Now before anyone moves ahead or says anything, this is the sequel to my story Powerless Guardian. And no, this is not one of those sequels that can be read without reading the original first. So IF YOU HAVE NOT READ POWERLESS GUARDIAN, READ IT NOW BEFORE YOU READ FORGETFUL GUARDIAN UNLESS IF YOU WANT TO BE HORRIBLY CONFUSED AND WONDERING WHO IN THE WORLD HALF OF THESE CHARACTERS ARE AND WHY THE HELL JACK IS RESIDING IN JAMIE'S HOME. I CANNOT STRESS THAT ENOUGH.

"Jack, wake up," Jamie whined as he hopped on Jack's bed. "We have to go to school."

"I am awake," Jack spoke grumpily from under the bedsheets, "but I refuse to get out of bed."

"Come on! Look, I know you're still upset and disappointed that you're still human even after that thing with Immo's been cleared up, but you can't just mope around forever!"

Jack sat up, throwing off his blankets, and deadpanned, "For the past three hundred years, my sole purpose in life was to have fun and spread winter. And I can't exactly do that when I'm stripped of my powers."

"Actually, you can still have fun," Jamie corrected. "You're just too busy sulking to realize that."

"Excuse you, if you were in my shoes, you wouldn't exactly be overjoyed either. I have been stuck as a mortal ever since the middle of December, and now it's already February," Jack stated matter-of-factly. "I have been waiting ever since the first day I began living in your home to have my powers return to me, and I was more than convinced that the defeat of Immo would fix that. Apparently, it didn't, and I don't even have a vague idea on what Manny is thinking. I have given up on life, so I might as well suffer as a little human and grow old and all that other crap before finally dying peacefully in my sleep. Or maybe my death won't be so quiet and peaceful. Maybe I'll get in a car crash because of Anton or get stabbed in the chest by a criminal I happen to run into. Or maybe not necessarily stabbing. Maybe a gunshot. Who knows?"

"Zander's thinking of becoming a police detective once be graduates college. I'm sure he's willing to protect you from any assassinations," Jamie suggested, completely (and intentionally) missing Jack's point.

"Jamie, I know you're disregarding everything I just said on purpose."

"And I know you can actually be a whole lot happier if you weren't trying so hard to remain sad and miserable. Keep on doing that and wrinkles will start showing up. You don't want to ruin that pretty face of yours."

"...Is it just me, or have you gotten snarkier ever since the Guardians found me and brought me back here?"

Jamie averted eye contact. "Zander and Cody are the top two most sarcastic people I know, and hearing them go on and on for hours might just...get a little contagious." Looking back at Jack, he added, "And you're actually pretty witty with your words too, so part of the blame goes to you. Now are you getting out of bed or not?"

"No," Jack replied stubbornly, lying back down and covering his head with his sheets. "I'm never getting out of bed."

"Get up or I'm calling Cody and he'll scream at you until you get up."

"How do you even have his number?" Jack asked, not fazed.

"I looked through your contacts," Jamie said triumphantly. "And if you really don't mind him, then I'll just get my mom. She was so stressed about you when you just disappeared on all of us. I mean, she may get why you did it, but you can't be sure that she won't go psycho if she finds out that now you're being hardheaded and won't get out of bed..." He left the warning lingering in the air.

Jack sat up in bed promptly. "I'm up. Don't you dare sic your mom on me."

"Dad, are you sure I should already be going to school just two days after we came here?" Hazel Campbell sighed as she watched her frantic father move various large cardboard boxes around the living room.

"Well I can't change that now, can I?" Mr. Campbell panted after pushing a particularly large box containing their new sofa to the side. "Besides, your education is your number one priority, and if you miss your first day there, you won't be leaving a very good impression on your teachers. I can handle all this stuff by myself."

"If my teachers do end up thinking I'm a delinquent who likes cutting class, they won't for long. I'll just suck up to them," Hazel said confidently. Back at her old school, she had a reputation for being the teacher's pet.

Colin only gave her an exasperated look. "Are you saying you want to skip school?"

"No!" Hazel squeaked quickly, not liking that idea at all. She strived for a perfect attendance record. "I'm going now then. Bye."

She turned on the heel of her boot and opened the front door. She was about to step outside when Colin suddenly rushed over and pushed the door closed again. "On second thought," he began sheepishly, "I think it's best if you stay for another minute or two."

Hazel frowned. "Why? What's out there?"

"You know...a boy. Two boys, actually."

Hazel glanced out the window that was next to the door. Sure enough, two boys, backpacks slung over their shoulders, were walking down the sidewalk, right past her house. However...

"Dad, one of those boys looks like he's only in his first year of middle school."

"You can never be too sure! Maybe he just...hasn't gone through puberty yet?"

Hazel turned to him with an unimpressed expression on her face. "I doubt it."

"Okay, but... What about that other guy? He's clearly around your age! If you go out there, he'll undoubtedly do something to you!"

"...Why would he do anything when there's that middle school boy standing right nexta to him?"

"I don't know, maybe he's an accomplice!"

Hazel rolled her eyes and looked back out the window. The little boy obviously was not a problem, and she was sure the older boy wasn't either. As if on cue, she saw the latter yawn tiredly. So maybe he was a little bit of the slacker type, but overall, he didn't seem so bad.

Turning to her dad again, Hazel said, "Dad, you need to stop treating boys like they're the plague. I'm seventeen years old, and if I wanted a boyfriend or anything, I would've gotten one by now. Also, even if I did have a significant other, there's no need to worry. You know I'm not careless when it comes to deciding who I should get close to." And frankly, you give off the impression that you think I'm a slut.

Colin looked down. "It's only natural for a man to worry about his daughter..."

Hazel sighed, and then gave him a quick hug. "I understand. Look, I really want to leave now before I'm late. I'll be home right after school's over."

Colin smiled and hugged her back. "Love you."

"Love you too." Hazel pulled away and opened the door again. She walked outside, down the front steps, and began her way down the sidewalk. The two boys she had spotted earlier were now a few yards ahead of her. Contemplating, she weighed the choices of whether she should try and talk to them. Surely her dad wouldn't be happy, but since they had been going down her street, they were most likely her neighbors. Yes, it'd be nice to get to know the people living next door. Her mind made up, she hurried to catch up to them.

"Excuse me!"

Jack and Jamie stopped their small talk and turned to see a girl jogging to approach them. She had brunette locks of hair that went only right past her shoulders. The bottom strands had been curled to give them a bouncy look, and she had some lighter brown undertones in some places. She had brown eyes to match her hair, and she wore a smile that showed her dimples and cheerful attitude.

"Uh, hey," Jack greeted back, albeit a little hesitantly. "Do you...need anything?"

The girl's smile faltered for a bit. "Er... No. I just wanted to say hi. My family and I just moved here, and I'm heading to school and...yeah." God, this is more awkward than I thought it would be...

Jamie apparently agreed, because he remarked aloud, "The atmosphere right now seems so stiff."

"Yeah..." Jack agreed. "Uh, are you the one who moved in that house we just passed? Everyone else who lives here heard that it got sold."

"Yup! Are you going to Burgess High School? 'Cause that's where I'm going."

"Oh yeah. Do you want to come with? I'm Jack, by the way. This here is Jamie."

"Are you guys brothers?" Hazel asked curiously.

Jack and Jamie shared a look. "Not really..." the former trailed off.

"More like cousins," Jamie offered. He didn't particularly approve of fibbing, but both he and Jack were rather sick of having to use that unnecessary, much more complicated lie Jack had previously come up with.

Jack nodded, playing along. "Yeah. Cousins. My own parents are away on a business trip," he added onto the lie, in case Hazel questioned where his (very, very dead) parents were.

Hazel nodded slowly. "Okay... Well, I'm Hazel. Hazel Campbell. Nice to meet you!"

Jack offered a small smile back. "Ditto."

"What locker number do you have? I'll take you to it." Jack leaned over and peeked at the slip of paper in Hazel's hand. Her other hand held a copy of the school map she had grabbed when she passed by the principal's office.

Hazel frowned and hid the paper that contained her locker number and combination behind her back. "Hey, not so fast. I'm not comfortable with sharing my combo with anyone."

Jack blinked for a bit, then grinned cheekily. "Who says I was gonna peek?"

"That grin of yours, that's who," Hazel retorted. "Anyway, my number's 3418. Know where that is?"

Jack thought for a bit. "Yeah... I think my friend has the locker right next to it. Come on, it's this way."

He led her down the hallway and to the left, where a row of lockers occupied the walls. A couple people were there already, opening them and either fishing out or putting in books. Down at the far end, a certain Asian redhead was busy entering the combo for his own compartment.

Jack grabbed Hazel's arm and took her over to the redhead. "Yo, Anton!"

Anton looked up. "Oh, hey, Jack. What's up?" His eyes trailed over to Hazel. "...Who's this?"

"New student. Hazel, this is Anton, our resident Asian redhead. Anton, this is Hazel, my new neighbor."

"Oh yeah!" Anton smiled. "I thought you looked familiar. Me and my sister saw you with your dad unloading stuff from the moving truck the other day."

"Yeah, I saw you too! Except I didn't really get a good look at your face, so I only saw you had red hair... I didn't notice that you were an Asian as well..." Hazel paused, then shouted, "Is that even genetically possible?!"

"No," Jack loftily interrupted before Anton could put a word in. "Even though he insists it's natural, the rest of us are sure it's fake."

"No! Listen here, Overland! Do you know how hard it is to be both an Asian and a redhead?!" Anton exploded, completely dropping his usual friendliness. "I get accused of dying my hair all the time! I don't need your input too! Now shut up before I smack the Caucasian out of you and turn you black!"

Hazel looked absolutely dumbfounded while an unfazed Jack gleefully rubbed it in, "That made about as much sense as your hair!"

Anton heaved a sigh and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Well, I hope that lets you know that you shouldn't call my hair fake," he muttered to Hazel.

Hazel laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, I don't think I want my ethnicity slapped out of me..."

"I couldn't care either way," Jack piped up cheerfully. "If I turn black, l'll simply go the Eddie Murphy route!"

"Jack, why do I like you?" Anton deadpanned.

"Because I'm special!"

"Yeah, you're special and deserve special treatment."

"Like being treated like royalty?"

"No, like being locked up in a mental facility."

By now, Hazel had started to pay no heed to the banter going on beside her, and she entered her combo for her locker. Opening it, she took the books that were contained in her bag and put them in neatly, one by one. As if on cue, the first bell rang once she finished.

Starting, she hurriedly turned to the two boys, who were still arguing. "Hey, do you know where..." She looked down at her schedule. "...the performance art classroom is?"

"Hm? Yeah, both of us have it for sixth period. Go back the way you came, and continue straight down till you reach the end of the hallway," Anton instructed. "The door's usually open, and the room's bigger than most of the other classes. You can't miss it."

"Isn't that also Cody's first class?" Jack questioned.

"Oh yeah, it is." Anton turned back to Hazel. "Good luck dealing with him every morning."

Hazel frowned. "Do you guys have a problem with this Cody person?"

Jack only shrugged and shook his head while Anton nodded matter-of-factly.

"I'm...getting mixed signals. Is he bad?"

"He's not that bad," Jack disagreed.

"He's horrible," Anton stated at the same time as Jack.

Jack glared at him. "You know, for the past couple weeks, I had thought you guys were improving your relationship."

"He dropped a rock on my foot," Anton retorted.

"He'd do that to anybody," Jack shot back. "Besides, you beat him at DDR. That should be enough compensation."

"I beat him at a game. He dropped a rock on my foot and gave me a nasty bruise. I sense some strong inequality here. And besides, you said he's not that bad. Not that bad. So basically, he's still bad to some extent."

"But wait, what does he look like?" Hazel interrupted before they could continue further. "I'm curious, and also, if you want me to avoid him, I need to recognize him."

"Not that I want you to avoid him, but he's got, uh, black hair that sorta falls over his right eye—" Jack began.

"That's messy and unorganized like crap," Anton groaned.

Jack rolled his eyes before continuing, "And he wears all black—"

"Because it matches the color of his heart," Anton added once again.

Jack glared at him again. "And if that doesn't give him away, he's just got this misanthropic attitude that radiates off of his body—"

"Rude as hell."

"Dude, just stop that!" Jack snapped at him.

"So... He's basically like a walking black hole?" Hazel asked. "He's just black all over?"

"Pretty much, but sometimes you'll see him with red undertones...also he's white—"

"Not for long, I'll smack that ethnicity out and turn him black," Anton grinned.

Jack was silent for a moment, then grudgingly admitted, "Okay, that was actually pretty clever and funny. And the only thing else is that he has blue eyes."

"...Okay, I actually think his eyes are beautiful, but can we pretend that that's an insult?" Anton asked hopefully.

"Absolutely not," Jack said monotonously.

Anton scowled. "You suck."

"Uh, yeah, okay, I think I'm going to head to class now," Hazel spoke up. "I don't want to be late on my first day. See you guys!"

Once she was gone and out of earshot, an unimpressed Jack turned to Anton and deadpanned, "Beautiful eyes, huh? I'm seriously contemplating on telling him that."

"Do that, and I'll spread rumors about you!" Anton smiled innocently. "This is when my status as the vice principal's son comes in handy!"

"...We are not discussing this any further."

When Hazel entered the room, she immediately spotted a boy who matched Jack (and Anton's) exact description talking to the teacher at her desk. He was pretty cute, though Jack and Anton were too. Maybe if it weren't for that deadpan expression that was on his face, matched by the equally deadpan tone of voice Hazel was sure he was using as he spoke to the teacher, she would have had a better first impression of him.

She shook her head out of her thoughts. Wait for a bit, Hazel. You haven't even properly talked to him yet. Don't judge so quickly.

She promptly found an empty chair and lowered herself into it, hoping that it wasn't occupied (Most of the students were already in the classroom and were chatting amongst themselves). When her behind barely touched the seat, one other boy suddenly came rushing into the room and plopped himself right next to her. He heaved a relieved sigh, muttering, "Thank god the bell hasn't rung yet..."

"Um...hi?" Hazel said, sounding more like she was asking something.

The boy looked up, noticing her for the first time, and abruptly straightened himself, clearing his throat. "Um, hello. I've never seen you in here before. Are you a new kid?"

Hazel nodded. "Yeah, I'm Hazel. Hazel Campbell." God, if Dad knew just how many guys I've talked to already, he would flip.

"I'm Conrad Montgomery. Nice to meet you!" Conrad flashed a charismatic, friendly smile.

Hazel offered a small smile back. "Likewise. Um..." She looked down at her seat. "Is this seat taken? I don't want to steal anyone's seat."

Conrad shook his head. "Nah, we don't have assigned seats in this class. Pretty neat, eh?" He winked at her.

She nodded. Her eyes trailed back to whom she was sure was Cody, just as he was rolling his eyes at his teacher. The latter seemed unfazed by his attitude, which threw Hazel off. Most teachers would at least call out their students for showing disrespect towards their superior.

Conrad noticed her attention on Cody, leaning in and whispering teasingly, "Don't tell me you already have a crush when your first class on your first day hasn't even started."

Hazel snapped out of her reverie and stared at Conrad. "No! He just stands out! You can tell he's not like a part of the normal student body! And besides, he's not my type." It was true. Hazel didn't particularly fancy boys like Cody. Or at least, what she presumed Cody to be like. Not that she was interested in dating in the first place.

Conrad smirked. "Sure, sure. Then what is your type?"

"I like down-to-earth, friendly people who have a good sense of humor." She thought about Anton. He surely seemed to fulfill that list, despite the nonsensical thing he was saying about slapping someone's race out of them (Hazel ultimately decided to file that whole incident under 'good sense of humor,' though she doubted he was joking). As for Jack... Eh, too much of a troublemaker.

"Like me?" Conrad's mischievous look grew. "I'm pretty sure I'm all of those things."

"Nope. Too flirty, too forward, and too full of himself," Hazel stated. "Besides, I'm not saying I'm considering dating. I'd rather focus on my studies for now, and also, my overprotective dad would be out for blood."

Conrad feigned sadness. "You just rejected me hard."

"We haven't even known each other for more than two minutes," Hazel replied offhandedly, though she couldn't keep a smile from reaching her lips. Conrad seemed like a nice person. It felt nice to already make a friend on her first day. She remembered back in Philadelphia, she had a hard time finding a whole lot of friends due to her introverted nature. When she and her family had moved to Burgess, she had made a resolution to be more social at her new school. And so far, it was paying off (She would probably have to lie to her dad about the gender of her newfound friends though).

She was brought back out of her thoughts when she suddenly saw a third person's leg swing itself at Conrad. She only had time to open her mouth to warn Conrad when the latter was kicked rather viciously right in his side. He yelped and fell right out of his chair, causing Hazel to squeak and look up in horror at his attacker. His clothes were all black, and his equally dark hair fell perfectly over past his forehead and just about covered his right eye. Hazel stared, realizing she hadn't gotten a good and close enough look at him when she had glanced at him talking to the teacher.

Conrad groaned and rubbed his side, sitting up on the floor. "Oh god, that's gonna leave a mark..." He eyed Cody wearily. "What was that for?"

"I heard you were flirting with a chick again," Cody said, his voice just as flat as Hazel had imagined. "Would you mind not doing that in here? You're just gonna make me puke all over the floor. And when I get sent up to the school nurse, don't be surprised if I put all the blame on you." He plopped himself right onto the now empty chair. "Also, this seat is mine. I give zero fucks how this class doesn't have a seating chart, so don't object."

Severe irritation welled up inside Hazel, now that she had realized that Cody had just kicked a completely innocent person out of chair with what looked to be a very heavy boot. And now, he was insulting Conrad for simply being friendly to the new girl? "Hey!" she shouted. "You can't just literally kick someone out of their seat and then take it like you didn't do anything!"

Cody turned to give her a withering look, acknowledging her presence for the first time. He didn't look at her for more than a second before his eyes dropped to look at something below her face. Hazel couldn't figure out what exactly he was looking at until he deadpanned, "Where are your tits?"

Hazel blinked twice before the meaning of those four words hit her full force. Her jaw dropped, and she looked down at her (very, very flat) chest. Her head raised again to meet Cody's indifferent expression. He offhandedly brushed his bangs away, revealing his raised eyebrow and crystal blue eyes, which immediately connected with Hazel's own...well, hazel ones. And suddenly, to Hazel, the world around the two of them disappeared. She didn't hear the late bell ring, nor could she see Conrad's awkward expression as he made poor attempts at trying to start a new conversation topic in order to ease the obvious tension in the air. The only thing her eyes and ears could see and hear at that moment was Cody and the echo of that short, rhetorical but oh-so-wrong question he had asked her. Of course, she didn't exactly have high expectations when she first noticed him, but she didn't think he would be so low to make fun of one of her most personal issues.

And that was the exact moment Hazel Campbell ultimately decided that she did not like Cody Gray. Anton turned out to be right, this boy was horrible. And she would do her best to stay away.

Ahhhh first chapter done. I was anticipating for this sequel so much, I had written it in advance. So here ya go. Found it a little awkward and weak, but I'm pretty sure the execution will start flowing better once I get used to the fact that this is no longer Powerless Guardian. And Hazel doesn't seem too likable either, but again, she should be a smoother and more realistic character once I get used to her (You'd think I would already be considering she's been in my brain for ages). Also CONRAD IS NOT A LOVE INTEREST. JUST PUTTING THAT OUT THERE.

Anyway, it's clear to me that this first chapter was a little Hazel-centric. But don't worry, the next chapter should focus on the other OCs all you readers know and love. Zander and Spencer will come in as well.

ALSO let me clarify something about the whole 'hey I'm gonna smack and turn you black' thing. I have absolutely no prejudice against any race whatsoever. That little thing wasn't meant to be insulting or discriminatory, so please please please don't be offended by that. I despise every kind of racism, and I'll be nice and put out there that Anton does too. I'm saying this now because I just know someone's going to take this wrong. And some of you don't read these ANs, so someone's still bound to misconstrue Anton's comment, but whatever.

Byeeeee and review~