"Class, this is our new student, Katie Lunar. She's moved in with her cousins here and I expect you all to accept her happily." Miss McGinnis, Jamie's English teacher, introduces me with a warm smile, her hand on my shoulder. I keep staring at my shoes, too afraid that people might be making rude faces or something. I saw plenty of harsh receptions for new kids back in Mesa. But, when I peak up beneath my cover of hair I don't see any rudeness, only smiles and curiosity and warmth. I guess things really are different in small towns. Miss McGinnis gestures to an empty seat next to Jamie and I quickly scamper to the seat.
"See, I told you it wouldn't be so bad." Jamie whispers. I smile at him and pull out my note book to start taking the notes Miss McGinnis has put on the overhead. Jamie was really happy to welcome me when I got to Burgess. After Bunny and Jack asked him to take me with him to school, he got all excited and apparently he was the one to come up with the whole me being his cousin thing. He even suggested I enroll using his last name, but Jack and Bunny already had that figured out. They used MiM's name as a sort of joke.
After the period is over Jamie walks me to my next class, but unfortunately he has a different class and I face this mob of new students alone. Luckily the girl I sit next to in this class knows Jamie and promised to look after me for him. Cupcake, her nickname for so long she couldn't even remember where it came from, even offered to show me around at lunch. But Jamie already said he'd do that part. It kinda happened the same in every one of my classes, three of which I had with Jamie. And then I walked to his house with him.
"I honestly didn't think real life worked like that. I mean people are only that nice to new kids in movies. Like, holy damn." I giggle to Jamie, who also starts laughing.
"My town is just bizarre. We're like always happy here, it's weird. Sometimes I think there's some big dark dirty secret behind it all, but I can never uncover anything." He explains, tossing me a soda from his fridge. I giggle again at his superstitions.
"Maybe you're not looking in the right places. Usually it's the small unnoticeable or invisible places that harbor the greatest shadows." My mind naturally gravitates towards Carter. For someone so innocent and loving to the rest of the world, boy was she a bitch. But, only a few people would know that. Jamie, still focused on our conversation, makes an exaggerated face of realization.
"You're brilliant." He tells me and I shrug. I'm about to bring up something about one of my classes but there's a knock on the back door. Jamie doesn't even look bothered, like it's a regular occurrence. He jumps up and almost runs out of the room. I can hear the back door opening and him greeting someone happily, then a reply that literally sounds like the twittering of the birds. I stand up to investigate only to fall back down in shock as something, or rather someone, zooms right up to me, breaching my personal bubble like no ones business.
"Hello Katie, I'm Tooth! The Tooth Fairy! Oh, Jack wasn't kidding, you're beautiful!" She chimes happily and quickly, just buzzing with giddy energy. I glance around her at Jamie and Jack who are both laughing.
"Yeah, she's always like that." Jack laughs, patting Tooth's shoulder. She seems to realize how freaked out I am and flutters back a bit.
"Sorry, I've just been so anxious to meet you! Jack talks about you like you're the only girl he's ever met, and Bunny says you're some sort of special. And not to mention how I've heard Pitch acts around you! You must have some sort of magic about you." She chatters on. I take a moment to absorb her appearance as she rambles. She's all bright colors and feathers and she's got wings like a hummingbird that are fluttering just as fast as one. But the thing I notice the most is her violet eyes and big white smile.
"Uh, it's nice to meet you." I say when she stops to breathe.
"Jack mentioned that you were going to Pitch's today, so I just had to come see. Bunny says you do things to him that no ones ever been able to do. Make his soft and cuddly. Naturally that's something I need to see." She tells me.
"I'm going to Pitch's today?" I ask Jack with a smile. I had no idea, but yay!
"Yeah, Bunny's off researching new designs for his eggs so I'm taking you to Pitch's. That okay?" I give him a look that screams 'do you need to ask' and he smirks. I give Jamie a hug and he gives one to Jack and Tooth too.
"I'll see ya tomorrow Katie." Jamie tells me and waves to us as we go back outside. Because it might be weird for people to see a kid magically flying, Jack's brought a snow globe, which he whispers to before tossing it to the ground. I go through first, the feeling of being sucked through a straw and then pulled through the eye of a needle passing over me before I'm standing in the main cavern of Pitch's lair. Jack and Tooth appear on either side of me, but Pitch hasn't shown himself. I glance at Jack who shrugs.
"Pitch?" I call as loud as I can into the lair, my voice echoing through all the tunnels. There's the sound of glass shattering off to our left and I give Jack another look, this one worried. I start towards one of the tunnels the sound came from, but before I even get halfway to the closest one, someone is running out of the second closest one towards me. I realize with a start that it's Carter. And I realize, with another shock, that she's not pregnant anymore. I start backing away, but she reaches me and throws her arms around me. Over her shoulder I see Pitch, looking annoyed out of his mind, at the mouth of the tunnel.
"A little warning would have been nice." Pitch hisses at Jack and Tooth, who both look just as surprised as I do.
"Katie I've been so worried! I haven't stopped thinking of you for days! I'm so sorry!" Carter repeats the last one so many times I think her voice might just jump out of her throat and go on a parade, preaching the phrase over and over.
"Don't smother her." Pitch growls, suddenly behind me and yanking me away from Carter. "Distance, remember." He adds possessively. I look between the two in confusion. The last time I saw them together, though it's all kinda hazy, he was definitely trying to kill her. Fetus and all. Now, he's settling for just glaring at her.
"Are you okay? Are they treating you right? You're looking so much better. And you're not wearing sleeves! I can't remember the last time you didn't wear sleeves!" She says happily, her voice cracking a bit at the end. Like she knows why I was wearing sleeves. Realization dawns in me. She knew I was cutting. She knew why I was wearing sleeves! Well shit. But despite all the questions she's asked, and my mounting dread that she knew I was cutting, only one thing comes to my lips when I find my voice again.
"You're not pregnant." I point out dumbly. She looks down at her belly, like she's forgotten about not being pregnant, but then smiles at me.
"I had him a week ago. We named him Jace Leo. He's got your serious face. Like sometimes he'll just look so thoughtful about something and he looks exactly like you." She says happily. "He's around he somewhere. He has this habit of teleporting places. But only places inside a building. Like I'll be with him in the front room and suddenly he's in your room playing with your hats."
"He teleports?" It tumbles out of my mouth.
"Yeah. He inherited my immortality when he was born. He teleports and he can already sit up on his own and everything. But, he's just bizarrely smart. He's not aging fast or anything, he's still a week old in body. But he's progressing so quickly mentally that he'll probably know the whole dictionary before he's one." She explains. There's a bit of babbling to my right and I look instantly. The bland cave that used to be there is suddenly not so unoccupied. A baby with black fuzz for hair and big blue eyes is staring at me from a few feet away. I glance at Carter and at Pitch, then brush out of Pitch's arms to approach the baby.
"Hey there." I whisper to him, holding out my hand to him. His tiny hand grabs my pointer finger and his eyes seem to pierce right into my mind. Like he's reading me or something. At that thought he smiles really big and giggles. Actually giggles! I carefully pick him up, cradling him to my chest. He studies me intently as I walk back towards the two siblings. I notice that Jack and Tooth are both sitting to the side, watching everything in interest. Like people who watch soap operas or something. I cradle Jace a few seconds more before handing him to Carter. "So you're not immortal anymore?" I ask quietly. Her and Pitch exchange looks.
"I'm not the same kind of immortal anymore. But I am immortal." She says awkwardly.
"What do you mean?" I ask, getting close to Pitch again. He puts his arms around me protectively, and both Carter and Jack flinch.
"Well before, I was a resurrecting immortal. I aged and grew old and died and everything, like Jace will because now he's a resurrecting immortal. But after I had him I became mortal. I was so distraught after I had Jace because I couldn't stop thinking about you. I heard from Tooth that Bunny was coming here to talk to Pitch, so I followed him. But by the time I got here, you three were gone and it was just Pitch. At first he tried to kill me, but then there was this explosion of light and it all sorta absorbed into me. The star he captured for you ended up being for me all along." She shrugs. I don't realize I'm gaping until Pitch gives me a little squeeze. She used my star. To become immortal again.
"I can't kill her, as it turns out." Pitch mutters, but there's a small degree of sarcasm in his voice. Like he doesn't really care anymore.
"He tried. After the star chose me, he was really mad. Kept accusing me of setting up the whole thing, getting you out and then sneaking in so I could claim the star and keep my immortality. He must have stabbed me ten or fifteen times with that damn scythe of his." She sends a glare at Pitch, but it hardly seems threatening. In fact, it seems more gloating than anything. "Since then, I've come back every day waiting for you to show up. I knew Bunny would never let me in the warren to see you, so I decided that Pitch was my best bet if I wanted to ever see you again." I glance up at Pitch at this, and he's scowling at Carter.
"She moves too quickly now. At first I tried to kick her out but she would just side step me or run away. Not even my damn nightmares can catch her." And he is so not pleased about it. "So I gave up. We were having tea and setting down some ground rules about her visitation rights when you invaded." At this I glance back at Jack and Tooth, Carter and Pitch following my gaze.
"Oh, Bunny's off doing something, so I thought you'd like an afternoon pick me up." Jack grins deviously. Pitch tried to scowl, but I can see he's glad that Jack and Tooth brought me here, rather than to the North Pole or Tooth Palace or somewhere. He holds me closer, planting a soft kiss on my forehead. Carter cringes noticeably. She's obviously uncomfortable letting Pitch hold me like he is. But she just looks down at Jace, who's being remarkably well behaved for a one week old baby, and her face lightens.
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Pitch growls at his sister. She glares at him before shuffling uncomfortably. It's obvious that they have some sort of deal or arrangement dictating how long she can stay, and that Pitch is the one who decides how long that is. But she sure isn't happy about it. But, I realize, Pitch is probably the only person she won't stand up to or look down on. Because he's probably killed her more times than I can count. And just because she's the indestructible kind of immortal now, doesn't mean she doesn't have things to loose.
"Katie, I know I can't ever get you to forgive me for the years I mistreated you. But I'm going to try to start making them up, if I can. I promise, I'm changing. But, I have to go right now. I hope to see you soon?" She sounds so pleading. So actually humble. It's odd, considering I've never ever heard her humble and I've known her for seventeen years. It's enough of a change right there in front of me that I actually nod.
"Okay." She smiles big and wide and, as always, dazzling. She looks like she wants to hug me, but she stops dead when Pitch gives her a narrow eyed glance. Instead she holds Jace out to me so I can hold him again. He coos at me, his hand reaching up to grab some of my hair. After a second he lets it go and gives me one of his mothers radiant smiles. "Bye Jace." I kiss him on his head and hand him back to Carter. She smiles sadly at me again before looking at Pitch for a moment and nodding to the two Guardians who are off to the side. And suddenly she's gone. Just gone into air. It's weird and I look up at Pitch.
"She can have Jace teleport her places as long as their in physical contact. But, with time, it may not even take that." He explains briefly. Now that Carter is gone, his shoulders relax and he seems so much calmer, on ease. He brings me into a hug, tucking my head under his chin and breathing a big sigh. "It's impossible how much I missed you even after a few days." He tells me sadly. I glance at Tooth out of the corner of my eyes and see her fangirling a bit. Jack though seems tense.
"I missed you too. You have no idea how much I missed having someone to fall asleep with. I mean, Bunny kick's Jack out of the warren at around nightfall and then I go to bed in the room next to his, without my Boogeyman to keep me company." His hold gets tighter when I call him my Boogeyman and I can tell he's smiling.
"I'm sorry I can't cuddle you to sleep." He's smirking now, I can tell. I pull way from him slightly to look up at his face. It seems to have gotten so much softer and even younger since a few days ago. I trail my index finger down his cheek, feeling the smooth texture of his skin. But it feels softer, rejuvenated somehow. He seems to know what I'm thinking, and how I'm cataloging the subtle differences. "Some of the star absorbed into me. It made me younger and...for lack of a better word, fresher." I make and exaggerated 'OH' face and giggle.
"I guess it thought you needed refreshing after all those years." I smirk and he rolls his eyes.
"I think I'm dying of cuteness overload." Tooth squeaks from the side, drawing everyone's attention. Pitch frowns at her, bringing me close again.
"Who invited the fairy?" He asks menacingly.
"She did." Jack sighs, still reclined on the ground. "If you two are done being adorable, don't you have homework Katie?" Jack points out, a bit of sourness creeping into his tone. He's obviously still unhappy that I'm so obviously attached to Pitch.
"Ah yes, how was your first day back to school." Pitch asks and starts towards my room, holding my hand. I reach out for Jack's too, and he grabs Tooth.
"Weirdly good. Like I remember seeing new kids be tormented into submission on their first days back in Mesa. But in Burgess it's like everyone was actually raised right! They're all so nice and peppy!" I explain. He nods, but I see that he doesn't really care about Burgess. Just about me. Then I remember something Jack told me. Burgess was where they defeated Pitch years ago. And Jamie and his friends I met today were the ones who stopped him. "But I missed being here." I add for his benefit. He smiles slightly.
"I missed you being here. Dare I say it, I even missed Jack. I'd grown so used to the both of you being here, filling every corner with pranks and laughter." He admits, loneliness shining in his eyes. Tooth looks shocked by his behavior, even fluttering up to his face to look him in the eye.
"Bunny wasn't kidding. You do weird things to his brain alright!" She tells me, grinning at me and then at Pitch. He scowls at her fiercely and motions for her to go away, like one might shoo a bug away. "It's so cute!" She adds, and Pitch's scowl softens slightly. We reach my room and I immediately collapse on my bed after flinging my backpack at the ground. After a moment of reclining, I sit up for Jack and Tooth can sit too. Pitch doesn't sit, just stands and looks stoic. He hardly ever sits around me, and I wonder if he does get tired of standing and just does it anyway as some sort of way to impress, or if he just likes standing.
"You have much homework?" Jack inquires, peering inside my backpack when I pick it up and unzip it. I shrug.
"Not too much. Snowball fight after?" I quirk an eyebrow. He eagerly nods.
"Ultimate snowball fight! Me and Katie on one team, Pitch and Tooth on the other." The two of them share a glance that says the same thing. 'Let's humor them'. Jack and I share our own look of victory and I start on my homework. Not too bad a day, overall. Not too bad.
OOOOO
I'm not sure I like how this chapter ended, but I couldn't think of a really good way. Anyways, the next chapter will probably skip forward a lot of time, but I don't want to do like ten chapter all about the same thing. Going to school, bridging the gap with Carter, getting closer to Pitch and the Guardians. All the time. So I'm gonna go to the next important part. Don't hate, just read it! When it comes out. Which will hopefully be soon. So yeah. Good night. Or morning. Whatever.