AN: So I was recently reminded that Wendy's last name is Darling; I will change it to that and use the proper name from here on out. I just forgot anyone in Disney had a last name because they typically don't. Anyway, thank you MeeptheAnonymous. I'm now going to answer the rest of the anon reviews so feel free to skip to the story if this isn't you.
dontmindme: Aww, thank you! You made my day!
Anonymous Llama: I do in fact have a beta (see chapter 7 when I thank her but leave her unnamed) and she is amazing and wonderful, just read my other fics to see how terrible it would be without her. Having said that, she thanks you for your input because she is also human and makes mistakes (or so I've been told) and likes to know what she needs to work on. On the other hand, some of the "mistakes" were a stylistic choices, see Anna's ramble in chapter 8 or Merida's scottish accent in chapters 2, 6 and 8. But seriously, she can't catch everything, no one can, and she's often too busy catching all of my issues with using the correct tense. Apparently I suck at that. Yes, good comments are good so thank you for them. I try really hard to accomplish some of the things you mentioned (paragraphs and flow).
So thanks for all the reviews and keep them coming. I really appreciate all of them, the good, the bad and the ugly. Seriously even though bad reviews don't really inspire me to write, if you can only criticise my work, so long as you do it constructively, the flames never bothered me anyway.
******TRIGGER WARNING******* REFERENCES TO EATING DISORDERS AND BREAKFAST MADE IN THIS CHAPTER
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Anna:
"Oh, Oooo, Oh, OooOo Ohoh. Du, du, adu! D-I just can't help falling in love with you! You, you you."
Anna vaguely became aware of her alarm going off and reached out to turn it down without opening her eyes, as she did every day, but found it difficult to find with her left hand. In fact, every time she reached out she hit the wall, which was very strange as the wall shouldn't have been anywhere near her bedside table.
"Wise, men say, 'Only fools rush in.' But I can't help falling in love with you."
"Grrr-ah! Turn tha' shi' off!"
Well that's new, Anna jolted to an upright position at the strange voice and looked around the unfamiliar surroundings in a slight daze.
"Shall, I say…"
Oh sheep, the alarm! She slammed her alarm and sent it crashing to the floor in her attempt to silence it. The music stopped playing but was replaced with a beeping sound that was equally loud but twice as obnoxious.
"Wha' tha fook?!" Merida shouted as she pushed herself up with great speed, arching around so she could figure out what all the noise was.
Oops, "Sorry, sorry! I'll just-" Anna scrambled out of bed and pulled the iPod away from the speakers. When the beeping continued she panicked and unplugged the device completely, "Again, I'm sorry, I'm just not used to my alarm being on this side." Merida groaned but flopped back onto her stomach without another word, desperate to catch a few more z's before her own alarm went off. Anna silently sighed in relief and looked over the ipod and its iHome charger to make sure they weren't damaged, Aww man, now I have to reset the time. I'll have to do that later. Don't want the thing to go off again but at least it's not broken. Whelp, can't go back to sleep now… At least I'll have time for a relaxing shower.
She placed her alarm back on the side table and moved to get her bathroom caddy. Glancing in the mirror as she did so, the redhead took one look at her wild mane and shuddered. I hope nobody else gets up this early. She looked out the peephole before opening her door and tentatively stepping out while looking both ways. Score! I'm in the clear! All right, now I just need to quickly get to the bathroom without being seen. Anna started fast walking to the bathroom and made it to the door before she was spotted by her R.A. opening it from the other side. The poor girl, what was her name again? gasped and stepped back in shock while taking Anna by surprise; the redhead jumped back with a yelp.
"Oh, my… Anna," Shit she knows my name but I can't remember her's! "I'm sorry for scaring you, you just… startled me."
Don't be awkward, just play it cool, "Yeah…. No I, uh… get that. Heh… Yep." Close enough. Now if you can remember her name you can end with that and totally save this situation. I think it began with a 'b'.
The brunette smiled, "Is your hair... always like that in the morning?"
Beatrice? Bellatrix? Wait, no that's Harry Potter, but it kind of sounds right. Bella? OHMYGODYES! That's totally it, I've got this! Having finally come up with a name, Anna noticed the girl looking at her expectantly, "hmm?"
"Oh," Bella looked a bit taken aback, "I, asked if your hair is always like that in the morning. But you don't have to answer if you don't want to."
"Oh no, it's not that! It's just… Mornings… But yes, my hair is always like this in the mornings… It's kind of terrible trying to get it to do anything. Especially when it's hot and humid."
"I get that. It is quite impressive though. It looked so nice yesterday, that must have taken forever."
"Yeah, my sister did it on the ride here," talking about her sister reminded Anna that they were fighting and she started feeling annoyed again.
The brunette moved from the bathroom doorway and started edging down the hall, "Well it looked really nice so pass along the compliment the next time you talk to her kay?"
"Sure, see you later Bella."
"Actually it's just Belle."
Crap, "Right… sorry…."
Belle smiled, "No problem, good luck on your first day of school."
"Yeah thanks, you too." Nailed it, she thought to herself as she slid into the, thankfully empty, bathroom. Alright, how am I going to do this? There were sinks lined up against a wall on both sides of her. On each end of the sink walls was an opening to different facilities: on her left were the toilets, on her right were the showers. Tough, off white, plastic curtains hung between her and the soon to be savior of her morning hair nightmare. Anna walked to the curtains and wrenched them aside revealing two adjacent showers each blocked by individual curtains for privacy. She claimed one of them by hanging her stuff on the hooks next to it and fast walked over to the stalls on the other side to take care of that business first. When that was done she raced back to the shower, grateful the bathroom was still empty, and closed both sets of curtains. To ready herself for the impending water, she then undressed and threw her clothes out as far from the wetness as she could while staying behind the inner shower curtain. So far so good, now how do I work this shower?
There was only one handle with an 'H' to the right and a 'C' to the left, So… can I only have hot or cold showers? That's kind of intense, putting them together would make much more sense. HA! I'm a poet and I didn't even know it. I can make a rhyme any time, start a rap every… Yeah, I'm done. The handle was facing down so Anna turned it so it was facing over the 'H' and was instantly punished by a cold waterfall raining down on her. "EEEP!" She screamed, jumped out of the shower and barely caught herself as she stumbled backwards. The redhead scrambled to right herself and edged back into her stall, avoiding the freezing spray before reaching up and turning the head into the corner away from her. Well that sucked… maybe it'll get warmer? She waited a minute but when the spray didn't heat up, she turned the handle back with the thought that the two sides were mislabeled. The water stopped and she continued trying to turn it but the lever wouldn't budge, OK, maybe you have to do a full rotation before it gets hot. She turned the water back on but this time continued turning the handle until she couldn't anymore. It stopped just short of the 'H'. Oh, come on! How is anyone supposed to get any hot water out of this thing! Just as she thought it, the water splashing against her feet turned from an icy cold to a burning heat, "Owowowowow, hothothothothothot!" Anna cried out and quickly turned the handle back towards the 'C'. Oh I see! she thought as the water cooled again and she played with the handle until she got it to a perfect temperature. "Oh yeah, putting them together makes much more sense!"
With the shower figured out, Anna's thoughts traveled to more pleasant things, namely Hans. I still can't believe I'm dating the most handsome man in the entire school! I mean, I haven't actually met a lot of people who go here, but who could be more attractive than Hans? Man, he's like a dreamboat. Once the water had made her hair more manageable, Anna began lathering with shampoo. OHMYGOD! I should have checked my facebook and my phone before doing this! What if he messaged me later last night or this morning and I didn't see it? I'm going to have to check right after this! Then again, his messages really started to die down when he said he was going to "hang out with his roommates" so there might not be anything there. But he also could have woken up and sent me something… So, maybe there will be! I hope so.
Her thoughts continued on to the rest of yesterday as she grabbed her soap to lather while her hair rinsed. When said reflection brought up Elsa, annoyance started bubbling in her. "Hmpf," What was her problem anyway? Hans is a complete gentleman which she would know if she took the time to meet him instead of rushing in and judging like that! She hasn't even met him but of course she just assumes the worst in people… Like how she thought that kid Jack was lying about his hair! I bet he totally dyed it like that, what reason would he have to lie? Then again, Elsa said it was physically impossible for that to happen and she's always honest with me… I guess, she was even honest in her feelings about Hans… But she should have kept them to herself! Well, I wouldn't want her to lie to me… but at the same time, she shouldn't have judged him without meeting him first! Once I introduce them, I'm sure she'll see he's perfect in every way. Gorgeous, charming, probably smart too because he was able to stay in such an elite school for so long. That at least puts him above average. And he has twelve older brothers! Although I think that might be a bit excessive, I've always wanted a big family! Especially for those times when Elsa wasn't there and there was no one to play with in the entire house! I bet he wants a big family too which will be perfect. I probably don't want twelve kids but I definitely want more than two. I don't ever want any of my kids to feel lonely. Having rinsed her hair, Anna started putting in the conditioner and waited for that product to wash out.
At least my friends are supportive. Well, sort of. Hiccup doesn't believe you can determine true love this quickly and Merida doesn't understand why I want to be tied down to anyone… Well, she said more than that but Hiccup told me the gist of it… I think. At least they seemed glad I was happy, which is more than I can say for my own family. And what was with Rapunzel taking Elsa's side like that? Someone who has found true love like she has should be happy and supportive of me! Ouch! Soap in my eye! She turned to face the water to let it wash out the offending product. Wait… soap? Did I already use soap? I can't even remember… No wait, yes, I definitely did… I think… better do it again just to be safe. She reached for her soap container and found it was already open and waiting on the lip of the stall, Oh yeah, I did already wash. Hehehe… it's too early for this. She reached up to see if the conditioner had rinsed out and turned her head to get the parts of her hair that were still slippery. Almost done, Oh sheep! I forgot to shave! Definitely want to do that for the first day of school. Although, I did do them two days ago… Anna ran her hand against her leg and felt the stubble. I don't really need to shave again do I? Wait! Yes, yes I do. It's the first day of school and this makes me feel… I don't know, more confident? Besides, I have a boyfriend now. He might like smooth legs. I mean, I like the feeling of smooth legs so he probably does too right?
It took her a second to realize what she had just thought. Woah, wait what? Why would he be touching my legs?! It is way too early in the relationship to be worrying about that! I know Elsa thinks we're taking it fast but I'm not ready for that! OK so he might not be feeling them but it's probably warm enough for shorts or a cute dress and he may see my little blonde, stubbly hairs glittering in the sun or something. And then I might not even have to worry about whether or not he likes to feel smooth legs. Besides, I'm pretty sure Cosmo says shaving shows him you care, or something like that.
With that, she grabbed her razor and started shaving her legs up to the knee caps, How do women do this in stalls so small? She had to precariously set herself up, after double checking no one was around, so her leg was on the lip but that her left hand could still hold onto the wall. OK, screw Cosmo, if shaving is this hard everyday Hans might have to learn how to deal with it. Nevertheless, she finished the endeavor without falling completely after which she double checked that all of her conditioner had washed out and turned off the water.
So far so good, now all I have to do is dry off and- "Oh ship!" Anna had completely forgotten her towel.
"Annah?"
Anna heard the bathroom door open and quickly closed her curtain completely before answering, "Merida?"
"Eye though so. No oon eels censaurs as mooch as you. Wha' happen'?"
She could feel her cheeks heating up in embarrassment but tried to play it off cool, "I, uh, ha. The funny thing is, well it's not really funny but you know you might find it funny but, um, anyway, I, uh, kinda sorta… Well not kinda sorta I did you know, absolutely 100 percent forgot my, uh, towel."
The laughter coming from the other side of the double curtains wasn't unexpected but didn't help Anna's blush. "Alrye, hang on. I'll go an fetch it. Justell meh where it is."
"Um…" Crap, "I'm, uh, not sure I unpacked it," her voice grew quieter as she said the last part.
"Righta... hange on."
After she heard Merida leave to find a solution to her predicament, Anna spent the time waiting by mentally kicking herself for being stupid. She grew hopeful when she heard the bathroom door open and close again but disappointment and embarrassment took over when she realized she didn't recognize either voice.
"If you had older siblings you'd understand how awkward it is being in the same class as them," stated a melodic and feminine voice.
A lower and monotonous voice answered her, "Why did you pick chorus as an elective then? You knew all of your siblings going to this school were going to be in it."
"It's kinda like a family tradition; I've known the teacher for years, he's a friend of my Father's. Actually, my dad used to be his boss but they're still friendly and he still runs to my dad about almost everything. Besides, my father loves coming to the concerts and seeing all of his girls on stage, singing away."
"Yeah, but you could have picked theater and done the school musical."
"I'm probably doing that too."
The door opened once again and Merida started speaking immediately, "Alrighteh Annah. I won' look jist reach out an grab eat."
Anna poked her head out of the curtain and saw a fluffy brown towel with a bear design on it. It definitely wasn't hers. "Wait, is this your towel?"
"Yeh, is tha' a prooblehm?"
"Um…"
"Jist take tha towl, I don'teh know where any of yours arr," Merida blindly thrust the towel toward Anna again and this time the latter reached out and grabbed it.
"Thank you."
Merida began walking away to do her morning routine with a, "Dohn mention eat," as soon as she was relieved her of the burden. Anna blushed harder and buried her face in the towel as she heard the two other girls giggle louder.
She inhaled through her nose, not recognizing the smell of the towel, and exhaled slowly through her mouth. Just like I tell Elsa to do when she starts panicking. I wonder if it feels like this? No wait, she said it feels like she's dying but not. It's not that bad but still.
Anna began drying off and hummed a random tune to herself to drown out the noise from the other girls. When she finished she realized that she didn't have her change of clothes either and her only options at this point are to wrap the towel around herself or change back into her pajamas. She decided the fastest solution would be the former and quickly covered up before grabbing her stuff, double checking she had everything, and exiting the bathroom without making eye contact with the other girls. She walked briskly back to her room while clutching her clothes and towel to her.
When she arrived at her destination, Anna grasped at the door knob only to find it was locked. "Oh, come on!" She whined and bit her lip, contemplating her next move. I can't go back to the bathroom, those other girls will just laugh at me! But I can't just wait for Merida, she'll think I'm an idiot for forgetting all my stuff. Putting her forehead on the door, Anna closed her eyes and sighed. Ugh. Worst. First. Day. Ever. Man if the mornings are this bad the rest of the day is probably going to be terrible!
"Anna?"
The redhead jumped, at the sound of her name and turned to face her R.A. who quickly apologized, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!"
"Oh, hey Belle. No you, uh, didn't scare me at all. It takes more than that to scare this girl!" She used her free hand to point her thumb to herself, "Yep."
The brunette smiled, "Of course… Did you forget your key?"
"What? Prfff, no! I just…" Anna, not wanting to lie to her RA, conceded defeat, "yeah, I forgot just about everything I needed for the shower. But it's OK, Merida should be back any minute now." At that moment the bathroom door opened and Anna turned to it hopefully, only to flush with embarrassment as she realized it wasn't her roommate. The girls passed her, in a wave of giggles again and entered their own room. "Yep. Any minute now."
Another pair of smaller girls passed heading to the bathroom but, thankfully, seemed to catch some second hand embarrassment from Anna and averted their eyes. "You know," Belle said as she watched them pass, "I could run to the other room and get another key to let you in, if you wanted."
Anna did remember hearing something about this during one of the freshman meetings or Rapunzel or something, and scrunched up her nose, "Wouldn't I have to pay a fee or something for that?"
"Well, normally yes, but I could just let you off with a warning this time. I know how hard these first few weeks away from home are."
"I really appreciate that but," Anna turned to the bathroom door as it opened again. Thankfully a head full of familiar red curls greeted her this time, "my roommate's on her way back now so it's really unnecessary… I don't suppose I could get a rain check on that offer though? I know I'm going to forget it at a much worse time sooner or later."
"Well that will depend on who I have to ask for the key at the time, and how hard they're cracking down on the rules but I'll see what I can do." She gave Anna a final smile before saying, "Good luck on your first day!" and left.
"Ach Chese us Chreyest, did ya forgetyer kee too?"
Anna smiled and nodded sheepishly as she felt her cheeks heat up.
"Yer gonna hav teh make eh listah," the Scott replied as she opened the door, "'Cause this can' keep hapennin."
Although she still didn't fully understand what her roommate was saying, Anna got the jist of it, "I know! I'm an idiot! Especially in the mornings but I'll try to do better, I promise!"
Merida simply scoffed and entered the room with a, "Yeh betah."
Anna followed suit and shut the door behind them. She changed quickly into the outfit she had been planning for the day, handed Merida back her towel, and put her hair into her signature, simple, braided pigtails. Glancing at the clock, she realized that she was done much earlier than she normally was when at home and her heart sunk a bit, I could have slept in later! She sighed before smiling as she remembered that she needed to check her phone and Facebook. Grabbing her phone off her bed side table she walked over to her desk and turned on her laptop. As her computer started up, she unlocked the screen on her phone and looked at all the "new message" notifications with a stomach full of nervous and excited butterflies. See, it must be love! I'm so nervcited! However, when she opened up the messaging app on her phone, she let out a disappointed sigh when she saw they were all from her sister. Rolling her eyes, Anna scrolled up to the first text of the night and read through them all.
"We need to talk about this boy you want to date."
"Anna please, let's just talk about it."
"Where did you go? I don't see you anywhere around campus."
"Anna, you can't ignore me forever!"
"Can you at least let me know that you're safe and/or with your friends?"
"Anna?"
"Look, I'm not sorry for my opinion but I am sorry for not waiting for a private moment to bring it up, can we please just talk about it?"
"Alright, I assume you're in your room because they check the freshman dorms first and the monitor just came by here."
"Goodnight Anna. I love you."
Anna stared at her phone for a bit and felt her stomach drop, Well, I feel like shit now. With a quick glance at her computer, the redhead bit her lip and decided her sister was more important. Her finger, however, paused above the call button. Do I really want to have this conversation right now? It's too early for this argument. But I really should let her know I'm OK… and I should apologize for making her worry… and for not responding to her goodnight text… But she still shouldn't have judged Hans like that! You know what? No. I'm not giving in that easily! Maybe a few days of the silent treatment will change her mind! With that, Anna put her phone down and typed her computer password in. Now I just need to distract myself from it until facebook can- what is that sound?
There was a muffled vibration and what sounded like crying children coming from Merida's side of the room which grabbed both girls attention. Anna stared at the sound with an extreme amount of curiosity and a touch of fear, but Merida only groaned and walked over to her bed. From under the pillow she pulled out her phone and tapped a button to silence it before she looked up to see the expression on her roommate's face. "Eh was meh aylarm," she tried to explain, "Couldn go bach ta sleep afterr yer aylarm wen off so I jist goht up." When Anna continued to stare at her blankly, Merida continued in a more exasperated tone, "I no some peaple hay the bahgpeyeps bu' is bettah than tha trashew listen to."
"Hey!" Anna exclaimed as she did manage to catch that last bit, "not all of my music is bad and at least it doesn't sound like whining children, or whatever that was."
"Ah toldeh it's bahgpeyeps!"
"Right… that doesn't actually clear anything up."
"You know," Merida looked as though she was contemplating something but then thought better of it, "Nehver mined." Instead she flopped onto her unmade bed with a groan, "it's too erly to geht breakehfas n too late teh starta work out."
"Yeah, I know how you feel… Hey! I'm starting to understand you!"
"Ey thar's hope fer ew yet!"
"... Right…. so much for that idea," Anna grumbled and turned away from her roommate, spinning her chair the long way around to enjoy the ride. In doing so, however, her eyes fell on a familiar, white plush partially covered by the comforter. Instead of going on her computer, she turned back to her bed, walked over and released the snowman from its bonds, turning him over to look at his face. Staring into Olaf's eyes, however, brought back Anna's guilt as well as a wave of memories, of which, two stuck out more clearly than the others.
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A five year old Anna wakes up to a dull thump but is confused to see her room is still dark. She wonders if this means she should go back to bed but an impending sense of dread stops her. The hairs on the back of her neck are standing up and although she doesn't understand how or why, her fear causes her to call out.
"Elsa?" When no response comes she pulls her blanket up to her chin and sits up to look at her sister's bed, "Elsa?! I think I heard a monster!"
In the dark, it takes her a moment to see that the bed across the room is empty but when this becomes apparent she launches herself across her own mattress to get a better look. Not only is she able to confirm Elsa isn't under the sheets, but that her covers are spread out on the floor, something that had only ever occurred when they were making blanket forts.
"Elsa are you trying to build a-" She was cut off by the sound of ragged breathing that turned the rest of her sentence into a blood curling scream.
Anna started to cry as the breathing became louder and choppier. What she would later know to be desperation she took to be an issue of proximity between herself and the monster, and started crying.
She heard the door burst open and looked up to expressions of pure horror on her parents faces as they rushed into the room and knelt down next to Elsa's bed. Anna didn't know what they were looking at but she assumed they were taking care of the monster and softened her sobs a bit so she could hear.
Her parents were calling Elsa's name too. Mama was becoming more frantic with her cries until Papa put a hand on her shoulder. His voice was more calm although Anna would later realize that his composure was forced, "Elsa, it's OK. Just calm down and breath." Eventually the harsh breathing eased and her father handed whatever they had found on the floor to her mother before walking over to Anna and wrapping her in an embrace. "Shhh," he soothed his youngest daughter and rubbed her back.
His comfort chased away the last of her fear and Anna was left only with curiosity for what they had found on the floor. As she peaked over her father's arm, she saw her mother stand up and support a very shaky Elsa.
Anna would never forget the fear she saw that night, living in her sister's eyes and plastered on her tear streaked face.
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A seven year old Anna holds her mother's hand and looks around the reception area in the North Mountain Therapy Center while her father talks to the lady behind the desk. This was apparently the place Elsa had to live for a little while at the recommendation of her doctors. When they're all checked in the family proceeds right through a door labeled "Youth Visiting Area." The room they end up in is spacious with an open center for large groups and more intimate areas divided by plush couches along the edges. Everything was a bright color with happy cartoon ducks and children's drawings stuck to the walls in a sad attempt to contrast the mood of the space.
It didn't work and Anna walked closer to her mother, clutching her hand harder and thankful for its safety despite her being a big girl.
They walked over to another desk and her father gave their names to the man behind it who pointed for them to take a seat and called a nurse on his phone. Once again, her father lead the way to a small area in a corner of the room that was devoid of any distractions. It forced Anna to look at the other families for entertainment; she assumed everyone was here for the same reason and of the same family structure as they were.
There was a young boy jumping across all the furniture in an intense game of "the floor is lava" despite his parents trying desperately to sit him down quietly. Another boy, probably a teenager, was ignoring his family and muttering words quietly to himself as he rocked back and forth. The only other group in the room was trying to get their daughter to acknowledge anything they were saying while nursing a baby and holding back their other child from joining the first boy in his game. As Anna watched she grew even more fearful and wondered why her parents would send Elsa here. Her sister wasn't like these other kids. She was completely normal most of the time and when she wasn't-
The teenage boy suddenly cried out as if in pain when his mother touched his shoulder. Clutching at the spot with one hand he wrapped the other around his head and sank into a fetal position on the floor. THAT was something that Anna recognized. She remembered Elsa moving into a similar position in several cases when she suddenly found it hard to breath. Suddenly, her fear vanished. These people weren't monsters, they just couldn't control the body they were trapped in sometimes. Just like Elsa.
Nurses rushed over to help the teenager but they just caused him to scream louder. Anna felt bad for him and wanted to tell them to stop, but now her mother was tightening the grip she had on her daughters hand. Anna figured the boy's outburst must have scared her and stayed to comfort her mama. Besides, the boy's parents were yelling at the nurses so she was sure they could handle it. Instead she looked around the room and saw the other children, with the exception of the girl and the baby, were staring at the scene while all the adults were looking pointedly away.
She didn't think too hard on it though as Elsa was lead out by another nurse and walked over to them with a smile on her face and hands behind her back. Anna jumped off the couch as soon as Elsa reached them and made sure she was the first to hug her sister. The blonde returned the hug without hesitation but backed away before their parents could join, opting to give them individual hugs instead. Anna was so excited she didn't even notice what her sibling was carrying until her father asked about it, after she had gotten a second embrace and sat back down.
"I made it," Elsa said with a hint of embarrassment in her voice. "It's supposed to be a snowman," she turned it around for everyone to see, "But it's not very good."
Despite her sister's reservations, Anna loved it. Though none of the aspects were actually round like a snowman; the arms were floppy, the hair was made of simple strings, and the orange nose seemed disproportionately large on the already misshapen head. The redhead was in awe of her older sister's abilities, "What are you talking about? This is amazing!"
"You like it?"
"I love it! What's his name?"
"Well I made him for you so you get to name him."
The blonde started to hand the plush over but Anna stopped her, "No, you made him, you name him. Those are the rules."
"What are you talking about," Elsa laughed, "You always name our snowmen."
"Only the ones I help you build. This one's all yours."
"OK…. how about…"
"And it can't be any of the names I picked! It has to be completely new because he's special."
"That won't be hard, you only ever choose between three names." Nevertheless, she looked down at the snowman in contemplation before answering "Olaf."
"Olaf?"
Elsa nodded. Turning him back to her sister, she took on a deep voice, moved both of his arms and said, "Hi, I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!"
Anna clapped both of her hands together and grabbed the snowman when her sister offered him to her. "I love you Olaf!" She exclaimed and embraced the plush. The redhead then looked up at her sister and pulled her into the hug as well, squishing Olaf between them and continued in a softer voice, "I love you too Elsa. Thank you."
(line break)
From there Anna remembered her sister's homecoming and the various times she had to go back to the center. She recalled all the things she and her parents had to learn to help Elsa deal with something that couldn't be cured and wasn't going away. Her older sister always worried she was being a burden or an embarrassment to her family, but Anna never saw it as such and never judged Elsa on her shortcomings. Though Anna stopped believing in monsters years ago, she never doubted her sister's ability to fight them as she did her own fears.
With a sigh, Anna sat down, picked up the phone and scrolled through her contacts until she found Elsa, Is she even up at this- what are you- of course she's up. She gets up before everyone, even Rapunzel who was like, trained to get up early. Without any further hesitation, Anna hits the call button.
The phone was answered before the second ring was through, "Anna?"
"Hey sis-"
An exasperated sigh of relief cut her off, "Thank god. Logically, I knew you had to be fine but-"
"No. I get it. I'm sorry I worried you and didn't send you a goodnight text… and ignored you all day… and said you were jealous."
"It's fine. You must have been busy making friends… I'm sorry I didn't insist- I'm not jealous… Wait, when did you say that?"
"Did I… not say that?"
"No."
"Oh. Well I thought it so I'm sorry about that too. But I'm not sorry for dating Hans and I'm still going to do that!"
There was another sigh on the other line, "I know you want to but... Alright fine. Just... can I please meet him before you plan any off campus adventures?"
"OK that sounds-"
"And before you make plans to be alone with him in his room."
"Elsa he's not-"
"Or your room."
"Oh come on-"
"Or anywhere. Just group outings, on campus until I trust him."
"Until you- Elsa that could take forever!"
"Your point?" Though Anna could hear some amusement in her sister's voice, there was still a tone of seriousness.
"Well I can promise the first one but I really want to see his room."
"Then just make sure other people are there."
"Jeeze Elsa, what do you think we'll be doing anyway?"
"I try not to… What do you think is going to happen if you're alone in his room?"
"I dunno… Video Games? Watching movies while cuddling? Maybe kissing a little on the down parts…."
"Down parts?!"
"You know, the slow parts in the movie."
"...OK, new rule: you can't be alone with him in private until we've had a serious, face to face talk and I've met him. Deal?"
"Ugh! Fine! If that's what I have to do to stop our argument, I'll do it. But you better not put off meeting him!"
"Oh don't worry, I want to meet him as soon as possible."
"Good," Anna sighed in relief and leaned back in her chair, anxious to check her facebook now that she felt better.
Elsa, however, wasn't ready to hang up, "So how was your first day?"
"It was fine. I met a lot of people but can't remember most of their names. I'm going to have to come up with sneaky ways of finding them out so I don't make more mistakes like this morning."
"What happened this morning?"
"I ran into my R.A. before my shower this morning and called her Bella… Her name is Belle."
"Well at least you were close… Wait, before your shower? Does that mean she saw your morning hair?"
"Yeah, in all its glory." Anna smiled as Elsa laughed on the other end, "She wanted me to compliment your hair styling skills for what it looked like yesterday so at least I had a good first impression… Instead of, well, that. Anyway, how was your day? Did you make any friends?"
"I wouldn't call them friends but I did meet some people and they were friendly."
"That's a start. Plus I'm sure you can hang with Rapunzel's friends. You're all in the same grade."
"Hmpf, unfortunately." Elsa responded quietly.
"Unfortunately? I thought you'd be ecstatic! You don't have to meet all new people, just hang with the ones that are Rapunzel approved."
"Yes but that kid Jack is in almost all of my classes. And you saw us yesterday… I'm not sure if I can deal with that that much."
"He didn't seem that bad. Well, OK maybe you two didn't mix but did you even give him a chance? From what I saw the first thing you did was glare at him and call him a liar."
"You weren't there when he said he was looking to fill some sort of girl quota."
"What?"
"He said he was trying to break some record on the number of girls he could date in the year but said that he wasn't going to use me because he respected his friendship with Rapunzel."
"Well that doesn't sound too-"
"Of course that was after he hit on me."
Anna was genuinely confused now, "Wait, I thought you said he wasn't going to date you."
"Yeah, I think he said that because he was embarrassed by the pick up line he chose."
"Was it bad?"
"It was terrible and he knew it. The other guys started to make fun of him which is why he said he would never date me. Then he came up with the excuse of me being Rapunzel's cousin." Anna was silent causing Elsa to ask, "Anna? Are you still there?"
"Yeah, sorry, I just. Oh my god Elsa I can't believe you got hit on! Not that you're not beautiful because you are and you should be hit on more often than you are. It's weird and I think it has something to do with your personality. Notthatthere'sanythingwrongwithyourpersonality. That came out wrong. I just mean you go into that 'Ice queen mode' and intimidate people but if they could get over that then they would see you have a wonderful personality… Not that you're one of those girls that I would describe as having a 'wonderful personality' because like I said, you're really pretty too. You just also have a good personality and an intimidating persona. Anyway, tell me you let him down gently."
"...Is that the only thing you got out of that? Nevermind, I told him I had no interest in dating a boy whose goal was to use women for some stupid quota or game. Besides, you saw the way we treated each other the rest of the day. It's not going to happen and, if the rest of his friends are anything like him, I have no interest in knowing them."
"Oh come on, they're Rapunzel's friends. They can't all be that bad. You should try getting to know them."
"We'll see… Speaking of our cousin, would you like to have breakfast with us? We'll be leaving soon but we can meet you in there if you still have to get ready."
"Hey, I've been up for hours!"
Elsa laughed on the other side, "Sure you have."
"Well maybe not hours but I was up earlier than normal."
"Well then it sounds like you have plenty of time to get breakfast with us."
"Actually, I already made plans with Hans..."
"Anna-"
"I know but this is on campus and it will be with a bunch of his friends."
"That's not… I just… Anna, just be careful you don't burn all of your bridges for him."
Anna's nose scrunched up and distorted her face in confusion, "Who said anything about burning bridges? I'm just getting breakfast with him."
"It's a saying. It means don't make your life all about him. Don't ditch your friends or family, or miss out on opportunities because of him. And I don't let the only people you surround yourself with be in his friend circle."
"Alright, I get the first part, although I would like to point out that I'm not ditching you; I had these plans first. Second, I'm sure I'll meet other people at some point. He's a senior… I don't have any classes with him."
Elsa sighed on the other end but must have decided to let it go, "Am I to assume you planned every meal you could with him?"
"No, just this one. Although I was going to leave my plans open so that we could have more… But we could grab dinner together instead! I do miss you, I know it sounds like I don't but I hate not having you right down the hall to annoy and question endlessly."
"I miss you too," Anna could practically see her understanding smile on the other end of the line, "Dinner sounds wonderful I'll see you then. Goodbye."
With a final, "See ya," Anna hung up the phone and checked the time, Still too early, so instead she turned her chair back to her desk and opened up Facebook. Her heart, once again, soared at seeing that she had messages, one from her sister, another from her cousin and the final one was a good night and "I'll see you at breakfast" message from Hans. She smiled but decided not to respond and instead read the message from Rapunzel, "Hey cuz, haven't heard from you since you went off with your friends but I know Elsa was looking for you. It's too late to meet in person now but you should definitely text her and let her know you're OK."
"Good gravy I wasn't even off the grid that long!"
"Wha?!"
"Oh," Anna sheepishly glances at the roommate she forgot she had, "Nothing, just my family overreacting."
"Heh, I fell tha'."
"Right…" she turned back to her computer to write the responses, starting with Hans, "Sorry I didn't see this earlier but I can't wait to see you at breakfast :)" and continuing to Rapunzel, "I called her this morning and we made up so now worries :D" "#no worries". And now it's not too early to head to breakfast, Anna thought as she glanced at the time.
The idea was confirmed by Hans sending her another message, "Can't wait to see you too :) I'm heading down now and will meet you outside of the cafeteria."
"Sounds good!" The redhead responded, shut her computer and got up with a stretch before her roommate addressed her, "Wood yeh like tah com to breakfast with Hecup an eye?"
"Um… Did you ask me to breakfast?" When Merida noded Anna responded, "No I already have plans, but I can walk with you there if you're going now."
"Yeh, Hecup's ouside."
"Cool." Both girls put on their shoes, grabbed their bags, headed out into the hallway, locked the door, and headed for the door. Merida waved to the security monitor on the way out but otherwise they didn't see anyone until they got outside, where Hiccup was, in fact, waiting for them.
"So, ya haveh plans teh eht with yeh sistar?" Merida asked as the started towards the cafeteria.
Anna gave her a confused look before sighing, "Every time I think I'm starting to figure it out it just…" She trailed off and gave Hiccup a look that cried "help."
He chuckled but responded accordingly, "She wants to know if you are eating with your sister."
"Oh, no I'm eating with Hans."
"Your boyfriend, already?" Hiccup once again translates for Merida.
"Yeah, him and his friends."
"Well, good luck with that."
"Thanks."
The conversation turned to whether or not Hiccup thought they would get homework on the first day and which teachers had which rumors associated with them. Anna tried to pay attention but soon found her mind wandering back to thoughts of Hans, now unimpeded by any guilt. The walk to the cafeteria was pleasant, though it took more time than she had expected. She didn't, however, follow this train of thought very long as she was rewarded by the sight of her boyfriend standing by the doors waiting for her.
"Hey honey," He said with a smile and moved to open the door for her as she walked closer, "did you sleep well?"
"Like a rock!" She responded emphatically and wrapped her arm in his after he followed the group into the cafeteria. Anna then turned to her friends with a wave, "See you in class."
Merida had already headed to the food line but Hiccup waved back and said, "Yeah, see you in English."
Hans started leading Anna towards some of the tables but she slowed down and gave a tiny wave when she caught sight of her cousin whose eyes widened as she stared at the couple. She said something to Elsa who whipped around to see them too but Anna couldn't hear what was said as she and her attention was being pulled away from them anyway.
"I hope you don't mind hanging out with two of my roommates and I for a bit, the girls take too long to get ready and Phillip is being a good boyfriend and waiting for them."
"I don't mind. It'll help me learn all of their names if I don't meet them all at once anyway."
"Cool," he flashed her a smile again and led her to a table in the back of the room where two boys were sitting. One was short and round with a big pink nose that took up too much space on his face, weirdly gapped teeth and hair that stuck up in a tuft both on top of his forehead, and behind his head where it stuck out in a small ponytail. The boy himself was incredibly small but Anna was sure that sitting next to the other boy, Man? Boy? How old is this kid anyway? didn't help. In a word, the other person was, huge. Everything about him was big, from his chest that his red, v-neck t-shirt seemed to strain against, to his arms that looked like they belonged to some sort of hairless gorilla. Even his jaw was huge, square, and featured what could only be described as a tiny butt on his chin. His hair was long, black, and slicked back into a short ponytail tied off with a red hair tie. He flashed a smile as the couple drew near and Anna was reminded of the Grimm tale "Little Red Riding Hood." My what blue eyes and white teeth he has. It was only after Hans untangled his arm to pull out a chair for her that Anna realized she had tightened her hold on him. Thankfully Hans pulled out a chair closer to the other boy and sat down in between them anyway.
"Anna, this is LeFou and Gaston," he pointed to the boy and the block of muscle respectively, "guys, meet Anna."
"Oh, is this the freshman that you-" the short one started but was cut off by a booming, "'Mornin'!" from the other kid.
"Um, hi."
"Well," the bigger man continued, "Now that you know where the table is, we should get some grub. LeFou, watch the table while we get food."
The boy responded with an honest to god salute and started rambling about how he could watch the table better than anyone, but Hans had already offered Anna a hand and started leading her to the breakfast line. The food being served was what one would expect to find at this time in the morning, only more sad. The scrambled eggs looked soggy, the bacon were just strips of burned red, and the pancakes looked like they were drowning in their own steam and condensation. The only remotely good looking thing was the ham at the end of the line that was being carved on the spot for any student who wanted some.
"Um…"
"There's also some bagels and cereal on the table outside of this room. I know it can be a little hard at first but you'll get used to the food."
"How can anyone get used to having school food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday?"
Hans shrugged, "You just do. Dinner isn't as bad, though lunch is fairly terrible. You just can't do mass amounts of breakfast food and there are even more kids for lunch so it's probably a lot like public school food."
"I thought one of the perks of coming to a private school is the better school lunches."
Hans laughed but didn't respond. Anna ended up getting bacon, pancakes, and ham, the eggs looked too much like wet sponges for her liking, and started to rush back to the table before Hans spoke up again, "Anna, don't you want a drink?"
She turned to see him pointing to a table on the other side where water, coffee, tea, and various juices were laid out, "Oh yeah. I just wanted to finish these before they got any worse."
"Understandable," he flashed her another knowing smile as she grabbed a glass of orange juice. Once again, she started moving to the table and Hans' voice stopped her, "Don't forget the silverware."
Again, she turned to see him pointing at another, albeit much smaller table, with forks, knives, and spoons, "Right." She grabs the appropriate silverware and starts to walk off, this time seeing the table of toppings for herself and stopping to pour syrup over her pancakes. Without further hesitation they are able to make their way to the table where LeFou is still waiting but more bags and backpacks have joined theirs, "Thanks for watching the stuff, I guess you can go get your food now…"
The boy shakes his head dramatically, "Nah-uh, no can do. Have to make sure Phillip doesn't come back and mess with Gaston's things."
"I'm sure Phillip learned his lesson from the last time," Hans said, his face blank.
They didn't have to wait long though, before Anna could even start in on her food she saw Gaston walking over. "Alright LeFou," he says in his overly loud voice that makes Anna jump despite her seeing it was coming, "your turn to get some grub."
The shorter boy got up to get food with a "You got it Gaston."
"Um… Is it really fair for you to… Is that your breakfast?" Gaston had shown up at the table with two plates heaped with scrambled eggs topped with a few strips of bacon each.
"Of course," he responded as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "I also eat the as many eggs as the girls and LeFou can bring me. I have to have about four dozen eggs a day, and I'm working my way up to five dozen like my dad. It helps me get large!" He boasted, actually standing up to flex his muscles and Anna was shocked his shirt stayed in tact.
"Ugh," Anna whipped her head back to see three girls in a triangular formation similar to the flight pattern of migrating birds. The two in the back looked a bit similar, both with very large round noses, hair done in the same updo though one head was black and the other red, and both were clad in pink tank tops and short shorts. The one at the tip was substantially more attractive, with perfectly proportioned features, long, blonde hair that fell in waves and a pink cardigan. "Gaston," The girl closest to the table said in a tone of disgust, "Put that away, no one wants to see that at this time in the morning."
"Hmpf," Gaston ceased flexing his muscles to pull from his bag, a mirror, in which he proceeded to check himself out like he was stuck in a movie, "You're just jealous your boyfriend doesn't look like this."
"Gaston, if I wanted a talking cow, I would get it; but I wouldn't ask a fairy godmother for you." The narcissist, however, did not respond and instead continued to ogle his appearance in the mirror, even going so far as to use his tongue to shine his teeth. The blonde must have decided she won the argument and slid her untouched plate of eggs towards him, "You better start shoveling before classes start."
"Hmm," he affirmed and replaced the mirror with a fork to do just that. Anna wasn't even sure he was fully chewing the eggs before swallowing the mass of mush. It was a bit nauseating.
Luckily, she was saved from looking upon it for too long as Hans decided to introduce her to the flock members, "Anna this is Aurora Beauty, and Drizella and Anastasia Tremaine," He pointed to the blonde, black haired girl, and redhead respectively, "Ladies, this is Anna, my girlfriend."
God it was good to hear him say that.
*******TRIGGER WARNING STARTS HERE***********
Drizella and Anastasia glanced down their huge noses at her but Aurora didn't even bother looking up from her phone. Eventually, Anastasia must have decided Anna, who was trying to match their glare while munching on some bacon, wasn't worth whatever secrets she may have been hiding and grabbed a fork full of eggs. The utensil was halfway to her mouth when Drizella scoffed, "Anastasia, do you want to be fat all your life? You aren't even trying!"
"That's not true!" her sister retaliated in a manner that reminded Anna of a five year old, "Eggs aren't carbs so I'm fine!"
Drizella broke her stare with Anna and responded in a hiss, "You aren't supposed to eat breakfast either. It ruins the rest of your day."
"Hmpf, fine!" Both girls pushed their plates toward Gaston who had already finished one and a half of them himself.
Wow that sucks… She's not even fat! I'm glad I don't have a sister like that, Anna thought and was about to speak up in defense of breakfast, but another handsome (more than Gaston but less than Hans) teenager with brown hair came to the table, "Sorry I'm late, I got a bit side tracked."
*********END OF TRIGGER WARNING*********
He bent over Aurora in what looked to be a kiss but was rejected as she held his face between her thumb and forefinger, "You better not have been hitting on anyone."
"Who me?" he responded and flashed a charming smile for which she relented and planted a quick kiss on his lips.
"Are you going to sit or get breakfast?"
"My breakfast is on it's way."
No sooner had he said the words than LeFou had come back with two plates, one with eggs piled high and the other with two bagels and some bacon. "Here you go Gaston," he said, cheerfully handing over the plate of eggs as he failed to notice the new comer stealing his bagel.
"Hey-," Anna started, but was cut off by Hans.
"Sorry sweetheart, I forgot to introduce you. Anna this is Philip, the last of my roommates. Philip this is Anna. My girlfriend."
"The pleasure is all mine m'lady," he said with an actual bow.
"Um," the whole scene was so absurd, Anna forgot what she was going to say until Philip bit into the stolen bagel. Unfortunately, the thought was once again lost by the arrival of another person. This one, however, Anna recognized, "Hey Tink!"
While it surely wasn't the top, that moment definitely ranked in Anna's top ten most awkward silences ever. Every person at the table, besides Aurora, turned to stare at her in varying expressions of confusion and the poor girl could feel her face going as red as her hair.
"Right," Anna was grateful Hans decided to break the silence, "Anna, Tink. Tink, Anna… You two know each other?"
"Well, yeah. She's my cousin's roommate. I met her last year when Rapunzel was giving us a tour of the school!"
Tink sat down and pushed her plate of eggs away to the human composter while giving Anna a measured look. Aurora on the other hand, looked at Anna for the first time, "You're Rapunzel's other cousin."
It wasn't a question but Anna nodded anyway, Wait, "Other cousin? You've met Elsa?"
"Mmm, I met her last night. But please, why don't you tell us more about yourself. After all, if you're going to be Hans's girlfriend, we're going to be spending a lot of time together."
Anna didn't notice Tink and Drizella glaring at her, she was too high on the feelings of having a boyfriend and too happy to care. "What do you want to know?" she asked and continued eating her breakfast.
Aurora's answer was immediate, "Why did you start coming to this school?"
"It's where my cousin goes," she shrugged. "Would have come last semester but they don't let students join that late so Elsa and I had to go to a public school in Corona for a bit."
"And why did you leave where you were from originally?"
"Um, some things happened and we had to move in with our aunt and uncle… I don't really want to talk about it."
"Why not?" Drizella cut in, "Dead parents are nothing to be ashamed about."
Anna's head whipped up from staring at her food, "How did you…"
"Drizella, please. No need to ask about things we already know the answer too," Aurora interjected and looked down her nose at the freshman who was feeling smaller by the second. She was lowering her gaze back to her plate when Anna suddenly caught sight of her sister staring back at her from across the room. Elsa's eyes were wide with fear but almost pleading Anna to remain strong and suddenly the redhead wasn't afraid because monsters weren't real and, even if they were, her sister would help her fight them. Whether it be through a meaningful look or a full on offensive barrage against their opponent, they were sisters and they had each other's backs.
The redhead sat up straighter and tried to channel her sister's "Ice Queen" mode, "I'm not ashamed… I just don't like talking about it. No need to dwell on the painful parts of the past."
"So why didn't you come here sooner? This is one of the best private schools in the country and your cousin goes here." Aurora took control of the interview again.
"Familiarity? It's what we knew and we wanted to stay close to our family and the- other people we know."
"Other people were more important to your family than a good education?"
"No, but family is more important than anything."
"You still have your sister."
"And I'm thankful for that every day."
A small smile poked its way into the corners of Aurora's mouth as her eyes seemed to narrow in victory, "Is that why you ignored her yesterday?"
Anna felt like she had been kicked in the stomach and couldn't respond. The seconds ticked by and Aurora watched her like a hawk, looking for weaknesses. The smile on her face grew as she became as she reached her resting bitchface, watching the effects her words had on the freshman who had to break the stare and look down at her plate, suddenly devoid of hunger.
"Well," Aurora continued, "It's almost time for class and while I'm loathe to be early, I suppose we should head out. It is the first day after all."
There were sounds of affirmation around the table as its occupants started getting up. Hans tapped Anna's shoulder to ask if she was done and took her plate when she nodded. "Where is your first class?" he asked as they put their plates onto the dish return carts.
"It's French… I forget the room number," Anna said quietly.
Her boyfriend flashed a smile, "Don't worry, all the foreign languages are in the same wing, I can walk you there and then you can figure it out."
"Yeah, thanks." She was distracted and she knew it was showing but just couldn't bring herself to care. The freshman was too busy having an internal debate with herself to even care that her boyfriend was walking her to class as though they were both in some cheesy, teen romance movie. After all, if monsters weren't real, why did she see one staring back at her when she gazed into Aurora's eyes?
(Line Break)
AN: Sorry this took so long guys. I'm having a hard time getting back into the groove of school. I am, however, trying to use this in NaNoWrMo so, hopefully, the updates will be more frequent. Also, this chapter was supposed to include the full day of school. Then I decided to cut that to save on time. Then it got long… It wasn't supposed to be this long… Anyway it's 2:50 where I am so it's time for bed. Hope you all have a great day, remember, reviews are always welcome.
