insides of her parents' bedroom. In his shock, everything was a mess.
The curtains fell off its rack. The bed is unmade and there are broken glasses everywhere. The bedside lamp is blinking on and off and there were empty bottles scattered all around the floor. Fortunately the closets and drawers were unharmed and unscathed.
The pecan-head carefully made her way through the shards of broken bottles and went in front of the drawers. She stopped in front of a set of drawers, the one located on the right farthest corner of the cabinet. She pulled the second to the last drawer and Jack gaped at the contents. There was money. A lot of money. It was messily put in that drawer.
The girl got 100 dollars for what seemed to be her weekly allowance. She put the money in her wallet for safekeeping. Teddy locked the drawer and pocketed the tiny gold key. She came back to the door and turned off the lights and unplugged the broken lamps, not wanting for it to cause fire and possibly bring down her only home.
"Lunch money." Teddy mumbled, averting her gaze from Jack. They went down the stairs, Jack being unusually quiet. They went outside the cold front porch and Teddy fumbled with her set of keys, trying to lock the front door. Moments later, she stood by Jack's side and reassuringly smiled. "Are you okay? You seemed quiet." Teddy mumbled, eyeing the drained winter spirit. "I'm fine." The boy muttered but still looked downcast. "Are you sure? I have time to listen." The girl looked doubtful about her friend's emotional well being.
"I'm okay. We'll talk about it next time but now, you need to go to school or Bunny's gonna do bloody murder on me." The hellion brought out his usual mischievous smirk and Teddy can't help but smile back.
The green-eyed girl brought out her sky-blue-colored bike and put her stuff in the basket screwed in the front of the bicycle. "Care for a ride?" She asked in a joking manner but still said it as an offer. Jack curiously peeked at the bike and cocked an eyebrow. Why not? He reluctantly sat on the "passenger seat" as Teddy grabbed the handlebars and placed her feet on the pedals.
Soon, the winter spirit is enjoying his first time riding a bike or rather, being a passenger. It was nothing like North's sleigh. Literally and figuratively. Jack felt the urgency that they need to go to the Tooth Palace as quickly as possible and the harsh wind mercilessly slapping him while sitting all through out North's sleigh ride. But his bike ride with Teddy felt nothing like that. Jack felt at ease, the soft wind caressing his cheeks. He also felt the constant calmness Teddy is reverberating.
But before the wind and the calmness lulled him into a sleep, he got off of the bike and flew, leveling his friend's bike's speed. "Can't sit still?" The girl lightly teased and a smirk easily fell upon Jack's face. Finally, a tall yet broad building came into view. It was made of brown bricks and white windows. There was a flagpole standing in the middle of the school grounds, all high and mighty but Jack couldn't care less. Teddy hit the break and sadly smiled at Jack, as if saying their last goodbyes.
"Hey, I'll be back before you notice." She reassured the boy and smiled confidently. "I'm going to be fine, don't worry." He smiled one of his own. Teddy was about to say something but was cut abruptly by the school bell ringing. "Oops. That's the first bell. Look, after you're done with your spreading-snow-around-the-world job, you're welcome in my room and lounge there for a while." The girl offered, making the winter spirit grinned widely. "I can?" He asked eagerly, sounding like a hyperactive 5-year-old kid. "Of course but promise me to return everything in its original place after you use it, okay? Now, I'm gonna be late so see you later."
Teddy bit adieu and got off from her bike. She was about to go inside the big main gate of the school before looking reluctantly at the immortal teen. He was still there, gripping his staff while standing, a smile still adorned his handsome face. The pecan-head leaned her bicycle on the white wall and unexpectedly tugged the boy in a bone-crushing hug.
Jack was completely taken by surprise but return the hug, regardlessly. Some of the passerby confusingly looked at her, wondering why the girl is hugging the air but they easily let it go, knowing that maybe she's only doing some crazy teenage stuff. The green-eyed girl broke the hug, not because of the stares she got, but because she has something to say to the white-haired hellion.
"After this week, I'll be all yours." Teddy whispered, a small smile contorting her face. She quickly realized what she had said and turned beet red, so red that she could possibly explode. "I can wait that long. See you later Teddy." Jack propelled into the sky and waved goodbye before leaving to make snow days and blizzards. She shook off from her rigidness and breathed out a profound sigh.
"I'll be all yours." is not a good thing to say to your only boy space friend. I'm such an idiot. She shook her head furiously and inside the main gate, into Burgess High, desperately wanted the school days to be over already.
Jack Frost is clearly nipping everyone's noses today as he delivers snow days into the world. The boy is enjoying his day, not knowing the reason why. He finally finished bringing New York City their most-awaited snow and decided to go back to Burgess. The Guardian of Fun is excited to explore Teddy's bedroom. His friend's room is full of mysteries. He wants to check every nook and cranny and unravel the great mysteries that lie in the girl's bookshelf and desk.
The winter spirit shortly arrived in his hometown and headed to Jamie's neighbourhood. The flying boy easily noticed the roof of Teddy's house and felt giddiness bursting inside his body. The prankster increased speed and easily propelled in his friend's bedroom via window.
Jack gracefully land in the room and breathed in the smell of vanilla. Teddy might have accidentally spilled her vanilla-flavored perfume on the carpet. He placed his staff on the corner of the wall, knowing that he won't need it for the time being. Jack nimbly walked in front of the bookshelf and started stacking the books that caught his attention on his left arm. Jack made his way to her desk and comfortably sat down on the wheeled chair.
The blue-eyed lad grabbed the book stacked on the top, the book he already read a few years ago. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. He cracked it open and leaned on his chair, reading the introduction of Bilbo Baggins about the hobbits.
She sighed in relief as her house came into view. Teddy hit the break and entered her lawn, parking the bicycle inside the garage. The girl climbed the steps and shoved her hand in her jeans' pocket, trying to find the keys. She easily touched the cold metallic object and brought it out. The pecan-head put the right key in the doorknob and turned. She heard the successful click of the door and it swung open.
Teddy made two sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly scraped on the loaf of bread. She placed it in a plate and grabs two glasses, filling it with mango juice. The girl put the snacks on a tray and went upstairs. The teenage girl leaned on the wood and pushed the door open with her weight.
What came to her view is an adorable sight to see. His crossed arms cushioned Jack's head as his upper body lied on her desk. The winter spirit is sleeping soundly. Teddy fondly smiled and placed the tray on the bedside table. She then made her way to Jack's sleeping figure, pondering on how will she move his friend.
She carefully assisted Jack's upper body and leaned it on the chair. Teddy sighed in relief when the white-headed boy didn't stir. Then the girl carefully pushed the chair farther from the desk. She placed her arm under Jack's knees and put her broken arm on the winter spirit's back, carrying him bridal-style. Of course, Teddy would not tell him that because the boy will surely kill her first before dying of embarrassment. Teddy silently chuckled at the thought as he carefully placed the lad on her bed.
She unlatched herself from Jack's grip and covered his body with her blanket. The blanket only covered half of the immortal teen's body so that when he's feeling hot, he could easily kick the blanket off. Teddy then decided to clean the mess Jack fell asleep upon.
The storyteller noticed that Jack fell asleep on one of her favorite books, The Book Thief. She giggled about the time she first read it. Teddy could feel the intensity of the war and the girl's want to get her hands on the books. She enjoyed how Zusak managed to write the book in Death's point of view.
The girl put a blue bookmark designed with snowflakes on the page where the boy stopped reading. She bought the bookmark a long time ago before she even met Jack. Teddy really love the season of winter and how intricate snowflakes fell from the sky, especially those that are made by Jack Frost's creativity.
The teenager closed several opened books. She is amazed how Jack quickly finished The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Moby Dick, The Great Gatsby, The Catcher and the Rye and a lot of other classic novels and books. Teddy stacked them all back to their home. Teddy have to admit that she's clearly impressed that there aren't any frost covering her books or the contents of the desk. She noticed that the hellion got ahold of her journals as well where she writes various stories but to her bemusement, Jack never touched her personal ones. The green-eyed girl closed the journals and put it back in her table drawers.
Teddy put the loose papers of written stories in a neat pile. The storyteller easily differentiated some of the papers that were not hers. It was Jack's. The boy had a beautiful and intricate handwriting. She would read his stories later and put it in a different pile. When there are no more papers scattered on the surface of her desk, Teddy suddenly flinched. The Guardians stumbled upon her sketchbook. Her Pitch Black Reality as she calls it.
Teddy felt disgusted of herself, knowing that Jack saw her dark artworks. She meant to burn it two years ago but someone's whispering to her to don't do it and she gave in. The distraught girl put the sketchbook inside the last drawer and composed herself.
The lass sat on the desk chair and placed her bag on the ground near her side. She brought out her Math, Chemistry and History homework. A bad mix of homework, for sure. Soon, she was engrossed on her homework while taking a bite of her own sandwich.
Jack let out a relieved sigh. That's the best he had in years. All those years he would sleep on an uncomfortable tree branch or bury himself in snow banks but now, he felt something soft pressing against his back and a hot sensation coming from his hinds. He immediately sat up and noticed that he was lying on a bed and a blanket covered his lower half.
Teddy's back was facing him and he could hear her furious scribbling. Her pecan colored hair is in a busy bun and she's wearing a white tank top underneath a red sweatshirt. Teddy turned around, glasses pressed on her nose, smiling tiredly at him. "Morning Sleeping Beauty." The girl teased, putting aside her pen and closing the book. Jack let out a yawn and grinned sleepily. "Mornin'. What time is it?" He asked while stretching his limbs, hearing a few satisfying cracks afterwards. "5:30 p.m. Jackie." She answered, standing up and stretched her arms as well. "Oh. I've been sleeping for an hour and a half." He dazedly implied.
"I'll be cooking dinner soon so might as well eat your PB&J now." Teddy informed, making her way to the broken door. "PB what?" The winter spirit exclaimed, looking confused. "Your peanut butter and jelly sandwich, dummy." She happily informed and looked expectantly at the boy as he poked the sandwich sitting on the bedside table. Jack grabbed the snack and took a bite, the same sparkle came back on his eyes again like when he ate pancakes and drank orange juice.
"I'll be downstairs Jack, cooking dinner." But the winter spirit completely ignored her, focused on enjoying his first PB&J sandwich. Teddy amusingly shook her head and went downstairs, deciding to cook pasta for dinner.
Jack basically inhaled the sandwich and now savouring the mango-flavored juice. He was now checking Teddy's homework and merrily putting some of his own answers on a blank sheet of paper. The green-eyed girl peeked inside her own room to see her spirit friend answering her homework. She would have to thank him for that later.
"Come on Snowy. Dinner's almost ready." Teddy called out, making Jack jumped in surprise. "Don't sneak up on me like that! And Snowy, that's new. I'll call you Boobear from now on." Jack deviously smirked, making both Teddy's eyebrows shot up but mischievously smiled. "That's for payback, remember? And Boobear'sfine with me as long as I could call you Snowy. Sounds fair to you?" And Jack nodded, shaking her hand as a deal.
He finally remembered why she did payback by sneaking up on him.
"Hey." The white-haired hellion spoke up, making the girl let out a surprised yelp. "Jack don't scare me like that or I'll get a heart attack!" She complained, almost dropping the broom she was gripping at.
Jack grabbed the empty tray, closed her bedroom door behind him and followed Teddy downstairs. Finally he had the time to admire the pictures hanging on the wall. There was a stolen picture of Teddy inspecting a colorful Easter egg that is no doubt Bunny's handiwork. There was one where Teddy was pouting while her arms were crossed on her chest, glaring angrily at the teddy bear beside her. Jack amusingly laughed at that.
The winter spirit looked at the picture where Teddy kicked the winning goal for her soccer team. Tyler, 12 was printed in uppercase bold letters at the back of her jersey shirt. The last picture he saw was her family, smiling brightly at the camera. Jack made a mental note to ask Teddy about her mother later. After all, when the immortal teen looked closely at the picture, Teddy was the spitting image of her mother, except that Teddy has lighter hair while her mother's is chocolate-brown.
He made his way inside the kitchen and sat on the countertop. The hellion placed the tray in the sink. "I never thought that you wore glasses before." He suddenly spoke out loud but to his dismay, he didn't spook Teddy this time. "Nope. They're just reading glasses." She turned around and carefully put the red sauce on the steaming noodles. Teddy put the sauce pan in the sink and sighed tiredly.
"Dinner is served." She grinned and brought the two plates in the dining room. Jack got two forks and followed Teddy suite. They sat opposite of each other, waiting for the pasta to cool down a bit. The winter spirit mixed his pasta and twirled the noodles around the fork. He was about to put the noodles on his mouth, not caring if it's gonna burn his tongue for sure when Teddy suddenly burst out laughing.
He was stopped from eating the delicious-looking pasta and stared confusingly at his giggling friend. "What are you laughing at?" He asked, looking annoyed. "No–Hahahahaha–Nothing." She tried to say in between her laughter. Jack waited for his friend to compose herself. Her laughter died down and was now merely chuckles. Teddy finally stopped and inhaled heavily, engulfing much needed air.
"It's just that..." She paused, bursting out into fits of laughter again. He opened his mouth to make her stop when suddenly there's a flash, making her temporarily blind. He blinked a few times and cleared his visions but there is still black spots appearing. The winter spirit shook his head violently and looked at Teddy who was holding a picture that came from a Polaroid camera. Where she got the camera, he didn't want to know.
Jack stood up from his and snatched the picture from his friend's grasp. The girl suddenly gasped and glared at Jack while the winter-loving boy sent a triumphant smile towards her. He looked at the pictures and his blue eyes went wide. There he was, gaping at the camera and specks of yellow were on his lips and tongue. It must have been from the mango juice.
"Don't throw it." Teddy sincerely pleaded and Jack looked reluctantly at the picture. If Bunny saw this, he would never let it live down. He sighed and handed the picture back to Teddy and the girl easily perked up. She placed the picture and the camera on the table and they started to eat. They chatted for a while and the pecan-head suddenly snap another picture wherein Jack's lips and chin were sloppily covered with red sauce. After a few seconds of glaring at Teddy, he burst out laughing and it was so contagious that Teddy laughed as well.
After they ate dinner, Jack helped Teddy in cleaning the dishes that ended in a bubble soap fight. Whisking droplets of water and soap here and there, they were both wet. Jack had foam perched on his nose while there's water dripping from Teddy's head. After drying the dishes and themselves as well, Teddy turned off the lights downstairs and they both went up to her bedroom.
The Guardian of Fun lied down on Teddy's bed while she focused on finishing her homework. A frustrated groan went out of the pecan-head's mouth. "What's the problem, Boobear?" The white-haired prankster sat up and looked at his friend. "Snowy, help me!" And the lad floated down beside Teddy and curiously peeked at her History homework. "That's pretty easy." He pointed out and chuckled. Teddy pouted and half-attempted to glare at Jack before focusing her gaze on her opened book. "Easy for you to say." She retorted and the boy let out a hearty laugh.
Jokul Frosti grabbed his piece of paper earlier and showed it to Teddy. After a while of discussing the answer, it soon turned into a heated debate. But Teddy finally gave up and accepted Jack's answer. She wrote down the answers and closed her book and notebook, letting out a sigh of pure relief.
She lied down with Jack on her bed for a while before staring another debate about stereotypes. Where Teddy got that topic, she didn't know. The two have to admit, they had their best day ever. "I gotta go." Jack mumbled, sitting up. "I guess this is good night." She smiled sadly, sitting up as well. The winter spirit grabbed his plain staff and frost easily curled up on the wood. The boy walked and jumped on the windowsill.
He looked back at his friend and let out a small smile curl up on his face. "See you tomorrow." The Guardian whispered. "Yep. I will still be here." Teddy reassured and waved goodbye at the immortal teen. Before taking off, Jack gave Teddy a hug, the same one she gave this morning. "Stay safe and don't provoke your father again this time. I don't want to see you have another broken arm again." And with that, Jack flew off into the night.
He should not have left Teddy that early. Jack should have stay for a little longer, making sure that Arthur didn't hurt his daughter and quickly retire to bed but the winter spirit didn't. He easily regretted it when he saw Teddy with a bandaged hand the next morning. "What happened?" But the question was left hanging in the air.
Dear reader, whether anonymous or not,
Clarifying you all that there isn't any dirty meaning behind "I'll be all yours." that was said by Teddy. She only meant is her undivided attention and time will be Jack's next week which the start of their winter break. I found Teddy quite funny at that part though. I did another long chapter but no, this isn't a filler chapter. This is a full-of-fluff chapter. Yes, I want for all of you to see the progress in Teddy and Jack's friendships and some subtle hints of possible romance, wink wink, nudge nudge.
Okay I chose a Polaroid instead of a digital because I don't want overwhelm Jack with high-tech gadgets but that would be fun to write (possible one-shot in the future) This chapter will be proofread in the morning because I'm super tired.
Headcanon time!
1. Even though Jack is outgoing and all fun and games, he sometimes want peace and quiet and to achieve, he would get a book. It was in late 1800's when Jack started to get engaged in reading. He would peek into the books of the people sitting in the library, or in restaurants. The first book Jack ever read is Oliver Twist by Charles Dicken. Soon, he got so curious to what's going to happen next and so eager to read, he would borrow books from libraries but returned them eventually.
Jack's favorite book at that time was The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. But doing his job as a winter spirit became a hindrance to his reading so he rarely does it any more. The boy's favorite genre is mystery, adventure and sometimes supernatural but he also reads a few romance here and there. After he became a Guardian and defeated Pitch, he started reading again, in the huge library of Santoff Claussen. North often caught him falling asleep on the book he's reading because of exhaustion. All in all, Jack enjoyed and loved reading.
2. Jack was never a fan of gadgets but he loves trying it for the first time, simply using it, or sometimes dismantling it. His favorite gadgets is a camera and a mp3 player.
3. Jack is a curious child. As mention above, he really loves dismantling objects. The first thing he dismantled is a pocket watch and easily putting it back to one piece. Jack loves to inspect the parts of an object so it became a habit of him for dismantling things. When he became a Guardian, North would always scold him for dismantling a lot of toys but Jack would smile innocently and easily got away with it. North found about the boy's little hobby so he would give a complicated object, a gadget perhaps, to the boy and let Jack distract himself for a while.
Enough with this headcanons, I might make Jack an OC if I didn't stop. There will be headcanons in the future and these will be posted on my tumblr, jacks-teddy. Follow me!
Read, enjoy the chapter, laugh at the crazy antiques of Star, review and wait expectantly for the next chapter.
"Read and review." The Man in Moon whispered, beaming rays of pale moonlight above your head.
Yours truly, Star.
