My eyes fluttered open to Jamie staring at me. Startled, my body lurched forward and we knocked heads.
"Ow!" Jamie exclaimed with one eye open rubbing his head. "It's time for school, although I may have a concussion now."
I laughed despite the throbbing pain.
Something else lingered there after the pain subsided. Like the remnant of a bad dream or feeling. It was too hazy to tell the difference.
"You alright Jack?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine."
Jamie paused for a second just to be sure and then added, "I would start getting ready if I were you, we leave in like twenty minutes."
"Oh, right gotta look good for my first day of school where no one but you can see me." I looked down at my old blue hoodie, straightened it out a little, and looked back up. "How's this?"
Jamie analyzed me, looking me up and down. "Very Jack Frost," Jamie replied.
Good, at least I looked the part.
Twenty minutes went by fast. Soon enough it was time to leave.
"Hey, wanna try flying to school today?" I twirled my staff around in one hand as his eyes lit up from excitement.
"Yeah, but won't it be weird if my mom looks out the window and see's her son flying away instead of taking the bus?" Jamie laughed.
"Oh come on, it'll be fine," I insisted as Jamie eyed me. I added "...probably," which earned me a shove from a giggling Jamie.
"Okay, fine!" Jamie finally gave in and allowed me to grab his hand, and start running outside.
Soon our feet weren't hitting the ground anymore, the wind lifting us higher and higher.
"This is amazing! We should fly to school every day!" Jamie shouted ecstatically.
I smiled as the breeze ruffled through my hair.
I don't know what got into me yesterday. There isn't anything to worry about, I tried to reassure myself. I've got Jamie, and the other guardians. Whatever it was, it's passed now.
We landed near the back entrance of the school in the bushes. I looked around to see that no one was there.
"Coast is clear Jamie, let's go," I said as I ran off toward my first day of school.
We reached the back doors and stopped. It would be strange if the doors seemed to open on their own, so I decided it would be best if Jamie opened them.
"You do the honors." I gestured to the doors as he pushed through them.
"This is going to be the best day of school ever, Jack. Come on, I'll show you around."
Every hour that went by, I felt more and more like my old self. I threw a snowball at one of the grumpy teachers, and let's just say my magic snow doesn't work as well on adults. The only word I can think of that's ridiculous enough to describe the way he looked is flabbergasted.
Everything was going smoothly until lunch rolled around.
"I never knew rocks could be so agonizingly boring." I joked as Jamie set his lunch on a roundtable.
My smile faded when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow appear and chills ran down my spine.
It couldn't be.
I whipped my head toward it as I heard a faintly familiar laugh. I narrowed my eyes and listened for it again, but it never came.
"I'll be right back Jamie."
"Alright, where are you-"
I didn't wait for him to finish as I went off to search for the shadow.
I looked everywhere, even the bathroom.
I opened every stall and on the last one, I heard a voice.
'You'll never be accepted. You aren't the Jack Frost they think you are.'
"Shut up! Who are you?" I looked around wildly, desperate to find whatever was spewing my deepest thoughts and rip it to shreds. "You don't know me!"
'But of course, I do, I am you.'
I collapsed to the floor. It was so hard to breathe.
Someone opened the bathroom door and I reached out to them.
"Help." I squeaked out.
They passed right through me like I wasn't anything at all. Maybe I'm not anything at all. If I'm not acting like the Jack Frost everyone loves, then who am I?
I pulled my injured hand up to my face.
I need it all to stop. I can't take all this back and forth, I just need to be okay now.
Without hesitation, I made another icicle as sharp as the one that had cut my hand before. I quickly rolled up my sleeve before I had time to regret what I was about to do. Relief and a bit of guilt washed over me as I looked down at what I had done.
I could finally breathe easy at least.
After I had caught my breath, I grabbed a paper towel to keep from making a mess. It was only then that I realized that the voice and accompanying shadow were gone.
My head whipped towards the door when I heard a muffled voice call for me from outside the bathroom. Panic rushed through my veins. I can't let Jamie see me like this.
I wrapped a lot of paper towel around my arm and yanked down my sleeve. Standing wasn't easy but I managed to scramble to my feet before the bathroom door flew open.
"Jack, what are you doing? Class is about to start again." Jamie eyed the arm that was now behind my back, hiding the icicle-covered in the evidence that I was definitely not as fine as I thought.
"I was just... I wanted to pull some more pranks before we had to sit through more of that torture." I was lying through my teeth now and I hated that it was to my best friend, but I couldn't tell him the truth.
"Alright... What's behind your-" He was cut off by the screech of an alarm.
Talk about saved by the bell.
"Oh, shoot that's the monthly fire drill, we have to go outside," Jamie explained.
"Okay, I'll be right behind you," I said as he rushed out of the bathroom.
I threw the icicle away, made sure there was no trace of what I had done, and ran after him.
Just yesterday I thought it was crazy to hurt myself on purpose. It was sad just how quickly that changed.
