A/N: There will be mentions of bullying in this story, and this chapter specifically. Just a heads up.
Elsa looked around the hallway. There weren't many windows around, as the classrooms seemed to take up most of the window real estate. The few that she could see out of didn't show her any visible landmarks.
"Then again, I haven't really explored campus yet." She mumbled to herself. She leaned against the side wall, pulled up her phone, and searched for a map of the building.
"Campus map… Campus tours… Building histories…" She scrolled through the pages of the school website. After several minutes of fruitless searching, Elsa gave up. She looked at her schedule again. 'Intro to Macroeconomics, 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM - Room 301' it read.
Elsa looked at the nearest door. Room 102. She looked around for a staircase. The halls were emptying now, and she saw less and less people as she walked around. She found the staircase soon after, although the door to it didn't seem to open. She tried pushing on the handle, pulling on it too. It refused to budge.
"Don't try it. They lock the upper floors until class starts." Elsa jerked her head towards the sound. A girl in a black hoodie hoodie sat under the water fountain beside the door, reading. They closed the book in their hands and stood up. "You must be new here."
"Y-yeah… how do you know about this? And… why lock the doors?" Elsa jerked her thumb at the handle.
"Apparently some seniors snuck into this place before orientation last year and set glitter bombs in the halls. Since they can't really bar the whole place, they just locked the doors to the upper floors." The girl dusted off her equally dark jeans. "I'm Rapunzel. Second year. You?" The hooded girl stuck out her hand to shake. Elsa could only make out a small pair of lips and lightly bronzed skin. Rapunzel's eyes were covered.
"Elsa." She shook Rapunzel's hand. "I'm new here. I just wanted to find where my classes were before orientation."
"Too bad, I guess." Rapunzel shrugged. "But if you need some help, I could show you around."
"Yeah, sure, that'd be great." Elsa accepted her offer. She put her phone into her pocket and gestured towards the front of the building. "Lead the way."
The two of them walked out of the building. Elsa noticed some movement in Rapunzel's hood, like something was sliding around under it. "Firstly, you're going to need this." Rapunzel took out a small pamphlet that acted as a bookmark for her book and handed it to Elsa. "Campus map. You can keep it. I got plenty."
The two girls headed south. The Business building was on the north end of campus, and Rapunzel pointed out buildings as Elsa cross-checked them with the map. She took cursory glances at Rapunzel, looking for something shifting again. Nothing seemed off.
"What's your major?" Elsa asked.
"Visual Design." Elsa looked again at Rapunzel's hood. Maybe it was just her imagination. "How 'bout you?"
"Uh… Business Admin." She looked towards the campus buildings, a mixture of modern and gothic architecture. They moved towards the central quad.
"And the one that looks like Hogwarts is the Math building." Rapunzel pointed out another building. Elsa looked at the tall spires and windows. The grey stone of the building contrasted with the red brick of the ones around it.
"I guess I'm not going to be spending a lot of time on the south side, then." Elsa checked her schedule against the map. "Most of my courses are in the arts buildings anyways."
"Yeah, same here. To be honest, I don't know a lot about that end anyways." Rapunzel shrugged.
Suddenly, a delightful smell wafted by their noses. Elsa sniffed at it. Savoury. Meaty. Hot Dogs.
"God damn, I'm hungry. Wanna get one?" Rapunzel jerked her head in that direction.
"Yeah, definitely." Elsa walked over with Rapunzel. It was a small cart by the walkway through the quad. A sign across the cart read HERCULEAN DOGS. The symbol of what was probably the student union was on the side.
"Shang, is that you?" Rapunzel asked as they approached the cart. An asian man with long horns and an impressive Manchu beard manned the cart, turning over hot dogs and buns.
"Hey Punzie, how ya doin?" He said. The tip of an orange tail flickered into view from behind the cart.
"Good, good. You never told me you got a job."
"Nah, ain't a job. Just covering for Herc since he's got unpacking to do. Want a dog?" He pulled one of the hot dogs from the top rack and moved it below, closer to the fire.
"Yeah, and one for Elsa too." Rapunzel fished for her wallet.
"Elsa, is it?" Shang gave her a lopsided smile. He stuck out a hand for a shake. The back of it was covered in orange scales.
"Yeah." She shook his hand. She began to hear hissing, and not just from the hot dogs. Something else was as well.
"Here you go. Two hot dogs." Shang gave them their hotdogs before scooping the money they paid off the top of the cart. Elsa squirted ketchup and relish onto hers, while Rapunzel piled hers high with mustard.
"See you around." Shang said as they left. Elsa waved back, her mouth occupied by the first bite of hot dog.
"Mmmm, best ones in the city, by far." Rapunzel was already halfway through hers. Elsa kept hearing that hissing. She soon realized the source.
"Hey… is your hair… hissing?" She asked.
"M-oh yeah! Sorry." Rapunzel pulled off her hood, and Elsa could see exactly why her head was covered in the first place.
She found herself staring at a mass of golden snakes, writhing and hissing. One went for the hot dog, taking a small bite.
"Don't worry, they're not venomous." Rapunzel shooed off the snake. "I just keep them hidden since a lot of people are scared of snakes."
"Yeah… Uhm, uh…" Elsa fought for words, almost mesmerized by the squirming mass on Rapunzel's head. "I just never met a gorgon before."
Rapunzel snickered. "Just so you know. I can't turn people to stone. They tend to freeze in place themselves."
"Yeah, I can see that." Elsa tore her eyes away, taking another bite to occupy her gaping mouth.
"So… what are you? I can see the horns, but not much else." As Rapunzel looked around Elsa, the snakes seemed to do their own inspection of her.
"I'm… a satyr. N-not a full one, my mom was one." Elsa said, looking erratically at the snakes.
"Hmm… A satyr, but with normal legs. Odd…" Rapunzel scratched her chin.
"I guess I'm kinda rare then." Elsa shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." Rapunzel pulled away. "I guess it'd suck though. Most guys I know wouldn't wanna go down on that." She snickered.
There's something else I've got that they wouldn't want to go down on. Elsa thought to herself.
She pulled out her phone as it vibrated.
'Made it to the apartment. You almost done?' Olaf texted her.
'Yeah, I'll come back. You want a hot dog?' She texted back.
'Sure.' Was the response she got. "Sorry, I need to go. My roommate needs my help to unpack." She said to Rapunzel.
"Oh yeah, sure, go ahead." Rapunzel said. "I'll give you my number. Let's meet up again some time, I'll introduce you to my friends." After entering Rapunzel into her contacts, Elsa headed to the apartment.
There wasn't much student housing around The Institute between on-campus housing and the students that just came from home. They were honestly lucky to find a place that was this cheap that still had running water. Even more than running water, it was quite comfortable too, especially since the two of them were sharing.
It was a short walk from campus, only about fifteen minutes. Elsa hummed, a small smile on her face. Her time at college was already going better than high school by a wide margin. She rounded the apartment to the back, humming a tune as she crossed the rear parking lot. She whistled as a black Aston Martin DB11 pulled into the parking lot. A chill ran down her spine. She knew someone with a black DB11. Someone she tried to get away from by coming here.
Elsa walked a bit faster, moving to the door before looking back at the car, now turned away from her. She prayed, hoped that it wasn't who she thought it was.
Hopes that were dashed as a pair of strawberry blonde braids stepped out of the car. Elsa gritted her teeth, opening the door and running up to the stairs to her apartment. She didn't care how loud her footsteps were, as long as she got there as fast as possible.
Apparently they were pretty loud, as Olaf yanked open the door when Elsa approached. "You okay?" He said upon seeing Elsa panting.
"She's here, Olaf. Why the fuck is she here?" Elsa snarled, walking over to the kitchen for a glass of water.
"W-wait, who are you talking about? Who's here?" Olaf asked.
Elsa could barely utter the two syllables. "Anna." She spat out. Olaf immediately stiffened. "Are you sure?"
"I know an Aston Martin when I see one." Elsa laid her head against their granite countertop.
Olaf pulled a stool over, settling into it like he was seasick. "W-well we can't be sure she's living here. Maybe she's just visiting a friend."
"A friend. That didn't go to our school. That we didn't know lived here." Elsa turned to him. Olaf saw the fury in her eyes turn to anguish, filling with tears as she started to cry.
"I-It was off to such a good start, Olaf. I-I made a friend today, maybe two. A-and now it's fucking over…" She sobbed.
Olaf sighed, patting Elsa on the back. "It's a big campus. Maybe you'll never see each other."
Elsa just shook her head. "W-what if she does? What if she tells everyone again? What do I do, Olaf?"
Olaf gritted his teeth, his brow scrunching up behind his sunglasses. There was no forgiving what Anna Arendelle did to Elsa.
They had been best of friends once, the three of them. Anna had just transferred into their school in the third grade. It was probably fate that Ms. Jones assigned Elsa and Olaf to be her guide. That or it was punishment for pranking Willie Lorde. As inseparable as Olaf and Elsa were, Elsa and Anna were more so. There were just things that Elsa couldn't share with him that she could with Anna. Of course, he was still shocked when Elsa told him that she had a crush on her.
"Really?!" Olaf exclaimed as Elsa shushed him again. She had pulled Olaf upstairs into her room for just this, as Anna was still downstairs, working on their project.
"I-I… yeah." Elsa bashfully looked down. "I really, really like her, Olaf."
Olaf kicked himself. If only he hadn't pushed Elsa to ask her out. Maybe they still would have been friends. But no, he had to plan something big for Elsa, he had to give her ideas. He had to have Elsa ask out Anna to the school dance. In the cafeteria. In front of the whole school.
It wasn't pretty. Neither of them expected the whole cafeteria to laugh at Anna. Neither of them expected Anna to flusteredly reject Elsa and run away. Neither of them expected what followed the next day.
"How's that snake in your pants, Elsa?""I knew she was a demon! I fucking knew it!""Freak!""Bitch-dick!""Stop pretending to be a girl, Elsa!"
They weren't too popular in school before. They had their small circle of friends, but nobody outside of their group paid them any mind. They were just normal. Then everyone found out about Elsa. By the end of sophomore year, everyone knew about Elsa's extra bits. And then the bullying started. From everyone. Olaf got suspended twice for beating up people that were shit-talking his best friend. And Elsa… He remembered having to pull her out of trash cans more than once. He remembered her coming to class with her hair wet and torn from swirlies.
That gym class, though, was probably the worst. Olaf's fists clenched at the memory. Elsa always changed in the bathrooms. The teachers were quite accommodating in that regard. Some girls went to her spot after class, at the end of the day. Elsa refused to talk about that day. All he knew was that Anna led the group. 'It wasn't that bad.' was all he got.
Olaf snapped out of his thoughts. Elsa had fallen asleep on the counter, her arms slick with tears as they held her face up. He half-dragged, half-led her to the couch, covering her with a blanket. If Anna really was here, he'd have to talk to her before Elsa did.
Olaf jumped slightly as their doorbell rang. He looked over. She'd have no idea that we live here. He told himself. They'd stopped being friends almost immediately since that day. Even so, some small part of him was paranoid. He slowly walked towards the door. Peeling off his glasses and focusing he sighed. It was a redhead, but it wasn't Anna."
"Hello?" He said to the woman on the other side as he opened the door.
"Hi there!" He was taken aback. Not at the Lamia before him. but just at how cheery she was. Olaf pulled himself out of the scowl that he had left his face stuck in and smiled. "Hi, are you looking for someone?"
"Uh, not in particular. I just wanted to say hi. I'm Ariel. I live in the apartment across from you."
Olaf took a moment to look at the stairs, then back at this woman with a snake's tail. "Well, I'm Olaf, nice to meet you. Elsa would come out but she's tired right now." He looked back into the apartment.
Ariel gasped. "Oh sorry, this is probably a bad time, But I just wanted to say that I run the 'homeowner's association' here, and there's going to be a little get-together tomorrow for all the tenants of the building." She wrote down a time, an apartment number, and a phone number. "If you have any questions, just give me a call." She… slithered? walked? Moved back over to her apartment door. "Oh and bring your girlfriend as well!"
Olaf sighed, "She's not my-" Ariel shut her door before Olaf could finish.
He stared at the paper in his hands. They should go. They should show up and make friends. But if Anna was here… He glanced at Elsa again, sleeping soundly. She shouldn't have to go through that again.