Chapter 6: Grounded
The next day Elsa found herself at a Starbucks in Arendelle alongside Rapunzel and Merida. She had been dragged out of her bed at nine o'clock by the insistence of Rapunzel as she wanted to talk about nothing but her date the previous night. Rapunzel looked tired but excited. Merida let out a long yawn – like Rapunzel she was out all night but unlike Rapunzel, it wasn't a date, she was watching a Grey's Anatomy marathon. Rapunzel had already gabbled on and on about the very individual details. Elsa could feel her eyelids drooping by the ten minute discussion about Flynn's eyelashes.
Elsa took a sip of her cappuccino. The warm beverage slid down her throat into her stomach, warming her insides as it went. The cappuccino was good. Elsa looked up from her drink to Rapunzel. She snapped her fingers in front of Elsa's eyes. Elsa jumped as Rapunzel did this. Her drink nearly went everywhere.
"Elsa!" Rapunzel said.
"What?" Elsa said.
"You weren't listening," Rapunzel said.
"I was," Elsa said trying to sound offended.
"Then what was I saying?"
"Um," Elsa stammered as she paused to try and remember what was being said. Was it something about the shade of Flynn's eyes? "Flynn's green sweater?"
"His sweater was blue," Rapunzel's eyes narrowed. "Elsa that was a lucky guess. You weren't listening."
"Well sorry but there is just so much I can listen to the way Flynn's eyes glisten," Elsa replied.
"I hate to say it," Merida said to Rapunzel, "but she's got a point."
"Fine," Rapunzel said but she sounded grumpy.
Elsa laughed but she made sure to pay extra attention to Rapunzel's story. Even when Rapunzel started to discuss the way Flynn walked. It seemed Rapunzel was heads over heels in love with Flynn (or Eugene but he didn't like to go too deeply into that). Rapunzel and Flynn was a decent guy – despite his pass of being a petty thief. Flynn, along with The Stabbington brothers – two brothers who had formed a gang – used to rob some stores. They had invited Flynn along as they needed some fresh blood. Flynn had gotten into a lot of trouble and would probably have gotten into more if his parole officer hadn't managed to get him back onto the right track. That had been for a couple of years now. Flynn was now crime free.
That was really all Elsa knew on the subject. Flynn didn't really like to talk about that kind of thing. Although Elsa did know that the Stabbington brothers were now serving ten years for armed robbery. Flynn had to testify at their trial last year. That hadn't been easy for him. The Stabbington brothers looked livid when they had been sentenced. Flynn was sure that they would come for his blood but Elsa thought that they had better things to worry about. Besides, Flynn had a restraining order against them anyway which would help out if they did come for him. Rapunzel had been there for him which Elsa was sure was the time when Flynn started to fall for Rapunzel (Rapunzel had been crushing on Flynn for several months before that). He was really into Rapunzel, you could easily tell that. Elsa liked that Rapunzel had found someone that she could connect with.
"So, Elsa, how did you get that arm splint?" Merida suddenly asked.
Elsa was snapped out of her thoughts in an instance. Merida's question had taken her completely by surprise. She had hoped that they wouldn't ask about it. So far, so good – they had been too absorbed in Rapunzel's story to ask anything about it but it appeared her good fortune was coming to a very unfortunate end. Elsa hated lying to her friends – in fact she was tired of it but it was a necessary thing she had to do. What else could she say? If she told them the truth, they would freak out about it and try and meddle which was something that Elsa did not want to happen. She could deal with things – well okay that was a lie but she needed to, she didn't need them interfering. All she had to do was wait until the end of the year. That's when she was planning her great escape – she needed to get out of Arendelle before it was too late.
"I fell down the stairs," Elsa gave a fake laugh which made Rapunzel and Merida both raise their eyebrows.
"You fell down the stairs?" Merida asked. "Forgive me for saying this Elsa but you seem to fall down the stairs a lot."
"No I don't," Elsa said. This time it was the truth. In fact Elsa had never fallen down the stairs – pushed, yes, but never fallen. "It just seems like that. Anna is always leaving stuff about and I didn't see it. I was too busy texting."
"Who were you texting?" Rapunzel asked. Suddenly all suspicion about Elsa's story evaporated in an instance. Trust Rapunzel to be more into Elsa's texting habits than her physical health.
"Well if you must know it was Jeremias," Elsa said. Jeremias was a classmate of theirs. Her father would never approve of her texting a member of the male gender so she kept it all hushed up. This part of the story wasn't made up. Jeremias did text her a little earlier in that day, Elsa was just lying about when he was texting her.
"Jeremias huh?" Rapunzel nudged Elsa with her elbow.
"Shut up," Elsa said. "He needed help with his maths homework."
Jeremias, it seemed, always seemed to have some problem with maths. It somehow seemed like everyone was and that Elsa was the only one who managed to get it. Well maths was a fucking bitch. Everyone hated it – well Elsa didn't really. She actually liked it. Maths would always guarantee an answer – it was logical and factual; two things that Elsa liked. Rapunzel thought she was a freak of nature – "who actually likes maths?" was what she always said. Elsa was starting to think she was right. Even her teacher hated maths. She often wondered why he became a maths teacher then. She hasn't yet gotten an answer to that.
"I'm sure that's not the only thing he wants your help with," Merida giggled.
Elsa rolled her eyes. Merida was, of course, referring to the not-so-secret crush that Jeremias had for her. It was quite obvious that he liked her. The whole school could see it. Elsa was sure that Rapunzel was already creating ship names for them. Elsa didn't like it the whole thing one bit. Jeremias was a nice guy, sure, but he had heaps of crushes. Last year he had seven which included Rapunzel. Meanwhile, Elsa didn't even feel anything but friendship for the guy. She sometimes thought she wasn't capable of that emotion. But then something told her that maybe she hadn't met the right guy yet.
"Grow up," Elsa said. "We're just friends and nothing more. Besides I don't want a boyfriend."
"Sure," Merida and Rapunzel said in unison. They were giggling together like idiots which made Elsa feel a little frustrated.
Elsa once again rolled her eyes. She loved her friends but at moments like this, she wished she had the ability to teleport or to turn invisible. Elsa checked her watch and realised that she needed to be home soon. She couldn't hang around all day and her father had set some chores for her to do. He had told her that he didn't care when they were done as long as they were done by her bedtime.
"Got to go guys," Elsa said grabbing her coat.
"No," they both whined.
"You are always leaving way too early," Rapunzel said.
"Dad has stuff he wants me to do," Elsa explained as she put her jacket on. "I'll see you guys at school."
"Alright," Rapunzel still looked a little upset. "See you then."
"Bye Elsa," Merida said.
"Bye," Elsa said as she waved.
Elsa hurried out of Starbucks to the bus stop. Elsa wrapped her jacket around her to keep her warm as a cool breeze drifted around. Elsa was only waiting for a few minutes as the bus pulled up. Elsa checked her watch. It was early. Elsa clambered onto the bus and it took off a few seconds later. Elsa managed to find a seat and she sat down onto it. Due to the bus being early, she arrived twenty minutes later which was a relief. That gave her plenty of time to do what her father wanted her to do.
She carefully placed her jacket on hook by the door and found Anna watching TV in the lounge when she opened the door. Anna looked as if the world had screwed her over. Elsa stifled a laugh. Anna was simply in Hans withdrawal. She had begged Elsa to tell Hans that she was grounded and thus couldn't talk to him. Elsa had initially been against it but afterwards she decided that if she didn't do it, Anna would go herself and get the pair of them into even more trouble.
That was something that Elsa didn't want to experience again. At least if Elsa did it, she would prevent this – thankfully her father hadn't found out anything yet. Elsa just had to act like nothing is wrong – a skill that Elsa had yet to master. She hated having to lie to her father; she knew what would happen if she was found out which was why she hated it. But Anna had begged and so Elsa had obliged. Hans had understood when Elsa had told him what had happened. He had asked Elsa to pass on a message to Anna saying that he looks forward to when they could talk again. Anna had been thrilled by this message – Elsa not so much. Anna had made Elsa swear not to tell their father about this and so far he hadn't. Elsa still lived in fear about what would happen if their father found out what had happened between them.
"How were the friends?" Anna asked in a bored tone.
"Fine," Elsa threw herself next to her sister. "You look like you've had very productive day."
"Being grounded sucks," Anna moaned.
"I thought being grounded meant no TV," Elsa said pointing to the TV.
"No," Anna said. "Dad told me the rules this morning. I can't hang out with my friends, can't leave this house without permission, can't contact Hans in any way and I can't have anyone over. He said I was allowed TV until nine though."
"Oh, okay," Elsa said.
Elsa felt unfairness burn her insides. Once again, her father was demonstrating unfairness towards her. Whenever Elsa was grounded, she wasn't allowed to even go near the TV or her laptop – unless it was work related and that was with her father breathing down her neck. Sometimes he would lock her in her bedroom and would only let her out during meal times – sometimes he just left her in there for days. Elsa sighed. Anna was the favourite child – there was no doubt about that. Elsa had known for years that this would be an outcome of her plan to save Anna. Anna wasn't here to piss her father off so therefore she wouldn't be any trouble to them thus becoming his favourite child. Meanwhile Elsa would get her twisted behind her back if she so much as breathed suspiciously.
"What's on?" Elsa continued.
"Nothing," Anna moaned again. "This time of day it's all cooking shows and I hate cooking shows."
"Oh come on," Elsa said. "They're not that bad." Anna gave her a look. "Okay, maybe just a tad."
Anna rested her head on Elsa's shoulder and flicked through the channels looking for something interesting to watch. Elsa relaxed into the couch as Anna decided to watch some random episode of Hell's Kitchen.
The rest of the week flew by to Elsa's surprise. Nothing out of the ordinary happened and Elsa was glad of it. The week had felt oddly normal to her which was something that Elsa didn't get to experience very often. Somehow Anna had managed to cool her heels with Hans (she probably didn't want to get into trouble again) which surprised Elsa to the core – that is until the last day of her being in Arendelle. It had been so close but yet so far away. Anna had been too excited about seeing Hans and so when her father handed her phone back (at the same time warned her about using it to text Hans), she instantly texted Hans the moment her father had turned his back and told him to come round in a bit.
Elsa had found out about this when she had come back from her usual morning jog. Every day, Elsa liked to go for a jog around Arendelle to keep fit and when she came back she found Anna and Hans making out in their couch near the front door. Elsa nearly lost it when she saw this scene. Her heart had plummeted. Her blood pounded around her body. Her body started to sweat.
"Oi!" Elsa shouted loudly at the couple.
The pair broke apart and Anna looked at her older sister. They both looked surprised to see Elsa there but Anna smiled very widely.
"Hey sis," she said. "Guess what! Hans is here!"
"Yeah, I can see that," Elsa said, every inch of her sweating excessively. Hans was not supposed to come within one hundred metres of the Winters' mansion and he was definitely not supposed to be making out with Anna on a couch. Elsa's eyes went to Hans. He gave Elsa a cherry wave. "Hi Hans," Elsa said in a weary small voice. She even gave him a small, nervous wave.
"Hey Elsa," Hans said in a very upbeat voice which just annoyed Elsa even further. "Pity you couldn't come to the dinner the other week. I don't think we've been formally introduced but it feels like I've known you for years based off what Anna's told me."
"Yeah, I feel the same way," Elsa said. "Anna, can I speak to you for a few minutes?" Elsa added to her sister very nervously.
"I'm kind of –" Anna started but then Elsa grabbed her upper arm and pulled her, hard, away from Hans, "– whoa, okay!"
"Are you insane?" Elsa hissed as soon as they were out of earshot of Hans. "Hans, Anna? Hans? Really?"
"Oh calm down," Anna told her. "Dad isn't even home till later."
"Dad will find out!" Elsa sounded shrill.
"How? Will you tell him?"
Elsa recoiled from the glare that her sister was giving her. "Of course, not," Elsa stuttered. Truth be told, Elsa didn't want her father finding out anything. He would kill her – and she wasn't speaking metaphorically.
"Great!" Anna sang. "Don't worry about dad; he's in meetings all day. By the time he gets home, Hans will be long gone. He's just saying goodbye before I leave tomorrow later. So dad won't know a thing."
"I highly doubt that," Elsa rolled her eyes.
Anna opened her mouth to say a sassy comment back but then the door open again and this time it wasn't someone that they were all pleased to see.
"Hello girls," their father said from behind Elsa. Elsa's inside froze solid. Her father was home. He was home before he was supposed to be. Her father placed his briefcase by the front door. "What is every–" he stopped dead when he saw Hans sitting on the couch in his house. "What is he doing here?" he thundered at his daughters.
"Um, well," Anna stammered.
"Did you invite him over when I clearly said not to?" her father yelled.
"Well," Anna said backing up slightly and speaking in a high pitch tone, "maybe."
"You!" he barked at Hans who quickly jumped to his feet. "Out!" he grabbed Hans by the scruff of his collar and pulled him towards the door. Hans quickly left the house after their father kicked him out. When he left, their father advanced on them. He looked absolutely vivid. Elsa knew that trying to explain that she had nothing to do with this was useless. He was probably already coming up with a dozen different ways to punish them.
"Dad –" Anna started but he put up his hand to stop her.
"Enough," he said. "I want you packed and ready to go. I can't punish you here but I shall ring your school and ask for them to discipline you. Maybe some detentions will get through to you."
"But dad," Anna moaned. "Detentions are stupid."
"They're not supposed to be fun. That'll defeat the purpose of them. Now go get packing." He thumbed in the direction of the stairs. "I think you've forgotten that you have a plane to catch in just a few hours."
"Oh yeah," Anna said looking a little foolish.
"Now move," their father said pointing to the stairs again. "I doubt you have packed at all. So move it!"
Anna bowed her head and quickly raced up the stairs. Elsa saw her father breathing hard. He looked so angry. Elsa tensed up. Surely he wouldn't do anything while Anna was in the house but that didn't stop him the other night. Elsa braced herself for what was coming. She wished for once he wouldn't blame her for every little thing that happened in the household but that was the way it was and has been for many years now. Elsa's happy memories of when she was a child seem like someone else's. She was sure that part of her life was a dream – well if it was, this was a nightmare.
Elsa didn't dare look directly at her father. She wondered what was going through his head. He was starting at her – unable to speak due to anger.
"When I come back from dropping Anna off at the airport," he said in between heavy breaths, "I want you to be in your room. This time for a week. Got it?" Elsa nodded very slowly. She knew what that meant. It was one of his worst punishments; Elsa was to be locked in her room without any contact with anyone, no laptop, no cell phone, no meals, nothing. The only thing she was allowed was books. "Now go help your sister pack," her father spat at her. "We've leaving in half an hour."
Elsa nodded again and scurried up the stairs and out of sight. She was breathing hard but not with anger like her father but fear and nervousness. It was going to be a week this time. He had done a few days before – nothing over five days – but now a whole seven days. This was going to be interesting. Elsa knocked on her sister's door and let herself in. Anna's room was a complete mess as everything was thrown onto the floor. There was a large suitcase on the bed that was open. Piles of clothes were next to it and Anna was throwing them into the suitcase unceremoniously looking upset.
"Hello Elsa," she said wiping some tears from her face. "Guess we did get caught."
"We?" Elsa repeated. "Don't you mean you?"
"Oh yeah," Anna repeated nervously. "Sorry about that. What's your punishment?"
"Grounded," Elsa said.
"That's not fair," Anna said looking up from the jacket she was holding. "You didn't do anything."
"Yeah, well," Elsa sat down on Anna's bed, "dad probably thinks that I was helping you."
"Didn't you get a chance to explain?" Anna sat down next to Elsa.
"Nope," Elsa said.
Anna gaped at her. "I'll go right now and tell dad that you had nothing to do with it."
"Please Anna don't," Elsa begged. "It will only make things worse."
"How can you say that? You're getting punished for something you didn't do!"
"Well it's not like I didn't do anything," Elsa said. "I have helped you with Hans, haven't I? So I'm not completely innocent."
"Still," Anna said, "I think you should tell dad what really happened."
"Anna, dad is not going to change his mind on this. So please drop it."
"Elsa –"
"Drop it," Elsa said firmly, interrupting Anna as she spoke.
They continued to pack in silence. Elsa refolded some of Anna's clothes and rearranged her suitcase so she could fit everything in it. Anna wasn't exactly the best packer in the world. Elsa, who was always neat and tidy, strived to make sure everything was as well.
"That's all done," Anna said shutting the lid of her suitcase. She turned to her sister. "Well, I guess I'll see you next year? I'm heading to New York with Céline and Audrey. Audrey's sister is at Yale, so we're going to see her. I'll probably see you in the summer though."
"Yeah, summer," Elsa repeated.
Anna gave Elsa a quick hug and a smile before she left her room. Elsa just stood in the empty room. It seemed like it got bigger without the clatter of Anna's endless possessions. Elsa heard her dad yelling saying that they were off. Elsa raced to the stairs and waved goodbye to them. Her dad gave her a glare as he left the room. That glare clearly told Elsa to get to her room as soon as possible. Elsa trudged back up the stairs in a sluggish manner. Well there went her holidays. She quickly gave a text to Rapunzel and Merida saying that she was grounded and unable to see them for a while. They texted back in an instance. Rapunzel texted back first.
What did you do? LOL, anyway, bad luck. Hopefully you get your grounding lifted soon.
Elsa's text pinged again and it was Merida.
What happened? Sorry to hear. I was hoping to go to the ice skating park later this week but ah well. Catch up soon.
Elsa quickly replied. She explained about Hans and said that she was sorry. She got a replied back from the pair of them.
Bad luck, Hans is trouble but see ya soon.
That was from Rapunzel. Merida's message pinged a few seconds after.
How unfortunate. Hopefully see you soon.
Elsa replied back with 'yeah, catch up soon' before she placed her phone on the bedside table next to her. She lay onto her bed. Soon her father would come back. She didn't want that to happen. Merida had said something about the ice skating ring. That would be fantastic to go there but the day her father would lift her grounding so that she could go do something fun would be the day when there is a blue moon. Elsa sighed and waited for the inevitable to happen.
The door opened an hour later and she heard her father trudge through the door. Elsa didn't bother to get up. She knew that there would be no point in getting up. He would just yell at her for coming out of her bedroom. There was a sound of footsteps running up the stairs and then Elsa's door open. Her father looked pleased to see that Elsa was in her room. He gathered up some of her stuff like her laptop and phone before closing the door behind her. There was a small click as the door was locked from the outside. Elsa sighed again. This was going to be a long week.
As Elsa predicted, the week seemed to span forever. Elsa had many books – some she had read more than once – to keep her company. It was the only thing that she was allowed. Her father had practically taken everything out of her room that was worth passing the time with. Once her father had taken all her clothes (except the ones she was wearing) because she had bought a new t-shirt because the old one had gotten ruined when she tripped and fell into some mud. Thankfully, that lock down only was three days (her father had done it because she had gotten an A- last year on a test and he wanted her to make up for it by studying really hard) so it wasn't too bad. She had experienced worst but it was nothing like this.
The first few days were torture. The endless sound of her stomach growling was enough to keep her up at night, so sleep was deprived from her as well. However, these lock-ins provided a use for Elsa. Since her father didn't have to concern himself with her, it gave Elsa the chance to start planning her exit from this life. The moment she could, she was going to get out of here. Elsa checked on her bag that she had packed ages ago. Her father never found it. He couldn't be bothered to check her room which Elsa was glad of.
She had packed only the essentials – clothes, toiletries, that kind of thing. There were a few things missing but she hoped she would have time to grab them. Money was going to be an issue but slowly and very carefully, over the last few years, she had saved some money. It wasn't much but it would get her a plane ticket, some food and some rent. Elsa pulled out a map of the world and started to trace routes with her finger. She had applied to quite a few universities. There wouldn't be any word until her final grades came out for the year but everyone was applying early. Elsa didn't really care where she ended up as long as it was somewhere where her father could never find her.
Elsa folded up the map and placed it back into her closet. That was only a pipe dream. She doubted it would really happen. She flung herself back onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. What if it wasn't though? What if she could actually pull it off? What if she managed to get accepted to a university that she wanted to go to and not one that her father wanted to? Well that seemed as factual as Lord of The Rings. Elsa punched her pillow into place and lay onto it. Well, she could dream. Where was the harm in that?
Elsa didn't know how she survived the other four days. She had never been locked up for a week before. She had a small tennis ball that she liked to throw around. If she didn't throw it hard, her father wouldn't complain and take it away from her. He had done that before. The ball allowed her to think about something other than her imprisonment. By the sixth day, Elsa was curled up on her bed. She was so weak from hunger.
That wasn't the only thing. She hadn't had much water either. Her father had come in a couple of days ago with a drink of water for her. Elsa had tried not to gulp it down but she ended up doing that. It wasn't until she was half way through did she realise. Elsa stared at the glass that was sitting next to her. There were just a few drops left. She picked it up and carefully navigated one of these drops into her mouth. It wasn't enough to quince her thirst but it would have to do.
By the seventh, Elsa felt like she was going to go crazy if she wasn't let out soon. She felt like the walls were caving in on her and that they would slowly consume her. She would rock back and forwards on her bed, muttering to herself. She was going insane. The lack of sleep, food and water was going to destroy her. She didn't know how she was going to survive this. If she wasn't let out soon, she was going to jump out the close window just so she could get some fresh air.
The seven days eventually came to an end and her father let out of her room. Elsa was glad to finally see something that wasn't the four walls of her room. The light of the hallway almost blinded her as she stumbled into it. She was so use to the light in her room that it would take a bit of time for her eyes to get used to new light. At least she had light in her bedroom for a decent part of the week. The last few days she hadn't had the strength to open her curtains so her eyes would take some time to adjust to light.
"I hope you've learnt your lesson," he growled at her.
Elsa could only nod. Her voice was failing her. Her father seemed to accept this and let her got grab some food. Elsa was very grateful for this. She was very hungry.
Anna stepped off the airplane after her flight from Arendelle. She walked – not very quickly – down to the baggage claim area. It didn't take her long for her to find her suitcase. She didn't know if she felt good to be back in Switzerland. She did enjoy being home but she had the strangest feeling about Elsa and her dad. She didn't know why she felt that but she did. It almost felt like they were hiding something – something big. She could almost sense the fact that Elsa had been lying to her the entire time. There was just something strange about her. Elsa used to be different – Anna just couldn't put her finger on it.
When they were much younger, Elsa used to be fun but now, she was solemn and serious. She didn't talk to her unless she had to. Elsa would shut everyone out. She would never go out and didn't hang out with her friends very often. Anna couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe Anna was over thinking things.
Anna used to think that Elsa just simply hated her. After all, it was Elsa who convinced their dad to send her away for school. It was Elsa who shut her out whenever Anna would try and talk to her. Maybe Elsa really didn't like her at all. Well if that was the case, Anna could return the favour. But she couldn't. There was just something that prevented her from trying to hate her own sister. There was something she was missing; she was sure of it. But she would, on other days, simply go back to her first assumption – that her sister just didn't like her.
Anna found a taxi to take her to school. Her school wasn't far from Stockholm – only about half an hour – which was good during weekends. It took them a good couple of hours to get to Anna's school due to traffic and the fact that the airport was a good distance away from the school. But soon, Anna saw the familiar school come into view. She paid the driver and thanked him for the lift. The driver helped Anna get her suitcase out of the car before driving off. Anna wheeled her suitcase into her school and up to her room. It wasn't long before she got a knock on her door. Anna looked up and saw that was Vivian – a New Zealand exchange student – at the door. Vivian lived just down the hall and room with Audrey.
"Hey Viv," Anna said with a smile. "What can I do for you?"
"Headmistress wants a word," Vivian said in her New Zealand accent.
Anna's heart sank. She knew what that would be about. Dad must have ringed them, she thought.
She sighed. "Thanks Viv."
"No problem," Viv said with a smile before she disappeared.
Anna left her room without bothering to unpack. School didn't start for a couple of days so she had time to. Anna made her way through the dormitories and back into the main school. The headmistress's office was on the ground floor opposite the dining room. Anna knocked on the door and she was told to come in.
"Ah Anna, good," the headmistress said as Anna stepped into the room.
Anna was a little nervous. She had only been in this room once before and that was when she had first started school. However, since that day, leadership had changed hands. It used to belong to Headmaster Trevor Yates – an American man who would pick favourites and allowed them to run amuck around the school. He had been fired three years ago when his favouritism and biased behaviour had come to light. The school board did not like that. The new person in charge was Headmistress Astrid Stjerne (1) – a Norwegian woman who was quite strict but she was fair. Anna did like the new headmistress but she was now terrified.
"You sent for me?" Anna asked as she took a seat opposite Headmistress Stjerne. Anna looked directly at her.
"Yes," Headmistress Stjerne said. "I got off the phone with your father, Mr Winters, a few minutes ago. He seems to be concerned about some incident at home – he didn't go into it – but he has been requesting that I punish you for it."
"Oh," Anna said simply.
"May I ask what happened?"
"Well, I disobeyed him," Anna shrugged. "He didn't want me seeing a boy and I did."
"Ah," Headmistress Stjerne leaned back in her chair and entwined her fingers. "I understand. Teenage love versus father's protection. Let me guess, your dad doesn't like this boy?"
"No," Anna shook her head.
"Well," Headmistress Stjerne sat up straight, "it's like I said; your father is asking me to give you some form of punishment."
"Like detention," Anna suggested.
"Well yes," Headmistress Stjerne nodded. "However, I told your father I can only punish you for school related problems. What goes on in your own home is between your father and you. It has nothing to do with us."
Anna felt elated. What was going on? Was Headmistress Stjerne really letting her off the hook?
"Therefore," Headmistress Stjerne continued, "I will not be punishing you. Your father did not like this but my hands are tied. He doesn't have to like it; he just has to accept it."
"So, no punishment?" Anna said, slightly nervous.
"No punishment," confirmed Headmistress Stjerne. "But I do warn you, if you make a slip up her like inviting the boy onto school premises, well then I can issue punishments."
"Don't worry about that," Anna said. "I'm not stupid."
"Good," Headmistress Stjerne looked pleased at this answer. "Now if I was you, I would resume unpacking otherwise it will be left until the last moment."
"Thank you," Anna said. "I will go do that now."
Headmistress Stjerne smiled at Anna and she smiled back. Anna quickly left the office and hurried down the corridor. She felt like she was walking on water. Somehow, she had managed to get away from that office with no punishment. Well, to be honest, she felt like Headmistress Stjerne was right. She shouldn't have to get punished for something that didn't happen at school. Anna made her way happily through the school. She eventually turned the corner and found Céline and Audrey in the corridor.
They were standing really close to each other. Anna could see their lips meeting on more than one occasion. Céline had one hand one Audrey's cheek and the other around her waist. Anna felt a small bubble of happiness whenever she saw them together. She really did want to see them and talk to them but she decided against it. They looked pretty busy to her. Besides, she didn't want them to tell her about their relationship so suddenly. She wanted them to tell her when they were ready. Not when she barges in on their private moment together. She swivelled on her heels and left them too it. She didn't even care if she now had to go the long way around.
She managed to get to her room fifteen minutes later. She found the same mess in there which demoralised her. Sighing, Anna started to unpack. Headmistress Stjerne was right; if she didn't do it now, it would be left until the last possible moment. Anna was about to start putting her shirts on coat hangers when her phone started buzzing and her ringtone sang loudly around the room. Anna saw the name 'Hans' pop up on Caller ID. Anna giggled when she saw this.
"Hello," she said when she answered the phone.
"Hello," Hans answered back. "How was the flight? Not to tedious?"
"It was alright," Anna shrugged. "How are you? Sorry we couldn't talk or see each other last week. My dad can be very annoying."
"I understand," Hans replied. "So what are you up to?"
"Oh just unpacking," Anna said. "It's been very boring."
"I wish I could come and help. It would be so much for fun than having to sit in on meetings all day."
Anna laughed. "I wish that too but I don't think the headmistress would be too pleased about that. There is a rule which I don't want to break."
"Now that's too bad. But I understand."
"So what are you up to?" Anna asked.
"Meetings, always meetings," there was a tiredness in his voice which Anna sympathised with.
They continued to talk for several more minutes until Hans said that he had to go because he was about to go into a meeting. Anna said goodbye and Hans promised to be up for the long weekend which was in about five weeks. Anna was so happy to hear this. It would be agony for her to go so long without seeing him. Thankfully phones and Skype were invented so keeping in touch wasn't an issue. Although Anna wished that Hans could come visit but only friends and family could visit and Hans wasn't really neither.
He was a lot more than a friend. She could get into serious trouble for inviting Hans into the school. Anna sighed and decided to resume unpacking. This was going to be a very boring day but it is best that she gets it over and done with. Would she really want to spend the last few days left of her holidays with this chore hanging over her? The answer to that would be a no. She wouldn't be able to enjoy herself and she wanted to enjoy herself for as long as possible before all the fun gets sapped from her when term started. So Anna, begrudgely, continued unpacking.
Anna was putting away some socks when Zoë marched into the room.
"Ah, so it is true," she said. "The great Annaniski has returned!"
Anna giggled. "Who told you?"
"Viv," Zoë threw herself onto Anna's bed. "She said something about going to see Stjerne."
"Yeah," Anna sat down next to her. "Basically the whole thing with Hans was something that dad did not like. So he asked Stjerne to punish me."
"Wow," Zoë said. "What happened? Do you like have detention for like a month or something?"
"Nope," Anna shook her head. "Stjerne said that since it wasn't school related, she couldn't do anything."
"Wow," Zoë repeated. "What a stroke of luck."
"I know right?" Anna laughed. "Want to help me unpack?"
"Sure," Zoë said. "Do you know Céline is? I need to ask her about that shiny Kingdra she has."
Anna laughed. Both Zoë and Céline were massive Pokémon fans. Anna couldn't really play the games. She was okay but not as good as them. Céline once yelled at her for using a grass type move against a fire type Pokémon (grass was weak against fire). Anna was pretty shaken by that.
"Er, yep," Anna said. "She is preoccupied with Audrey."
"Studying already?" Zoë said. "Man they are not wasting any time."
"Not studying," Anna said.
"Then what?"
"The other thing," Anna said. "They have a shared interest in each other's tonsils," she added when Zoë still looked a little confused.
"Oh," Zoë said as it finally came to her. "Ah, of course. I don't know why they don't tell us. It's not like we won't support it."
"Meh, maybe they just want to see where it goes," Anna shrugged. "Now come on, we need to get this mess tidied away."
Zoë laughed but resumed helping Anna.
(1) Means star in Norwegian.
A/N: Okay guys, so sorry I've been completely MIA over the past couple of weeks but I have been very busy with university work plus I've had a lot of writer's block and my friend wanted me to beta her story for her. So yeah, a lot of things have taken up my time. So super sorry. For those reading Thirst, I will try and get that updated as soon as possible - it all depends on when I can write due to university work. Another thing, chapter 7 was originally part of this chapter but I split it into two due to length wise - the chapters were getting far too long. So my calculations for when Jack shows up could be one chapter later. Also the next chapter is finished (as that was supposed to be part of this chapter before I split it) so that will be posted quite soon. After that, I have no idea when the next chapter is as I am so busy and I also have exams coming up which will take most of my time soon. So super sorry guys. My workload sucks at the moment. Anyway, I hope that everyone enjoyed this update. Please review =)
Reviews:
Charllote64: Glad to see that you have been enjoying this story (as for when you review - don't worry about that) as well as the length of the chapters - I try to make them a decent length. Yeah the same thing frustrates me but like you said, if only she knew. Jack will appear soon and yes, he will help Elsa. Yeah sorry about infrequent updates. I am in the middle of a difficult semester. Yeah, onto the thing you suggest, I have been trying to cut that down but I find that 'she' then becomes very frequent. I feel like in 'Elsa' is better as it helps knowing who's doing what but I do know what you are talking about and I am trying to fix it. On your PS, you're English is pretty good.
Guest: Thank you! Coming out with another chapter.
Guest: Finding time to write has been difficult but I do update when I can.
Guest (MixyBell): I am not dead. Sorry for making you think I was. I just have been really busy. Sorry for not updating.
sanna11: I can't tell if that's sarcastic or not. I hope it's a complement - if so, thanks.
QueenMaylinaCandy: Thanks! Jack will appear on the scene soon - I hope.
Guest: Thanks! I update when I can.
Maggietheawesome: Haha, well I doubt Hans would do that as it could corrupt his position in society. Hans may not end up being the bad guy in this. I have other characters for that. It wasn't bad for you to look forward to that. It would have made that chapter far more interesting. Thanks! I would like to think that I would have written a scene like that very well. For Jack, I have a good idea on his introduction - there may be a feels attack, there may not.
ZERO-xxx: Well I wasn't originally going to have Anna mess things up but your review made me think twice, so thanks! Jack's introduction should hopefully be good - I hope. I have a good idea for it.
ElsaTheSnowQueen2: Thanks! Well it looks like Elsa couldn't keep Anna away from Hans after all. I'll try to.