Aster watched the clock as it ticked forward another second. It had been a whopping five minutes since Jack had sat down. Normally the drone of a fly buzzing was preferred over Mr. Moon's hour long lectures, but Aster was enraptured. It was the first time he had listened so intently to anything. Not that Tooth's blabbering had anything to do with that.

She had been chattering about the new kid non-stop. If he heard one more comment about Jack's sparkling blue eyes Aster would scream.

North on the other hand could have squealed with joy. He was scribbling furiously on his paper. Sandy would expect a full report when he got to school.

Aster was doing his best to ignore North's scribbling behind him. He was really regretting telling North and Sandy. Though Aster hadn't had much of a choice in the matter.

Tooth was now tugging on Aster's sleeve to get his attention. He sighed and turned to her - he didn't have it in him to try and ignore her anymore.

"What?" Aster asked rather gruffly. Tooth just continued on like she normally did. She was used to his gruff act.

"You can stop ignoring me now," she said.

"What makes ya think I was ignoring ya, sheila?" She gave Aster a dubious look.

"I know you Aster. You never listen to a word Mr. Moon says and all of a sudden you can't get enough of what he's saying? It's all right. I forgive you, but you still need to apologize to me later."

Aster opened and closed his mouth, trying to find anything to say that could to say that could refute her statement. No words would come out. Not to mention that Tooth had turned her attention to Mr. Moon, who was now giving the details of a new project. Something else to add to the growing stack of homework that Aster didn't have time for. He decided he better pay attention to this. He'd get an earful if he didn't.

"This project will be slightly different from the others you've had in this class. First, you will not be writing an essay for this assignment."

A cheer erupted from the students, those that were paying attention anyways. Those that weren't paying attention before tuned in. Anytime the class cheered about something, something good was most definitely happening.

"Don't get too excited," Mr. Moon continued. "There won't be an essay, but you will need to write at least five pages."

The class quieted and was still. Nothing good ever came from those words. Mr. Moon continued as if nothing had changed.

"Instead of writing an essay, you will be writing a story that is at least five pages long. You will take a myth, legend, fairy tale, or fable and give it some sort of twist. The one limit to this is that you may not use any that have been turned into a movie, animated short, or a novel. You will also have to turn in something besides the story. It can be anything, so long as it relates in some way."

One of the students raised her hand.

"Yes Olivia?" Mr. Moon said.

"What about the Greek myths? Aren't all of them covered in the movie Hercules and in the Percy Jackson books?"

"It is true that you may not use Hercules as your project. However, I do believe that the Percy Jackson books are not remakes of the Greek myths and only have passing mentions of the myths. If I said you could not use that, then you wouldn't be able to use most myths and fables that are written down. You'd probably be left with the legend of your Uncle Johnny who caught a Jackalope with one hand tied behind his back," Mr. Moon gave Aster a pointed look.

"Hey," Tooth whispered, "didn't that exact same thing happen in your family?"

"No," Aster mumbled, "it was my Aunt Jennie and it was a wallaby."

"Now I will not be answering anymore questions about this assignment for today," Mr. Moon said. "There will also be one other change in this project from the others. It is that you will be working with a partner. Since Jack has now joined our class, we now have an even number of people so nobody will be working by themselves. Your partners will be assigned tomorrow and rubrics will be handed out. Since we are nearly out of time for today, the rest of the details for the project will be given tomorrow. The rest of the time for today is yours."

The students didn't have time to open their mouths before the bell rang. They gathered their things quickly and began to head to their next classes.

Aster on the other hand was taking his time gathering his things. The less time he spent with the new kid the better. At least, he was taking his time until he saw the look Tooth was giving him. He was lucky to be alive after being hit by a glare like that. His books seemed to fly into his hands.

He turned to the new guy, his composure returning in the process.

"You. Drongo," Aster said.

"I told you Bunny, I speak English. Not whatever it is that is coming out of your mouth," Jack replied.

Aster did his best not to do anything violent to the kid. He thought he did rather well. Jack wasn't lying dead on the ground with his body in angles it should not be able to bend.

He wasn't so fortunate at controlling his facial expression. An expression of rage overtook him. His tone was slightly more controlled.

"If you want to know where your next class is I suggest you follow me, cuz I ain't waiting for a drongo like you," Aster said. He then turned and walked out of the classroom. Jack reluctantly followed. Even he could tell that Bunny wasn't joking.

When they reached the next classroom, the Australian stopped suddenly, causing Jack to nearly run into him.

"Hey! What gives?!" Jack said.

"Here's your next class," Aster said. He turned to leave.

"Hey, where are you going? Mr. Moon said your class was here too," Jack said.

"Yes, where are you going Aster?" the teacher asked. Aster turned back.

"To work on my commissions for the show in a few weeks," he said. "Just like I told you yesterday."

The teacher gave a small apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry Aster. The principal has decided that since you are showing Jack around to his classes today, that you should attend all of your classes today as well," the teacher said.

"But I have five commissions to work on! Do you know how long it takes to do just one? Especially with what these commissions are? Too long. I'm barely keeping up as it is and I have to help people from woodshop paint their stuff."

"All the time will be made up tomorrow. For today you will be showing Jack around."

Aster muttered something under his breath and trudged into the room and went to his seat.

XXXXX

Tooth waved to Aster as he made his way into the cafeteria. He nodded to signal he'd seen her. He weaved his way through the people and the other tables and sat in his usual spot on the edge next to North. Aster remained quiet and began to eat his egg salad sandwich.

Sandy (who had managed to make it to school just before the start of second period) looked at North and began signing something.

"Haha. Yes Sandy. Aster is more grumpy than usual," North replied. "You see, he must show new kid around to classes."

"I don't see why he's so upset," Tooth said. Aster paused mid-bite. "You should have seen this kid Sandy! He has this super blonde hair that is pretty much white, and these gorgeous blue eyes! And don't get me started on his teeth!"

Aster rolled his eyes and gathered the few things he had. He stood and began to leave. North shared a quick look with Sandy before calling out to Aster.

"Friend! Where are you going? We still have long time for lunch."

Aster stopped where he was and turned to face the others.

"I need to work on my commissions. I'm losing a lot of time having to show that blimey drongo around."

"They are giving you back time yes? So you can stay for rest of lunch," North said.

"Yeah. But then I've got to make up all the bloody homework I'm missing. I'm losing two whole days cuz of this bloody new kid. I can't afford to get any more behind than I already am. Anyways, I'll see you guys later," Aster turned and made his way out of the crowded cafeteria, starting toward the art room.

"I didn't realize Aster had so much work to do," Tooth said. North and Sandy shared another look. Tooth didn't notice. She just shrugged her shoulders and continued eating her lunch.

Sandy made more motions with his hands.

"Oh yeah," Tooth said. "That's a good point Sandy. What about you North? Don't you have anything for the showcase?"

North gave a small chuckle. "Yes I have things for showcase. Not as many as Aster, but a few. I finished building them couple days ago maybe? Friend Phil is helping to paint them. Should be done tomorrow or next day."

"That's great North!" Tooth said. "What did you end up making?"

North and Tooth carried on talking about North's work for the showcase. Sandy looked up from the conversation for a moment and his eyes became wide. He began to gesture at the other two. They didn't pay attention to him. He attempted to pull on their sleeves and continued his gestures. They continued to ignore him. He heaved a silent sigh and put his hand in his hands. It was too late now.

"Hello North, Sandy, Toothiana. It's good to see you all."

They cringed at the oil-slick voice as it spoke over a comment North was making. They all turned their heads to the boy that had spoken. He was tall with ashen skin and his dark hair was combed back and gelled. North was the first to speak.

"Pitch."

Author's Note: Hello all! I have returned! So sorry this chapter took so long I just got flooded with ideas for a bunch of fics plus some original stories from Muse Pinkie so this has been sitting on the back burner for a while. I may not get back to updating until after NANO but the goal for now is to have the next chapter up sometime in December. Also, if you have any ideas for a better title, feel free to PM me. And don't forget to Rate and Review! And thanks to chibiotaku4life for betaing!