Remember ~ JackRabbit / BunnyFrost Chapter 2

"I'm just..worried about Molly.." Jack sighed as he got up from the arm chair and walked slowly over to Bunnymund. Bunny took him in his arms, hugging him tightly while putting his chin gently on top of his head.

"She'll be aright. She's coming back soon." Aster reassured him. But both of them doubted these words.

*

"Okay, we're here." Jamie said as he held onto Molly's hand, walking towards the school's entrance. Molly latched on her friend's hand tightly, suddenly becoming scared. Jamie let go of her and crouched down to her level.

"Hey, you'll be okay. Just remember what your dads said, okay?" He said, helping her put on her small backpack. Molly nodded in reply in a sad manner. She wanted to tell everyone who her dads were; she wanted to show she was proud and happy about it. She never understood why her parents declined her telling anyone about them.

After Jamie took Molly inside, Molly was sent to her new class while Jamie had paperwork handed to him to register Molly into the school. While Jamie stayed in the office, Molly was lead to her first class by a teacher called Miss Thomas. She was a young teacher; maybe in her twenties. She had short brown hair that was tied up in a pony tail and wore a red jumper with a pair of grey trousers and black flats.

She lead Molly into her home class where about twenty different children were sitting behind each of their own single desks. Molly was left to choose where she sat; she chose the last chair on the left near the window in the second row of desks. The only reason she picked this place was because she was near a window and considering it was nearly November, Jack would start bringing snow days soon and Molly wouldn't want to miss any of it if she was in class.

"Aright class, settle down," Miss Thomas said in a kind voice. The class calmed down to silence and Miss Thomas took over the lesson. "Today, we're working on a new project; Family!" She announced happily to the class and a lot of the children began chatting excitedly to each other. Molly looked around, searching for someone to talk to but then decided to stay quiet while the chatter died down.

"Right! So, I'm going to give you a few minutes to write some sentences about your families then you're going to read them out to the class, okay?" Molly's little stomach lurched; she never liked speaking out loud to many people, unless it was to her own family.

Miss Thomas handed out some paper and everyone looked into their bags and brought out pencils. Molly went digging into her bag and took out a new pencil out of her pencil case. When she finally was ready, she stared at her paper for a while. She had to say Jamie was her dad. She sighed quietly to herself and written some sentences about Jamie about how he worked in an important company, he played with her in the snow a lot and in Easter, she'd paint eggs with him until it got quite messy. Molly felt bad she had to write that about Jamie; she wanted to say that Jack always took her out on snow days and that Bunny was the one that she painted Easter eggs with. But she promised and so, she carried on writing.

Once everyone had finished, one by one, everyone began reading out their sentences. Molly couldn't help but smile proudly to herself as she heard how someone's parent worked in a factory, in a bakery or in an office; no one could beat the job of a Guardian. But her sentences were hardly different to everyone else's. She read them out nonchalantly to the class and then was sat down and congratulated.

When the first bell had rung, Molly was told it was time for lunch and to go anywhere she liked, either the lunch cafeteria or the playground. Molly stood outside the classroom until everyone had gone so she wouldn't get shoved in the crowd then began walking towards the lunch room after she hung her backpack on the coat hangers where all the children left their things for lunch. She was suddenly tapped on the shoulder and she turned to see a small girl about her own age with dark brown hair that reached her waist, black rectangular glasses and shy blue eyes. She smiled.

"Hi, can I eat with you? I'm kind of new." She said in an embarrassed tone. Molly smiled.

"Sure. I'm new too, by the way." She added. The two began walking to the lunch room together.

"I'm Jessica, by the way, but a lot of people call me Jess." Jessica smiled at her new friend.

"My name's Molly but my dad sometimes calls me 'snowflake'." She mentally kicked herself almost immediately. Jess looked at her confused.

"Why?"

"Um..because..I really enjoy the snow!" Molly said happily. It was true, she did love the snow. Jess nodded, understanding.

"I love the snow too. Do you think Jack Frost will come around any time soon?" She asked as they both entered the noisy lunch room. Molly instantly smiled; she had a friend who believed.

"I'm sure; Jack Frost never fails to bring snow days." Jessica smiled at her reply as they grabbed some food. They took both of their trays of food on an empty two seater table. They sat opposite each other.

"I probably sound silly believing in him." Jess started, blushing.

"No, no! I believe too. I believe in many others too." Molly said quickly. Jess gave her new friend a small smile.

"Okay, what about the Easter Bunny? Tooth Fairy? Oh, what about Sandman? And Santa!" She asked excitedly. Molly smiled at the mention of her family.

"I'm sure they're all real." Molly confirmed making Jess grin in a joyful manner while taking a bite of her pizza. While Molly took a bite of her French fries, Jess asked another question,

"Is it me, or do you sound a bit Australian?" Molly made an attempt not to choke on her fries then looked Jess, her brain scrambling for an answer.

"Um, no, I don't think so." She lied, swallowing her food slowly. Jess looked confused, staring at her friend for a minute then letting the subject drop.

"Um..could you..keep a secret?" Jess said quietly. Molly nodded, wondering what could be on her friend's mind.

"Well..I have two dads. I haven't told anyone because they said it's not the best idea but you're my friend so I trust you.." Jessica said. Molly smiled.

"That's okay, I have two dads as well.."

"But you said Jamie Bennett was your dad.." Jess said confused. Molly took in a breath.

"Can you keep a secret too?" Jessica nodded.

"Well...my dads are Jack Frost and the Easter Bunny. They also said not to tell and so they sent their friend Jamie to be my dad in school.." Molly looked at her starstruck friend, expecting her to call her a liar or leave just to get away from her. But then Jess gave a short laugh then smiled.

"That's amazing.." She said in a breathless tone. Molly smiled.

"You believe me?"

"Of course, I trust my friends." Jessica smiled. Molly relaxed completely, going back to her food.

"Oh, you know the Australian accent? That's from Bunny..he's Australian. He's not the kind of Easter Bunny you except." Molly started to say excitedly.

"What do you mean?" Jess asked, chewing on her last piece of pizza.

"He's about 6 feet tall, he wears a bit of an armour and also carries around boomerangs."

"What about Jack?" Jess asked excitedly.

"Um, he has white hair like snow, he regularly wears a blue hoodie and brown trousers. Also, he carries around this hooked staff he uses to bring snow days with and to fly. Oh, and his teeth are really white, it kinda doesn't help since Auntie Tooth won't stop looking at them everyday." Molly giggled.

"Tooth?"

"Toothiana. Tooth Fairy. She's kinda covered in feathers in a way, like mostly green, some blue and gold and pink. Her eyes are purple-pink and she has really pretty eyelashes. And she's obsessed with my dad Jack's teeth." Jess giggled at Tooth's character.

For the rest of the lunch hour, Molly kept talking about her Guardian family happily as Jessica listened with excited expressions. When walking outside, waiting for the end of lunch bell to ring, Molly was suddenly shoved while talking next to Jess.

"Hey, you!" Molly look up at a taller girl. She had straight white blond hair, brown eyes and a mean scowl on her face. "So you're the freak with two dads! Who are they again? Oh yeah, Jack Frost and the Easter Bunny?" She laughed in a rude tone. Molly glared.

"You know that's just weird. No wonder you have to make up stuff about your family."

"Rack off! You don't know anything about my family!" Molly shouted angrily over the noise of the other children playing in the play ground.

"You're just jealous!" Jess said bravely to the tall girl. The tall girl glanced at Jess then sneered.

"Why would I be jealous of a freak like her? I'd never be jealous of a freak show of a family like hers."

Jess took Molly's hand, trying to take her away from the situation. Molly moved away slowly, glaring at the tall girl.

"C'mon, she's not worth it." Jess said. Molly sighed, a sad frown growing on her face once her glare disappeared.

"How did she know?"

"Maybe she eavesdropped on us at lunch." Jessica said sadly, taking her friends hand.

When Molly and Jess walked into class, ready for their final lesson, the word 'freak' suddenly was roared all around the classroom. Miss Thomas wasn't in the class yet and as Jess tried to get Molly to sit down in her place, Molly was attacked by papers balls, pens, pencils being thrown at her all the way to her seat. Thankfully, Miss Thomas came in just as she sat down and the class went quiet. Molly didn't have to worry about being attacked from behind her chair as the teacher walked in. For the rest of the school day, Molly didn't talk to anyone and participated at little as possible in the class. She saw the same tall girl sitting three desks away from her. She found out her name was Amber and she was one of the popular children in the class. Molly and Jessica planned on avoiding her as much as possible during lunches.

*

"Hey, snowflake! How was school?"

"Fine." Was all Molly said to Jack as she walked out of the tunnel with Jamie and into the Warren. Molly walked to the house slowly while Jamie stopped to talk to Jack who had a worried look on her face.

"Someone found out." Jamie sighed. Jack put his hand on his forehead and shook his head.

"I shouldn't have sent her to school.." He muttered. Jamie put his hand on Jack's shoulder.

"It's not your fault. Molly has a good friend behind her back but it wasn't an easy day for her." Jamie said. Jack nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Sure." Jack said. And Jamie had gone down the tunnel.

*

"Maybe we can home-school her?"

"She's got a friend there, she wouldn't agree to home-schooling."

"Well what can we do?"

That question hurt Jack; he felt useless. Aster felt upset to see his husband in such a state and that Molly hadn't said a word since she got home.

"I know it hurts, babe. But we can't do anything right now." Aster said, cupping Jack's face in his soft paws in order to calm him. Jack nodded slowly, sinking into his husband's arms in the middle of the bedroom, feeling completely helpless.