Expect a lot of plot development in this chapter to make up for last chapter's boring content.

Remember: There's a sequel. I'm going to keep on saying that until it's imprinted into the very front of your minds.

Disclaimer: I no own Rise of the Guardians.

Zander didn't let it go. He had avoided Jack all Monday morning and pretended that he wasn't there when Jack attempted to wave hello when they had run into each other during passing period. And of course, Jack consulted Cody in fourth period.

"He's mad at you," was the simple answer Cody gave.

"Gee, I never thought of that," Jack said flatly.

"I don't blame him though. I would be too, if I saw you be that dense when it comes to bitches. By the way, why are you even talking to me about this?"

"Uh..." The truth was that Jack had reasoned that talking more to Cody would make him open up more, or at least that was how it usually worked. He had been pretty determined to figure out what was bothering the poor guy before, but when he had finally heard a lead (which was the small mention of Carrie), it only created more questions and less answers. Jack then swore to himself that he wouldn't give up until he finally found out Cody's secret. It was nosy, but he just couldn't help himself. And besides all that, he just needed to ask for someone's input on Zander giving him the cold shoulder. Clearly, he could ask Spencer, but he couldn't see him till lunch, and he didn't feel like waiting that long. Not to mention that Zander was also going to be sitting with his brother, so asking about him when he was in hearing range was a big no-no.

Cody didn't wait for Jack to answer his question, much to the latter's relief. He really was brain-dead on excuses at the moment, and simply telling the truth was definitely something that would set anybody off.

When the long awaited lunch bell finally rang, Jack was one of the first ones out the door. He was in the middle of going down the hallway that led to the cafeteria when he ran into someone he really didn't want to see. No, it wasn't Zander. It was Ariel.

"Oh, um... Hi," Ariel said nervously.

"...Hey." Jack didn't want to sound all monotone and unenthusiastic, but considering his latest findings about Ariel's true personality, he really couldn't help himself.

"Are you...going to the carnival tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'm going..."

"Alright then... Just making sure," Ariel spoke awkwardly. "So, I'll...see you there, right, Johnny?"

"We'll see."

Ariel frowned. We'll see?

"So we're not hanging out anymore after this, right?" Jack asked in a tone she couldn't recognize.

"No, is that okay with you?"

Is that okay with me? What kind of dumb question is that? Jack though bitterly. Out loud, he said, "Sure it is. It wasn't at first, but now it is."

Ariel nodded approvingly. "I'm glad you could look over this. So I'll see you tomorrow at the entrance of the carnival after school, okay?"

"Sure, I'll be going..." Once Ariel went past him and was out of hearing range, his small, apologetic smile changed into a mischievous smirk. "...But will you be?" He fingered two carnival passes, which he had somehow swiped from Ariel sometime during their small talk. "This is what you get for calling me Johnny, hussy."

Lunch was very awkward, that was a given. Zander was still not speaking to Jack, and Spencer was just sitting there, torn between his brother and his friend. Things continued on like that until Jack couldn't take it anymore.

"Spencer, I'm just gonna go to my locker now, okay?" he said testily, starting to get up. "See ya in sixth period."

He exited the cafeteria without waiting for an answer, and went on his way. He had to pass the principal's office to reach his destination, and he passed by just as the front door opened.

Anton almost collided into Jack when he rushed out of the principal's front door. "Ugh, excuse me, newbie," he said disgustedly, before continuing on his way.

Forgetting where he was initially set on going, curiosity got the best of Jack. After casting a look in the direction that Anton went, he took a deep breath and went in, only to stop right in his tracks the second he laid a foot on the carpet flooring. He stared wide-eyed at Mr. Kaka, who was gently leading a goat—Yes, a goat!—from his personal office into the main room. Mr. Kaka looked up and noticed Jack's presence. "Oh, Jack. Hello! I'd like you to meet Larry."

"..."

"Larry, this is Jack, a new student here. Say hi."

Larry simply bleated.

The goat's noise was all it took for Jack to confirm to himself that he wasn't just having a mass hallucination of farm animals. "Holy shit," he deadpanned. He didn't think it was possible, but at the moment he really didn't care that he just swore in front of the principal. On his shoulder, Baby Tooth was shaking with silent laughter.

Mr. Suzuki popped his head out from the doorway of his own office. "Did I just hear the S word being used out here?" His eyes fell on Jack. "Was it you?"

"Oh, come on! How is it possible for any student to not say that when they suddenly walk in and see their wacky principal handling a random goat thing?!" Jack threw his hands up in the air.

Mr. Kaka sniffed, wiping away any unshed tears that could've reached his eyes. "You all don't understand the loveliness of our goat population..."

Mr. Suzuki motioned for Jack to enter his office. "You might want to come in or you'll be stuck standing there for the next two hours listening to him rant about goats and possibly chickens."

Jack entered the smaller office just as Mr. Kaka started saying something about goat milk, the man not even taking in the fact that the person he was trying to speak to wasn't listening and entering his assistant's domain.

Once Mr. Suzuki shut the door, Jack immediately exclaimed, "You told me Larry the Goat was imaginary! Call me crazy, but I don't think that goat out there was very imaginary!"

Mr. Suzuki faced Jack with a raised eyebrow. "And how would you think the students would react if they knew that their school mascot was a real, live goat?"

Jack had to admit he had a point. Wait, Larry was the school mascot? ...Not surprising at all.

"Not a lot of students come in here, and Larry doesn't come out a lot, so only a few students, now including you, know about this," Mr. Suzuki continued. "Trust me, I myself didn't even know about it until the second year I was the vice principal."

Jack crossed his arms. "Uh huh. Now tell me again why that excuse of a human is our very eccentric principal?"

Ignoring his question, Mr. Suzuki asked a question of his own, "So why are you here?"

Remembering his reasons, Jack began to explain a little awkwardly, "Well... I saw this guy storm out of here and I nearly bumped into him, and he seemed pretty peeved about something. And... I don't know. It's pretty nosy of me, but I wanted to see what was bothering him so much, you know what I mean? Judging by the look on his face, it was as if something huge happened."

"And by 'this guy,' do you mean Anton?"

Jack nodded.

Mr. Suzuki exhaled audibly. "Jack, I just had an argument with Anton. In fact, it was about you."

"What? Me?" Jack asked, surprised.

"Yes, you. You're aware of how you're paired up with him for your little performance art hosting project, right?"

"I wouldn't say the project is little..." Jack muttered.

"Anton had just come in to complain to me about how unfair it was to have him work together with you on something this big. I hate to be this blunt, but you're not his favorite person in this world."

"Like I never noticed that." Jack couldn't help but have sarcasm lace into his tone. Luckily, Mr. Suzuki didn't seem to mind all that much.

"Usually, the hosts are a boy and a girl, and they're from separate periods of the class," Mr. Suzuki didn't stop explaining. "And I told Anton that I had phoned Miss McCarthy and convinced her to give the two positions to you two."

Jack did a double take. What now?

"Now before you ask, I did that because I saw what was in the school paper the other day."

Jack had a feeling that he was talking about that little tabloid that had accused him for having an eating disorder, so he questioned, "What did...that have to do with Anton?"

"Everything. You do realize that he was the one who took the photo that went along with that article, don't you?"

"...You mean he was the one who..." Jack trailed off.

"No, he's not on the newspaper team at all," Mr. Suzuki shot down Jack's suspicion without any hesitation. "I'm assuming he only assisted in it. Erik Chou wasn't the one who published it either. He's much too mature to do that."

"Well then if you know so much about what really happened, then who's the actual culprit?" Jack nearly shouted that, but marked it unwise to yell at the vice principal, even if he only was the vice.

"I have a pretty good idea on who it is, but I'm not allowed to say anything since there's no proof that he's the one who did it."

"Then can't you at least tell me who you think is the bad guy here?" Jack didn't know what was aggravating him so much, but he couldn't help but be so impatient.

"I still can't say his name," Mr. Suzuki still refused, much to Jack's chagrin. "But I can tell you this: It's someone you know. Someone who you don't like. In fact, I think I recall some news about you breaking his nose during winter break."

Samson Fisher. Of course it was him. It took all of Jack's mental strength to not growl like a vicious animal spotting its prey. Instead, he asked out loud, "You do realize that you've just given me the answer I wanted, even though you said you couldn't, right?"

"I never said I couldn't give you the answer, I just said that I couldn't say his name." Mr. Suzuki walked over to his desk and sat down on his chair. "I've never approved of that boy. He's a bad influence on Anton. From what I've heard from students around campus, you're pretty friendly, so I paired you two up to show him that he's liking and disliking the wrong people here. Are you up to it?"

Jack pretended to think about it. "Totally."

Mr. Suzuki nodded. "Good."

As if on cue, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Mr. Suzuki gestured toward the closed door. "You ought to go now. I don't want to hold you back and get you late for your next class."

Once Jack was out of the administrative office, he whispered to Baby Tooth while on the way to his locker, "I already had to take care of Cody, and now the vice principal just basically assigned me to crack a second nutshell. It's like I'm everyone's therapist or something like that."

Baby Tooth just giggled.

It was only when Jack was twisting his locker combination did he start wondering why Mr. Suzuki seemed to know and care so much about Anton's attitude and behavior.

When Jack entered his sixth period class, he saw Zander and Spencer talking and went over to them right away. "Hey guys."

Zander gave Jack a flat look. "I'm still not talking to you."

"What? You just did!" Jack protested.

Zander must've thought that Jack had a point because he didn't reply again.

Jack frowned and opened his mouth to speak again, but a hand roughly grabbed his shoulder. He jumped and whipped around to see a very moody Anton.

"You, me, my house, preparation for this whole thing, Wednesday," he spoke out through gritted teeth.

Jack nodded slowly. "Okay then..."

Anton stormed off to his seat (with Baby Tooth glaring at his back) while Jack sat down in his own wearily. He covered his face up in his hands. "Another long day..." he moaned.

"Did...he just order you to meet with him on Wednesday without even asking if you have any plans first?" Spencer questioned tentatively.

It was the first day that all the performance art classes met for the upcoming middle school play (They were to meet on Mondays and Fridays). Jack, being the usual student-ignorant person he was, almost passed out when the two other classes came in, because Cody happened to be included.

"CODY IS—" Jack put his head in his hands. "You have gotta be freaking kidding me..."

On his shoulder, Baby Tooth looked at him funny.

"What? You're surprised that he has first period?" Spencer asked. "Before you knock yourself out, I'll have you know in advance that Cici is in third period for this class. She's not here today since she's gone to Italy on short notice. Her grandmother suddenly passed away and she has to go to the funeral. She'll be back next week."

"I know she's not here today. I have PE with her, remember?" Jack replied irritably, then peeked an eye out at his friend. "How do you even know she's gone to Italy? She might just be sick."

Spencer blushed. "I hear from people..."

Jack looked at him suspiciously. "Are you sure you're not secretly dating her behind our backs or anything?"

Spencer looked offended. "Why would I keep that a secret from all you people?!"

Jack raised his arms defensively. "Hey, just wondering."

"Were you guys just talking about me?"

Jack and Spencer jumped in their seats and turned to face Cody, who was suddenly next to them. Seeing who it was, Jack thought he saw Spencer slightly scoot his chair away.

"Of course we weren't," Jack answered coolly. "What makes you think we were?"

Cody crossed his arms. "'Cause I heard my name being shouted out across the room? I'm not deaf, new kid."

Baby Tooth frowned. She didn't like how this guy was referring to Jack as 'new kid' (especially since he wasn't really that new anymore). Besides, she already was a little wary about Cody, because really, he was a little intimidating. It was no wonder that he didn't have friends.

Jack shrugged. "I admit I mentioned you, but I was just surprised that you were in this class. That's all."

Anton, who had been strolling by during that second, casually put in his own input, "For once, I'm not gonna blame him for not knowing you were in this class. Considering you're an outcast, I don't think any new kid would."

Cody diverted his attention to Anton and narrowed his eyes. "Was I talking to you?"

"Was I forbidden to offer my opinion?"

"If your opinion involves you using your shitty mouth and spitting out the crap that almost always spews itself out, then yes, you were forbidden."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait..." Jack tried his best to prevent an oncoming fight. The two boys were standing on either side of him slamming each other, so he and Baby Tooth were just looking back and forth between them as if they were sitting very near to an intense tennis match.

"Oh, then excuse me, police officer. You can arrest me now," Anton said sardonically.

"Let's calm down here for a sec..." Jack could feel the temperature dropping ten degrees during each insult the two other boys were shooting at each other.

"Look, if you would please just keep your damn mouth shut for one day, I wouldn't hate you so much. But obviously, hell would freeze over before that happens." That was Cody.

Anton rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. Like I would 'keep my damn mouth shut' when it comes to you."

"And why do I have to be the one to deal with it?"

Hearing that their voices were starting to raise, Jack decided to put a stop to the quarrel before it really got out of hand. "GUYS!" he yelled.

"WHAT?!" Cody and Anton angrily shouted at Jack, glaring at him.

Jack really couldn't blame himself for being terrified for his life when he saw the sharp looks he was receiving. "Uh, nothing," he said weakly. "Carry on arguing."

Baby Tooth gave him a disbelieving look, as if to say, You went through all that trouble to get their attention and then you tell them to CARRY ON? Jack clearly noticed her, but decided to ignore her since he wasn't alone in the room.

"Jack, you should just give up," Spencer spoke for the first time since the ensuing spat. "Everyone in the school knows that they despise each other just as much as you and Samson do, if not more."

"One day one of them is gonna bust the other in the eye," Zander said, momentarily forgetting about his resolution to not speak to Jack. Either that, or he was just talking to himself in particular.

"Well why isn't McCarthy doing something about it?" Jack asked.

"They're practically inseparable when they argue," Spencer explained. "Don't think that just because McCarthy is a teacher means that she can be capable of putting a stop to them. All anyone can do is wait until one of them gets bored of yelling at each other."

"And exactly how long will that take?"

"About an hour."

"But this meeting ends in an hour!"

"Which is why I said an hour. Their longest record is two and a half hours. I only know that because there was one time during junior year that they argued out in the hallway when they ran into each other and completely forgot that they had classes they had to go to. The classroom right next to them couldn't concentrate at all since they were shouting so loudly, and then someone somehow put a hidden camera into the wall and recorded the whole thing, and now it's on YouTube." Spencer turned to his brother. "How many views does it have again?"

"The last time I checked, 200,000," Zander replied.

Jack's eyes widened. "Were their insults really that interesting to get that many?"

Spencer shrugged. "Don't look now, but Anton can really go up against Cody."

Jack focused his attention on the argument again, which had grown even louder. He had to note that the words were also growing more and more colorful on both sides by the second. He turned back to Spencer with a look of sheer horror on his face. "And I'm just gonna be sitting between these two for the rest of the meeting?!"

Spencer shrugged again. "Pretty much, yeah."

"I can't do that! I'm already suffering here!"

"Well I'm not gonna go in there and save you and get tangled up in it as well! Besides, Cody scares me. You're on your own, pal."

Jack sluggishly dropped his backpack at the front door the second he walked in. Baby Tooth flew off into the backyard to play with Wynter, who curiously enough could see her, though it may have had something to do with her being an animal. Jamie was sitting on the sofa watching a movie. "I'm tired," he said exhaustedly.

Jamie cast a short glance at him. "I can see that."

Jack went over and sat down wearily. "Worst school day ever. And that's saying something."

"Mmhm."

"What movie are you watching?"

"Finding Nemo." Jamie turned his head, only to see Jack looking at him expectantly. He sighed. "Why are you tired?"

Jack suddenly seemed much more satisfied. "Zander's on non-speaking terms with me, at lunch my vice principal instructed me to to make this guy nicer, and for the past hour, said guy and the school outcast were engaged in a heated conversation about who sucks more and I was stuck between them. Literally."

"Couldn't you have left sometime during the argument?"

Jack slumped down. "Not if I wanted to kill myself. But on the bright side," he suddenly regained his energy and sat up straight, much to Jamie's bewilderment. "I got two tickets to the carnival tomorrow. Wanna go with me?"

Disregarding the invitation, Jamie asked weirdly, "Didn't you look like you were about to pass out just five seconds ago?"

"Just answer the stupid question!" Jack took the passes out of his back pocket and waved them in front of Jamie's face.

Seeing the tickets triggered Jamie's mouth to break into a wide grin. "Shoosh, yeah!" He snatched a ticket and called to the kitchen, "Mom, I'm going to the carnival tomorrow!"

"Have fun!" Mrs. Bennett called back, laughing.

THIS...was a chapter I really enjoyed writing, which is mostly why I pooped it out so fast. Also, I'm proud that it's not utter crap like last time. There were a lot of things in this chapter that I had really been looking forward to typing for quite a while (meaning Jack's conversation with Suzuki and the insight on Cody and Anton's...relationship) since this is the chapter where the plot and character development really starts kicking in. This whole Ariel thing was simply a warm-up.

So now I've started both Cody and Anton's character developments. Coolio.

By the way, if it wasn't clear... Yes, Cici's half-Italian.

By the way, I still need more votes on my poll.

Speaking of polls, I need to ask you guys something. Would you find it weird if Jamie ended up being Jack's kid?

Have I ever stated that Cody's my favorite OC out of all the others? (He's just so amusing) I'm probably going to say that over and over again throughout chapter updates.

GUYS CAN ONE OF YOU JUST DRAW FAN ART OF JACK POLE DANCING.

My fingers are red from eating Hot Cheetos.

Review reply time!

agent000: ...Your reviews are growing longer and longer, and I'm not gonna stop appreciating them anytime soon. Here in California, not a lot of people are particularly tall either. I'm guessing it's the time zone that affects that (though I doubt it). Hatsu's 5'9"... That's just unfair. Fun roleplaying as Jack, isn't it? I would know that, since I used to roleplay on Facebook too. You know, until both of my roleplay accounts were disabled. Well I think Zander would explain why he didn't tell Jack his story with Ariel somewhere in the next chapter, but just in case he doesn't, I'm just going to say right now that he probably didn't want to explain because he couldn't without remembering what happened two years ago with his own relationship. That's the best I can come up with. (Maybe I wasn't being too discreet on who Carrie is...) I guess one reason why I hated the last chapter so much was because I pretty much hated the whole Ariel mini-plot. When I first thought of it, I decided to put it in, but then I type it and think to myself, "Ya know, this looked better when it wasn't publicly posted on the Internet." Jack was a dense overreacter and way too OOC for my liking. Finally, I'll message you on Tumblr soon. Soon as in right now. There, I sent you a 'question.'

Maddie Seth: HOLY SHI– I've been procrastinating on sending you Samson's description, and I'M SO SORRY. D: Alright, I'll tell you via here before laziness takes over again. He's...taller than Jack and everyone else... Okay, I haven't really thought about what he looks like... Maybe he should be blonde. I don't think I have a blonde guy in my OC list yet. (Let me check, Zander and Cody are raven-haired, Spencer is a brunette like Jack, Anton is a redhead like Pippa... Yup, the only other blonde OC is Cici, so yeah, Samson's blonde). Other than that, I don't really care what he looks like, so you've got a little freestyle right for this request. ;) Also, pet goldfish? Really? XD I picture Cody to have a snake as a pet. Jussayin'.

PuppetMaster55: ...DUDE. I'm so putting that into the sequel.

RandomKrazyPerson: Weren't the fanfics always flowing? Also, just to give you a little overview for my Jack/OC fic, it's not anything like 'A-girl-ends-up-being-able-to-see-Jack-and-they-fall-in-love', because I find that cliche. If you saw my new poll, it's one of the choices listed there. The one with the secret human organization... It's called Undercover... You don't remember? No? Okay. Let me put it this way: If you went to go see Warm Bodies and liked it, then you'll most likely enjoy my fanfic. I drew all my inspiration for the fanfic from that particular movie. Anyway, if you still only want to read a little bit, that's fine with me.

Nika Nicolette: ...Yup. I definitely wasn't being very discreet on Carrie.

Moonstar Daughter of Hades: I just updated. By the way, you should go check out her new story, Winter Nights -coughcough-

Lovepuppy316: As you can see, Jack did neither of those things. He stole her tickets. :P ...You...You think that Carrie is Mr. Immo Blobhead? -eye twitch- BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA No. Just no.

Randomness: DON'T FEEL BAD. D:

Dude: Oh, so you like Rio too? :D Did you see the synopsis they just recently released? If you didn't, Blu and Jewel are going to the AMAZON! Better yet, THE ENTIRE CAST IS COMING BACK! -squeal then cough- So uh, yeah. By the way, totally check out my new Rio story. -wink and nudge- Anyway, about Jack going back to normal... -side glance- Too bad you don't have an account (or you just don't log in) because if I could reply to you privately, I would tell you my plans since you seem worthy of knowing.

YandereGoddess: You just updated Cupid. Just knowing you almost had a heart attack leaves me very satisfied because that was my goal: freak my reviewers out. Yup, I'm sadistic. Anyway, sure you can leave a review as long as agent000's. just write a bunch of random stuff down. Doesn't have to be relevant.

As the genuine author of this story, I demand all of you to review.