#Schooled

Chapter 1

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" 

Jack let out a groan and buried his face in his pillow. Why was Tooth in his room so early in the morning? Oh, yeah, that freaking school...

"Five more minutes." He mumbled.

"Nope, get up, get dressed, and then you're out the door." Tooth beamed, throwing open the curtains with a flourish, "I'm so excited!"

"Uuuuuuugh." 

"C'mon, up and at 'em. I'm not leaving until I see you sit up."

Jack waited, just to see if she was joking, but eventually realized she was serious. He sat up and swung his feet over the edge of the mattress, scratching his head and yawning. It was so early that it felt like his brain hadn't even turned on yet.

"Okay, now go so I can get dressed." He snapped.

Tooth giggled and left the room. After making sure she was gone, Jack let out a groan and fell back against the sheets, his mind whirling. Did normal teenagers feel like this every single morning, as if their limbs were made of lead and their vision was more watery than the ocean? He also had this weird feeling in his throat as well, kind of like he had to yawn but couldn't quite do it, and was left with a weird ache instead.

He closed his eyes. I can't believe I'm doing this... But people will be able to see me, right? That's what the Guardians said.

A smile touched his lips. At least he would be able to talk to people!

Finally, after much deliberation and deep thinking, Jack got out of bed for real and started to get dressed. Apparently he wouldn't have been able to wear his normal pants to school, since for some reason brown cloth held together with twine would get him dresscoded, so Tooth had found him a few pairs of jeans and... Ugh, he couldn't even think about it without shivering... Shoes.

He put on a pair of black jeans and a white T-shirt, pulling on his sweatshirt soon after. No way was he giving that up. Then came the hard part. Socks, he was able to put up with, just barely. But the shoes...

"I can do this. They're just shoes. What can they do?" Jack stared at the Nikes Tooth had gotten him. They were black, with a dark blue Nike symbol on it. 

He hated them.

The shoes stared at him defiantly. They could sense his weakness, they were living off of it. His hatred and maybe even fear of them was making them stronger.

"There is no way I'm going to let you beat me, shoes. I'm going to be the winner here. You know it, too, so just give up." He challenged.

The shoes didn't answer.

Finally, he gave up on trying to intimidate them, and forced himself to put them on. It felt like his feet were suffocating. How did people manage to do this all day? It was awful! 

He tied the laces and went out to go meet the others, suddenly feeling nervous. Embarrassed, even. Bunny was going to make fun of him for looking like a regular kid for sure. Was it too late to just back out?

"There you are, Jack! Those clothes look great on you!" Tooth cried. She seemed way too happy about all of this.

"Um, thanks?" 

"Your backpack is over there, it had your schedule in it, and a binder, too. Do you want something to eat? What about- "

Jack had stopped listening as soon as North and Bunny entered the room. The Kangaroo smirked, like he was going to start laughing, but North elbowed him in the side. Sandy gave Jack a smile.