"Coraline Burton, would you please answer my question?"

I blinked quickly, dragged from my thoughts, and looked up. The class snickered as I stared at my teacher, Mrs. Redwood.

"Sorry, Mrs. Redwood. What was the question?" I asked, attempting to act all innocent. Hint: it didn't work.

Mrs. Redwood signed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I asked if you could tell me what reciprocal meant," she told me.

"Oh. A reciprocal is when you switch the numorator and the denominator of a fraction."

The woman narrowed her eyes, but eventually nodded. "Good."

As she went back to her teaching. I looked out the large wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor window beside my desk. A strange car had parked in the parking lot. It was short, but long. The sun shone on the black metal, almost blinding me. On the front was a strange shape, like a cat's head. The head had two white rhinestones as eyes. The whole thing reminded me of the Bat Mobile.

A tall, lean man got out of the driver's side. When I say tall, I mean tall. He was wearing a black pinstripe suit and loafers, which shined just as bright as the car. He had long, black, slicked back hair and pale skin.

I watched as the man walked up to the school building and disappeared inside.

I jumped as the school bell rang, and quickly gathered my books.

"Joan!" I called, chasing after my friend. She turned and smiled.

"Coraline! Manage to survive class?" She called as I caught up. We started walking to lunch.

"Just barely. I got caught once. Mrs. Redwood knows better than to call on me. I'm always clueless as a bat when it comes to fractions. It was just luck that I knew what a reciprocal was."

Joan smiled and we entered the lunchroom. I got my usual salad, while she grabbed the last chicken sandwich. We headed to our table, where Leo was already sitting.

"Hey there, girls. Just touching up!" He said. Everyday at lunch, Leo would do some sort of cartoon or comic. As he showed us today's, I read the title: Ninja Grandma.

I looked at him, an eyebrow raised, while Joan was howling with laughter.

"Ninja Grandma? Really?"

He laughed and took it back. "I'm just joking," he said, and handed me another sheet.

"Zanzu's Riegn. Well, it's better than Ninja Grandma. What's it about?"

"This kid, Zanzu, he does this really heroic thing, and is crowned king. But the responsibility is too much for him, and-"

But Leo never got to finish his explanation as the whole cafeteria went silent. All heads turned as the door opened, and a man walked in.

It was the man I had seen get out of Bat Mobile. I watched as he walked through the tables, coming closer to me.

"Hello, Miss Coraline," he said as he stood right next to me. I gulped. His voice was so familiar, it was driving me crazy.

"H-hello," I stuttered.

The man bent down so we were eye level. I felt Joan beside me scoot back.

"I would like you to come with me," he said, and walked off. After a few steps, the man looked back. I was still sitting at the table.

"Well? Let's go."

Slowly, I got up, handing the paper back to Leo. Waving goodbye to my friends, I hurried after the man.

I relaxed as we left the cafeteria, and the other students' stares.

"Excuse me, but, who are you?"

"I wish to not say right now, but trust me, you know me."

"Okay... Are we leaving the school? Should I get my backpack?"

"You will not come back, but I advise you to leave all of that here. It will slow us down."

I decided not to ask any more questions. I've seen enough movies to know that when things like this accure, nobody answers any questions. So we walked on in silence, until we reached the door.

Stepping outside, I couldn't believe it. When I left class, it had been sunny and cloudless. Now rain was pouring so fast I could almost see my reflection in the water.

The man turned to me. "Let's have a little walk."

"In this? Are you crazy?"

"Past."

I crossed my arms. "Sorry, but I don't know you. I never go off with someone I don't personally know, like family."

"You don't personally know your teachers or friends. Yet you go to school everyday."

Ugh. Why is he being so difficult? "Fine. Let's go then."

I imidiatly regretted my choice as we stepped into the rain. Each individual droplet felt like a dagger digging into my skin. Yet the man seemed unfazed as he kept walking.

Soon we entered the woods near the school. Now, I've never liked woods. The scampering animals, the tall towering trees, the noises, it was all very unsettling.

I looked up at the man. "I'd be lying if I said I weren't bored."

The man chuckled and we kept walking.

After a moment, the rain ceased, until it stopped altogether. But something kept falling, small little flakes.

I looked up, and what I saw made me stop in horror.

The man had kept walking, yet now he was growing taller and taller. His skin was flaking away, leaving a pale round skull. His suit grew spokes at the collar, and thin white stripes snaked down. The same cat head from the car appeared on the front of his suit.

I know knew where I had heard his voice as I fell back.

"You... You're..."

The man turned, facing his large black eyes on me. His wide mouth twisted into a smile. He knelt down so that we were eye level once more, and held out his hand.

"Jack Skellington. It is such an honor to finally meet you, Miss Coraline."