My Cold Imprisonment: A Modern Jelsa Story

26. Tell Me I'm Frozen

Sadness.

That's the only thing I bring to the people around me these days; sadness. What happened to the happy soul I used to be? Oh, I remember: it was on  that day. Three years ago...

"Hey Jackson," I heard a squeaky voice say from behind me. It was Elizabeth coming from third period. She came in for a hug, but I dodged it.

"What's wrong? Aren't you happy to see me?", she asked me in an innocent voice, acting as if she didn't know what she did.

"Actually, I'm the complete opposite. I know what you are, so just cut the crap."

It wouldn't take a genius to notice her pale face going from giddy to confused, from the way her cherry red lips frowned to her ocean blue eyes drooping down. "What are you talking about, Jack?"

How stupid does she think I am?! "I'm taking about you being a freaking lesbian!", I whisper yelled so I wouldn't draw any attention to us. "I heard about you and your little hookup with 'that girl' you had, while we were together!"

I could feel her nervousness from a mile away; the fear of being caught gave off the slight scent of desperation and humiliation. There was no escaping the truth. "Jack, it wasn't like that," she blurted out.

"Oh, save me the sob story".

"But it's the truth! I'll admit, I did have a crush on 'that girl' back then, but that was before I met you and fell head over heels for you. I would never go and betray you like that, honest!", she explained. I didn't believe a word of it.

"Really? Then why would 'that girl' come to me and admit that you were cheating on me with her?!"

"I don't know! She hates me so I would think she would do anything to make my life miserable. Even so, you would trust her over me? When have I ever given you a reason to doubt me?", she asked with her eyes starting to water.

"Hmm, let me think. How about now when I JUST found out that you like girls? How come you never told me? Was I just some cover for you; a fake boyfriend so no one would find out that you like to fuck girls?"

"No, of course not! I've never thought of you that way before. I love you and only you. Nothing can change that," she answered with tears rolling down her cheeks. I couldn't help but feel guilty for making her cry, but what she did was unforgivable.

"Well, you should of thought about us before deciding to be a freak, because that's what you are. Girls who grind other girls shouldn't be allowed to be with us normal people and I certainly can't let myself be around someone like you. We're done," and with that, I pushed her out of my way and walked until I couldn't hear her sniffling behind me. When I stopped, I wiped my own tears off my face. The fact that I was crying surprised me because I thought I did the right thing, so why was I sad?

Four days came and gone after that day and I hadn't seen Elizabeth in any of our classes. I didn't think much of it until I went home that afternoon and saw main headline on the news: Sophomore Elizabeth Arendelle Still Missing.

I couldn't believe what I heard. Kidnapped, black van, masked assailant, all the words the news anchor used kept shuffling in my mind. I couldn't believe it. How could this have happened? Why wasn't I there to protect her? Then, I remembered how cruel I was. The things I said, the seriousness in my voice, her eyes welling up with sour tears of sadness. And there wouldn't be a chance to say I'm sorry. I'm a monster and monsters don't get second chances.

The next day at school, I confronted 'that girl' about her and Elizabeth and what she says broke me into a million pieces. She made the whole thing up. Nothing happened between her and Elizabeth; she just told me that to see what would happen. And all the while she grinned from ear to ear. What a total bitch.

But that wasn't the worst part. Knowing that I broke the person I love's heart on a lie and not being able to ask for forgiveness is like having your heart slowly pulled out of you and not being able to die; you live with the pain everyday. And you live with the guilt of being the monster that ripped out someone else's heart just to watch it bleed.

"I can't believe I'm in love with the most oblivious person on Earth! You really can't put two and two together can you? Let me spell it out for you: Elsa is-"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence when they heard gun shots from behind them. Jack and Nick did their best to shield themselves from any bullets coming at them by covering their heads with their arms. After the gunfire stopped, both boys checked to see if they had been hit.

"You okay?", Nick asked Jack. He looked to see if he had any wounds and saw that Jack was bleeding on his right arm.

"It just grazed me, but it still hurts like hell. Did you see who was shooting at us?", Jack asked.

"No; it was too dark to see anything."

There was a moment of silence between them until Nick spoke again. "You're an idiot."

"What?", Jack asked, confused.

"How thick can you be? All the pieces of the puzzle are laid out in front of you and you just let them stay there."

"What are you talking about?", he asked between winces.

"ELSA IS ELIZABETH! Think about it..."

Jack couldn't make sense of what Nick was saying. Elsa was Elizabeth? It was impossible, he thought.

"Hic, there's no way that could be true."

"There's a million ways that could be true! Elizabeth was kidnapped three years ago. Elsa told you she's been at Kingdom Hearts for three years. They look alike, sound alike, the only difference is their hair color. And I bet the only reason why she didn't recognize you is because of your emo white hair!"

Suddenly, a wave of realization washed over Jack with a pounding force. Nick was right; Elsa is Elizabeth and she had always been her from the moment they met at Kingdom Hearts on his birthday. She was brought back to him by what seems like fate and he didn't even notice. She was there waiting for him to save her and he left her there to suffer on more than one occasion. Hot tears began to form in his eyes.

"She's alive. Elizabeth has been alive all this time and I did nothing for her", he said with his voice cracking.

"I let her down so many times; at school, I broke her heart, at the strip club, I left her with that asshole, now, while the building's on fire and she's inside. I really am...a monster," he admitted and broke into tears. There wasn't much he could do, but that didn't stop Nick from trying to cheer his friend up.

"Well, that may be true, but even monsters have a heart and I know you do too. If not, you wouldn't be trying to save Elsa and risking your life in the process. Tell me I'm wrong."
Jack just nodded his head in agreement. "See? Jack, you may have made some bad decisions in the past, but that doesn't make you a monster. What does if you don't learn from your past and make even worse decisions. There's still a chance to redeem yourself."

"You're right. There's still a chance to save Elizabeth; I can't lose her again. But we'll need all the help we can get. Where's Pitch? Have you seen him?"

"Right here," a voice from behind answered and pointed a gun at Nick's head.