Chapter 10: First Week
"That's the last of it," Elsa said.
She was in Honey's room and was helping her unpack her things. All four girls had all pitched a hand in helping each other unpack. As they were doing so, Elsa learnt some pretty interesting things about her new roommates. For starters, they were all old friends – just coming off completing high school together. Astrid had been ecstatic to learn that Elsa was from Scandinavia as her family hailed from there. One of the main areas of discussion was about this boy called Tadashi who lived across the hall – to Elsa, that meant that he lived with Jack (why couldn't Elsa get that boy out of her head?). Honey kept blushing whenever his name was mentioned and Gogo kept snickering. It didn't take a genius to figure out why; Honey was obviously likes this guy Tadashi. Elsa couldn't help but let a smile come over her face.
The door opened just as the five girls flopped down on the couch. A boy with near shoulder length brown hair walked into the room. He was shorter than Elsa – Elsa could probably have rested her head on top of his – and he was wearing a thick leather jacket. Astrid looked up and smiled at him.
"Hey," she gave him a small kiss on his cheek. Elsa figured that his guy was more than just her friend. "Guys this is my boyfriend, Hiccup."
Hiccup? That was the first thing to come to Elsa's mind but she didn't say anything. Instead she smiled and shook Hiccup's hand.
"The full name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III," he said rather smugly.
"His real name is Harold," Astrid rolled her eyes. "Hiccup is just what he likes to call himself."
"Astrid," Hiccup moaned. Elsa had to stifle a laugh. Maybe he hated his real name. "Anyway I came to tell you that place you were looking at is hiring."
"Oh yay," Astrid said. She turned to her roommates. "Anyone want to come and look for jobs? I want Netflix and that costs money."
Everyone laughed at Astrid but Elsa realised something. She didn't have her parents' money here to fall back on. She was no longer an heiress. She may have 'borrowed' some of it to get a ticket here but whatever money she had saved was going to be used up sooner or later. There were quite a few costs living here; textbooks, food, power, water…the list goes on and on.
"I work in the robotics lab," Gogo said. "Professor Callaghan has me fixing stuff. So I have a job."
"I signed up for tutoring," Honey gushed. "Some high school kids are going to get me to tutor them in Chemistry and Maths."
"What about you Elsa?" Astrid said.
"Yeah I'll come," Elsa said.
She grabbed her jacket and purse before heading out the door with Astrid. Hiccup said his goodbyes to Astrid before he headed into Jack's room. Elsa's eyes stared at the door for a few moments while they waited for the elevator. The sound of the elevator door opening brought her back to her senses. Elsa stepped into the elevator with Astrid just in front of her. Astrid pushed the button for the ground floor and the doors closed. An awkward silence engulfed them. Elsa didn't really know what to say. She was never good with making conversation. She had a tough time making conversation with Rapunzel and they were best friends. Elsa cast her mind around for a topic. Her mind landed on Hiccup.
"So Hiccup seems nice," Elsa said, trying to sound casual.
"Yeah he is," Astrid smiled at Elsa.
"How long have you guys been together?"
"About a year," Astrid shrugged. She smiled again. "What about you? Any guys back home got your interest?"
"No," Elsa said. Truth be told, Elsa had never really felt herself attracted to anyone back home. She didn't know why. Probably because the only guys she hung out with were Kristoff and Eugene. However her mind was still on that guy Jack. Why was she constantly thinking about him? She had only just met him for crying out loud. She didn't know the first thing about him.
"That's too bad," Astrid said as they stepped out of the elevator. "Come on, the place I want to go is this way."
Astrid directed Elsa in the direction of what she had said was called 'The Quad' – basically it was a large place where students could hang out, get food and a lot of shops were around. Quite a few of these shops had a 'help needed' sign in the window. Astrid took Elsa down the main pathway of The Quad. Elsa wanted to check everything. She wished she had eight more eyes. There was just so much to see. Astrid constantly tutted and grabbed her arm to pull her along. She was clearly growing more and more impatient.
Eventually Astrid simply just led Elsa through The Quad. They came to an outside area where there was a large area where students were sitting at tables, drinking coffees and eating muffins. They were sitting outside a large coffee which read 'Coffee At Burgess'. There was a 'help wanted' sign in the window. Astrid pulled Elsa into the coffee shop and up to the main counter.
"Can I help you?" a boy around Elsa's age smiled at them. "Would you like coffee? Muffin? Brownie?"
"We're actually here about the 'help wanted' sign in the window," Astrid jerked her thumb in the direction of it.
"Ah yes, that," the boy smiled.
"Can we see the manager?" Astrid asked.
"Of course," the boy turned round and shouted for the manager. A tall skinny boy with black hair to match his black eyes came into view. He was wearing a green apron with the café's logo on the front and with a shiny name badge pinned to it.
"You girls about the job?" the boy seemed friendly but his voice was cold and distance.
"Yes," Astrid said. "I hear there are two openings."
"Indeed there is," the manager said. "So you guys are?"
"Oh I'm Astrid Hofferman," Astrid said. There was a silence that followed Astrid. Elsa then realised that both the manager and Astrid was looking at her. Astrid gave her a small nudge with her foot. Elsa realised that she was supposed say her name.
"Oh I'm Elsa, Elsa Winters," Elsa quickly said.
"Excellent," the manager said. "My name is Pitch Black."
Anna walked down the corridors of her school. She was still numb from the entire experience. Everything that had happened was still too much for her – her father's death, the trial and then the confrontation with her sister. This was probably going to haunt her for the rest of her life. It was never going to leave her. It will follow her around until the end of time. She couldn't get it out of her head.
Anna hopped up on a window sill in a large sunlight corridor. She hugged her knees and placed her chin on them. She stared out of the window. She could see a group of girls playing cricket. One girl hit the cricket ball that was coming towards her. The ball soared high into the air. The two batsmen ran back and forwards a few times but it didn't matter. The ball flew through the air into the hands of one of the fielders who made a brilliant leap and catch. Her team cheered while the batsman's team groaned. Anna let a small come over her face. She enjoyed watching the catch.
The bell that signalled the end of class could be heard. Anna hadn't gone to class. The headmistress had told Anna that she could have a few days off while she settled back into school. She had only been back at school for about a day. Already, Anna felt horrible. She didn't feel like doing mathematical equations or chemical reactions. Anna groaned into her knees. These days she just wanted to curl up into a ball and just groan and leave the world behind her.
"Anna!" Zoë, Céline and Audrey came running down the corridor towards her.
"Hey," Anna smiled back.
"We didn't know you were back," Audrey said.
"Yeah," Anna shrugged. "Just had to get back, y'know?"
"How are you feeling?" Zoë placed her head on Anna's thigh.
"I don't know," Anna shrugged. "I want to kill my sister. That's how I feel."
"She was defending herself," Zoë said. "Wasn't she?"
"So she says," Anna said in a small voice.
"Come on," Céline said. "We have a study break. Why don't you come and have lunch with us?"
"Sure," Anna shrugged again.
Maybe having lunch with her friends was exactly what she needed.
Elsa and Astrid walked out of the coffee shop with big grins plastered all over their faces. The manager, Pitch Black, seemed to like the pair of them as he had given them both a look up and down, gave them a few questions and listened to their answers before giving them both a job. Elsa had been surprised that she got hired based off the fact she had zero experience as she had been using all her time to get good grades rather than experience. Astrid had some work experience – she used to work in a stationary shop in her last year of school. Together they headed back to their dorm room. That was when Elsa saw him again; Jack.
He was standing outside his dorm room chatting to the friends that Elsa had seen him with before. As Elsa walked by, he called to her. Elsa stopped, turned around and got a grin on her face.
"Elsa," Jack said. "It's good to see you again."
"You too neighbour," Elsa grinned. Seriously, what was up with the way she was feeling? It was like Jack was infected and her immune system couldn't fight him off. He was slowly infecting her cells, her entire body and there was nothing she could do to stop it from happening.
"Oh these are my friends," Jack said. "That's Tooth," he pointed to small skinny girl with blue hair with green streaks. When her name was called, Tooth smiled with brilliant teeth. "That's Sandy," he pointed to a smaller boy with golden colour hair, "and that's Bunnymund." The last one was built like a rugby player and had brunet hair.
"Hey guys," Elsa waved at them.
"We're just about to go get something for lunch," Jack said. "You want to join?"
"No thanks, already eaten" Elsa replied. She didn't know why she was saying no. She hadn't eaten and she was starving but something in her gut was making her feel nervous. "You guys go though. There are some good places around here. I'm sure you'll find one that would take your fancy."
"Oh, okay," Jack said. For some reason he looked a little disappointed.
"Maybe, next time though?" Elsa quickly added.
This brightened Jack up. "Sure!"
"Okay then," Elsa said before she waved goodbye to them and entered her dorm room. Astrid was on the couch grinning from ear to ear. Elsa found this grin to be utterly annoying. "What?" she asked.
"Nothing," Astrid said. There was silence. "Do you have a thing for Frosty?"
"What!" Elsa exclaimed. "No way!"
"You do," Astrid said. "I can see it written on your face."
"I have nothing written on my face," Elsa said.
"I'd be careful if I was you though," Astrid said. "There is something you should know."
At that moment, Honey and some guy with jet black hair came into the room and interrupted their conversation. The boy was wearing a t-shirt that had humans being abducted by sheep in UFOs. Elsa couldn't help but giggle at the t-shirt.
"Guys this is Tadashi," Honey said.
"Hi," Elsa said. Tadashi's arrival drove whatever Astrid was going to say right out of Elsa's mind.
Jack and his friends made their way the next day to their usual coffee hang out. They had already been at BU for a couple of weeks and already decided on a place. Jack liked the way it smelled and the food was superb.
"Whatcha going to order?" Tooth asked.
"The usual," Bunnymund said. "He always gets the same thing whenever we come here."
"Is that a bad thing?" Jack snapped. "Just says that I know what I like."
They sat down at a table after they ordered. Jack didn't join in Tooth's and Bunnymund's conversation about what courses they were doing this year. Jack sighed as he looked around the café. The usual people were swarming around as if they were insects. People were laughing and chatting about all kinds of things that Jack couldn't hear over the constant stream of noise that was surrounding him.
Jack rested his chin on his palm as he gazed out of the window next to their table. A couple of students outside were laughing and holding ice creams. He wondered what they were talking about.
"So we need a party," Jack suddenly heard Bunnymund say in his Aussie accent.
"What?" Jack jerked his head around to face his friend. "A party?"
"Yeah," Bunnymund said. "Next weekend."
"Oh, I guess," Jack said. "Won't university have started by then?"
"So?"
"Good point."
"Hey guys!" the voice of Jack's girlfriend, Jules, suddenly could be heard. Jules sat down next to Jack and gave him a small kiss on his cheek. "What have we been talking about? I heard something about a party."
"Yes," Bunnymund grinned. "Next weekend."
"Excellent! Time to party like it's 1999!"
"Order up!" that voice was familiar to Jack. He looked up and saw that Elsa was carrying a tray of drinks while wearing the uniform of the employees. Jack was surprised to see her here. He didn't know she was looking for a job. "Hey guys," she grinned when she saw them all smiling at her.
"Hey Elsa!" they all said.
Elsa handed them all their drinks in front of all of them.
"So are you coming to our party next week?" Bunnymund asked.
"Party?" Elsa sounded a little confused. "I'm not allowed to go to parties," Jack was sure he heard her mutter but he wasn't sure so he didn't comment on it.
"So you in or not?" Bunnymund asked.
"I don't know," Elsa quickly left and Jack wondered what was on her mind. She had started to look like she was frazzle and Jack didn't know why. Jules was starting to say something which made Jack switch his focus from Elsa to Jules.
Elsa returned home after a particular gruelling day at work. She couldn't believe she had been in Burgess for nearly four days now. She had enjoyed all four days of them. Somehow, she had managed to forget all that she was running from. Elsa sighed as she entered her dorm room. Pitch, her boss, had worked her hard due to the big shift. Astrid had the day off, so she had spent it with Honey and Gogo. They were in their robotics lab working on some project or another. Elsa didn't really know.
Elsa stepped into the shower and started to wash the grime from the day. As she let the water splash down onto her, she reflected on what tomorrow would bring her. It would be her first day of a new semester at a brand new university in a brand new town in a brand new country. Scared and nervousness didn't even cut it. What would she encounter there? Back home, she had her family and friends to help her but here, well she did have friends but they weren't like her old ones. They were new and new wasn't always a good thing but she felt something that she had never felt before. Here, she was free to be whatever she wanted to be. Not something that someone else wanted her to be. Maybe this new thing could work out for her. Maybe it could be the best thing that had ever happened to her.
Once she stepped out of the shower, she caught sight of her back in the bathroom mirror. The scars of her history could be clearly seen. Elsa just stood there, staring at them. It was a reminder that her past would always be here to haunt her. Elsa saw a figure standing behind her; it was her father again. Elsa didn't turn around. She forced herself to remember that he was not real – that he was dead. He didn't move until Elsa closed her eyes – tightly. When she opened them again, he was gone. This was the second time this had happened. Was he going to haunt her for the rest of her life?
She just stood there as she stared at the scars reflected in the mirror. She just stared at them for several minutes. She didn't even realise that she was cold, wet and naked. It wasn't until she heard someone banging on her door did Elsa realise this.
"Elsa!" came Astrid's voice. "I need to get in there! My special shampoo is in there and I need to be spic and span for my date with Hiccup tonight."
"Can you wait a second?" Elsa said. She tore her eyes around looking for her towel. She didn't have a change of clothes. She just threw off her old, dirty clothes that had coffee stains all over them and stepped into the shower.
"No!" Astrid continued to bang on the door. "Let me in!"
"One second!"
"No! I'm already late! I'm coming in!"
Elsa barely had enough time to make sure she was covered. She threw her towel around her body just as Astrid came into the room – Elsa had been so tired that she had forgotten to lock the door. Astrid burst in and started to look for her shampoo. Elsa then realised that some of her scars were still showing on the very top of her back. If Astrid looked up into the mirror or even looked in Elsa's direction, she could potentially see her scars. Elsa tried to move the towel up but it was impossible.
"Where is it?" Astrid kept muttering to herself. She kept searching the bathroom; picking up bottles and examining them.
"Is this it?" Elsa held up a bottle. Astrid stared at it and she lit up.
"That's it!" she said in her delight. She grabbed the bottle and quickly dashed out the bathroom, shutting the door as she went,
Elsa just collapsed on the floor where she was. That had been close – too close even. She didn't want Astrid finding out and asking questions. In fact; Elsa didn't want anyone to know. She wanted to keep that part of her in her past. She needed to keep the past in the past where it belonged. Elsa picked herself up from the floor and walked to her bedroom – leaving little water drops as she walked.
She got changed into her pyjamas and rested on her bed. She didn't know how long she lay there. She just stared up the ceiling. There wasn't anything interesting on her ceiling but she just stared at it nonetheless. She sighed. Her eyes slowly closed and sleep soon washed over her.
"Elsa you are so fucking useless! You can't do anything right!"
A hand went across her face. Elsa fell down onto the ground. A hand grabbed her and pulled her up. The hand forced her to slam against the wall of her house. Elsa's head smashed against it and her vison blurred. A sharp pain in her head was felt and it hurt.
"You think that you're always right? But you're not! You are nothing!"
The hand started to chock her, to block all oxygen from getting to her body. Elsa struggled against it. She couldn't breathe. Blackness was threatening to engulf her.
Elsa suddenly sat up in her bed, breathing very heavily. Her heart was hamming so hard, she thought it would rip straight out of her chest. Elsa's hand went to her throat – to see if it was alright. She forced herself to calm down. It was just a dream, she told herself again and again. She looked at the clock. It told her that it was fourteen minutes past two in the morning. Her alarm was set to go off in just over four hours. She lay back down on her pillow and stared back at the ceiling. Sleep was out of the question tonight.
Elsa tossed and turned for the rest of the night but she never went back to sleep. Her alarm went off right on time. It took Elsa a few seconds to register that it had gone off. She quickly turned it off and lay in bed. She was exhausted. Sleep had eluded her and especially on a day she would need all the sleep she could get. Eventually, she decided that it was time to get up and out of bed.
The word that Elsa would use to describe her day would be chaos. Breakfast was an utter mess as four girls tried to make themselves some food or something to snack on before they headed out of the door to get to their classes. Elsa found Honey trying to put her jacket, Gogo stealing her toast and to cap it all off, she couldn't find any of her books that she had bought a couple of days ago. Turns out, Honey thought they were Astrid's and put them in her room. So calling breakfast an utter mess may have been bang on.
Chaos didn't stop happening. Elsa couldn't find any of her classes. She raced around the campus trying to locate them. The University of Burgess seemed like a shiny city but it was a maze. Nothing was where it was supposed to be. She would go to one building thing it was the law building but it would turn out to be the science building. Elsa was nearly late three times to class because she couldn't locate them. The third time it happened, she walked into the class with the lecturer mid-sentence. Exhaustion was also a major player in Elsa's already hectic day. Elsa nearly fell asleep in her law lecture. The lecturer had been talking about what the course was about then suddenly the lecturer was talking about a case and Elsa had no idea what was happening. When Elsa got home, she collapsed on her bed. Sleep washed over her instantly. Even though she hadn't had dinner, even though she hadn't done her readings for the next day, she fell asleep.
The rest of the week passed in the same way. Elsa would get up, go to class and then go to the library to do work. Elsa wanted this to work. She didn't want to surrender and go home. She couldn't go home. She needed this to work. She needed to be exceptional. Elsa stopped when she thought of this. She sounded a lot like her father. He was always telling her that she needed to be better than the best, to be the shining light in the darkness. Elsa would like for once in her life for it to be okay to be average. But that wasn't going to do here. She needed to work hard, to strive forward. In order to follow her dream into law, she needed a certain GPA and she wasn't going to get that by being average.
Friday came and this came at a relief to Elsa. She was glad to see the weekend. It was about time that it came. Whenever Elsa wasn't in class, she would be in the library and that's where she found herself that Friday evening. Elsa had her headphones into her computer as she typed up her notes. Her playlist was playing hits from the 80's, 90's and early 2000's. She was already jamming to some Kylie Minogue. She was half way through the song I Should Be So Lucky when she noticed the time. It was half past eight. Elsa quickly packed up everything and quickly raced back to her dorm room. She was late. She was very late. How could she let the time go by so quickly? Elsa burst into her dorm room at ten to nine.
"I'm so sorry I'm late," Elsa quickly said.
"Are you talking to me?" the voice was female and not male. Elsa looked up and realised that she wasn't in her home. She wasn't looking at her father. She wasn't late. She was in Burgess and not in Arendelle. Her father wasn't the one sitting on the couch. It was Astrid. She was looking at her with chips in her hand. They were in mid-flight as if they had just been grabbed from the bag and were on the way to her mouth.
"Yes…?" Elsa wasn't quite sure on how she should respond.
"Well you're not late," Astrid was giving her a questioning look as if she herself didn't know how to respond.
"I'm getting dinner," Elsa said opening the fridge door and getting her pasta from last night out of the fridge. Thankfully Elsa could cook. The number of days that she had to cook for her father had given her a decent cooking level. The others were asking Elsa to cook practically every meal as they couldn't cook like she could.
"I'm going out," Astrid said as she finished up with her chips. "I'm meeting Hiccup for dinner."
"Okay," Elsa said. She didn't even turnaround from what she was doing. She just kept piling pasta into her bowl and placed it into the microwave. She set the timer and when it beeped, she took it out and placed it at the table. Elsa watched Astrid grab her coat and head out the door. It took Elsa a few moments to realise what was going on. She didn't have some overbearing, abusive father anymore. She could do whatever she wanted. She didn't have to explain herself to anyone, she didn't have a curfew and she didn't have to ask for permission anymore.
Her life was hers now.
For the first time in many, many, years, Elsa actually smiled. She actually smiled. Elsa threw her coat onto the couch, grabbed her stereo and turned the music up really loud. She started to dance around her kitchen while attempting to cook her dinner. She almost burnt her food while she was dancing to YMCA. Thankfully, she got to them in time. She just had burnt food for dinner. It was in the middle of the song Staying Alive when the door opened and Gogo and Honey came through the door. They took one look at the stove which clearly showed evidence that Elsa hadn't successfully managed to cook her dinner. Gogo raised her eyebrows at Elsa.
"What?" Elsa said. "I got distracted."
"Obviously," she said. Gogo took off her scarf and hanged it by the door. She started to clear up Elsa's mess by shoving all the dishes into the dishwasher. She kept giving Elsa a look and each time Elsa quickly adverted her gaze.
Honey had taken a seat next to Elsa and folded her arms. She looked excited about something. Elsa had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with a black haired boy called Tadashi. When she had met him, she thought he was pretty cool. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he liked Honey and she liked him back. Apparently the two geniuses themselves still didn't know. This always made Elsa chuckle a little bit. Her attention returned to Honey. She was fidgety and was tapping the kitchen table. If Elsa didn't know any better, she had something she really wanted to say.
"Can I help you?" Elsa said to her friend before she took a sip of her coffee.
"Tadashi invited me to Jack's party," Honey blurted out.
"He invited me too," Gogo said.
"So you both are going to the party?" Elsa asked.
"Yeah," Gogo said. "So is Astrid and Hiccup. Practically all our friends are going. What about you?"
"Haven't decided," Elsa smiled as he drank more from her coffee. She had initially been against going as she had that fear of returning home late but now, she didn't need to have that fear. Despite that, it still hung over her like a dark cloud threatening her with rain.
"I would go if I was you," Gogo said. "It's said to be the party of the year."
"Hmm, I'm not really a party person," Elsa said. This was true. The only parties she was allowed to go to was if it was a sit down dinner with a preapproved guest list. However, a fun party did seem like a fun idea which was probably why Elsa was outside Jack's door an hour later. Elsa hesitated in knocking. Her fist was hovering over the metal numbers when she stopped. Could she be making a big mistake? Parties weren't exactly her thing. But this was Burgess, not Arendelle. New city, new Elsa. It was time for her to do some fun stuff for one in her life. She rapped sharply on the door a few times. Jack opened the door after a few seconds had gone by. Elsa stopped dead when she saw Jack. He was shirtless.
Elsa couldn't help but stare. Jack looked like he had been photoshopped. That was how good he looked. Jack leaned against the door and folded his arms. He was staring at Elsa too. He was chuckling himself.
"May I help you?" he said.
"I just wanted to tell you that I will be coming to the party tomorrow," Elsa blurted out. "Just thought you ought to know."
"Excellent," Jack grinned.
"Jack?" came a voice from behind Elsa.
Elsa turned around and saw a woman around her age standing behind her. Like her, she had blonde hair but it wasn't as long as hers. This girl's hair touched her shoulders. She wasn't as tall as Elsa. Elsa could have rested her head on top of her head. Her green eyes were staring into Elsa's blue ones. She adjusted her black cardigan across her body as she looked at the scene before her.
"Hi Jules," Jack said to her. "Oh this is my friend Elsa. She is just informing me that she can come to the party tonight."
"Oh excellent," the woman called Jules said. "So you are Elsa. Jack's told me a bit about you. I'm so glad to meet you."
Jules reached out to shake Elsa's hand which she did so looking very confused as she did so. She was sure that Jules had been one of the gang that had been at the café on some of the days she had been working.
"So how do you know Jack?" Elsa asked casually.
"Oh I'm his girlfriend," she said smiling.
Girlfriend? The word echoed around Elsa's head. Her heart started to sink and it sunk right into her stomach. She hadn't realised he had one. The way he had talked to her, Elsa would have sworn that he had been flirting with her. Guess not. She could feel jealously starting to rise within her. She forced it back down into the pit of her stomach so that Jack wouldn't guess that she was being jealous.
"Oh," Elsa said trying not to let her disappointment show. "For how long?"
"Oh for about a year now," Jules said. "We went to school together, friends for ages and then one day, Jack asks me out."
"Most nervous I have ever been," Jack said giving her a small kiss on the cheek.
"Oh okay," Elsa said, not really sure what else she should say. "So anyway, I really have to go. Just wanted to say that I was going to come tomorrow."
"Wicked," Jack grinned at her causing her heart to skip a beat despite Elsa not wanting it to.
"So I'm gonna go," Elsa gestured in the direction of her apartment.
"Okay," Jack said.
Elsa headed back into her apartment, trying to not to let her disappointment show. Once she got into the apartment, she collapsed into the couch. The jealously she was feeling was starting to take its toll inside her. She couldn't be upset about this news. She just couldn't be. Otherwise it would be admitting that she potentially liked Jack.
"Okay, now what?" Gogo said as she noticed Elsa.
"Nothing," Elsa said quickly. She wasn't used to discussing her problems with people especially not people she had only known for two weeks. The door opened at that moment and Astrid and Hiccup entered. Great, Elsa thought, more people to come into this conversation and especially Astrid who already knew about Elsa's feelings towards a certain blonde. This was just not her day.
"Oh come on," Honey said. "You can tell us."
"Tell what?" Astrid asked taking a seat next to Honey at the table while Hiccup stood next to her.
"Nothing," Elsa firmly repeated.
"Is it Jack?" Astrid said.
"Jack?" the word was echoed among the group in the kitchen.
"Ah," Honey said, catching on. "You like Jack, don't you?"
How did she figure that out but not Tadashi feelings for herself? Elsa let out a groan. She didn't like where this was going.
"No!" Elsa said firmly but it only confirmed Honey's suspicions.
"Elsa likes Jack?" Hiccup said looking confused. "How do you know?"
"Call it woman's intuition," Honey gave Hiccup a wink.
"So I gather by that look, you discovered that Jack has a girlfriend," Astrid said as Hiccup placed a cup of coffee in front of her. Guess that had been what Astrid had tried to tell her the other day. "So, jealousy is flowing through you?"
"I'm not jealous," Elsa snapped at her. She didn't want to discuss this. She just wanted this conversation to be over with. Elsa got to her feet. She didn't like it when people tried to poke into her life. "I'm going to bed."
"Someone's jealous," sang Honey while the rest of them sniggered.
"Oh shut up," Elsa called back before she entered her own bedroom.
Elsa flopped down onto her bed after she shut her bedroom door. Was she jealous? She barely knew Jack but yet, her heart always skipped a beat whenever she came near him and she always got a flutter in her stomach when he smiled at her. Could she like him and not just in a friend way? It is possible. She had never liked anyone like that before and so this was all new to her. Well maybe, if she did have a crush on Jack, the fact that he has girlfriend may help her get over him. That's if she did want to get over him and to be honest, she wasn't sure that she did.
Elsa's eyes closed and dreamland was soon upon her.
"You need to learn your place!" her father yelled at her.
"No please dad, no," Elsa begged but it was of no use. Her father just advanced on her.
He picked up a hot poker from the fireplace and jammed it into her exposed back. Elsa let out a yelp of pain as the poker burn immensely into her skin. When her father finally removed it, a searing pain in her back could be felt throughout her entire body. Elsa shakily collapsed onto the ground as her father stood over her. He started to smile, quite evilly. He dropped the poker onto the grate and Elsa heard a loud clattering noise.
"I hope that you have now learnt your lesson," he snarled.
Elsa nodded as her tears streamed down her face and onto her t-shirt. She didn't dare let her father see her like this.
"Now get out of my sight," her father barked at her.
Elsa didn't know if she could move but she forced herself to. She hurried out of the room, tripping slightly as she did. She rushed to the bathroom and into the shower. She quickly turned on the cold water and let it splash over her body. She didn't care if she was fully clothed, she didn't care if the water was painful; all that she cared about was making sure that the burn stopped hurting.
Elsa shivered slightly as the cold water soaked through her. She just let the cold water soak into her skin. Why must her father do this to her? What had she ever done to her? This couldn't be just about her mother's death. It had to be about a lot more than that. Could it be possible that her father actually hated her? If she asked her father about any of this, he would just throw her down the stairs. The mere mention of her mother would cause her to be locked in her bedroom for a month. Elsa just buried her head in her knees and allowed the water to wash away her tears.
"Elsa?" a voice suddenly awoke Elsa from her dream. She soon realised that voice wasn't in her dream but was coming from outside her room. Elsa's eyes flicked open and saw that Astrid was standing in her doorway. The light from the hall flooded into her room and illumined Astrid. "You okay?" Astrid continued when she saw that Elsa had awoken – somewhat groggily.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Elsa sat up and leaned against her headboard.
"You were shouting in your sleep," Astrid looked concerned.
"Just a bad dream," Elsa forced a smile. "Everything is fine. Trust me."
"Okay," Astrid said. "Have a good sleep."
Astrid shut the door behind her and Elsa lay back down on her bed. She somehow figured that Astrid didn't believe her. Elsa sighed as she looked at the clock. It read ten past midnight. Jack's party was in about twenty hours. She still felt a little excited at this thought. It was one of her first parties but Jack's girlfriend was going to be there. Well, she would just have to get by that. She sighed again as she looked up at her ceiling.
Minutes went by and Elsa couldn't fall asleep. She was afraid to. Her nightmare was still burning within her brain. Elsa groaned.
She needed help.
A/N: Hey all! I'm back! Sorry an update took so long. I've been studying for my exams which are now over - thank god and now I'm finally finished for the year (YAY) and into summer holidays (YAY). But now onto the story. Two points I wish to go over as I found from reading reviews that a lot of you have questions. First off, Jack's girlfriend - I mentioned her at the end of chapter eight. She's just an OC. Also onto Astrid. When I first started writing this, I wasn't going to include any HTTYD characters but now I have as they fitted in this story. As so not to cause anymore confusion, Elsa's cousin Astrid will only be in Arendelle and Astrid Hofferman will only be in Burgess. Anyway, I hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter. Please review =)
Reviews:
Guest (MixyBell): Sorry for not updating! I had exams. Onto your points 1) yep, Astrid isn't her cousin 2) read the A/N for more infomation.
Charllote64: Thanks so much! It may take a while before Anna finds out. Maybe you might just have to wait and see if your questions are answered. Yes, Jack!
Gracialoveme: Thanks! Hans isn't really going to be much in this story. So he's not going to be featured much. Also, I think I may have finally come to a decision.
ZERO-XXX: Yeah I do enjoy that too. I do enjoy Honey as well. Jack's girlfriend was mentioned in chapter 8 but I think this is her formally introduced chapter.
sia-gomo01: Anna is being a bit of a bitch but I can see why she acts that way - she thinks her sister murdered her father after all. Elsa didn't tell as she didn't want anyone to know. More Jelsa to come! South Africa huh? Did you see the RWC? The New Zealand VS South African game was a close one.
Guest: No, sorry for the confusion.
RoyalElsajack880: Thanks! It may take a while before Anna finds out the truth.
Guest: Thanks so much! Glad that you understand why Anna is being a bitch. Her motives were simply not to cause more trouble - could it be that Anna still cares for Elsa? Who knows? Anna may or may not be the one to solve everything. You might just have to keep reading.
Jemepo: Jack's girlfriend is just an OC: See my A/N for more details.
ziabee99: Yes indeed, Jelsa! Thanks! It was a bit emotional. Yes, of course I love Idina Menzel! I never got to see her in Wicked (so sad but I have seen Wicked and it was amazing!). Jack's girlfriend is just an OC - at the end of chapter 8 was when she was mentioned, see my A/N for more information. I do love reading reviews no matter what length they are. Feel free to make your reviews as long as you like. Besides, I have been enjoying reading your life story.
Guest: Thanks! Hmm, bad timing? Too fast? Hmm, I didn't think so, it just seemed to flow for me.
ElsaTheSnowQueen2: Thanks! I feel bad for Anna too. Elsa may or may not have better future. May just have to wait and see.
sanaa11: Yeah they are but there's someone in the way, unfortunately. Yeah, I do hate Anna a bit but she's just acting the way she sees the situation. She'll get better.
Silent reader: Thanks. Yeah, at the moment, they have a bad relationship but hopefully it will recover. I have a big sister too.
Pinkcatsnowflake: Thanks! Always glad to see that readers are being left with questions - always happy to answer any and all questions. Jack's girlfriend is just an OC - see my A/N for more details.
Jack Frost 1345: I do too! Yep - it was mentioned in the previous chapter that he lost his leg.