Jack's blue eyes fluttered open as he let out another moan. By some miracle his nose wasn't bleeding, but beneath his crossed arms he had a sharp pain from where he had hit the door handle. To his surprise, he felt a comforting hand on his left arm, as if someone was trying to help. He shot a glance to see bright green eyes staring into his with a mixed look of concern and annoyance.

"Kid, ya a'right?" the guy asked again, this time a little louder.

It was then that Jack recognized the Australian accent and pieced together what the guy was saying. He shot his upper body forward.

"Ugh. Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. Ah! " Jack;s hand flew to his white hair. His head ached from the door, causing him to scrunch up his face in pain.

"Ya sure, mate?" the guy asked, a frown crossing his face.

"Sure?" Jack laughed, trying to hide the pain. "I'm fine!"

He stood up and kind of shuffled away from the Aussie, still holding his head. Being an albino, he typically didn't like people getting too close to him. From a distance, most people thought his hair was dyed and he went along with it, but he had discovered that most brutes- like this guy seemed to be judging by his size- tended to hate on and discriminate against his abnormalities.

Once he was a safe distance away, Jack silently cursed himself. His mother was gonna kill him as soon as he got home, and if the guy realized what he was...who knew what would happen?

He took a moment to scrutinize the Australian-who was now staring at him with a raised brow-as he regained his balance. He was at least 6 feet tall, towering over Jack who stood at a measly 5 foot 8 inches. And he was big. With his wide shoulders and large biceps, Jack wouldn't be surprised if he played football.

As for what he was wearing, it was exactly what Jack thought most stereotypical Australians would be wearing: shorts, a T-shirt, sandals, and a hat with a black and grey workout bag on the ground next to him. His shorts and shirt were both different shades of grey and his sandals were black. The black hat he wore said "BHS Boxing" in red across the front and made it impossible to see what color his hair was. But what really stood out was his eyes: bright green, the color of emeralds. They were almost mesmerising.

Jack shook his head when he caught himself staring, trying to clear out the dizziness in his head. He hissed at first, placing a pale hand against his temple as the pain ebbed away. He sighed; embarrassment had hit now that his mind had cleared, but he still needed to find that key.

"Is there any chance you can get me in there?" He asked, jerking his thumb at the door with a smirk to hide the pain.

The Australian looked surprised at his question, but his eyes narrowed and burly arms crossed as Jack pointed at the door. "Why do ya wanna get in there?"

"Uhhh," Jack slipped a hand behind his neck. "Long story short I lost my key in there, and I kinda need it back or else my mom's gonna kill me if you get what I'm saying."

"Hm. Ya mother's gonna kill ya, huh?" The green eyes suddenly flashed as the older teen spat out the words. "Over a key?"

There was a pause. Jack bit his lip. What did I say?

"Did ya ev'r think tha' there are others out there who don't have parents?" He continued, much too calmly for Jack's comfort, as he stepped into Jack's face. "Did ya?"

"As a matter of fact I have," Jack sassily retorted. "My father died overseas eleven years ago," he paused to swallow the saliva in his mouth. "My sister wasn't even born yet. She never even knew her father..."

His voice drifted away as painful memories awoke in his mind. He hated thinking about the day his father left. He had been six when it had happened. His mother had been heavily pregnant at the time and was expecting the baby within the next few weeks. His dad had given them both long hugs, a kiss, a smile, and a wave. Then he was gone…

The Australian blinked, then snorted, shoving Jack out of his thoughts. "Well watch ya mouth, kid. You should know better than ta talk like that." He turned and stepped back to his gym bag, not bothering to listen to what Jack had to say.

It was Jack's turn to snort. "I'm sorry, what was that?" He laughed. "So the guy who just hit me in the face with a door is now telling me to watch my mouth? Who died and made you king?"

"Nobody ah'm jus' sayin' ya need ta learn some respect," the Aussie said bluntly. "Now git back home to ya motha' before I call up the police an' tell 'em some kid is tryin' ta break inta the school."

With that, the Aussie bent down and in one fell swoop had his bag slung over his shoulder. He glared at Jack again when he realized the boy hadn't moved from his spot.

"Well?"

Jack shot him a glare. "Well excuse me your majesty I'm a student here as of today and took a tour of the school, which is how my key got lost in the first place. My family-"

"Ah, you're the new kid ah heard about?" the Aussie interrupted. Jack gave him a weird look, and was about ask how the Aussie knew about him when he dropped a bombshell. "Hm. Well good luck fittin' in here albino." With that, the Australian calmly sauntered off and around the corner out of Jack's sight.

Jack stared after him in silence with a very offended look on his face for a few moments, trying to sort out what the hell had just happened.

"I see you've met Bunny," a voice said, interrupting his thoughts.

Jack spun around, searching for the source of the voice. "Hello?" he called.

"Yeah, he's a bit of a jerk. But if you need to get in there I can help you," the voice continued.

Jack's eyes landed on the tree about 30 feet away. "Who are you?" he asked.

"You don't need to know that," was the response from a figure that appeared from behind the tree trunk. Dark, intelligent eyes stared at Jack from underneath black hair and a red beanie. Tanned skin revealed the boy's Arabic ancestry as he approached Jack. "Now, do you wanna get in there or not?"

Okay guys let me just say that I apologize profusely for not updating at all. Life's been...rough and I haven't had any desire to write at all lately. I'm going to update my stories...just not at a predictable pace.

Anyways, favorite, follow, and review!

:)