A/N: Hey all! This is my first foray into fanfic writing after a couple years of just reading. Likes and comments are greatly appreciated. Enjoy! And I don't own Frozen.

-MMM

Chapter 1

The sound of "Uma Thurman" pierced through the quiet morning. From within a cocoon of blankets, an arm emerged, blindly reaching for the vibrating phone. In her attempt to reach the device, she knocked it from the nightstand.

"ACK," Anna exclaimed, rolling over in an attempt to try and catch her phone. Unfortunately, she overbalanced, rolling off the bed, blankets and all.

"Who needs to go to school anyways?" she mumbled, extracting herself from the tangled mess of blankets and bed sheets. Plodding towards her dresser, she grabbed a random T-shirt, jeans and underwear and made her way towards the shower. Quickly jumping in, she began humming to herself.

Minutes passed and Anna could faintly hear the second alarm she had set for herself to control her shower time. Loath to leave the warmth of the water, she nevertheless walked out, grabbing the fluffy towel on her right. Quickly dressing, she raced down the stairs to the sound of a honking horn.

"I'm coming!" Quickly grabbing a Pop-Tart from the box, she grabbed her backpack, sprinting out the front door towards Kristoff's waiting truck.

"Hey there Feistypants, senioritis getting to you again?" Kristoff greeted her as she stepped into the passenger side.

"Morning Reindeer boy, and of course not. I'm offended you would even think that," she retorted.

She turned to look behind her: "Morning Sven!" He smiled and waved.

The drive to school was not a quiet affair. Anna spent the entire ride dancing (which consisted of wiggling in the seat) and belting along to the radio. Kristoff shook his head and laughed. As they pulled into the parking lot, the shrill sound of the 5 minute bell could be heard.

"Gogogogogogo we're gonna be late!" She sprinted out of the car, braids and backpack flapping behind her. Kristoff merely chuckled, grabbing his bag and made his way towards the school. Anna burst through the school doors,almost knocking over some poor freshman as she quickly rounded the corner towards her first class. She had no qualms leaving Kristoff behind since they didn't share any classes till after lunch. As she approached her class, her beaming smile faded into a slight quirk of the lip.

Ugh school. I mean, it's not that bad i guess. Except calc. Calc is like dark voodoo magic. And it sucks that I don't have morning classes with Kristoff and Sven. I guess daydreaming alone in the back it is.

Pushing her negative train of thought to the side, she huffed. "Come on Anna, stop being such a downer." Taking a quick fortifying breath, she pushed into class, sat down, and promptly began to daydream. She knew she needed to pay attention, but Mr. Weselton's voice was at the perfect monotone pitch to minimize focus. Each page of notes in her math notebook began with the date and a few formulas which quickly dissolved into random doodles across the page. The pattern was repeated throughout the morning. But despite her focus issues, Anna was not a bad student. She managed straight B's relatively easily. So when the lunch bell finally rang, Anna could not help but utter a sigh of relief. She made her way to the cafeteria, where Kristoff and Sven were already sitting at their typical spot at the corner table.

"Hey Kristoff! Hey Sven!" she waved as she approached. Sven waved back, taking a bite of his sandwich at the same time.

"Hey Anna. How was class?" Kristoff replied.

"Fine, and eww Kristoff, finish chewing first," Anna wrinkled her nose in distaste as she took a seat. "Nothing interesting happened. Didn't even get to see if the rumor of Weselton's toupee is true or not."

"Were you paying attention at all?" Kristoff smirked, to which Anna huffed and bit into her sandwich.

"Of course I was. I'm a good student! I'm not disruptive. I don't pass notes!"

"That's because you spend most classes asleep or daydreaming," he retorted.

"Humph. Who asked you anyways Kristoff. I'm just here to talk to Sven." After sticking her tongue out at Kristoff, who snorted, "mature as usual."

She turned to Sven. "So? How was your morning?"

Sven shrugged, shaggy hair bouncing with his shoulders.

"The usual, huh?"

He nodded.

Any further conversation was cut off by boisterous laughing from the table in the center of the cafeteria.

"Man I don't like those kids," Kristoff grumbled. "Walking around like they own the school." Sven nodded in agreement.

As the center table occupants got up to leave, Anna could not help but catch the eye of their ringleader, Hans Christiansen. In her starstruck daze, she did not notice the vicious gleam in Hans' eye or the fistbumps and money exchanged between his entourage. Being the school quarterback, the majority of the school worshiped the ground he walked on and hung onto every word he said. Anna thought he was cute. As they walked past her table, Hans stopped.

"I swear I would have noticed a girl as pretty as you are by now. What's your name?"

"Who, me? Wait, I'm the only girl here. Of course you mean me. Ack stop rambling Anna!" She could feel the blush rising in her cheeks. "I'm Anna" was the mumbled follow up. Hans laughed.

Both Kristoff and Sven pulled the same grimace, as if Hans' smile was physically repulsive. Anna attempted to give both the stink eye between her fawning over Hans.

"Anna huh? A pretty name as well. We should get a coffee sometime, get to know each other."

"Yeah yeah, alright buddy, we get it. You think she's cute. Now get outta here." Kristoff muttered. Sven continued to glare at Hans.

"Shhhh Kristoff, you're being rude." Anna whispered back. "Sorry about him," she said as she turned to fully face Hans again. "He's just jealous."

Kristoff could only gape at Anna, much to her amusement. The boys' reactions throughout the exchange had been equal parts hilarious and annoying.

Hans laughed again. "Don't worry about it. I'll catch you later," shooting Anna a charming smile as he walked away.

After Hans and his group left, Anna could only stand in disbelief for several seconds. Finally, she turned her attention back to her forgotten lunch and sat down. "Kristoff. He noticed me! Hans, the school god! He noticed ME!" Arms flailed about in her excitement.

"Woah there, calm down Feistypants…"

"I mean, he stopped and said hello! His hair was so perfect..."

"First off, he just said hello. Second, I don't like him."

"And those sideburns, wait what? What do you mean you don't like him? What don't you like? He's so handsome!"

Kristoff sighed as Sven shook his head.

"Anna, he's been at this school since we were freshmen and just noticed you. You don't think that's suspicious? Come on, he's a sleaze."

"Humph. Just cause he's more popular with the ladies than you are is not a reason to dislike him."

To which both Sven and Kristoff gaped and glared respectively. "We're just looking out for you. Hans, well, he doesn't have the best reputation. "

Anna smiled. "I know, ya big lug. Don't worry. I'm a big girl. I can look out for myself. I'm home alone now, remember?" The bell started ringing. "Hugs then class!" she yelled as she reached over the table and embraced the two bigger boys.

"Anna, we have the same classes now. You do know this, right?"

"So? I wanted a hug. Sheesh. Some people."

Sven chuckled. Kristoff just huffed and pulled a face. The trio made their way towards class, taking their customary seats in the far corner of the room. When Hans and his friends walked in, Hans waved at Anna, causing her to excitedly wave back. Kristoff rolled his eyes, muttering "typical".

Thankfully for Kristoff's sanity, Hans and Anna didn't interact the remainder of class, nor did they share any more classes for the rest of the day. The last few hours consisted of the trio's usual actions: sleeping, doodling and attempting to get the others in trouble, though no teacher would believe them when they tried to blame Sven.

Finally, the final bell rung and school was released. Anna quickly stuffed her papers and books into her backpack indiscriminately. Throwing the bag over her shoulder, she turned to the boys.

"You guys ready to play Mario Kart?"

"I didn't know you were so eager to lose again."

"Kristoff, last time we played, you were last every time."

"Lies."

The smack talk continued as they made their way towards the parking lot. Laughing, they piled into Kristoff's truck. The drive to Anna's was uneventful save for repeated attempts to teach Sven how to dance in the car while belting Shakira lyrics at the top of her lungs. They pulled into the driveway and quickly piled in through the front door.

The three were well rehearsed in this routine. Thursday Throwdowns (Anna's own idea) were tradition. Sven moved to turn on the TV and Wii, Kristoff grabbed the controllers and plopped onto the couch, and Anna raided the pantry and fridge for chips and sodas. Tossing each of the boys a can, she settled onto the couch, opening a bag of chips as she sat. The familiar sounds of Mario Kart started and the three were quickly lost in the game.

"Man, remember when Elsa would play with us? Back when we were just freshmen? Holy crap those 4-player races were killer." Kristoff mused. "Isn't she coming home soon?"

"Ummmm yea. Super soon. Though she hasn't been the same since she left for college. She's barely come home for the past three years."

"She's probably just busy. You know how it is, over-achiever and all. I mean, she was super competitive at this. Always had to be first. Do you guys not text or anything? Facebook stalk her?"

Anna pointedly refused to make eye contact.

"I-I would never facebook stalk someone! And definitely not my own sister! And we do text sometimes. Elsa just isn't that into the whole texting thing. It 'interferes with her schoolwork' apparently." Anna added air quotes for effect.

"You are quite the distraction. It's the only reason you win any races anyway," Kristoff teased.

Anna snorted.

"I mean, it helps that you lose every single race on your own. I'm pretty sure you always have a blue shell."

Kristoff opened his mouth to retort, but the green shell smashing into his cart made him quickly reassess his priorities, and he fell silent to focus back on the game. The house was quickly punctuated with accusations of cheating and threats as everyone's competitive streak was roused. The final race was, naturally, on Rainbow Road. As they each began their final lap neck and neck, Kristoff "accidentally" pushed Anna, causing her to swerve off the stage. In retaliation, Anna whacked Kristoff with a pillow, causing him to fall off as well. Sven ended up the winner, grinning triumphantly at the two from the far end of the couch.

"Yeah, yeah, suck it up. You only won cause Anna's a cheater."

An indignant screech followed. "Excuse me? I'm a cheater?! You're a cheater."

The two continued their bickering until Sven noticed the time, reached across and tapped Kristoff on the shoulder.

"Oh geez, we gotta get home in time for dinner."

"Come onnnnn. You guys, at least stay for a little longer?"

"Ma will throw a fit if we're late again. Or don't even show up. That would be even worse. 'Sides, isn't Elsa coming home today? Eat with her!"

Anna's grin suddenly felt artificial, though the only visible difference was a slight falling of the corners. "I guess," she whispered. She quickly recovered, though only Sven noticed. She waved his concerned look away.

"Humph fine. I don't want to eat with cheaters anyway."

Grinning at Kristoff's sputtered indignation, she walked them both to the door and waved them off.

"See you tomorrow, bright and early!"

"Ugh, don't remind me, you stinker!"

As the truck faded from her line of sight, Anna's smile slowly fell. She heaved a sigh. She turned back to the living room, picking up the cans and empty chip bags, tossing them into the trash. As she cleaned, she berated the two even though they weren't there.

"How dare those two stinkers. First Kristoff cheats, then leaves all this trash here. What a slob. The nerve of that guy. Calling me a slob. What a hypocrite."

Knowing that Elsa was coming home did little to soothe the Anna's troubled mind. Rather, it exacerbated her worries.

Maybe tonight, Elsa won't be so busy.

With that optimistic thought, she decided to stop fretting. Flopping back on the couch, she turned on the TV, mindlessly flipping through the channels. The sound of the garage door opening broke Anna out of her TV-induced haze. She sat up straight, waiting for Elsa to walk in. The sound of the door opening and closing and the distinct clatter of keys landing in the dish only served to make Anna more nervous. As Elsa turned the corner, Anna could not help but jump to her feet.

"Hey! Welcome home!"

"Hi Anna."

The non-committal tone of her voice caused Anna's heart to drop but she pressed on regardless, struggling to maintain her happy facade. She couldn't help but anxiously wring her hands together.

"S-Since Mom and Dad are still on that cruise, I was wondering if you wanted to make dinner together?"

Elsa kept walking throughout the conversation, one foot lifted above the first stair step when Anna asked. She paused for a moment and, without turning around, said, "not tonight, Anna, I have work I need to get done. Maybe some other time."

Anna's body seemed to curl in on itself at the rejection.

"Oh okay. Yeah I know you're probably busy with university and stuff and it's all kind of really important so I don't mind..." Anna continued to rambled, trailing off as Elsa continued to climb up the stairs.

Her hands would not stop trembling so she put them behind her back.

"Make yourself something, I'm fine." The sentence was punctuated by the sound of Elsa's door closing gently.

Once the door shut, Anna's smile, which had become strained, vanished. Suddenly, neither the TV nor dinner sounded appealing. She grimaced. "I guess it's takeout again tonight."

The quiet of the house felt oppressive as Anna called for Chinese, her small voice dwarfed by the overwhelming silence. She quickly pulled up Pandora on her phone, not caring what was playing. Anything to fill the space and help her ignore the fact that she was alone in the house. Well, mostly alone. Anna never forgot to count Elsa even if she felt like she wasn't there. But tonight, she may as well have been completely alone.

Dinner was a rushed affair. Not wanting to spend an extra minute in the quiet emptiness, Anna ate quickly, throwing the container and plastic utensils away and quickly bolted up the stairs. She slowed as she passed Elsa's door. Raising a hand, she tentatively knocked.

"Umm, well I'm going to go to bed soon, so I guess, um, goodnight, Elsa."

"Goodnight, Anna."

Anna paused, waiting, hoping for something else, anything else. When there was no further response, she sighed quietly and continued to her room, her pace much slower, drained from her interactions with Elsa. Entering her room, she quietly shut the door. Turning on the lamp on her desk, she pulled out various, crumpled assignments, which were quickly finished. In an attempt to stop thinking about Elsa's rejection, she turned to the Internet. But the distraction only lasted so long. After an hour, she sighed. Anna turned off the lights and shut down her computer. Quickly changing into her pajamas and brushing her teeth, she flopped into bed.

From her open door, she could see light from Elsa's room. Even the little sign that Elsa was a presence in the house was reassuring. But with the reassurance came the ever-present reminder that Elsa had more important things than her baby sister. Anna shook her head. No bad thoughts. Not now. Turning on her side, she focused on the picture on the nightstand. It was the entire Arendelle family posing at the local ski resort. The whole family was smiling, but Anna could only focus on Elsa, arms wrapped around Anna, goofy smiles on both of their faces. Filled with happy memories of the past, Anna finally fell asleep, mind distracted from the loneliness of her present.