Hello! In case you didn't catch it already, yes, this is a rewrite of one of my previous stories. I've kind of been debating about whether or not I should rewrite it and got some lack of inspiration for my other story so decided to roll with it. The plan from here is to rewrite the whole thing and then delete the old draft once I'm done. The plot is still the same, though, just a warning, the very, very, very end might be a tad bit different. More on that in the future. The only bad thing is I'm going to lose all my amazing reviews but I still want to thank any and every -one who contributed to the success of my first draft. Hopefully this will be a million times better and people will rediscover it and like it just as much. Updates will probably be infrequent considering that I'm still going with Lavender's Blue, so, for now, happy reading!

It was something strange if Elsa Summers and Jack Overland weren't together. The two were impossible to separate, but, really, who would want to? Even from birth they had been close, and growing up throughout the years certainly hadn't taken away from that. It wasn't that the actual relationship was strange, in fact, they were very similar in many ways, it was just the fact that there were so many things that could separate them but didn't, and perhaps many admired the two because of that.

Elsa was the boldest, which, considering having a boy for a best friend, wasn't surprising. She had to be tough- prove her worth to Jack and everyone else. She had the brightest light-wash platinum blonde hair that her mother would always braid out of her face with a blue headband- her favorite color, what else?- and she had an indescribable liking for the cold. Winter was her favorite season and she always wanted to build a snowman or have a snowball fight.

Jack was a little quieter at first, but one shouldn't be fooled by him. Of the two, he was the scheming one, always coming up with some great plan of mischief that generally got the pair in trouble. His scrawny little form was always moving about, whether it was ruffling up his already messed up brown locks, wordlessly daring Elsa to a game of footsie under the school desks, or chucking a pencil across the room just to see how far it could fly, he never failed to make his best friend smile.

And then things changed.

Soon, it was Elsa who would push for a glimmer of a smile from the boy, Elsa who supported him through losing his father to another woman, Elsa who pushed him on through his mother's neglect and moving away. Once middle school came, neither felt ready for it, but they didn't exactly have a choice in the situation, now, did they? It goes to say that Elsa kept her chin high, her braid intact, and her icy eyes firm on whoever dared to mess with her best friend. In the end, though, it wasn't enough. Fate proved to be quite the challenging opponent for them both, but it struck Elsa a bit harder than it had Jack.

Elsa and her younger sister, Anna, lost their parents in one fateful accident. Any hope that she or Jack shared was distinguished in the blink of an eye, and neither could believe how quickly it slipped through their fingers.

Unfortunately, Anna did not survive unscathed, and she awoke in the ICU three days later with no memory of what had happened. At age fourteen, how in the world could she possibly care for herself and a little girl three years her junior? Elsa was forced to mature at a rapid pace from then on, and she decided that it would be best if Anna never knew the truth. Called it chopped logic, but the bitter truth was that Elsa simply couldn't care for her. Anna couldn't remain in her life, she deserved a future, and she would have none if she stayed with her. So, Anna was left to mourn on her own, believing her beloved sister to be dead in the crash as well. Elsa, on the other hand, decided to forget her past and create a new life, going to live with the Hopes in a city far from Burgess. Far from Anna, far from her past, and far, far, far away from a clueless Jack who, at the time, believed he would never know the truth behind the disappearance of the one person he truly trusted.

~three years later~

Kate Hope sat in front of her mirror, braiding her deep chocolate brown hair. Once it was finished, she twisted it up in an elaborate and elegant bun, not one single hair out of place. A million thoughts raced through her mind and she was finding it difficult to pinpoint just one. She sighed to herself.

Burgess Performing Arts Academy.

It had been her dream for as long as she could remember. Kate was a piano prodigy, as some preferred to call her, and she didn't find herself half bad at singing, either. Of course, singing involved putting herself out there far greater than she was comfortable with so she preferred to keep that mark on the checklist hidden as often as possible. Of course, it was back in Burgess, but she had already spent months debating the pros and cons about going back there. (The cons were much more convincing than the pros but, come on, it was BPAA, the best private school in the country!) It was farther away from her parents and closer to… the people she had chosen to forget.

Sighing again, she allowed herself a minute to ponder the happenings of Anna. It wasn't like she didn't know, she would often check up on her with reports from the doctor, but she tended to keep those few and far in between. It was painful to hear how well she was doing, but it only reminded her that this was the reason she had picked this path- it was the right thing to do. She was sure of it.

At least, for Anna. And for herself. For Jack? Well, she wouldn't exactly know. Where he was, what he was doing, how he was doing, she didn't know, and she had never bothered to find out. Of course she felt guilty for leaving him without an explanation, but it had just been too hard. She didn't expect him to understand, she didn't expect anyone to understand, all she asked was for the world to accept that this was her life now and she was happy.

At least, that was what she told herself. Whether it be the truth or a false declaration, she would probably never know.

His room was a mess, and that was a nice way of putting it. Everything was either thrown into boxes or carelessly sprawled about, littering the floor. Jack Overland-Frost (he preferred Frost… That no-good-two-timing-asshole-of-a-father did not deserve a place in his life) was not what one would call a 'clean person', but he was in absolute denial that he had a problem. Of course, the teenage boy was a stubborn species and he was not an exception.

It was almost time for his third year at Burgess Performing Arts Academy. Jack could barely stand the house that was supposed to be home anymore and he couldn't wait to leave. Sure, Nick made things easier but how he could stand to put up with his mother's state of being, Jack would never understand. To put it lightly, she was a mess. She was moody, snappy, rude, unbearable, unreliable, and Jack had no guilt blaming her for everything. Other than the obvious, of course, but why would his father want to leave them in the first place?

One prolonged hour, that's all it would take to be rid of this place and free for the year. He couldn't wait to see his roommate, Harry "Hiccup" Haddock (he wasn't entirely sure how his quirky friend had the unfortunate luck to acquire such a nickname but he introduced himself as it all the time so…), a computer genius whom he hadn't seen since the previous year.

The thing was, you had to be exceptionally talented to get into Burgess Performing Arts Academy, or BPAA. Jack had always exceeded in sports and they had practically begged him to apply, to which his application was accepted almost immediately. He kept hoping to see a certain someone from his past at orientations, but, alas, he never did.

With one thought, Jack's chipper mood diminished and he was left with a hollow feeling in his gut. He hadn't heard from Elsa in three years. It had always been her dream to get into this school as well. They planned to go together, her for music, Jack for sports, and since the curriculum required an arts credit every year, it was helpful that he had learned to play piano alongside her as children, but he never did anymore. He didn't think his teachers were even aware that he could play anything other than guitar. Besides, the piano was really more her thing.

Nobody from his old school attended BPAA, so Jack had long since decided to stop being the shy little Jack Overland that everyone acquainted with Elsa Summers. It's not that he didn't need her, but the endless questions of 'where is she?' and the agonizing response of 'I don't know' took its toll on him and it soon became painful to even think about his best friend. Now, though, he had created a new life, a new reputation. He wasn't the shy little Jack Overland, he was the popular and well-liked Jack Frost. A couple years ago, he had bleached his dark hair white- don't ask him why, he wasn't really sure but it seemed to suit him and everyone liked it- and he was now confident in his actions. He was bold, determined, fearless, and everyone knew it. He had worked hard for this, and he knew that Elsa would be proud of him. Not that he changed in her honor, of course. He had every right to be mad at her and, if he ever saw her again, she would totally deserve a nice smack to the face. And yes, he would have felt bad for thinking about hitting someone, especially a girl whom he hadn't seen since them being young adolescents, but Elsa was tough and didn't like royal treatment because of her gender and Jack would be more than happy to oblige to demonstrate his support against sexism.

Quickly, he shook Elsa from his thoughts and forced a smile. He was so done with her. She didn't deserve to be able to haunt his every thoughts and hang around everywhere he went. She was just a ghost and she was never coming back and he needed to just deal with it and stop being a pathetic loser who couldn't get over being left behind. Ahem, not that he was, of course.

That being said, he could still remember the day, the 14th of March, to be exact (and yes, he kept track), his best friend began to fade away. She tried to convince him that nothing was wrong, but she wasn't herself. He'd known her practically his whole life so he could automatically tell that something was, indeed, wrong, but he never expected her to pack her things and completely move away two weeks later. They had agreed that they would communicate everyday when they were apart, but they never did. She never even told him where she was going let alone why. He occasionally held onto the hope that he'd get some long text or phone call one day and Elsa would give a totally legitimate reason for not contacting him all these years, but he'd sort of lost hope a couple years back.

His iPod began to play Somebody That I Used to know, and he couldn't find it more fitting as the lyrics sung themselves softly in his head.

You didn't have to cut me out

Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing

Elsa had practically betrayed him by leaving. He knew it wasn't her choice to move, but it had been in her power not to leave. And yet, she had. She knew how much he depended on her but apparently, that didn't matter. Jack wasn't sure if she remembered all those pacts of friendship they made when they were little. He did, no matter how childish and silly they seemed now.

I don't even need your love

You treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough

Well, love being used loosely… Okay, no one needed to know about those last couple months, but that's not the point. She left him. It was not in his place to feel guilty over anything. But he had needed her, and he thought the feeling was mutual but he guessed not. It was like she disappeared off the face of the planet.

No you didn't have to stoop so low

Have your friends collect your records and then change your number

Guess that I don't need that though

Now you're just somebody that I used to know

He did feel terrible for moping all this time. It was far past the deadline to move on, but he couldn't help it. She was his best friend, and best friends don't give up on each other. Elsa just forgot and left him to deal with the aftermath. Not only did she rob him of his best friend but he hadn't even heard anything from her younger sister, Anna, either. He would have thought that they'd be close enough to contact each other but even she seemed to have disappeared, as well.

Somebody

I used to know

Somebody

I used to know

Jack loved to play the 'what if' game, but the truth was, he wasn't really mad at Elsa. In fact, he never really had been. He could say he blamed her all he wanted when in actuality, the only one he blamed was himself. He hadn't tried hard enough. He had let her slip away. True, Jack hadn't known that she'd move away for the rest of their lives but he should have done something more than what he did. She had always been there for him, the least he could have done was return the favor. Something serious had happened, and he simply wasn't there. He's the one he blamed the most.

Now you're just somebody that I used to know

It had been six hours and Kate was just delirious, that's all there was too it. She needed coffee, or anything with caffeine would do, really, tell her that she was crazy, that she'd lost her marbles, that she needed to be locked up, she would take anything. Just please, she begged to God, don't tell her that it was really Anna she was staring at.

The only thing she could bring herself to do was stare into her sister's eyes. They had always been darker than her own blue, more of a teal, but neither of them could compare the difference after three years since Kate was wearing her brown color contacts.

She was proven wrong; that Anna, in fact, was not a vision, as her very real hands slammed down onto the hood of Kate's car, exclaiming, "Hey, watch it! I'm walking here!"

Kate blinked, gaping at the fiery young girl. Did- did she really just snap at her? Well, of course she did, she couldn't recognize her, plus, in all fairness, she had just nearly and literally run into her. It was ridiculous that she would recognize her. There was nothing of her previous life that remained, she had made sure of that. But just for a moment there, she could have sworn that Anna had looked into her eyes and had seen something… No, definitely ridiculous.

As Anna flounced away, disappearing from sight, Kate quickly pulled into the nearest parking lot and desperately wished for a paper bag in hopes that she wouldn't hyperventilate. Corona was a much larger city than Arendelle, where she, Anna, and Jack had grown up, with a much better hospital as well, so of course Anna would be kept here. But what were the odds that, in this whole entire city, she would just happen to run into her at that crosswalk? It wasn't very good odds, and Kate didn't like being toyed with by fate very much at all.

But Anna hadn't really changed. Of course she looked older, more mature, but she still had that bubbly optimistic air to her that gave her the ability to pull off those twin plaits. Her freckles didn't make her look quite as tomboyish. She had been wearing a green shirt matched with Converse of the same color, a royal blue skirt that flowed out to her knees and a purple jacket that didn't exactly match the coloration of her shirt, but Anna had never really been one to care about those silly little things.

Kate glanced in the rear view mirror, catching sight of her dark brown eyes. Her hair was a deep and rich chocolate brown, still perfectly twisted in its bun. Once she was sure that no remnants of Elsa were present, she reached in the back for her special bag she used solely for the image that she wore in the eye of the public, mentally checking everything off as she went through it. Brown hair dye for the next three months, check, three back up brown color contacts, bronzer for less pale appearing skin, check and check. She was good. Of course, she didn't feel good. As a matter of fact, she felt downright sick to her stomach.

She knew that looking in the mirror that morning had been a bad idea. It had been the first time in three years that she truly saw her own reflection. Just for a few minutes, she had allowed the dye remover to keep its progress and wiped off the traces of makeup, taking out her contacts as well.

Blue eyes, platinum blonde hair, pale skin.

"Hello, Elsa," Kate had said, the tone of her voice indistinguishable.

Then, Catheryn had cheerfully warned her that there was a mere four hours to go and Kate had frantically but expertly reapplied the dye. If she wanted to convince the world, even herself, that her natural hair color was brown, she had to re-dye her hair every three and a half weeks and that was a tedious process in and of itself. Mostly, the brown contacts were used to change her eye color, but in that short interval of time, she had even slipped on her glasses. It was overwhelming how much she felt like the old her and she couldn't decide whether the odd stirring in her gut was a good thing or a bad one.

Katrian was her middle name, it was of Scandinavian background with the meaning of 'pure'. 'Elsa' just brought too many memories, and it was easy to slip into a new persona. It was Catheryn, her mom, who had first called her Kate, and it sort of just stuck.

At her new school, she was afraid to grow close to anyone, so she quickly developed the title of 'the Queen of Isolation'. She was talked to on dares, asked out on lost bets, and gossiped about endlessly. She had hated it. Whether she meant to or not, she was always associated with being mean and snobby, which was what everyone would expect from a rich girl like her, even if no one knew that she was adopted, or had no clue what she had gone through.

BPAA was the most prestigious school for talented young students, starting at 9th grade and finishing out high school. Kate had finally decided to give up trying at her new school and answer one of the letters she had received, applying and almost immediately getting accepted. Unfortunately, that would mean she'd be coming in during third year and wouldn't know anyone whereas the students here were already well acquainted with each other. They assured her that, with her track record, she'd be more than capable of catching up with any and everything she missed, and she had no doubt that she would, but she shuddered at the very thought of all that attention.

Finally, Kate was able to leave her car in the school parking lot and enter through the big gates, quickly finding a registration line of many people, none of whom were wearing a uniform. She was glad that she had decided against putting it on sooner as opposed to later. If unwanted attention was avoidable, she would avoid it.

A few minutes later, she reached a lady up front, giving a small smile.

"Hello," she said shyly. The woman just gave her a passive glance and Kate practically shriveled back.

"Name?" the lady deadpanned more than asked.

"Um, K-Katrian Hope," she stuttered. Her heart beat a little faster as she seemed to take an extra long time searching through the files, but she was sure that Catheryn had informed the people ahead of time that she preferred to go by her middle name but what if they disregarded it? What if her teachers called her that name and she couldn't tell them otherwise because she could barely raise her hand to answer as it was and-

"Here's your schedule and dorm key, no room mate," she was suddenly tossed a small key on a lanyard with a sheet of paper, an empty folder with BPAA stamped across the front, and a school program crammed into her hands. Kate quickly took her leave, glad to be rid of the rude woman. She certainly hadn't been friendly and it was not helping her nerves.

Kate figured she could fully unpack later, so she grabbed her special bag and main suitcase, heading for the dorms once she figured out the map. It was kind of confusing, in her defense, so it seemed fitting that she'd drop something. That something just happened to be her keys.

"Hey! Excuse me!"

Her head whipped around when she realized that someone was talking to her. Kate flushed when she realized that not only was a random stranger talking to her, said random stranger was a boy. She didn't exactly have the best experiences with boys at her other school and Jack was in the past.

The boy really wasn't that much of a boy. His face was angular with a chiseled jaw but his blue eyes held a spark of mischief that made her wary. The most obvious feature was his hair, though. A strange shock of white, bleached, indefinitely, if his eyebrows were anything to go by, but it wasn't blonde. As he approached, Kate noted that he was someone who didn't look quite as tall as they actually were from a distance. He didn't tower above her in his dark blue sweatshirt and brown jeans but she still had to look up.

Kate was not interested in the slightest bit, but she could tell whether a person was good looking or not, and this boy certainly was… attractive, so why would he be talking to her? It didn't make sense, someone of that crowd wouldn't willingly- oh.

Her keys dangled between his thumb and forefinger, his thin lips drawn back in a charming smile. "Are these yours?"

Kate's face heated up with red and she switched the papers to her other hand, grabbing the keys. "Thank you," she mumbled, keeping her eyes averted. Anywhere but him. Kate didn't consider herself a klutz and she always tried to maintain as much poise and maturity as possible, but she just had to go and embarrass herself in front of a popular student within the first hour. Great way to start off as an invisible newcomer.

"I'm Jack, by the way," he introduced, but Kate didn't take the time to appreciate the act of friendliness. She was too busy trying to get her bodily functions jump-started, or something. All she knew was that she couldn't breathe so that had to be a problem, right?

"J-Jack?" she choked out, and just barely. And it was really more of a squeak but she disliked the idea of her squeaking so, choked out it is.

"Yeah, Jack Frost. You heard of me?" his smile turned into a crooked smirk, an arrogant touch to his first impression that immediately set off warning bells in Kate's head: stay away from this type of boy, they're trouble!

But at least she could calm her racing heart. It was just a bit of a surprise to hear the name from anywhere besides her thoughts. She wasn't quite expecting it and she wasn't sure what to call the arising feeling in the back of her throat. She should just say she was feeling ill. That's generally a good excuse, right?

"Headed to the dorms?" the newly dubbed Jack asked, his hands shoved in his hoodie pockets.

Kate nodded out of distrust in her voice.

"Cool. So, are you new here? Freshman year is great, trust me, you'll have a blast." Did this kid ever stop flashing his blinding white teeth? Which, they were very nice, in a matter of speaking. Figures he would have perfect teeth. But he talked a bit too much for her liking. Oh, how she wished she could have her Jack, her quiet, best friend… whom she shut out forever.

But wait. Did he just mistake her for a fourteen-year-old? She may be an unfamiliar face but she Kate was sure as sure could be that she most certainly did not look like a first year.

"Um, actually, I'm a third year," Kate stumbled out in a reserved tone to hide her irritable thoughts, pushing back a stray hair that wasn't really there. Her buns were always perfect and well-kept, just like her.

"Really? That's strange, we never get new students," he pleasurably informed her. Kate darted her eyes to and fro, seeking a viable excuse for an escape. She was unsuccessful in finding one before Jack started talking again. "So, are you some kind of dancer?"

Seeing as she had no other option, Kate replied, "Musicologist, actually."

"Cool. Well, nice meeting you. I'll probably see you around," he gave a wave in the form of a two-fingered salute, something Kate found a number of the male gender did. Strange beings. Walking backwards with a swing in his step that she generally associated with people too full of themselves for their own good, Jack called out, "Try not to lose your keys, those are kind of important!"

"Um, yeah, thanks."

For what, Kate didn't really know nor understand. Boys were weird. She knew that beforehand, though. It was only after leaving everything behind that they became confusing as well. No matter, she wasn't here to mix up her brain with the whereabouts of teenage boys, she was here to learn and to practice music. And, though she didn't really care to admit it to herself, to help her forget. Though there weren't many things that Kate did anymore that didn't revolve around that sole purpose.

Meanwhile, Jack Frost had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't quite quell, but it never even occurred to him that it might have something to do with the shy brown-haired girl whose name he didn't quite catch.

Remember, I'm sorry if I don't update as quickly as any of us would like, but this is not my primary focus, more of an extra project I felt like doing because summer's approaching for me and it's a good way to work out writer's block and redo something I feel needed redoing. See you next time, whenever that is. And yes, there are some changed to the actual events as well as the writing, but I'm trying to make it more realistic and better overall so hopefully it'll work out. Let me know what you think, whether you have read the story or not, I'd love to hear it! Let's work on bringing back the Jelsa fandom!

~Pearlness4700