Chapter 5: Disobeying Orders
Elsa was sitting at her table during the lunch hour on a Friday. She had her fork up to her mouth but she wasn't concentrating on it. The piece of lasagne on her fork was getting cold but she didn't care. She was too busy focusing on her Chemistry notes that were all neatly put together in a green folder. Elsa's eyes darted from left to right as she read her notes that were written in a very small, compact and cursive handwriting.
Elsa felt someone's hand shaking her shoulder. Elsa's fork dropped onto her plate and sauce splattered onto her notes. Elsa's felt something died inside of her as she stared at her perfect notes which had now been destroyed – in her eyes anyway.
"Watch it," she snarled.
"Sorry," Kristoff said looking guilty as he sat down opposite Elsa.
"Don't mind her Kristoff," Rapunzel laughed. "Elsa just doesn't like her pretty, minute notes being touched by anything but her own fingers."
"I knew I shouldn't have studied while I ate," Elsa muttered.
"So," Merida said taking the empty seat next to Elsa, "Rapunzel, I hear your date is tonight."
"It is," giggled Rapunzel. "Boy am I excited!"
"Really?" Elsa said extremely sarcastically. "I hadn't noticed."
Rapunzel scowled at Elsa. She looked a little put out.
"Oh she's just crabby because she thinks her notes are ruined," Merida said.
It was Elsa's turn to scowl. She turned back to her notes. She had tried dabbing the sauce off with a napkin. It had worked to an extent. Most of the sauce had come off but there were still some stains.
"Flynn's notes are all stained Elsa," Rapunzel said as she sipped her orange juice. "He turned out alright."
"Flynn is a D average student who eats sloppily over anything," Elsa commented. "Forgive me if I don't see the comparison."
"Flynn is not a D average student," Rapunzel scowled again.
"Alright, fine," Elsa rolled her eyes. "D plus average student then."
Rapunzel just stared at Elsa with daggers shooting out of her eyes. She did not look impressed but Elsa didn't care. She was too busy trying to remember formulas. Elsa continued to mutter to herself as she read over her notes. It was a thing she did. She had always done it.
"Elsa, would you relax for one moment?" Merida said. "You're going to be fine. You're always fine."
Elsa didn't even answer this. She just ignored Merida and she continued to mutter as she read over her notes. Merida may think she was fine but that was because Elsa didn't leave it up to chance. The amount of pressure on her to get decent marks was probably the same amount if you went really deep into the ocean. Her father wanted her to get good grades so that an idiot – that was her father's word for it – wouldn't be running the company that his family had worked so hard to build up. So Elsa studied and studied. She knew what would happen if she got anything less than an A.
"Do you think the test will be hard?" Kristoff asked as he shoved a big piece of meatloaf into his mouth.
"I would have no idea," Elsa turned the page of her notes. "I didn't write the test."
"Yeah but you always seem to know what is going to be on the test," Kristoff said.
"That's because I study," Elsa didn't even look up from her notes.
The bell went to signal the next class. Elsa gathered up all things, stuffed some food into her mouth and headed off to her next class. Her final class of the day was her test. Elsa walked to class with her nose buried in her notes for some last minute studying. She found Kristoff already waiting. He was looking a little nervous. The minute Kristoff saw Elsa he started to rattle off a bunch of last minute questions he had for Elsa. Elsa grinned but happily answered all the questions he had.
The rest of the class soon showed up and it wasn't long before their Chemistry teacher, Miss Jacobs – a teacher who came from England to Arendelle so that she could teach overseas –, appeared at the door of the classroom. Miss Jacobs told them all to come into the classroom and sit down. Elsa took a seat at her usual seat at the back of the class with Kristoff sitting to her right. In front of her was her test. Elsa could feel the nerves starting to get at her. Elsa forced herself to calm down and to think of her notes.
"Okay, no talking," Miss Jacobs said as she stood at the front of the class. "You all have the entire period." She checked her watch. "You may start now."
Elsa turned over her paper and stared at the first question. She felt a grin come over her face. She put her pen to paper and started to write. Elsa wrote down her answer and then stood back to admire it. It had all the points necessary to get full marks for that question but then again, that question was only worth one mark. This test was just getting started. Elsa's mind wandered onto the next question. Elsa worked through the questions in the quiz with her eyes continuing to dart up to the clock or onto Miss Jacobs or to see what Kristoff was doing. Her mind was distracted. She needed to concentrate on her test.
Elsa forced herself to reread the question she was up to; question four out five. She enforced her brain to think of the answer. It somehow managed to get formed in her mind. Elsa wrote down what she thought was the answer. Elsa turned over to the final question. She then looked up at the clock. She only had fifteen minutes left. Where did her time go? The last time she looked at the clock, she had twenty five minutes. Elsa quickly looked down at the question. She read it through several times before she figured out the answer. She looked up at the clock. Ten minutes to go. Seriously, where did the time go? Elsa quickly wrote down her answer. Elsa was breathing hard; her heart was racing as she tried to make sure she got down everything that she needed to get down. Elsa's pen dropped from her hand as she finished the answer. She looked up at the clock. Six minutes left to go. Elsa let out a sigh of relief. But she wasn't done yet.
She quickly flicked to the start of the test and she looked through all of her answers. They all looked pretty good to her. She had noticed a few errors here and there but they took mere seconds to correct. Elsa saw Miss Jacobs look at her watch before looking up at the class.
"Pens down," she said.
Anna was lying on her bed with her legs draped over her pillow. She was on her cell phone talking to Hans. She was giggling and had a huge smile over her face.
"So we still on for tonight?" Hans' voice said.
"Of course," Anna said resisting the urge to giggle like a school girl again. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Glad to hear that," replied Hans.
"Slight problem I'm afraid," Anna said. "Elsa is not going to join after all."
"Why not?"
"Well father has forbidden us having our little date and that was enough to scare Elsa into not going."
"I hope it doesn't scare you off."
"It takes a lot more than that to scare me off," Anna let out a small laugh.
"Glad to hear that," Hans repeated. "Although it was probably for the best. Mikael is sick and wouldn't have been able to make it anyway"
"So it worked out for the best then, didn't it?"
"Indeed it is," Hans laughed. Anna felt some butterflies in her stomach when he laughed.
"Anna!" Anna heard her father yelled out through the house.
"Hold on," Anna said into her cell phone. "Yeah dad?" she yelled back, covering phone with her palm.
Her dad stomped into the room.
"Who are you talking to?" he asked when he noticed that she was on the phone.
"Zoë," Anna said the first name that came into her head.
"Oh okay," her dad paused as if he was trying to remember why he came into Anna's room.
"Er, dad," Anna said. "I'm kind of on the phone so unless it's super important, could I get back to my conversation please?"
"Oh right," he looked a little awkward for interrupting her. "I just wanted to know what you want for dinner tonight."
"Oh I'm out for dinner," Anna said.
"Did Zoë invite you out?" her dad asked.
"Yes!" Anna lied.
"Great," he said. "Just be back by ten, okay?"
"Sure thing dad," Anna smiled. Her father smiled before he left the room. "Okay, I'm back," Anna said into her phone the minute her father had shut the door behind him.
"No problem," Hans said. "Let me guess, the father came in asking questions?"
"Yeah, the father did," Anna rolled her eyes. "So if anyone asks, you're a fifteen year old brunette with blonde highlights."
Hans laughed. "Got it."
"So where are we going tonight?" Anna asked in a flirtatious like manner.
"It's a surprise," Hans said.
"Aw!" Anna said. "Come on, please?" Anna stretched out the last word.
"No!" Hans said, almost flirting back.
"Aw!" Anna said feeling a little disappointed.
Elsa walked out of the test feeling just as nervous as she went into the test. This was normal for her. She would probably get a decent mark but just feeling a little confident about it but that felt like it was going to jinx her results. Elsa had packed up her things just before time had run out. When Miss Jacobs had told them it was time, she had swung her bag over her shoulder, walked up to her teacher and handed in her test paper.
Now Elsa was walking out of her school's science building. Kristoff soon caught up with her. He was panting a little hard as he had run out of the classroom to catch up with her.
"Elsa!" he had called out. Elsa had turned around and smiled at him as he ran towards her.
"Yeah?" she said stopping in her tracks.
"How did you think the test went?" he asked.
Elsa's heart sank. She hated discussing tests afterwards. It always made her feel nervous. She would prefer to just forget about the test and move on with her life.
"Okay, I think," Elsa shrugged.
"Now that has me worrying," Kristoff said. "If you think it went okay, then it was probably a lot worse than it actually was."
"Relax Kristoff," Elsa said. "We've got bigger problems to deal with."
"We do?"
"Yeah," Elsa said. "Well, I do anyway. I've got to listen to Rapunzel drone on and on tomorrow about her date tonight."
Kristoff laughed. "That is true."
"Well I better go," Elsa mentioned in the direction of the school's gates.
"Oh right!" Kristoff laughed again.
Elsa raced off in the direction of her driver. It didn't take too long for her to get home. She was surprised to see that her father was home. She wondered why he was home. Normally he would be in his office during the week days. Could he be home to check up on her? That would probably be correct. He was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. Elsa could see that he was reading the business section.
"How did the test go?" those were the first words to come out of his mouth when Elsa entered the kitchen.
"Good," Elsa said almost as a reflex.
"That's what I want to hear," he replied. "When do you get your test results back?"
"Probably when I get back to school next term," Elsa said.
"Okay," her father said. "Guess we'll see then."
Elsa headed up her room and sat down on her bed. She had thrown her bag down on some random part of the neat floor. She felt a little nervous. School had finished for the term. It was no longer going to be a distraction for her. What could she do in the meantime? She had no idea. She had gone through a series of hobbies which only said to her father that she was very indecisive.
Elsa lay down on her bed and just let the minutes tick by. Elsa could feel boredom coming over, so she picked up a book and started to read. After a while, Elsa looked at the clock and to her it felt like it had only been a few minutes but in reality, in had been a couple of hours. Elsa shut the book. Dinner would be starting to get prepared soon. Her father would be yelling at her soon if she didn't get up soon. Elsa swung her legs over to the edge of her bed and got to her feet. She left her room and headed down the corridor and she paused outside Anna's room.
She could hear music coming from within. Elsa knocked on the door and Anna yelled for her to come in. Elsa found Anna singing ABBA at the top of her lungs while trying to thread a set of hoop earrings into her pierced ears. Anna grinned at Elsa when she entered the room. Anna was all dressed up in a black dress with straps. She had a long, dangling necklace hanging from her neck and she had black heels on to match her dress. Elsa could see a blue blazer on Anna's bed as well.
"Are you seriously going to go through with this?" Elsa asked, feeling even more nervous than she had all day.
"Of course," Anna sang. "Why wouldn't I?"
"Um, maybe because dad will kill you if he found out?" Elsa suggested.
"Oh don't be such a worrywart," Anna said, brushing aside Elsa's concerns. "Everything will be fine Elsa."
"I don't know about that," Elsa said.
"Oh everything is fine," Anna repeated smoothly. "Dad thinks I'm going out with Zoë tonight. So see, the lie is told, everything is set. So, like I said, everything is fine."
Elsa wasn't so sure about that. Elsa didn't bother to say anything more on the subject. Anna was determined to do what she wanted to do. Elsa had two options here. The first one was to head out of Anna's room and go straight to her father and tell him the truth before he finds out the truth on his own and maybe, just maybe, her father wouldn't punish her for hiding this. The second option was that Elsa walk out of the room right now and leave Anna to do what she wanted to do and maybe, just maybe, her father wouldn't find out and maybe Elsa could get passed this unscathed.
Anna may think that everything may be fine but Elsa didn't think so. Elsa walked out of Anna's room but she didn't go in the direction of where her father was; in his study. Elsa's feet took her back to her room. There, Elsa just lay on her bed. Maybe if she ignored the problem it would go away – well like that ever worked. She had tried to ignore the signs about her father and look where that had gotten her.
"Okay, I'm off," Elsa heard Anna call throughout the house.
"Have fun," she heard her father's voice reply.
The sound of the front door opening and closing could be heard. Maybe Anna is right. Maybe everything will be fine. Or maybe everything will be a complete disaster – like always. Guess Elsa will have to wait and see.
Anna checked herself in the mirror by the front door before she headed out. Anna thought she was dressed to impress. Anna yelled goodbye to everyone before she walked out of the gates to her house and waited for Hans to come pick her up. Anna only had to wait a few moments for a jet black car pulled up next to her. The front passenger's window rolled down and Hans' grinning face could be seen from behind the wheel.
"Hello," he said as Anna opened the door and hopped into the car.
"Hello," Anna replied when she clicked her seatbelt into place. Hans started to drive the car down the street. "So where are we going?"
"It's a surprise," Hans said with a grin.
"That is not what I want to hear," Anna playfully punched him which made Hans laugh. "So is Mikael feeling any better?"
"A bit," Hans shrugged. "He's just got the cold that is going around. But what about your sister? You said something about her not wanting to break rules or something."
"Ah, that's my sister," Anna said. "She is a rule follower and not a rule breaker."
"Guess that's not genetic," Hans laughed again.
"Guess not," Anna let out a laugh too.
Silence fell between them. Anna didn't really know how to continue the conversation. Luckily Hans did. He started to ask her about her school and her friends that Hans had met the night that they had met. Anna felt relieved that the conversation was something she could talk about. She had this picture that Hans was the type of guy who would use long words and talk about boring stuff like the stock market or the weather. But Hans wasn't that kind of guy. He was actually kind of cool.
The mystery of where they were going for dinner was soon revealed half an hour later. Hans had driven them across town to this seafood restaurant and bar stood. Anna knew about this restaurant. According to online reviews, the lobster and the oysters were particularly excellent. As soon as Hans stepped out of the car, a man who had the same type of auburn hair as Hans did stepped forward. Hans gave the man a hug before turning around to face Anna.
"This is my brother Erik," Hans said.
"Hello," Anna said shaking his hands.
"Erik owns this establishment and was more than able to help get us a good table," Hans continued.
"Wow," flushed Anna. Hans really did have his connections. She was impressed.
"My pleasure really," Erik said with a smile. "So let me show you your table."
Anna and Hans followed Erik into the restaurant. Erik grabbed a couple of menus and led them over to a table that was near a window that looked out onto Arendelle. Anna felt quite comfortable. Hans pulled out Anna's chair for her.
"What a gentleman," Anna said when she sat down. Hans also helped Anna with her coat before giving her coat and his coat to Erik.
Hans smiled at her as he took a seat opposite her. Erik came back to take their order for drinks and placed the menus in front of them. Hans ordered a wine for himself and Anna asked for a coke. Erik smiled as he wrote down the drinks on a small notepad. Anna's eyes dropped to her menu. Anna's mouth started to drool as she saw what was on the menu.
"The lamb cutlets seem really good," Anna said.
"They do," Hans said finding the item on the menu, "but so does the peeking duck."
Erik came back with their drinks and then took their orders.
"So tell me about yourself," Hans said as he leaned back in his chair.
"Well," Anna said before she rattled off about herself. She started talking about growing up in Arendelle, what she does at school and about her friends and family. Hans had leaned back in his chair, his hands were intertwined and he was looking at Anna with a very adoring look on his face. During this time, Erik had come back and taken their orders.
"Interesting," he said nodding.
"Sorry," Anna said. "I've been talking a lot about myself, haven't I?"
"No," Hans said, smiling widely. "I find it very interesting to learn things about you Miss Winters."
"Really?" Anna giggled.
"Yeah," Hans said as Erik came back with a waitress who was carrying their meals. Anna felt her stomach growl. Erik sat the food in front of them.
"Enjoy," Erik said.
"We shall, thanks," Hans said.
"So tell me about yourself," Anna asked as she tucked into lamb.
"Well," Hans said, "You know I grew up in The Southern Isles and that I have twelve brothers."
"Keep going," Anna giggled. She was keen to learn more about Hans. She wanted to know everything about him. He intrigued her very much so. When she looked at him, she got lost in his face; his eyes, his smile, everything. She enjoyed getting lost in his face.
Hans smiled again. "Okay."
Elsa was pacing up and down her room. She was worried about Anna. She had left an hour ago and Elsa's nerviness wasn't getting any better. Maybe she did need to relax more. After all what could happen? Elsa flopped onto her bed. Maybe she should relax more. Well, that wasn't to say she hadn't tried – she had tried to read Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, checked her emails, scrolled through Tumblr and played a game of Age of Empires. None of it all worked.
Elsa sat up on her bed. Well, maybe some food will take her mind off things. She did need dinner after all. Her father may have already eaten. He had told her earlier than he was going to have leftovers. Elsa left her room and headed into the kitchen. She found dirty dishes in the sink that could only have been left by her father. She sighed before placing them into the dishwasher. Elsa opened the fridge and took out a plate of food. She placed it into the microwave. After her food was heated, she sat down and had a fork with food up to her mouth when the doorbell rang. Elsa let out a groan.
Elsa got out from her seat and headed out to the door. When she opened it, she got a surprise that she did not want.
"Hey Elsa, right?" said a girl who Elsa was sure was called Zoë.
"Yeah, Zoë right?" Elsa said sounding a little uncertain.
"That's right," Zoë said brightly. "I was wondering if Anna was here. There's this great new movie I think she would want to see. It's a horror one and there's a late night screening. Decapitating murderers and popcorn, who could ask for more?"
"Er," Elsa was starting to panic. She had to get Zoë out of the house before her father realised who was at the door. "Anna isn't here," she said very quickly. She tried to shut the door in Zoë's face but Zoë caught the door.
"Hold on," she said. "Do you know where she is?"
"No," Elsa lied. She didn't know how much Zoë knew about the date that Anna had snuck off to. She supposed she could try and explain it to her but Elsa didn't know how long they had. Precious seconds were already draining away.
"Has she gone out?" Zoë asked.
"Well if she isn't here, then what do you think?" Elsa had no idea why she was being so rude. It was just slipping off her tongue. Maybe it was because she was angry at Anna for putting her into this position.
"Oh yeah," Zoë looked a little hurt.
Elsa cast a look behind her. Her father wasn't around. Thankfully he wasn't. He didn't bother to get up to get the door anymore as that was Elsa's job to do. Elsa lowered her voice.
"Look the truth is –"
"Who's at the door Elsa?" interrupted the voice of her father. I'm dead, Elsa thought as she heard her father come behind her.
"Oh I know you," her father said with a bright smile. "You're one of Anna's friends right?"
"Yes sir," Zoë said. "The name is Zoë."
"Zoë?" Elsa's father's face adopted a look of confusion. "I thought Anna was having dinner with you tonight."
"No…?" Zoë said. She then got look of realisation on her face. "Oh silly me, of course she isn't here. She's out with Hans tonight."
"Hans?" Elsa's father face darkened. Elsa's insides started to shrivel up. As expected, her father had found out the truth.
"Sorry for bothering you," Zoë said, clearly oblivious to Elsa's father's darkened expression and the clenching of his fists and Elsa's nervous demeanour. "I'll see you all later."
Elsa's father shut the door as he waved to Zoë as she skipped out of their driveway. As soon as the door was shut, Elsa's father turned to her. He looked mad. His face was red and his fists were even more tightly more clenched than they were before. Elsa gulped in her nerviness. She had seen her father this mad before and it never ended well for her.
"You knew, didn't you?" he fumed at her. Elsa opened her mouth to say something but her voice failed her. "Don't you dare say anything," her father roared at her. "I don't want to hear anything from you. They will all be lies." Elsa's mouth shut.
Elsa slowly started to back up as her father advanced on her. Elsa ran for it. She raced up the stairs but her father was quicker. He had allowed Elsa to get a head start but he had grabbed her as reached the top of the stairs. He grabbed her around her waist and threw her down the stairs. Elsa rolled down the stairs and landed in a heap on the floor. She felt pain coming from every bit of her body. Elsa let out several gasps of pain and she tried to get to her feet. She put her hand out to push her up but she felt a sharp searing pain from it as she tried this. Elsa once again collapsed again. Elsa cradled her arm. She must have landed on her arm as it was throbbing even more badly than any other part of her.
Her father was watching all of this from the top of the stairs. He came down each step, slowly and very precisely. When he reached Elsa, he pulled her up by the scruff of her collar and then pinned her against the wall.
"Has Anna gone out with Hans after I specifically told her not to?" Elsa's father snarled into her face.
"N-" spluttered Elsa but her father's grip tightened.
"Don't you dare lie to me Elsa," he said.
"Yes," Elsa said quickly.
"Where has she gone?" her father released her and Elsa hurried to try and catch her breath.
"I don't know," Elsa said.
"Are you lying to me again?" her father said.
"No," Elsa said quickly but her father grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back. Elsa felt even more pain. She let out a yell in pain.
"I am going to ask you again," her father said slowly. "Do you know where she has gone?"
"No, I swear," Elsa said through tears of pain.
Her father seemed to consider her answer for several minutes while Elsa attempted to fight through the pain.
"Okay," he said as he let go of her.
Elsa crumpled into a heap onto the floor, once again, cradling her arm while her father stood over her.
"Well I guess we'll have to have that arm looked at," he said as if it was of no matter of importance. "Get your coat."
Half an hour later, Elsa found herself sitting in her doctor's office at the local hospital. Her father had taken her to the ER where he had demanded to be seen by Doctor Lewis – an old friend of his who had been treating Elsa for years. It had been quite quiet when they had gotten to the ER, so that when Elsa's father had made his demand, there wasn't too much trouble. Doctor Lewis had come over minutes later in his white coat and a nice shirt and tie. He led them to his office where he had carefully examined Elsa's arm. When he touched it, Elsa flinched from the pain but Doctor Lewis' smile reassured her. He then informed them that he wanted some scans, so he took Elsa up to radiology.
Now, Elsa and her father were waiting in Doctor Lewis to come back with her scans. Elsa and her father hadn't spoken a single word to each other. Elsa just sat on the bed, holding her arm. Her father was waiting by the door. He was leaning against it with his arms folded. He seemed to have a bit of a scowl on his face which Elsa hoped would disappear before they got home.
The door then opened and Doctor Lewis came back with scans. He grinned at the pair of them.
"We got them quicker than usual today," he said as he sat down on his chair. "So you two are lucky."
"What does the scans say doc?" Elsa's father said.
"Well," he put the scans up and turned on the light so that they could see the scan. "As you can see there is no break in the bone."
"That's good," Elsa's father said.
"Yes," Doctor Lewis smiled as he turned took down the scans. "But I do think that bone is a little bruise, so to be safe, I'm going to ask you to wear a splint, okay?" he directed this question to Elsa who nodded.
Doctor Lewis smiled again as he pulled out a draw containing many things in plastic bags. He took one out to reveal a black coloured splint which he helped Elsa place on her hand. Her hand did feel a little better.
"There," he said. "All done."
"Thank you Doctor," she said.
"No problem," Doctor Lewis opened the door of his office and stood behind it. Elsa walked out but Doctor Lewis held back her father. He dropped his voice but Elsa everything that was said. "So I would like my payment by the end of the week."
"Of course Doctor," her father answered, his voice also dropping.
"Because otherwise…." Doctor Lewis let his voice trailed off.
"You will get your money doctor," her father said in a stern voice. "Have a nice night."
Elsa's father then marched out of the office with Elsa trotting along behind him. Once they got home, her father just shook his head. He gave Elsa a scowl but then headed off to bed. Once she heard his door shut, Elsa finally let go of the tears she had been holding in. Her legs finally gave away and she collapsed in a heap where she was; right by the front door.
She somehow found the strength to race to her bathroom where she leaned on the sink then looked into the mirror. Her face was red and was stained with tears. Her hair was wild as if it hadn't been brushed in a couple of days. She rolled up her sleeves and started to wash her face clean of any tears in case her father decided to check on her. It was tricky to do it one handed but somehow she managed – it wasn't her first time doing it.
When she placed her hand under the running tap to finish up washing, she noticed several long white lines on her wrist – the scars of past pain. She stopped still. The only sound was the tap running. Elsa got annoying by the sound so she quickly turned the knob off to stop the flow of water. Elsa shook the hair out of her face before looking at her wet face in the mirror. She grabbed the towel hanging on rung and quickly rubbed her face dried. Once again, she caught the sight of her old scars in the mirror. She threw the towel down, not even bothering to hang it up. Elsa sat down on the edge of her bathtub, thinking about it all.
It wasn't the first time that Elsa felt like this; despair seeping through, being absorbed by her skin and then transported to the cells in her body. The thoughts about why her father did what he did, why she deserved it all were going round and round her brain. These thoughts pressed down on her shoulders as if she was carrying giant granite stones. Even though tonight hadn't been the worst night in her life, it was just the fact it was this over and over again. This was her life and she didn't want to live it; she just wanted to escape from it. In the past, she use to cower out before anything happened, just having the open wounds on her wrist relieved her pain for a period of time. Elsa hadn't done anything to herself for a while now. She used to wear long sleeves to hide her bandages. Nobody noticed; why would they? Elsa just faded into the background and never said anything against her father. She didn't know why not. She just got into the habit of just accepting what was going on. Although as time went on, Elsa didn't know how much more she could take.
Elsa's eyes caught the glint of one of her father's razors. She had stolen it a long time ago and he had never noticed. Elsa got to her feet and moved towards it. The razer seemed to be trying to lure her over to it and it did seem to be working. She picked it up in her fingers and felt the metal blades across the tips of her fingers. It felt so good.
Elsa placed the metal blades to her wrist. She wanted it to all end; to die. She just wanted to have one moment of peace where she didn't have to worry about the tiniest movement could get her thrown across the room. The thought of her father panicking over what to do after she had done it made her smile. He would have to admit that this was his fault and people would see him as the fraud he is and Elsa would be free, free from it all. Elsa closed her eyes. Her fingers were about to draw the blade across her wrist when she heard the door open and the sound of someone coming home. Anna, Elsa's brain thought. Could she do this to her? Once she did, the truth would be out and Anna's life would also be destroyed. Her family could be ripped apart by this. Elsa didn't think she could do it to her. Anna who was so innocent about everything that went on around her, Elsa didn't want that ruined. But could she survive in the meantime? Elsa didn't know.
Elsa placed the razer back down. Anna would be in trouble tonight for going out with Hans. Elsa didn't want to add to that. From down the corridor, she heard the sound of her father heading down the stairs. Guess he had heard Anna coming home as well. Elsa hesitated on what she should do. Her feet eventually took her out of the bathroom and down the stairs as well but she hovered on them. From there she could see her father yelling at her sister. She looked just as angry as he did.
"I expressly told you not to go out with that boy," her father was yelling at Anna. He was towering over her and had his arms folded. His face was full of anger. Maybe he was trying to restrain himself?
"Oh for crying out loud dad, it was one date," Anna said. "It's not like I'm marrying the guy."
"Go to your room," he pointed at the door. "You're grounded until you have to go back to school."
"What?" shrieked Anna. "That's so not fair! That's like a week away and all my friends are here to catch up with me! Plus it's the holidays."
"Life isn't fair," their father yelled back. Elsa could have rolled her eyes. She knew all too well. "You broke the rules. You snuck out without permission to see a boy that I told you was out of bounds then you got your sister to lie for you as well as lying directly to me."
"I don't see you punishing her."
"She's been punished," her father fumed. "Now give me your phone!"
"Oh I bet she's given a small slap on the wrist and told never to do it again," Anna said with tears forming in her eyes. Anna handed over her phone – very unwillingly and only with a glare from her father – with a look of frustration in every inch of her face.
"Something like that," her father said. Yeah, Elsa thought, if a small slap of the wrist meant being pushed down the stairs and required a trip to the ER then yeah, it was something like that. "Now room!" her father yelled as he pointed at the stairs. "You can only leave this house with my express permission."
Anna let out a shout of her annoyance before she went to go stomp up the stairs. Elsa quickly raced up the stairs and to her room. She didn't want Anna to think that she was snooping. Anna's bad mood was not one she wanted to get in the way of. Elsa heard Anna's door slam which shuddered the whole house. Elsa flinched at it. Elsa carefully left her room and tiptoed to the stairs and poked her head down them. She could see her father looking angry.
"What are you looking at?" she shouted at her.
She quickly withdrew her head and leaned against the wall – out of sight. She could see her father stomping off to the longue. She soon heard the sound of some sport's game being played. Elsa let out of a sigh of relief. That could have gone sour really quickly for her. Elsa decided to go check on her sister. Elsa knocked gently on her door and let herself in. She found Anna lying in a mess on her bed. Guess in her anger, she just threw stuff around the room.
"Hi," Elsa said in a very soft voice.
"What do you want?" Anna shot at her in a snappy tone. Elsa flinched at it. "I'm sorry," Anna said but this time more softly. "It's just that you were supposed to keep dad from finding out and I guess I'm kind of cross that it didn't work."
"Kind of cross?" Elsa repeated as she sat next to Anna on her bed which made Anna laugh. "Look I did try, really, it's just that Zoë came to the house looking for you and she ended up spilling the beans."
"Ah I see," Anna lay back on her bed. "God I am just so fucking angry at dad."
"Well he kind of has a point," Elsa shrugged. Anna quickly sat back up and glared at her older sister. "Well you did sneak out and lie," Elsa said her voice getting smaller and smaller as Anna glared at her.
"Well he didn't have to go fucking psycho on me," Anna said. "Besides, what is his problem with Hans?"
"Well maybe because he is not the kind of guy that he wants his daughter to hang around with?" Elsa suggested. "Hans uses people. He lies and cheats to get what he wants. Besides, he is a major womaniser."
"Elsa, you seriously don't believe what those trashy tabloids say about him?" Anna said. "They always make stuff up. They've invented stuff about our family before and they're doing the same thing to Hans. It's a crime really. Just to sell a few more, they make up some ridiculous story."
"Anna," Elsa was about to try and push the subject more but she could see it would be of no use. Anna had her mind made up about Hans and there would be no point in her trying to change it. Once Anna's mind was made up, it was very difficult to change it. At least Anna couldn't see Hans anymore. She was grounded and could only see people who her father said she could. She doubted that her father would leave for anything less than a fire erupting through the house. Well, this is of course assuming that Anna didn't sneak out again. Elsa didn't want to lie again. "Whatever," Elsa finished in a small voice.
"Now we just have got to get a way to get a second date," Anna said. "After all, the first one was simply divine." Anna suddenly got a really dreamy look on her face which made Elsa fear the worst.
"Are you serious?" Elsa said weakly. "Anna, that it not a good idea. Dad would kill you and then kill me." Plus I don't know if could take it all over again, Elsa added in her head. What would her father do to her if another night like this happened? It would probably end with Elsa going through with what she was thinking earlier.
"Oh where is your sense of fun?" Anna said. Gone, Elsa answered in her mind. "Come on Elsa. All you have to do is tell me when dad leaves, I invite Hans around and he'll be gone when dad get homes from work. See? No danger. Dad would never know."
"No!" Elsa said firmly. "You leave me out of this and Hans alone. Dad said no and no means no."
"Come on," Anna whined.
"No!" Elsa said again. "Otherwise you will be grounded until the end of time."
"I thought you would help me with this!" Anna said.
"Not when I could be punished for something I didn't do," Elsa blurted out.
"Oh right," Anna said sarcastically. "Like dad would do something like that."
Elsa resisted rolling her eyes. If only Anna knew…
"Look, just cool it with Hans," Elsa said. "Please."
"But dad took my phone," Anna's eyes lit up. Oh no, Elsa thought. "You could get the phone for me," she suggested.
"No," Elsa shrieked. Oh god, if she did something like that…she wouldn't know what her father would do to her. She would probably end up in a full body cast.
"Please?" Anna did doggy eyes. "Come on! It will be easy. You would know where dad has put it. All you have to do is sneak along and get it for me. Or if you would prefer, come get me and show me where it is so you don't have to do it again. We could do it when dad goes to bed. What time does he go to be again? I forget these things."
"NO!" Elsa yelled. "Anna, no! No means no. I am not going to risk dad getting angry at us again. So get that through your thick skull of yours."
"Fine," she finally looked defeated. Elsa felt so relieved. Hopefully, Elsa had managed to get the crazy idea out of her mind once for all. Silence then fell between them. "What happened to your arm?" she asked as she pointed at it.
"Oh," Elsa looked down at it. "I fell down the stairs. Clumsy me. I tripped over my own feet."
Elsa hated to lie but what other choice did she have. She couldn't exactly tell her sister that she had the splint because she had tried to cover for her.
"Oh okay," Anna shrugged.
Elsa hoped that was the end of it. It wasn't.
Elsa had gone to bed later that night thinking that Anna's thick skull finally got the message. As usual, Elsa was proven to be wrong. Elsa had tossed and turned in her bed; she couldn't get to sleep. Elsa had lain awake staring at her ceiling for a good couple of hours. This was stupid, she should be celebrating the end of term not worrying about her sister and yet, she was. Eventually Elsa had decided that maybe she should go get a glass of water.
Once she was out of bed and was moving down the corridor did Elsa see a figure moving down the corridor. Elsa's heart sank. She recognised that posture, the movement of the figure. It was Anna. Elsa couldn't believe it. Anna was trying to sneak back her phone. Elsa followed her. Anna was walking towards her father's study. Well if Elsa had to guess, Anna's phone would be left there.
"Anna!" Elsa hissed. Anna jumped and placed her hand over her heart when she saw who it was.
"Oh my fucking god Elsa," she said through heavy breaths. "I thought you were dad."
"Well I fucking could have been," Elsa hissed. "What the fuck are you doing? I thought I told you leave it alone!"
"Well I couldn't go to sleep without texting Hans goodnight," Anna explained.
"Oh my fucking god," Elsa said. "You're acting like a lovesick puppy dog."
"I could be."
"First off, get a fucking grip and Anna, just think about this. The world is not going to explode if you do not text Hans goodnight."
"It could."
"No it couldn't. Go back to bed."
"Fine," Anna turned around and started walking back to her bedroom with Elsa escorting her. "Hans isn't going to think I've lost interest though?"
"I'm sure he will just think you got grounded," Elsa said.
"You absolutely sure?"
"Yes!" Elsa whispered very firmly.
"Alright," Anna paused for a while; it looked like she was thinking. Elsa dreaded to think what was going on in her head. "Could I borrow yours?"
"No," Elsa said.
"Is that the only word you know?"
"No," Elsa said which made Anna laugh.
"What are you two doing?" came a voice behind them which made both of them jump. Elsa and Anna turned nervously around. Behind them was their father.
"Hi dad," Elsa said, trembling.
"Yeah, hi dad," Anna added.
"I asked what you two were doing," their father crossed his arms and stared at them.
"We were getting some water," the lie just flew off Elsa's tongue. Elsa hated to lie but this was extreme circumstances. He would just get even madder than he did before and Elsa did not like to see that. Maybe he would hit her in front of Anna. Elsa shuddered at the very thought.
"Oh," he said. "I thought you were doing other stuff."
"No," Elsa shook her head.
"Okay, goodnight," he said before he shuffled back to his bed.
Elsa was astounded that her father believed her so easily. She was sure that he would question it but he just accepted it. Elsa had no idea what went through his head at the time but she didn't care. She was just happy that he accepted it and moved on. Now Elsa decided to move onto Anna. Hopefully nearly getting caught had knocked some sense into her. Elsa then gave Anna a look. Anna looked like she was struggling with herself.
"Fine," she blurted out. "Okay, you have a point. Dad would have found us and we would be grounded and punished until the next millennium. So okay, I'll cool it with Hans until I have my phone back."
"Thank the fucking god," Elsa said. Even though Anna had said she would cool it until she wasn't grounded anymore, that was good enough for Elsa. Anna would be going back to school and Hans had to work for his father's company. It would be difficult for them to have a relationship. Elsa would take what she could get.
"Goodnight Elsa," Anna sang as she entered her bedroom.
Elsa watched Anna shut the door in her face. She just hoped that Anna wasn't going to change her mind on this. At least Elsa only had to deal with this drama for one more week and then she could go back to her regular life – whatever that may be. When Elsa got her room, she found her phone buzzing. Elsa checked it. She hadn't checked her phone in a while and when she doesn't check it, it will continue to buzz. She must have slept through her phone buzzing while she was asleep. Elsa walked over to it, unplugged it from its charger, and checked it. It was from Rapunzel. There were many messages from her that all had been sent over the last few hours.
OMG Elsa, the date was fantastic! CALL!
Elsa scrolled through the others. All her other unread messages were all from Rapunzel.
Elsa, why aren't you calling! I have so much to tell.
Elsa, CALL! ASAP!
Okay, since you aren't calling me I will just have to tell you in text form.
We went to this very nice restaurant and had the exquisite food. OMG Elsa I will give you the full blow by blow later but OMFG.
The next text was more details about the date.
Then he took me for a walk and we got ice cream – yeah I know, it's winter and blah blah blah, it's too cold BUT OMG HE SHARED HIS. Now that is true love.
Anyway, I've got to go snooze, I'll talk more about this tomorrow. AH, I am so excited, I can't even get to sleep. I'll try. xxx
Elsa gave a small chuckle at Rapunzel's texts. She would answer them in the morning when she wasn't sleep deprived. She was actually looking forward to Rapunzel jabber on about her date with Flynn despite what she had said earlier to Kristoff. It would feel good to see some normality and some love around her for once. This thought drove all unhappiness and any thought of Anna potentially breaking the rules out of her head. That made a smile come over her face. Tomorrow was looking like it could be a good day.
A/N: First off, ugh, my break is over which means I am back at university doing stupid stuff that I don't want to do like assignments, attending lectures, getting up early, ugh. Hopefully this won't impede in my ability to get new chapters out. Anyway onto the chapter! Wow, so much in this chapter, what Elsa nearly did to herself, what happened to her, Anna's discovery, so much! Wow, this chapter is really long, how did it get so long? I swear it was like 5K the last time I looked but 9? Holy smokes. Okay, onto something important now. So quick note on Jack. I know some people are waiting on him and all I can say is I am super sorry! He was meant to be in the story by now based off the plan I had in my head when I was forming this story but I got side tracked by some new ideas that had cropped into my brain as I was writing this story. By my calculations he should be on the scene in about two chapters maybe three, all depends on how I want to do chapter 7. It's just that he's in Burgess and Elsa is in Arendelle. We need to either get Jack to Arendelle or Elsa to Burgess. I have a plan guys, Jack will come onto the scene. It is just going to take a little bit of time. Hang on guys! Please! There will be Jelsa! Do not fret! Anyway, I hope that everyone enjoyed this update. Please review =)
Reviews:
Jemepo: Jelsa will come, it will take some time though. Please hold on for Jelsa! See my Author's note for more details.
QueenMaylina8Candy: Why thank you so much!
Maggietheawesome: Thanks so much for the kind words! May have to wait on Jack though. See my Author's note for more details.
Calmdownmari: Aw thanks!
ElsaTheSnowQueen2: Thanks! It may take some time before Anna finds out the truth, that's if she does find out the truth, but I do have an idea on that which you are just going to have to wait and see.
itsmorefuninthePhillipine: Jack will come soon, don't worry. See my Author's note for more details.
Miki Fubuki: Yeah it did fit, thanks for the idea. It worked really well in this chapter. Thankfully Elsa didn't blame Anna and lash out. She's been keeping it all bottled up inside which may or may not explode at some point. But yes, Anna is being a brat but not so much in this chapter I think. At least she wasn't horrible to Elsa in this chapter. Jack will come later. See my Author's note for more details.