Thawing Frozen Love: Part 1

A Frozen Fanfiction

Joey was sitting at the table one morning eating breakfast before school. As he ate his Frosted Flakes he read the stories on the back of the cereal box, because he liked to do that to entertain himself while eating. So he almost didn't hear his mother yell, "Joey, you'd better hurry and finish up! The bus is coming soon!"

"Okay, Mom," Joey replied through a spoonful of Frosted Flakes. He shoved a few more spoonfuls into his mouth, put his bowl in the sink, brushed his teeth, and finally heard the train whistle-like sound that was the school bus coming to a stop in front of his house. As he grabbed his backpack, his mother kissed him goodbye. "Have a fun day at school, honey!" she yelled as he walked outside.

As Joey walked toward his bus, a red cardinal flew over his head. He watched it in admiration, because he had a fascination with birds, but then remembered he had to get to school and stepped on the bus. He didn't have any friends on his bus so he normally sat by himself and played Pokemon on his Nintendo DS. So he started doing that, but about five minutes in, the DS's battery died.

"Aw, darn," Joey muttered to himself in frustration as he shoved the DS back into his backpack.

A few older kids (Joey wasn't sure exactly what grade they were in) sitting in the seat across from him snickered. "Aw, what's the matter, JoJo?" one boy named Connor sneered. "Can't play your nerd games?"

"The name's Joey," Joey replied, glaring at them. These kids were why he usually liked to lose himself in his Pokemon games- too bad that wasn't working out today.

"Oh wow, we're so scared," another boy named Max said mockingly. "Little nerdy JoJo's telling us what to do." Funny how Max was the one who looked more ridiculous, wearing a giant Eagles hat.

At that point, the bus had gone silent, and all the kids were paying intent attention to the spectacle. Joey stalled for a moment, trying to think of a response, when Elsa, a girl in his third-grade class, responded for him. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with being a nerd. It's better than being a stupid jerk like you. You two are probably about as smart as a rock."

All the kids on the bus laughed. The bullies were at a loss for words. Finally, Connor replied, "Yeah, Elsa? If we're so dumb, then why are you the one in special ed with an IEP?"

All the kids went into stunned silence, and now Elsa was the one at a loss for words. Her face turned red as an apple- redder than Joey's hair, and that was saying something- and she looked like she was about to cry. Joey, disgusted at Connor's dig, said, "Leave her alone. That's not cool. Whether Elsa's in special ed or not, she'll definitely end up having a better life than you because she's actually nice to people."

At that point the bus came to a stop in front of school, and the kids all filed off. Joey was glad Connor and Max didn't have a chance to respond because he didn't want to have to be put on the spot again- or worse, have Elsa being put on the spot. He wished he could pop those bullies' heads off like a cork on a wine bottle. What they'd said to Elsa made Joey angrier than what they'd said to him. Joey had liked Elsa since kindergarten, so he naturally felt protective over her. The two were somewhat friends- they at least got along, and had played together sometimes, because they bonded over both being outcasts and picked on a lot. Joey was known for being into "geeky" things that no one else at his school appreciated. Apparently, at Arendelle Elementary School, you're not supposed to like Pokemon anymore in third grade. Elsa had a nonverbal learning disability and required an Individualized Education Plan because of it. Nonverbal disorder isn't really much of a major disability- Elsa could still function fine and stay on top of her academics with it- but evidently, the school didn't think so. Word spread like wildfire in the third grade at Arendelle Elementary, so naturally all the kids knew this about Elsa, and often teased her about it. But Joey saw nothing wrong with Elsa despite that the other kids did. He thought she was the most perfect girl in the third grade- the entire school, even.

As Joey walked through the halls to his classroom, he saw Elsa a few feet ahead of him. He wanted to talk to her, but his usual nerves took over and caused him to debate over it. Joey admired Elsa from afar for a few minutes. She always had the best outfits in the school. Today, she wore white feather earrings, brown boots, jeans, and a sparkly blue sweater that was so thin it looked like it had been sewn from a single spool of thread. She looked like a flower. A frozen flower, maybe. For some reason, Elsa mainly only wore blue or white clothes and they often had glitter on them. Many other kids thought Elsa's style was weird and teased her about it, but Joey thought it suited her perfectly. It was different, but not in a bad way. It made Elsa herself. Her long blonde hair was in a braid down her back, and the end of the braid reminded Joey of a paintbrush. He wanted to reach out and touch it- he loved Elsa's hair and always wanted to play with it.

Joey finally decided it would be a good idea to talk to Elsa. He approached her timidly in the hallway. "Hey, Elsa? That was...really brave of you to stand up for me like that on the bus. Even if Connor and Max were mean to you too. You didn't have to do that for me."

Elsa broke into a smile upon noticing Joey, and if Joey was not mistaken, she even appeared to blush slightly. "Well, you didn't have to do the same for me either," she replied. "But that's what makes us special, better than those other kids. We're always nice."

Joey's heart raced. She thought he was nice! All he could manage was a mumbled "thanks."

"Even I can't believe I was that bold in front of them," Elsa continued. "I normally don't talk to anyone here. I'm always scared of doing the wrong thing."

Joey couldn't believe there was someone else who felt exactly like he did. "Me too!"

"But around you I feel...well, different. Like, stronger, even. I feel like I don't need to worry as much about what I do. I'm just really shy but everyone thinks I'm weird and even mean for it. They think I try to shut them out. Especially my little sister Anna."

"You have a sister?" Joey asked. This was the first he'd heard of anyone related to Elsa.

"Well, she's in kindergarten here, but she only comes in the afternoon so that's probably why you haven't seen her. Anyway, she thinks I hate her now. I feel bad that I don't talk to her more because we used to play a lot when we were really little. It's sad that all the fun we had is all shriveled up now, like a walnut shell. But I accidentally hurt her one day and I'm scared I'll hurt her again so I think it's best for me just to stay away from her."

"Why don't you just explain that to her?" Joey asked.

Elsa hesitated for a bit, then finally answered, "She's just little. She won't understand."

Joey suddenly became curious. "If you're okay with me asking- how did you accidentally hurt her? You can tell me. I'll understand."

"No!" Elsa snapped, her face paling. Then her tone returned to normal volume. "No, sorry, I can't. I can't tell anyone."

Joey felt confused and disappointed. "But I thought you said you felt like you could trust me more than the other kids here."

"No, no, no, I do," Elsa answered hurriedly. "I really do. I don't even talk to anyone else here. But I...there are just some things I can't tell anyone. Ever."

Although Joey was still confused, he simply replied, "Okay. I understand." But Elsa didn't hear him because she ran ahead of him in the hall and disappeared into the girls' bathroom. Joey thought he could hear her repeating the words "conceal, don't feel," to herself, which confused him even further.

Joey had no idea what Elsa was doing, but he figured he better get into his classroom before Mrs. Werner got mad. She'd be wondering where Elsa was though. If Elsa wasn't there by roll call, Joey figured he'd just tell Mrs. Werner that she got sick or something.

That occurrence gave Joey an inkling that Elsa had a major secret she was hiding. If she said Joey was the only person in their school she felt comfortable talking to, yet she wouldn't even tell him, it must be serious. If she couldn't even tell her sister it must be even more serious. Joey really liked Elsa, but he couldn't help wondering what she needed to hide so badly.

Little did he know that he'd be in for a very cool surprise.

Thawing Frozen Love: Part 2

For the rest of the school day, Elsa avoided having any sort of contact with Joey again. This was why she normally didn't allow herself to be around people. When she was bullied, she never fought back, no matter how much she wished those kids would disappear. At lunch, she sat and ate at a table by herself. Elsa wished she could be more social. She always wondered what having friends would actually be like. But the risk of her secret getting out was just too great to bear. She almost let her tongue slip in front of Joey this morning. She was lucky she made it to the bathroom in time to get her feelings together before her powers got out of control. Next time she might not be so fortunate.

It was really hard to do this all the time. Elsa really liked Joey. He had no idea, because she never talked. He probably didn't even like her back. Or at least he never showed that he did. He likely just wanted to talk to her now that he knew she was hiding something. Still, Elsa couldn't get rid of her strong feelings for him, which was why she needed to stay away from him. She'd never seen what could result from her powers in feelings of love, and she didn't want to find out in front of him. If Joey ever discovered the real reason why she was so different, he might never look at her the same way.

But it was for the best. Elsa wanted so desperately to be able to tell someone about her powers. It would feel so good for her to just let it go. But her parents would be so disappointed in her if that happened. She couldn't tell anyone, ever. She'd been brought up to conceal her feelings and hide her powers so she wouldn't hurt anyone. And reflecting back on how she'd accidentally injured her little sister Anna when they were younger, that seemed like the best way to live. Even just thinking about the memory, it still struck her like a pin pricking her skin. It was like a permanent welt on her mind.

So even as the last bell rang, signaling the end of the school day at Arendelle Elementary, Elsa had to fight her instincts to talk to Joey when he approached her again for roughly the tenth time that day since her panic episode in the morning. "Elsa!" Joey called after her in the hallway.

Elsa maintained her stoic position, fists balled at her sides. Conceal, don't feel, she kept telling herself silently. Don't feel, don't let it show.

Joey ran to catch up with her. "C'mon, Elsa, cut me some slack," he pleaded. "I'm sorry if I did anything that really hurt you that much, but I just want to know what it is."

Elsa finally spoke to Joey, not being able to make herself ignore him any longer. "You didn't do anything," she said as calmly as she could. "It's me. You should probably stay away from me though."

"But why?" Joey asked. "I..." He hesitated, then took a deep breath. "I really like you, Elsa."

Elsa was rendered speechless. All she could do was rock back and forth on her feet like a rocking horse. Joey liked her?

Oh, no. Elsa could feel her emotions taking over. Now that she knew Joey liked her too, her feelings were getting stronger, and who knew what could result from her powers at that point. "Joey, I...I'm sorry, I have to go," she spluttered, and took off to the bus. She felt bad ditching him again, but she could tell that if she had not removed herself from the situation at that very moment, her emotions would have gotten out of whack, she'd have lost control of her powers, and her secret would be out.

Elsa sat as far in the back of the bus as possible, and slouched down in her seat when she saw Joey get on. "Conceal, don't feel, don't feel," she continued to repeat to herself, trying not to notice him.

Elsa got off the bus at her stop, not even looking at Joey as she walked out of the bus. She was afraid if she even looked at him again her feelings might grow too strong for her to control her powers, and she couldn't risk it. Anna was on the bus too since she took the same bus home from afternoon kindergarten, and she followed Elsa out into the cold air, where it was beginning to snow.

"Elsa, it's snowing!" Anna exclaimed with delight, dancing around through the flurrying flakes.

Elsa was excited as well- naturally, she'd always enjoyed snow- but she couldn't help but wonder if the sudden snowfall had been caused by herself. Although it was February and relatively cold, there hadn't been any forewarning of snow that day. Still she said, "yes it is, Anna!"

Anna's face lit up suddenly. "Do you wanna build a snowman?" she asked.

Of course Elsa wanted to build a snowman. She wanted so badly all the time to put her powers to good use and have fun with them, like she did when she and Anna were younger. But she couldn't risk injuring Anna again. "Not today, Anna," she sighed with a heavy heart.

"It's okay, there's probably not enough snow yet," Anna replied. "We can build a snowman later. We can make Olaf again! Remember Olaf?"

"Yes, I do," said Elsa. And she indeed remembered Olaf. He would always be a figment of their childhood; he was like a recurring imaginary friend- whenever the girls used to play with Elsa's ice powers, they would build a snowman and call him Olaf. They'd even talked a bit about making their own film about him. Anna remembered all the fun times the girls had playing together, but she didn't remember that Elsa had ice powers- she'd had to have her memory wiped by the trolls after her accident, "just to be safe", they said. Since then, their parents had flacked hiding Elsa's powers, which had caused her to grow up believing they were a curse and would always be bound to hurt someone.

"Well, wanna build Olaf again? Why don't you like to play with me in the snow anymore? We used to have so much fun- we can be that way again!"
"I don't think we can," Elsa answered. It pained her to see the crushed look on her sister's face. She really wished she could tell Anna the truth. And Joey. And her entire school. If they knew the truth about her they might understand her being different, instead of teasing her about some learning disability that she didn't even have- she'd just been diagnosed with it as a way to put a label on what made her act so different from other kids her age. They might at least understand, and maybe, just maybe, even actually think she was cool.

The girls reached the gates of the castle they lived in due to their parents being King and Queen of Arendelle. Anna went straight to her room. Normally Elsa would have done the same, but not today. She wanted to speak to her parents and see if she could finally stop living her sheltered, hidden life. She found her mother sitting at the kitchen table having her afternoon tea and reading the newspaper. "Mom?" she approached her nervously.

"Elsa, dear, what is it?" the Queen acknowledged her daughter, but didn't look up from what she was reading.

"I need to talk to you about something. I...well, I was wondering if it would be okay with you and Dad for me to stop concealing my powers?"

The Queen's head jerked up. "What? Elsa, you know that's not-"

"But Mom, you don't understand! They're getting stronger and I feel like I'm gonna explode if I keep holding my feelings in!"

"Why do you suddenly feel this way now? You've had no problem concealing them for years."

"Well, you see..." Elsa stammered, and mumbled the next part to herself. "I like a boy."

"What? Honey, speak up."

"I..." She sighed, and finally let it straight out. "I like a boy! I like a boy, okay? And every time I'm around him my feelings get really strong and it's hard for me to control my powers so I wanna just tell him. I'm scared if I keep trying to hide my feelings they'll get out of control and everyone at school will find out about my powers anyway so why can't I just tell them?"

"Elsa, you know that's not an option," the Queen answered strictly. "You know your powers are capable of hurting people, like Anna when you girls were younger. Remember what the old troll said? You have to keep them hidden."

"No, he said I had to control them, not hide them," Elsa argued. "You guys just don't get it. Ever since the thing with Anna you've made me think my powers are a curse. Even though you know it was an accident and I'm not really dangerous. I'm tired of it!"

"That's enough, Elsa," the Queen snapped. "You cannot tell anyone about your powers. And don't go asking your father, because I know he would agree!"

Elsa just fled to her room, not even bothering to answer because she could already feel the tears rising in her throat. What was really so wrong with her? Her parents had it all wrong all along. The trolls had told her to control her emotions, not hide them. The King and Queen had just misinterpreted it and raised Elsa to feel insecure about herself. And at least for now it looked like their take on the matter was static. She still had to "conceal it", "don't feel it", "don't let it show."

Elsa shut herself into her room, crying. As she touched the doorknob, it turned to ice. She sat down against her wall with her head in her hands. Elsa had not been brought up religiously, but she prayed that there was some higher power out there that could help her, save her from this sheltered life, this storm raging inside her. She was tired of constantly having to worry about this. Life would be so much easier if she could just expose her powers and not have to hide her emotions anymore.

Elsa's recurring daydream occurred to her mind, something she would think about to feel better when she was having days like this. She often wished she could escape to somewhere as far away from this prison as possible and live by herself, so she could be who she was without having to worry about hiding her powers anymore. Elsa imagined building her very own ice palace that would be beautiful and all hers. She imagined making herself beautiful outfits and standing on an ice platform singing songs in a long, lovely snow-like gown, with her long curly blonde hair loose and free and full of snowflakes. Even just this very possibility of an idea excited Elsa. Maybe, just maybe, one day she'd finally be free.

Elsa knew there was a very small likelyhood of this opportunity actually happening. She'd probably be stuck living in this stupid castle in this stupid town hiding her true self and repeating "conceal, don't feel" to herself for the rest of her life, because she knew that realistically she would have to end up succeeding her father and mother as Queen of Arendelle one day, and it wouldn't make the royal family look good for a Queen to reveal such a secret about herself.

But a girl can dream...can't she?

Thawing Frozen Love: Part 3

On the other side of Arendelle there was a large brown mansion, much older than the other houses around it. The road where it stood always appeared smooth and recently paved and the grass freshly cut, as Arendelle was a very well-off region. The door to this old brown mansion, which was worn and decorated with rust, creaked and always seemed about to fall off. A living room, which was adorned with a couch, coffee table, some chairs, a radio and a TV, could be seen upon opening the rusty old door. A scrawny, redheaded third grader sat in one of the chairs, doing homework and listening to the song "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5, which was on the radio. He had turned it up as high as he could handle and was staring dreamily into the space in front of him, more so than at his homework.

This little redheaded boy was Joey, and to this moment he could not stop thinking about Elsa. He could not concentrate on his homework when "She Will Be Loved" came on the radio because it amplified his feelings for her. The song defined his thoughts perfectly- he wanted to do everything he could for Elsa not to feel sad or scared. He didn't know what was bothering her so much, but he just wished he could help.

"Joey! Time for dinner!" Joey's mother's voice broke him out of his thoughts. Joey jumped up, left his homework on the chair and scrambled into the kitchen where his parents were putting their meal together. "Joey, do me a favor and set the table, " his father commanded him.

"Okay." Joey gathered utensils, placed them in the family's usual seating arrangement, and helped carry food to the table as his parents served it. Soon, they were all eating together.

"Did you have a good day at work, dear?" Joey's mother asked her husband.

"Yes, I did. It was rather quiet today though," Dad answered. "Perhaps because some people didn't come in or left early due to the sudden snowfall. How about you, Joey? How was school today?"

"Good," Joey mumbled. He could barely bring himself to eat or talk. All he could think about was Elsa.

"Get all your homework done?" Mom asked.

"Not yet."

"Really? You seemed to be working on it for a while before dinner."

Ha, Joey thought to himself. If only his parents knew how hard he had actually been working. "Yeah, but I didn't finish yet," Joey replied.

"Well, let us know if you need any help," Dad offered.

"I will." Joey continued to stare at his plate.

"Joey, you've hardly touched your dinner and you're unusually quiet lately," Mom observed. "Is there something bothering you?"

Joey hesitated. "No."

"Well, you know you can talk to us if there is," Dad spoke up.

"Okay."

Joey didn't say much throughout the rest of the meal, and spent all the rest of the night trying to concentrate on finishing his homework. Eventually- meaning around ten o'clock, way past his usual bedtime- he finally completed what should have taken him only twenty minutes at best to do. It wasn't difficult tasks; it was just that Joey really didn't care about rainforests and multiplication right now, and it's hard to focus on something you can't bring yourself to care about. Elsa was on Joey's mind all night, even as he laid in bed trying to sleep. Why couldn't she just tell him what she was hiding? Why would she say she trusted him so much more than other kids in the school but then freak out about him knowing something? Girls were too complicated.

The next day on the bus to school, Joey was hoping to sit next to Elsa, but she didn't pick a seat anywhere near him. She also kept her distance from him all morning. It was true, then, Joey thought as the lunch hour approached, that Elsa really didn't like him. And by telling her he liked her, he'd probably scared her off for good.

When the third graders entered the cafeteria for lunch, Joey found Elsa sitting at the opposite end of a table all by herself. It then hit him that he noticed she sat by herself every day, he had just never bothered to give much thought to it. Although Elsa had made it clear she wanted to avoid Joey at all costs, Joey just had to wander over there near her. He couldn't bring himself to ignore anyone, much less Elsa, sitting all by themselves.

He approached her tentatively, took a deep breath, sat down, and said, "Hey."

Much to Joey's surprise, Elsa did not get up and walk away, or even ignore Joey, as he had expected. She was hesitant at first, but then stammered, "H-hey." She drew in a sharp intake of breath, as if nervous. Why would I be making her nervous? Joey wondered. All I want to do is be nice to her.

"How are you?" Joey asked.

"I'm...fine," Elsa answered quietly after a long pause.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry about- I mean, I never meant to-" Joey then figured it might be best just to shut up. He should know he was no good at talking to girls.

"Sorry for what? You didn't do anything," Elsa said. "Actually, I'm sorry. I've probably been acting like you did do something, and I didn't mean to. It's just..." She trailed off.

"Just what?" Joey prodded.

"I really...oh, never mind," Elsa mumbled.

"What? Listen Elsa, if it's about your secret- I won't tell anyone, I-"

"No, never mind. I can't do this."

"Do what?" Joey was thoroughly puzzled now. "Whatever it is, I'm sure you can."

"No, Joey, I just-" Elsa broke off again. She looked truly anxious and frightened now. "Excuse me for a minute." She got up and started to walk away from the table, but Joey grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Come on, Elsa, please," he pleaded. "Just stay and talk to me! I just want to know what's going on with you!"

Elsa looked even more terrified now. "Joey, no! I'm just-"

"I really like you, Elsa," Joey continued. "And I want to be around you all the time and I just want to know why you're so mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you!"

"Then why are you acting like that? Why do you keep trying to stay away from me?"

"Because..." But Elsa broke off again because suddenly the table had been gripping so anxiously slowly froze over. As in, ice covered it. And the ice seemed to come...straight from Elsa's fingertips? More ice started to shoot from her hands. Ice daggers. They stood up on the table that she froze over. Joey couldn't believe his eyes.

Other kids around the area who witnessed it first grew quiet, and suddenly all the eyes in the cafeteria were on Elsa. Elsa's face paled and she started heavily breathing. She started to run away. There was a lot of worried commotion coming from confused students and teachers. Joey, though stricken with shock, ran after her. "Elsa!" he shouted. Then other kids began running after her too.

She held up her hand. "Stay away from me!" More ice daggers shot from her hand, and a wall of ice seemed to form on the ground, separating her and the other kids.

A few teachers started to intervene. "What's going on here?" one of them shouted.

"No, just stay away! I don't want to hurt anyone!" Elsa continued to run towards the exit of the cafeteria, more ice shooting from her hands. Despite the frozen barrier, Joey managed to get around it, and chase after Elsa. "Elsa!" he called again. He followed her out into the hallway.

"I told you to stay away from me, Joey!" Elsa was practically in tears now. "You happy now? You discovered my secret. You finally got it out of me."

"But...why were you so afraid to tell me?" Joey asked. "Are you worried I would think you were weird? Because I don't. It's different, but a good different. Even kind of cool."

"No, it wasn't that," said Elsa. "Well, it was a bit of that, but mostly because I have trouble controlling my powers around you. You see, if I get scared or get really strong feelings, I can't control myself. Like what just happened now."

"But why do you have a hard time controlling it around me?"

Elsa took a deep breath. "Because I..." But she couldn't finish because she was really starting to cry now. Joey just wanted to hug her. She was probably really embarrassed that now the whole third grade- and probably soon enough the whole school- knew her secret. And he had made it happen. Although did she look more nervous than embarrassed?

"Because you what?" Joey prompted, trying to sound patient.

"I really like you, Joey!" Elsa managed to finally get it out through her full-on sobbing. "There, I finally said it. I like you!"