Neither the annoying beeping of her alarm clock startling her awake nor the sleep deprivation was enough to erase the stupid grin on Elsa's face. She could sense a migraine coming; her body was heavy as lead, yet she still felt rather energized to start a new day. As she threw her covers to the side, Elsa realized that she had forgotten to take off Jack's hoodie the night before, and she panicked. Jumping back under the covers, she attempted to wiggle out of the piece of clothing as fast as she could before her roommates woke up.
"What the hell are you doing?"
The girl immediately stopped fumbling at the sound of Astrid's voice. Popping her head from under the covers, but still making sure to keep herself covered from the neck down, Elsa gave her friend a reassuring smile. "Sorry. Weird dream made me dizzy…"
"You look kinda red. Maybe you got a fever?"
"See, I told you the AC was too strong," Violet huffed, sitting up. "And now Elsa has a cold!"
"I don't," Elsa protested exasperatedly. She closed her eyes shut as she tried to figure out an excuse that'd allow herself to maintain her dignity and at the same time, would also stop her friends from worrying.
"Do you want me to go get the nurse?" Astrid asked with guilt weighing heavily in her voice.
"I'm okay, Astrid. My blood pressure just dropped for a moment."
Her friends exchanged concerned glances in silent conversation, and Elsa waited with her breath caught in her throat. At last, Violet shrugged, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
"If you say so," the brunette said.
Elsa nodded as the girls walked to the door. "I'll catch up in a minute."
Still showing some hesitance, the other two girls left, and Elsa muffled a groan into her pillow. Before anyone could return, she hastily made her way to her closet and buried the hoodie deep under her clothes so no one would find it by accident.
She let out a heavy sigh, readying herself for the day she had ahead of herself. Running the steps of Jack's stupid scheme in her head, Elsa went after her friends.
There was no point in further postponing the inevitable...
According to the text he had just gotten, the girls were on their way to the refectory, and for his plan to work, it was vital that Jack and his friends coincidentally ran into Elsa's team, but goddammit did they really have to be THIS early? Elsa's short notice required him to improvise, which in turn led to him acting like a hangry jerk just so he could inconspicuously rush Andy and Hiccup out the door.
As Andy and Hiccup whined behind him on their way to get breakfast, the second part of his plan was put into action. Jack made sure not to speak more than one or two vague words as he walked alongside his friends with his slouchy posture, clenched jaw, bleary eyes, and overall defeated demeanor.
"What do you think, Jack?" Andy asked.
Jack had to intentionally stop his body from reacting. Ignoring the question, he continued to stare blankly ahead.
"Hey, Frost?" Hiccup called with a hand on the silverhead's shoulder.
He blinked. "Yeah?"
"Spacing out this fine morning, aren't we?" Andy mocked.
"Yeah…"
"So loquacious."
"I don't even know what that means—" Jack abruptly froze at the dining hall's doors, the sudden halt making the other two guys stumble as well.
"Dude, what the fuck?" Hiccup cussed, peeking over Jack's shoulder to locate the source of Jack's distress. Lo and behold, Elsa, Violet, and Astrid stood by the serving counters completely unaware of the boys' presence.
They were blocking the way, so Hiccup gestured with his head, leading the trio to the end of the line as he grumbled, "I thought we had agreed that you were gonna figure this one out, Frost."
Jack hummed, not bothering to word a retort.
"You can't keep ignoring each other forever..." Andy added.
Violet was the first to notice the staring guys. She smirked, then nudged Elsa while pointing at them. Elsa, in return, visibly panicked, her shoulders going stiff and eyes widening to the size of tennis balls, and after sharing some ushered words with her companions, she bolted to the farthest vacant table available. The girl couldn't have been more obvious if she tried.
"You were saying?" the silverhead shot back at Andy with a contemptful laugh.
Andy sighed. "Are we just gonna pretend that was normal then?"
Jack glanced at Elsa again. She had her back to him, so his eyes returned to the food display. His jaw clenched and his grip on the tray tightened.
"Honestly, Andrew, I don't even know what normal is supposed to be anymore."
As their class ended, the girls sat on the grass just on the side of the soccer field to watch the rest of the boys' match. Hiccup had just stolen the ball and passed it to Jack, and the duo continued to kick it back and forth to bypass the opposite team's defense. Try as she might, the commendable dexterity of her fellow classmates did little to keep her entertained, and soon Violet's attention was shifting from the game to the blonde girl next to her.
"So how long are you gonna keep this up?" Violet asked, looking at Elsa.
"Keep what up?" her friend asked with a frown.
"The whole thing with Frost!" Violet snarled, gesturing at the guy running across the field. "You can't even look at him for more than three seconds!"
"That's not true…"
A commotion started on the field as Jack scored and his team huddled around to congratulate him. Laughing merrily, he jogged to his side of the field, and by the intervention of greater forces, his eyes met Elsa's for a split second before both of them quickly looked away.
"As I was saying, you're being weird," Violet stated smugly. "And you're making it weird for the rest of us too!"
"Oh, I am so sorry that I'm being an inconvenience to you, Violet."
Elsa laughed with a sneer that made Violet flinch. The brunette's eyes widened, and she looked down at her lap. "That was totally unnecessary."
"Was it though?" Astrid mused, leaning back on her hands.
Violet sent the other girl a death glare. "Astrid, I swear to God—"
"I'm not the one who majorly screwed up here, Violet."
Elsa sighed, shaking her head. "Guys, can we not do this right now?"
Violet huffed as she crossed her arms. "What is he to you?"
"Are you serious?"
The brunette's eyes narrowed. "Yes. Answer the question."
Elsa's gaze shifted back to the field. "He's… exhausting."
"... In a good way?" Astrid suggested with skepticism.
"How could that ever be the case?" Elsa snorted.
"What else?" Violet made circles with one hand, encouraging the blonde to continue talking.
"Remind me why I am being interrogated again?"
"Because Astrid's relationship is an open book—"
"And Violet's love life is a black hole of drama and destruction."
"We're also worried about you," Violet added, feeling borderline offended that her good intentions were not being taken seriously.
Astrid nodded. "Also that."
"If you say so…"
"And I ask again: What else?"
"I don't know what you want me to tell you, Violet. He's very compelling, and I often find myself losing ground whenever he's involved, sure, but that also means that every time he's near, it feels like I'm being sucked into a vortex of chaos I cannot get out of on my own."
"Is that all he is then? A nuisance?"
Elsa sighed, distress evident on her face as she kept her eyes glued to her shaky hands. "I care about him. And despite what you may think, even I understand how suboptimal the situation is at the moment. I just… don't know what I'm doing."
Not standing to see how vulnerable her friend looked anymore, Violet threw her arms around Elsa in a hug and rested her cheek on the latter's shoulder. "Hey, you're gonna be fine, right, Astrid?"
"Sure." Astrid shrugged, giving Elsa an affectionate nudge. "Now backtrack a little bit… Did you just use the word 'suboptimal' to describe you being into Frost?"
Freed from the Student Council presidency, Elsa was allowed an entire afternoon of uninterrupted studying for the first time in a while. To make the most of her time, she prepared her workstation at her favorite spot in the library, a nice and sturdy wooden desk with a good amount of natural lighting that managed to soothe her every time she was there.
She scribbled down notes on her notebook as she flipped through the reference books sprawled in front of her, the pages quickly filling up with her neat and precise calligraphy.
Psssst.
She ran her fingers across the text, speed reading for keywords.
Psssst.
She added a few sentences to her notes, then shifted on her seat, rotating her shoulders to stretch some tense muscles.
Psssst.
Her phone buzzed, notifying her of a new message.
Look up.
Frowning, Elsa did as she was told, finding a silver-haired idiot peeking at her from behind a shelf with an open book held in front of his face. Despite not being able to see it, she was sure he was smirking behind his book.
She sighed, making sure to emphatically show in her face how much of a nuisance he was being, and started walking in his direction. To her surprise, as she approached, he moved further back between the bookshelves, and she followed with growing suspicion. Jack stopped by the wall, and she stared at him with her hands on her hips.
"I've been trying to get your attention for, like, half an hour," he blurted out indignantly.
"I was busy, in case you didn't notice," Elsa said, gesturing back to the pile of books on her desk. Crossing her arms, she arched an eyebrow up. "How can I be of assistance?"
Jack hummed, taking a step closer to her. He wetted his lips. Lowering his voice to a hoarse murmur, he replied, "I can think of a few ways..."
One of his hands made its way to her lower back.
Her hands instinctively grasped his shoulders for support. "What exactly are you doing here?"
He shrugged, tilting his head to the side. "Saw you from the window, thought I'd drop by to say hi."
"Well, hi—"
If the way Jack spun her around, trapping her against the wall without any warning didn't make her lose her breath, the way he kissed her sure did the trick. His body pressed against hers, hands on both sides of her face keeping her head angled so he had easy access to her mouth. The gentleness from the rooftop was gone, and Jack now kissed her with an urge that nearly reached desperation.
Elsa gripped his hair, nails scratching his scalp and making him moan. His hands slid down her neck, her shoulders… a burning sensation starting everywhere he touched her. Lightheaded and on the verge of passing out, Elsa pulled up first, lips swollen and heaving. She dropped her head back, hoping that the meager distance she attempted to put between them was effective in stopping things from developing further. Voice still weakened, she chastised, "I thought we weren't supposed to be seen together?"
"Funny, I don't think I heard you complaining," He smirked with an arched eyebrow.
Elsa rolled her eyes. "And you still expect your stupid plan to work."
"It's a Friday afternoon, and we're in an empty library." He leaned down, resting his lips next to her ear. His breath tickled her skin, sending electric waves through all her nerve endings. "And this is probably the last place anyone would ever think of looking for me."
"How long do we have to keep pretending?"
"Why? Already can't live without me?"
"You wish," she scoffed. "I'm starting to feel guilty."
"As you should," somebody else said, and she and Jack immediately jumped away from each other.
With matching panicked eyes, they both turned in the direction of the voice, and Andrew Davis glared back at them with crossed arms and a scowl on his face.
"Fancy seeing you two together."
Jack ran a hand through his hair sheepishly. "Okay, this is not what it looks like."
"Looks like you two were just getting acquainted with each other's mouths to me," Andy spat with contempt. "Oh, and also that you don't actually hate each other and have been lying your asses off to the entire school, not to mention your closest friends, but what do I know, right?"
Elsa bit her lower lip, the spite in her friend's voice making her look down in utter shame. "... I think we owe you an explanation."
"Damn right you do. And it better be a good one at that."
There really wasn't a nice way of telling your friend that your recent depressed mood was all a farce and that you were simply trying to give your nosy friends a little punishment at the expense of their heavy consciences, but boy, Jack sure as hell tried.
"On the bright side," he said with a sheepish smile, "at least we're not trying to kill each other anymore."
He felt Elsa stiffening next to him.
"You need to stop talking," she muttered under her breath.
The silverhead shrugged, tilting his chair back. He glanced at Andy, who still frowned intently at the empty space behind Jack and Elsa. Their supposed lighthearted prank was starting to feel more and more like a miscalculation the longer Andy's disapproving silence continued. "... You can punch me if you want. Just not in the face."
"I'm not gonna punch you, dumbass," Andy grumbled, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, thank God." Jack sighed relieved. "How you hanging there, Andrew?"
Andy's gaze slowly shifted to the other guy. "How do you think, Jack? I just found out that this whole thing"—he made a wide circle with his arm that encompassed the couple—"was a cheap scheme—"
"I get the scheme part, but cheap? Really?" Jack scoffed.
"I am begging you to shut up," Elsa cried, closing her eyes.
Andy shook his head. "And you agreed to this, Elsa?"
"I—" she choked out, then glared at the silverhead. "I knew this was a bad idea."
"Why are you looking at me? This plan was as much your idea as it was mine!"
"Just because I go along with your plans, it doesn't mean I agree with them—"
"Oh, spare me, Your Majesty, you and I both know that you were game for making them sweat—"
"Not by playing the guilt game—"
"WILL YOU TWO SHUT THE FUCK UP?" Andy slammed his fist on the table.
"Lower your voice, sir. You are in a library," Jack chastised mockingly.
"Watch it, dipshit," Andy growled with a finger pointed at the other guy. He sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "So what, you're together now?"
"Whoa, somebody's being aggressive…"
"I think the situation allows me to be a little aggressive, wouldn't you agree?"
Jack threw his hands up with a groan. "Well, what else do you want us to do, Davis?"
"Oh, how about telling everyone the truth!?"
"We will," Elsa jumped in, looking anxious from one boy to the other. "We just need to find the right time to do it, I guess."
Her eyes shifted to Jack, and he took her hand under the table for a comforting squeeze.
"Why hide it though? Stupid prank aside?"
The silverhead shrugged. "What, and have the entire school's two scents making everything messier than it already is? Thanks, but no thanks."
"Okay."
"Okay, what?"
"Okay, I see your point, and if you want to keep you two a secret, then the least I can do is respect your decision."
Jack continued to eye his friend skeptically. "Really?"
"I may be mad at you two for the lies, but I'm also glad that you're not as miserable as you made us believe you were," Andy smirked as he got up on his feet. "Just do me a favor and find better secret making out spots, okay?"
"Sure…" Jack stared awestruck as Andy waved and left the library.
"I don't want to sound like a know-it-all, but I told you someone would see us," Elsa said, leaning forward and holding her face in her hands.
"Trust me, you're always a know-it-all whether you're trying or not." He pulls her chair toward him and wraps an arm around her waist.
Resting her chin on her knuckles, Elsa looked at him through half-lidded eyes. "Did you seriously not learn anything from what just happened?"
His fingers traced light circles on her knee as he whispered, "Yeah, I learned that I like kissing you and I would very much like to do it again."
"You're an idiot," she scoffs, but her eyes remain locked on his.
He inches closer, smirk brushing against her lips. "Thank you."
"It wasn't a compliment—"