Jack had a good page and a half of poetry written about Elsa, but feeling paranoid about screwing things up he decided to leave out her name, or too many defining features about her. He mostly wrote about how he felt about her, and how much better he was because of her.
Merida kept trying to look at Cole's paper, never before had he looked so intent on an assignment before. She was wondering if he even wanted to be in this class because he hadn't done a single thing for an assignment except for this one.
Truth be told, Cole signed up for this class for the simple reasoning that it was probably an easy A, and that none of Hans's crew would bother taking . He had been right; It was to be one of the escapes that he had when he couldn't be with Zie.
With five minutes left of the class period, Cole put his pencil down and looked at his paper. Written in beautiful cursive handwriting, it served as a semi barrier for those looking over his shoulder. Merida wasn't immune to the sheer aesthetical appeal of a Man's handwriting that was both neat and intricately masculine.
"Can I see?" Merida asked scooting closer to Cole.
Jack blushed, he hadn't meant it to be read by anyone other than himself and the teacher. He had written it in the flourish-ridden cursive style he had learned as a French aristocrat to belay prying eyes. "Um," Jack flashed the paper to her, "it is in cursive so you probably can't read it."
Merida flashed him a grin showing him her paper that happened to be written in girly cursive. "I wrote mine in cursive, I should be able to read it just fine if I could see it for a sec."
Jack hadn't expected that, of course, he really didn't know what to expect in high school, and he wasn't about to let all of his personal feelings out into the world. He hadn't even told Elsa herself the true extent of how he felt, he had no idea how a girl would react if he revealed his feelings as they were written down.
"It is kind of personal," Jack said trying to put the paper away.
"Ooo, is it about someone?"
"Yes, and I don't think that she would understand if she read it, at least not until I get to know her better."
"Is it about that girl Zie, that I always see you with?"
"Zie?" Jack looked confused, who was Zie again? He hadn't been here long enough to remember everyone yet. He couldn't even tell you his parents names, and he lived with them.
Merida looked surprised to see such a look of confusion on Cole's face, did he not remember his best friends name? "You know, the Goth girl that is always changing her hair color?"
Jack could have slapped himself for being so stupid, Zie was the girl who had scared him out of his car this morning. "Oh, ya. No, it isn't about her we are just friends."
Merida reached for the paper playfully, "I don't believe you, who is she?"
Jack blushed, "no, stop it." he swiped her hand away.
"Oh come on, at least give me a hint." Merida pouted with eyes that would have given a kitten a run for their money.
Were all girls here so nosy? At the same time, he felt his heart jump a little to have such a pretty girl so close to him, talking to him, looking right into his eyes with those big blue globes. "Fine."
Merida smiled gleefully and waited. She didn't talk to Cole much, but she was really curious as to who he could be crushing on so hard that he didn't even recall a Gothic dream like his best friend Zie.
Jack stuffed the paper in his backpack, he was in such a rush to throw it in that it crumpled at the top of all his stuff. "The last letter in her first name is an 'A'." The bell rang signifying the end of class, and Jack threw his bag over his shoulder and flew out of the room with a swift grace Merida had never seen before. His face was burning and his was finally glad for his hair, and that it would hide his face in this instant.
** ** **
Jack couldn't believe he had told her so much. What if she figured out that it was Elsa? A girl that he hadn't even seen in this universe yet. How much harder would it be if she told Elsa about his 'feelings'.
His next class wasn't nearly as interesting. It was American History with Mr. Woody Pride. He wore a cowboy hat when he could, a yellow plaid button up shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots. He got away with wearing Jeans since he helped enough with maintenance and large student projects that would screw up his nice pants during the day. He also like to be called Woody, or Mr. Wood, he hated going by Mr. Pride and said it made him feel like a jerk. In truth, he was one of the nicer teachers in the school even if he did teach history.
Jack was glad to get out of history, he had lived most of it, so everything Mr. Wood taught him was just things that he already knew with names and dates he didn't care for, even when he was living it. It was nice to know that this world's history fit more closely with what he knew than the France of Wintercrest.
On his way to lunch, he spied a familiar hair color and his heart skipped more beats than he dared to count. When the girl turned to her friend and laugh, Jack recognized her as Elsa. She was always so beautiful, and every time he saw her, it was like a mix of love-at-first-sight and a friendship-turned-love. He knew that he needed to talk to her, and before he could stop himself, his legs pulled him through the crowd to where she was pulling books out of her locker in the hallway.
"Hey Elsa," Jack caught himself yelling just loud enough for her to hear over the crowd. She turned and looked at him.
"Hey Cole, how are you doing?" she flashed a friendly smile that reached her eyes, but it was obvious she didn't love him the way he loved her.
"I am doing good," Jack flung the hair out of his eyes so that he could see her clearly. "I was wondering if-" Jack felt some one grab him and shove him into the locker.
"Hi Cole, you're not hiding from us are you?" The voice came from a blonde boy, Hans. It didn't take any time for Jack to remember the name of Cole's tormenters. Mor'du was a large boy who was built like a tank, he was wearing a misfits t-shirt and had black dreadlocks. Jack looked to see Elsa looking worried, and then a face came from behind her that instantly haunted him, Eugene? He held Elsa shoulders and pulled her away, warning her about being involved for obvious reasons that Jack couldn't fault them for. She mouthed 'I'm sorry' before he laced his fingers between hers and lead her away. She had a boyfriend... Jacks heart broke. It was the worst pain he had ever felt and then to make it worse...
In the distance, he saw Zie, she was between tears of anger and worry as she saw the bullies surrounding Jack. He watched a tear fall from her shocked face, and Jack instantly recognized her. Coupled with the sighting of this universe's Eugene, he recognized the face of his widow as that of his friend Zie. Shame and guilt filled him as he remembered carrying Eugene's dead and bloody body to the shores of England. He never even had a chance to tell her how heroic Eugene had been. He had never had the chance to ask for her forgiveness for stealing her husband.
It hadn't been anyone but Jacks fault for his death, Wintercrest wouldn't have lived long enough to fight the revolution without Jack, and it had been Jack's Order of the First Frost that had recruited him. It had been Jack's willingness to let him endanger himself that had gotten Eugene killed. In that moment that Zie cried fearing for him, he saw the face of Eugene's widow crying over the news of Eugene's death. I am so sorry Rapunzel, I am so sorry.
** ** **
Dear readers, I just want you to know something as we go further down this rabbit hole, that everything that happens is only to make make Jack and Elsa's relationship stronger in the end. And that finding the One isn't always cut and dry, sometimes you have to have realize that you have to get your heart broken a few times before you find the one. Jack is no exception, this is a Jelsa through and through the plot as a whole is designed around it. But just because it ends up that way doesn't mean that the middle of the story can't have its fair share of twists and turns. Please don't bash Elsa or Jack for not being in a relationship right out the gate. Just enjoy the ride, this one is going to have a lot of drama.
Thank you all for you continued support, and I hope you will support Jack as tries to do the right thing. Even if it may not always seem like the right choice at the time.