Chapter 2: Hard-To-Get Attracts Skeletons

She was perfect.

Long, luscious red hair that seemed to be made out of never-ending, blood-red yarn fell down to her back, near her waist. Her eyes were an honest black, reflecting only her nervousness. She was wearing the standard school uniform, yes, but it seemed to be exactly made for her alone. Of all females in the school, Jack had to admit that she had the best curves. He mentally thanked whoever designed the skirts so short...

"Introduce yourself, dear," Doctor Finklestein quietly told her, motioning to the awestruck class.

"Oh. Uhm...hi, everyone. I'm Sally."

Jack shut his eyes, smiling at the sweet melody that was Sally's voice. Who was she? Why hadn't he seen her before? Even if she was just new, wouldn't he at least have heard about her somewhere in his seventeen years of afterlife? Since his dad was the King and knew of everyone...surely he must have known there was a Sally in Halloween Town!

'Hmm,' Jack thought, frowning, 'why does my chest hurt? And why do I feel warmth on my cheeks?'

He wondered vaguely if he was sick; people were falling ill suddenly at this time of the year...

"Well, hello, Sally," came another voice, shattering Jack's dreamy thoughts, "may I introduce myself? Oogie Boogie." Oogie stood up and made his way over to a confused Sally. "But you can just call me...The Boogie Man!" He chuckled, taking her hand and bending down to kiss it. Several female classmates fumed at this, but not as much as all the guys who had their eyes on the new girl, Jack included.

Blushing furiously, Sally managed a weak smile. "H-hello, Boogie Man..."

"Oogie, behave yourself," said Finklestein sharply. Then, in a more soothing voice, "Sally, Oogie here will escort you to your seat. Boogie, it's the vacant one beside you and Jack."

'Splendid!' the Pumpkin Prince cheered in his mind as he heard this. He couldn't contain the grin that had begun to form on his lips.

Oogie, too, couldn't believe his luck; in no time, he was confident he could win Sally's heart. "Wow, thanks so much, Finklestein! Y'know, you're alright for an old codger." He took the newbie's hand and led her back towards his desk, turning only to say, "Tell you what, Doc: I won't put a man-eating snake in your office next period!"

"Just be quiet, Oogie, and kindly answer any of Sally's questions. I'm sure she needs help learning our routines."

Jack sat up straight, watching Sally settle down beside him. Up close, he could see what kind of monster she was: a rag-doll.

There were stitches all over her pale blue skin, crisscrossing in the most interesting pattern. He wondered what could be inside of her, or whether she had any insides at all. Her skin looked soft enough to touch, tempting him greatly. He, of course, wouldn't just reach out and feel her; that wasn't his style.

He'd win her over.

Yes. He could do that.

"Science is finished. Please put your materials away and wait for the next teacher." Finklestein briskly walked over to his desk, grabbed his suitcase, and left. In their school, instead of moving from class to class, students remained in the same classroom (save Tactical Scaring, Potion Making, and Music classes) and three teachers would simply take turns lecturing them.

Doctor Finklestein taught Math, Science, and Inventing. Professor Corpse was in charge of the Historical Halloween and Music departments. This only left Three Mister Hydes with Tactical Scaring, Potion Making, and Art. (Yes, each Hydes was in charge of one of the three subjects.)

As they had just finished Science, the class relaxed. Next would be Historical Halloween, but not before a ten-minute, in-classroom break.

Jack had planned on using this time period to get a good impression on Sally, but unfortunately, it seemed that Oogie had as well.

"So, Doll-Face," the sack began, moving over to sit on Sally's desk, facing her. "Wanna tell me 'bout you? 'Cause trust me when I say, you are the hot—er, prettiest ghoul I've ever seen."

Jack blanched. How pathetic! He could do much better than that!

"Ooh. I—uh—that's sweet of you. But I don't really have anything to say about me. I'm just new..." She looked away shyly, but this only resulted in her making her first eye-contact with Jack Skellington. Immediately, she flushed purple, but couldn't break the gaze. Jack beamed, inwardly laughing at his good fortune. Jack—one, Oogie—zero.

This wouldn't take long at all.

"Hello, Sally," he greeted, shifting his position so as his knees where facing hers. He made extra sure that they touched, and his self-confidence boosted when she did not complain. "You do look extremely breathtaking. How long have you been in Halloween Town?"

"Uh...a while, I guess..."

"Hmm. Why haven't we had a fateful encounter before now then?"

"I—erm, don't really go out too much..." When she finally managed to shift her gaze to something else, Sally swore something loudly exploded near her chest area. If it was her heart, would the Doctor be upset if something was broken? That would be bad.

Jack sensed his opening and, in one swift motion, cupped the rag-doll's face, ignoring the disbelieving, spluttering sound Oogie was making. He pulled her close to his own face and felt at ease; this was his zone, he knew what he was doing the best when it came to this. After all, he had flirted with pretty much every girl in his year. (He was now working on older ladies and one or two younger ones.)

Surely Sally wouldn't be that different.

Their noses were now touching and the whole class took it all in. To most, it was another one of Jack's flirting sessions. No big deal, he did that at least once every two periods.

No, they were just interested in seeing the new girl's reaction. They had already made bets on the time it would take for her to fall head-over-heels for Skellington's charm and seal the deal with a ten-minute kiss. So far, half the class had their money set for before the next period even started.

Jack ignored them, focusing all his attention on Sally. Truth be told, he was somewhat intrigued by the strange feeling bubbling up inside of him. He had never felt the extremes of this before, just a few upset-stomachs here and there when he saw a particularly good-looking banshee. But what was this?

"Darling, my name is Jack Skellington. I am the Pumpkin King." He then made to kiss her.

And that's when everything went downhill.

Almost in a blur, Sally pushed the skeleton off of her, knocking him back to his seat, all the while confusing everyone. Oogie, however, laughed and pointed at the dazed Jack. "Hah! She totally hates you!"

She looked extremely upset, too. "I heard about you, Jack. You go through every female in this school as quickly as you change clothes. I, however, am not going to let you use me. Just because you can do that to them doesn't mean you can to me." Sally's eyes narrowed as she realized what she had just said to the Town's future ruler. She normally would never lose her cool like that!

But...she did feel a connection with him a while ago. It was a nice feeling. Perhaps that was why she felt so hurt when she realized just who was messing with her emotions. The Doctor had warned her to stay away from Skellington, and that girls were just another game to him. He made her promise to not fall for his tricks.

And so she wouldn't!

Packing her belongings, she stood up and walked away. They saw her open the door, leave, and slam it shut.

"Daaamn," Oogie commented, giving a low whistle. "She is so going to be my girlfriend!"

The other males raised their eyebrows.

A girl who would willingly turn down Jack Skellington was a girl they were not about to miss. Oogie could try, but he was against several other guys with their own ideas of courting. Who knew what type attracted Sally?

But as Jack stood up, still staring at the door that the first girl to push him away vanished through, he only had one thought on his mind:

'I will win Sally over if it's the last thing I do!'

Pumpkin Kings like challenges, correct?

A/N: Eh, don't worry, I'm JackXSally all the way!