Lets try this again. Third time I've had to upload this because the HTML(?) format shit stuck around.
I am sorry this took so long but I've got my motivation back so maybe I"ll actually get to finish it this time around.
I am not proud of this chapter. I apologize for it.
The next morning came far to early. Anna woke up sore and in her bed; Elsa being nowhere to be seen. After wiping the drool from her chin, she crawled out of bed and slowly made her way downstairs.
Sunday mornings were Anna's favorite time of the week. She would go down, get the paper, read all the news her towns paper decided was eventful enough to publish and then make herself breakfast. Then she'd work on homework and usually go in and work a slow Sunday night or screw around on her keyboard.
In the kitchen stood Elsa, scrambling some eggs on the six-burner stove. "Morning Anna." The blonde didn't turn from her work.
"Good morning?" Anna spied two plates and forks already set out on the counter, ready for food to be placed on them. "Did you go through my kitchen? How long have you been awake?"
"Awhile. Figured after the scare you had, you needed some homemade food. Not sure what your usual setup is, but this kitchen is so clean, I didn't think It got used much." She turned for a second, looking Anna over. "God you look rough in the morning."
Anna now realized she had simply wandered down here out of bed. She was sure her crazy curls were everywhere, and she wouldn't be surprised if her eyes had dark circles underneath them. Hurriedly, she tried to make herself more presentable, running her hands through her hair and rubbing her eyes.
A laugh sounded from the older girl, Making Anna feel worse. "I was kidding, you look fine. It suits you. A tired college girl trying to work and live her dreams all at the same time. By the way, I love the grand Piano in the other room. Surprised to see it, actually. Usually only millionaires have them and they sit unused in a library, as unused as the books in there, just collecting dust."
"My parents are millionaires though." She sat at the bar and gazed around the kitchen. It was larger than the family of three needed, for sure. Without Gerda here to make supper most nights, Anna was sure it would only ever get used if she cooked.
"No shit?" Elsa glanced around the kitchen once more. "You just don't act like a kid who grew up having it all."
Anna shrugged. "I didn't. They treated me like a normal kid. Didn't see much of them honestly. Gerda, our housemaid did most of the work. She decided what I needed and what I didn't. I didn't need the most expensive thing in her mind if the cheaper one was just as good. It helps she raised me wearing jeans and t-shirts, so I've never been a huge fan of the flowy tops and skirts a lot of girls wear. The only thing my parents made sure of was that I got a good education until I could decide for myself. College here in town was my decision. They wanted me to go to Harvard or Columbia like they did." She stopped herself, realizing she was rambling. The older woman was only looking at her with interest, not minding the red-heads rant.
"Anna, what's your major?" She was sliding their breakfast onto plates, handing one to Anna across the counter.
"Thanks! I'm going for Business Management with a minor in music." She dug into her plate of food, nearly moaning when it passed her lips. "Oh my god this is amazing."
Elsa remained standing on the other side of the counter, eating slowly. "Its just eggs, cheese, and potatoes all mixed up with some spices. Nothing special."
Anna wolfed down her entire plate of food, somewhat forgetting her manners. The blonde was much daintier, actually eating slowly.
As soon as she finished, anna got up to clean up the large kitchen, placing the dirty dishes in the dishwasher after rinsing them off. She placed the spices Elsa had used back in the rack they belonged in. When the other girl finished eating, Anna took her plate and placed it in the dishwasher as well.
"Thank you for breakfast. Did you put me in my bed?"
Elsa nodded slowly. "You looked very uncomfortable on the floor." There was a small pause before she spoke again. "I was going to go to the gym at school. I was wondering if you'd wanna join me? I have to stay fit to front the band."
A small groan escaped her. She hated exercising, but she knew she needed to. Maybe it would be better to have company? "Sure. Let me go change and we can leave."
Elsa laughed. "Anna I'm wearing your clothes that are a bit too small for me. I'll run home and meet you there okay? Give me like half an hour."
A blush crept up her cheeks, scanning the blondes body over once more. "Okay…" In all honesty, Anna wouldn't have complained about seeing Elsa work out in those tight clothes. She may have been less happy if other people were there and were also gawking at her body.
Elsa gave Anna a small wave and moved towards the door to the garage that they had entered through the night before. Locked, Anna went over to open it for her, both girls together in the small breezeway. "Anna?"
"Yeah?"
"If you want to, feel free to bring along any music stuff you've got. I've been working on putting an album together." Her warmth radiated onto Anna as she hurriedly typed in the door code and stepped back.
"Uh, okay. I've got it all scanned onto my laptop, so I'll just bring that along."
Elsa flashed her a small smile before exiting, looking ever the more gorgeous.
Anna sprinted up to her room, quickly changing into a pair of leggings and ripping off her t-shirt, replacing it with an olive-green sports bra. She tugged a plain white t-shirt on over that and grabbed a jacket off the nearby chair and her laptop off her desk. She knew the school had numerous instrument rooms in the music department. She even had a key to one, having to store the French horn she played in the building.
A quick glance around the room and patting of her pockets let her know she wasn't forgetting anything. However, she made it all the way downstairs before remembering she needed to put on some deodorant. The last thing she wanted was to smell super rank in front of Elsa.
When she pulled into the school parking lot, Elsa was already there, just climbing out of her car. Anna shut off her truck and clambered out, tugging her jacket a little closer in the brisk November air.
Elsa gave her a small wave and led them into the building. "So what sort of equipment do you use?" Anna asked the question, knowing how many different things this gym had, being where all the sports teams would do their workouts.
"I usually use the rowing machine for a bit until my hand can't keep a grip anymore." Anna noticed the gloves she wore today were black and fingerless, almost like boxing gloves with padding on the tops. "If I can't do that, I'll just run on a treadmill, do some pushups, maybe some boxing. Just depends on the day."
"Oh. I've never used a rowing machine before. I usually just run a bit. Maybe sit ups."
Elsa pulled out her student badge and ran it across the scanner, causing the door to open. The large room was empty, save for one young man in the corner lifting weights. Anna wasn't surprised. It was a Sunday morning after all.
"Well, I'm gonna hit a treadmill, come get me when you're ready?" Anna glanced at Elsa with a small smile, receiving a nod in return.
She watched the blonde stroll away, now wearing a pair of dark blur leggings and a black tank top that showed off her strong shoulders. Anna watched for another few moments, appreciating the view.
She was on the treadmill for a little over an hour, alternating running, jogging, and a brisk walking pace. Sabrina Carpenter was playing in her ears, T shirt long since discarded with just her sports bra covering her top half. When Elsa was suddenly standing in front of her machine, she nearly fell off in surprise.
Anna stopped it and stepped off, avoiding meeting Elsa's gaze, the older girl having also removed her tank top, with just a blue sports bra underneath, matching her leggings. The blonde's forehead was damp, a few stray hairs clinging to it. Other than that, she seemed unaffected by her workout.
Anna on the other hand, was definitely a little sweaty. She could feel how flushed her face was and the dampness clinging to her skin. With a shrug she pulled her other shirt back on. "Ready to go then?"
Elsa nodded and made for the door. Several more people had come in while they were in there and Anna noted how the blonde seemed rushed to leave now that they weren't quite so alone. She didn't care so much about being in crowds, having suffered through so many parties her parents had at their house over the years. It was something she had learned to deal with. Always a wallflower, she did her best to not bump into someone and play nice to whoever he parents felt the need to introduce her to. It wasn't ideal, but she dealt with it.
Elsa led them to a room Anna didn't know about next. The music building and the gym just happened to be right next to each other. It was a weird setup she had noticed before, but never really dwelled on. This hallway they now walked down was dark, save for one light in a room at the end.
John was waiting for them in there, headphones plugged into a laptop and mumbling to himself. Guessing by how he was hunched towards the screen the look of determination on his face, Anna would say he was gaming.
"John. Hey, we're here." Elsa spoke up, walking over to lightly smack his shoulder.
A long string of curses fell out of his mouth. "You scared the shit out of me. I was in first place."
Elsa smiled, her fist coming up to cover her mouth. "We have work to do anyways. Is Aladdin coming?"
John shook his head. "Jasmine still has him. It's their second anniversary."
"We shouldn't need him anyway. This room is too small to drag a set into." Elsa plopped down in a chair next to John, glancing at his computer screen as he clicked through some things.
Anna seated herself across the table from them and pulled her laptop out of her bag. It groaned as it started up, making it known how old it was. Elsa glanced up at the sound and frowned. "Jesus. Your parents are rich, and you don't even have a new laptop? What the hell."
Anna smiled slightly, rubbing the side of the computer with love. "My parents wouldn't buy me one. I have the money for one, I just have so much stuff stored on this one, it'd be such a hassle to get all the programs and all the music I have over to another computer."
John nodded slowly, agreeing with her." It was rough getting everything transferred to this one. Worth it though, the processor is so much faster. I can actually run more than one program at a time."
"Alright, computer talk later, we have work to do first." Elsa broke up the conversation quickly, seeming to rush things along.
John opened a file and music filled the room. The song was their usual sound, hard, aggressive rock. Elsa once again had her eyes closed, listening to the song closely. John was watching her until she shook her head.
He moved on to the next song. This one she nodded to. It went on like this for a little while, John playing one of their songs and Elsa either nodding or shaking her head no.
Anna was listening quietly, getting to hear some of their songs she hadn't heard before. It was interesting. A couple of them had a male singer backing Elsa up. It didn't sound like either man she had met before, but It may have been the bass player before Naveen. Elsa was very quick to pass these ones up. Which was a shock because several of them were better than one or two others she had accepted.
After Elsa said no one more time, John sighed softly. "That's all of them."
"How many do we have?"
"Only 6"
Elsa groaned. "Both companies want at least 8 for an album."
John went back through the list slowly, scanning songs again. "If we take out the songs that are covers, we only have 10. You don't want any of 'Him' on it, so that drops us down to six. We don't have any more originals."
Elsa now turned to Anna. "What do you think?"
She flashed them a small grin. "I think we have a lot of work to do."
