The guy caught her before she completely collapsed to the ground. Lifting her up to a standing position, he pulled back slightly to look directly in her face. He spoke quickly, his voice sounding panicked. In the background, as if from far away, Nisha could hear a cold, deadly voice that echoed in the room.

"Nisha, I want to say that I'm not normally this forward with a girl I just met. Also, please remember I'm doing this to save your life. Try to keep that in the forefront of your mind." The guy wrapped his arms around her, pressing her very close to him. She could feel warmth coming off his body. "Just try to shiver as much as possible, alright? All I want you to focus on is my voice and making your body shiver."

"Do not think to test me, Young One."

The warmth from the guy was very gradual and slow. "I know you're really scared, cold, and confused right now, but I can't expose you to a lot of heat too quickly. Honestly, this probably isn't the best way to do this, but it's kind of an emergency."

"You are nothing more than a boogeyman created by a human who wanted to win a contest. I am the very force of nature that is winter. Do you truly believe that you can win against me?"

She tried to do as the guy said, shivering hard against him. His arms were the only thing holding her upright at the moment. She stared up at him, trying to tell him something. Her throat was still too cold to let her speak. Instead she forced her eyes to move, glancing down. He watched her closely, his burning gaze studying her. Then he glanced down as well. She heard him let out a soft breath of understanding.

"If you dare scare Nisha again, I will eat you."

"Okay. Not to sound like an old record player, but I'm not usually this forward. I swear I'm not doing this with any lecherous thoughts in mind. Just to save your life. Keep shivering, Nisha," he repeated before inhaling sharply. His left arm tightened around her, while his right raised up. Sliding between the skin of her collarbone and under her red sweater, he reached down her shirt.

Nisha was much too cold to feel any embarrassment, though she was very slowly growing warmer. She forced herself to stop thinking about the feel of his warm hand against the top of her breasts. Instead she made herself focus on shivering. Her teeth began to chatter, if only a little. His hand grasped the teardrop necklace, slowly lifting it up and out from under her shirt. As quickly as possible, he shifted his hold to the chain, not touching the stone for very long. She was able to move her head a little and could barely make out that it was glowing again. Just like when Jack had transformed in front of Grace and her just two days ago.

"Never think to threaten again what is mine. I can easily destroy you."

"Holy hell," he breathed out in shock. His burning gaze stared into her eyes. "Hell," he repeated again, a dazed look of amazement of his face. She could hear the hiss of steam as the cold of the stone reacted to the brief heat of his hand.

"I will freeze your bones until they are nothing more than glass, so fragile. With a single touch you will shatter into a million pieces and I will have my very own delicacy. Slender Man popcorn to eat!" the deadly voice laughed out in icy humor.

The guy held the necklace as far away from her body as he could manage, without breaking the chain or loosening his hold around her. "So..." he let out a tiny laugh. "This is an awkward way to introduce myself, I suppose. My name is Alec Canis. It's nice to meet you, Nisha Caldwell." She could only bob her head in a small nod in response.

"Do not doubt that I will make good on my threat."

"Mr. Frost!" the teacher seemed to have finally found her voice. Alec shifted so that Nisha could see the rest of the class. She got her first sight of Jack, who she had barely recognized as being the speaker of that deadly cold, calm voice from earlier.

His skin tone was canvas white, and his hair had lengthened even more, stopping at the middle of his back. When his head turned to face the front of the classroom, she tensed in Alec's arms. His eyes had changed once again. The irises were a glowing icy-blue, like the color of the teardrop stone. The pupils were snow white and slit, like a cat's. His face had transformed slightly as well. A very faint, nearly impossible to see on his pale skin, white tattoo-like mark had formed along the left side of his face. It looked like cold frost slowly creeping over his skin. His eyes were seething with a cold fury and they flashed in a terrifying way when they caught sight of Nisha in another guy's arms.

"Mr. Frost, you are completely out of line! Recall back your powers and remove yourself to the hallway this instant!" the teacher yelled.

Jack's gaze flickered to the tree-woman before shifting back to Nisha's scared face. What he saw seemed to make him calm down. He inhaled deeply, returning to normal. All the ice faded away in an instant, as if it had never existed. Silently, not looking at Nisha again, he walked out of the room. The teacher paused only long enough to place a comforting hand on Nisha's shoulder before following after him.

As soon as the door closed, Alec stepped back. She noticed that his eyes were slowly shifting as well, returning to their earlier green color. Nisha was still shivering, but her body temperature wasn't at such threatening levels anymore. The class was silent. Going slowly, Alec helped her to her seat. She slumped in it, feeling super weak. He sat down at his own desk and she realized he was right next to her, on her left, in the front middle of the room. "Thank you," she was finally able to whisper faintly. The teardrop stone was slowly warming back up to room temperature. Reaching up with shaky hands, she placed it back under her shirt.

He turned to gaze at her. "No problem. Quite the crazy first day for you. Don't feel bad though. Jack's usually pretty wild and uncontrollable."

She nodded; desperately wanting to close her eyes and go to sleep for the next five years. "Yeah...he certainly is," she agreed softly.

He leaned on his desk, moving a little closer to her. "So...what exactly was that all about? He seemed really, um...concerned about you. Even if it was in an ill-mannered way."

She slowly opened her eyes, wanting to lie. Well, it wasn't really a lie. As far as she was concerned, Jack wasn't her fiancé and saying otherwise was the lie. But there was no way she would be able to not go along with the plans of the Frost family, for now. If nothing else, the little gossip that was Millie had probably begun spreading the word downstairs to everyone who would listen. "He's my fiancé," she said, barely managing to keep the bitter, sarcastic tone from her voice.

At her confession, she heard the sounds of the other students whispering among their selves, voices filled with disbelief.

Alec's eyes grew wide. "Ah...that would explain why you are here then. I suspected as much, but I wasn't sure and I didn't want to assume. Jack's pretty high maintenance, but deep down he's a good guy."

Nodding again, she swallowed back a laugh. Jack was indeed high maintenance. In fact, it was the perfect way to describe him. "Thank you," she repeated, her voice a little stronger. "It really was an awkward situation. But, as you said, your quick reaction saved my life."

He shrugged. "I got the feeling he was about to explode a few seconds before it happened."

They fell quiet for another minute. A dark, disturbing presence from behind her made her freeze. Suddenly, making her jump in her chair, a whiteboard was placed in front of her face, held in colorless, slender fingers.

Do you know why I sit in the very back of the class? it read. Before she could respond, another sentence was before her. The handwriting had shifted into something that was filled with a lot of edges, looking straight out of a horror movie, freaking her out even more. I like to approach my victims from behind so they never see me coming.

She let out a tiny pant of fear. I suppose I am expected to apologize to you. Pause. I promise not to eat you. Pause. Jack was very serious indeed. I wasn't expecting that. Pause. I know that he could very easily kill me, even without the threat and show of power. Pause. I will return to my seat now, Nisha Caldwell. Welcome to class 2-B.

Slowly, the looming presence faded away. Her breath came out in a small rush of relief. Alec's voice made her return her attention to him. "Slender, as we refer to him, isn't a royal. He's a special case, just like you. Even though he is only a few years old, as far as his origin is concerned, he is quite powerful. The belief in him, popularity in recent media and culture on the internet makes him is the source of his power. Even so, he isn't strong enough to be considered a royal. But he is the only one of his kind. As such, he has been forced to go through the schooling here to learn of the Other realm. He originally knew nothing of it at all. He was born in the Human world, with no knowledge of the existence of another world connected to it. The ORGR heard rumors of him and searched him out. When they found him, they dragged him back."

She raised her eyebrows at his story. "The ORGR, what's that stand for?"

It was his turn for his eyebrows to shoot up in alarm. "Are you serious? How long have you been here? It stands for the Other Realm Guard Regiment. They are essentially the police of the Others, both those living in this world and in the Human world. They enforce the laws and bring criminals back to be judged and punished," he explained. His voice and expression told her that he couldn't believe she didn't know about all of this.

He suddenly changed the subject, his green eyes studying her face very closely. "Do I know you?" he asked, startling her. "I'm can't seem to remember how or why, but you look very familiar to me."

She blinked, taking in his face closely as well. "Um...maybe? You seem sort of familiar to me as well." The picture of herself as a child, on the hill, with the boy at her feet, flashed in her mind. "Oh! Did you use to live in the Human world?"

He nodded slowly. "Yes. I lived there until I was about ten, before my parents made me come back to the Other realm and enroll in this school. Perhaps that is how I know you."

She nodded. "I think so as well."

He grinned warmly. "Well, it's nice to meet you again, Nisha Caldwell."

She smiled in answer. "You too, Alec Canis." Well, she thought. That's one mystery answered. Now she knew who the boy in the photo was.

The classroom door slowly opened and Jack walked in, the teacher right behind him. He didn't look around. He walked to his desk, sat down, and brooded in silence. The teacher moved to the front of the class, clearing her throat. "Well! Now that that little fiasco is over, we will use the last of homeroom to take roll. Class, when I call out your name, please stand and say what race you are. I will start us off. I am Mrs. Ainsley Syrinx, a wood nymph." The teacher began calling out student names.

"Amelia Amiri, light elf." A tall, slender blonde girl rose to her feet, looking like a vision made of light and air. Nisha instantly recognized her voice as the prissy girl who had asked about her family name.

"Thomas Amiri, a dark elf," came an annoyed reply. This boy's appearance reflected his race just as much as Amelia. Nisha assumed they were siblings or cousins and wondered how they could be both similar but different races.

"Nisha Caldwell," she stood up slightly, "human."

Pausing long enough to give her a little wink, Alec rose to his feet. "Alec Canis, hellhound." Nisha's eyes widened. A hellhound? That she hadn't been expecting. Besides his last name, which she knew meant 'dog' in Latin, she had expected something more...fiery? If his abilities were strong enough to at least partly stop Jack's, to her mind at least, he had to be powerful indeed. Granted, she had only ever really seen Jack's abilities, but nearly ever time he used them, he came close to killing her. Then again, with magic like what he had, it wasn't very surprising. Alec sat back down, grinning at her surprised expression.

Another guy rose to his feet. He had bright red hair, with gold and orange streaks of highlights offsetting the red. His hair fell to the middle of his back in a straight mass. His eyes were a brilliant, glowing gold, with black slit pupils. "Nathan Draco, dragon," he said in a confident, carrying voice. It was hard to make out, but his skin looked like it had scales right below the surface, covered up by his tan complexion.

A short girl with white and black stripped hair shot to her feet. Her voice was the type that you knew was the very happy sort. She laughed slightly, glancing at Nisha, watching for her reaction. "My name's Peri Epona, pegasus. Pleased to meet you."

Jack rose to his feet, his expression and voice filled with weariness. "Jack Frost, ice spirit, ice demon. Take your pick."

"Trevor Jaris, werewolf." A tall, broadly-built guy stood up. He had dark blue eyes, which were currently glued to her, and shaggy black hair that fell into his face and ended at his shoulders. When he caught her gaze, he grinned, revealing very sharp looking teeth.

She turned her head, shifting in her seat, when Alec did. Slender, the creepy bastard, was quickly writing on his whiteboard. The Slender Man, though the 'the' is not required to address me, it's just a formality. Pause. Boogeyman, demon, fae, monster? Who knows? I certainly don't.

She tried not to laugh, biting her lip to swallow it back. Nisha wasn't ready to forgive him for the scare he had given her just fifteen minutes before. But she was beginning to get the impression that, somehow, Slender had a bizarre sense of humor.

The final student, another girl, rose to her feet. Nisha was amazed by her hair. It was the coolest thing she had seen yet. It was blue, the color of flames at the very hottest they could be. It almost seemed alive somehow, the texture looking like feathers. Her eyes were slightly large for her head, but not by an extreme amount. The irises were bright yellow, the pupils large and round, a blue color as well. "Etna Welsta, phoenix."

Mrs. Syrinx let out a long sigh. "Well, alright then, class. The bell should be going off any second now, giving you five minutes to get up and stretch your legs out. Mr. Man, I would like to speak with you out in the hall." Turning on her heel, she headed out. As soon as she was gone, most of the students rose to their feet.

A few seconds later, Slender did as well. Standing up, he was nearly twelve feet tall, forced to hunch awkwardly as he walked by the seats. When he passed by Nisha on his way out the door, she could feel that creepy, menacing aura that seemed to surround him. He paused only long enough to lift a hand and make it into thumbs up at her.

By this point she was incredibly confused. Once he had closed the door behind him, she sighed heavily. "I don't know what to make of him. He terrifies and creeps me out. He also just wanted to eat me earlier...But now he almost seems to be acting as if we're long-lost friends."

Alec chuckled. "I've never been able to understand him very well either. You aren't alone in that respect. I say you just take it as a compliment and a sign that he really won't try to harm you." The bell rang suddenly, making Nisha jump.

Instinctively, she glanced across the room to where Jack sat. Part of her expected him to jump up and come running to her side, all excited and happy, like normal. But he wasn't even looking at her. He was staring out the window, which showed a late summer morning sky, empty of clouds. She shook her head, trying to clear it of those thoughts. If he didn't come over to talk to her, what should it matter? If anything, he just made it easier for her. She'd get some space away from him, instead of having him breathing down her neck 24/7.

"You worried about Jack?" Alec's voice cut through her thoughts.

She blinked, turning to face him. "N-no," she muttered. "Not in the least."

A slow grin spread over his face. "Ah...certainly not."

She glared at him. "Don't even start," she growled.

He laughed, his eyes lighting up with mirth. "I'm sorry. You're just so cute."

At his words, Nisha's eyes automatically moved back to Jack once again. She had expected some sort of reaction from a statement like that, especially from another guy. Alec's voice certainly hadn't been very quiet. Still though, Jack just stared out the window. Unconsciously, she let out an annoyed huff of breath.

Laughing more, Alec watched her for several seconds. "Something tells me its not all hugs and kisses between you two."

Sighing, she leaned on top of her desk, laying her head down. "I guess you could say that," she murmured.

The bell rang once again, Slender and Mrs. Syrinx returning into the room right before it did. All the students returned to their seats. A knock at the door was followed close behind by the sound of it opening and a familiar voice. "Miss Caldwell, please follow me."

Her head rising up in a rush, the first thing she saw was Headmaster Blake's black eyes. He was grinning in that ghoulish manner from the day before. Her mind spinning, worried that she was getting in trouble for everything that had already happened this morning, she rose from her desk.

"Ah, yes. Please bring your things." Blinking, she moved to pull out her books and binder from the shelf under the top of the desk. Straightening, she followed behind as he led the way out of the classroom and downstairs. They kept going until reaching the second floor. Turning to the left, he opened the door into a classroom labeled 1-B. It was decorated like how she would expect a classroom for any young children would be.

As she sat down, looking around the classroom in a small amount of confusion, he flashed his sharp mouthful of teeth. "The first and second graders are placed in the same class. Since there are only six of them total, they only need to take up 1-A."

She was sitting in a desk at the very front again. Opening the textbook and her notebook, she glanced back up at him. "Are you suppose to be my teacher for this class then?"

He smiled oily. "I'm your teacher for all your 'special' classes until I feel you are caught up enough to handle the majority of our normal second year high school material."

"Oh," she said, leaning back into her seat. "How does that work out? Don't you need to be all...headmastery, or something?"

He laughed that evil laugh of his. She couldn't help but shudder in fear. His black eyes gleamed at her reaction. "Perhaps, but all the teachers know of what is going on and where to find me if I am needed. Also, I am getting paid for my services."

Nisha frowned. "You are? By who?"

His tone and face became even more disturbing as his mouth opened wide, smile stretching from ear to ear. The black, thick flames coming out of his neck flickered before suddenly growing larger, reaching to three feet taller than before. After a second, it died down, returning to only two feet in height. "Why, by you of course, my dear. The fear you feel when you are around me, look at me, hear my voice. It's all quite delicious."

She stared at him for several seconds, before sighing heavily. This place never ceased to amaze and confuse her in equal parts. "Okay...so you want to use me as a bizarre...fear buffet?" She took his soft chuckle as an affirmative. She smirked, a thought suddenly coming to her. "I also get the feeling you want to use me to get close to my grandmother as well."

She had the disturbing privilege to see his pale cheeks brighten slightly in a blush. His black flame stuttered for half a second before turning a lighter shade, a dark grey. After half a second, he cleared his throat. "Okay. Look here, girlie. If you at least attempt to help me get in good with your grandmother, I won't be quite so...strict with my teaching. Now, don't expect that to mean I'll give you a free pass. I just mean I might let you take a nap every now and again, if you really need it. We'll do this casual, as co-conspirators, instead of the stiff roles of teacher and student."

Nisha laughed. "Wow...you really must like Nana."

His blush deepened, his flame growing slightly lighter. "Y-yes, I do."

She smiled. "You do realize showing this side of yourself has made it harder for me to fear you, right?"

Blake sighed heavily. "Yes..."

She studied him for several seconds. Blake was still very creepy to her. She still felt a mixture of fear and disgust when she looked at him. Even his embarrassed voice sounded horrible. But at the same time...He didn't seem like too bad of a guy. Just born in a way that made him hard to be perceived as anything but scary and disturbing. "I'm still not too sure how I feel about a...dullahan trying to date Nana, but I'll at least drop your name a few times and hint that maybe you aren't such a bad guy. How many parent-teacher conferences do you have planned out already?" she asked, chin on her hands, elbows bent on the desk, leaning forward.

His free hand waved away her words. "Alright, alright. That's enough teasing this old dullahan." Slowly the blackness returned to his flame and his cheeks grew pale once more. "Now, technically I am a teacher, so perhaps I should be doing my job. Science, that's your second class." He turned, grabbing hold of a black easy-erase marker and beginning to write on the board. In big, sweeping letters he wrote 'FORGET EVERYTHING ELSE YOU'VE EVER LEARNED'.

She blinked, reading the message. "Really?"

Blake turned, grinning. "Exactly that! Basically, nothing you've learned really applies to the Other realm. There are too many things that defy all the 'science' you humans have become so obsessed with in the past five or six centuries. Now. Replace 'science' with 'magic' in your head, since that is the word you're kind uses to describe anything they can't explain or accept." He laughed grimly. "To make matters worse, humans are trying to debunked the existence of 'magic', when they are the ones who brought it into existence to begin with!"

Slowly, she nodded. "A-alright. Just completely forget the past ten years of my school life. That will be super easy."

"So, magic is our form of science here. First, we will begin learning the many, many, many different types. Some you will recognize, I'm sure. But there are some that even the humans are not really aware of. Now, get your notebook out. You'll definitely want to start taking notes. First off you have your very basic stuff. You know, fire, water, earth, and air. Then we move on to things like darkness and..."

The next hour and a half passed. During her literature class, she was assigned Things that Go Bump in the Night: For Creeps to read by the end of next week, after reading aloud the first two chapters in the classroom. Nisha had merely raised an eyebrow at the title before placing it in her pile. Afterward, she left to put her things in her locker and try to figure out where to go for P.E.