Chapter 3: Luck May Begin To Change

Jack started to get nervous when the final week before the concert set in. They hadn't sold any tickets yet. That was two thousand dollars down the drain. Jack soon turned the corner headed straight into his friend Tooth who was gathering money out of an ATM machine. She was stuffing bank notes into her wallet when she looked up and saw Jack standing not too far away from her. She placed her wallet back into a pocket into her bag before she swung it over her shoulder and walked towards Jack.

"Hey," she said. "I hear you and Edmund have some crazy scheme going."

"Yeah," Jack laughed.

Tooth was the only person who called Bunnymund Edmund and was probably the only person who could get away with it. She was his girlfriend and had been for the last year. Bunnymund normally would care a lot if someone called him by his first name. Jack had no idea why but for Tooth, he made an exception. He made a lot of exceptions for her including the promise never to fall in love which he managed to do when he started to date Tooth.

"So how's it going?" they headed in the direction of the lockers. Jack liked to have one because he liked not having a heavy bag.

"Not good," Jack said. "Bunny hasn't sold a single ticket."

"Ouch," Tooth said as Jack opened the door to the lockers, "and her concert is like next Saturday isn't it?"

"Yep," Jack said pulling some things out of his pockets to find his keys. He managed to find them and unlocked his locker door. Jack piled stuff into the locker and grabbed stuff out.

"Ouch," Tooth repeated as she leaned against another set of lockers. "What are you going to do?"

"Kill your boyfriend for starters," Jack said. "I'm out a lot of money."

Tooth shrugged. "Well he does get some crazy ideas."

They both laughed as Jack started to sort out his books. Suddenly Bunnymund appeared out of nowhere. He gave Tooth a quick kiss on the cheek before he pulled out a wad of money. He started to count it out.

"Twenty, forty, sixty, hundred," he kept doing this until Jack had a stack of cash in his hand.

"What is this?" Jack asked as he counted out the money. There was fourteen hundred dollars in his hand. "Did you sell those tickets to those two guys?"
"Those clowns?" Bunnymund said. "Nah, this woman called me this morning. She wanted four tickets for her daughter's birthday party. The whole business took twenty minutes not like those jokers who just string you along."

"Oh great," Jack looked at the money in his hand. He nearly had his entire investment back.

The following day, Bunnymund sold two more tickets making Jack earning back his entire money that he put in. Jack was no longer worried about his money now. If this sale went through, then all his money would be back. Bunnymund had called Jack earlier that day to say that he needed him to come along to help make the sale of those two tickets that he had just sold. Jack had agreed and so he was waiting outside his house for Bunnymund to come pick him up. Bunnymund had told him that they were going to some place called The Smokestack Restaurant run by a guy called Murdock. When he finally came, Jack got into his battered old car.

"I got to be at work by one," Jack said.

"I'll get you there on time," reassured Bunnymund.

They drove and Bunnymund told Jack a little bit more on what sale he had made.

"Is Murdock is first or last name?" Jack asked as they drove across a bridge to get to the other side of town.

"Dunno," Bunnymund shrugged.

Bunnymund drove them until they came to a place called the Smokestack Lighinin'. The letters were painted in brown letters above a smoky window storefront restaurant. If they weren't there to sell tickets, he wouldn't mind a sandwich or something. He had missed lunch which was something he didn't like doing.

"Here, you better hold these," Bunnymund said handing Jack the tickets.

Jack hadn't seen them since the day he had brought them. The words 'these tickets may not be resold' jumped back out at him as he stared at the tickets. Jack heard a bell as Bunnymund pushed the door open. There were a couple of tables occupied when they walked in. They were having probably an early lunch as it wasn't even noon yet. Every table looked like identical copies of each other. When they got to the front, a man from behind the counter talked to them.

"What can I get for you?" he asked them.

"We're looking for Murdock," Bunnymund asked.

"You found him," a voice said.

A black man with a grey beard appeared up to them from behind the counter. He had an apron that was splattered with various sources.

"You Bunnymund?" Murdock asked.

"Yep," Bunnymund said. He took Jack by the shoulders. "This is my man, Jacky Boy."

"Nice to meet you all," Murdock shook both their hands. "Let's see the tickets?"

Jack handed over the tickets and Murdock looked over there.

"Row M," he grinned at them. "Not too bad. Seven hundred for both of them right?"

"Yeah," Bunnymund said, "and you're getting a real bargain."

"Not so sure about that," Murdock headed over to the cash register and started counting out money from it. "But my daughter is in town and she can't get enough of Elsa Winters. When she heard that she was playing in town, it was all that she could talk about and I only get to see her once a month anyway. Hey Wiley, you ever listen to Elsa Winters?"

"Who?" one of the customers said when Murdock spoke to him.

"Elsa Winters," Murdock said.

"Never heard of her."

Wiley wore an old AC/DC t-shirt and had tattoos up and down his arms.

"Go punch E4," Murdock told him, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the jukebox. "See if she doesn't knock your socks off." He then turned back to Bunnymund and Jack. "I really do appreciate you boys coming down here. When it is your own business, you gotta do all the work and stay on top of it twenty four hours a day. I do it all; cook, clean, wash, you name it."

Jack waited for Murdock to return the tickets or for him to give them the money. Murdock was busy watching Wiley fumble with the jukebox. Jack's eyes never left Murdock. He hoped that things wouldn't go downhill from here.

"You boys want anything?" Murdock asked. "On the house?"

"Sure," Bunnymund said. "One lamb sandwich with the works"

"Sure," Murdock said. "What about you Jack?"

"The same," Jack said.

"You want your sauce hot or mild?" Murdock asked.

"Mild," Bunnymund said.

"Jack?" Murdock turned his attention to him.

"The same," Jack said.

Murdock started to cook up the sandwiches while Wiley managed to get the jukebox working. Elsa Winter's biggest hit came on the jukebox.

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight,

Not a footprint to be seen,

A kingdom of isolation,

And it looks like I'm the queen,

Murdock came over to where Jack and Bunnymund were sitting. Bunnymund had led Jack over to some seats before and they sat down. Jack kept his leg jigging while he waited. He was a little nervous. When Murdock came over carrying their sandwiches, he also brought their money. Jack felt bad for not trusting him.

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside,

Couldn't keep it in,

Heavens know I've tried.

"Man don't you just love her?" Murdock said to Wiley.

"She's alright," Wiley shrugged.

"So what do you want to drink?" Murdock asked them.

"Coke," Bunnymund said leaning back in his seat.

"Jack my man?" Murdock turned to him. "Let me guess, the same?"

Jack just shrugged in response.

"Does he tell you when he wants to go to the bathroom as well?" Murdock asked Bunnymund.

Jack bit into his sandwich. He had never tasted a sandwich quite as tasty as that one before. Maybe it had something to do with that he had all his money back and if they continued the way they were going to keep going in this direction.

Jack was in class the next day feeling quite elated with himself. Eight out of twelve tickets have been sold and it was only Tuesday. The concert would be on the Saturday night and according to Bunnymund, the closer they get to the concert, the closer they get to selling all their tickets. Mr. Warren took to the lectern and started his lecture. Jack drummed his pen against his notes. Mr. Warren took out his wallet and pulled out a ten dollar bill and placed it under the document camera. The document camera could project whatever he placed underneath it. He would usually use to do written examples to questions or to show ads for things such as the yearly Economics barbeque. Jack wondered why he was showing the class of hundred pupils a ten dollar bill.

"I have a ten dollar bill here," Mr. Warren said. "Do I hear a bid of ten cents?"

Some of the kids looked at each other in confused until a kid in the front row offered ten cents.

"Going once, going twice," Mr. Warren said until a girl interrupted him.

"Hang on," she said. "Are you just going to sell Mike that ten dollar bill for ten cents?"

"Sure," Mr. Warren said. "Unless I get a better offer."

"Sure," she said. "I'll give you fifty cents for it."

The bidding slowly continued up. Jack himself offered two dollars for the ten dollar bill but couldn't go any higher than that as he didn't have any more cash. Eventually one of Jack's friend in his class, Matt, ended up trading his own ten dollar bill for Mr. Warren's one. There was a lesson in all of that. Jack didn't get it.

"One year I once sold it for ten dollars and ten cents," he told the class.

Jack left the economics class after the lecture feeling a little confused.


Elsa woke up at her usual early morning call and got ready for rehearsal. After her shower she found Kristoff walking through her hotel suite. Elsa quickly wrapped her towel around her and told him to get out. Since Elsa and Anna had adjoining rooms this often happened more times than she cared about. Kristoff looked very embarrassed before he quickly left her room through the front way. Maybe he wasn't expecting Elsa to be up this early in the morning. Elsa yelled at him which he looked a little upset at. Elsa was going to call him a doofus but she supposed she shouldn't. Instead, Elsa rolled her eyes and continued to get dressed. She pulled on a simple black singlet top with black jeggings to match. She knew she was going to do a lot of dancing today so she wanted to be comfortable. She pulled on some comfy shoes that she could easily dance in as well before she headed to her Aunt's hotel room and let herself in with her spare key. Once inside, she found her Aunt and Pitch going through things. Elsa wondered they were to do with the tour.

"There's my superstar," Pitch said to which Elsa rolled her eyes.

"I want to know how much money I'm going to make," Elsa said. "Is it a million yet?"

"It's not that simple dear," her Aunt Irena said.

"I wasn't asking you," Elsa said then realised that sounded rude. She mumbled a small apology to which her Aunt seemed to accept.

"I can't give you an exact figure," Pitch said as he leaned back in his chair. Both he and Elsa's Aunt were sitting at the table in their suite. Aunt Irena had her hands grasping around a cup of tea.

Pitch wasn't just Elsa's manager but he also took care of the entire business side. Elsa didn't know half of what actually went on during in the business side of the tour. Elsa looked at her Uncle or Step Uncle as she liked to refer to him by. He looked like he had just returned from the hotel's gym and spa. He was wearing sports shoes, a V-neck t-shirt and shorts. Pitch liked to keep in shape. He used to be a pro baseball player but only lasted one season. He had gotten hit in the face during a pitch (which Elsa thought was hilarious considering that was also his name) and thus hasn't been able to play again. Elsa did always want to know how someone could get hit by a pitch. She was sure that you would see it coming. Although, the story made Elsa laugh on several different occasions.

"Have I made a million dollars on this tour?" Elsa asked.

"There are a lot of expenses," Pitch explained. "Do you know how many people are on this tour?"

"No," Elsa was embarrassed to reveal the truth.

"Forty two," Pitch said. "They all have a salary plus there are additional costs for each venue that you play at."

"What's my salary?" Elsa asked.

"You don't get one. You get what is left over."

"You're doing very well sweetie," Aunt Irena said.

"How much does the Doofus get paid?" Elsa asked.

"I've asked you not to call him that," Aunt Irena said.

"Kristoff gets fourteen hundred a week plus expenses," Pitch said.

Elsa laughed. "Who pays for your new jacket?" she asked. Her Aunt Irena was sporting a brand new leather jacket. It looked good.

"Your money goes into a massive trust account," her Aunt said. "Only you can touch it sweetie."

"Well there is a lot that only I can do," Elsa said directing it towards Pitch. She had wanted to fire Pitch for years but there had always been something that kept him on. Pitch didn't hear this threat though. If he did, he was ignoring it.

"You won't make anything on this tour," he said. "It is all about exposure. Getting your name out there. Your CD sales will make more money than this tour ever could."

"Maybe we should charge more for the tickets," she said.

"Oh, you think so?" Elsa didn't like the patronising tone that he was giving her.

"In Philadelphia, a ticket was sold for a thousand dollars."

"Where did you hear that?"

"On the radio I think," Elsa was suddenly defensive. "I don't really know."

Pitch smirked at her. "I planted that story," he boasted as he jabbed a finger at himself. "You didn't even sell out there." He pointed at his overinflated head. "El Genius at work."

Elsa felt rather foolish in believing a story like that.

"The most important thing is hype," he continued. "Hype and buzz. Not talent. Hype and buzz."

"Well it makes me mad that ticket sculptures make the money instead of me."

"You let me worry about the business end of things. You just keep singing and shaking that sexy little booty."

"Listen what Pitch tells you," her Aunt Irena said as she gave him a kiss on his cheek. "He's made you into what you are."

Yeah, someone who can't get a single inch of freedom and is constantly hounded at every turn was the words going through her head but she didn't say anything. Instead she grabbed her stuff for rehearsals and headed out the door. She was glad to be getting away from Pitch for a while.

Hours later, Elsa was hanging out with the members of her band in the band bus. Her Aunt would have forty fits if she knew that is what she was doing so Elsa had snuck out after rehearsals as they had finished a lot earlier than they expected due to technical errors. Aileen would come find her at some point and Elsa planned on being in the right place when that happened. At the moment, she was playing the card game Scum with her fellow band members. There was Erik who was the drummer, Ragnar who was led guitarist, Anton who sometimes played the keyboard or piano and Magnus who played bass guitar. They were all from Arendelle like how Elsa was. They all spoke several Scandinavian languages such as Dutch, Norwegian and Sweden but they, like Elsa, spoke fluent English.

They had asked what they should do to let the time go by until they were called back to preform again. Elsa had suggested a card game and Anton always like to bring cards with him. The reason for this is because he likes to improve his magic skills. Elsa has yet to witness any of these magic skills but decided not to question it. Anton wasn't the guy who would lie about stuff, so Elsa waited to witness his magic acts that he swore he did actually know.

Elsa had so far won the last two games. Erik, who could give her old friend Merida a run for her money when it came to competition, wasn't too happy about it. He tried to catch up but he could never manage it. Iron Maiden was playing over the sound system. Elsa, who preferred songs by Tayler Swift or Beyoncé, felt like it was a bit of a refresher. Whenever Elsa looked at these men, she didn't see the rockers they once were. She saw just a bunch of older guys stuck in a bit of a time loop. Magnus liked to smoke and there was a cigarette in his mouth. Elsa pretended that it didn't bother her. Anything that prevented her from having to hang out with Pitch or her Aunt who had changed a lot since she married that creep. Elsa picked up her cards.

"Okay, Ragnar," she said. "You start."

Ragnar had lost the previous round which earned him the title of Scum. He had to pass his best cards to Elsa which was one of the jokers (Elsa just so happened to have the other which now meant she had both of them) and the two of diamonds. Ragnar laid down double fours which Elsa knew that she could easily beat. Magnus, placed his cigarette in an ash tray, put down double sixes. When it was Erik's turn, he placed down double queens. Everyone let down an audible gasp. He had really jumped up the round. Elsa stared down at her hand. She wasn't sure if she wanted to beat him or not. She could as she had double queens as well and their suits were better than Erik's queens' suits. She also had double kings in her hand. Should she risk some of her better cards?

Elsa decided to go for it. She wouldn't place her kings down. They would be saved for later. Instead she placed down her other queens which made everyone look impressed at the play. They were all playing up their reactions for the game which didn't matter to Elsa. She preferred it that way. Much more drama if it was done that way anyway.

"Can anyone beat that?" she asked.

Ragnar scanned his hand. "I'm out."

"Me too," Magnus said putting down his hand. He took his cigarette and placed it between his lips. He took a deep inhaling suck before exhaling a lot of smoke. Elsa let out a cough or two. She really didn't like cigarette smoke but she never got to play with the guys so she had to pretend that it didn't bother her.

"Erik?" she asked turning to him.

Erik had been staring at his cards for the last few minutes. Elsa knew that he was debating whether or not to play a higher card which told Elsa that he did indeed have a higher card to play. Maybe he had the other two kings. Elsa waited for his move. She drummed her fingers against the table as she waited. Erik didn't do anything. He just stared at his hand. In the end he gestured with his fingers that Elsa won the hand. Elsa had glee written all over her face as she took the play and placed it in a neat pile. Elsa stared at her hand as she wondered what play she should play next.

"So Elsa," Anton said. "I thought your Auntie didn't allow you to hang out with us."

"She doesn't need to know," Elsa picked out a four card straight (a three, four, five and six) and placed it down on the table. "Besides, I have Kristoff to protect me."

Like always, Kristoff wasn't too far away from Elsa. He had taken a back seat to the game and was sitting in one of the bus's couches reading the newspaper. He kept sending the band members certain looks from behind the paper.

"Yeah well," Magnus said. "Maybe she would be better keeping that watchful eye on that husband of hers instead of on you."

"Don't go there," Anton said.

"What do you mean?" Elsa was confused by Magnus' statement and even more confused by Anton's reaction to it. Any focus on the card game was now gone. Elsa's attention was completely on Anton and Magnus now.

"It's nothing," Anton said quite quickly.

"She's a grown girl," Magnus said. "She is old enough to know. She ought to know the truth."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Anton said.

"What?" Elsa asked.

"All I'm saying is that she better keep one eye," Magnus said, "on that husband of hers and another one eye on Aileen."

"And what I am saying," Anton said, "is that you better not jabber on about stuff that you don't know anything about."

"Aileen is my Aunt's friend," Elsa said. "They often go shopping together."

"She's your Uncle's friend too," Ragnar said.

"He's not my Uncle," Elsa's expression darkened. She had never considered Pitch to be a member of her family.

"He's married to your Aunt," Ragnar said.

"He's not my Uncle," Elsa said firmly which seemed to drop the subject.

"The girl likes to shop," Erik said, "I'll give you that but the real question we got to ask ourselves here is, whose money is she spending?"

Aileen was pretty much the person in charge of everything to do with the tour travel arrangements, among other things. On this tour she was basically the tour manager as well. Elsa had this small stuff snowman that her parents had given her when she was five. She had once left it in a hotel suite in France during one of her tours. Elsa loved that snowman as it was a reminder of her parents. She never went anywhere without it. They had called the hotel but they said they didn't have it. Aileen was the one who had personally flown back to the hotel and searched until she had found it in the laundry room of the hotel.

Elsa always thought that Aileen always had her act together and was someone really cool who Elsa could talk to about anything. She sometimes would talk about her fear of preforming whenever Elsa got stage fright. Elsa wasn't always a confident person when it came to preforming and would often get a lot of nerves. Once on stage, she would lose herself in the music or look to find her sister's face in the audience. Anna would come to every single of Elsa's concerts and wouldn't be backstage but out in the audience for Elsa to look at. Elsa would sometimes pretend that she was only singing to her. It always worked. But Aileen would always be the person before the show, if Elsa was having trouble or if Anna was backstage, to be the one to help Elsa out. Elsa couldn't imagine someone as smart as her being involved with someone as gross and as much as a creep as Pitch was.

Aileen would also often go with her Aunt on shopping sprees. Before Aileen had come along, there wasn't much style in her Aunt's clothes. Now whenever they went out shopping together, her Aunt would come back with clothes that looked really good with her. Aileen had really good taste, well at least in clothes.

However, the more Elsa thought about this situation, the better she felt. Maybe if Pitch really was cheating on her Aunt then that could be considered a good thing. Maybe her Aunt would finally divorce the freak at last. Elsa's phone went off and Elsa saw who had sent the text.

"Speak of the devil," she muttered. Elsa checked her phone. It was a message from Aileen saying that due to the problems that the crew were having, the rehearsal was cancelled. She passed this message to the band who started to go in their different directions. Kristoff started to get to his feet and Elsa knew that it was time to go. Elsa didn't really want to end their time together so suddenly. They hadn't yet even finished their game but Elsa knew that it was time for it. Elsa gathered up her things, threw her coat around her shoulders and headed out of the bus into the carpark with Kristoff by her side.

Kristoff escorted Elsa back to her hotel room. Elsa approached the counter and asked for the key for a Judy Jetson. It was a game that she and Aileen played. Aileen would choose characters from TV shows to register Elsa under at hotels so that the media wouldn't get wind of her. Elsa would also wear disguises to help blend it. Kristoff leaned backwards against the hotel desk as the receptionist handed Elsa her key. Elsa then headed back up to her hotel room. A bunch of paparazzi walked right by Elsa. She kept her head down low as she walked by them. Kristoff placed his hand on her shoulder and helped her through the crowd of media. Apparently a famous American Footballer was staying at the hotel. They weren't yet aware that Elsa was staying in the same hotel and Elsa was very glad at this. Paparazzi always did like to hound her and that constantly annoyed her. Dealing with the media was just one of the things that Elsa Winters had to do. It wasn't something that Elsa liked having to do but it was a necessary part of being Elsa Winters, the famous and glamourous pop sensation.

At least she got off rehearsals early.

A/N: Hey guys, this is the latest update. A quite a few Small Steps references, if you can spot them. Anyway, I hope that everyone enjoyed the chapter. Please review =)


Reviews:

Jelsa4life: Thanks for the complements and nice words. They meant a lot. Sorry to see that you're not reading as much. I'm not reading as much either but I do try to every now and then. Yeah gonna write a book one day. I have quite a few ideas up my sleeve. So, just gonna say thanks again!

Sunshine unicorn happiness: Yeah it is long time no see, glad to see you again. I do love Small Steps too! Lots of references and characters that you may recognise. Hmm, the 12th Doctor and Peter C, I am actually not watching his season as I do not like him as the Doctor. I don't know why, I just can't stand Peter C. Strange, I know. So thus, I haven't been enjoying the season and thus haven't been watching it. I watched the first few and didn't really like them.

JackElsaforve: Dunno when Elsa will get a break. Maybe she will at some point.

Gracialoveme: I was so close (holds up thumb a finger that is millimetres apart from one another) to using the name Irene actually. It popped up in my head due to that House M.D. episode, Guardian Angels. So I looked for a Scandinavian alternative and found one. Yes, Irena is married to Pitch (in the book the singer's mother is married to Pitch's character), wait for it in later chapters. Yeah sorry, doesn't fit the story as I would prefer Idina Menzel songs (as she is Elsa) but thanks for the suggestion. Surviving school has been accomplished. Surviving University is whole other thing and that's what I have to do at the moment. Not fun at the moment. Rounding off, thanks for the review!

Alaethia: Thanks!

Guest Reviews: Never actually heard of that show. Ragnar, like all my Scandinavian names, all come from the same sight. No reference to other shows. In answer to your questions 1; 40 degrees C is only 104 degrees in F, so actually not that far off. Many countries do go up to that. The book mentioned 100 degrees F and so I took a estimate guess which turned out to be pretty close. 2. I can make any one the bad guy if I wanted to. A lot more sinister things to come. 3. I do not get my story ideas from any other stories. They are all my own, original ideas. That story, I saw, after I came up with this idea and had already named my story. A bit unfortunate but the name was already stuck. A lot of stories have similar ideas. There is just so many ideas you can come up with. 3:17, surprising accurate, actual time was 3:18am.

Guest: Hmm, not bad. I would change the brother to a sister if it was me as Jack in Rise of The Guardians had a sister.

Nico Di Angelo101: Nearly there for ya. Yeah I like how Jack and Elsa haven't yet met. Thanks for the review!

Me ofrzco como Trubuto: Thanks a lot!