Maleya gave a frustrated sigh as she threw her backpack on her bed. It was only the second day of school and she was already sick of it. The weather had been especially cold recently, which had dampened her mood no matter how hard she tried to stay positive.
Her problem was the people. Since Burgess was such a small town, everyone was close knit and had known each other practically since birth. And here comes Mallie, the new and slightly socially awkward girl. It wasn't that she was being bullied- not yet anyway, but she figured that might start happening any minute now- but no one acknowledged her. She was the one making the effort to talk to people, even though it was really difficult for her, and no one was really giving her a chance.
With exaggerated force, she took off her shoes and threw them at the door. Her parents were going to take her brother out after he finished school so she'd have the place to herself for a while. She could make a mess if she wanted to, she told herself with a huff.
Putting on a pair of warmer pants and her hiking boots, she grabbed a flora book and magnifying glass (plus her winter jacket… despite it being the beginning of September) and went outside for an hour of self-indulgence.
Jack was lounging about, creating frost patterns on unsuspecting trees and windows. Jamie was at school and wouldn't be home for a while, so he did what he could to pass time.
That was, until he saw one of Jamie's neighbours leave the house. Before he could squint for a better look, he knew it was her. The tingling sensation was back in his fingers and he felt himself being drawn to her once again. Looking up at the sun, he deduced that he still had some time left before Jamie was back, so he figured he could kill some time with this new girl.
She had a mess of frizzy red curls that reached past her shoulders. They bounced as she walked with a determined gaze towards the back of the house and into the forest. Jack thought she looked kind of pissed.
"That's no fun…" he said to no one in particular, before he continued to follow her.
She walked for about 20 minutes before she suddenly ducked. Jack almost few right into her, but managed to stop before going through her. She didn't believe in him so she couldn't touch him, but it still felt extremely uncomfortable and actually quite painful for him when someone walked through him.
He made his way around her and bent down in front of her. She was looking at a plant, muttering to herself. It looked like a regular dandelion to Jack.
"Leontodon autumnalis…" he heard her whisper and one of his eyebrows cocked immediately. The what…?
Standing up quickly, she continued her way forward, stepping through Jack. Jack shuddered at the feeling. It was horrible. He had to be more alert to that.
But the tingling sensation burst inside him again, covering his whole body before disappearing once more. He watched her write something in the book she was holding.
"So cold…" he heard her mutter, before she kneeled down again a few meters ahead.
"Oxalis acetosella…" she said out loud, before picking up one of the leaves and putting it in her mouth.
Jack couldn't help but wonder if she was on crack.
He didn't know her name yet, just that her brother was called David. He figured that would be a good thing to ask when he saw Jamie.
She walked on and looked at a large tree, running her hands over the papery bark.
"Hmm…" she thought aloud, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember something.
"Uh… Birch?" Jack tried to contribute, looking at the tree and then at the girl.
"Betula papyrifera!" she suddenly exclaimed.
"I get that we all have our different ideas of fun, but I don't see how this is any fun at all," Jack said, knowing he wouldn't hear her. She still had her hand on the tree, and he grinned mischievously before tapping the tree with his staff gently. She doesn't like the cold, huh?
In a flash, small tendrils of frost formed over the peeling bark, just touching her fingers. She pulled away suddenly, as if in shock. "…The hell?!"
"Exactly what I've been thinking for the past five minutes!" Jack replied, chuckling at her expression. "Now this is fun."
She didn't seem to agree. Instead, she turned on her heels and made her way forward. She barely missed Jack as he scooted out of her way, sighing in relief when he made no contact with her.
She walked silently for a few minutes, looking at the book in her hand every now and then. She stopped at one point and looked at animal tracks in the mud. Her forehead creased.
"That's a big dog," she mumbled, kneeling down and placing her hands on the mud next to the print. It was larger than her hand.
Jack watched as her eyebrows furrowed, casting a shadow over her slanting brown eyes. Her skin was a tanned olive colour, and he could tell she was used to a warmed climate. She cocked her head to the side as ideas raced through her head, and Jack almost smiled as her hair bounced at the movement and curtained her face completely.
Just as she huffed loudly to remove strands of red from her eyes, something started beeping obnoxiously loud in her pocket. Fumbling for her phone, she finally took it out and winced at the Caller ID.
Jack didn't have to lean in close to hear the voice of a woman raising her voice at the girl.
"Where are you?" The woman asked impatiently. No hellos. No nothing. Straight to the point.
"Forest," the girl replied bluntly.
"Why didn't you leave a note?" The other woman, whom Jack suspected now to be her mother, pressed.
"I didn't think you'd be home so soon. Thought I'd be back before you came back."
"Well, I'm home now. Come back to the house. David needs looking after," she practically commanded, and the girl sighed.
"Yes. I'm heading home now," she said. Jack heard a click from the phone and assumed the other end had hung up. With one last look at the footprints, the girl turned around and headed in the direction of her house.
Jack lingered back, suddenly feeling very curious. He had never cared much about older teens and adolescents, since they weren't exactly "children" anymore. They did not have the same sense of fun that he did and they were past the normal age of believing. By then, society had probably hammered them down with science and logic.
This girl didn't seem to be anything special. She hated the cold. And sure, she came off as a wackjob with an interest in showing off her skills in taxonomy to… well, herself, but other than that there was nothing that should be drawing Jack to her.
Except for this feeling that he had.
He'd never experienced anything like it. It wasn't something he could put his finger on. Maybe he could describe it remotely as being like a magnet, and the feeling he got when she'd walked through him was peculiar. He'd never gotten such a reaction before.
He had to find out why this was happening. What was so special about her that he couldn't see?
Perhaps it was time to visit the North Pole.
Phil the Yeti had not been too pleased when Jack Frost showed up unannounced at Nicholas Saint North's workshop. Despite Jack's fervent attempts to explain that he had a very good reason to be there, Phil bought none of it.
"I get that you live in the North Pole, but why do you have to be so cold to me, Phil my man?" Jack tried coaxing instead. "I can wait right here and you tell North that I have some pretty important stuff to talk to him about."
Phil just stood his place and rolled his eyes, grunting noises that almost sounded like: "Yeah, right."
"Have it your way then!" Jack replied, before banging his staff against the cold, tiled floor. A burst of ice shot out in all directions and trapped Phil's hairy feet (Paws? What did Yetis have anyway?).
Jack smirked victoriously and made a move to zip through the front gates, but the Yeti was not deterred. Showing abnormal strength, Phil raised his knees one at a time and a crunch could be heard as he dislodged his feet/paws from Jack's handiwork.
"Oh, boy," Jack exhaled just before a giant hand/paw swiped at him and grabbed the back of his frosted blue hoodie. "Uh… Phil, let's talk about this…" He began nervously, thinking the Yeti was going to pummel him like a punching bag or hand him to the elves to have their way with him.
Taking one look at Phil's free limb, he realized: Yes, Yetis have hands.
To his luck, Phil simply turned around and marched right through the gates. He continued his way towards the elevator, down to where all the Yetis were working, and then up to North's personal workshop.
Without knocking, Phil opened the door and Jack was surprised to see not only the large, sturdy Russian man- but also a certain oversized rabbit.
"I'm giving you one last chance to talk some sense into him before I deal with him personally," Bunnymund said with such venom that Jack immediately knew they were talking about him.
"Vhat have I said about knocking!?" North had bellowed, his back still towards the door.
Phil began babbling and motioning towards the guardian that hung- looking quite bemused- from his lateral.
"Hey, guys!" Jack greeted, a bit too cheerfully just so he could see Bunnymund's face.
"Speak of the devil!" Bunny said, turning to face Jack with a furious glare. "I've heard all about your pesky endeavors down under! And not to mention my very own Warren! What exactly do you think you are doing, you bloody-"
"Now, now, Bunny," North said soothingly, before looking at Phil and nodding. Phil instantly let go of Jack's hood. Jack fell with a loud thump, not having expected being dropped so soon.
"Thanks, Phil. Much appreciated," Jack muttered, half sarcastically. Phil saluted mockingly with his fingers before heading out, shutting the door behind him.
"So, vhat brings you here, Jack?" North started, helping the boy up from the ground.
"He was obviously up to some mischief if a bloody Yeti had to bring him in by the scruff of his neck!" Bunnymund accused loudly. "How could Manny choose someone so-" But once again, North spoke over him.
"Never mind, Bunny. You have riled him up little. He vill settle down," North assured Jack, and Bunny gaped at him, jaws nearly reaching the floor. He collected himself to complain, but this time Jack cut him off.
"I came here to ask you something," Jack began, leaning on his shepherd's crook. His eyes met North's, and the older man's eyes narrowed in anticipation. "It's about a girl-"
"Oh, boy. Here we go," Bunnymund sighed in exasperation. "See what I told you? Irresponsible! And now he's gone off and fallen in love with some human!"
"That was not where I was going at all!" Jack said, his voice rising in annoyance. He looked back at North, who nodded, urging him to continue. "She's Jamie's new neighbour. I think he's friends with her brother."
"Ah, yes. Little David. I made check up on Jamie," North winked. "Vhat about his sister?"
"I just wanted to know if this was normal," Jack started again. He suddenly felt the urge to bite his lips. He had no idea why he was so anxious to tell North. "You see…" He stalled, thinking about how to phrase things without Bunnymund getting all up in his grill (sorry). "When children don't believe me, as they often do," he chuckled softly, "it…well, I do feel strange when they walk through me. It's even a bit painful. But this girl… I don't know why, but I get a very different feeling. I've been feeling almost charged when I'm around her-"
"Charged?" North asked, tilting his head slightly with curiously.
"Yes!" Jack exclaimed, racking his brain for a better way to explain it. "I feel like there's so much static everywhere suddenly. It might sound crazy, but this static almost… pulls me to her?" He grimaced as he said it, waiting for Bunnymund to take his chance at teasing him.
And boy, did he grab it.
"Hahahaha!" Bunnymund couldn't stop himself. He was practically rolling on the floor, clutching his sides.
"Bunny!" North hissed, before deciding to ignore the ball of fluff tumbling around the floor. "This sounds serious."
"…It does?" Jack asked tentatively. Just then, Bunnymund gave a particularly strange sounding giggle fit, causing North to burst out laughing as well.
Jack was not amused.
"Sorry, sorry," North apologized, wiping away non-existing tears from his eyes. "I vas trying to be earnest." He inhaled deeply, the girth of his trousers expanding immensely before deflating. Jack watched this cautiously. "It sounds familiar…" North hummed, stroking his long white beard. His eyes were glazed over as he thought about Jack's words, and slowly, his pupils focused back on his present surroundings.
"Oh, this not good," North breathed.
So I watched RotG for the 4th time today, this time with my brother. At the beginning, when Jack first flies at the pond and then falls down through all those trees, landing kind of splayed on a branch my brother (who is 8) screamed: THANK GOD HE HAS BALLS OF ICE.
Anyway, I am so happy with the reviews I got from last chapter. I will reply soon I promise. I have so many ideas for this fic that I just want to keep writing! And with the reviews, it's just added motivation! So here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it. Excuse any typos. I skimmed through this chapter twice but haven't done much proof-reading otherwise...