Alright, there are a couple things I need to clarify. This is important, or else I wouldn't be putting it at the top here.

1. A lot of you have been questioning me about when Mr. Immo Blobhead (I've decided to start calling him that) will make his comeback. I know you guys want to see him again, and I'm sorry to say that there's still quite a while before he attacks. He's still wandering everywhere searching for Jack (There are BILLIONS of people in this world, you can't blame him). On the other hand, the Guardians are still trying to protect Jack, even though they're not in contact with him. This story is almost all from Jack's point of view, so if he doesn't notice that the Guardians are nearby... Then they don't appear. I haven't been steering the plot away from the Guardians by accident. I've been carefully planning this ever since the very first chapter, I've been thinking hard about what should happen and when it should happen, and I've even been counting the weeks it's been since Jack has lost his powers. In short, I know what I'm doing. I'm not going to forget about Jack's predicament by getting too caught up in high school drama, and I'm telling you this now before it starts pissing me off. Ya know, 'cause that's the right thing to do. Now that you've been informed, it won't be my problem if I end up setting my computer on fire the next time someone asks me this question.

2. I asked if it would be a good idea if Jamie turned out to be Jack's kid. Now when I said that, I meant Jamie is Jack's kid, not his great-great-whatever-nephew or anything like that. His blood-related son. ((HEY, IT MAKES SENSE!)) Before anyone who's against it jumps to conclusions, it's not something that's going to be in this story. I just had a plot bunny a few days ago about this and I'm wondering if I should seize the chance to create a brand new story centering around it.

I'm very candid when I vent. I think most of you have caught on to that.

Disclaimer: I don't need to do this, but I'm doing it anyway because it's a force of habit. I don't own Rise of the Guardians.

"No."

Spencer stared Zander down. "Yes."

"No," Zander stubbornly refused again.

Spencer scowled. He hadn't went to the trouble of getting two of the last carnival tickets just to get this response. "If you don't go, I will tell everyone at school and on Facebook that you streaked across the local park with nothing but tighty-whities on during your freshman year. Oh, and you enjoyed it."

Zander looked at his brother, his eyes wide in horror. Who knew he could be so evil? "That never happened!"

"Exactly. So are you going or not?"

Zander sighed in defeat. "Fine, you win. But, if we run into Jack and Ariel, then it's not my fault if I end up strangling them both."

Spencer rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. I admit Jack was being a bit stupid about Ariel, but I'm pretty sure he caught on by now," he said, sounding a lot less nervous than he felt. I hope. He had prayed that Jack had made the right decision, but after knowing Jack for a few weeks, it was made clear that he sometimes tended to...do dumb stuff.

Zander looked at him tiredly. "What makes you say that?"

"Er..." Spencer decided it best if his twin kept unaware of the explanation he had given Jack. As long as Zander was mad at their friend, then he probably wouldn't be too happy with Spencer either if he found out that the latter had blabbed about his personal love life. "Intuition."

Zander gave him a suspicious look, but dropped the subject anyway.

As usual, Jack was one of the first ones out of the school building once the bell rang. He was fueled by the euphoria of going to see a carnival, which he had never been to before in any of his lives. Sure, he had seen one take place whilst sitting on the sidelines, but he had never actually participated in one.

Across the street, the middle school also dismissed its fellow students. Jack waited by the high school gates, trying to spot Jamie. Soon enough, he saw who he wanted to see (along with his friends), put his hand up in the air, and waved. Jamie saw him, said something to his friends, and crossed the street to meet up with Jack. He grinned. "Hey. The twins were all upset since I got to go to the carnival with you and kept on complaining about it throughout the day."

Jack smirked. "It's their fault for not having an older brother figure who's nice enough to give them what they want. I spoil you, you know that?"

"Last time I checked, you liked spoiling me."

"Good point. So what, you wanna drop our school stuff at your house before heading off to the carnival?"

"Sure!"

Once they got home and entered the front door, Mrs. Bennett was waiting for them there, holding Sophie in her arms. "Hey, I found out that children under the age of 7 are free of charge. Do you two mind taking Sophie along with you?"

Jamie frowned. "Mom..."

"Jamie, your sister's 4, but she shouldn't be too much trouble. I want her to go out with you and have some fun. What do you think, Jack?"

Jack seemed a bit skeptical. "I don't know... I mean, something might happen. Something that'll ruin her innocence. I know I sound like I'm making excuses, but I really do think that. It happens more often than you think."

Mrs. Bennett raised an eyebrow. "If that's the case, then you find it okay to take my young son but not my daycare daughter?"

"Mom, I'm 11! I'm already in middle school! Whatever happens, I think I'll be able to handle it!" Jamie exclaimed, a slight blush creeping up onto his face.

Jack lifted a hand and ruffled the younger boy's hair. "Yeah, he's at the age where his body is going to start developing. In fact, I bet his teachers are educating him right now about what every guy has to go through during the process of growing up. Hormones, facial problems, and puberty are basically the sum of it all."

Jamie gave him a weird look, Baby Tooth looked like she'd rather not know what he was talking about, and Mrs. Bennett sighed. "Jack, please. I still think it would be best if you would take Sophie along with you. And even if anything innocence-threatening happens like you suspect would happen, then just keep her from seeing it. That's a simple thing to do, isn't it?"

"Uh..."

"You're eighteen years old, which classifies you as a legal guardian of children. I'm sure I can count on you."

I am technically a Guardian, but not that type of guardian... Despite those thoughts, Jack gave in, "Fine, I'll take her."

Mrs. Bennett smiled satisfactorily, glad that she finally got her way. "Good." She handed Sophie to Jack, and added, "Just remember to be back home in time for dinner."

"We will," Jamie said begrudgingly, not happy that he and Jack now had his little sister to watch over.

Once they were outside, Jamie instantly turned toward Jack. "'Hormones, facial problems, and puberty'? I know about the puberty and the hormones, but facial problems?"

Jack shrugged. "Hey, don't look now, but once puberty hits, you're going to get pimples. I'm sorry, but you're gonna look a bit uglier than normal during those stages."

"And you would know that how...?"

Jack gave him a deadpan stare. "Zits already existed back in the colonial times, Jamie. I'm just glad I didn't turn into Jack Frost during the middle of my own development, because I looked like an utter catastrophe."

"...So I'm gonna stay like this until my body decides it's time, then I turn hideous, then I come out looking something like you."

Jack shrugged again. "Eh, pretty much. This is my advice to you: Do not get your picture taken once it starts kicking in. I'm serious, don't."

"...Are you here to give me the talk or are you here to take me to the carnival?"

Jack patted Jamie's head. "The talk is reserved for your mother, not me, to talk about, kiddo. By the way, she should be giving it to you any day now, especially since I just brought it up in front of her."

Jamie laughed sarcastically. "Wow, gee, thanks."

"This place is awesome!" Jamie's eyes widened the minute he stepped in, absorbing in the sights of all the booths, the prizes people were winning, and most of all, the gigantic circus that loomed over everything and everyone.

Jack smirked in amusement. "Duh. What'd you expect from a carnival?"

Jamie opened his mouth to reply when out of the corner of his eye, he spotted one of the Anderson twins. He grinned and shouted, "Hey, Spencer!" while waving. Spencer, having heard his name called, looked their way and noticed Jamie. He smiled and waved back...until he saw Jack, who was still carrying Sophie. His face transformed into one of utter confusion, and he kept glancing back and forth between him and Jamie. He finally decided to react and grabbed someone's arm, someone who was hidden from Jamie and Jack's point of view. He pulled whoever it was closer to him, revealing it to be Zander. Zander seemed a bit annoyed by how Spencer just roughly grabbed him, but his peeved look immediately faded once he saw who Spencer was motioning to. If Spencer acted shocked, he was nothing compared to Zander. Jack, seemingly unfazed, only smiled softly and gave a small wave back. Zander, slowly catching on that Ariel was absent for a reason, tried to fight down a huge grin that was threatening to making its way onto his face, but it still leaked out a bit. The next thing Jack knew, Zander was right in front of him, demanding, "Explain. Now."

"Jamie's a good substitute for a carnival companion," Jack smirked.

Jamie blinked, not understanding what was going on. "Substitute?"

Jack's response was all it took for Zander to give up trying to force down the huge smile that almost split his face in half. He pumped his fists into the air. "WOOHOO!"

Spencer, who had followed Zander, noticed a few bystanders giving his brother odd looks. "I don't know him," he said flatly to them.

Zander, ignoring him, suddenly appeared extremely hyperactive and exclaimed excitedly to Jack, "OhmygodyouhavenoideahowlongI 'vebeenwantingtohearyousaytho sewordsIcan'tbelieveyoufinallyfoundout—Wait, how did you find out?"

Jack gave Spencer a look of question, as if to say, You didn't tell him? Spencer just coughed guiltily as a reply. Zander, catching on to the obvious implication, shot a dirty look at his brother for a second, but it quickly faded. "You know what, I don't really care right now. Just give me the deets!" He whirled on Jack again.

"I am so lost," Jamie remarked blankly.

"I don't pickpocket, but I know how to do it," was Jack's subtle explanation. He gave Zander, who immediately caught on, a knowing look. However, Spencer's expression only matched Jamie's bewildered one. Noticing both of them, Jack sighed. "I stole Ariel's carnival tickets."

Spencer's face lit up with understanding, while Jamie's remained the way it was for the past few minutes. "Oooooooohhhhhhh."

"Who's Ariel? Can someone tell me what I'm missing out on?" Jamie said impatiently.

"Long story short, I did something stupid," Jack said curtly. "I'll give you the full story once we get home. But for now, we're here to be having fun."

"Yeah, you were being a pretty big idiot," remarked Zander from the sidelines, earning him a dirty look from his brother.

"Zander!"

"Well he was!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "You guys."

"Whatever, change of subject," Zander said swiftly. "What'd I miss out on while I was giving you the silent treatment? Which you totally deserved, by the way," he added, leading to Spencer swatting him on the back of the head.

Jack winced. "Yeah, I did," he replied sheepishly. "Well I'm going to Anton's house tomorrow. He told me that yesterday, and I'm not sure if you heard us or not, since you were sitting nearby."

"Oh yeah, I heard," Zander nodded. "Good luck dying."

"Wooooow. Okay, thanks, I— Wait, what?!" Jack's initial sarcastic reply turned into one full of fear.

"I don't think he ever told you his address, which means he's picking you up. In his car."

"Uh huh..." Jack slowly nodded, not getting what his friend was trying to say."

"Have you even seen Anton drive?!"

"No..."

Zander stared at Jack. "Oh yeah. You're screwed."

"What? Is he a bad driver or something?"

"He drives like 40 miles an hour."

"...So? That isn't too ba—"

"In the student parking lot."

"...Oh."

"Yeah. Oh. You know what that means then, right?"

"...He drives about 100 miles out on the road?"

Zander nodded. "Yup. And remember, that's just out on the road. Who knows what he's like out on the freeway?"

Jack shuddered. "Stop, you're gonna make me sick. And how do you even know about his driving habits?"

Zander shrugged. "I've seen him pass by. By the way, I think he lives on the other side of town. So don't think the ride will just last 30 seconds."

Jack held a hand to his stomach. "Oh boy... I think I'm about to lose my lunch just thinking about it..."

"Alright, we don't need anyone puking right now, so let's just go, shall we?" Spencer butted in before Jack would get the chance to start turning green. "The circus is about to start its show, so do you guys wanna go? The thing's totally free."

"Sure!" Jamie was the first to agree, also not willing to see Jack's stomach flip upside down. He grabbed Jack's hand and began tugging. "Come on, Jack, let's go!"

"Uh, sure, let me just calm my intestines down—" His cell phone started ringing, so he took it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. "—and answer this," he finished on a flat tone complete with an unreadable expression. He answered his call by saying, "Hey Ariel it's Jack look I'm sorry that you lost your tickets but I'm really not so don't call me back cuz I'm done with you and I'm at the carnival with my friends now bye." He hung up without waiting for a response, and he looked at his friends. Jamie looked confused, Spencer had his eyebrows raised, and Zander just had that certain constipated look on his face that just indicated that he was trying very hard not to burst out laughing.

"So what are we waiting for?" Jack asked cheerfully, as if nothing just happened. "Are we going or what?" Sophie, who was long forgotten, began playing with his hair. He looked at her. "Oh wait, I forgot she was here."

"How can you forget when you're carrying 40 pounds of human like that?" Jamie questioned disbelievingly.

Jack gave him a look. "Once you turn eighteen, 40 pounds becomes as light as air to you."

"But still, I don't think it's very convenient if you carry her around like that," Spencer objected. "I think there are strollers around here." He looked around and spotted an entire row of them. "I'll bring it over." He hurried over to the baby carriages.

"I feel like an awkward teen mom," Jack muttered, not meaning for anyone to hear him. Sadly, Zander did.

"That's strange, I thought you were one."

This remark earned him a kick to the shin.

"That circus show was a ripoff," Zander grumbled as the group sat down on a round table eating fries. "No wonder it's free."

"Aw, come on, it wasn't that bad..." Spencer tried to protest, but then paused. "Alright, it was. I'm sorry, but I don't wanna lie. What'd you think, Jack?"

"That clown was naked," Jack deadpanned, shooting glances at the Bennett siblings as he sipped his soda. Sophie seemed perfectly fine, but Jamie was visibly scarred. His eyes were unblinkingly wide and the movements he was making as he was eating fries were so robotic it wasn't even funny. "Jamie, are you sure you're the sibling that's tough enough to handle the censored stuff?"

Jamie shook out of his stupor and retorted, "Sophie would've been affected too if you hadn't shielded her eyes from the scene!"

"One, she's a girl and isn't allowed to look at nude male clowns. Two, she's four years old...and isn't allowed to look at nude male clowns," Jack answered monotonously.

"She's not allowed to look at nude male clowns! I get that! But what about me?! You made no effort to hide me from the R-ratedness!"

"I don't think ratedness is a word..." Spencer trailed off.

"Spencer, just shut up," Zander spoke, enjoying the current banter.

"Excuse me, but I recall the faint memory of you telling your own mother that you would be able to handle it whatever was thrown at you." Traces of an amused smile was starting to make his way onto Jack's lips.

"Clowns who don't even have underwear on was not on my mind when I said that!"

"Doesn't matter." Jack reached for a fry, only to notice that there were no more. "Uh, wasn't the tray still like half-filled two minutes ago?"

"Zander's a fast eater," Spencer simply said.

"You guys were busy talking, and Spencer didn't want anymore, so I thought I could have the rest!"

"Without asking me first." Jack glared at Zander, but it immediately faltered. "Let's just go now. I don't wanna run into that clown again."

Jamie cringed. "I second that." He grabbed the handles of Sophie's stroller and began pushing her as the other three got up from their seats.

Of course, a minute later as they were heading for the exit, they passed by the circus entrance. Standing at the entrance was the clown they had been trying hard to avoid.

"For the record, you totally jinxed us," Zander mumbled to Jack.

"TIME TO PLAY PEEKABOO, SOPH!" Jack shouted and slapped a hand over Sophie's eyes. Sophie, misunderstanding the situation, giggled and said happily, "Jack, I can't see!"

The clown was still naked, but was at least hiding behind the circus curtain that was the entrance. However, nobody appreciated getting an up close view of him anyway. Thankfully, his eyes were hungrily trained on the hot dog stand nearby and everyone took it as their chance to quickly walk away.

"You jinxed us," Zander said again once they were out of hearing range.

"I know, I heard you the first time," Jack snapped, then looked at Jamie, who was still staring at the clown. He nudged the younger boy. "Stop looking."

"It's kind of hard not to! I want to look away but I can't help myself!"

"Jamie, please don't be a pervert once you reach your development phase," Jack sighed and moved Jamie away to an angle where he couldn't get a good look at nudity. "You have all the stuff that Mr. Clown has, so I don't see why you would be strangely attracted to the sight like that."

"Gay," Zander commented off to the side. He was shot glares by more than one person.

"Look, if you don't want me to look at it so much, why can't we just go already?!" Jamie whined like a spoiled brat.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. Whiny."

"Hey."

Zander and Spencer looked at Jack as they all strolled down the street where their houses were. Jamie was now giving Sophie a piggyback ride.

"You think Ariel might demand answers from me tomorrow?" Jack asked.

"Nah," Zander dismissed. "Knowing her, she'll be able to figure it out that you basically just cut ties, if they weren't cut already. Plus, you mentioned you were at the carnival, so it won't take a genius for her to catch on where her passes went. Obviously, she'll hate you like she hates me now though."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I figured out that much. I was just wondering if I should prepare for a confrontation at school tomorrow."

"And I'm telling you that you don't," Zander said flatly.

"You know, I still don't know who this Ariel person is. Unless if you're talking about The Little Mermaid," Jamie intervened.

"The Ariel we're talking about is a lot less nice than the mermaid Ariel," Zander supplied.

"Yeah, this Ariel's a brat. That's actually an understatement, but I'm not gonna use the alternative word since Sophie's with us," Jack continued. "I told you, I'll tell you once we're inside. Don't worry about it, you'll get your dose of explanation."

Jamie frowned, but dropped it anyway.

Zander and Spencer's home was further down the street than Jamie and Jack's, so they reached the latter first.

Spencer smiled. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"

Jack returned the same smile and nodded. Spencer went off down the street, calling over his shoulder, "Come on, Zander!"

"In a minute!" Zander yelled back, then turned to Jack. "So things are okay between you and me now?"

Jack shrugged. "I guess."

Awkward silence ensued, but it only lasted for a second before Jamie broke it with, "Hey, I think I'm starting to catch on to this Ariel business. Did she have something to do with you stuffing yourself with food?"

Jack stiffened, while Zander did a double take. "You... You stuffed yourself?"

"No, he's just exaggerating. I was just..." Jack trailed off, unable to find an excuse. "No, he's not exaggerating. I was beginning to stuff myself."

Zander groaned, covered his face in his hands, and slapped Jack on the side of the head not-so-gently, unknowingly causing Baby Tooth to lose her balance on Jack's shoulder. "Why the hell would you think that doing that was the answer to all your problems?!"

"Ow!" Jack winced at the slap. "Look, I wasn't thinking things through at that time!"

"But stuffing yourself? Really?! I thought girls are mostly the ones who develop eating problems because of peer pressure!" Zander sighed and took a deep breath. "Great. Now I can't kill you because I'm too happy that you split from Ariel. Consider yourself lucky," he grumbled, much to Jack's relief.

"So Ariel was a girlfriend you never told me you had?" Jamie cast a betrayed look at Jack.

"Not necessarily a girlfriend, unless if you mean a friend who's a girl," Jack answered, then turned back to Zander. "Trust me, never happening again. I think I should just stick to being a bachelor for now..."

Zander nodded in approval. "Yeah, good idea. I remember myself making that promise two years ago. So I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked, reiterating Spencer's words.

"Yeah, sure. Bye."

"Bye." Zander left, going after his brother who was almost already at their own house.

Jack turned to Jamie. "Maybe you should get your explanation now."

Jamie promptly nodded. "Dang straight!"

From up above, having concealed itself from view behind the house next door, a black Nightmare horse darted off into the direction of the woods.

AAAAANNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDDDD I'm cutting it off there.

Ya know, I keep on forgetting that Baby Tooth is always on Jack's shoulder.

I guess I can understand why she wasn't in some parts of the movie when she really should've been...

This chapter was more of a boring filler than anything else. The only important things were Jack patching things up with Zander and the line about the Nightmare (No awards to whoever can figure out what that means. It's really kinda obvious). But guess what? I'm updating faster now, so SUCK DAT, HATAHS

You know what else sucks? California's school budgets. Because of them, I'm at home today. Not that I'm complaining or anything. And it's spring break all next week, and on the following Monday (April 8) there's another budget-reduction day off for me. On the down side, I'm going back to school on Tuesday, April 9. Which is my birthday. why oh why

Reply time! (By the way, one of my reviewers broke her review requirement vow. I'm not going to point out any names, but you know who you are)

StarStreakedSky: Wooooooow, so you hate happiness and joy?

Nika Nicolette: Chocolate? I love chocolate :3 I get hyper all the time (either that, or I'm just weird in general) so you don't have to worry about being hyper around me. And I don't know why Mr. Kaka's the principal. He just is.

Dude: He dumped her via phone call... That's good enough for you, right? I'm sorry, but I absolutely stink at writing confrontations with a girl.

PuppetMaster55: The carnival really was like a vacation break for him. The only bad thing was the nude clown. I'm sure Jamie's afraid of clowns now, haha. I'm glad you don't find my plot bunny weird, 'cause I think everyone else does.

likhitata: No. No no no. I meant Jamie is Jack's kid. Jack's a daddy. Though I'm sure you read that author's note at the top about me elaborating on it :P Cici/Spencer will come, Mr. Immo Blobhead will come, everything will come at some point.

.Rocks: ...Um... It ended because it had to end at some point? I'm not sure exactly what you mean when you ask that. If you're asking why the story ended, I'm not even going to answer that.

RandomKrazyPerson: Sophie didn't come to the carnival? I wonder what that thing was that sat in the stroller the entire time then... ;P

pearlsofwisdom: Well yeah, that makes more sense than being Jack's kid, but the idea is just right there, and asdfghjk I don't know what I should do

Lovepuppy316: What?! What's wrong with pole-dancing!Jack?! It was something I wanted to see for a while, but I only remembered to ask for it last chapter. I looked it up on Google, and the only thing that came up was a chibi Jack pole dancing on Tumblr. If anything, it was more amusing than anything else.

Maddie Seth: Jack is a bad luck magnet, isn't he? Poor guy.

CGryffindorGrimm: Alright, I updated. Now will you draw pole-dancing!Jack for me?

Kaylee: You'll love the sequel. Trust me, you will. Of course it's like a normal high school. It's just that one of the students at the high school happens to be a spirit who's over 300 years old. :P

drawolftiger: I'll never forget that Jack needs to go back to being Jack Frost. It'd be so wrong if I forgot what was responsible for making him human in the first place.

Review lovelies!