"So apparently, how you like your eggs can say a lot about you," Wilbur mentioned during breakfast that morning as he scrolled down on his phone to kill time, and Andy looked up at him, eyebrows quirking up in amusement.
"That so?" he mused.
"Mhmm." Wilbur nodded and pointed with his fork at Andy and then at Andy's plate, making the other guy sit a little straighter in response. "Take Andrew for example…"
"This should be fun," Jack laughed, leaning forward on his elbows and giving the dark-haired boy his undivided attention.
"Someone who loves their nice and creamy omelets is likely to be the mom of the group," Wilbur explained. "They're organized, have a strong sense of responsibility, and can't control their urge to tell everybody else what to do."
With a frown on his face, Andy asked, "Are you making that shit up, you moron?"
Wilbur smirked. "About you being the group mom? 'Fraid not, buddy."
Hiccup shook his head. "There's no way that's true."
"Hey, it's on the internet. Who's to say it's not?"
"You are a lost cause, William," Hiro grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And I'm embarrassed for you."
"Aw, come on, guys," Wilbur cried with a pout. "Frosty, let me read yours next."
"No, thanks—whoa!" Something caught his eye by the refectory's entrance and Jack stared at it in utter shock.
"Watcha looking at?" Hiccup asked, turning on his seat to follow the direction of the silverhead's gaze, and when he saw it, he wheezed, "Whoa."
Having just entered the room, Elsa, Astrid, and Violet talked amongst themselves as they waited in line, which on its own should cause no surprise at all. What did astonish the boys was an unexpected makeover befallen one Astrid Hofferson, someone they all knew was basically allergic to anything girly but that, for whatever reason, had come down to breakfast with her hair fashioned into braided pigtails that fell over her shoulders and a glittery big pink ribbon that could probably be seen from outer space adorning the top of her head. The girl was also wearing a light, yet perceptible, coat of makeup, that made her eyes pop and her lips shimmer, and maybe it was a trick of the mind, but even her uniform seemed tidier than normal that morning.
"That's a cry for help if I've ever seen one," Jack snorted, eyes not leaving the trio of girls.
"Watch it, douchebag. That's my girlfriend you're talking about."
"Hmm…" Andy scratched his chin. "I wonder what brought that on."
"Haddock?" Hiro called, glaring directly at the boy in question.
"Why do you think I know anything about that?"
"Don't girls usually change the way they look when they go through a bad breakup?" Wilbur asked.
"What—" Hiccup laughed uncomfortably. "That's so not the case here!"
"What are you hiding from us, Hiccup?"
"Astrid and I are very happy together, thank you very much!" the auburn-haired boy nearly shouted, spitting bits of food all across their table, much to the others' discontentment. "And if I had to guess, I'd put my money on that being Violet's doing," he stated matter-of-factly.
Upon further analysis, it was easy to see how Violet's expression indeed read a little machiavelic and how she did seem to be reveling in her friend's misery…
"Yeah, I'd buy that," Wilbur conceded. "So what do y'all think happened?"
"Wanna go find out?" Andy asked.
"Uh…"
"I don't know, man. On a good day, Hofferson is already pretty punchy," Jack grumbled.
Andy glanced back at the blonde and chuckled quietly to himself. It was safe to say that Astrid was not having a good day so far.
"Or we could just keep reading the eggs horoscope, how's that?" Hiccup suggested.
"... Good call, buddy."
"Oh, Astrid, will you be a dear and carry this for me?" Violet asked, her voice sickeningly sweet as she held her backpack out to her friend. Pouting, she added, "My shoulders hurt."
Pressing her lips together, Elsa watched almost in slow motion as Astrid tensed up. Without a word, the latter let out an irritated grunt, snatched Violet's bag, and resumed her stomping down the corridor.
"Don't you think you're playing with fire, Vi?" Elsa mumbled with a sigh as they followed after the other girl.
"Hey, I won that bet fair and square!"
"Do keep in mind that you'll still have to sleep in the same room as Astrid tonight."
"Oh, whatever. You'd never let her actually kill me in my sleep." Violet rolled her eyes. "Yo, Hofferson! I need to grab something in my locker, wanna come with me?"
Astrid turned on her heels, fists clenched and jaw set, and threw a death glare in the brunette's direction. She grumbled, "Like I have a choice."
"Hey, Your Majesty!"
Elsa looked back to find Jack giving her a quick wave as he jogged to catch up with her. "Uh, you guys can go ahead first," she said as she waited for him.
"How can I help you, Frost?"
He huffed, faking annoyance. "Good morning to you too, Your Majesty."
"Sorry." She smiled apologetically. "Good morning, Jack."
"There, wasn't that hard, was it?" he teased with a smirk as he bumped her shoulder with his.
Elsa rolled her eyes and motioned for them to get out of the morning flux of students. "So what do you want?"
"What makes you think I want something?"
"Don't you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, since you asked…" He shrugged nonchalantly. "The boys and I were wondering… What's the story there?" He motioned with one hand to the direction Astrid and Violet had taken.
Elsa hummed, looking down as she took a moment to smooth her bangs. "You noticed."
"Pretty hard not to." Jack snorted. "What, is Hofferson entering a beauty pageant or something?"
"If only." The blonde leaned her head against the wall and sighed. "Violet won a bet and now Astrid has to do everything she says for an entire day. I wasn't sure if they were serious about it… until this morning."
"When Violet decided she wanted to play real-life doll with Hofferson?"
"Something like that."
"Huh."
Jack's eyes became unfocused as he seemed to get lost in his own thoughts, and Elsa's instincts immediately made her wary. She straightened up and put a firm hand on his arm.
"Whatever you're thinking right now, stop," she warned.
"I have no clue what you're talking about," he stated smugly.
"Jack…"
"Aw, come on, Your Majesty. This is a major opportunity! Can you imagine how much fun we could have?"
"Astrid is already in a bad mood as it is, and the day has just started. Don't push her."
"But—"
"Will you please stay out of it? For me?" she pleaded, gazing intently at him as she took a barely perceptible step in his direction.
Jack's eyes narrowed as he weighed his options. He looked conflicted, but at last, he dropped his head and groaned. "Ugh. Fine. Under one condition."
"... Which is?"
He smirked, putting a hand on her lower back and pulling her toward him. Leaning closer, he whispered in her ear, "You keep me company instead."
Elsa blushed and felt her heartbeat increasing as his eyes locked on hers once more.
"What do you say, Your Majesty?"
"I-I'll think about it."
He scowled. "Yeah, not good enough."
"We should get moving or we're gonna be late for class—"
Jack's lips were suddenly pressed against hers, cutting her off completely. The kiss was short, a quick yet purposeful peck to remind both of them of who would eventually win that argument.
Pulling back, he winked. "I'll come find you."
"You—"
"Later, Elsa!" Not giving her time to fight him, he spun on his heels and waved with his hand over his head as he zigzagged through the diminishing crowd.
And though she knew it'd be useless, she shouted after him, "That means you'll behave, right?!"
"Hey, Vi."
Violet looked up in time to see Jack flopping down on the seat in front of hers. Smiling cordially, she greeted, "Sup, Frosty?"
"Elsa told me about your latest accomplishment," he said, wasting no time beating around the bush.
"She did, didn't she?" the girl mused, chin propped up in a hand to fake nonchalance.
"Yep." Jack leaned forward with raised eyebrows. "Not bad, Parr."
Violet grinned, beaming overjoyed. "Thanks."
"So whatcha got planned for today?"
"Other than the obvious total humiliation of our favorite feisty pants? Not sure yet." Violet shrugged. "I'm thinking about having her teach me some self-defense moves."
Confusion crossed Jack's expression, and he blinked, deeply in thought. Opening his mouth slowly, he asked, "... Why?"
"Every girl has to know how to take care of herself," the girl explained, deadpan.
"Yeah, that's fair," Jack conceded, leaning back with a soft chuckle. "But wouldn't Hofferson agree to do that any other day? Why waste your get out of jail free card like that?"
Violet let out a snort full of disdain. "Astrid has only two fighting settings: hard and harder. This way, she's forced to pull back her punches and actually try to teach me, not just treat me like a shiny new punching bag."
"Huh. That kinda makes sense."
"I know, right?"
Jack clicked his tongue as he stared out the window at the greenery. "You should take Elsa with you if she's free."
"Why? Want a girlfriend who can kick your ass upon request?" Violet laughed and lowering her voice so only he could hear her, added, "Kinky."
"No, you perv," Jack mumbled, giving the girl a very pointed eye roll. "As much of a knight in shining armor as I am, it's like you said: every girl has to know how to take care of herself."
"Sure," Violet nodded slowly in agreement but everything about her—posture, expression, tone of voice—gave away her complete skepticism. "And you wanting to indulge in some dominatrix play has nothing to do with it…"
Elsa found an empty bench outside and was set on making it her little reading nook for the rest of the afternoon when a sudden shout interrupted her reading.
"Hey, miss valedictorian!"
Her eyes lit up as she identified the male figure strolling toward her, and Elsa jumped up to greet him.
"Tadashi!"
Meeting her halfway, one of his arms wrapped around her shoulders affectionately, and his amused chuckle blew warm air on the side of her head.
"What are you doing here?" Her voice came out as an embarrassing screech, seeing as she could barely contain her surprise.
"Just stopping by on my way back from the hospital," he explained, taking one step back to take a good look at her. "Wow. Look at you all wisened up."
Feeling her cheeks burning, Elsa looked down and tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear. She mumbled, "It's good to see you too, Tadashi."
"Man, I can't believe you're the same girl I took under my wing all those years ago," Tadashi chuckled, running a hand over his chin repeatedly.
"It hasn't been that long," the blonde countered with a scowl.
"Maybe not." The guy shrugged exaggeratedly. Behind his staged nonchalance, his excitement was palpable and Elsa wondered what could've led to her former mentor's good mood. "So what's shaking around here?'
"I don't know. I feel like a lot has happened since you graduated and, at the same time, like nothing has changed at all..."
"I heard you got accepted into DU, why not start there?" Tadashi said, smirking.
Elsa crossed her arms and shifted her weight between her feet. "Now, where could you possibly have heard that?"
"A little bird told me."
" Which little bird are you talking about?" She frowned, suspicious.
He laughed, tilting his head back, amused. "Oh, relax, you skeptical one. I just left North's office, and he was more than eager to brag about his favorite pupil."
"You mean yourself?" Elsa mocked.
"Sadly, no," he said, scowling reprimandingly at her. "Congratulations, Elsa. If anyone deserves that early acceptance, it's you."
"Thanks…"
"Is it weird that I feel proud of you?" Tadashi asked, a hand rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
Elsa felt an immediate tightness in her chest at her former mentor's confession. She swallowed once, doing her best to keep her emotions contained as her eyes locked with his, taking in the affection and warmth in Tadashi's semblance. Sincerely, she shakily replied, "I'd be honored if you were."
"Well, then, I am." Tadashi's grin widened a little after that. "You've grown a lot."
"I'll trust your word on it…"
Tadashi chuckled, shaking his head. "So what other news are you keeping from me, young lady?"
"Why? What did you hear?" Elsa asked, maybe a little too defensive.
"... Okay, I was half-joking, but now I'm intrigued." Tadashi crossed his arms, hardening his gaze one or two clicks up the eye contact scale. "What are you trying to hide, Elsa?"
"I'm not trying to hide anything," she scoffed, flippant.
"Sorry, not buying that."
"Your diet of pizza and energy drinks are starting to catch up with you, Tadashi." Elsa sighed heavily. "Which is a shame, really. Such a promising young mind… ruined by your irreparable addiction to junk food and caffeine."
"Somebody's gotten petulant since I left," he said, rolling his shoulders back and puffing out his chest, acting rather petulant himself. "I'll have you know, my diet is fine, thank you very much. You're the one who got all fidgety out o nowhere!"
"I'm not—well, let's see…" Elsa exhaled with feigned indifference whilst desperately scavenging her brain for a much-needed subject change. "Oh, I passed on the Council's mantle."
"You did?"
"Mmhmm." The girl relaxed and with more enthusiasm added, "My sister is the new president."
"I don't think I've met her…" Tadashi mused, thoughtful.
Elsa checked her watch. "Are you free now? We could drop by the Student Council room and catch the new team at work."
"Would you accompany me there?" he asked, already offering her his arm, and as if it was the most natural thing in the world, she looped an arm through his without a single ounce of hesitation.
She smiled.
"That would be my pleasure."
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"
Hiccup looked up from his phone and watched as Hiro suddenly hopped off the half wall and stomped away with all the ire of a cute yet lethal baby panda.
"Where ya going?" he asked, but received only cold silence from the other guy's hurriedly retreating form as a reply.
Exchanging curious glances between themselves, the rest of the boys craned their necks to find whatever it was that had caught their friend's attention and very easily spotted a familiar blonde beauty strolling ahead, her arms linked with some tall guy's.
"... Who the hell's that?" Jack asked, narrowing his eyes.
"That's Hiro's brother," Andy answered, a fond smile forming on his face.
"Didn't he graduate?"
"Your perceptive skills know no boundaries, Frost."
"Fuck you," Jack grumbled, throwing an annoyed glare at the other guy.
"Come on, let's go say hi," Andy said, leading the other two just as Hiro met up with Elsa and her new-old escort of sorts.
"Hey! You!" Hiro shouted, a finger pointed threateningly at the other Hamada.
"Hello to you too, baby bro."
Hiro had none of his brother's condescending and snarled, infuriated, "The fuck are you doing here, Tadashi? You spying on me again?!"
"You thinking that I'm that much invested in your personal life is adorable," Tadashi teased, rolling his eyes. "Please, I have better things to do with my time."
"It seems your brother was feeling a little nostalgic," Elsa intervened with a light pat on Tadashi's arm.
"See? Nothing to do with you," Tadashi said, and as the rest of the boys reached them, he opened his free arm in greeting. "Hey, Andy! long time no see."
Andy shook Tadashi's offered hand and clasped him on the shoulder, laughing. "How are you, Tadashi?"
"Good, thanks for asking…" Tadashi's eyes drifted to the remaining two lurking in the background and he offered them a warm smile as well. "Hello. I'm Tadashi, this schmuck's older brother—"
"Emphasis on the old," Hiro grumbled under his breath.
"—Nice to meet you."
Hiccup sensed Jack's shoulders stiffening with something that resembled hesitation, which gave him just enough time to move first. "Hiccup," he introduced himself, reciprocating the handshake with no fuss. "Long-time fan. Those schematics you left in the robotics club archives? Revolutionary. And this is—"
"Jack. Jack Frost."
"Hold on… I'm remembering you now…" Tadashi looked from one boy to the other as his grin spread wider. "The peanut butter prank!"
Jack shrugged, sheepish. "Yep, that was us."
"Damn, that was a huge headache." Tadashi laughed. "No offense, but that part of my school life is something I don't regret leaving behind."
"If only everyone could do the same…" Hiccup heard Elsa grumbling under her breath, and he had to bite his lip not to snort right in front of everyone.
"What was that, Elsa?"
"I said they're surely a handful," the girl said, throwing a pointed glare at the silverhead.
Tadashi seemed interested in the interaction, and he stared at the blonde with a raised eyebrow, but Elsa was adamant about looking anywhere but at her former mentor.
"We were just on our way to the Student Council's room," Tadashi said, glancing back at the boys.
"Oh, you gonna meet the girls?" Andy asked.
"That's the plan. Wanna come?"
"Pass," Hiro grumbled.
"You three probably have a lot to catch up on," Hiccup said, encouraging Elsa, Andy, and Tadashi to move along. "Don't worry about us and go do your thing."
Andy shrugged. "If you insist… Shall we?"
"We shall." Tadashi adjusted Elsa's arm on his like a true gentleman before smiling at Hiccup and Jack. "It was nice meeting you."
"Likewise," Jack mumbled.
"Enjoy your stay," Hiccup added, waving.
"So Andrew," they heard Tadashi saying as the former Student Council trio headed toward the main building's doors. "Maybe you can help me figure out what Elsa here is trying to hide—"
"Ignore him, Andy," Elsa cut him off, visibly speeding up her pace.
"My stupid brother, ladies and gentlemen," Hiro grumbled, already making his way back to their previous hiding spot.
As he and Jack followed after their friend, from the corner of his eyes, Hiccup noticed an odd sulkiness to Jack's steps, and he nudged his friend in the ribs, teasingly. "You okay there, Frosty?"
"Who the hell was that guy?" Jack hissed, gesturing with his head to the direction the others had taken. "And why was my girlfriend, and also Andrew to one extent, all over him like he's the greatest thing to walk on Earth since motherfucking Jesus himself?"
Hiccup frowned, slightly confused, but also making a conscient effort not to laugh right in the silverhead's face. "You don't remember? Tadashi was the Student Council president before Elsa. She, Andy, and Astrid… he trained them."
"I bet at least one of them had a crush on him at some point," Hiro, having heard their conversation, added from over his shoulder before laughing with contempt.
Jack grabbed onto Hiccup's upper arm with his fingers curled into the latter's flesh like a falcon's claw. His eyes narrowed ever so slowly. "... What?"
"I mean, he's not bad on the eyes," Hiccup admitted.
"He's also a goody-goody nerd if that's your cup of joe."
"It's totally not."
"You're with Elsa," Hiccup reminded him. "That's like 65% of her personality."
Hiro stared at the silverhead, deadpan. "Dude. If you hit on my brother, I will laser every single one of your hairs until you look like a fucking grey alien."
"I—this is not what we're talking about here!"
"What are we talking about? About you having yet another pathetic fit of jealousy?" Hiro sneered with spite seeping through his fangs.
"You're the one who started talking about practically half of our group having a crush on Mr. Boyfriend Material over there!" Jack shouted, one of his arms swishing around violently to punctuate his point.
"Easy, guys…" Hiccup's tone was pleading as his eyes shifted between the two boys entangled in that dangerous—and quickly escalating—staring contest.
The air grew heavy, and after a far too long moment o tension, Hiro let out a tired sigh as he rubbed a temple with two fingers. "Listen dumbass, Elsa chose to be with a moron like you—"
"There better be a point coming after that."
Hiro groaned, rolling his eyes. "Whoever was or was not in the picture, and whatever was her deal then… she still chose you," he said, pointing squarely at the silverhead's chest to emphasize his last words. "That's gotta be worth something."
"Like what?" Jack grumbled, eyebrows furrowing skeptically.
Hiro shrugged. "How should I know?"
Before Jack could snap back, Hiccup anxiously stepped in, "I think what Hiro's trying to say is that there's a girl who still puts up with all your bullshit because of how irrevocably into you she is… which, in hindsight, is a bigger testament of something being really wrong with Elsa, but still. You should be celebrating."
Digging his fists into his pockets and glaring hard at a patch of dirt on the floor, the silverhead grumbled, "I'm out of here..."
"Aw, cheer up, Frosty." Hiccup patted Jack on the shoulder, sympathetic. "Y'know what? You need a change of pace." He looked around, trying to find something to do. "Let's go find Wilb or Vi—"
Jack froze grasping onto Hiccup's arm again, eyes wide and jaw on the floor. "Dude. Shit. You're not gonna believe where Violet is."
Hesitantly, Hiccup asked, "... Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Depends. How high do you think her pain tolerance is?"
"That does not sound good," Hiro declared.
"Yeah. Let's go!"
Jack's hyperactive mind had a hard time staying still, and whenever there was nothing fun going around to stimulate his brain, he got bored pretty fast. That stupid senior class meeting was no exception. There were just too many topics and too many people talking over one another for him to keep track of whatever the hell they were supposed to be talking about.
After a long and torturous half an hour of little accomplishments, someone suggested they split into smaller groups and work from there, and so they did. Andy brought Jack to his own group, where the silver-haired boy was put in charge of recording any new decisions made. The problem was that there were no decisions being made—better yet, there were, but transparency and all, everybody had to know about everything, and then someone down the line would bring up an unforeseen issue, which would require them to backtrack on all the things that had already been figured out so far, which would lead to more discussions, and more new decisions, and more questioning those decisions… which made Jack really pissed with each and every one of his classmates acting like they were the smartest person in the room.
Fed up and in a sour mood, he hunched forward, glaring at the computer screen in front of him until the words on the spreadsheet became an unrecognizable blur as the buzz of useless discussions made the inside of his skin itch.
"How much time do you even need to type down a stupid list of supplies?" Astrid snarled, plopping down on the seat next to his.
He shrugged. "Technology is not my strong suit; s'why II have a computer whiz on my payroll."
"Move over," the blonde grumbled and with little patience rolled his chair to the side herself.
Gladly, Jack pushed his chair out of the way and leaned back to stare at the shapes in the ceiling. As he listened to Astrid's furious typing, he pulled a lollipop out of his pocket and started rolling it around his mouth with his tongue.
"Can you please eat your candy in silence?" Giving the silverhead the stink eye, Andy dragged his chair to sit next to Astrid. "All your wet lip-smacking is grossing me out."
"That's what she said," Jack snorted.
Andy rolled his eyes before turning to his stack of papers. "Where did you even get a lollipop?"
"Violet gave me."
He took a moment to simply watch Astrid and Andy working together, exchanging softly-spoken words; scratching off items on a notebook; swiftly updating the spreadsheet Jack had been staring at for what felt like a lifetime; passing around sheets of papers that were probably important for one thing or another… and it all only made him feel even more out of place sitting there literally staring at the ceiling.
"Remind me why I'm here again?" he mumbled, glaring at the back of his friends' heads.
Not even bothering to turn around, Astrid retorted, "Didn't you volunteer to be here?"
"I was duped!"
"I don't think anyone would hold it against you if you bailed, Jack." To Astrid, Andy said, "Can I check your calendar? Mine's got a bunch of scribbles all over."
Astrid hummed, handing him the requested paper.
"I don't even need to be here," Jack grumbled, slumping on his seat.
Astrid pointed with one finger at the other side of the room. "Door's right over there, Frost."
"I'm just saying 'cause I feel like my specific set of skills would probably be of better use somewhere else…"
"Right. When we need to cause mass chaos, we'll be sure to call you."
Smirking, Jack winked at the blonde. "You know it, beautiful."
With a huff, Astrid turned back to the computer and proceeded to work on her multiple open tabs.
"This is soo lame," Jack whined, slumping on his chair, arms dangling limply from the sides of the armrests. "I am literally doing nothing but staring at the ceiling right now."
"Wanna go on an errand then?" Andy asked.
"Anything is better than the self-important-clashing-of-egos bullshit that's going on around here," the silverhead sneered, already jumping up onto his feet.
"Can you make maybe three more copies of each of these pages?" Andy sifted through his overpacked folder of stapled papers and pulled out one only slightly crumpled stack. "There's a printer in the teacher's lounge you can use."
Jack nodded, taking the papers from the other boy. "That's all?"
Cupping a hand in front of her mouth, Astrid shouted to the rest of the room, "Anyone need to print stuff?"
"Can you print the updated schedule? And a new event form?" Elsa said, standing up to be better heard and already crossing the room towards their corner.
"Where's that?" Jack asked.
"I got it." Astrid plugged a flash drive into the computer and started copying the files he would need to take with him.
"I didn't realize you were gonna be the one doing it, Jack." Elsa had approached their table and looked at him with a tilted head.
He bowed, making flourishes with the papers in his hand. "Jack Frost, trusty errand boy at your service."
"I hope you're not thinking about using this chance to run off."
"Me? Pff. I would never," he said, and his words sounded insincere even to his own ears.
Elsa put her hands on the table and leaned forward. Her whole demeanor was all business and no play. "Teachers' lounge, print your copies, and straight back here. No detours."
Jack mimicked her stance, inching his face close to hers. Smirking, he lowered his voice to a husky whisper. "Don't worry, I'll be back before you have time to miss me."
She let out a huff, but her eyes kept glued to his. "I'm serious, Jack—"
Astrid suddenly brandished her flash drive right in front of his nose. "Here. Done. Get your ass moving." Before he could take the device, however, she pulled it back and narrowed her eyes. "Don't you fucking dare lose it, jerkface."
"Aye, aye, ma'am." Pushing himself off the table, Jack snatched the flash drive and gave the girl a condescending salute. "Be back in a jiffy… But don't wait up."
"I need those papers ASAP, Frost!"
"I'll miss you too, Your Majesty!"