Like A Dream

The two classmates soon found themselves facing the school gates. Numerous students streamed in and out of the gates; a few effortlessly slipping in and out of crowds to exit school grounds because they thought they had a few more minutes of freedom while most entered the stadium holding the next seven miserable hours of their life.

They were the latter as neither Ebony nor Adrian thought of themselves as a so-called 'rebel' or had any particular interest in getting caught for ditching lessons. The two were more acquaintances rather than close friends so as soon as their feet touched school grounds, they bid farewells and easily parted.

Ebony trudged through the snow not regretting her footwear choices. On usual days, she would have worn converse but she now knew that, that was going to be a massive pain. She took off her mittens, shoving them into the side pockets of her coat before holding tightly onto the staircase railings.

As she carefully placed a foot on each step, slippery and dangerous because of ice, she almost missed. She glared at her intruder only to find the cheeky jerk with an almost apologetic expression. She had said yes to Adrian's offer to the movies though someone did not really approve.

"Jackson Overland Frost, if you don't leave me alone, I will throw boiling water on you." He hesitated considering her threat but shrugged it off, smugly knowing that she couldn't hurt him. "I swear. Remember that time I was ironing one of my shirts and you were distracting me? And I threatened to burn you but you wouldn't listen?"

This time he was cautious of how he came forward. When Ebony was ticked off, her threats were unbroken true promises and he knew that from personal experience. Moreover, even though he knew all this, he simply could not leave her without a proper happy filled goodbye for the day.

"Ebony will you just listen?" She sighed in irritation, stopping at the top of the stairs. A few people muttered a 'get out of the way' but she ignored them. "I'm sorry okay?" As Jack continued with his apologies, she led the both of them away from full view and out of the eyes and ears of curious mortals. Ones who didn't believe in the winter icon.

"I'm sorry I dropped a snowball on his head, I'm sorry I made him slip and I'm sorry I used my powers on your boyfriend." The last word wasn't meant to be said in such a menacing tone - actually, it wasn't to be said at all but he merely couldn't keep his frustration to himself.

"Adrian is not my boyfriend," she hissed. She raised an eyebrow, a small smirk protruding from the corner of her lips. "Wait, is that why you look so angry and pissed off? Because I said yes to the movies? Jack Frost..." Ebony was reluctant on completing the sentence but the possibility intrigued her too much, "...are you jealous?"

He was lost for words for a few seconds, playing around with his lips, opening and closing them, weird unnatural sounds erupting from his mouth. "Wha-I-uh what are you talking about?" The broken words spluttered out as he desperately tried to cover up the abnormally long pause.

She wasn't able to notice if his hesitation was because he really didn't want to admit that he was jealous or if he was taken back at accusation. Either way, Ebony wasn't much eager about his answer and only made her frustration return.

"N-Nothing. Just...I need to go Jack." Her eyes wandered around the school playground, searching for some sort of distraction so she could excuse herself. There was a strange itch forming and the only cure for it is to walk away from him.

An ice-cold feeling sprouted from her forearm. Ebony glared at his hand stopping her from getting away. "No, I won't go until this is resolved." Their eyes met, anger and worry collided. She cast him a look of annoyance. "Ebony just please. I'm sorry ok? I'm sorry I injured Adrian."

"Well...why'd you do it?"

A pained expression fluttered across his face. Ebony thought that he was either preparing to come up with a fake reason and lie. He cleared his throat with a cough. "Because I knew what he wanted. And he wanted you," he mumbled.

"Jack, we are just friends. I don't have any interest in dating him, I'm sure he meant well." Her gaze lingered on his sad ocean orbs, and she could have sworn her heart pumped for the last time before swelling up.

Regardless of how long the two had been best friends for, she was still shocked of how deep his care for her ran. He was always worried whenever Ebony meddled with males. Now it was just scary. If the innumerable amount of times she wished for a brother worked, then Jack was it.

Her lips parted to continue with her explanation but the school bell rang, signalling for all students to make their way to classes. Ebony emitted a deep sigh, trailing her fingers down his arm to squeeze his hands to reassure him. He feigned a smile that she was able to see right through but had no time to dwell over.

Ebony parted from her best friend and began walking away. The students waited a few minutes after the ring of the bell before obeying. They formed a large group, tripping over each other as they scrambled up the stairs. She got lost in the sea of students, being pushed into the mundane flow of school.



He did not want to believe that he was feeling absolutely enraged because he was jealous. The green monster had come right out when Adrian called her name and though Jack had strong self-control, he lost it when she went with him.

Usually he would not feel this strongly about a mortal boy. A part of him argued that this was Ebony - one of the very few people who grew up still believing in him. That this was the same girl who has been his best friend for twelve years. The same Ebony who he watched had conflicts with her sister, consisting of him.

And that was why she should have been protective, not simply jealous. The emotion of envy never did any good and the last time he felt this way, the outcome wasn't really what he'd expected. Yes, he was protective over her; he was the good older brother; he only wanted to keep her safe.

No, he wouldn't allow himself to be jealous around Ebony. If he acted upon this, the consequences would be severe. There were just too many things on the line. He could lose a person who meant the world to him. He could lose a best friend. He could lose himself.

A crunch snapped Jack out of his revering thoughts. And he was glad for some sort of distraction. His mind was in shambles, confused and corrupted with all of this. He mentally shook his head, letting out a frustrated groan.

His eyes flew to the ground. Jack curled his arm around the tree trunk, hauling himself up with the help of his wooden staff. Below him was a young boy, curled into a foetal position, and his shoulders lightly shook. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was crying.

Jack, lover of children even before he was crowned a guardian, grabbed a handful of snow, softly blowing on his palm, forming flakes as they fluttered down to the ground. The flecks of snow landed on and around the boy, instantly gaining his attention. His small hands waved around as if to catch the snowflakes.

A shout broke the moment and Jack's head shot up to find a woman walking towards the tree he was perched on. He immediately hopped off the branch, floating behind the trunk only realizing a second later that he was invisible to her.

"Sweetheart, come on honey," the woman cooed to the little boy. She bent her knees, balancing herself on her toes to reach down to him as she patted his back. "It's okay; we can try again to build one okay? And your brother can help too."

Jack slowly floated down to the ground the soles of his feet barely touching the snow. He heard the boy sniff. "But how? Finn's still at school." He lifted an arm to wipe his runny nose. "And I can't build one. It always breaks."

The lady laughed. "Of course you can, just need a little help." She twisted her left wrist only to emit a small gasp. "That reminds me, we need to pick him up now. School is ending in a few minutes. Come on."

Jack groaned, his whole expression scrunching up, and he harshly slapped his forehead with the base of his palm. He hurriedly left the mother and son to their own business, not having the time to meddle with other people, as he needed to be somewhere else. He was several kilometres away from Ebony's school. He hoped that the winter wind would cooperate with him while he flew across to the other side of town.

He had spent the last six odd hours flying around town, ending up at a small park, entertaining the little ones who came here. It was then that he realized he was around Ebony longer than needed and it did not leave him much time to pay attention to winter and the younger ones.

Maybe spending some time away from Ebony would do both of them some good. He shivered, not from the low winter temperature, but from the harsh thought of not being around Ebony. As he had not done so in such a long time.