Hey guys! Sorry I haven't been updating as much lately cause I'm super busy nowadays! Sorry!
To:-
Snowtiger: THANK YOU! It means so much to me that you love my story that much to tell others about it :') Pssh, of course I love you now that I'll give you a whole box of cookies :D Take it, take it all! :D Lol, I ain't judging if you've drank before, I have. 6 glasses of wine and a mild hangover during Christmas *shudders*
IShadow-ReaderI: Aww, thanks! Ikr, me too like whaa? If only it came true XD
SilverTear01: Ouh, for a story? A drawing? A carving? Do share XD
walawala koala: Yeah, me too, lol. Thanks :D
Dakota Quiocho: Aww, thank you! That was super sweet of you to say that :'D Hmm... Every writer has their secrets ;) But Jack's real identity will definitely be revealed whether he is Jack Frost or Jack Overland in later chapters, that I can guarantee :)
Kochua2012: Thanks! I find it meh but I do prefer sweet wine though definitely not beer. It tastes like... It just tastes funny...
And thanks to ChellyErinClark, MadriElla21, frost, and Randomness for your lovely reviews!
On with the story and do leave a review! Listen to:
Decode - Paramore (so so so perfect for this chapter)
You awoke to the bright afternoon sunshine by your shrill phone ringtone.
You groaned as you got up and took your phone from the bedside table.
"Hello?" you mumbled into the receiver.
"(F/N)!" a loud voice said and you cringed and pulled the receiver away from your ear.
"Where are you? Are you okay? What happened to you?" Emily asked her tone panicked.
You grumbled. "I'm fine Em, just sleeping here at home," you said with a yawn.
"At home?!" she shrieked and you pulled the receiver away for the second time.
"All this time I thought you were kidnapped by some evil beast hell bent on extracting revenge on planet earth for killing its kin and You. Were. Sleeping?!" Emily said in a disbelief tone as you couldn't help the giggle that rose from your tender throat.
"I thought you went home but then I saw your car and I'm serious (F/N), don't make me go there and murder you with my own hands," Emily said indignantly as you sobered up and apologized to her.
"I'm sorry Em, but I got cornered by this really messed up jock who thought I wanted to get laid and then blacked out cause I got too drunk," you explained.
Emily gasped. "A jock? Who? What happened then? Who brought you home?" Emily fired this question at a rapid pace.
"Ugh, some guy whose face I can't remember. Someone helped me get back home though I don't know what happened next. I just kinda woke up in my own bed with nobody around," you offered truthfully.
All was silent at Emily's part of the line.
"You couldn't have just levitated home yourself right?" she asked in a small voice.
"I know that Em, someone did take me home but I don't know who," you emphasized.
Truth be told, even if you didn't see who it was you had a strange hunch about who it is.
But that hunch didn't even make sense.
Why would Jack bring you home in the first place?
Sudden realization hit you as you cut Emily off though regrettably and told her you needed to rest as you weren't recovered from the hangover yet.
You paced around your silent room nervously as you thought about your plan.
Maybe you could see Jack in person and ask him if he did bring you home.
Or maybe you could ask him if he saw who had helped you.
But he would never answer me properly, you thought, frustrated.
You then decided that seeking Jack out could be done later and all you needed was a good hot shower to make you stop feeling like a ton of bricks.
When you got under the soothing steam of your shower you couldn't help wonder why you thought that Jack was the one that helped you.
So far, the only concern he had ever shown you was looking at you in a semi worried way when you had nearly fell over in your drunken haze.
But he did help you, a small voice in your conscience stated.
Whatever, you thought, you'd figure it out soon enough, and you promised yourself.
Half an hour later you were loitering around your empty house when you forgot that you had a Biology project to attend to and you groaned when you realized that you needed the help of the library for this one.
You then realized that your car was still in Zander's driveway as you were sent back by someone else.
You paced and thought that you should try calling him up and asking if he could send your car over.
Just as you were walking past the window to your driveway, phone in hand, you stopped short with your mouth agape.
There it was, your black Jeep, parked obliviously in your driveway.
It looked as if you hadn't been to the party at all last night.
You started to feel creeped out and pinched the skin of your arm to see if you were really dreaming.
Nope, you weren't.
You shook it off and went back to your room to get changed and head to the library.
With frozen fingers and your purse in hand, you unlocked the car and stepped in, blasting on the heater to defrost the chilly air clinging to the interior of the car.
It was then that you noticed a shimmering light that caught your eye and you glanced at the object on the dashboard.
Your eyes grew wide as you took the glittering object in your hands.
It was a rose.
But not just any rose.
A rose carved out of ice that glittered like a diamond in the sunlight.
You felt perplexed as you twirled the elegant ice sculpture in your hand, not minding the cold to it.
You shook your head.
"Jesus, what's happening right now?" you asked out loud in the silence of your car.
About half an hour later you were on the road to the library, the familiar scenery calming you from the strange events this morning produced.
As you looked at the frost covered buildings and barren trees full with snow, you couldn't help but think that your little town resembled a winter wonderland.
You arrived soon at the library, a quaint red bricked building reminiscent of a building in a bygone era.
In the library, you quickly set to finding a book or an encyclopedia about inheritance.
In this project you were supposed to be studying about the genes that produce significant traits or appearances in humans. You were suppose to be doing this project with your Bio partner, but sadly the only thing you knew about him was his last name.
As you were balancing the books gingerly on one arm, your eyes swept the almost empty library for a suitable seat.
Then you noticed a familiar mop of brown hair and your stomach immediately nosedived.
You were a 100 percent sure that that was Jack.
You were then caught in an internal dilemma.
Sit by him and ask for help with the project or ignore him and continue with your work?
Well, it would be rude to ignore a person who helped you right? Your conscience asked starkly.
You gritted your teeth. He didn't save me, you mentally chimed in.
But you still chose option number one as you took a deep breath and walked up to his table.
"Hey, Jack," you greeted him as the messy brown haired boy's eyes shot up in obvious surprise.
You were bracing yourself for some hostile attitude but you were surprised when he gave you a small smile.
"Hey, (F/N)," he greeted you back easily.
You nodded your head towards the table. "May I sit here?" you asked innocently.
Jack's eyes grew wider marginally but nonetheless, he complied.
"What're you doing?" you asked conversationally as you opened the encyclopedia.
"Same thing you are," he said with his trademark secret slash mysterious smile that made you feel both fluttery and indignant at the same time.
"Right," you said numbly as he gave you a searching look.
"So," you cleared your throat. "What time did you get back from Zander's party last night?" you asked in a blasé tone. "Since you clearly looked non hangover-ish," you explained.
"Around 11," Jack answered back. "Oh, and that's because I didn't drink," he clarified and you flushed a delicate red.
His blue eyes were playful yet probing as you felt he had a different meaning behind his words.
You nodded absentmindedly.
"So, what time did you get home?" he asked casually.
You had to stifle the look of shock that was threatening to eclipse your face. Jack never asked you a question so outright before and it had completely disarmed you.
"I don't know," you admitted. "I don't remember last night clearly, exactly."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "At all?" he asked though there was something strange in his tone.
He looked calm and composed but his eyes were wary.
"Yeah, unless you happened to know what happened after I blacked out then that would be great," you said in a nonchalant way.
You could have swore a look of panic crossed his eyes before it was smothered by his calm façade back again.
"Sorry (F/N) but I guess it might have been Zander cause I left the party soon after talking to you," he justified.
A feeling of disappointment suddenly washed through your mind as you swallowed the confusion.
"Oh, okay then," you said and plastered a cheery smile on your face and continued to scan the pages.
"Mr. Hudson says we're supposed to be doing this with our lab partners, for an essay," you said.
"So I've heard," Jack replied back with a smug smile.
You flushed again.
"Yeah, so, I would need to ask you some questions," you huffed out.
Jack nodded though the weariness in his eyes was back in full force.
You didn't get it. What was so secretive that he had to keep his distance away from you of all people?
"What color is your mother's hair?" you asked as you took out a piece of paper and a pen, ready to jot down the answer.
"Brown," he replied.
You jot that down.
"Dad's?"
"Brown too."
"Any family illness?"
"Nope."
You jot that down too.
"How about skin tone?" you asked.
"That's a bit racist don't you think?" Jack said in a joking tone.
You frowned but asked him to continue.
"Both of my parents are fair toned and so am I," he deadpanned.
You jotted that down too.
"Any tendencies to act mysterious and skirmish around other people?" you mentioned that last part casually.
Jack gave a disapproving look as you raised your eyebrows challengingly.
"No," he said that word slowly, but this time you didn't jot it down.
"Okay Miss Smarty Pants, my turn," he said with a grin.
You felt your eyes widened but you quickly compose yourself.
"What color is your mum's eyes?" he asked challengingly.
"(Your mum's eye color)," you stated.
"How about your dad?" he asked again.
You stiffened. "I don't know," you said in an apologetic tone.
Jack noticed your hesitation as he looked at you questioningly.
"Why don't you know?" the blue eyed boy asked in a probing tone.
"Because I forgot," you said defensively.
"How could you forget unless he… Oh," Jack said as realization hit him, his cyan eyes growing wide.
The feeling of awkwardness filled the air, thick and palpable.
"Is it…" he trailed off.
You nodded while biting your lip.
"I'm so sorry," the boy said and for the first time you met him, you could feel his sincerity in his tone.
You nodded again as the tension around the table seemed to increase by a tenfold.
"May I ask what exactly happened?" he questioned gently.
You were shock and before you knew it you told him the story that not even your best friend knows about.
"He went missing, ever since I was 2. I can't remember much except from the facts my mum told me," you said and furrowed your brow.
"He was never found and after 14 years, the police finally classified his case as a cold one," you whispered that part out, suddenly feeling distressed.
Jack gave you a sympathic gaze as he looked nodded.
The empty library couldn't feel even more suffocating.
"You want to know something about me too?" he asked as his lips quirked up in a half smile.
You nodded albeit warily unsure of where this was leading too.
Suddenly, you realized that this was the first information that Jack had disclosed willingly and you were suddenly on high alert.
"My parents passed away too and left me and my sister, she got sent to an orphanage while I was lucky enough to be left on my own," he said as he stared into the distance, lost in his own memory.
You were strucked by his confession.
"Where did you live exactly? And with who?" you asked in a perplexed tone.
Jack seemed to have come out of his reverie as he eyed you warily.
"My uncle but I'm here alone," he clarified somewhat defensively.
"Where do you stay?" you asked out of curiosity, shocked that Jack had moved into a new town all by himself.
"Uh, some street I'm still not familiar with," he said and just like that, symphatic Jack was replaced by the ever mysterious Jack.
He looked around and before you knew it, he had gotten up. "I really have to go, I haven't had my breakfast yet," he explained though it looked a little rushed.
"Oh, no problem, I still haven't too. Maybe we could…" you trailed of when you looked up and found the opposite seat empty.
"… get it together," you said that last part as the words died on your lips.
You had planned to ask him more questions but Jack was still elusive as ever.
Even though you had gotten more out from him than before, you were still curious and wanted to know more about him.
With a determined look you decided that you would after breakfast and finishing your essay which sadly only had one line written.
When you got back home from the library you immediately went to your laptop and fired it up.
Shamelessly, you typed in his name in facebook, twitter and whatever social media sites you were connected on.
Somehow you knew, but when the search results came up empty, you still felt slightly frustrated.
"Who are you really Jackson Overland?" you murmured.
It was a split second decision fueled by confusion and determination that you found yourself in the school parking lot somewhere later in the day.
You knew that this would be rude and even considered illegal but you had to find out or your burning curiosity was going to turn to flames.
You parked your jeep behind a secluded fencing area located near the school compound and got up.
Thankfully there was still someone in the school so the gates were still opened.
You got in and mercifully no one was there to notice.
You pushed in the doors to the front office as silent as you could without chiming the bells and noticed that the school office was empty.
You breathed a sigh of relief and went to sit by the computer, your fingers hovering idly over the keyboards.
You then took a deep breath as you started the ever humming computer and went to the student files.
You threw a glance over your shoulder to see if there was anybody behind you but there was no one.
With a sigh you quickly typed his name into the school files and waited almost agonizingly for the search results to be present.
When his file 'pinged' onto the screen you released the breath you had been holding and combed through it.
What you saw made your brow furrow.
His file was empty.
Absolutely empty.
Safe for his previous address but there was nothing else here.
Not even his parent's name or medical conditions or his current address.
You glared at the empty file as you quickly closed the file system and was about to shut down the computer when a stern voice cut through your actions.
"What do you think you're doing here?"