"No. Now stop asking me." My father's tone was growing more and more furious by the second but Hans wasn't deterred, in fact it only seemed to make him more determined.
"Come on dad, she's my friend, you let Henri bring his friends home over summer!" I peeked over the pages of my book and watched my youngest older brother struggling to keep up with our father's wide strides as he paced toward the kitchen.
"Well Henri wasn't friends with an Arandelle." I cringed at the icy tone and Hans huffed in frustration, of all friends he could have chosen, he had to choose an Arandelle.
"What bloody difference would it make what her name is?" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up and swiftly receiving a sharp slap on the back of the head from mum.
"Watch your language Hans Westergaard!"
"Aw mum..." he grumbled miserably, rubbing the back of his head. "Can't she just stay for one night, please?" nobody could mistake the pleading in his tone and I saw dad's resolve waver for a second before he set his jaw firm again and shook his head.
"No." Hans' shoulders slumped and he collapsed miserably into a chair at the dining table.
"I see what she means now, nobody is willing to give her a chance just because of something as silly as a name." my disheartened brother heaved himself up out of the chair and slumped off towards the stairs.
"Harald.." only my dad and I heard mum's soft whisper, she gave her husband a beseeched look and nodded towards Hans, I watched my dad's argument disappear from his face and he heaved a heavy sigh.
"One night. And she's not sleeping in your room." He said loud enough for my brother to hear, his miserable expression was immediately replaced with a beaming smile and he punched the air triumphantly.
"Yes! Thanks dad, I'm gonna go tell Elsa!" he darted up the stairs cheering gleefully and I giggled from behind my book.
"One day I'm going to regret that decision." Dad muttered slouching back in his chair, I watched mum laugh softly and give his brown hair a kind ruffle.
"Don't be so pessimistic dear, they're just friends," dad grunted, clearly not sharing her view of things but my attention had already drifted somewhere else to our upcoming visitor.
I sat on my windowsill and watched the car pull up outside, Hans was the first one running excitedly round to grab the girl's arm and drag her towards the house leaving dad to close all the doors. The girl was a complete contrast to my lively brother bouncing around from excitement, she walked slowly and calmly hiding her face behind her unusual platinum hair. They disappeared inside and I heard mum greeting them from the kitchen, I turned my gaze back to the window and watched dad lock up the car and walked towards the house, he looked up at my window knowing I would be sitting watching and winked at me before walking from view. One good thing had come of my dad's dislike of having an Arandelle over and that was I didn't have to dress up nicely and go downstairs to greet her like I had with all the other guests.
I skipped dinner and stayed sprawled on my bed deeply engrossed in my book which I was close to finishing now, nobody had bothered me all day thanks to the commotion of having a visitor but I wasn't complaining, I preferred to be left alone sometimes. The boys had spent most of the day playing football outside only popping back inside to indulge in some of the many treats mum had cooked them to make a good impression.
A soft creak of a loose floorboard broke my concentration and I glanced up at my door to see an unfamiliar face peering back to me.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was looking for the toilet," she explained, her hair covering a part of her face.
"Next on the right," my eyes locked on the page and from my peripheral vision, I could see her nod but she didn't move away from my doorway.
"You're Hans's sister, Anna," she said softly, I could tell she was quite pleased with herself for remembering.
"Yes." I simply replied keeping my eyes focused on the paragraph hoping that she would take the hint and leave me to read.
"I'm Elsa, Elsa Arandelle," I heaved a heavy sigh and snapped my book close with a loud thud making the older girl jump slightly.
"Yes, I know." I didn't bother to hide the irritation in my voice and her brow furrowed into a frown.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you," she said hastily, slipping out of the room and closing the door, immediately I felt the guilt creeping on and groaned miserably when I remembered whose room she would be sleeping in tonight, I scrambled off the bed and threw open the door.
"Wait," I called rushing out, she stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned around nervously.
"How are you liking it in the Westergaard house?" It was a weak attempt at starting a conversation but it was all I had, her expression lightened and she even had a little smile on her face.
"it's wondeful. Everyone's so.. friendly." I frowned at the odd choice of word but shrugged away the questions it provoked.
"It gets pretty crazy sometimes, you're lucky you haven't been to my gran's yet," I thought fondly of our huge family gatherings that more often than not dissolved in complete chaos.
"It must be nice having a big family," I knew from what Hans told me, Elsa was the only child which could be pretty lonely.
"it was annoying at first but I'm used to it by now," the truth was I loved their hectic meals filled with gran barking orders and Hiccup letting loose his fireworks.
"It's a lot different to what I'm used to," Elsa mumbled with a distant expression, I felt the sudden urge to hug her but quickly repressed it.
"I'll let you get back to your book. It looks like you were almost finished." She gave me a small smile and I gazed into her eyes for the first time, they were captivating colour of blue that seemed to shimmer in the light.
"Oh.. Yes I am," I couldn't tear my eyes from hers and even after she'd given me a nod and left, I was left standing in the hallway, stunned almost by the memory of those eyes. Now I was even more eager to join my brothers at Greycourt next year.
