Chapter Four

(A.N. Obviously the sonnet belongs to the one and only W. Shakespeare)

(AN2: I am hunting for a beta for my labyrinth fics so if your interested e-mail me at admin at angelicbydesign dot net or angeladear at msn dot com)

(AN3: I'm not really happy with this chapter, but I want to establish some supporting cast, and through in a touch of seriousness. I've never attended a public highschool, private didn't have this sort of environment, and either way it's been a few years since I was in high school, so I tried to make it accurate to the mind set and types of behavior teenagers would display, so forgive me for inaccuracies lol. Hopefully next chapter will be better, and if this sucks, I apologize!)

"I do not see why I must attend this 'high school' of yours." Jareth complained, loudly, and not for the first time.

Sarah shot him a look somewhere between amusement and irritation, "Because 'Oh wise one' YOU told my parents that you were an exchange 'student', and students, go to school. Besides if I have to suffer through classes then so do you. I'm not about to try and take algebra while worrying about what mischief your into."

Jareth arched a brow disdainfully, but politely extended an arm to help her across the street. "I find your logic to be rather flawed my dear, though why I am surprised I do not know."

Sarah starred at the extended arm blankly for several moments before Jareth heaved a sigh of irritation and grabbed her hand, placing it on the offered arm.

"Do not gentleman escort their ladies across the roadway in your world?"

Sarah shook her head and laughed wryly, "Not really. How's the saying go? 'Chivalry is dead.'"

Jareth scowled heavily. "Perhaps in your world but not in mine. No gentleman worthy of the title would fail to treat their lady with utmost respect and chivalry."

As though to make a point, he did not release her arm, but held it firmly the rest of the way to school.

Sarah considered making a snide comment on his 'chivalrous' behavior in the labyrinth, but, sensing that he was more than slightly offended she refrained. Sighing heavily she said, "I'm sorry, it's just that most guys…."

"I flatter myself perhaps, but I believe I am not most 'guys', as you put it, and do not necessarily hold myself to the lowest level of conduct." He ground out.

"No, your right. I'm sorry." She said placatingly, more than a little abashed.

"As you should be." He said, his tone laden with offended dignity.

Sarah mentally rolled her eyes and then quickened her pace, "Common, we have to hurry or by the time we get you registered we'll be late for class."

XL

Take all my loves, my love, yea take them all;
What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?
No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call;
All mine was thine, before thou hadst this more.
Then, if for my love, thou my love receivest,
I cannot blame thee, for my love thou usest;
But yet be blam'd, if thou thy self deceivest
By wilful taste of what thyself refusest.
I do forgive thy robbery, gentle thief,
Although thou steal thee all my poverty:
And yet, love knows it is a greater grief
To bear love's wrong, than hate's known injury.
Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows,
Kill me with spites yet we must not be foes.

"Can anyone tell me what Shakespeare meant when he wrote this poem?" Mr. Whiting droned, his monotone voice sucking all of the passion out of Shakespeare's great words.

The echoing silence that followed was only broken by the occasional squeak of chair legs, or a subtle cough.

"Anyone? Ah, Mr. King, perhaps you would have some insight into the words of a fellow countryman?"

Sarah bit down on the urge to giggle at the offended look on Jareth's face, not wanting to draw either the attention of her English teacher, or Jareth himself for that matter.

"I fail to see what my nationality has to do with it, but I suppose I could enlighten you." He drawled disdainfully, his tone and mien intimating that Mr. Whiting was an imbecile of the first order.

Jareth's gaze shifted to Sarah, eyes boring into her, and to her dismay she found she could not look away from that intent gaze.

"Take all my loves, my love, yea take them all;
What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?
No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call;
All mine was thine, before thou hadst this more.
Then, if for my love, thou my love receivest,
I cannot blame thee, for my love thou usest;
But yet be blam'd, if thou thy self deceivest
By wilful taste of what thyself refusest.
I do forgive thy robbery, gentle thief,
Although thou steal thee all my poverty:
And yet, love knows it is a greater grief
To bear love's wrong, than hate's known injury.
Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows,
Kill me with spites yet we must not be foes." Jareth spoke the words with a passion and intensity that had been lacking from Mr. Whiting's recital. The words seemed to change and come vibrantly to life, sending shivers down Sarah's spine.

"The explanation is quite simple. He is speaking to a lover who has refuted him, and taken all that he holds dear."

Mr. Whiting nodded eagerly, "Yes and what about the this section, 'What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?… All mine was thine, before thou hadst this more.' Do you feel he is rebuking the lover or…"

"Not at all. This verse shows sadness rather then anger, simply saying. Everything that I am and all I posses is yours. Demand it all, take what you will, I gave it freely long ago. This statement is reiterated throughout the verse."

Sarah gulped a little, as Jareth's gaze had yet to leave her face.

"An interesting take Mr. King, but what is your opinion on these lines? 'Then, if for my love, thou my love receivest,I cannot blame thee, for my love thou usest; But yet be blam'd, if thou thy self deceivest By wilful taste of what thyself refusest.'"

"If because of my love for you, you take all I hold dear, I cannot blame you for using it. But you may only blame yourself if you deceive yourself into denying what I freely give."

Mr. Whiting's reply was cut off by the pealing of the bell. He reluctantly dismissed the class saying they would continue their discussion the next day.

To say Sarah was immensely relieved would be an understatement.

Lunch started out innocuously enough, Jareth, insisted on carrying her tray as well as his own, and gave her a dirty look when she tried to take it herself. Not wanting a repeat of the mornings discussion of proper manners, and behavior Sarah simply rolled her eyes and let him, figuring if he could juggle crystals he could probably manage to balance the two trays.

It was as she was walking toward her usual table that she became aware of imminent disaster. Seven pairs of eyes stared curiously at them, one whom wore a scowl of displeasure.

In all of the confusion, and the various adjustments involved in incorporating Jareth into the human world, she hadn't given her friends a single thought. They were not what concerned her though. What concerned her was Jack.

Jack had been interested in her for sometime, and made no bones about the fact that he wanted her to be his girlfriend. He was attractive enough, with his curly brown hair, and green eyes. Socially he was something of a catch too, being captain of the basketball team. However Sarah had never felt any particular interest in him, or any guys for that matter, which she ruefully admitted likely had more than a little to do with the erstwhile Goblin King who was currently surveying her friends with a disturbing level of interest.

Jack and Sarah had gone out a few times, at the prompting of both Sarah's friends, and her stepmother, and while they weren't boyfriend and girlfriend, it was considered only a matter of time. Jareth, Sarah thought, wasn't going to like that at all.

"Sarah, who's your friend?" Katie said brightly as she cast an appreciative glance at Jareth's lean form.

Sarah was forced to admit that even with the gawkiness of youth he was still quite possibly the most attractive man she had ever met. Not exactly handsome, but a raw, potent sensuality that clung to him, made him incredibly attractive. A small battle had been fought that morning over his appearance, and finally had settled on a pair of dark jeans, boots, a loose button up shirt and leather jacket, the hair was tamed back in a ponytail, and he was thankfully makeup free...

Sarah shook her head as she realized they were still waiting for her to introduce them, sitting down she said, "Uh guys, this is Jareth, he's an exchange student who's staying with us. Jareth this is Katie, Mike, Angel, Vic, Lisa, Stephanie, and Jack."

Jareth nodded in response to the various greetings, placing Sarah's tray on the table, before deliberately placing his tray in the space between Sarah and Jack and seating himself casually. The look Jack shot him was pure venom, and Sarah mentally cringed.

Katie reached over to steal one of Mike's fries and said, "So Jareth, where are you from?"

Sarah turned to look at him in time to catch the look of disgust as he poked at the contents of his tray, before glancing up at Katie.

"Sussex, in Britain." He said politely.

"Ooh, your British, I just looove a British accent." Lisa cooed, batting her eyelashes at him, and toying with a lock of her bleach blonde hair.

Jareth arched a brow at her disdainfully, "Do you. How nice for you." He said coolly before turning his attention back to Sarah. "What precisely is this, if I might enquire?"

Sarah glanced at her own plate and poked at the suspicious brown lumps floating in thick gray substance that might have been gravy. "Um, salisbury steak… I think."

He made a disdainful sound and briefly considered using his magic to turn the substance into something more palatable, however Sarah had strictly forbidden him to use magic, especially not in front of others. It turned out that Sarah had noticed the scorch mark, and apparently he had managed to miss several feathers... In any case, while he was not inclined to obey anyone under any circumstances, he was, much to his chagrin, dependant on Sarah's 'tender mercies' for the duration of his stay, and if he wished to convince her to return with him when his... banishment was complete it would behoove him to appease her in such small matters.

The other blonde, this one not of the bleached variety, smiled shyly and offered him an apple, the hulking behemoth who sat beside her, Vic he believed, gazed at him in an analyzing that vaguely reminded him of a dog protecting it's bone. Still, hunger won out and he took the offered apple with a regal nod of thanks, and bit fastidiously into it's flesh.

The girl, Angel he believed, turned to Vic, placing a gentle hand on his arm, he grunted and put an arm around her waist, pulling her tight against him as he took a bite from his sandwich.

Jareth watched this little byplay in mild fascination, human mating rituals were quite entertaining to observe.

He was disturbed from this observation by the sharp voice of the 'boy' Sarah had called Jack.

"So how long are you staying?"

Jareth smiled at him, an air of mocking amusement in his eyes. "I'm not quite certain. A few years at least. Perhaps longer, your Country does have many things I admire." He drawled with a deliberate look at Sarah. Several thousand years of experience had allowed him to pick up Jack's interest in Sarah, and Jareth fully intended to nip that little romance in the bud at the first opportunity. Sarah was his, and there was no way he was going to share her with some puny little mortal twirp.

"Damn girl, you work fast!" Stephanie exclaimed, earning her several glares. "Or he does… one of the two anyway." She grinned unrepentantly and took a huge bite of her sandwich, which she had wisely brought from home.

Angel who had been remarkably silent up until this point raised her large blue eyes to gaze at the two with a look that surprised Jareth in it's calculating intensity. He had pegged her as the shy one, apparently he was wrong. Brushing her blonde hair away from her face she turned to the large young man on her right, placing a hand lightly on the sleeve of his black t-shirt. She whispered something, he nodded and continued chewing on his own sandwich. A couple minutes later he swallowed the last of his lunch and got up, stretching out his large 6'2 frame. He walked over to Jack and said something. Jack nodded and got up readily, casting a last glare at Jareth before following Vic over to a group of jocks who lounged around another table.

Jareth watched this little byplay with extreme interest, and so was unsurprised when Angel spoke up, her voice soft enough not to disturb either the conversation between Stephanie and Lisa, or the increasingly nauseating display of PDA between Katie and Mike.

"Steph, may have put it a little more bluntly then necessary, but it's true isn't it. There is something going on between the two of you."

Sarah blushed hotly, and opened her mouth to deny the accusation hotly, but Jareth's amused drawl cut her off.

"Yes, you might say that. I am in love with her." Jareth was a firm believer offensive maneuvers, making his interest in Sarah clear from the beginning would allow him to enlist aid from among her friends, as well as keeping Sarah unbalanced, and unable to manage a counterattack. After all, 'All is fair in love and war, and often there is little difference between the two.'

Angel's brows shot up in surprise. "I see." she said softly, but made no further comment, seemingly mulling over this bit of information.

Jareth turned his head back to the group just in time to catch Steph's next completely inappropriate question.

"So Sarah, do you like him, love him, lust him? Give us all the juicy details! I'm going through a dry spell!" she said with a roll of her eyes and a bounce of her short red curls.

Sarah coughed on her water and Jareth was obliged to pound her on the back until she managed to get her breathing under control again.

Angel looked at Steph pointedly and said, "It would have been tactful to ask that question, when Jareth wasn't present."

Lisa looked up from her compact to say, "Is that why you sicced your bulldog on Jack? To get him out of the way so you could interrogate the 'lovebirds'?"

"Vic isn't a bulldog! And yes, no point causing a scene." She looked at Sarah pointedly. "You do realize that Jack is going to be pissed about this don't you?"

"He has no right to be pissed about anything I do, he has no claim on me." Sarah said hotly and took a bite of her lunch…then promptly spat it back out again and took the bottle of apple juice Steph helpfully extended, draining it in one gulp.

"What is that?" she asked, disgusted.

"I'm betting on squirrel, but Katie thinks it's raccoon."

Jareth watched this exchange in a sort of fascinated horror, casually pushing the tray away from himself with a wary look.

The girls had gone back to their previous topic of conversation with alacrity, and in truth Jareth was more than a little intrigued in Sarah's answer. She seemed determined to wiggle out of answering, but her friends seemed just as determined to retrieve said answer. There were five of them, Mike being a disinterested party, and one of her, however Sarah was incredibly stubborn so it was difficult to say.

There was no saying how long this showdown would have lasted, but the conversation was neatly ended by the return of Vic and Jack.

Jack strolled over to Sarah's other side, taking the time to glare at Jareth who gave him a jaunty wave, and crouched down beside her.

"So Sarah, how about we go see a movie tonight? We could grab some dinner, and walk to the theater."

Sarah turned to look at him in surprise and said, "Oh, um, I can't. Jareth and I are going to the mall tonight to buy him some clothes and stuff."

Anger flashed in Jack's eyes, but before he could say anything Katie cut in, "Ooh, Mall trip! We should all go, it will be fun!"

No it most certainly would not, Jareth thought sharply, glaring at the brunette who was currently sprawled across her boyfriends lap. He wondered briefly when that had happened, but shrugged it off deciding he really didn't want to know.

Sarah cast a sidelong glance at Jareth before turning deliberately back to Katie with a too bright smile and saying, "Sure. That would be great. Why don't we meet at my place around four?"

There was a chorus of agreements, and that, was that.