I'd like to preface this chapter by stating that I went to a private High School, where you had the same teachers for all 4 years. I'm assuming that Arcadia Oaks High is a public school, but given the size of the student body at the pep rally and that we haven't seen any other teachers besides the main three, they're just going to have the same teachers all 4 years.
Also I realized my timing was off. They technically should have more time for summer vacation, but whatever.
—
As a troll, Jim didn't need 8 hours of sleep every night. With his armor on, he only needed about an hour here or there. Without armor, he found himself growing tired more easily.
Since the return of James, sleeping at home just didn't feel right. He still did so, just to watch out for his mother's safety, but so far, James showed little interest in his ex-wife.
So Jim started to get into the habit of taking his naps by the Heartstone. The floor of course was stone, and the cavern was damp, but not all uncomfortable.
After about a week of working and sleeping there, Jim started to notice the very tips and edges of the dead Heartstone beginning to glow a faint orange. It was very faint indeed, and only in the lowest chamber, but it was progress.
The first day of Junior year. What a start.
Jim rose when it was still dark out, and returned to his house through the tunnel in the basement.
He wandered upstairs, and into his room, finding some new clothes his mom had gotten him, all long enough to cover him. Though, with the Glamor Mask, it wasn't like anyone was going to see them.
He showered and dressed. Then swept the house in security. His mother was asleep, her door shut with a note stating she had come in late from the Hospital. Pig James, who had stayed a pig longer than anyone expected, laid on the guest bed, snoring obnoxiously.
Barbara was busy with work, James didn't have any hands, and Jim was rarely home, so of course, the house was a mess. He spent an hour or so doing the dishes and sorting laundry. Then he prepared several lunches, one for Barbara, one for Toby, and one for Claire. His own lunch was a combination of items that seemed like they'd taste good to him without being suspicious if eaten by a human. Maybe he could convince Toby or Claire to drink the soda so he could eat the can.
James, being a pig, would probably need to be fed. So Jim took pity on his mother and put a bowl of fruit on the floor. That should do it.
Finally, it was time to meet up with Toby and Claire. He pulled up his hood, and made sure his sleeves covered his arms. Then he secured the mask.
A flash of green, and he felt smaller.
He glanced in the mirror by the stairs and felt a lump in his throat. It was him. The old him. The human Jim that was lost to time. Funny, he never realized how childish he looked until now. He patted his hair and adjusted his old favorite sweater, which was also lost to time. Then he grabbed his book bag and the lunches and went outside.
"Whoa." Was the immediate answer greeting him from Toby and Claire.
"H-How do I look?" He asked, nervously.
Claire walked up to him and placed a kiss on his cheek. "It'll do. Miss the horns though." She giggled.
"They're still here," he assured. "You can see them later."
"You riding your bike?" Toby asked.
"Unfortunately, I'm too heavy for it." He said with a shy shrug. "But I do have my truck if you guys would like a ride instead?"
Claire and Toby cheered and parked their bikes in the garage. Then, they were off.
At the school, he was greeted by casual 'heys' and 'sups?' from classmates he wasn't very close to.
Since he and Claire didn't go to back to school night, they had to check into the office and get their schedules.
"So, Young Atlas does return." Spoke Strickler, who was on his way to his office.
Jim and Claire followed. "Yeah, I just…thought it might be a good idea."
"I must admit, I'm surprised. I remembered how torn up you were about your…transformation." He whispered the last part. "But I'm glad to see you've come up with a solution."
Jim touched his face. "It doesn't even feel like I'm wearing a mask, but I can still feel my teeth and my horns…it's weird."
"Well, if you ever need a place to breathe for a moment, without the mask, feel free to use my office."
"Thanks Mr. Strickler."
Then it was off to homeroom with Senior Uhl.
"Ah, Jim Lake." He spoke as Jim entered the room. "Walt said you'd be returning to school. I just didn't think you'd be so—"
Jim cut him off by swiping a finger across his neck.
"Be so...punctual! He said you were traveling. I didn't think you'd make the first day."
Jim smiled nervously. "Oh yep! I didn't know if we would either, we thought we'd be gone for a lot longer...heh?" He chuckled with a shrug.
He hadn't been practicing his excuses and there were sure to be a few questions and rumors flying around. Besides, he hadn't talked to Steve or Eli since the final battle, and who knows what Toby said to Darci and who ever else.
Senior Uhl just shrugged and allowed them to sit down.
Jim took the empty desk by the window, precisely the one that had his name carved into it. Steve was quick to smack him in the back of the head.
"Ow! Hey, what the heck Steve?!" It didn't actually hurt, with his true form, but it did startle him.
"Now that things are back to normal around here, you're my rival again!" He claimed.
Jim groaned. "No, dude. Don't do that…"
"And I expect a rematch to our fight, Jim Fake!"
Jim rolled his eyes and looked to his friends. They both shrugged helplessly.
Darci snuck over to them and knelt next to Jim's desk. She and Mary hadn't come running at full speed to tackle Claire, so he assumed they had had a sleepover sometime in the last week.
"Hey Darci," he greeted casually.
"Hey Jim…" She said, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Can I…help you?"
"TP said you…you changed. But you don't look any different."
He gave her a half hearted grin. "Look, why don't you just come with us after school? I'll explain then."
It was then that Mary noticed him and she stood up in her seat. "Jimmy Jam! Is it true?!"
Suddenly, the whole room's attention was on him and he started to sweat under the mask. "Uhh…"
"I heard that you were the one that stopped the whole crazy troll army!" Shannon proclaimed.
"Well…"
"Some of the good trolls said you're, like, a guardian or something." Added Mary.
"Yeah, pretty much…"
"You should put on your armor!" Cried Eli. "It's so cool!"
"Who cares! The Trolls did massive destruction to the town! It's not cool!" Cried Steve, in vain.
"You're just jealous because Jim's more popular than you!" Mary jibed.
"He's not more popular!" Steve shrieked, his voice comedically high.
"Guys Guys!" Jim called for everyone's attention by standing. It was odd being so short again, he just hadn't noticed it until this moment. "Yes, I did stop the invasion, along with Toby and Claire." He gestured to them to give them credit. "I was given an amulet that allows me to don armor. I became 'The Trollhunter' and my job was to stop the evil Troll Gunmar, which I did. And it was thanks to Toby and Claire, we also beat Morgana, the witch that made that tornado down by the canal. But that's over now, and I…I don't want any fame because of it."
"Oh come on," Mary egged. "That thing almost destroyed the town—"
"That's what I said!" Interrupted Steve, but Mary punch him in the shoulder. "OW!"
"—You should be milking this for all it's worth! Selling autographs, making TV appearances, and starring in commercials…maybe they'll make a movie! Or a three part Netflix series!"
"Mary!" Claire spoke up, noticing how rigid Jim had become. "This battle took a lot out of Jim. He just…wants to be normal."
Normal. Ha! Even with the Mask, he'd never be normal again. But it was fun to pretend for a while.
"Jim?" Asked Eli, softly. "I know what was just said…but you are my hero. So can I have your autograph?"
Jim couldn't help the chuckle. "Alright, I suppose I could."
The next hour or so went fine. As far as first days go. The Glamor Mask was working just fine, as was his new clothes. He walked past windows and outside where his locker was and he barely felt the sun. Still a tad, since the long sleeves weren't perfect, but it wasn't painful.
In Mrs. Janeth's class, she frowned at him and gave him a look, then continued on with the syllabus.
"Mr. Lake, may I have a word?" She asked, as the bell rang for lunch.
"Uh, sure? Is everything alright?"
She watched as the other students left, and then closed the door.
"Mr. Strickler informed us of your transformation. And yet here you are, looking just like you always have. I'm very disappointed."
"I—you—what?"
"You were so fabulous as Romeo last year, I specifically picked a play that you could be in again."
He hated to ask. "Um, and what play would that be?"
"Beauty and the Beast, of course!"
"Of course!" He laughed awkwardly, "I should have known…"
"But now I'll have to hunt down a costume for you, and I'm really not looking forward to that, especially with our costume department."
"Wait...I have a confession...this isn't what I actually look like."
"Oh?"
He sighed. It wasn't really a secret, as least from her. He glanced at the door and moved to a corner of the room, where he wouldn't be seen. Then he took off the Glamor Mask. In a flash of green, his Troll form dominated.
"Ta da…"
If Mrs. Janeth could have literal stars in her eyes…"Oh this is perfect! You look perfect! But why are you in disguise?"
"Because not everyone knows about this yet." He shrugged. "Mr. Strickler told you, Coach Lawrence, and Senior Uhl, and Claire, Toby, and Darci know. Other than that…I just…" He looked at his hands. "I don't mind playing the Beast if you really want me to, but I'm still not fond of my…new found looks."
Mrs. Janeth smiled fondly. "Jim, no matter what you are, you're still a teenage boy. Everyone goes through changes and reaches places where they are insecure in their looks. Boy or troll, I think you are a very charming young man. And I believe Miss Nuñez agrees."
He smiled. "Thanks, that helps."
—
After lunch, it was gym. What a screwed up schedule that they would have Coach Lawrence right after wolfing down greasy cafeteria food? It was like asking kids to get sick.
Once Jim navigated the tricky road of getting changed without knocking the mask off, he and Toby met up with the girls on the court.
"Alright, everyone line up in alphabetical order. We have a busy day ahead of us, so hustle is appreciated." The coach spoke over the students, before his eyes landed on Jim. "Lake!" He shouted.
"Coach!"
He opened his mouth, but then hesitated and shut it. Finally, he found his words. "Good to see you in school. I expect good things from you."
"I'll do my best?" Jim offered.
"Now, today marks the beginning of our physical fitness test. Over the next three days, we'll be measuring your strength, speed, and endurance. Then we will repeat the test again at the end of the year to mark your performance."
Jim could hear Toby groan from the other end of the line. "Not the Fitnessgram…"
"You're right, Domzalski, this isn't the Fitnessgram. The Fitnessgram is for pussies!"
Steve snickered.
"This is a test of my own design. Today is strength. Break off into pairs."
Jim and Toby were quick to pair up, while Claire and Darcy high fived each other.
The coach started passing out stop watches. "First off, we'll be doing the basics. Pushups, crunches, and chin ups. You'll be recording how many your partner can do in a minute."
"We can go back and forth," suggested Jim. "So you can breathe in-between."
"Thanks Jimbo. I'm going to do pushups first and get them over with." And he got into position.
"Ready?…Go!"
A minute later, Toby dropped on the floor, panting.
Coach came by. "How did you do, Domzalski?"
Jim answered for his friend, as he laid on his back panting. "Not bad! He did twelve."
"Two more than last year. Good for you, Toby." He stated as he walked away.
"Okay Jim…your turn. How do you want to do this?"
Jim knelt, ready to get into position. "What do you mean?"
"Like, do you want to accurately see how you've improved, or do you want to fudge it?"
Fudging it would be the safe way to go to stay under the radar, but on the other hand, these tests would give a more accurate record of how much he enhanced as a troll.
"You know what? Let's go whole ham."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, lets do it before I chicken out."
"Okay! Ready…go!"
And Jim was off. Up, down, up, down. Some students even stopped to watch him instead of finishing their own reps.
"Time."
Jim sat back on his haunches, he didn't even break a sweat.
"Lake." Coach said, approaching. "How…how many did you just do?"
"124, Coach." He smiled. He felt his teeth poking his cheeks under the mask.
"Well, that's…that's a 104 push up improvement from last year…"
Jim and Toby high fived.
The chin ups and curl ups went much the same. Each time Jim prepared his rep, he had more and more people watching him.
Finally, he was staring up at the rope hanging from the ceiling. This was the most dreaded exercise for any student. Steve came up and poked him hard in the chest. "Alright Buttsnack! You may have beaten my record and on all of the other exercises, but I'm taking you down now!" He flexed his arm. "Do you see these guns? Huh? Huh? I'm the strongest guy in the school!"
Jim smiled to himself. He would just love to take Steve down a few more pegs.
"Is this a competition I smell?" Asked Coach Lawrence.
"No no, we were just talking…" Jim tried to persuade.
"Oh a challenge is a challenge, Jim Flake! No backing out of this now! Unless your ch-ch-chicken?!"
God, this guy was some reject bully from a corny 1980's high school rom-com.
"Fine, you want a race? Let's race." He cracked his neck.
Coach put his arm around Jim's shoulder and spoke to him softly. "You okay with this? Walt said that you're different now. I can stop this if you're not comfortable, but I am really curious to see what you can do."
"I can do this." Jim confirmed, throwing the teacher a smile. "It's just a friendly competition."
Coach gave him a firm swat to the back and nodded. "Alright! Jim and Steve will be starting the rope climb off with a little race. First one to ring the bell wins."
"Eat my dust, Lake."
"Kiss my ass, Palchuck."
"Ready?…"
"You're going to wish you were never—"
Coach blew the whistle, and Jim was off before Steve could even finish his quip.
One, two, three, ding!
Jim landed back on the ground with a thunderous boom, betraying his real weight. Steve hadn't even started yet, he just stared at him wide eyed. "You—"
"I win." Jim smiled with a little self-satisfied smirk.
Steve growled. "This isn't over yet!"
Jim smiled at him patiently. "Dude, not everything has to be a contest."
"You say that now, while you're winning. But you'll see…you'll all see…"
—
The rest of the day was fine. Despite some of his trollish instincts wanting to take over, like growling at the kid next to him for clicking his pen too much, he dare say everything was fine. His secret was mostly safe and no one would be the wiser.
That is, until after school. He, Toby, Claire, and Darci were about to head to his truck in the parking lot when Steve called him out in the courtyard.
"Hey Buttsnack!"
His shout drew the attention of all the other students in the courtyard, as well as Mr. Strickler who stood watching in the shadows.
Jim sighed, his shoulders dropping. "Come on dude, I told you to drop it!"
Steve, however, had his own friends backing him up, and he looked furious. "You made me look like an idiot in gym!"
"You did that yourself," Jim responded.
Eli spoke up from the sideline, "Come on Steve, Jim didn't do anything."
"Shut up Eli!" He shouted back. Then he returned his attention to Jim. "What's with you, man?! I thought we were becoming buds!? Eli and I helped you out during the whole troll thing! We almost died! And for what? You just ditched us all summer without a word! You didn't even thank us!"
"Wait, that's what you're upset about?" Jim asked, incredulously.
"I'm not upset!" Steve protested. "I just think you're a big fat jerk who takes advantage of people who are trying to help him!"
Claire scoffed. "Who the hell do you think you are? Jim is the most selfless—"
Jim interrupted her with a gentle hand. "You're right Steve. I didn't thank you guys for all the hard work you did. So I'm sorry, and thank you. As for this summer…Claire and I had a troll mission we had to take care of."
"And so you just left? Not cool dude, not cool."
Eli piped up. "We were all kind of worried about you. Toby said you were injured during the fight and he had to stay behind to take care of business while you guys left…he said you guys might not come back either."
"Yeah…" Said Jim, placing a hand on his chest. "Look guys…I'm sorry. There was just a lot of stuff that happened at the end there…and it was complicated. I was dealing with some stuff and didn't really think about others."
"Well I'm not going to feel better unless you fight me!" Steve proclaimed.
"I'm not going to fight you." Jim returned. "You really don't want me to."
"Fight me, Jim Lake! Fight me!"
Jim shook his head and turned his back, walking away.
He briefly heard Steve running at him, but he wasn't prepared to be spun around, or punched in the face.
Well, the punch wasn't to his face exactly. Just to the oh so precious wooden mask that he had been hiding behind.
"Jim!" Claire cried, after the mask fell to the ground in two pieces.
Jim kept his face hidden behind his four fingered hand, but there was no hiding the horns that poked through his hood, or his hulking form, or the blue skin.
Someone screamed.
"Jim…?" All the anger left Steve's voice, and was replaced with fear.
He had wanted to avoid this. He didn't want to scare anyone, but that's what ended up happening anyway.
He looked up at the others, pulling his hood tighter to cover his face from the sun. "Here. This is what I meant. I had to find a way to get stronger, strong enough to defeat Gunmar. If it meant sacrificing my humanity then so be it. I didn't reach out to you guys because I…I don't really belong in this world anymore. Mr. Strickler convinced me to come back to school…But now that you all know, I guess that's a bust."
"Dude!" Steve nearly screamed. "You've been this massive beast for a few months already!? Now I'm even more pissed off!"
Jim gestured helplessly with his hands. "Well, sorry! I didn't realize I had to run all of my problems by you first!"
"But you're huge!"
Jim frowned and tilted his head. "Uh, yeah?"
"You could have totally joined the football team! Aw man, we would have smashed Arcadia Academy!"
Jim just stared at him, mouth agape.
"It's not too late! We just need to train you up this year, and then next year we can kick some serious ass!"
It started as a shaking of the shoulders, then a few chuckles, and then Jim was doubled over in laughter as the courtyard was silent. "And all this time, I thought…" He shook his head.
Claire rested a loving hand on his shoulder. "I told you Jim, you aren't hideous. And you're not some monster."
Eli spoke up. "Yeah, and we've gotten to know Arrrgh already. Why would you being a troll be any different?"
Jim looked at Toby. "They know Arrrgh?"
"Yeah, he plays night football at the stadium. Didn't I mention that?"
Jim scoffed. "No! I wish you had!"
"So technically," Steve stated, "I'm still the strongest human in school."
"Yeah, sure dude. Whatever."
What a first day.
—
I like Steve.
