A/N: Warning for slight cussing.

Chapter 5: School Troubles

The weekend ended too soon, the snow melting along with it, much to Jack's dismay. Before he even knew it, it was Monday morning again. Jack pushed his way through the crowds of people in the hall, making his way to his third period class. Evan and Tina were already inside, waiting for him.

"Jack!" Tina called, gesturing him over. He sighed, but knew that he had to clear things up with them.

"Yeah?" he asked, leaning on Tina's desk.

"What was all that about on Saturday?" Evan asked, immediately getting down to business.

"What was all what about?" Jack countered, feeling stupid right afterwards. He knew that he would have to explain himself eventually, but at the moment, lying seemed like a much better option than the truth.

Evan rolled his eyes at Jack's antics. "When you saw us both in the cafe, you freaked out."

"You kept rushing Ami out too," Tina added, a concerned look crossing her face.

Jack pulled out his water bottle, taking a sip while he tried to think of an excuse. He swallowed, setting it down on Tina's desk while trying not to sigh. "I uh, I had somewhere else to be. And I didn't realise it had gotten so late before you both came in." It was a pretty obvious lie, but then again, Jack wasn't too good at lying in the first place.

Evan scoffed. "Busy? At 9:30 in the morning?" He clearly saw through Jack's lie.

"Why do you care?" Jack countered, a little defensively. He was running out of options at this point.

"We just wanted to know wh-" Evan began, but was cut off by the harsh ringing of the bell.

Jack was thankful for the interruption, as it allowed him to leave his two 'friends' and go sit at his desk three rows behind them. He was glad that he didn't have to sit by either of them in this class. Mrs. Callahan stood at the front, yelling for the class to take their seats, and for once, Jack complied without any hesitation.

The lesson began, and not twenty minutes in, Jack was dying of boredom. His teacher spoke in a monotone voice, and Jack wanted to go to sleep because of it. He really hadn't been sleeping well these past few months. Hearing some whispering from Tina and Evan, Jack leaned forward to hear better.

"I think that's Jack's water. He left it when he had to go to his seat," Tina murmured as Evan was unscrewing the cap.

"Oh, whoops." Evan tried screwing the cap back on. He glanced over his shoulder. "Hey Jack."

"What?" Jack whispered back, but he already knew what it was about.

"Here. Catch," Evan said, getting ready to throw the water bottle. He tossed it, but it wasn't far enough to reach Jack, and the cap wasn't completely screwed on.

Jack's eyes widened as the lid flew off, splashing the sleeping teen in front of him, soaking him thoroughly.

"Shit," Evan swore under his breath.

The cold water was enough to wake up the person in front of him, who just happened to be a jock that Jack had already made enemies with. "Whose water bottle was that?" he asked rather loudly, gaining the attention of the students sitting around him. Jack held his tongue and stayed quiet. "Whose water bottle was that?!" he yelled, making Mrs. Callahan stop her teaching.

"What's wrong Logan?" she asked, then noticing his soaking wet appearance. "What happened to you?" She sounded more annoyed that her teaching was interrupted than being concerned for Logan's sake.

"Some retard threw their water bottle at me. Who the hell was it!?" he yelled again, standing up in his anger.

Their teacher sighed, clearly choosing to ignore Logan's swear. "Now class, why would you want to do this to Logan? Who was it? Come on, come forward now."

The entire class began whispering, trying to see who the idiot was that messed with Logan. Logan was a jock on the football team who was known to beat up other students. No one in their right mind would mess with him.

Jack glanced over to Evan, who shrugged. He apparently didn't want to come forward. Sighing, Jack decided to take the fall. It might get him out of class at the least. "I-it was m-mine..." he said, voice shaking as he stood from his seat. Logan had been out to get him since day one, and this incident was not going to help that.

"Jake! You have a detention," Mrs. Callahan told him sternly. "You always come to class late, and now you cause problems for others by throwing water on them? I'm going to have a serious talk with you after school."

Whispers broke out among the class again, gossiping how Logan was going to beat up Jake for this, and how they couldn't wait to watch it happen. Jack felt like vomiting at their heartless and insensitive words, and even more so when Logan shot him a deadly glare. He knew that he was going to pay for this later. He glanced at Evan again, seeing the other frowning, and Jack shook his head with a grim smile. Even though this was partly (mainly) Evan's fault, Jack would rather take the blame himself. He didn't want Evan to step in.

"You little toothpick..." Logan seethed. "I'll make you sorry for this!"

Jack flinched when the other took a step towards him, but their teacher cut in. "Now Logan. I know you're upset with Jake, but now's not the time for that." In other words, she's totally fine with letting Logan beat the crap out of him, just not in her class. "You can go to the bathroom and clean up. And Jake..."

Jack finally lost his patience with her. "It's Jack."

"What?" Mrs. Callahan blinked, seeming taken aback.

"My name is Jack, not Jake. Just thought I should tell you..." he trailed off as her look changed to one of anger.

"Are you talking back to me?" Her clipped tone made Jack wince.

"No, I was just-"

"Do you want another detention or something?"

"But I wasn't-"

"Detention!" she yelled, earning several snickers from his classmates. Logan seemed to calm down, and merely gave Jack a disgusted snort before leaving the classroom.

"I wasn't even talking..." Jack tried explaining himself, but his teacher was beyond reason.

"Jake! I don't expect any more of this behaviour from you today!"

He never wanted to faceplam so bad in his life. Sighing, Jack took his seat again, avoiding Tina and Evan's looks of concern. He didn't even want to look at them at the moment.

"Well, now that Jake has finished insulting the entire class," Mrs. Callahan spoke, trying to regain a calmer demeanor.

I didn't insult anyone! Jack yelled in his mind.

"We shall continue our lesson."

Tina and Evan's finally eyes left him as they turned back to the teacher to pay attention to the lecture. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Jack sunk down in his chair, wanting to be anywhere else at the moment.

Ω Ω Ω

"Why'd you throw that water bottle at Logan? He's going to be so mad at you," a girl asked as she walked by. This was the fifth similar question he'd been asked in the last four minutes.

Jack sighed. "I didn't-" he started, but she was already walking off to lunch. Sighing again, Jack decided to go outside for his lunch break. It was a really nice day out and besides, he really didn't feel like facing Tina or Evan after that water bottle incident in English. Exiting the school, Jack went past the basketball court, where several students were playing a quick game, to a tree on the other side of it. He leaned up against the weathered bark, pulling out his homework and granola bar.

Other than the few kids playing basketball, it was pretty quiet. Then again, it was still pretty cool out, so most students were inside at the cafeteria. But Jack didn't really mind the cold so much. He liked sitting outside much better. That way, he could avoid his 'friends' and all of the other jocks who like to push him around and call him names. He didn't like to call them his bullies–that seemed like such an elementary term–but that's what they were. Logan was one of them.

Sighing, Jack took a bite of his granola bar. He hadn't eaten for a few days, so the food felt weird and foreign in his hollow stomach. Jack pushed the thought out of his mind and began working on his homework. He was really falling behind in school, but so much had happened lately that made it hard to focus in class.

A figure approached him, so Jack looked up to see who it was.

"Oh, it's just you," Jack breathed a sigh of relief. He was expecting Logan or one of the other jocks, but not Sean.

Sean gave a friendly wave, and motioned for Jack to come inside. He then wrapped his arms around himself, faking a shiver.

"You want me to come inside because it's cold?" Jack asked, hoping he got the meaning of the motions right.

Sean nodded and offered him a hand to stand up.

"No thanks, Sean. I'm fine out here."

Frowning, Sean gestured back towards the school. He then made a couple of other movements, losing Jack in the process.

"What? I don't understand..."

"Jake! Jake Frost!" A woman yelled to Jack from the doors.

"Oh, I guess I'm being called," Jack sighed. Ever since coming to this school, he had learned to respond to the name 'Jake'. But the woman was the school counselor, so she must want something important. "I'll go see what she wants," he muttered, setting down his journal and half eaten granola bar.

Dread filling his stomach, Jack walked up to the counselor. "The principal wants you in her office," she told him.

He figured that it was something like that. "Okay," he sighed, letting her lead him to the office. He'd served detention a couple of times since coming to this school, but he hadn't been sent to the office. So this was something to look forward to.

Upon entering the office, he came face to face with the principal. She was a stout looking woman, with light blonde hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. "Take a seat," she instructed, gesturing to the single wooden chair in front of her desk.

Jack nervously did as she was told.

"Now, Jake-"

"It's Jack," he said quietly. This whole 'Jake' thing was really becoming a problem.

Her eyebrow twitched. "I don't think so. Now Jake, Mrs. Callahan told me about what happened in her classroom."

"It wasn't my fault, I-"

"I don't want any of your excuses, Jake. Now, I want you to stay after every day this week, serving for your improper behaviour."

Jack wanted to let out an exasperated groan. Are all adults this impossible to deal with?!

"You will stay after with Mrs. Callahan until 4:30. I want none of your sass or backtalk. Is that clear?" she questioned, her tone all business.

"Yes ma'am," Jack sighed reluctantly. He chose to just go along with it, since it was his choice to take the fall, after all.

"That will be all."

Jack immediately got up, ready to leave, but Mrs. Shivers stopped him again.

"Oh, and Jake?"

"Yes ma'am?" he asked, hand on the knob.

"I don't want anymore trouble from you." She gave him a hard stare, before dismissing him with a wave of her hand.

He exited the room, sighing, and knowing that no matter how hard he tried, Mondays would always be terrible.

Ω Ω Ω

Meanwhile, as Jack was being called in by the counselor, Sean made himself comfortable in the grass.

But he soon grew bored of waiting for the other teen, so he grabbed Jack's notebook and began flipping through the pages, hoping to entertain himself. He let out a silent chuckle as he noted the different doodles that Jack had drawn next to his schoolwork. There was a silly illustration of a cat riding the back of an owl, and a detailed drawing of a superhero labeled 'Jack', which Sandy thought wasn't half bad. He flipped a few more pages, and froze.

There, a folded letter was tucked away.

Sandy knew he shouldn't read it, since this was Jack's property, but curiosity got the better of him. Seeing as Jack wasn't back from whatever the counselor needed him for, Sean thought a quick peek wouldn't hurt.

He took out the worn letter and unfolded it, a picture falling out in the process. It was a small photograph of Jack next to a girl. It was clear they were in a hospital, and the girl was a sickly pale colour. Both smiled in the photo, but Jack looked like he would start crying at any moment. Sandy frowned. Who was this girl? On the back, the photograph was labeled with the date November 3rd.

Putting the photo aside, Sean focused his attention on the card. The greeting reading as 'Dear Emma'. Uncertainty gnawed in his belly. This letter really seemed like a private matter, and he didn't really think that he should go snooping around like this. But curiosity killed the cat, as they say... or something like that. But since Sandy had already come this far, why not just read and see what the letter was all about?

He skimmed over it, just in case Jack came back and saw him reading it.

'I'm so sorry Emma.'

'I wish there was something I could have done.'

'It's all my fault.'

Sandy tore his eyes away from the letter, frown deepening. Who was Emma? Was she the girl in the photo? He folded the letter back up and put the picture safely back inside. Sandy then flipped to the next page, hoping to find out some more information about Emma, but it was back to the school notes. It seemed that Jack just stuck the letter in here without really thinking about it.

He heard the door open, and seeing Jack come out, Sandy panicked, shoving the letter inside his pocket. He quickly set the journal to the page that it was originally on, and tried to pretend like nothing happened.

Ω Ω Ω

"Hey Sandy," Jack said grimly as he approached. "I had to go to the principal's office." Sandy stared at him blankly before his look changed to one of concern. He guessed that Sean was trying to ask what happened...?

"I have detention for the rest of this week!" Jack tried to laugh it off, but the sound was broken so he soon stopped. "Nothing really though."

Sean's frown only deepened.

The bell then rang, announcing the end of lunch.

"Well, I gotta get to chemistry," Jack told him, trying to break the awkward silence. He supposed that until he got to know Sean better, then there would always be an awkward silence between them. Well, here we go. Fourth period with Evan and Tina...

Sean nodded.

"...Okay, well, I guess I'll see you in health class then," Jack told him, grabbing his notebook and half eaten granola bar, throwing his food in the trash. He wasn't very hungry anymore.

Jack turned around and started walking towards the school when a hand grabbed his arm. "What?" Jack questioned the shorter teen.

Sandy made some more movements as if saying 'let me walk you there'.

"No, no. That's okay. You don't have to walk me to class. I'll be okay," Jack shook the other's hand off of his arm. He didn't need anyone's help.

Sean's brow furrowed, and it looked like he wanted to argue if he could. But Jack was having none of that. "See you later," he said before finally leaving Sean and the awkward conversations with him behind.

On the way to his fourth period class, a group of jocks surrounded Jack. They were some of Logan's friends, and Jack dreaded whatever they wanted. At least Logan's not with them...

"Logan is still pissed at you for earlier," one of them said cockily, stepping forward from the circle they formed around Jack. Other students in the hall either ducked their heads and quickly walked away or paused to watch the encounter. Both types of people like that made Jack sick. "But he'll get you back later. For now, you'll deal with us," the guy–Scott or something– roughly shoved Jack into the lockers.

Jack winced in the pain from his shoulders as they made impact with the hard metal. He fixed Scott with a glare, but he and the other jocks only laughed at Jack's attempt to stand up for himself.

"You're such a freak, you know that? With your unnatural white hair. Did you dye it or something?" Scott continued, stalking up to Jack from where he stood rooted in place against the lockers. He tried taking a step back, but there was no space to escape to. "What? Cat got your tongue?" Scott asked and the others chuckled again. He suddenly kicked Jack in the leg, who fell to the ground with a gasp of pain. His journal was torn from his grip and thrown somewhere down the hall.

"Remember this, freak. We will fuck you up," Scott told him with a sneer, before leaving just as suddenly as he came. The other jocks disappeared with him. The students who had been watching quickly continued to their classes, ignoring Jack who clutched his leg in pain. But he was used to the watchers, as Jack called them, who only stood by and watched Jack take the abuse. He was used to no one helping him.

With a heavy sigh, Jack lifted himself up. He gritted his teeth and went to retrieve his notebook, which had been thrown in the opposite direction of his class. The hallway cleared up, and Jack cursed mentally as the bell rang. He was late to class. Again.

He then began to short trip to chemistry, thankful that Sandy hadn't walked him to class. If he had, then he might have gotten hurt too. Jack couldn't bear that thought. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if another person got hurt because of him.

Jack finally arrived to his chemistry class, nearly five minutes late. "Jake? Where were you?" his teacher, Mr. Orr, asked.

"The counselor wanted to talk to me," Jack lied, ignoring the wrong name he was called. Sure, the counselor had talked to him, just not right then.

"Alright, take your seat. I won't mark you late." Jack liked his teacher for this reason.

Finally sitting down, Jack rested his head on the lab table. He felt light headed, and his stomach ached from the lack of food. He also noticed Tina and Evan's gaze on him. Mr. Orr gave his class directions for a lab, and let the class begin. His two 'friends' walked up to him.

"Are you okay, Jack?" Evan asked.

"You don't look so good," Tina added. Worry was clear in both their voices.

"I'm fine," Jack gritted out. He didn't need their pity or concern. He didn't want it.

"Anyways, thanks for what you did with the water bottle thing earlier..." Evan started, but Jack interrupted him.

"It's okay."

Evan frowned. "Well, sorry about it anyways."

Jack slammed his head down on the desk. The impact made his head hurt, but it was a good distraction from everything else that was happening. "It doesn't matter."

Tina and Evan shared a worried look with each other, but Jack ignored them. He didn't care for them much anymore.