"So what did you think?" Elsa asked her sister as the two of them ate their post-movie burgers at the Tap.
Oh c'mon, even your ever optimistic little sister can't justify that one
"Well, uh, you know..." Anna stuttered as she struggled to come up with a response that didn't sound like a complaint.
"...at least we got to see Lightning McQueen finally win a race!"
Eh, she's not wrong about that
"But man, that could have gone better," Anna continued. "I mean, they blew up and killed a frigging car! That...disturbed me."
"Ugh, yeah, that left a bad taste. Like, the plot twist with that one villain? So convoluted." Elsa piled on.
For the last couple summers, the two girls made a tradition to watch a new movie together for Anna's birthday. These days, that meant whatever latest classic released by Pixar. Right now, though, options were thin, as Elsa discovered a few days earlier when she perused the available films:
KFP is a worthy sequel, but we saw that already on Memorial Day.
Blackbeard is a decent villain, but we don't want to see a crippled Captain Barbossa and his pathetic limp again.
It's not worth the price just to look at Ryan Reynolds.
Ha, we're never not calling that "The Dark Side of the Moon"
"Gosh dang it, why can't we fast forward to July right now so we can see 'Deathly Hollows 2?'" Elsa thought out loud to herself as she settled on the film that she falsely assumed to be Pixar's first sequel. They celebrated Anna's 13th birthday in less than excited fashion.
"Yeah, that plot twist was super weird," Anna responded. "But hey, I still had fun with you. I always do," the younger girl said with a smile.
Her older sister sensed that as an attempt to defuse the negativity of their talk.
"Oh, you don't mean that," Elsa teased with a flap of the hand.
"Let's be honest: I should have picked a different movie. I made a dumb choice."
Anna looked down at her plate with a forlorn expression.
Oh great, first Dad feels hurt today, now her?
"No, I'm serious Elsa. We don't spend as much time together anymore, and I like that you still do this for me on my birthday every year."
A wad of ketchup fell from Elsa's mouth as she stared at the girl in stunned silence. She swallowed her bite and yammered out an incredulous response.
"Wuh...what do you mean by that?"
Elsa felt confused and worried. True, the older girl had reached the age where she felt okay by herself without company, but she never perceived that they had grown apart, or that they didn't have fun together anymore. Besides, she thought they still spent plenty of quality time together on nights such as this one.
"What I mean is, I've noticed you go to bed early most nights, even though we're on summer vacation, and when I knock on your door to see if you want to play..."
She knows we're both teenagers now, right?
"...or, I should say, when I see if you want to hang out downstairs or outside..."
That's more like it
Elsa interrupted her with a quick question.
"Did Dad tell you what happened today before he dropped us off?"
"Um, no. Why?"
Elsa let out a sigh as she felt a twinge of guilt hit her.
"I ask because I wondered if he gave you the whole 'Don't be selfish like your big sister' pep talk."
"Whoa whoa, you're way too hard on yourself. He didn't say that, and he doesn't feel bad that we skipped the walk in the woods today. He knew that tonight we had our movie plans, and he's okay with that."
Elsa didn't feel convinced, but she figured she'd deal with Dad later. Right now, she wanted to know why Anna felt shut out.
"Forget I asked that then. But I'm...I'm confused, Anna. The LAST thing I'd ever do is shut you out of my life."
Jeez, the negativity of the movie talk is much more preferable to whatever this is
"Oh trust me, I know you would never do that, and this is not an accusation. But...sometimes I feel lonely, and I remember when we were kids, I'd knock on your door and ask if you wanted to play whenever I felt that way. And you would always say 'Yes.'"
The blonde girl gave a blank stare.
"But I know I can't expect you to say 'Yes' every single time, so when we do hang out, I want you to know that I always have fun, and it becomes a cherished memory," Anna concluded with a big smile.
Elsa now felt guilt-stricken. Earlier in the day, her Dad put on a good act when he said he didn't mind that they settled for the picnic by Spring Lake with the sandwiches and the chocolates. They skipped the walk in the woods because it conflicted with the movie-and-dinner arrangements that the two girls already planned for Friday.
But then she felt the stir of her conscience, which told her to move on.
You can't please everyone at once. Dad knows that this has become a yearly tradition, and you have all summer to take another walk with him
"What did you say about the feeling of loneliness?" Elsa asked after a moment of awkward silence. Anna seemed to brush it off.
"Oh I don't know, probably 'adolescent angst' or whatever Mom says."
The redhead girl's face turned serious again.
"But, if we could maybe spend more time together this summer, that would be nice. Next year I'll be in 8th grade, and than high school after that, and well, I feel a bit scared, I guess."
She wants her big sister to be there for her
Elsa grabbed her hand from across the table.
She needs to know you''ll protect her
The older girl sighed and then gave her the best reassurance she could think of.
"Believe me Anna, I know how scary the world feels when you enter that phase of life, but I promise you'll get through this."
Elsa could feel the warmth that washed over Anna in response to her words. She continued.
"I didn't think I'd survive freshman year, and well, here I am: 15 and still alive." Both girls chuckled.
"But, I can see that you need a friend right now, so here's what I'll do: Every night, I'll tell you when I'm about to go to bed, and if you need to talk, or chill downstairs, or even take a quick walk around the block, I'll hold off the sleep and spend time with you. I don't ever want you to feel alone."
And with that, she let go of her little sister's hand.
You might make her cry in public
Anna felt her eyes grow misty, but she kept her composure. She felt overwhelmed with gratitude and thanks that her big sister made that promise, and in the back of her mind, she committed herself to hold Elsa to it.
The two girls exchanged an affectionate look. Neither of them wanted to embarrass themselves at the restaurant by saying out loud, 'I Love You.'
*bzzzzzzt*
The text notification on Elsa's phone rattled the table and startled them both.
"It's Mom. She wants to know if we're ready to be picked up yet."
"Gosh, I can't wait for you you to get your license this December! Then we won't have to worry about this."
"Oh, they'll still bug us if the sun is down and we're not home yet. Guaranteed."
"Yeah, but what are they gonna do about it anyway?"
Elsa let out a sheepish laugh as she realized how rebellious her sister liked to be sometimes.
"That's true, and they also won't be able to turn down the volume when we listen to our music in the car as loud as we want!" Elsa affirmed.
"Hey you two! Did you enjoy the movie?" their mother asked as they hopped in the back of the car.
"Eh, it was alright," Anna replied with a shrug.
"It sucked," Elsa replied in a blunt and honest tone.
"Wow, that's a first," their mother replied. "What made this one so bad?"
Elsa and Anna both looked at each other with exasperated expressions. Neither one of them wanted to rehash the plot.
"Mom, please, can we listen to music now?" Elsa asked.
"Oh, sure! I'm sorry that neither of you enjoyed the movie. You had a good time at dinner though, right?" she asked with a concern in her voice.
"Dinner was wonderful!" Anna belted out with cheerfulness.
She loves you so much. Please don't ever break that
As they sped away on the road, Elsa primed her next song on her phone and plugged in the tape upfront. All three moved their heads back and forth.
"At least we'll always have this one!" Anna shouted.
"California, here we come!" Elsa imitated.
"Dinoco, here we come!" Anna imitated back.
Through all these cities and all these towns
It's in my blood and it's all around
I love you now like I loved you then
This is the road and these are the hands
Their mother peered through the dashboard window to her two daughters in the backseat. She smiled and sighed with content as she watched both girls jam their heads with their eyes closed.
There's no load I can't hold
Road so rough this I know
I'll be there when the light comes in
Just tell 'em we're survivors
"They are both happy," she thought to herself as she drove away into the night. "And that's all that matters."