"Taken far from my safety, the picture is there.
The memory won't escape me, but why should I care?"
Forgotten -Linkin Park
I was running up the stairs to to my first period the next day and I was like ten minutes late. Which, by the way, was not my fault. Stupid Alice wanted to go to fucking Starbucks. And because I'm a total idiot sometimes, I fucking agreed to it. Okay so maybe it was my fault for agreeing. I'll just embarrass my sister in front of her friends later. That will teach her a thing or two about controlling her coffee addiction.
When I finally made it to the third floor, I stopped before opening the door. I fixed my hair that was a little windblown. I took a deep breath and opened the door.
As expected, everyone turned to the door to face me. Kristoff had a smirk on his face, a few shook their heads in disappointment, and but most just looked at me with curious eyes. And then I looked over to Mr. Gold's direction. I'm so screwed.
"Miss Anderson, so nice of you to join us.", He started to slowly clap with his hands. This made my face go hot.
"Sorry.", I said and started heading to my seat when he stopped me.
"Wait dearie.", He said with dark eyes. "I want you to stand in front of the class now."
I fought the urge to glare and did as he instructed. I went to the front of the class and tried my best to not make eye contract with anyone.
"Behold students, the latecomer!", Mr. Gold announced to everyone while dramatically gesturing at me. "They are a rare species in the AP program, but are very common in the regular classes. They are known for their inability to show up on time."
"Mr. Gold I-", I started, but stopped when he raise his hand.
"Now Miss Anderson, care to tell everyone your brilliant excuse for not showing up on time?", He said sarcastically. I clenched my jaw and shook my head in humiliation. "Well why not?"
"Don't have one.", I said to him while looking down on the floor beneath me. Maybe if I concentrate enough, I'll be able to disappear.
"What?!", He said in mock surprise. Fucking asshole. He was now really getting under my skin.
He shook his head. "You know what kind of students I hate in class Miss Anderson?" Oh, he's really asking for it, isn't he?
"Is it sleepers?", I said before I could stop my stupid mouth.
His eyes darkened. Shit! "Ah, I see that you don't suffer memory lost. For that rules out the 'I forgot what time school starts' excuse now don't it?"
I bit my tongue to prevent talking back. Under normal circumstance, it would caused me great pain, but my anger was numbing it greatly. I was sure I could bite my tongue off right now, and it wouldn't hurt a bit.
"Let me answer the question then.", He said as he walked around the classroom. "I just hate students who don't take class seriously. The ones that think it's all just a big game. Seeing as to how you can't even bother to show up on time, I take it you just don't care."
"But I do care!", I blurted out without thinking.
He smiled in amusement. "As the old saying goes, 'Actions speak louder than words', and right now dearie, your actions are telling me a million things about yourself."
I didn't say anything. Part of me was mad, but the other side, the more logical one, was pointing out how there was some truth to his words.
"But it sure makes me wonder as to why you come to school at all if you don't care.", He was in the back of the classroom in front of me. "It's a shame that I can't just kick you out of my class for today. School policy won't allow me unless I have a valid reason and being 12 minutes tardy, unfortunately, does not count."
I was really starting to hate this jerk. Don't say anything Anna.
"You know, I wonder why you decided to take my AP Literature class if you don't care. Tell me, do you know what AP stands for and what the purpose of it is? I didn't quite go over it because I assumed that you knew. Tell me now, what is it? Hum?"
I took a deep breath to calmed myself. My eyes hurted. I cried whenever I got extremely emotional, whether it be anger or happiness. And right now, I was really angry. "It stands for Advance Placement and it's meant to prepare us for the AP exam in May in hopes of scoring at least a 3 out of 5 to earn some college credit."
"Precisely.", He agreed. "And it is my job to educate you as much as I can in this limited time, however, I can't do that if I have to waste precious class time lecturing you on behavior. I'm beginning to wonder why you're still here."
For some reason, that last part made me see a little red. I felt like that was a low blow right there because personal and un-fucking-called for. The lump in my throat was growing and my eyes were threatening to explode, but I wouldn't allow this bastard get to me. "I'm here because I want to.", I said through gritted teeth. "Sir.", I added even I just lost all respect for this jerk and any hope of regaining it was now lost at the bottom of the ocean.
"If you really want to be here, then start acting it.", He said sternly. "Take a seat.", He commanded.
Fuck you! I wanted to say, but instead I settled for this. "Yes sir."
"Alright class, take out paper and copy down only what I tell you." He ordered and everyone quickly did just that. The air tense and I wish I could stop it. However, that wouldn't happen today because he had just made an example out of me. I glanced in Kristoff's direction and he mouthed 'You alright?'
I nodded slowly and gave me a weak thumbs up. He nodded, but I could tell he still wasn't at ease. And I smiled at that. It was cute that Kristoff was worried about me, it made me all warm inside, but it wasn't enough to get me out of this dead feeling inside. Not caring if stupid Gold was watching or not, I laid my head on my desk. It was first period and it already wasn't my day. I looked up when I heard the door open and she walked in.
The first thing I noticed about her was that she was dressed in all black. Her jeans, her long sleeve shirt, even the gloves she wears despite the hot weather. I sneaked a glance at her shoes and they were all black converse. I thought that the all black thing kind of matched with Elsa because she herself looked kind of terrible. She had dark circles under her tired blue eyes and she was pale. But not her radiant pale. It was more of a sickly pale, like when you're really sick and the black clothes wasn't helping with that. And her hair, despite being platinum blonde somehow managed to lose some of its color as well. Besides that, the only other color on her was her number that was in white.
"Miss Macbeth. You're late.", Mr Gold's stupid mouth said. And here's another episode of 'You're Late!', brought to you by The Dark One himself. I smiled a little at my inside joke. "You have an excuse, or did you decide to sleep in like another student in here?"
Fuck you, I thought to myself.
She took out a yellow note from her pocket and handed it to him.
He chuckled when he read whatever was in it and looked up at the blonde. "I can't believe that you went out of your way to make a fake note."
Elsa didn't say anything. Actually she didn't look like she was listening, or cared for that matter.
"Speak.", He instructed. I honestly couldn't come up with a reason for him to be such an asshole today. Maybe it's that time of the month for him.
"It's not fake.", She simply said quietly as she stared at the floor beneath her.
"I highly doubt that you got an excuse from the principle.", He said to her.
"But I did.", Elsa said and took a deep breath. Something seemed different about her, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe it was the way she was actually talking. Of maybe the fact that she sounded a little pissed off. This was new.
"Sure you did dearie.", He chuckled again. "Just what were you doing in there anyhow? What was so-"
"Why do you care?", Elsa suddenly snapped, not hiding her irritation. Her icy eyes looked up at him, his mouth was opened in surprise, as was everyone's else. "Whatever I do outside of this class is none of your business."
"Well I was just-", He started.
"I will kindly tell you not to pry on my personal life, sir.", She said sharply, her blue eyes cold.
"Alright.", He held his hands up in surrender. "Just take a seat." She glared at him before going to the back of the classroom to take her seat next to me.
It seemed to me that Elsa wasn't gonna be taking crap from anyone anymore. First she beats up Abby and now she's rude to the teacher. He deserved it though, but I still thought this was a new level for her. I glanced over at her and she glanced back as if daring me to stare at her. I blushed and looked away. Oh yeah, something's definitely wrong here.
I didn't say anything, but I might as well have. I had Elsa's full attention and it was very uncomfortable. She wasn't looking at me, but I felt like she was specifically watching my every move. From the way I was sitting on my chair, to the way my hand was writing the notes Mr. Gold had on the board.
It got to the point where I couldn't take the silence anymore. "Hi.", I finally decided to speak up.
"Hi.", I think my jaw dropped at the sound of her voice.
"Hi me?", I asked in disbelief. "You're socializing!", No way this was happening.
But one look at her frown, I knew I killed the moment with my stupidity. She looked away and stared off into the space in front of her with a frown still on her face.
I felt guilty. "Elsa, I-"
I stopped when she reached into the front right pocket of her jeans and took out her phone and earphones. I groaned in annoyance when she put them on and I began to hear a tune I couldn't make out coming from her ears. This scene, unfortunately, was very familiar. Elsa didn't want to listen to me.
I huffed and brought my attention back to the lecture that Mr. Gold was giving. Whatever, it's not like I cared anyway. The only good thing that came out of this was Mr. Gold giving nervous glances at Elsa. If I had to guess, he was trying to figure out how to tell her to take her earphones off. I felt like a winner when the spineless asshole didn't. A huge grin appeared on my face. Maybe it won't be such a shitty day after all.
"Again Anna, I'm so very sorry for what happened.", Mr. Oaken apologized for the tenth time already.
"It's fine.", I said, also for the tenth time. After all, it wasn't his fault that my tutor was a no show yesterday.
"I really had no idea they didn't show up.", He said with a serious. tone. "I've talked with them and I can promise you that they will be here today for sure.
"That's all I need.", I smiled at the big man. I had felt like such a loser yesterday waiting there all alone for someone that wouldn't show up.
"Alright.", He affirmed and then handed me a paper. "And here's your pass. If your teacher doesn't believe you, just tell them to give me a call and I'll straighten it out."
"Okay, thank you.", I said gratefully and then proceeded to leave the classroom. Mr. Oaken was a really sweet man and he was one of those teachers that actually cared. And for that, I couldn't be mad at him, even if I tried.
Now I just had to get through P.E. and I was done. Hopefully Mr. Smith was in a good mood today because he was one of those teachers that could give you hell and not get in trouble for it. That was the beauty of being a gym teacher. When I entered the deserted locker room, I opened my locker and quickly changed into my forest green T-shirt and black shorts.
When that was over with, I hurried over to the gym. Everyone was already lined up and Mr. Smith was yelling at them about the importance of fitness America.
"Anderson!", He said loudly when I got close. "You better have a note on you!"
"I do.", I said as I took it out and handed it to him.
He looked at it and then at me. "Alright then, go line up." I nodded and headed to the front of the line.
"Alright maggots! Listen up!", Mr. Smith's booming voice commanded and the chatter was beginning to build suddenly stopped. "All you non-dressers make me sick!", The angry teacher said in disappointment. "So guess what we're doing today?"
We all groaned at this. It was like a million degrees outside, not to mention the fact I hated running. When we all headed through the double doors to go outside into the bright sun, I nearly bumped into Elsa's back when she suddenly stopped in front of me.
She was covering her eyes with her right hand as her free hand searched for something in her pocket. Since I was in close proximity with her, I noticed that her white teeth were gritted against each other, suggesting pain. Her gloved hand came out of her pocket with her shades. Her blue eyes tightly shut as she slipped them on. When that was done, she continued to the track with the others.
I replayed the scene in my head, paying close attention to her shades. I thought she wore those to be cool and all, but now I was thinking that she had some sort of eye problem. Maybe it had something to do with the sun. She didn't wear them as much inside anymore, and I had never seen her outside without them except for last Friday after school, but if I remembered correctly, we were in the shade and it had gotten cloudy that afternoon.
Sensing my eyes on her, she suddenly turned my way and frowned at me staring. I blushed and turned away. I found myself face to face with Steve.
"Hey Steven.", I said to him as I glared at the hot air that dared to touch my already hot skin. I could honestly say that I could see the heat.
"So we're on full name bases now huh?", He said as he playfully nudged my arm. "If that's the case, then I need to learn what 'Anna' is short for."
"No, we're not that.", I said. "It's just that today doesn't seem like a good running day. You know?"
"I know what you mean.", He agreed as he smiled at me. "I'm actually a little worried that I might throw up my perfect sandwich."
"It's been digesting for the past hour or so, so I highly though it.", I said. During lunch, my friends and I went out to eat in Kristoff's car. We bickered around town for a place to eat for ten minutes because everyone was in the mood for something different. But in the end, Kristoff let me decide where to go. I had a feeling that he did that because of what happened during first period, but I pushed those thoughts away.
"I guess, but it still won't be pretty.", He shrugged. "At least it's only four laps around."
"That's true, if he adds more, I'm going to die.", I said as I looked at the huge running circle.
"True that.", Steve said as he looked over the track as well.
"Two extra laps for the whole class!", He teacher yelled to the class as he scribbled something down on his clip board.
"What the hell!", A girl with short black hair exclaimed. "Why?!"
"Because of the of the two maggots playing with the branch!", He gestured to the two boys who were goofing around with with a fallen branch by a small tree that looked as though it was barely planted over the summer.
The whole class sent glares to the two assholes who were smirking as they made their over to the rest of the class. A couple students shoved them a little, but they didn't seem to mind it at all. If anything, they seemed proud of themselves, just laughing it off. Idiots.
When the teacher blew his whistle, we took off. It wasn't too bad, but I still hated it. By my fifth lap, I was about ready to pass out. I didn't know which I hated more. The fact that my calves were on fire or me being covered nasty sticky sweat. Steve wasn't much better off. Sweat was dripping down his brown hair and he was red despite his tan. I bet that if I saw myself in the mirror, I would be even redder. Perfect, just perfect.
"If anyone stops, more laps will be added!", Mr. Smith yelled when students began to slow down, though I think it was directed at me since he was looking in my direction when he said it.
"Almost there-", Steve managed to choke out despite his panting after forever. We just needed to finish the one we were on. We were almost there, I could see the finish line right ahead of us. But then my bad luck finally kicked in. I fell. And it was fucking painful!
"Anderson, you alright?", The teacher said as he made his way over to me. Steve helped me sit, and I winced when I moved my legs. I looked down at my knees to see the bloody mess. Shit. This was definitely going to scar. But I was already scarred there from my clumsy childhood, so it wouldn't matter.
"I'll live.", I mumbled as I tried to push myself up with my hands. I clenched my teeth when pain started burning there as well. Fuck. I looked at my hands to find that my palms were just barely better off than my knees. The skin there was ripped and gross looking.
"I'll help you.", Steve said as he grabbed one of my arms and the teacher grabbed the other and they pulled me to my feet with ease.
"Thanks.", I said as I wiped the sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand.
"I think a trip to the nurse is an order.", Mr. Smith murmured as he looked down at me. He turned to the group of students that were already finished. They were all sitting around on the grass under the shade of a big tree. "Macbeth, get over here now!"
I head shot up to the group of student, but the blonde wasn't with them. She was by herself under a separate tree. I saw her sigh as she slowly got up and made her way over to us. Her face not giving any hints as to what she was thinking. It would be logical to assume that it would be easier to read her if I could actually see her eyes behind those shades of hers, but Elsa was the exception to this and maybe other assumptions.
"You are to make sure Anderson here gets to the nurse's office safely and once there, wait with her. Understand?", He ordered and Elsa slowly nodded.
"What!", I said loudly. "Why can't Steve do it?", Mr. Smith gave me a questioning look and then my mind processed how that must have sounded to Elsa. I felt myself blushing a bit. "Not that I don't like Elsa, I'm sure she's a nice person, it's just that uh...why?
"Yeah, why not?", Steve asked as he cocked his head to the side.
"Macbeth was the first to finish as always.", He said as he gave her a nod of approval and then gave Steve and I a sharp look. We flinched a little. "And I don't trust students of the opposite gender to be alone together."
"Huh?", I asked despite myself. Steve's face managed to get even more red despite the heat. Then I caught onto the implication he was making and my face got hot. "Oh."
"'Oh' is just right.", The teacher smirked with a disgusted face. "Now get going."
"Okay.", I said and started walking toward the building with Elsa at my heels. The only good thing that came out of me falling was that I was back inside. The air was cool in there and I loved it. It's moments like these that make me love the winter over summer.
Elsa took off her shades once we were inside. It was hard to keep my eyes off of her for no reason, particularly her face. Her jaw was a bit clenched and her eyebrows were furrowed. I've seen that look on Alice and on myself a million times whenever we had to do unpleasant chores at home. It was the face of someone who had an unwanted task, but was determined to get it done.
"It wasn't like I wanted you to come you know.", I said aloud. She remained silent as always. "If I'm that much of a burden, you could just leave."
She bit her lower lip, but said nothing. I found that amusing. She looked as if she wanted to speak, but knew they shouldn't. The Ice Queen persona was thawing a bit. I was about to a make a smart reply on that, but then my eyes spotted the door to the restroom and I looked down at my raw hands.
"I need to wash my hands.", I told. I was fairly certain, that she probably wouldn't like that, but I started heading to the restroom without waiting for her answer. As she would reply anyway.
Once I was in, I immediately went to one of the sinks and turned it on. Without a second thought, I run my scraped hands through the cool water. I winced at the sudden sting, but then relaxed as the cold water cleaned my hand and numbed the throbbing pain. It felt good. Once they were cleaned of dirt and blood, I decided to splash my face as well. God, that felt good against my hot skin.
Then I heard someone clear their throat. I turned to Elsa, who was patiently waiting by the door.
"So...", I trailed off as I wiped the water from my face and headed over where the paper towels were. I awkwardly dried my face and hands. Then I grabbed another one and tried to clean my knees as Elsa continued to stare. Not wanting to look at her icy blue eyes, I looked down to her chest and thus the number. Now was a good a time as always to get her to talk. "So was 1 through 18 like already taken or something?"
As soon as those words escaped my mouth, I regretted it. Her whole posture changed. She quickly went from awkward and relaxed to tense and alarmed. Her shoulders pushed a little up and her gloved hands turned into fist. And her face was the worse part, it was filled with sorrow and her eyes reflected nothing but despair. Was it something I said?
"Elsa, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-", I quickly started to apologized, but stopped when her sad eyes met my green blue ones. My heart started pounding hard in my chest at the intensity of this.
"Yes.", That simple answer escaped her lips. Her voice sounded weak and helpless and honestly, it broke my heart a bit. We stayed there for a good minute before she finally broke the eye contact. I blinked and looked down at the task I was doing. I decided it would be best if Elsa and I just went on our way already. I threw the wet and bloody paper towels away and headed to the door.
For a second, I thought I saw a look of relief on the blonde, but it was gone. Replaced with a frown. Probably now mad at me for bringing up an unwanted memory with what I had said. It made me uneasy, but I ignored it and we continued on our way. After a few seconds, it got to a point where I couldn't take it anymore.
"I'm sorry about the whole number thing.", I suddenly blurted out.. "I didn't mean to make you upset. If I had known it would have, I-"
"You talk a lot.", She commented while looking ahead.
"Yeah, Alice used to tease me a lot about that when we were little.", I told her, getting a little side tracked. "She's my sister by the way, you've seen her before. And don't worry it's not contagious-"
"It's annoying.", Elsa stated with certain sharpness to her voice. I totally did not see that coming. If I did, I wouldn't have been too shock. Don't get me wrong, I knew it was true and all, but it's completely different when someone directly says that. And she said it so bluntly as well. I felt myself blushing as I looked ahead. We were almost to the office.
"I'm guessing you don't like me.", I said without thinking. I didn't mean for that to escape my mouth, but I didn't really regret it. It wouldn't hurt to know if she did or did not, assuming she answered.
She shrugged and me a quick glance. "What was your first clue?", She said coldly.
Ouch. Scratch that, it does hurt, but only a little. Okay maybe a lot. But who cared what she thought of me. Not me, that's who. She hated the world and I was no exception. That thought alone made me feel better. Before things could get even more weird, we got to the office and I was able to get distracted from the rude blonde.
We were at the door of the Nurse's Office sooner than I expected. I stared uncertainly at the door. I didn't know whether to knock or just walk in, but Elsa answered that question by just walking in like she owned the place.
Ms. Connors was sitting on her desk fanatically typing something into her laptop. She looked and smiled at Elsa, but her eyes widen a bit in surprise when she noticed me next to the blonde.
"Well hello ladies.", She said smiling. Ms. Connors stared at me with her eyes lost in though. Then she smiled and snapped her fingers in victory. "You're the girl who was here last Friday after school, correct?"
"That's me.", I confirmed as she closed her laptop. "I'm Anna Anderson."
"I thought you looked familiar.", She smiled. "Nice name by the way.", She complimented. "What can I do for you?", She asked as she got up and then noticed the blood that was sliding slowly down my leg. "Ouch. Did Coach Smith have you guys out on the track again?"
"He did.", I said as she led me to one of the beds. They were like the ones you see at the doctors.
"Yeah, he tends to do that. 90 percent of the students that come in are from his class.", She informed me as she went to the sink to wash her hands. "Yet, I over get any from the other P.E. teachers, strange ain't it?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
"But at least you students are getting your workout.", She said cheerfully and turned to Elsa who had taken one of the seats in front of the desk. "Elsa can you do me a huge favor and get the alcohol wipes."
Elsa nodded and processed to do as the nurse told her. I watched her with curiosity as she searched through the cabinet. I found it interesting that Elsa knew where to look. When she found them, she found them on the counter next to the nurse.
Ms. Connors handed me a wet paper towel to finish cleaning my knees from the dirt and blood that was now drying up. I flinched a little as I did just that. She suddenly put something the side knee. I closed my eyes as I winced at the sting. The smell of the alcohol invading my nostrils.
"Sorry.", Ms. Connors apologized. "It hurts less when you don't see it coming."
"Yeah, I know.", I murmured under my breath. I wasn't new to this strategy since my mom used this on me all time when I was a child. And I always fell for it. "I really don't like those."
"I know.", The nurse said with a apologetic face as she handed me a new one. "Nobody likes what is good for them."
I sighed. "Let's get this over with.", Closing my eyes, I placed it on top of my left knee. I hissed at the sudden stinging. I hated falling. If gravity was in the form of a person, I would go egg their house.
"That's the spirit.", She said as she searched through one of the cabinets
"So tell me Anna, what are your plans for after school?", She asked as took out a large band-aid. Those heavy duty ones.
"Just tutoring.", I shrugged as I placed band-aid on my raw knee. "Chemistry doesn't agree with me."
"Chemistry huh?", She threw the wrappers in the trash. "Sounds rough, hopefully your tutor can help you."
"I hope so too. My last one was a total asshole.", I said, completely forgetting who I was talking to. I choked on my own spit when I realized what I had said. "Sorry for my language, I'm not in trouble, am I?"
"Nah, it's fine.", She said smiling, but then her face got unnaturally serious. "But please don't forget that it can get you in trouble with others."
"I'll keep that in mind.", I got up from where I was sitting. "Well thanks for everything."
"You're ever so welcome.", She said in a weird accent that sounded familiar.
"Hunger Games?", I asked unsure and she nodded. "I didn't know adults watched that as well."
"Well, I'm here to tell you they do.", She mention and walked behind her desk. She gestured me to take a seat in front, on the empty chair next to Elsa. Shit, I had completely forgotten about the blonde, but she didn't seem to mind. She was just sitting there with her arms crossed. "So Anna, I also happen to be the school psychologist."
"That's nice.", I commended a little confused, I wasn't really sure where she was going with this.
"It is very nice.", She agreed as she brought her glasses closer to her face. "So if you ever have any problems, or need to get something off your chest, or just need someone to talk to, that's what I'm here for."
"Thanks I'll remember that.", I nodded. I could easily imagine students coming in to talk to Ms. Connors. She was very approachable, really easy to talk to, and she was so welcoming. She also had a face that told you she wouldn't judge. "I'll be going now."
"Alright.", Her smile reached her soft blue with brown in the middle eyes. I turned to Elsa, who was now standing by the door, ready to go. Not wanting to keep the blonde waiting here any longer, I started heading to the door.
"Elsa.", Ms. Connors said suddenly. I watched as the blonde stopped suddenly and slowly turned back to the nurse. "Could you wait here for a couple minutes?"
The blonde's expression turned hard and gave her a curt nod. I turned back to the nurse and she nodded me on. I didn't want to leave, but I knew I had to. I reluctantly left them alone in the office. I was half-way through when the curiosity got the best of me. I quickly and quietly ran back to the closed door. Holding my breath a bit, I closed my eyes and slowly pressed my right ear against it. Fortunately for me, I could make out everything that that was going on in there.
"...he assign anything?", I heard the voice of Ms. Connors talking to the blonde. From what I could hear, Elsa didn't say anything.
"Elsa.", The nurse said gently. "Talking is a very small, yet at the same time, a very significant step. Please just give it a chance."
I heard a sigh that wasn't from Ms. Connors. "Just a refill like always.", The sound of Elsa's soft voice was a little hard to make out. She was a quiet one that girl.
"And what do you think of it?", Ms. Connors asked cautiously. When the blonde didn't say anything, the nurse coxed. "The sooner we finish, the sooner you can go."
"I like it, but I...", The blonde trailed off. I shut my eyes tighter and pressed my ear harder against the door. "I feel like a traitor.", Elsa finally finished after about a minute. Huh? A million questions went into my head for possible answers.
"A traitor.", The older woman's voice repeated. "To who do you feel a traitor to?"
"I-", The blonde's voice suddenly broke, suggesting she had reached her limit. After a while, I suddenly heard a whimper. It was soft and barely audible. After some quiet sniffing, the blonde spoke again. "I don't want to talk anymore."
Holy shit! Elsa was crying! I never thought this would happen. She was always reserve and emotionless, always in control no matter what. Even when Abby hit her, and hit her hard since I had experienced it first hand, she never looked on the verge of tears or pain. Either she felt nothing, or she was too good at concealing her emotions. I was beginning to believe it was the latter.
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do.", Ms. Connors' voice reassuringly. "And I think that's enough for today."
As soon as I heard that, I pulled away from the door and slowly stepped back. Careful not to make too much noise, I rushed out of here as quickly as I could. I didn't stop until I was in front of the locker room. I shook my head and went in. Most of the girls had already left, so there were only a couple inside.
I quickly unlocked my locker and took out my normal clothes, which included my dark green blouse and jeans. When I was in them, I nervously put my stuff away and headed out. I past Elsa as I left and she went in. Her quick glance at me didn't go unnoticed. I couldn't tell if it was just a casual glance or a 'I knew what you were up to' glance. It was probably the former because there was no way she knew I was listening in, but didn't fail to make me nervous.
Once I was in the library, I let out a sigh of relieve. The library was empty save for a few people who were busy with their individual activities. Some were doing homework on the tables, others were on the computers, others were on the book shelves browsing. The scenery calmed me down by a great length. I went over to the same table in the back where I was at yesterday.
My mind trailed off to what Elsa and Ms. Connors were talking about. Elsa apparently got her refill yesterday of whatever it was she took. Guess the rumors of her taking pills were just confirmed. And the whole traitor thing. I had no idea what that was about. Maybe it was about her dead dad. Whose death made her uproot her life and move in with her mom. Maybe she just missed her dad and that was why she felt like a traitor for moving on. That was possible wasn't it?
I sighed shook my head. Elsa was complicated. Then I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I took it out to see Alice's text.
Waiting for your stupid tutor again?
I chuckled at it and relied.
Yeah, you?
I set the phone on the table and looked around to see what the other students were doing. I looked around while I waited for Alice to respond. If she was going to respond that is. My eyes fell to a couple in the corner making out. Jesus, get a room you two. My eyes widen when I saw that the guy's hand was on the inside of her shirt. I turned away with a hot face. I did not need to see that. I looked down at my phone to see Alice's message.
None of your business :P
This didn't surprise me. She still hasn't told me what it is she does after school. It was starting to get to me a little, but couldn't tell her that. She'll use it against me somehow.
Good cuz your adopted.
I liked to tell that one every now and then. When we were little, I told her that and she believed me. She cried herself to sleep that day and I felt so guilty, that I didn't mind it when Mom took away my toys as punishment. I even gave her my chocolate. Nowadays, it was just a joke between the two of us. I set my phone on the table to wait, but her reply came immediately.
Your so mean! Btw I'm not.
At least bugging Alice was giving me something to do while I waited for the tutor who I was sure wasn't going to show up.
Are too, where do you think the red hair comes from?
The funny thing Alice being a redhead was that she didn't come with any freckles like most people, or me. I remembered how two years ago my Biology teachers said that that combination was genetically impossible, but I said that it was and we ended up having an argument about it. I brought in Alice the next day to prove my point and let's just say I got an A plus in that class. And I owed her ten dollars that day for being my show and tell project. My phone lit up a minute later.
Your hair is red too smartass xD
I could imagine her laughing at that moment and it brought a smile to my face. I guess it was technically speaking red, but it was more orange at times than actual red like hers.
Mine's strawberry blonde.
The phone lit up a minute later.
HA! You're not as special as me. Red hair happens to be very rare. It's all about genetics.
I laughed at this. Someone's been doing their research. I guess it was about genetics, but none of the relatives I've met have had it.
Nobody in the family has it.
If I was having fun texting my little sister, then oh god, what has become of my life? It took a little longer for her to reply. It meant that either she was busy, or she was thinking about what to say next. And if I knew my sister, then it was the latter.
Didn't dad have red hair?
My stomach turned and my heart dropped at the mention of that. I closed my eyes and despite not wanting to, I thought back to what he looked like. My memory of him was very fuzzy and I couldn't make out anything. All I really remembered about him was that one day he was there and the next he was gone. No image of what he looked like in my head and we didn't have any pictures of him.
I don't remember:(
Her rely came back two minutes later.
Me neither...
I chuckled bitterly at that. I was only four at the time and Alice was just a toddler in diapers. I sometimes felt like I should remember since four was old enough, but I just didn't. I was about to reply when she sent another one.
Do you think he wants to meet us?
I felt a lump in my throat at that. I wondered that every time I thought about him. I sighed before replying and setting my phone on the table in front of me.
If he wanted to, we would have met him already.
I blinked away the tears that were forming on my eyes. It me sad, but it was the harsh truth. If my dad wanted see my sister and I, my mother had it no secret where we were. It was his choice and his choice alone. I used to ask my mom about him when I was little, but then she didn't like to talk about him. And because it clearly made her sad, so I stopped asking. I didn't need him anyway. Just gotta be telling myself that. It was depressing to think about how all this was on Alice. I actually knew him, but she only knew of him and for that, this was harder on her. I guess it was possible to miss someone you've never met.
I felt it was forever before my phone lit up again in front of me, but it was only three minutes later.
I love you sis.
I couldn't blink away the tears this time around. A lone, hot tear fell from my face at that and landed on the table. I tremble a little as I struggled to choke back a sob that was threatening to escape.
I love you too sis.
I laid the phone on the table and tried to desperately close the dam in my eyes. The phone lit up again.
I mean it :')
I smiled warmly at that. Leave it to Alice make me sad and happy at the same time.
Me too Little Alice:')
I felt the room get cold as I waited for my sister to reply. The air conditioner was acting up again, but I didn't mind it since it was kind of hot in here anyway. A part of me didn't think that Alice would reply but she did.
I have to go now. Don't forget to pick me up:)
I replied back.
See you later dork:P
As soon as I send that last reply, I wiped my eyes with both my hands. I was brought back to reality when someone cleared their throat loudly in front of me.
My teary green-blue eyes looked up to find icy blue eyes looking back at me. She had a box of tissues in hand and was in the process of sliding it over to my side of the table. I didn't want to take one, but I did anyway and cleaned my eyes. I even blew my nose at the forming snot in my nose. Gross. While I was doing this, Elsa had set a water bottle in front of me as well. I eyed it and slid it on her side of the table.
With furrowed brows, she slid it back to my side. I shook my head as I tried to form words.
"I don't need it.", I managed to say, through my raspy voice.
"I think you do.", She said gently with no hint of annoyance nor anger. Her face was sincere and had concern written in her eyes.
I sniffed a little and wiped my eyes again. "No no it's fine.", I said and cleared my throat. "I just get a little emotional when I think about uh things. That's all."
She nodded slowly in understanding. I couldn't look at her, so I stared at the desk. The water bottle was still there.
"I really don't want it.", I told her.
"I wasn't asking.", She said more firmly. She took and the water bottle, opened it, and set in front of me. "Drink.", She ordered. Her voice was firm, but at the same time, it was soft and gentle.
Seeing how she wasn't taking no for an answer and the fact that I didn't want to deal with Elsa's stubbornness, I took it. "Alright.", I said and took a drink from the water bottle. The cold liquid ran pleasantly down my throat, down my chest, and finally to my stomach. I didn't know I was thirsty until I had finished more than half of it in one go.
"Thank you.", I said when I was finished. I set the water bottle on the table next to my phone. How Elsa managed to keep it cold in this heat, I'll never know. While I was drinking, Elsa had taken out her Chemistry book as well as the purple notebook she uses for that class which was opened to a blank page.
She gestured me to do the same, so I took out my own Chemistry out of my backpack and some paper to write with. Once that done, we opened both our books to where today's homework was.
This was confusing. I honestly couldn't see Elsa as the one who was supposed to help me, but it made sense because she was smartest one in class. "Um not trying to be Captain Obvious or anything, but are you my tutor?"
She stopped writing whatever she was with her blue pen and gazed into my eyes. I stared at her apprehensively for what felt like forever until she answered curtly. "I am."
A/N: Future updates might be late because school wants my full attention at the moment. Hope you understand. Oh, and Jack Frost is one of the characters that isn't from here, obviously. And the other one isn't Steve Rogers, but good guess. He's supposed to be a human Sven with a name change. Sorry if that confused you, my fault :)
One more thing.
To Guest: Elsa's dad died at sea during a storm, like in the movie. And it's mentioned in Chapter 4 in case you're wondering. Bye! :D