Author's Note: So...this was inspired by some silly children's answers on tests video I watched on YouTube (as well as some answers that my sisters and I came up with as well). XD This is a short chapter, but I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless! ^u^

~ XXVI ~

Clever Lad

Jack was smart

They all were aware

But they didn't know just how smart

Until he didn't pass

A test he supposedly "failed"

...

BANG!

Flinching—nearly in unison—the Guardians stopped their chatter and turned to the door. About an hour earlier, Tooth, Sandy, and Bunny arrived to discuss with North a few Guardian matters that needed to address. They also thought it would be fun to surprise Jack upon his return home from school. Jack had insisted that he wanted to walk to school by himself that day, but North instructed that he walk with Katherine, since he was still a bit worried about letting Jack go out on his own. He knew though, at some point, he'd have to let him be independent. But for now, North would rather have someone walk with Jack to school.

The winter child didn't complain; he still technically got to walk to school with someone other than North. And Katherine offered to walk him back too, to which Jack happily agreed. So North expected Jack to be in a chipper mood upon returning home.

And, as you probably have already guessed, he was quite, quite, quite the opposite.

Jack stopped through the front door, round cheeks flushed a bright blue and his face twisted with a scowl that blatantly screamed "I'm angry!" Katherine followed close behind with a wince. Since it was autumn, she wore a small winter hat and brown mittens. A fluffy scarf in the same color was wrapped around her neck. Leggings were underneath the dress she wore, and a pair of brown boots.

"Sorry, North," Katherine apologized as if Jack were her own. "Something happened at school today, and Jack is—"

"Dropping out of school!" Jack declared angrily. The Guardians gasped, shocked. "I'm never going to school again!"

"But why?" asked Tooth, surprised. She flitted over to the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I thought you liked school, Jack!"

"Not anymore!" shouted Jack.

Katherine turned to North. "I'll let you all talk to him. I have to bring Ombric's medicine to him."

North nodded. "How is he?"

Katherine shrugged. "As fine as a wizard who hasn't been sick in the past decade can be," she replied earnestly. Poor Ombric had caught the flu that was flying around and was in no condition to lead the classroom. Katherine had been taking care of him, and North and Aster dropped by with soups and remedies that helped any bug. Sandy provided him with dreamsand so nights weren't so difficult. And Tooth and her fairies helpfully led the cleaning in Big Root and fed his owls when Katherine was busy with schoolwork.

Ombric was grateful for everyone's help, and he was getting better, just rather slowly. He hoped to take over classes again once he was feeling well enough.

Katherine said goodbye, and she gave Jack a reassuring pat on the head before taking her leave. The winter child was still fuming, so the Guardians went straight to questioning.

"What's goin' on, mate?" asked Aster. "Why do ya want ta quit school?"

Jack huffed. "Since Ombric's sick, we've had a substi…substitute for the past few days," he explained. "Today, she wanted us to take a small test to see what learning level we're all at. It started easy and then got harder as you went on."

"That sounds understandable," commented North. "She is assessing everyone's knowledge so she knows how to approach everyone."

Jack crossed his arms. "Yeah, well, everyone else did as expected on the test when she passed them back. But when she handed back mine, I got a lot of the simple questions wrong, even though I know they're right!"

The young snow sprite's grip on his arms tightened, his cheeks turning even bluer. "She talked to me after class saying that she didn't know why I answered the way I did," he fumed. "But they were right! They were all right!"

The Guardian didn't know how the test was structured, so they couldn't confirm whether or not Jack's answers were really as correct as he said. So, North made the smart suggestion for Jack to list out some of the questions he got wrong, and they could determine whether or not it was incorrect.

"Mmm…fine," Jack agreed. "But I'm telling you, they're all right!"

"And we'll let you know if they're actually right or not," said Tooth gently. She smiled. "Give us the first question."

"The first question I got wrong was 'If there are six ice cubes sitting out in the hot sun, and two melted away, how many ice cubes would be left?'"

"Sounds simple enough," said Aster. Sandy nodded. "What did ya answer?"

"Zero," Jack replied.

North blinked. "What? Why, moy mal'chik?"

"Because if six ice cubes are sitting in the hot sun, it's going to melt all of them!" exclaimed Jack.

Aster snickered loudly. Amused smiles crawled on Tooth and Sandy's faces. The winter child stared at them, confused.

Holding back a smile himself, North asked. "Alright, moy mal'chik…what was next question?"

Jack turned from Aster, Tooth, and Sandy and looked at North. "Another question I got wrong was 'Write down a question using the word why.'"

"And what did you write?" asked North.

"'Why?'" answered Jack. Tooth started giggling and Aster suppressed another laugh. Sandy hid his laughter behind his hand. Jack looked at them again, nonplussed.

North was holding back laughter, and he once again asked, "And what other questions did you get incorrect?"

Jack was looking at the Guardians suspiciously now, but he answered North nonetheless. "There was a question that asked how to convert centimeters into meters."

"And what did you answer?" asked North.

"Keep meters and scratch out the centi."

Aster, Sandy, and Tooth burst out laughing, and Jack looked at them, stunned and a little hurt. North was even laughing too, and the winter child blushed, balling his fists.

"Why are you all laughing at me?!" he asked. "I didn't get all the questions wrong, did I?!"

North shook his head and knelt down next to Jack. "Your answers aren't wrong, moy mal'chik," he said. "They're just…not the ones your teacher was looking for."

Jack eased, but then a frown suddenly appeared on his face. "Then why did she bother even asking them? She could've been more specific," he stated.

North chuckled. "Why don't you go put your things upstairs, and then we can review your test answers together," he said.

"Hmm…'kay," said Jack. As he walked up the stairs, he said, "Though I still don't see how my answers are wrong! They're obviously right!"

Once he was upstairs, Aster chuckled."That kit is something else," he remarked.

Sandy and Tooth smiled. North nodded.

"Took words right out of my mouth," he said.

Author's Note: I can one-hundred percent see young Jack doing this on a test. XDDD He's too smart for some of his peers, ahaha. X)

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this silly little chapter, and I'll see you in the next one! =D

~BeyondTheMoon1203