Wasn't Too Much Fun at All (Jareth x reader)

Down Looks Up

YOUR POV

Sounds of ringing went through my ear for a moment, only to notice it was just my alarm clock. I hit the switch and sat up, wiping my eyes. "Are you still in this room?" I asked the owl. I heard it make a noise. "Okay, so you are." I chuckled at myself a bit and then got up. I decided to walk to the bathroom to get changed this morning. I didn't know why, but I felt uncomfortable getting changed in front of an animal. Something about this owl made me feel a little strange. I'm probably just going mad, but there was something. How can an owl understand when I speak? Maybe it's just responding to sound. But why wasn't it nocturnal? Aren't all owls nocturnal? Barn owls, specifically. Maybe I'm crazy. I'll have to look that up.

After I ate breakfast and packed my lunch, I sat on my bed, talking to the owl. "You're gonna have to go today," I said to it. It made a noise as if sounding sad. I gently touched its face. "Sorry," I sighed. "I want to keep you, but I can't." I grabbed one of my thick winter gloves and put it on, holding my hand out so the owl can sit on it. Technically, stand, but whatever. It stepped on my hand and I held out my other one to make sure the owl kept balance. "You're not gonna fly into any trees anymore, are you?" I chuckled. It made a coo almost like a laughing sound.

I walked out my front door and stood on the steps with the owl on my finger. "Go on," I said. It looked at me and I felt sadness from it. "I'm in the same park every weekend," I reminded it. The owl looked back up to the sky and started flying. Smiling, I went back inside, unable to stop thinking about it.

The school day went by normally. It was about time for homeroom and I held my book close to my chest. The teacher wasn't there yet, but I sat down and read anyway. "Reading that book again?" Sarah asked, setting her bag next to me. I put my hand on my chest as if feeling my heartbeat. "Jesus, you scared me," I gasped, laughing afterward. "Yes I am." "What did you do over the weekend?" Sarah asked, taking out a worksheet. "Well, I took care of an owl yesterday," I said, casually. She quickly looked at me. "A what?" "An owl!" I started smiling. "I was in the park and this barn owl ran into a tree. I wanted to make sure it could still fly, but then it rained so I kept it overnight."
"What did it look like?" Sarah asked, looking a little panicked. "It was a barn owl," I said. "It showed up midday wich was weird since there's no barn and owls are nocturnal." Sarah's face went a little pale. I was about to ask what was wrong when a hand slapped my table. I looked up. "Hi, Jackass," I said ("Jack" nor "Jackass" was his name). "What are you reading?" He asked, swiping up my book. I stood up, trying to grab it, but he moved it away. "None of your business! Give it back!" I snapped. "Cole," the teacher said, pretty loudly as he walked in. "Sit down!" He didn't listen. I was able to grab half of the book, but Cole held onto the other. It suddenly became tug-of-war. "Give it back!" I yelled. "You're gonna--"
Rrrip!
"...tear it..." In my hand, I held half of leather book with yellowing paged. Cole had the other half. I snatched it away, from him, tears flooding my eyes. "Cole! I asked you to sit down!" The teacher almost yelled. Finally, he did. I dropped in my seat, a sob breaking past me and I stared at my ruined book in disappointment. "(Y/N), you okay?" The teacher asked. I looked at him, then back to cole who was sitting with his friend, laughing at me. "I'm fine," I groaned, knowingly not really fine. I buried my face in my arms. "I wish the goblins would come and take him away right now."

The laughing and talking in the classroom was suddenly cut off. I looked up just as the door slammed shut and the lights went off on their own. "(Y/N), what did you do?" A kid asked me. "Why did you assume it was me?" I shouted. I noticed a lot of the kids were looking at me and pointing, thinking I was magical. The teacher was trying to calm me down. "(Y/N), do you have any idea what happened?" Sarah scolded me. I was about to ask for reason when she ducked beneath her desk. "He can't see me. Not now..." "Who?" I asked. Only then, I noticed a familiar owl flying into the unopened window. Girls screamed and cried and guys tried to defend the class. It was only an animal. I stood agape, looking back and forth at the window then the class.

With no kind of help, the window opened on its own and the owl flew in. I ducked behind my seat, when out of the corner of my eye, I was able to see what was happening and a figure suddenly rose from the ground. I was first to stand, not only crying in frustration, but now fear. He wore a long, black, cloak-like outfit with blond hair in an attention-grabbing style. He looked at me. "(Y/N)?" He said, smiling a little. "That's your name, isn't it?" Hesitantly, I nodded. The man approached me "I appreciate you taking care of me. I had fun around you," he said, smiling. I put two and two together. "That was you?" I asked, tears still running down my cheeks. His gloved hands gently embraced my face and his thumbs wiped my cheeks as he nodded. "(Y/N)! What are you doing?" A kid yelled. "Punch him! Kick his ass!" I didn't listen. I was entranced by him. My fingers landed on the torn book beside me. I looked at it for a moment then back to the man. "You're the...goblin king?" He smiled. "Did you...take the kid away?" I asked. But the king turned around. "Children," he announced. "Go back to your work. You don't have to worry about him." "Please," I begged, making him turn back. "Just bring him back. I didn't really mean it. He just frustrated me." The king pulled me away from my table and pointed out the window. "He's there: in my castle." I walked up and felt the ground beneath me change as I looked at the terrain around me. "All the way there?" I said, about a castle in the distance surrounded by the largest maze I have ever seen. "Turn back, (Y/N)," The king warned, making me turn around to look at him. "Turn back before it's too late." "I can't," I said, turning back around. "I can't and I won't." "What a pity," he muttered behind me. "It's not that far. I've been farther," I said (that wasn't exactly true). "It's farther that you think," he said, his face beside me. "Time is short." "Time?" I whispered to myself but also to him. Beside him, was a clock and he started it. "You have thirteen hours in which to solve the labyrinth before that pathetic boy becomes one of us...forever." And he faded away. "Such a pity."