Chapter 3
Two days after her first real encounter with Kristoff Bjorgman, Anna received another text.
What type of person doesn't have an instagram?
I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that you tried to look me up…
...
Anna only responded with the eye roll emoji.
And you have an iPhone so it's not like you're living in the Stone Age with a flip phone or something
I guess I didn't love the mandate and wanted to keep my personal life personal
That was the truth, but only part of it. Arendelle Athletic Department prided itself on its athletes being strong ambassadors for the school and mandated each player make their current social media profiles public for fans and alumni to interact with. They also implemented pretty strict rules and even harsher punishments if they were broken. No pictures of drinking, drugs or revealing clothing, nothing that could be seen as inappropriate behavior with someone of the opposite gender, and no profanity.
Anna didn't actually care about the restrictions on what she could and could not post. She wanted the privacy. So Anna read the fine print and luckily found where it stated that any athlete without social media did not have to create one. Without a second thought, Anna cleared all platforms of her existence. It was a small price to pay to insure as much protection from Hans as possible. She realized Hans could easily google her and her Arendelle Softball profile would be at the top of the page but social media was just...different. Her skinned crawled at the thought of Hans seeing current pictures of her, with her friends, living her life.
Well I guess I can't argue with that...still strange to see in 2019 though
Even my GRANDPA has a page
You're looking a little desperate for pictures of me Bjorgman...
Ah shit
Now I look like a total creep
Shit
The back-to-back messages made Anna laugh at the panic she knew Kristoff was feeling. After a few more minutes to let him torture himself, Anna sent a picture.
When I DID have a page, this was the last picture I posted
It was a picture of a grassy meadow, looking towards the North Mountain from the summer. Anna had done some solo backpacking around the area before courses had started. The incident with Hans had changed her far more than she would have liked. Anna had always been happy and bubbly, babbling through life and loving far too easily. She thoroughly enjoyed living and could find joy in everything. But his words still rung in her mind, making her second-guess herself.
Stupid.
Slutty.
Annoying.
"Just shut the fuck up."
Anna's phone buzzed again.
You took that?
Yeah
That's a serious hike to get to that meadow
It took a couple of days, but it was worth it. You've done it?
Once. Years ago. I've always wanted to go back but...
"Sorry I can't I have baseball"
Exactly
When did you do it?
Just this last summer, I had some time and I needed to get away
You went alone?
Yeah
Damn ok Cheryl Strayed
If you get the chance, doing something like that alone does wonders for the psyche
I bet. I'd love to but I just don't know when I'll have a free week to commit to something like that
Not even during the summer?
I'll be playing in the Cape Cod League again
Anna knew what that meant. Literally hundreds of major league players started their careers playing in that league. To get invited was a pretty big deal and a huge step towards being drafted.
Well the Appalachian Trail is just a few hours from there, if you get a day or two off
I'll keep that in mind
So you weren't impressed with the CCL then...?
Anna laughed out loud at his second text and initially replied with a crying laughing emoji
Was that just a test to see if I would swoon at your *amazing* baseball talent?
You can never be too careful these days...
Have you actually had girls interested in you ONLY because of your draft potential?
Every heard of WAGS?
...please enlighten me
It's the name for wives and girlfriends of professional athletes
Stop. What is it, like a club? Do they have monthly meetings? Newsletters?
Well some of them have their own reality show…
PLEASE tell me how you know that
...
Omg
Omg
It was the only thing on!
I can't
This time she added a plethora of laughing emojis
So after watching that you think all girls are after your signing bonus?
Well…These days I think the instagram fame is more appealing to some chicks
I wouldn't know…
Anna added a smirking emoji for good measure.
Ok touché
So maybe I don't have to worry about you
Kristoff added his own smirking emoji
If anything, this is making ME wearier of YOU Bjorgman
What? Why?
Kristoff was nice. And funny. And obviously attractive. But so was Hans. And she saw what the stress of scouting and the draft did to him.
I don't know if baseball players are my type. Seems like too much work. Maybe I'll look into the lacrosse team…
OH COME ON
Laughing to herself, Anna held her phone, thumbs ready to type a witty response. But then her smile faltered. Even though she wanted to continue her lighthearted conversation with Kristoff, Anna held herself back, placing her phone face down on her bed.
It was easy to flirt with him, but she had more important things to focus on. She couldn't fawn over the first cute guy to show her interest.