Summary: Unable to bear Los Angeles and the memories it holds in light of a certain tragedy, Jack Frost and his family move to the rural town Wittmore, but even there Jack cannot find escape from his pain. However, the ice-cold heart of the teen is penetrated by the weirdest and most unlikely group of mismatched friends, but most powerfully of all, a little girl with bicolored eyes. Will she be able to get Jack to fully let go of past? High School AU Human!Guardians (When I say 'no OCs,' I mean no OCs as main characters)

For Hatsu Yukiya.

italics - thoughts or flashbacks

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or any of the characters.

Chapter 1 - First Snow

"911, what is your emergency?"

"My sis-my sister and I. He's after us! Please..."

"Young man, I have to ask you to please speak clearly. What is your exact location and situation?"

"Baker Street—Baker Street and Bristol—I think—I don't know any more—but he's coming any minute. Please help us!"

"Who is 'he?'"

"I don't know. He just—Rosie!"

Click.

beep beep beep

"Hello? Hello! Young man! Hello? If you can hear me, we are dispatching a patrol car to your assumed location. Just hang in there for a little longer. Hello?"

beep beep beep

"No hoods or hats allowed."

"Huh? Sorry what?"

The security man sighed. "No earbuds either. Take those out unless before you get your gizmo taken away."

Earbuds were promptly removed. "Gizmo? It's called an itouch."

"You kids keep coming out with new ones before the last has even a chance in the market. Don't expect me to remember what they're all called," the man snorted. After a moments silence, he once again said.

"No hoods. Take it off."

Blue hoodie slid silently off a shock of pure white hair.

Another condescending snort echoed through the empty school hallways. "Why you kids seem to want to have anything but what you were born with is beyond me. Keep bleaching your hair like that, kid, and you'll kill it all off before you reach twenty."

"You mean like you?" the teenager shot back easily.

The man ran a hand ruefully over his thinning mop of unkempt hair.

"At least mine doesn't look like all the colors have been washed out. It's unnatural I say. Red, purple. Before you know it, they'll be dying their skin unnatural colors too."

"It's called freedom of expression. We live in America don't we?"

"Still not natural," came the disgruntled reply.

"And I didn't ask for your opinion anyways, did I?" the boy muttered irritably under his breath.

"Eh? What was that?"

"Nothing," the teenager said, flashing the security guard a half-smile that was almost as unnaturally white as his hair.

The man eyed the boy suspiciously, but then shrugged and continued down the hall as the teenager muttered about guard's hearing being just as lost as his hair.

"Room 213. That's the class you're looking for, right?"

A grunted conformation was all the security guard got.

"Well," the man announced awkwardly. "Have a nice day, kid."

"Too late for that."

The guard stared at the teen for a moment before he decided that it was high time that he made his escape. The man shuffled away from the teen as if the boy would suddenly lunge at him if he got too close. Once he determined he was a safe distance away, the man took off towards the end of the hallway, while trying to make it look like he wasn't rushing.

The boy stared after the guard for a moment before turning back to the door at hand. "Adults are weird," he told the inanimate object. Of course, the door gave no answer.

Without giving himself any time to consider his actions, the teen twisted the handle and flung the door open with just enough force so that it made a satisfying thud against the door stopper. The sound carried easily through the classroom since apparently the room was in some sort of private study session.

The teacher looked up to scold whatever tardy student had arrived, but catching sight of an unfamiliar face, she immediately stood and held out a hand in welcome.

"You must be the new student. I expected you a little earlier."

"I got caught up in the office," the teen muttered. He stared at the teacher's offered hand as if he didn't know what to make of the loose, wrinkled skin that drooped sadly on her skinny fingers.

The teacher lowered her hand awkwardly and turned to the class.

"Would you mind introducing yourself?"

The teen let his gaze flicker lazily to the small group of curious teenagers.

"Jack. Jack Frost."

Toothania flipped multi-colored strands of hair out of her violet eyes to get a better look at the stranger.

He was... different; that's for sure.

Even though it was nearing the winter season, the boy—Jack—only wore dark pants and a rather worn light blue hoodie. It was a stark contrast to everyone else bundled up in winter jackets, scarves, and gloves. But even stranger than the teen's clothes was his pure white hair.

"Whoa there, mate. I can practically smell the bleach from all the way back here," a voice muttered next to Toothania.

Toothania promptly kicked the Aussie underneath the desk.

"Ouch! Oi, what the bloody—"

"Be nice," the girl whispered, looking back up front to make sure the teacher hadn't noticed their exchange. "Don't make fun of him."

"Don't get your panties all in a twist, Tooth. Who says I'm making fun of him? If I had anything against people with weird hair colors, I wouldn't be friends with you now would I?" To emphasize his point, the Aussie reached over and tugged a lock of bright blue hair connected to girl's head.

Tooth playfully swatted her friend's hand away.

"But you do have to admit," the Aussie continued. "That washed-out hair makes one wonder how much bleach the skinny, little bloke uses."

Tooth shrugged. Sure, it was strange, but Tooth thought it was rather fitting. From the ice-cold blue eyes to the pale skin and even the last name "Frost," the white hair worked just fine. And really who was Tooth to judge? Her own hair was a rainbow of blues, greens, and purples that covered nearly all of her naturally blonde locks.

"Aster! Toothania!"

Both students' heads snapped to attention as they tried to give their teacher innocent looks.

"Do you have something to share with the rest of the class?" Mrs. Codger asked.

Two heads dutifully shook their heads no.

Mrs. Codger gave the pair a final warning glare before turning back to her new student with an obviously forced smile.

"As I was saying, you may take the seat next to Aster Bunnymund. You two will be lab partners from now on." The teacher said this as if the two boys had just won the lottery, and Tooth had to stifle a giggle when she caught sight of Aster's frown that suggested that the thought the idea of sitting next to the new kid for the rest of the year was anything but.

Tooth was watching the new kid make his way towards Aster when she felt a hand tugging on her elbow. Looking over she caught sight of her own lab partner's amused grin.

"Don't give me that look," Tooth hissed under her breath. "Just because you never get in trouble for talking..."

Sanderson, or rather Sandy, was born mute so of course he never got in trouble for disrupting the class with idle chatter.

A piece of paper was pushed towards the girl, and with a quick check at the teacher, Tooth slid it closer to herself.

"Do you know why he's transferring halfway through the first semester?" the scribbled note asked.

Tooth quickly wrote her response and passed it back to her mute friend.

"Don't know. I heard he's from Los Angeles. The rest of his family is supposed to join him later in the year, so he's living with his uncle for now."

"Why come to Wittmore? There's not much here."

Tooth shrugged in response. Wittmore was a small, rural area that was more of a village than a city, so when it got out that Ol' North's nephew from the big city down south was coming to the humdrum life of the northern farmlands, it easily became the talk of the town.

Ol' Man North had bragged for years about his nephew who rivaled his own genius mind in the arts and in creativity.

North could come up with new toys faster than the kids could play with them and more than half of them carried a story about how his nephew had inspired its creation, but towards the end of last winter, the stories had stopped. The toys still came in a fervent pace, but no wonderful tales about how Jack had done this or how Jack had done that came to amuse the folks of Wittmore.

No explanation came with the abrupt stop of fanciful tales and boastings, but then late September rumors began to fly that the infamous Jack Frost would not only visit, but also actually live in their humble village.

"Back to work class!" Mrs. Codger's voice cut through Tooth's musings. "Jack, I'll print you out the synopsis so just wait a second."

Jack nodded disinterestedly and plopped down lazily in the seat next to Aster. Tooth studied the new student intently, trying to find the adventurous, wild child of Ol' North's stories, but the fabled boy didn't appear in the teenagers slumped position and tired eyes.

Aster cleared his throat quietly and effectively caught the white-haired boy's attention.

"Name's Aster," the Aussie introduced himself.

For the first time since walking into the class, the boy's lips twitched upwards. "Yeah, I heard." The teen leaned back lazily and stretched. "Bunnymund, huh?"

Aster stiffened. "Ya got something against my name, Frost?"

Jack shook his head, smile widening. "Nothing," he told the Aussie.

Aster narrowed his eyes suspiciously before turning back to his worksheet.

Tooth tried to focus again, but a small chuckle broke her concentration.

"Hop, hop, hop."

Tooth bit back a giggle as Aster's face turned a violent shade of red. Aster opened his mouth to snap back at the other teen, but thought better of it when he saw the teacher making her way towards Jack. The Aussie instead went back to work although Tooth noticed his pencil was now held in a death grip.

Jack chuckled again and a flash of white caught her attention.

Oh wow... His teeth. Did he bleach those too?

Tooth suppressed a very girly scream as her obsession came in full force.

They looked so perfect! Oh gosh, she would have to ask him how he kept them so white. Were they all so perfect as his front teeth? If only she could—

A tug on her right brought her back to the present, and Tooth realized that she was leaning far to the left and any farther would have left her sprawled in the aisle.

"Thanks, Sandy," she whispered to her friend.

Sandy gave her a silent laugh before returning to his own work.

Tooth turned back to try and catch another glimpse of those pearly whites, but another flash of white caught her attention.

"First snow," Tooth breathed, staring in wonder as the delicate flakes drifted gracefully along the winds.

Instantly, the class exploded into excited chatter as everyone's attention turned towards the window.

"How much do you think there'll be?"

"Snowball fights!"

"As if it's not cold enough..."

"Class! Settle down! Class!"

Tooth ducked her head, hoping Mrs. Codger didn't realize she was the one who had started the disruption, but her worry disappeared when she caught sight of Jack again.

His face, like everyone else's, was turned towards the window to watch the first snow of the season fall gracefully to the earth, but unlike the rest of students, his eyes betrayed pained longing and deep suffering. It made him look ten times older, but Tooth blinked and the broken individual was replaced by the new kid who was deceptively interested at the synopsis placed in front of him.

Went to Big Bear Mountains with sister's family. Little nephew all over the place, getting into trouble here and getting into trouble there... an old Russian-accented voice told her.

I made sled for my nephew and niece. Favorite color is blue. They will like it, no?

This toy reminds me of when Jack...

Tooth stared at the boy with the blank blue eyes, a teen of supposed childish pranks, ceaseless laughter, and endless games, all of this according to an uncle's adoring tales.

Tooth watched the boy's clenched fist get tighter and tighter as the excitement escalated around the small classroom and that sly little light in his blue eyes dimmed until it's existence was snuffed out all together.

Were all those adventurous stories of the bold Jack Frost only exaggerated musings of an old, proud uncle or were they all just fairy tales to begin with?

There was a request from Hatsu Yukiya to do a human!Baby Tooth so I decided to take up that challenge. Obviously if you read this chapter, then Baby Tooth has not shown up yet, but she definitely be coming up soon.

If you haven't read any of my other stories, then know that I usually update about every week or so. I have not done a high school fanfic before so if you have any suggestions, I'll gladly here some.

Warning: This is rated T for a scene that will be coming up and it does contain violence.

~Bluesky21543