The Winter Ball came by a lot quicker than Elsa had anticipated for. One second it was Monday, and she was in a pure, slow, gooping misery that she felt she would never escape until a millennium had passed by, it felt almost as if she were stuck in a pool full of honey, but then before she knew it, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday had zipped right on by like they were on a zip line. It was so weird. She barely even remembered sleeping for each of those nights. Had it really been that quick? She felt like someone had pressed paused on her, and then cut her out and moved her forward until it was Saturday evening, and then hit the "Play" button, making her resume in a different time and place she wasn't familiar with.
Maybe why she felt like time had slipped right on by was because her thoughts no longer were an irritation to her; they no longer pricked and picked at her brain like an annoying hand that didn't know how to keep to itself. She no longer had any problems with the many unwanted voices that filled her head about what went down at DreamWorks High. It now was her own voice she heard. Her thoughts were now what ruled over her head—they completely consumed her. All she could think about was what happened on Monday after school, when she went on that drive with Flynn. She still couldn't believe she actually talked to him. Her whole car drive on Monday to the frozen lake she couldn't help but pinch herself every few minutes.
She felt like she was living in a dream because of that one significant event that changed every single thought and confusion that broke her puzzled brain into different shapes and pieces that didn't fit together; now every piece came together nicely and fit like a key and lock. The following days after Monday, whenever she'd catch a glimpse of Flynn anytime in particular, her mind no longer clouded up with judgment. It was clean and clear in her mind, and her head felt so much lighter. She was glad she no longer had to think of Flynn like he was some useless heavy weight in her head, weighing her thoughts down into the negatives. She felt significantly happier, as much as she felt lighter. She felt relieved.
But despite these positive effects on her mind that she's been experiencing, there also were some negative effects—some near death experiences (more like unnerving experiences that nearly gave her a heart attack, and luckily she got away out of trouble by following the certain procedures that came with saving herself from the situations she got in, but to her, it felt like she could've just died on the spot). One of her near experiences was when she was driving at the wheel and her mind drifted off, also somehow taking her eyes with it into its imaginary world, and she nearly crashed into the yellow car in front of her, but luckily her eyes drifted back to the real world and her focus came to the rescue just in time and she slammed her foot on the brakes.
Another one was when she was walking up the stairs and her mind was so distracted that she wasn't keeping track of what step she was at, so by the time she came to the top of the stairs and her foot lifted up, expecting another step, when she put her foot down, it took her by surprise and she nearly fell over. Luckily no one was around to see her do this. But there was a mirror directly across from her, so she was able to catch her blushing face and her small little stunt that looked absolutely pathetic. She really wished she never saw herself through the mirror; it would've felt a lot less humiliating for her.
And last but not least, her most prized near death experience that really could've possibly killed her, just happened yesterday, Friday afternoon. Anna had dragged her out of the house to go shopping, despite her constant excuses, claiming that she had other things to do, rather than go out and buy a new dress for this Winter Ball with Edward. "Nope, nope, and, let me think—nope! You're coming with me, whether or not you want to or not! C'mon, Elsa, you're always saying you're busy!—couldn't you at least go shopping with me?!" Anna had shouted cheerfully as she dragged Elsa out the front door—literally, actually dragging her out the door.
"Anna, I, um…" Elsa had to stop to think of a good excuse. Shoot… She was out of them. "I…err…oh! I have homework to work on—"
"Pssshhh! Homework-schmomework!" her sister mocked, shrugging it off like it were some dust. "Puh-lease, Elsa, I swear that's all you ever do!—that and stay up in your room, and go driving off to wherever you go…" She rolled her sparkling, bright blue eyes, tugging harder on Elsa's wrist, while Elsa struggled to keep her feet planted firmly against the doorframe, helping her stay put inside the house. " C'mon! It's just for a new dress—it'll be fun! I am not allowing you to seriously find some random dress in your closet—not that you don't have extremely beautiful, glamourous dresses in there (you really need to take me shopping with you—I have no idea how you came across dresses like those)—but this is the Winter Ball! Every dance you go to calls for a shopping trip—including buying a brand new dress!" Anna had squealed excitedly.
"Anna, I…" Elsa began, at a loss for words. Not that she didn't want to go with her sister…it's just she was so nervous about the things they would talk about. Sure, it sounded silly, but there some things she really didn't want to have to talk about with Anna…she didn't know how to evade the topic if they ever got onto it. She knew Anna would probably push until she got an answer.
"Now, c'mon, big sis! You're…coming…with…me!" Anna had grunted as she pulled with all of her might. And that was that.
Anna had managed to pull Elsa out the front door and the two headed on their way over to the local mall. Anna was happier than ever, whereas Elsa was having a much harder time sharing that same, heightened joy; she could barely manage a gritted smile without seeming distressed. The whole drive there, she was on edge, but her gleeful sister didn't even notice. Anna chirped happily and gleefully that this would be so much fun and that Elsa wouldn't regret ever coming along, the whole way to their destination.
It was a relief when they arrived and Anna hadn't shot at the topics Elsa really didn't want to have to distribute into their conversations. From there, as soon as they stepped foot inside the mall, she knew that Anna probably would export out all other topics, besides the latest fashion trend and clothing, so she knew she was on safe grounds, which helped ease her discomforts and allowed her to relax a little, and actually let her guard down to enjoy the time she was going to be spending with her sister.
By the time the two sisters had gone inside practically every high-end fashion store and now were on the escalator, heading to the second floor, Elsa had finally found her dress, which Anna had gushed looked absolutely gorgeous on her. They were now on the search for shoes, and most of the stores they had in mind were on the second floor.
"Oh, my gosh! Elsa!" Anna squealed excitedly. "That dress—oh, my gosh! So beautiful! It's so chic! Oh, but man! Do you remember the lady at the cash register and how we totally thought she was a man?! But then when we hear her voice, everything just flipped on us? Oh my—that was so funny, yet so embarrassing! I called her 'sir'! Oh, she probably really hates me now!" she gasped in horror.
"Anna, I'm sure she won't even remember you the next time you visit," Elsa lightly laughed, glancing down at the vintage colored shopping bag she held with a white bow tying it around the handles, along with a piece of tape that sealed the bag shut with the store's logo on it. She had to admit…she really did like the dress.
"Oh, I bet she totally has a wall of fame of people she absolutely hates and throws darts at!" Anna proclaimed, jaw gaping. "Elsa, she's gonna come hunt me down. What do I do? I bet she just barely added me onto this wall of fame!"
Elsa simply shook her head. "What? Don't be silly, Anna—she's not going to hunt you down…"
"She's totally going to hunt me down!"
"Anna, please—be reasonable," Elsa rolled her eyes as she stepped off of the flattening steps of the escalator.
Anna opened her mouth to protest as she began to step off of the moving escalator, but suddenly a black bug flew across her face, and she jumped back in surprise, the movement of the escalator moving forward causing her to lose her balance and begin to fall backwards. "Who-o-a—" she gasped as her upper body tipped her back.
Elsa's eyes widened. "Anna!" she cried, stepping forward just as her sister officially lost her footing and fell back from the suspended fall.
"I gotcha—!" someone exclaimed in reassurance behind Anna, and before Elsa knew it, sure enough, there was someone behind her sister, holding her up—a guy, to be exact.
She sighed in relief, stepping forward to help her sister up and thank whoever it was that saved her little sister, but as soon as she saw the face, she froze and became stiff.
"Oh, ha…that's embarrassing…" Anna laughed under her breath. "Who knew that a stupid, small black bug could cause such a commotion…and of course it had to be me that it happened to…"
As the guy helped Anna stand upright and find her footing, she stepped off of the escalator, and turned to thank her hero. "You know, if things were different, that would've been a really good trust fall, and you would've for sure pass the test…but," her sheepish smile faded and evolved into a grim smile, "it wasn't…and I fell…and now it's just plain embarrassing because it was just a bug…"
"Nah—hey, don't worry about it—but really, you fell because of a bug?" he amused, crossing his arms.
Anna's grim smile dropped and she blinked at him, gawking a little. "Oh, well, yeah, wouldn't you jump back if something totally unexpected flew across your face?"
"Nope, I'd just swat it away," the blonde-haired guy stated smugly. "Like most normal people would do…"
"Oh…and is that a characteristic for men who come from the planet called Jerk-face?" she shot, stepping up to him, trying to size him up, even though she was so much smaller compared to him she soon realized as she compared her own lanky arms to his. Dang…she needed to work out more or something… "And it's so normal for people to jump away from something that flies across their face, too!" she added, crossing her arms with a huff, slightly going up on her tiptoes to try to meet his eyelevel.
"Maybe in your world, but in the real world, I'm pretty sure most people result in swatting the bug away from their face, rather than nearly falling backwards and breaking their neck on an escalator," he grinned resultantly, looking down at her, despite her attempts at leveling herself off with him.
She sighed in defeat with her height compared to his, and moved on to just standing with her chest puffed and her chin lifted. "Are you sure it's just not your own fantasy world you're thinking of, dude?" she shot, not sure what else to call him.
"Are you sure it's just not your own fantasy world?" he fired back, his twinkling brown eyes taunting her over the edge.
Her face contorted, and she gave him a look. "Okay, well, is it normal for people to always be…uh…"—she glanced behind him at the escalator—"…prepared to catch someone who's beginning to fall backwards on an escalator?" she challenged, raising her eyebrows indignantly at him.
The guy furrowed his eyebrows in response. "What? I just saved your neck—normally people are grateful that—" he shook his head— "Who—who are you?"
"Wouldn't you like know," she snorted, placing her hands on her hips.
"What are you—some freshman from—"
"No, I'm actually a sophomo—"
"Oh, and what's your name? Penelope Powow-wow-wowsky or something—?"
Anna gawked. "Ha, ha," she dryly laughed, forcing each bit out. "No!—don't be ridiculous!—it's Anna Winters, got that, Mr. Franken-stupid-jerk-face—"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa—respect the name!" he cut in, grabbing hold of her shoulders. "Don't you know who you're dealing with?" He released her, cocking his head with an expectant look.
She simply raised an eyebrow at him, looking him up and down, and simply shrugged. "No," she innocently stated, which she really didn't know who he was. He seemed slightly familiar, now that he mentioned it, but still—he was an unknown face to her. He was just some random guy who happened to catch her when she was falling backwards.
The blonde sighed. "Okay, Anna, we'll take this from the top: Kris…toff…Bjorgman. There! As simple as that!"
"Kristoff Bjorman?" she tested lamely with furrowed eyebrows. How old was this guy again? And he was treating her like she needed the mental help? No, no, no…uh-uh. That wasn't right. He had this whole thing switched up. She opened her mouth, ready to testify to him, but that's when she noticed another guy standing behind him. This guy had brown, shaggy hair, and was slightly less bough and had a leaner built body. He was just barely a little shorter than Kristoff, and he seemed to be getting a little too amused to their bickering.
Instantly Anna clamped her mouth shut, taking in a deep breath. Closing her eyes, she reopened them to the blonde and managed a fake smile. "Okay, Kristoff, my sister is waiting for me, and I'm sure you probably have somewhere better to be than here talking with me, so if you'll excuse me—" she turned— "Elsa?" Elsa no longer was there.
She blinked, scanning her surroundings in search of her sister. Since when did she leave…?
"Right, your 'sister'…" Kristoff scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"No, sh-she was right there! I don't… I don't—" she continued to scan the area.
Suddenly the shaggy, brown-haired boy cut in, saying, "Uh, actually, I think I saw her go over there inside that store, right there—she had really white, blondish looking hair, right?"
Anna nodded her head.
The brown-haired boy grinned. "Then I definitely saw her and she went right inside that store over there."
Smiling, she thanked the boy, and when she looked at Kristoff, she heaved out a sigh, rolling her eyes as she walked away, in search of her sister.
In the end, Anna did find Elsa in the store the boy had pointed her over to, and for the rest of the day, she was ranting on about the nerve of this guy, Kristoff, to Elsa, as they searched for the perfect shoes. Elsa merely smiled and nodded at each thing. She felt bad that she walked away and left Anna alone without even telling her, but she had to leave, for as luck would have it, she recognized both the blonde and the brown-haired boy. And if she remembered who they were, then they would remember who she was if they had seen her—meaning, the blonde had seen her, so he most definitely would've recognized her… At least that's what she assumed.
She only stood there for a few minutes as the conversation went on by. She left when the blonde, Kristoff, was beginning to introduce himself. The shaggy, brown-haired boy was kind of getting on her nerves, for he kept staring at her with this interesting look. She wasn't sure if he had seen her from that event on Friday—which she was fairly sure he hadn't—but she just couldn't stand his forest green eyes boring into her like they were trying to set her up in flames and melt all of her secrets out. So she did the only thing her mind kept telling her to do: she ran away.
Of course she didn't literally run away, it was more of a brisk walk, but still... Her actions were practically her running away. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding in her ears like a sounding drum; it felt and sounded much similar to when someone's head was about to get chopped off by some large, bladed axe, even though she's never even witnessed such a grotesque scene. But she has seen it in movies…watching them always made her flinch.
Elsa sighed as she stared at herself in her reflection from her vanity mirror, recalling those so-called near death experiences. She began to bite her bottom lip as she stared at her hopeless, dainty, fair skinned figure. She had her platinum blonde hair neatly up in a low, round bun, and her bangs were pulled back, appearing much like how her bangs normally looked when she had her messy French braid. Sighing, she ripped her gaze away from the mirror.
What was she thinking? The worst one out of her near death experiences really wasn't even that bad. If anything, it probably was the least harmful to her…but despite its harmless attributes, it haunted her the most. And the reason why was because she couldn't stop thinking about all of the "what ifs" and "what could haves" if things had ended differently and Kristoff had noticed her. Not that she believed he would do anything rash—but his size did seem just a little intimidating to her, and who knows what could've happened.
Pursing her rusted red lips, she faced herself to the mirror. Taking in a deep breath, she slowly exhaled out. "You're being ridiculous," she slowly told herself. "Stop thinking about this…" She tried to block out her memories and clear her mind, but her memories slowly began to pour back into her head. She groaned lightly at this.
"Miss Elsa?" Kai's voice broke through her closed door. She turned, staring at the closed door. "A Mister…Edward…is here…"
She sighed. Well, it was time. Anna had already left a while ago, so it was just her, other than Gerda and Kai. She took one last look at her reflection, and only for a split second she could've sworn she caught herself glaring at herself judgingly. She immediately turned her gaze away, slowly, tentatively peeking back over to her reflection, almost as if she was afraid of what she'd see. But what was so scary about looking at her reflection? She was the one who controlled herself…right?
Three, two, one…go! She quickly flashed her eyes over to her reflection. She just saw herself, and nothing more. "What were you expecting…?" she murmured softly to herself. She pursed her lips before she stood up and headed for the door.
Hmm...I wasn't sure whether or not to add more towards the end... But whatever.
Thank you all for the reviews! And thanks so much for reading! I really do appreciate it!
And yes! To those who may have been wondering, my updates are going to be today (no duh ;D), and this coming Saturday, and so forth with the who Wednesday, Saturday/Sunday, Wednesday-and blah, blah, blah, you get the deal. :)
For the next chapter, you'll just have to wait and see what happens because it actually may not be what you were quite exactly expecting... You'll just have to wait and see.