"Crap!" Whispered Elsa to herself as her fist came down hard on her calculator. The force of the blow caused several random numbers to interrupt her previous carefully enumerated equation. She knew ditching class would somehow come back to bite her in the butt. The one day Kristoff wanted her to hang out with him and the rest of the hockey jocks to spend the day on the town just had to be the day her professor touched on the hardest concept of the year. "How did I miss the negative sign?"
The blonde sighed disdainfully as she brought up her hands to rub her face. Three hours she'd been sitting in this café pouring over her Advanced Calculus work. It was not often that the blonde would skip class. In fact, had it been any other day she'd had said no. The only reason Kristoff was able to coax her into joining him and the rest of the team was the fact that they had just won against their rival, and Elsa herself was unable to attend the game. Denying those puppy dog eyes would had landed her in the "Horrible Sister" category for at least a few weeks.
One hand slid from her face to gently run through the hair that had come loose from her French braid. As fingers tangled into the light blonde scruff she examined her work area.
Papers were strewn across the small table with various homework problems and theorems etched hastily on their surfaces. Elsa's laptop, dangerously low on battery, hummed with mechanical life. Several tabs were open regarding math help and tutoring hours for the local library. The blonde's long forgotten coffee sat near the middle of this mess, all heat from the once piping hot drink gone.
Elsa gently placed her forehead in the crease of her textbook, letting out one long defeated sigh. Skipping this class may had been her worst idea ever. She was normally so on top of things liked this. She'd just been so distracted lately. Maybe it was the stress of midterms.
Or perhaps it was the redheaded barista staring at her from behind the counter.
Or at least she thought it was the redheaded barista staring at her from behind the counter. Elsa squinted at the blurry figure for a moment longer before grabbing her glasses from atop yet another mound of calculus review and shoving them onto her face.
From across the café, Elsa could see the barista staring directly at her, a slight smile brushed onto her rosy pink lips. Elsa recognized that face. Specifically, she remembered plowing that face over in her mad rush to her Philosophy class earlier that week. She recalled being too caught up in a match of Tekken with Kristoff to realize that she was about to be late for class.
Why is she staring at me?
Elsa caught the girl's gaze with her own, offering a smile and raising a hand to waggle her fingers in a polite hello.
It must have taken the redhead a few seconds to process because it wasn't until a moment later that she finally snapped out of her daze and shot her hand up to return the gesture.
Unfortunately, in her hurry to wave, she managed to knock over her own cup of coffee that sat before her. The redhead's face flushed before dipping into the back to fetch herself a mop.
Elsa let out a chuckle at the girl's clumsiness and turned her attention back to her work.
Okay, okay.
Elsa picked up her textbook, turning back a couple pages and skimming the words.
If u(t)=ti+t² j+t³k and v(t)=sinti+costj+2sintk, then D[u(t)*(v)t] is given by...
She was only reading for a minute before she slammed the book down in frustration. "Damn it..." She muttered to herself as she shut the book firmly. She groaned and placed her head atop crossed arms.
I'm so screwed. Completely fucked. Why didn't I-
Her thoughts were interrupted by the shuffling of feet and a quiet "ahem".
Elsa tilted her head up and took in the sight of the redhead before her.
She was standing with two coffees in her hands. Her flaming red hair was tied back into a tight bun, her work apron stained with a multitude of spilled coffees. Once again, the girl was absolutely beaming at Elsa.
Okay, creepy.
Elsa forced what she could only assume was a very awkward half smile. "Um... hi?" She offered, pushing her glasses back into place.
"Hi!" Responded the redhead enthusiastically. She held out one coffee for Elsa to grab. "I, um, brought you a coffee. You looked a little stressed out. Not that you weren't fine before!" Her face fell as she tried to catch her words. "I-I mean you are fine! Wait, not like that- well, like that too, but-" She sighed, avoiding the blonde's gaze. "Oh gosh I'm making this awkward..."
Ohmygod this is adorable.
As the girl rambled on a smile slowly made its way onto Elsa's face.
"Um, so, I didn't know what kind of coffee you liked, so I kinda had to guess. I'm Anna by the way! Did you know that? Of course you didn't, we've never talked before. But I think earlier this week we-"
Elsa interrupted the girl by snatching the coffee from her outstretched arm, pushing the cup to her lips and taking a sip. Chocolate. Ooh she loved chocolate. Her eyes fluttered closed as she pressed her lips into a smile. "Mmmmm."
Anna's eyes lit up. "You like it!" She smiled even wider, placing her own cup down on the table. "You seemed like a Caffé Mocha type of girl." She fidgeted with the strap of her apron as she took a seat across from Elsa.
"Is that calculus?" She picked up one of the papers. "Oh my gosh that's a lot of numbers. Are you gonna be a mathematician? That seems like it'd be a really hard job. Is that why you were so stressed out?" She placed the paper back down, offering a nervous smile.
Elsa cleared her throat, placing her cup down and crossing her arms. "No, I actually want to end up somewhere in the field of economics." For years she'd poured over book after book in order to gain the required knowledge for her classes. It's not like she actually wanted to build her life around something as boring and dull as math. It had only been at her father's request that she put so much time into the subject.
"It builds character!" He'd always say. Well so does going to prison, and surprisingly you'd never suggested that. But with her father paying for both her and Kristoff to be put through school, there was little room to complain.
The barista's eyes widened. "Wow. You must be really good at math."
Elsa chuckled. Maybe not so much right now.
"I mean I'm struggling through College Algebra right now. I'm no good with numbers. Or letters. Or any combination of the two." Anna crossed her own arms, mimicking the blonde. "Good thing I'm not studying to do anything in math. That'd be a disaster! I'm studying music. I've loved it ever since I was a little kid. Ooh, and I was drum major back at Arendelle High. That was fun! I remember this one time when I tripped and nobody saw me, so everybody ended up tripping over me and it turned out to be one giant pile of instruments and people. Whoo did we get in trouble!" She continued rambling, smiling at Elsa every now and then to make sure she was listening.
Elsa once again smiled through the girl's descriptions of her high school years. Is she for real?
"Uhh so your name's Elsa, right?" She asked as she finished a story about how she managed to bust a hole in a bass drum with a very unfortunately timed clarinet. "Not that I'm creeping or anything, I just saw it on your laptop." She pointed to the computer which had a piece of tape with Elsa's name on it identifying the device as hers.
"Hm? Oh! Yeah, Elsa Bjorgman." She offered a hand to shake, but Anna just looked at her, face growing with awe.
"Bjorgman. Elsa Bjorgman?" Anna repeated with wide eyes as Elsa cautiously nodded her head in confirmation.
"Is your brother Kristoff Bjorgman?" She questioned, leaning in close to hear the answer, as if Elsa would only whisper it to her.
Elsa nodded once more.
"Oh my god!" Anna laughed, causing Elsa to shoot her an inquisitive look. "Me and Kristoff dated for like a month when I was a Freshman!"
Elsa squinted her eyes at Anna's face, trying to remember any run ins with her and Kristoff a year ago. She could vaguely recall Kristoff being mildly upset about a breakup with a "smokin' hot redhead."
She nodded, once again taking her cup into her hands. "I think I remember you. Why did you guys break up again?"
"Well..." She once again fingered at her apron strap. " He never talked about anything other than hockey. Believe me, I love sports as much as the next gal, but I swear he talked about the ice like it was his life or something!" She puffed out her cheeks, taking on a gravelly voice that Elsa could only assume was her interpretation of Kristoff. " The ice was really wet today. The ice was really slippery. The ice was so smooth today Anna. Hey Anna! How about that ice? Anna, I think I'm going to marry ice!"
Elsa brought up her hand to cover her mouth as she let out a burst of laughter. That sounded exactly like something Kristoff would say. Elsa often found herself growing tired of the hockey captain's obsession of his ice. She could not even begin to imagine how annoying it must have been to be in a relationship with him.
Anna picked up her coffee. "You guys look nothing alike." She inserted before taking a drink.
"I'm adopted." Elsa mumbled into her coffee.
"Oh." Anna whispered, looking up at the girl. "I'm... um, sorry?"
Elsa shook her head. "No, no it's fine." It honestly didn't bother her one bit. Sure Elsa always wanted to know her parents, but she was told they died when the girl was very young in some freak boating accident. Besides, the Bjorgmans had been so helpful throughout the blonde's life. Cliff, Kristoff's real father and Elsa's adopted father, had given her so much and took her in as one of his own. Him and his wife Bulda were geologists and were able to earn enough money to make life very easy for their two children. Overall, the fact that Elsa was adopted didn't really mean anything other than the fact that she and Kristoff shared no relation.
Silence fell between the two of them. Elsa became acutely aware of the fact that they were the only two in the shop and that the sun was quickly setting.
Kristoff should be picking me up anytime now.
Anna bit at her bottom lip, eyes sliding up to lock with Elsa's. She seemed to be deep in thought for a moment before smacking her palm to her forehead. "Crap!"
"What?" Elsa inquired, eyebrows raised.
"I think I forgot my number! Can I have yours?" Anna beamed, fingers once again working at the apron strap. A red blush slowly began working its way up her face and into her cheeks.
Elsa was flattered, albeit a bit taken aback.
My number? Holy crap am I out of practice. Was she flirting with me? What even is this?
"Um... Um I." Elsa started, her mouth slightly open. She blinked before pushing her ever-slipping glasses up the bridge of her nose. She felt her own face grow warm at the guest appearance of a blush. She reached out for an empty paper and a pen, cast a final look at the redhead, and scribbled her number down.
Anna smiled as she folded the paper in two and slid it into her pocket. "Thanks! I'll make sure too-" She was interrupted by the jingle of the door to the café being opened. She immediately stood up. "Hello! Welcome to North Mou-" She stopped when she took in the sight of the stranger that just entered the shop.
The man stood tall, about six foot two. His hair was a dark auburn and sideburns ran down to about mid jawline. Piercing green eyes were focused on Anna and his bulky arms were crossed. He strode over, carrying himself with an annoyingly royal demeanor, and pulled Anna into his arms. "You can skip the formalities with me babe." He smirked, gripping her waist.
Anna's eyes slid shut and an almost pained expression crossed her face as she let out an exasperated sigh. "Hello, Hans." She seemed to spit his name out.
He laughed, a low, almost bark-like sound, and tightened his grip on her waist. "Oh come on baby. You can't still be mad about yesterday. I said I was sorry." He rolls his eyes, looking at Elsa. "She's always like this. Can't take her anywhere."
Elsa sat back quietly, pressing her lips into a thin line. A sort of anger bubbling deep in the pit of her stomach. She hadn't said that she had a boyfriend. Actually, she never said she was interested in girls either.
Did I just imagine her liking me?
"Well, we have to go." Hans spoke for Anna, pushing her almost forcefully towards the door. "Nice meeting you..." His sentence trailed off as he waited for the blonde to insert her name.
"Elsa. Elsa Bjorgman." She busied herself with putting papers away and shoving her laptop back into her bag. She was so busy trying to distract herself from her annoyance that she missed all apologetic looks that Anna tried to glance her way.
Hans snorted when he heard her name. "Bjorgman?" He continued leading Anna away. "Like that oaf Kristoff Bjorgman? Captain of the Hopeless Helpless Halvor Hockey team?" He spat, smirk as annoying as ever.
Elsa's hands tightened into fists as she crumpled a page of review in her hand. She couldn't stand people talking about Kristoff like that. Especially when she was mad to begin with. She could recall multiple calls to home in elementary school from the principal regarding several fights the blonde had gotten herself into. Each time they had something to do with the other children picking on Kristoff. It had taken her forever to get over having to react when someone badmouthed her brother.
She clenched her teeth, slinging her laptop bag over her shoulder.
Hans pushed open the door, taking his leave. Anna was able to catch Elsa's eye once more before the door was shut in her face.
That one look was filled with so much emotion and a legion of apologies, that it almost overwhelmed Elsa.
She leaned back onto the café wall as she watched Hans' car depart.
Moments later, Kristoff's truck pulled in front of the café and out stepped the blond muscle-bound man of the hour. His hockey equipment was tossed haphazardly into the bed of the pick-up. His hair stuck down to his head in places from the sweat that came along with a good hockey practice.
Elsa took a deep breath in and out, trying to process the events of the last hour.
What the hell was that?
A/N: Whoo how about that? Well, I wanted to introduce myself after y'all got the chance to read the first chapter. Well, this is my first fan fiction in a long long time, so I'd almost like to consider it my first. I guess I should include a future trigger warning for physical and emotional abuse, so if that bothers you, you should probably find another fic. to read. Please leave a comment, it helps me know what you guys are thinking. I have big plans for this guy so stay tuned! You can follow me on Tumblr too! My name is sherlockthesamurai! Happy reading!