School life had almost changed drastically even if the incident in the cafeteria only happened a few days back. Elsa hadn't heard any news that involved bullying and every time she'd see Anna and Ariel down the halls, they looked normal and healthy. Nothing was out of place.

The air between her and Rapunzel wasn't particularly bad either. It was awkward only in a sense that they both didn't bring the topic of talking to Olaf up again. Elsa could tell that the brunette wanted to push. Nonetheless, she was grateful that she didn't.

Still, Elsa didn't know what to make of the sudden changes. A pessimistic side of her which had always been prominent didn't want to relax. If there was one thing she learned at a delicate age, it was that people don't stop hurting other people in a snap of a finger. Be that as it may, the optimist in her was hoping that Marshall had woken up from the stupidity of his actions and gave his friends a beating himself.

"E-Elsa, it's okay," Ariel assured with a crooked smile.

Elsa was freaking out; her head was lowered, her face was beet red, and her lips were quivering. A heavy feeling weighed itself upon her chest as her trembling hands held on to the shattered eyeglasses of the poor redheaded girl. "I-I'll replace it. I broke it a—"

"I have spares back home. In fact, I have one inside my bag. It's just in the classroom," Ariel promised.

"I still broke one!"

"It was an accident. It's alright."

"Is it really?" Anna huffed.

"Anna!" Ariel chided.

Somehow, Elsa managed to stop an involuntary whimper.

There was that one thing. She had an inkling impression that Anna was about ready to give her a chance and, maybe, even get to know each other, but she had to go and break one of Ariel's properties. This was bad.

"Seriously, Elsa, I have spares for a reason," Ariel insisted.

The eyeglasses called out to her sadly. She felt terrible about this and couldn't look at any of the cousins in the eye. If she was to look at Ariel, her guilt would only manifest. If she were to look at Anna, she'd feel more anxious. Anna was unreadable and it made her uncomfortable.

"Hey, what's up?" Elsa perked up as Rapunzel walked towards them with her hands holding the strap of her bag. "Oh- Yeesh. What happened to that?"

"I... stepped on it."

"You stepped on it?! How do you step on a pair of eyeglasses? People wear them up here." Rapunzel pointed to her eyes which were, at the time, as wide as saucers.

"The screw was a little loose," Ariel explained. "I bumped into Elsa right here and it fell."

"Oh. That's- Well, that's something."

"Yeah," Elsa agreed reluctantly. "D-Do you know where Uncle Kai works?"

"The Ice Mall by the city. You're going to buy a spare?"

Elsa wanted to say 'no', but her conscience would not allow it. Going to her uncle in person might mean trouble, an even bigger one than with her going to Olaf instead. But these glasses wouldn't fix themselves. If there was one person that she trusted to handle eyeglasses, it would be Olaf's father.

"I want to," Elsa admitted.

"I told her she doesn't have to. I have spares back home," Ariel reasoned.

"Hmm. Why don't we go to Kai's place this weekend?" Rapunzel suggested, placing a hand on her hip. "Your parents should be fine with that, right? He's your uncle."

"Y-Yeah, but..."

"What?" Rapunzel asked, an irritation only Elsa could tell coating her voice.

Elsa unconsciously crushed the glasses as she closed her hands to steel her resolve. "It's nothing," she said and looked at Ariel. "This weekend, are you free?"

"What? Oh! Oh, uhm- you really don't have to, Elsa. Please."

"You better give it up, Ariel. If Elsa said she's going somewhere, she's really going somewhere," Rapunzel said with a huge toothy grin.

Elsa ignored the brunette's statement while the cousins simply cocked their heads.

"Can Anna come too?" Ariel wondered.

"What?!" Anna's eyes grew wide along with Elsa's and Rapunzel's. "B-But..."

Elsa tried not to squirm when Anna's eyes landed on hers. Truthfully, she didn't want Anna to be there. It would make everything awkward and the air would undoubtedly feel stuffy. But there was a part of her that couldn't help anticipating the possibility. Maybe if Anna would come, it might mean she wasn't entirely mad.

A startled squeak erupted from Elsa's throat as soon as she felt Anna dragging her away. Questioning glances were directed to them by the other students; there was no doubt they were attracting too much attention.

"You," Anna began, her voice strained. "You're weird."

"W-What?"

Clicking her tongue, Anna led her down the hall. What was she up to? Elsa soon found her answer when Anna opened a door and cold air blasted from inside the room. "Ms. Clara," she called and pulled Elsa inside.

The woman probably in her mid-twenties lifted her head, an eyeglass perched neatly on top of her nose. She was wearing a white lab coat and Elsa guessed she was the nurse. "Hello, Anna. Are you here as a patient or did you bring someone in again?"

"Not me." Anna tugged Elsa's wrist, causing the girl to stumble. "Can you check her hand? She helped pick up some broken shards from Ariel's glasses. I think she's bleeding."

Elsa blinked and looked down her hands to see that she was crushing the already-broken lenses. As quickly as she became aware of it, a pricking sensation shot from her palm and she shakily opened it up to see tiny cuts forming blood.

"Oh dear." Ms. Clara made a run to her side. "Come, let's get your hand cleaned up."

Following the nurse by the sink, Elsa's thoughts were filled with Anna who was now tapping on her phone while sitting on one of the unoccupied beds again. How did she know I was bleeding? She didn't have enough time to dwell on it when a sting on her hand made her hiss.

"There aren't any small shards. We can remove these right away."

"O-Okay." Elsa bit her lower lip to stop a squeak.

As soon as Ms. Clara was done removing the shards, she cleaned up Elsa's palm. "You shouldn't touch broken glasses no matter how harmless they look like."

"I... I didn't notice."

Ms. Clara smiled and grabbed a bandage inside a drawer. "It's a good thing Anna's observant then. It would've been bad if she didn't bring you here fast."

Elsa had the decency to feel embarrassed, merely capable of giving a meek nod. She let Ms. Clara do her job while discreetly shifting her gaze back to Anna who was now wearing an earphone, still tapping on her phone.

"You said," Elsa's voice was low, not wanting Anna to overhear. "When we came in, you asked if Anna's here as a patient or bringing someone in again?"

"Hmm? Oh, she's always keeping me busy."

"She is?"

"That girl is a serious softy. One time, she brought in a little boy who scraped his knee outside the school gates. I told her to leave him to me, but she refused to go to her class until the boy stopped crying."

"She didn't trust you to do your job?"

"I'd like to think she does. She wouldn't bring injured people to me if she didn't, right?"

"Oh."

"Don't worry about it. Anna's easily misunderstood, but she's honestly a sweet girl." Ms. Clara locked the bandage in place. "People only need to look beyond the surface to see it."

Elsa wanted to ask what she meant but decided not to. It might not be a good idea. She wanted to learn more about Anna, to learn why she was doubtful of people because it was frustrating to be hated for something she didn't do. But then, something was telling her to leave it alone.

"It... looks like you know her well," Elsa eventually said.

"Oh, that's because she's m—"

"Are you done?" Anna huffed and jumped off the bed. "Yeah, you're done."

"We are," Ms. Clara agreed. "The cuts aren't deep. These bandages can go later tonight."

"T-Thank you," Elsa stuttered.

Appearing uninterested, Anna tapped on her phone again.

"Anna, you should stop going to your phone during awkward situations." Ms. Clara hid her laughter behind tanned hand.

"Wha—?!" Anna stopped when she saw the nurse's face. A blush bloomed on her cheeks and she quickly frowned. "I wasn't! I was listening to something!"

"Sure, because tapping continuously is considered listening to something," Ms. Clara snickered.

Elsa watched the casual exchange between Anna and the school nurse, half wondering what their relationship was. Judging by Anna's flustered face, it was almost safe to assume that Elsa wasn't meant to hear or see any of these.

"Have you ever heard of games?! I was listening to the background music of a game!"

"Ahuh."

"Okay, you know what? If you're done with that, can we go now? I think we wasted enough of the lunch break for this."

"Yeah, sure," Ms. Clara shooed them away with both hands.

Anna stormed off to the door and Elsa ran after her after thanking the nurse one last time.

"Oh, and Anna?" The girls stopped in their tracks, with Elsa looking back to Ms. Clara. "Try to loosen up, will you?"

"Whatever," Anna muttered under her breath and walked away from the infirmary.

Frowning at the curt reply, Elsa was about to apologize when Ms. Clara simply chuckled to herself. "There's no need to apologize. She's just being shy."

Reluctantly, Elsa nodded and stepped out, searching the hallway to see where the redhead could have gone. Once she saw a flash of red hair turning around the corner, she ran after it and was soon greeted by Anna's back.

"Anna!" Elsa called but was promptly ignored. "Anna!" she tried again, running until she was side by side with the girl. The only assurance that she was seen and heard was when Anna glanced at her once. "H-Hey, uhm... Thank you."

No response.

Elsa continued walking beside the shorter girl, almost smiling when there weren't any objections. "You... seem close to the school nurse."

Again, there was no answer. Elsa squinted, remembering Ariel and Ms. Clara's definition of Anna. They said that Anna was awkward and shy, but this woman in her company oozed confidence and nonchalance.

"So..." Elsa didn't know what she was trying to accomplish, why she was talking to this woman who knew about her music piece and was looking for her, but she couldn't stop. "I'm really sorry for stepping on Ariel's glasses."

With this, Anna halted and faced her completely. "Are you stupid?"

"What?"

"You stood up for Ariel against your own brother and his friends and you just clenched your fist while holding her broken eyeglasses... You know that's going to bleed, right?" Anna crossed her arms. "What are you trying to accomplish?"

Fingers twitching, Elsa reasoned, "I was only trying to help."

"By getting yourself hurt?" Anna gibed. "I don't know what your relationship with your brother is, but if he and his friends end up hurting you, you're going to put unnecessary guilt on other people."

"W-Weren't we talking about the glasses?"

"I can't ignore that you are Marshall's sister," she replied flatly. "I don't know if you're honestly doing all of these out of good will or if you have any ulterior motives, but Ariel kept asking me to stop judging you."

"Why are you telling me this?" Elsa furrowed her brows. "Okay, I get it. You hate me—"

"There's a difference between hating and not liking someone," Anna simply cut her off. "I don't hate you. I just don't like you. I don't like you being kind, helpful, and caring. I don't like how you act heroically all the time, or how you'd stand up for strangers against Marshall, your own brother."

"He's doing those terrible things a—"

"Even so," Anna interjected. "Do you know how many students turn a blind eye on this? How many people would pretend that nothing was going on? How people wouldn't listen to what we have to say?"

"W-Well, I..."

"Exactly. I find it hard to believe that someone's willing to take a risk for two strangers."

"Can't it just be because I don't want seeing people getting hurt? Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Because people are hypocrites," Anna answered without pause. "They lie and deceive each other. They all wear some mask to get what they want through whatever means necessary."

Taken aback by the surprisingly dark answer, Elsa was left stunned with her mouth hanging agape. Anna was serious. Her eyes were burning with something that sent a shiver down Elsa's spine.

"I'm going to that mall this weekend, but only because I want to be there for Ariel."

Realizing that her throat was constricted, Elsa could only nod. Seemingly satisfied with that, Anna walked away and left her frozen in the hallway, drowning in her own thoughts. Elsa wanted to get angry for another accusation, but she couldn't because as she remembered the look in Anna's eyes and the words that spilled out of her lips, it dawned on her that the girl was right.

People lie and deceive each other to get what they want.


Heart thundering in her chest, Elsa slowly reached for the cutlery on both sides of her plate. She managed to catch herself from releasing a massive sigh of relief when the stinging sensation that she expected was nowhere to be felt. The scratches didn't look as bad as they did a few hours ago. The bandage used was gone and left forgotten inside the huge trash bin outside the gates of Arendelle High.

"No frowning in front of the dining table," her mother chided. "Is something wrong?"

"N-No, no." Elsa shook her head, her short bangs swaying lightly along her head. "I... I was just thinking. Sorry."

"Don't neglect your food. You need to eat and get proper nutrition, Elsa."

Elsa's hand tightened around the spoon and fork. "I know, Mom."

"Good." Her mother grabbed a bite of a mashed potato. "What were you thinking about?"

Trying to buy more time to come up with an answer to the random question, Elsa drank from her glass of water. There was no way she'd tell her parents about the little scratches on her hand, considering the panic she ignited over that one little cut from a knife. There would be no doubt they'd take her to a hospital if they saw the multiple cuts on her palm.

"I was just wondering if I have some homework to be done," Elsa lied.

"It's nice to see you taking your studies seriously," King praised behind a glass of orange juice. "How's school? I realized I've never asked about it."

"School is..." Elsa glanced at Marshall who was sitting across her. "It's fine."

"Define 'fine'."

"Uhm... The classes are harder than they were in Corona. I'm guessing it's because of the reputation of the school?"

"That's true. It's one of the top three best high schools in the city," Queenie said. "How about friends? Have you made some?"

"I do have one," Elsa admitted, realizing that she hadn't introduced Rapunzel to her parents yet. "Her name is Rapunzel, but I call her Rapz. I actually met her through Olaf. She's the sister of his girlfriend and she's studying in the same school."

"Oh?" Queenie's eyebrows rose up. "Olaf's girlfriend—Sarah, was it?"

"Senya," Elsa corrected.

"Senya," Queenie repeated. "Come to think of it, I've hardly seen Olaf around."

"He's busy with work. Many people have something to celebrate, I guess." Elsa took another bite of a fish. "I do kind of miss him. Can I visit his studio sometimes?"

"Only if Marshall's with you."

Elsa was glad she was chewing something lest she said something rude. She was mostly aware of the answer, but a part of her still hoped they'd let her roam around freely on her own. I guess even if Olaf's family, they won't trust me with anyone but Mars. The thought nearly made her sigh. It was ironic.

A sympathetic look was plastered on Marshall's face, but he didn't say anything to counter their mother's overprotectiveness. Elsa continued eating and listening to whatever conversation everyone decided to have. Once dinner was over, she helped her mother fix the table before grabbing a glass of water and retreating to her room. After popping out a medicine and gulping it down in one fell swoop, she placed the glass on her nightstand and sat on her bed, sighing.

What am I going to do?

Flopped down with her arms stretched far and wide, Elsa's mind began to wander. There was only one way her parents would allow her to go to the mall, but that would mean she'd have to lie again. The thought didn't bother her as much as it did now. Anna's words kept ringing inside her head. Not to mention, there was also the conversation with Rapunzel a few days back.

The clothes, the food, and the way Elsa carried herself now—

Maybe she really was a hypocrite.

Inhaling through her nose and slowly exhaling through her lips, Elsa willed herself to walk out of her room and go to Marshall's. For a few minutes, she stood outside his door and contemplated whether or not she should go through with this.

I was the one who offered to buy a spare. How will it look if I'm the one who didn't go?

Cringing as her imagination ran wild, she shook her head and lifted a fist to knock on her brother's door before her courage left again. There were some shuffling noises and a frantic running from inside before the door opened, revealing a slightly uncoordinated Marshall.

"Elsa?" He looked the same as ever whenever at home, by which meant he looked like the boy in Elsa's memories: the innocent and sweet big brother he always was for her and the complete opposite of the Marshall at school. "What's wrong?" He let go of the doorknob and adjusted himself to stand directly in front of her.

"You're not planning anything, are you? Y-You stopped bothering Ariel and Anna, right?"

"Elsa," Marshall said in a hushed voice. "Don't worry about it. I'm... I'm trying to talk everyone out of it. My outburst back in the cafeteria held them off somehow. At least for the time being."

"They're not hurting you, are they?" She wrung her hands together. "Y-You'll tell me if they're hurting you, right?"

Marshall smiled. "They're not. They may be mean, but I've been with them for a long time. If anything, they're just confused right now."

"Stay away from them," she pleaded.

"Elsa," Marshall warned, causing Elsa to lower her head. She couldn't understand why he wouldn't tell her what he was truly after.

"I... want to go to the mall this weekend," she informed gently, her eyes boring holes on the crystal designs of his shirt. "With Rapunzel," she added, purposely leaving Ariel and Anna's presence out of the conversation.

It was a few seconds, maybe minutes, of silence with Marshall not saying anything. Elsa couldn't look at him for fear that he'd notice she was hiding something. There was nothing to be ashamed of, she knew. He was keeping something from her too. It was only fair. But she wanted to keep it a secret either way. He wanted her to avoid those cousins. What would he say if he found out she was going to hang out with them in a way?

"Okay."

Elsa's breath hitched. She slowly, slowly lifted her eyes to meet Marshall's gentle smile.

"I'll tell Mom and Dad," he promised. Elsa bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from saying something unnecessary. "Go to sleep, Elsa." He kissed her on the forehead. With that, she smiled timidly and went back to her room.


Clara is a healing talent fairy from Pixie Hollow. I know, I know, I'm running out of characters. But I couldn't remember any other nurses! :))