~Monday: Elsa's POV~
The weekend seemed to drag on for forever. I had stayed in my room for the majority of the time, ignoring both Anna and Rapunzel. I would only speak to my aunt or uncle when they would check on me. The first time they did, I lied and said I had a stomach sickness and didn't want anyone to catch it. And since it was never brought up, I could only assume that they were left unaware of Friday Night's events. Which means they don't have any idea about Anna's not really engagement to Hans or about Rapunzel and I going to the hospital. Which also confuses me because surely Rapunzel would have told Anna about what happened to Flynn, right? They always know the others' business. And if Anna knows then she definitely wouldn't remain silent about it. She must have been really, really upset to not have been in the mood to say anything about it.
Anyway, Arianna and Frederick weren't home when Rapunzel and I were dropped off late last Friday, but Anna was already there in her room fast asleep and sprawled out on her bed. Drool was sliding down the corner of her mouth and loud snores were also escaping. I had smiled sadly at the sight because...she looked so at peace when she slept and just hours before that peace wasn't there on her face. I had felt more relief than sadness though at seeing her safely at home. Rapunzel had informed me that Merida had dropped her off. I plan on thanking her later on today when I see her at lunch, which I'm honestly kind of dreading.
The tension between my sister and I is strong and heavy. More so than it has ever been before. From the few times I've ran into her during the weekend, I felt it. It easily and quickly weighed me down as soon as my eyes would land on her. Aunt Arianna was quick to notice it too.
"Did something happen between you two?" She had asked on Sunday when Anna and I made eye contact in the dining room, which caused her to quickly leave. My food was brought to my room and I ate in there; I had only went to the dining room to return my plate to the kitchen.
"We just had a little misunderstanding. It's fine though." I had told my aunt, wanting nothing more than to just tell her everything that had happened during the party. Which includes Jack and I, who has texted me quite a lot over the past two days. He kept me company while I trapped myself in my room. I didn't tell him to, he just...did it willingly. He texted me because he wanted to and I'm honestly really glad he did. It was a great distraction for me and he cheered me up a lot. He really does know how to make people laugh.
But despite my desire to tell my aunt, I didn't. If I had told her about Anna being "engaged" then I'd probably make the whole situation worse. She'd get in trouble and never trust me again. I can fix this if I just talk to her, but I'm scared to. Hell, I don't even know how to confront her about it, and even if I did, she'd just ignore me. That's what she's been doing when I'd run into her. She's avoiding me too. This is definitely my karma.
I had thought Rapunzel would try harder to convince me to talk to her too, but she hasn't. She hasn't talked to me at all this past weekend. I'm unsure if it's because she's finally given up or because she's respecting my wish to give me some space and time to myself. I've noticed that things between her and Anna are a bit off too. Whenever I would see one, I wouldn't see the other, which is odd because they're always together. And of course I can't help but think that it's my fault something has changed between them. I might have been just a little jealous of Rapunzel for taking my role as Anna's sister figure, but I was always glad that she was there for my sister when I never was. I would never ever want anything to come between the bond they have. Not even myself.
As of right now, the three of us are walking into the cafeteria, in silence, which is a first. I had thought that they would both act normal, as though nothing had happened, but they're not and I honestly wasn't expecting it. Their silence made me even more silent. It made me a little nervous to be honest. I kept getting the feeling that one of them was just going to suddenly burst out either yelling or crying. I was even more afraid that it would be me.
I haven't been this nervous around them in awhile, and I'm kind of annoyed that I'm not used to it by now. I swear they can hear my own heartbeat. Luckily, the loud noise of the cafeteria filled with teens was able to (hopefully) drown out the noise of my pounding heart.
Astrid, Merida, Moana, and Tooth were all already sitting at our table when we arrived and upon seeing us they all smiled and waved and made room for us to sit. When we approached the table, Moana was the first to speak. "I'm not calling you a liar, Punzie, but I have to ask this again in person rather than in text. Is it really true that you knocked Flynn out with a frying pan and took him to the hospital?"
Rapunzel giggles as she sits down, the most emotion I've seen from her all this morning. "Yes, Moana, it's true. Why would I lie? Also have you seen him yet?" She starts looking around, but she didn't look for long when Merida answered her.
"No, we haven't seen him yet," she says, then chuckles. "He's probably too afraid to show his face."
Jack's voice suddenly fills my ears. "But you know who isn't? Me." All heads turn to the head of the table where Jack stood, along with Kristoff, Hiccup, and Bunny.
Merida groans. "Ugh what do you want, Frost? You were perfectly content at your table until now. Waiting for Elsa, I presume?" She sent him a smirk before sending it my way. "Moana told me how she noticed the two of you getting a little cozy under a tree outside at Eret's place."
"Merida!" Moana cried out, horrified. She sends me an apologetic look. "I didn't mean it the way she's making it sound."
Before I could tell her that it was alright, although my blush would say otherwise, my sister took the liberty to finally speak to me. "Wait, what?" Her eyes were confused before they lit up with happiness. "Oh my god, are you two friends now?"
"We were always friends, Anna," I tell her, but she laughs at that.
"Um...are you sure about that?" She asked, genuinely. "Out of everyone, you were always the most reserved around him."
"And she had every reason to be," says Jack, coming to my defense, which honestly surprised me. I would have thought he'd agree with her. I mean, if Anna noticed it then that means the others did too, along with him. "I mean," Jack runs a hand through his hair in a...deliberately sexy way. "I am the King of Mischief after all. And let's not forget my sex appeal. Of course she'd be reserved. It's just too much for her to handle."
He sends me a wink and my face goes red at that, not because I agreed but because I seriously did not need to know that. Bunny, Merida, Kristoff, and Astrid laughed the hardest at Jack's declaration. "Sex appeal?" Says Bunny. "You? Yeah, as if."
Jack glares at his adopted uncle who is more like his brother. "Oh shut up. You're talking as if you have it too."
"I do," Bunny says, nonchalantly, which makes Jack scoff.
"No you don't--" Jack tries to argue, but he's interrupted by my cousin.
"I think Flynn has more sex appeal than either of you," Rapunzel says, which makes everyone gape at her.
"That's harsh," Jack and Bunny say together, which took them off guard and made the rest of us laugh.
Rapunzel grins as she continues: "Also don't tell him I said that. I know the power of a frying pan and I am not afraid to use it on any of you. I will use it and I will track you down."
"I knew you weren't all that pure," says Astrid to Rapunzel. She then says to Merida, "You owe me twenty bucks by the way."
Merida cussed, while Anna acted like she wasn't shocked. "Eh I've known for awhile." Whether she's being serious or not, I certainly didn't know on the matter, and I didn't doubt that Anna is worse when it comes to choosing which boys have sex appeal.
Tooth spoke up next. "Why do we need to compete and compare? I think all of you boys have sex appeal. Even you, Hiccup."
"Um..." Hiccup awkwardly starts out. "Thank you? I think."
"You didn't need to just single him out like that," Moana says to Tooth in a playful manner. "Don't worry, Hiccup. I got your back. The son of the Chief of Police and the daughter of the Chief of Firefighters must always stick together."
"Yeah," Merida agrees, "leave my cousin alone, you damn tooth fairy." Tooth merely stuck her tongue out at the younger lass.
"Also," Moana went on, "We went way off topic. What's up guys?"
"Well," Jack starts, mischief all over his tone, "I was going to show you lovely ladies the video of us pouring water on Flynn to wake him up, but since Merida was a bitch a guess I won't." I nearly choked at what he called her.
Merida merely smiles at him, not offended by his vulgar word, and says, "Nice try, asshole, but we all know you're going to show it to us anyway. You love humiliating Flynn."
Jack returns the smile and says, "Good point. Now make room for us boys."
And so, once extra chairs were brought over and they were added to the table, the last remaining minutes we had with each other before the ring of the bell was spent watching the video that I had taken for Jack. Jack had handed Merida his phone and sat down next to me while those who wanted to watch the video hovered around the Scottish lass. I didn't feel the need to watch the video since I was there when it happened, but I did feel the need to look over at Jack, who was already looking at me.
"Hey," he whispered, so lowly that I think he mouthed it instead.
"Hi," I respond in the same low tone as him. He says nothing more, but gestures downward with his eyes. When I look, I notice that there was a folded up piece of paper in his hand. Before I could reach for it, knowing what is was and that it was meant for me, Jack surprises me by taking my hand with his free one and places the note in it, folding my fingers over it too.
"Later," he mouths and I nod, ignoring the way my fingers tingle at his touch. How odd...
Merida's inhuman snorting, along with the others laughter, snaps our attention to them just then. I ignored the sudden coldness I felt when Jack removed his hand from mine, and found myself giggling at Merida. I'm pretty sure the others were laughing at her too more than the actual video. She wiped away at her eyes, getting rid of some tears that were leaking out, and says to Jack, "Send me this video so I can take screenshots of his face."
"How about I send you the screenshots I already took?" Jack replies as he takes his phone back from her.
Merida laughs again. "Deal."
That's one of the few things I've noticed about Merida and Jack. One minute they'll be the most annoying bickering pair ever, then the next minute they're conspiring together against Flynn or Bunny or whoever they feel is worthy at the time. Same goes with Jack and Astrid. He never stands a chance when its her and Merida and Bunny against him though.
The bell rings then, signaling for us to part ways until lunch, and while I had gathered my things and got to my feet, the others merely groaned and stayed where they were. "Can I just hide in the janitor's closet all day?" Anna says while I scooted in my chair and leaned against the table, waiting for the others to start moving, which they still didn't.
"By yourself or with Hans?" Kristoff asked, speaking for the first time, his tone not at all playful.
I immediately tense up, and literally felt everyone else do the same. All eyes were on my sister, whose face is already very red, either from embarrassment or anger, which I saw was beginning to flare up in her eyes. "Well," she begins, keeping her voice calm as she shifts in her seat next to Merida and folds her hands in her lap, "If he would like to join me then I'm certainly not going to reject his company."
All eyes then turn to Kristoff, waiting for his response. The blonde male releases a scoff and eye roll. "Because you're a nice person or because he's your," he brings his fingers up to make air quotes, "'fiancé'?"
Anna scoffs right back and says, "I don't believe that is any of your business, Christopher--"
"Now you're calling me the wrong name on purpose--"
"But thank you though for calling me a nice person," she flashes him a very forced smile, "It really warms my heart hearing you say that."
For a second time, Kristoff rolls his eyes. "Yeah well you're going to be hearing quite a lot since the whole school knows about your silly engagement. Don't be surprised when people start to tease you. I mean, did you seriously not see the looks people were giving you or see them whispering and laughing at you?"
Wait, they were? How did I not notice? I must have been so worried about the tension between my sister, cousin, and I that I hadn't realized the multiple eyes on us. Anna waves him off. "Pah-lease. I didn't notice anything different from any of the other times I've walked through those cafeteria doors. People do that all the time about all sorts of things. Thanks for being paranoid for me though."
Kristoff growls in frustration. "Ugh what is it with you?! Why are you so complicated?"
Anna gasps, eyes wide, purely offended. "Oh you think I'm the one who is complicated? You're the one who always has some smart comment to say. You've been like that ever since we met! I didn't even do anything wrong." Her last sentence actually broke my heart. She sounded so sad.
However, despite that, unlike the time during the football game when I had intervened between the two of them, I found myself intently watching and waiting instead like the others were. I know for a fact that curiosity is a reason, but perhaps it's also because I'm still upset at my sister and feel as though another good argument will do her good, so long as it's not from me. It needs to be from someone who isn't going to get emotional and who isn't afraid to hurt her feelings, which, from what I've seen, just so happens to be Kristoff.
"Yeah, well I'd rather have a smart comment to say then have the audacity to accept a marriage proposal from someone I don't even know! I mean, do your parents even know? What about your Aunt and Uncle who are looking after you?" Kristoff asked, looking and sounding genuinely concerned.
"The only ones who know of my engagement in my family are my cousin and sister, who," she turns to look at me and I'm surprised to see gratefulness in her eyes, "I am so very thankful have remained silent on the matter." And despite everything, my heart swells at the soft look she gave to me, at the appreciation of something that I had almost not lived up to. Our moment doesn't last long though because after our two second staredown, she goes right back to bickering with Kristoff. "And the reason for that is because my aunt and uncle have been very busy lately and because my parents are away on business. After all, they are very important people of class who are needed elsewhere."
"Are you saying I don't have class?"
"I don't know. Is that what I said?"
And as their arguing continued, I hadn't realized Jack leaning toward my ear until I felt his breath against it. "Should we stop them?"
I shrug, honestly unsure, and before I could give him some sort of answer, the late bell rings. A chorus of cuss words fill the room. I kept mine in my head, but I did release an upset sigh. I can't believe I'm late for class.
"Damn it," Merida buries her face in her arms on the table. "If I get another tardy," I hear her say through her muffled voice, "mum's gonna kill me."
"Yeah, but do you really care?" Astrid asked, already knowing the answer.
Merida lifts her head smirks at the blonde. "Touche."
Moana whimpers as she gathers her binder and textbooks. "Yeah, well I care. This is going to be my first tardy of the year. I was going for the 'No Absences Award' this year. Now I have to wait until the next school year starts."
Tooth wraps her arms around the Polynesian girl and says, "There there, my precious. As long as you keep your teeth clean and healthy, all will be okay." She starts to sway them back and forth, which causes Moana to give her a weird look and giggle.
"Seriously Tooth," she says, amused. "You're really weird." Tooth merely grins, flashing us her beautiful smile.
"Maybe," Rapunzel starts as she hurriedly puts the straps of her bag on her shoulders, " we can still make it to our classes before--" This time it was her who was cut off by a new voice filling the air.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here."
I knew the voice before I even saw the person, it's a voice that I'll probably never forget because it always gives me chills and makes me uncomfortable, and when all heads turn to see Mr. Black walking toward us like a predator upon its prey, Hiccup says in a low tone: "Duh duh duuuh. We're dead."
Astrid shrugs. "Whatever happens, maybe we'll get a scar out of it. Sounds fun."
"You're definition of fun is concerning," Hiccup says, but he must not have meant to say it out loud because once he realizes his mistake, most likely due to Astrid's surprised expression, he looks horrified. "Uh...not...that there's anything wrong with that."
Astrid rolls her eyes and says, "No, what's concerning is you going to woods late at night and early in the morning."
"What?" Jack and Merida say together as they looked at Hiccup in confused shock.
Before Merida could ask her cousin, Jack was the one who asked his close friend first: "What the hell are you going into the woods for?"
But before Hiccup could respond, Mr. Black, who I was watching walk toward us the entire time the others were speaking, made it to the table. He says nothing as his eyes scan over all of us, and we in return say nothing back. When his eyes landed on me, they stayed. They were on me the entire time he walked over here, and now they're right back on me. Undressing me, from the feel of it. That's how it feels when he looks at me. I've never felt this type of uncomfort before from anyone else. It's only ever with him. He's just...creepy. Really fucking creepy.
"Is there a party going on?" Mr. Black asked, his voice threateningly calm. "Because I'm crashing it right now. The eleven of you should all be in class, and since you're not all of you will have detention with me after school."
My eyes widen at his words and I felt my stomach drop. Being late is one thing, but getting detention is a whole other level. This is going to go on my permanent school record. How could I have let this happen? I should have stopped Anna and Kristoff like I had done at the game.
"No, wait, please!" Anna cried out in a panic. "Don't punish them. They did nothing wrong. They were just watching Kristoff and I fight. It's our fault--"
"Our fault?" Kristoff interrupts, incredulously.
But instead of Anna insisting that it was both of their faults, she corrects herself. "No, you're right." She gives Kristoff a small smile before looking back at Mr. Black. "It was all me actually."
I couldn't hide the surprise on my face and I noticed that Kristoff couldn't either. Some of the others wore the same expression, just as surprised as I was.
"Very well," Mr. Black says, sounding bored. "You'll meet me after school today. If you do not show up, Miss Anna, you'll be suspended. Do I make myself clear?"
I watch my sister gulp and nod her head, her sadness easy to see in her eyes. I couldn't take it anymore, and without a second thought, I pushed all my fear away, and say: "You'll have to take me too."
I didn't speak alone, however, because Kristoff said the exact same words at the exact same time. We look at each other in surprise, even Anna did, but the surprise didn't end there because Jack spoke up next.
"Don't forget me," he says, heroically. He looks over at me and says: "I pretty much live in detention. Haven't been there at all since school started. Might as well go now when I have the opportunity." He then sends me a wink and I smile while also giving him a weird look. Of course he lives in detention, but why on Earth is he choosing to go?
Mr. Black hums in thought. "How very noble of you three to stand by Anna's side. But since you've already wasted much of my time, I'm going to double the detention time. I'll be sure your grandfather hears of this, Frost. I'll be expecting you four as soon as the last bell rings. Now get to class."
All eleven of us move faster than lightning and got the hell out of the cafeteria, leaving Mr. Black behind. My heart was thundering against my chest and all I could think about was how utterly stupid I was. Did I seriously just talk back to an adult? Well I suppose I didn't really. I didn't defy anything he said. I merely stated that I would tag along as well, and Kristoff said the same.
"If he's still here by the time I'm a senior," Moana says once we make it to the hallway, "I'm taking an online math class."
"You'll have to take an online history class too," Jack responds to her, "because Miss Gothel is just as awful."
"Okay but like," Rapunzel starts as she links her arm through mine. "I can't believe you came to Anna's defense like that. You were so brave!"
"You can't believe it?!" Anna declared as she linked her arm through my other one. "How do you think I feel?" Her exhilarated expression then turns soft. "Why did you do that? You didn't have to, so...why?"
I suddenly become shy when I realized that everyone had gone silent and was watching me, eagerly waiting for my response. "Because," I start, trying to ignore the multiple pair of eyes on me. "I figured that...it would be a good way to apologize for...for what happened at Eret's party."
And sure, while it does count as a reason it's not my actual one. My real reason is because I love her and didn't want her to go alone. I would have said it out loud had I not felt that it was too personal. Something that I feel should only be heard with her ears. After all....I haven't said those three words to her in years. If...when I do...I want the moment to be special.
Anna smiles, her eyes shining with tears. "Elsa, I..." she breathes out a laugh, "I'm at a loss for words. Thank you." She then gives me a side hug, which makes me stumble a little as we walked. She and Rapunzel kept me upright though, and when I glanced at my cousin she was smiling.
Everyone else was too, and when Moana and Tooth 'aww'ed at us, I felt my face heat up. I cleared my throat and continued. "Don't think you're off the hook though," I say, "there's still much to discuss."
My sister nods. "Duly noted."
And it wasn't until we all departed and make it to our classrooms that I suddenly realize.
Mr. Black doesn't have Anna in any of his classes. So how in the hell does he know her name? Yes he could have overheard it one day, but... deep down I know otherwise.