Unsurprisingly, the last city trip of the year ended up landing on a cold day. The girls wandered around aimlessly, killing time here and there until it was time to go back to school. At some point, they entered Blue Macaw Books to escape the chilly wintry air.
"You sure you don't rather be with your boyfriend?" Violet asked as she flipped through the pages of an old-looking, not remotely interesting book.
"He's not my boyfriend," Astrid shout-whispered, poking her head through the rows of shelves. "And you stop saying that or I'll make sure that's the last thing you'll ever say."
"Gee, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Violet mumbled with a roll of eyes. Then, as she snickered to herself, she added, "Also, it's really adorable that you know who I'm referring to even without my naming them."
Astrid stared at Violet with her eyes dangerously narrowed, but her threatening glare was completely ignored by the other girl. "And you still wonder why you get punched in the face."
"How much of a masochist must Hiccup be to like this violent side of yours?" Violet teased, putting the book down and walking to the small couch in the corner of the store. "I'm bored," she stated to no one in particular.
"You are more than welcome to wait outside, Violet."
"Yeah, between dying as a popsicle outside and dying of boredom right here in this lovely and warm store, I'd choose the second one, thank you very much."
"Why don't we go eat something then?" Elsa asked as she appeared with a freshly-purchased small paper bag in hands.
"Found anything good?" Astrid asked.
"Just some light reading for the trip back home next week," Elsa said, offering Violet a hand. "Ready to go?"
Violet used her friend's help to get on her feet. "About time," she mumbled with a yawn. "We're not gonna see each other for two weeks, come to think about it."
Astrid held the door open for the other girls. "Don't get me wrong, Violet, but I could really take this time away from you and your meddling."
"You say that, but you are totally gonna miss me." Violet nudged her before zipping her jacket up to her chin as she felt the cold breeze chilling her bones. "Admit it, Astie. Deep inside, you're a cute fragile girl hiding behind this badass image."
"You wish." Astrid snorted as she threw her coat's hood over her head.
"You don't need to pretend anymore, babe. You know I will love you regardless." Violet winked at her. "And I bet Hiccup would still like you even if he found out about the golden heart hidden under the thick troll skin."
"Why do you care, huh? You so dry of male attention that you have to feed on fantasies about other people's lives?"
"Wow." Violet laughed, shaking her head. "Do you really think I would be that lame?"
"I would, actually. I think your sorry self is so out of the game, that your only choice is to project on to your friends. What's next?" Astrid let out a dry laugh. "You gonna ship Elsa and Andy together?"
Astrid's words stirred some unpleasant feelings inside the brunette, and she clenched her teeth. "Yeah. Or maybe I just think Hiccup can help loosen the stick you got up your ass!" she shouted, her bright and colorful choice of words catching the attention of random passers. Whispers and giggles broke loose around them, but Violet ignored them altogether as she glared at Astrid. "God knows why on Earth he's still into you when you treat him like a bag of trash, but since he is, why not take advantage of that and get some?"
"That's it," Astrid hissed, clenching her fists and digging her nails into her palms. "You're dead," she said going for Violet's neck, but the brunette girl, already expecting that kind of reaction, was able to avoid her just in time.
Violet took a few steps away from the blonde, screaming, "Stop chasing me, you psycho!"
"Then stop running away, you twat!"
"Elsa, a little help here—" Violet begged.
"Get back in here and fight like a woman, you coward."
"—Astrid is trying to kill me."
"Sorry, but I'm not gonna get in the middle of that." Ignoring the scene her two friends were making, Elsa continued walking down the street as nonchalantly as the situation allowed. "Both of you are at fault, so figure it out on your own."
"What?" Violet whined indignantly. She luckily grabbed one of Astrid's hands before it could hit her, and used the height advantage to keep the blonde from smashing her face. "How is Astrid's explosive personality possibly my fault?"
"Do I have to remind you who made her explode like this? Again?" Elsa asked.
"Okay, so maybe I crossed the line a little," Violet admitted, doing the best to keep Astrid from ripping her eyeballs off.
"A little?" Astrid shouted and rotated her arm quickly so that she was the one grabbing Violet. "You were a little out of line three years ago!" Following the intonation of her speech, with a precise twist, she made Violet's hand bend at the wrist, making the taller girl scream in panic.
"What the hell, Astrid? You're breaking my hand!" Violet shouted, hunching forward in pain.
Seeing Astrid's bloodthirsty eyes and Violet's panicked expression, Elsa's mediator instincts kicked in, and she immediately put a hand on Astrid's shoulder. "That's enough," Elsa said gently. "I would rather not have to go on an emergency trip to the hospital."
Astrid narrowed her eyes as if considering her options and groaned before releasing her pray.
Violet glared at the violent blonde as she rubbed her wrist. "Did you really have to do this?"
"Do you really need to ask?"
"Now that you gave her a piece of your mind, Astrid—"
"A sore wrist, that's what she gave me," Violet grumbled.
"—And vice-versa, can you two make up, please?" Elsa noticed their surroundings and gestured to the coffee shop across the street. "I'll pay for dessert if you apologize to each other right now."
Violet and Astrid continued to glare at each other while Elsa stayed between them, apprehensively biting her lower lip.
Finally, Violet sighed, throwing her hands in the air. "You're lucky I'm craving sugar," Violet commented. "And I also happen to like you, despite your murderous tendencies."
Astrid continued to stare at her with narrowed eyes.
"Sorry I went overboard and mocked you," Violet mumbled.
"I was out of the line too. And sorry I tried to hurt you," Astrid apologized too.
Violet flicked her wrist in the blonde's direction. "You did hurt me."
"That's because you're weak."
"I think that's good for now. Good job, you guys." Elsa linked her arms with the other girls and led them towards the shop. "And here's the lesson to take from this, ladies: it's not nice to use violence against friends—"
"Except when they deserve it," Astrid interrupted her.
"Even if they deserve it. And sometimes, words hurt just as much as actions." Elsa pulled her friends closer to herself, and little by little, the intensity of the staring contest diminished.
Violet shrugged. "Maybe you're right."
"I'm always right," Elsa said with a quick wink, erupting laughs amongst the three of them.
"Oh, can't next weekend come already?" Jack begged as he walked between his two best friends.
"Why? Do I need to remind you that you're fully living in vacation mode already?" Andy asked with a laugh.
"Not as much as I wanted to be," the silver-haired boy informed as he took the last few swigs of his black coffee. "I swear, if we didn't have the holidays to recharge batteries, I'd totally suffocate in that nest of soul-sucking leeches people like to call a school."
Hiccup rolled his eyes at his paranoid and slightly over-dramatic friend. "You just miss your little sister."
"Yeah, that too."
When it came to Jack, both Andy and Hiccup knew that behind the bad boy image, there was an overzealous and doting brother who would do anything for the cute little young Frost girl.
"How would your fans react if they found out that Jack 'Only Cares For Himself' Frost was a goofy brother drooling all over his baby sister?" Andy mocked.
"What, you blackmailing me?"
"Not at all." Andy raised both hands in a defensive way. "I just can't understand why you would want to hide this side of yours so much. It's so adorable."
"Adorable? I'm not adorable. I'm a hot mess."
Hiccup laughed. "Emphasis on the 'mess'."
"Anyway, I have an image to protect, okay, Davis?"
"Since when do you care about your image, Frost?"
Jack shrugged. "Since people began to idolize me and I became a god amongst mere mortals."
"Forget it, Andy." Hiccup sighed before drinking more of his coffee. "He's never gonna admit how caring and lovable he is inside."
"Aw, stop, Hiccup!" Jack pushed him away, faking a coy voice. "You're making me blush."
As the boys continued down the street, Jack noticed some familiar faces right ahead and pointed at three teenage girls walking off from the bookstore. "I spy with my little eye three beautiful ladies that would love some company."
The way Hiccup opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water didn't go unnoticed by the other two.
"Wanna go talk to them?" Andy asked, attempting to sound casual.
"Uh…"
"Come on!" Jack smacked him at the top of his head. "Go talk to her. You know you want to."
"I'm not sure about that," Hiccup mumbled.
"Need I remind you that you're not gonna see her until we're back from winter break? Suck it up, Haddock—" Jack shut up as he noticed some abrupt movement starting. His eyes widened in surprise as, from what looked like out of nowhere, Astrid started running after Violet in a very threatening way…
"I'm kinda curious to know what did start all that…" Andy wondered with a little smile on the corner of his lips.
The boys took a moment to watch the lovely ladies innocently enjoying that beautiful wintry day by dancing together in the slippery streets and shouting menacing words at each other.
"Can't really say the same about me…" Hiccup commented.
He had seen the face Astrid was making. Whatever the reasons behind her anger were, he didn't want to get involved with that, no siree. Astrid was rumored to have broken the nose of a guy as big as a truck once, and since then, cautious people always thought twice before inciting her wrath.
Jack whistled. "I sometimes forget what a beast Hofferson is with how tiny she is..."
Hiccup cleared his throat, taking his eyes off the soon-to-be blood festival ahead. "You know what? We don't really have to go talk to them. I mean, there's this new game I really wanna buy… and we should go before the shop closes…"
Jack agreed, "Yeah. I suppose we can't force you to go talk to her... It's up to you anyway."
As the pair retreated further away from the girls, Andy giggled to himself.
"What are you laughing at, Andrew?" Jack stared at him suspiciously.
Andy shrugged with indifference. "Just thinking about how Astrid has an interesting effect on you two. I mean, she'll be happy to know that she still can scare the shit out of your sorry asses."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Jack laughed. "If you're insinuating that Astrid Hofferson makes me feel like hiding behind my mother's skirt when she's making that Devil's Offspring face, then… yeah, maybe you're right."
"I…" Hiccup glanced once more at the blonde girl in question—she had Violet on her knees, with the latter's arm bent in a weird angle. Just looking at it made him feel the pain in his own skin. Hiccup gulped. "Can't blame you for feeling that way..."
"... So, game store, huh?" Jack asked with renovated humor.
"Sounds good to me," Andy agreed with a chuckle.
They turned back, leaving the fighting girls to their fighting.
"By the way, if you tell Hofferson anything about this, consider your dear diary leaked out to the entire school, Davis," Jack said with a threatening glare in Andy's direction.
"Don't worry, Frosty. Your secret is safe with me."
The last day of school finally arrived, and boy, oh boy, how Jack had waited for that day. He had literally marked the days on his calendar, crossing off one excruciating day after the other. Classes had dragged on forever as if teachers were going out of their ways just to keep students locked up inside. But the end had finally come, and he was free to go home!
He packed some random items he supposed he could need at home and headed out for the precious two weeks break he so needed at the moment. Goodbye, all the boredom that Leprechaun Academy represented, and hello little pest of a sister, old hometown and his mother's heartwarming home-cooked meals!
He carried a backpack over one shoulder, and the hood of his trademark jacket over his head hid himself from the outside world. He opened the front doors with exaggerated pomp and took a deep breath of the cold winter air, his eyes closing in satisfaction. It smelled like freedom.
Jack was walking down the steps when he saw a familiar face waiting there by the gate, on a long coat as white as the snow under her feet. He groaned as soon as he was close enough to be heard. "My day was just too good to be true."
"Good morning, Frost," Elsa Arendelle greeted him nonchalantly.
"Your Majesty." He bowed, taking his hands out of his pockets in a wide, elegant gesture.
"I see you're in a good mood," Elsa commented, looking past him and straight at the entrance's doors.
"Is there any reason not to be? Except for running into you in this otherwise lovely morning?" Jack mocked with his easy-going smirk on his lips.
As a reply, Elsa gave him a contained smile and rolled her eyes, and avoiding falling into his provocations, she asked instead, "Not going home yet, Frost?"
"Just on my way to the train station." He crouched down to take some snow in his bare hands. "Waiting for Hiccup to finish packing. He's really meticulous when it comes to that kind of thing, so who knows how long that's gonna take." He rolled his eyes as he gave shape to a perfect snowball. "What about you, already missing school and considering hiding in the boiling room for Christmas?" Jack asked and threw the ball in his hands as far as he could. He watched as the snowball flew over the frozen bushes and hit a tree trunk, and threw a triumphant fist in the air.
"I'm waiting for my sister."
"Oh, yeah. You do have a sister, huh?" Even though he knew about Elsa's sister, he'd never really talked to her, nor had had any memorable interaction with her. All he knew about the girl was that she was a few years younger than them and that she, too, attended the Academy. "Is she like you? A mini Elsa?"
"Not even remotely." Elsa laughed. "She's the complete opposite of me, I can assure you of that."
"Thank God." Jack wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead with a sigh of relief. "I'd be sorry for her if she was like you."
"I see," Elsa said curtly.
Their eyes locked together in a silent challenge, the moment growing more and more uncomfortable as their staring contest went on. Finally, she admitted defeat and looked away first, making Jack smirk pleased with himself.
He leaned back against the gate, feeling energized just for being outside, and since it was a beautiful day, and he was in a good mood, he figured he could spare a moment of his life to share some of his wisdom with Elsa. "Listen, Arendelle… You gotta let your hair down a little."
"Uh-huh…" The way Elsa replied made him wonder if she was really listening to him or not.
"How about I give you a little assignment since you seem to live for homework and no-fun?" He stopped right next to her and looked straight ahead, opening his palms to show her an invisible screen. "When you're reading your Latin dictionary for the fiftieth time during these two short weeks of break we have, or whatever you usually do to entertain yourself, because you don't know how to enjoy life"—he saw Elsa closing her eyes and shaking her head slightly,—"think to yourself: what would Jack do? And then, bang! Just do it."
He winked at her, and to his utter disappointment, she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Gee, thanks for the precious advice, Frost."
"Any time you need, beautiful." If Jack got the amount of disdain she had put in her words, he didn't show. "WWJD. Easy to remember, right?"
"Sure is."
"Yo, Frosty!" Hiccup interrupted their conversation as he finally came out of the building fighting with the bag he had slung across his shoulders.
"Finally." Jack thanked the skies as Hiccup walked in their direction.
"Hey, Els," the auburn-haired guy greeted the girl with a smile, and she greeted him back politely. He looked apprehensively from her to Jack. "You two weren't arguing again, were you?"
"Nope, just having an innocent talk," Jack answered with a smirk on his lips.
"Since when do you do innocent?" Hiccup looked at Elsa, silently asking for indications of what stupid things Jack could have told her and preparing himself to apologize in advance, but to his confusion, she just smiled reassuringly in return. "So... Ready to go?"
"You bet your sweet ass I am." Jack arranged the backpack on his shoulder and turned on his heels to leave. "See you in two weeks, Arendelle."
"Merry Christmas, Elsa," Hiccup wished before going after his best friend.
"Merry Christmas to you too, Hiccup."
"Hey, Your Majesty, don't forget your assignment." Jack looked at her from over his shoulder. "I want a full report on that when we come back."
"Of course, Frost." Elsa waved at them, looking mildly amused.
"Okay..." Hiccup suspiciously eyes the two of them. "What the hell did you two talk about?"