Chapter Three
"Uhg, he really pisses me off! You have no idea how tempted I was to just punch that shit flinging ape in the face!" Anna exclaimed as she stuffed a forkful of fruit salad in her mouth, chewing angrily.
"Is there a cliff or boat or something nearby so I can push him off it?" Anna asked after she swallowed, stuffing another forkful of fruits in her mouth. Kristoff laughed with Rapunzel and Marshell, Sven and Olaf glancing towards the lunch table across the large common room with the students Anna was referring to. Luckily they weren't looking at them or more trouble and drama would ensue once more, and more than likely on a greater scale than what had occurred in Ms. Honey's Chemistry class.
After the 'adventure' with her ex just minutes before lunch, Anna had been slightly more aggressive with the things she did, such as her ravenous eating she was displaying at the moment. She stormed into the lunchroom with Elsa trailing behind, tossed her school bag on their lunch table with a echoing thud and marched to the lunch line, where she held her arms crossed and glared ahead until she had her food, which she nearly scattered everywhere when she dropped it onto the table, making the rest of their friends jump.
"What did he do this time?" Rapunzel ventured as she took a bite of her wheat roll.
"He's being a huge ass-wipe, that's what." Anna muttered through a mouthful of strawberries and swallowed.
""You may not be the best looking girl in here, but beauty is only a shot of vodka away."" Anna mocked in a fake Hans voice, making him sound as much of an ass as she could.
"He said that to you?" Marshell asked, shocked.
"No, he said it to Elsa as he tried to stuff his hands down her shirt." Anna seethed, taking a long chug of water.
"Well, at least Elsa's knight in blue flannel came to her rescue!" Rapunzel teased. Anna inhaled the ice cold water and coughed some of it back into the cup, spilling most of it on her lap and uneaten sandwich. Elsa blushed profusely as the others laughed, Anna still coughing.
"Thar she blows!" Kristoff exclaimed, making the others laugh even harder. Anna quickly stood up, wiping her mouth with her only napkin and muttered something along the lines of going to the bathroom to get dried off and briskly left the cafeteria, head down and face red. While the others laughed, Elsa was stuck in thought from everything that was said between Anna and her ex.
'Egotistical orphan'? Is Anna really an… orphan? Elsa thought more and more, wondering why someone would bring up such a thing if it were true. He's a lot worse than I thought... As Elsa sat in thought, Rapunzel turned to face her.
"Hey, you alright? You know it was just a joke, right?" Rapunzel asked worriedly, hoping Elsa wouldn't take offense to her teasing. Elsa shook her head and looked to Rapunzel.
"I know, I was just… Well, he said something that I'm pretty sure hurt Anna a lot." Elsa said.
"Who, Kristoff?" Rapunzel asked, glancing at the tall blonde as he and Sven were talking about the game that night. Elsa shook her head.
"No, erm… Hans. He… well, he called her an 'egotistical orphan'." Elsa relayed. Their table grew quiet and all wore shocked expressions as they glanced at one another.
"Ouch. Yeah, that'll do it." Kristoff said. Rapunzel glared towards Hans' table and was more than tempted to carry out Anna's want of punching him in the face.
"That rat bastard! He really does love to remind her of that, doesn't he?" Rapunzel exclaimed.
So it is true then…
"So is she… is she really an…" Elsa started quietly, unable to look up at the group of friends.
"Orphan?" Kristoff finished. "Unfortunately, yeah. It happened in eighth grade after their last basketball game of the year." Kristoff started uneasily, glancing back towards the restrooms to make sure Anna wasn't on her way.
"After our big win in the middle-school championships, she and her family were on their way to the school's celebration we had set up. It was already dark and was storming pretty badly and…" Rapunzel explained and swallowed before continuing.
"They were taking a back road and, well… They had a head-on collision with a drunk driver who had his headlights turned off. They didn't even have time to react or brace themselves or anything.
"Her parents died in the collision and her older sister... well, she suffered a collapsed lung and internal bleeding, along with severe lacerations and broken ribs. Someone saw it and called the police. Luckily they got the two to a hospital, but her sister… she died the first night in the hospital." She finished. Elsa was struck with grief; she never knew someone as cheerful and friendly as Anna would have such a terrible past behind her.
"In the wreck, Anna suffered some cuts and burns herself, a broken arm, three broken ribs, and a fractured femur. She even quit the basketball team for a while." Rapunzel added.
"Don't let it get you down though, Anna is the strongest person I know. Their argument will blow over soon and Anna will go back to being your knight in blue flannel!" Rapunzel reassured. Elsa was too busy wondering what else Anna had to hide other than the wreck. She suddenly thought that she knew so much about Anna in so little time, and yet Anna knew very little of Elsa herself. In fact, no one at their table knew much about Elsa other than the fact that she is an artist.
"But then… who does she live with?" Elsa asked.
"Well, she did live with us for a while until freshmen year when she could get a job, so now she's living in her parents' house. The payments are paid off, but she takes care of her own bills with very little help of my dad, her uncle. We offered to have her live with us, but she refused." Rapunzel replied. Elsa looked down, taking in the information she was given.
Soon after their conversation and explanation, Anna returned now mostly dry and rung out of the water she spat out and threw away her now soggy sandwich. The bell rang for them to go to their next class and the rest of the day for Elsa didn't seem to matter anymore; she couldn't stop thinking about what Kristoff and Rapunzel had told her. Even for the rest of the day, Elsa couldn't quite look at Anna the same since hearing what had happened. During Orchestra with Sven, Elsa continued practicing her violin, telling Mrs. Robinson she would bring her own violin tomorrow. Sven noticed Elsa's different attitude and tried to get Elsa to tell him what was wrong, but not being able to speak didn't really help as Elsa kept telling him it was nothing.
Even during Floral Design, Elsa was still distracted and found herself hoping Anna would be alright, especially since she had that important game.
No, forget the game, I just hope she'll be alright. Elsa sighed as she stared at her vase she finished organizing five white roses among white veronica, green tricilium, and spiral eucalyptus. She turned it in so that a student can present them to whatever teacher they saw fit. There was still plenty of time before school ended and the game she was going to go watch Anna play in started, which Elsa spent doodling snowflakes in her note book. She quickly grew bored of snowflakes and started to make a new shape in the foreground of the flurry of snowflakes she created. After she was finished doodling in the foreground she put her pencil down to look at her work and noticed that she drew in the foreground was, once again, Anna. A blush overtook her face once more as she snapped her drawing book closed, quickly putting it back in her bag.
Stop drawing her! Geeze, this is going to get out of hand, isn't it? Elsa sighed and glanced back down at her drawing book in her bag.
But she is fun to draw…
"Alright girls, go ahead and take a water break! The Agrabah Gypsies should be here in about ten minutes and I want you girls dressed and ready to play in fifteen!" Coach Phil ordered as the girls finished up going over their plays. Anna and Rapunzel were the last two out of the gym, picking up all of the stray basketballs the girls had used during their short and light practice, which mostly consisted of playing Knock-Out, Horse, tossing free-throws and going over plays. Both Anna and her cousin had worked up a light sweat during the practice.
"You got those ones?" Rapunzel asked as Anna picked up two basketballs in her arms.
"Yup, go ahead and put the racks in the locker room, I'll put these in there when you do." Anna replied, kicking two other balls towards her cousin, who picked them up and set them in empty spaces on the racks and rolled them out of the gym. Anna walked by the stands and kicked two more basketballs out into the open for her to go back and pick up when she was finished putting the ones she had in her hands away. She walked to the gym door and pushed it open, about to open the locker room door when she heard a small squeak and deep chuckle down the hall. Anna stopped and looked around the vending machine that was next to the door and her heart beat quickened. Once again, there was Hans and his group surrounding Elsa, who had her back to the wall, cornered like a mouse trapped by a stay alley cat.
"You know you want this. Wearing clothes like this? You're practically begging for it." Anna heard Hans growl as his hands made a slow grab for Elsa's hips. Anna's eye twitched and, without thinking, she lifted the basketball in her right hand and chunked it as hard as she could and watched as it sailed through the hallway and made a lovely smacking sound as it connected with the side of Hans head, knocking him to the side and crashed into the tallest of the group, a muscular bonehead named Gaston. She fought hard not to break out in a wide triumphant smile as she briskly walked towards the group and pulled Elsa behind her.
"What are you doing here? Did someone leave your cage open?" Anna asked as she slowly backed up towards the locker room, hoping Elsa was getting the clue to go.
"You just hit him in the face with a fucking basketball, you bitch!" one of the boys exclaimed, a tall lean boy with dark olive skin and black hair.
"Oops, my hand slipped." Anna deadpanned. Hans stood up, his neatly combed hair now ruffled like a startled bird and eyes wide with anger and shock.
"I swear to the fucking Gods, Anna, if you so much as touch me one more time, I will make you wish you were with your family again!" Hans threatened darkly.
"Keep talking, monkey, I'm sure one day you'll finally say something intelligent. Now, why don't you and your little friends take your leave? Only athletes are allowed down this hall, and I do so believe you and your little mob were banned down this hall, or should I remind you of that?" Anna said.
"Then why is she down here, hm? Pretty sure that fucking-" Hans started but Anna interrupted him.
"She's watching the game today, unlike you and your friends. Do I need to get Coach Phil and Coach Shang involved in this?" Anna asked, glaring up at Hans, who was now dangerously close to getting physical. He only eyed her with a look that could impale steel and his friends stood ready like attack dogs until Rapunzel opened the door to the locker room and three other heads poked out from behind it; Fa Mulan, Merida Red, and Esmeralda Moore. Hans and his group looked over to the open door and saw Coach Phil exit his office, back turned to the group and stiffly turned around.
"I will make you regret this." Hans seethed as he and his group quickly walked out of the hallway. Anna snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, and pigs can fly." She turned around to face Elsa. "You can hang out just outside of the locker room until Punz and I get dressed for the game. Kristoff and the others should be in the gym soon to pick the seats." Anna said. "Is that alright?" Elsa slowly nodded, still shaken by yet another bump in with Anna's ex and his goons. Anna noticed how clearly shaken she was and hesitantly placed a hand on Elsa's shoulder, which made Elsa jump slightly and look up to Anna.
"Hey, it's fine. He shouldn't bother you much anymore now that he's tasted a basketball. I can ask Kristoff or Marshell to escort you here after school ends. Their classes are close to Floral Design." Anna suggested.
"Anna, get ready for the game! You have five minutes before we go back out there!" Coach Phil exclaimed from down the hall.
"I'll be back in a bit, 'kay?" She said, offering a smile before she picked up the ball she chunked at Hans and rushed off towards the locker room to get changed. Elsa watched as Anna disappeared through the heavy metal door and sighed inwardly.
"Hey! Are you ready for the game?" A childish voice startled her. Elsa whipped around and saw Olaf, Sven, Kristoff, Marshell, and a tall boy with dark brown hair and goatee with brown eyes. Elsa slowly nodded, glancing unsurely at the tall boy, who offered what he hoped was a charming smile with a raised eyebrow. Elsa raised an eyebrow in return, wondering what in the world he was trying to do.
"Oh, this is-" Olaf started.
"Flynn Rider, at your service." He said with a playful bow. Elsa's eyebrow raised further.
"He's Eugene Fitzherbert, Rapunzel's boyfriend!" Olaf finished, ignoring Flynn's self-introduction. His face fell in horror and he turned away.
"Great, now I really am a failure!" He cried dramatically.
"Well, it's not our fault your mom gave you a weird ass name." Kristoff said.
"Rude." Flynn pecked.
"Anyway, I guess the girls are getting ready for the game. Common, let's go get our usual seats before their taken!" Olaf said, grabbed Elsa's hand, and rushed off into the gym with the others trailing behind, Elsa trying to keep up with the short boys quick legs. They jogged to the stands where a couple was already seated; a tall man with dark brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard and mustache wearing a large green hoodie that read 'Lady Reindeers #09' with a silhouette of a prancing reindeer, and a fare woman with long lighter brown hair and green eyes, wearing a green jersey with gold trim that ready 'Lady Reindeers #01' and a white T-Shirt underneath it. Elsa ruled that the couple sitting there was Rapunzel's parents and Anna's Aunt and Uncle.
"Hello, kids! I see we have a new guest! You must be Elsa then!" The tall man greeted warmly. Elsa nodded and offered a small smile in return.
"We heard a lot about you from Anna and Rapunzel!" He went on.
"All good things, dear, all good things." The woman reassured when Elsa looked worried.
"I'm Rapunzel's father, Everick Golding, and this is my wife, Natalie Golding. It's a pleasure to meet you!" The man greeted and held out a hand for her to shake. Elsa grabbed it and gave it a gentle shake and sat down in front of the pair between Marshell and Olaf. Elsa looked around as the gym quickly filled with other parents, friends, and siblings, quickly erupting in chatter which reminded her of her classes. Soon after sitting and chatting with the Golding's, a group of girls wearing solid blue sweats entered, led by a short plump man with a large white beard and dark eyebrows, wearing a ridiculously large and fluffy turban with a blue feather sticking out of the top. Elsa gave a small giggle as the sight of the cheerful man.
"Everyone calls him 'The Sultan' because he used to be the principle of Agrabah High School before he retired and became a coach. I don't think anyone really knows his name." Marshell explained. Elsa nodded and took a look at the players who had entered and began stripping their sweats, revealing white jersey's with blue trim, and they all read 'Lady Gypsies' which felt rather redundant to Elsa, since most gypsies were female anyway, but it was no problem with Elsa as they did fit the word of 'gypsies'. They all had dark or tanned skin with hair colors ranging from black to light brown, all of which had their hair up in a ponytail of some form and all had different numbers on their jerseys. They all stretched and pulled out basketballs from the racks on the sidelines of the court and began their drills, completing them all with minimal mess-ups, or according to Elsa's knowledge. To her, they ran around, passing each other the ball in weird patterns and never simply picked up the ball and ran with it, which confused her.
The only skillful thing she noticed was how well the girls went through the motions and kept putting the ball in the basket at a consistent rate, which was the only thing about that sport she understood. Finally, girls clad in green jerseys with gold lining walked in, two of which Elsa recognized as Anna and Rapunzel. Mr. and Mrs. Golding gave a loud holler and whoop which was quickly joined with much more cheering from the rest of the stands on the side Elsa was sitting on.
"Is the game starting?" Elsa leaned in and asked Olaf. He shook his head.
"Nope, they're going to warm up first, then they'll put the jumpers in the middle and then the game will start!" He explained. The only thing Elsa got from that was the game won't start for a little while. Elsa sighed and watched as Anna's team also grabbed basketballs and started shooting at a different goal than the Gypsies were, which made sense to Elsa; one of the only things that was making sense. Elsa sat and watched as Anna's team stretched on the sidelines on the side where Elsa and the group were sitting.
Elsa only stared as Anna stretched; she could see her tanned freckle infested shoulders and arms, and her legs were lean; Elsa could see the details in the muscular runner's legs even from the stands. Elsa wanted to look away, to keep herself from staring at the (even more charming) redhead, but she found it increasingly difficult to tear her eyes away from the lean body that was flexing in front of her. Anna stretched her arms over her chest and twisted one way, then another, switching arms and doing the same thing before she stretched her arms up above her head, showed just how lean the redhead really was, not leaving much else to the imagination of the blonde artist who was looking on in vague interest. Finally, Anna dropped her arms and rolled her shoulders back, now starting to stretch out her legs, lunging forward on one leg, flexing the tense muscles in her calves and thighs, switching legs, and doing the same thing. She stood up and lifted one leg behind her, stretching her quads and holding onto Rapunzel's shoulder for balance.
Elsa was unaware that she had started to bite her lip as she stared on, hands itching to bring out her sketch pad and draw the redhead before her, wanting to capture every detail in her features she could and the urge was nearing impossible to fight against.
Please dear God, just stop stretching and get the game started! I can't take any more of this!
"Hello, earth to Elsa, is anyone still there?" Elsa felt a tap on the side of her head and nearly jumped out of her skin and turned to the source of tapping and saw Marshell smiling smugly.
"Welcome back from your departure. I take it you didn't hear a word Mr. Golding said?" He asked. Elsa's face lit up and she turned to face the couple who were now smiling down at her with amusement in their eyes.
"I'm sorry, I was… lost in thought. What was it you said?" Elsa asked nervously. Mr. Golding laughed and shook his head.
"I was just saying that you looked rather familiar. You aren't, by chance, Agdar and Idun's daughter, are you?" He asked. She's only heard close clients call her parents by name before, which she has always found a bit odd. Elsa nodded slowly in response as she heard small gasps escape the group of friends she was around.
"I thought so. We're close friends with your parents." Mr. Golding informed with a smile.
"Been so since high school." Mrs. Golding added. Elsa hadn't heard her parents talk about any friends, though then again, they were hardly home to talk anyway and when they were, they were indulged in their work. She did, however, vaguely remember overhearing her parents mention something about the Golding's and a different family name she's only heard repeated once four years ago; Arendelle, she believed. Something close to that at the very least.
"Wait, you're a Hieme? As in, Elsa Hieme?" Marshell asked, appalled. Elsa nodded slowly, afraid as to what may come next.
Yes, Hieme, as in the super rich family who owns twenty three oil reserves and the most well-known sports teams of all. Elsa grimaced for what might be going on in their heads during the awkward silence.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?! You can use that against Hans so he can stop fucking around with you! I mean, you're so rich you can hire body guards to beat the crap out of him whenever you want!" Kristoff exclaimed. Elsa bowed her head, unable to look at them.
"She probably has a good reason not to have mentioned her family status. I can't blame her there." Mrs. Golding defended.
"Please don't treat me differently now that you know…" Elsa pleaded. "I just want to be treated like everyone else, not like some royal."
"Sure thing, Princess!" Flynn piped up. Kristoff elbowed him in the stomach for his comment, noticing Elsa's negative reaction to it.
"That means no stupid pet names, 'Flynn'." He said.
"Sorry, sorry. Spur of the moment." He apologized, holding his stomach.
"Look! The game's about to start! Looks like Anna's jumping!" Olaf exclaimed, tugging on the sleeve of Elsa's shirt. Elsa turned and saw that there were two girls were crouched in the center of the court with members of each team placed in specific spots around them, Anna and a tall Gypsy who looked as though she had twice as much muscle mass than the short redhead. A man in black and white striped shirt, the 'ref' as Marshell explained quietly, approached the two with the basketball in one hand, his other dangling at his side, and a silver whistle in his mouth, glancing between the two. Elsa saw Anna flash a smile up at them from where she was crouching and Elsa couldn't help but to smile back.
The whistle blew and the ref tossed the ball straight into the air and both girls leapt up to it, hands extended. The Gypsy was tall and fast, but Anna was faster and jumped higher, as her fingers tipped the ball towards the team members on her side and she took off down the court with the other players as a tall girl in green with dark hair, wearing the number 45 on her back and front, caught the ball and swiftly dribbled down the court, weaving in and out between the Gypsies in blue and tossed the ball between the hands of one and into the hands of Rapunzel, who had ran ahead of her as quickly as possible.
Elsa tried to keep her eyes on Anna, which she thought wouldn't be that hard, since she was one of the only redheads on the team, but she kept losing her, getting distracted with the other players movements. The game was extremely fast paced, confusing Elsa as the movements finally slowed down, the girls on each team taking places on specific points on the court, each Gypsy was on each Reindeer, blocking them the best they could as the girls in green kept switching directions at random points, trying to shake their blocker. Rapunzel stood at the top of the key, dribbling the ball, her eyes flicking around for an open girl.
Just then, within a split second, Elsa saw a streak of red and green dash out from the low wing and forward towards Rapunzel, a short Gypsy trailing behind her. One of the girls in green at the top post ran in front of the Gypsy, blocking her from intercepting Anna as she rushed Rapunzel, Rapunzel rushing to the spot where Anna was previously. Just as they passed each other, Anna suddenly had the ball in hand and was moving quickly towards the post, the Gypsies confused as to where the ball was, still thinking Rapunzel had it. Just as Anna was about to go in for a lay-up, a tall Gypsy jumped up to intercept the ball, but Anna faked her out, bouncing the ball beside her and between the legs of another Gypsy and into the hands of a different redhead clad in green and she jumped up, making a shot into the basket.
The Arendelle side of the stands erupted in applause as Elsa joined them, finding herself beginning to be sucked into what she thought she hated most. Olaf gave shouts of glee and Marshell, Kristoff and Flynn were all yelling happily, Sven fist-pumping happily. The girls in green retreated back to the other side of the court with all but two of the five Gypsy players, one of them going out of bounds to pass it in to their team, then running to meet up with the rest of their team, taking their place in front of number 45. The Gypsy with the ball walked calmly back to the top of the key on their side, giving her teammates plenty of time to get set up. Once she was over the half-court line, she dashed forward as Rapunzel came up to meet her, arms up, but the Gypsy got rid of the ball too quick for her to catch and landed in the hands of another in blue by the wing and she too dashed forward with grace, spinning between the other redhead and a short girl with black hair and wide eyes.
The Gypsy jumped to make a lay-up, but another flash of red and Anna was there and jumped as well, smacking the ball out of the Gypsy's hand and right into the face of another Gypsy. A loud shriek of a whistle sounded.
"Foul on white, number 01. Two free shots." One of the two refs called. Elsa furrowed her eyebrows.
There's no white team on the court. What the heck is a free shot and why do they get two of them? She turned to voice her concerns to Marshell, but he was busy booing with the rest of the crowd.
"That wasn't a foul! She hit the ball, not the girl! Come on, open your eyes!" He shouted, but his shouts were drowned in the sounds of applause from the Agrabah side. Everyone lined up in the sides of the post with the Gypsy who was hit in the face at the top of the key. The coach passed her the ball and the entire gym grew silent. The Gypsy took one dribble, another, and shot, swishing it into the basket. The ball went back into the refs hands and he passed it to her once more. She took one dribble again, then another, and shot, making it into the basket after hitting the backboard, bringing the points up 2-2. As soon as the ball hit the backboard, everyone exploded from where they were standing and made a grab for the ball, but once it came into the basket, everyone retreated back to the Arendelle side but Anna and the short girl with black hair.
Anna passed it in, and the short girl passed it back, sprinting back towards the others and taking her place at the post by the goal. Anna jogged back with the ball.
"Set it up! Diamond!" She called. The girls all took what looked like random points on their side; one girl was down by the baseline, another at the high post, and the remaining two on the wings. Just as the last girl was getting situated, Anna quickly bounce-passed the ball between the Gypsy players legs and into the hands of the other redhead, who passed it just as quickly across the lane and into the hands of the short black haired girl. As the ball situated between the three players, the girl in green back by the baseline was following the direction of the ball, but never leaving, and the girl on high post was going the opposite direction the baseline girl was. It seemed like a very simple play, but it was quickly tiring out the Gypsy defenders, as they were shuffling back and forth between the girl with the ball and their spot in the court.
There was finally an opening that Anna took and she charged forward, the high post girl blocking the Gypsy who came in to intercept. Instead of shooting, Anna bounce-passed it to the baseline girl, who took the shot and made it. Another eruption of applause from the Arendelle side commenced as another retreat was made by the two teams as the same two Gypsies from before passed the ball back in. A couple more minutes went by and the Gypsy team was ahead by four points. Finally, the Arendelle team coach called for a timeout and both teams jogged to their coaches. The crowd began to talk excitedly.
"Anna's distracted…" Marshell muttered. Elsa turned to look at him and saw concern on his face. "She'd never let another team get that far ahead of them in the first quarter." He elaborated. Elsa turned back to observe Anna; she was panting hard and she was drenched in sweat. Elsa watched as she grabbed a paper cup and filled it with water by the large dispenser between the two teams and took a long gulp, slicking the sweat-drenched bangs back to stick with the rest of her hair in her ponytail and wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel. As the rest of the team approached, everyone stood up and gathered close together close to the coach as they spoke softly, the girls who were playing hunched over panting.
"If she keeps this up, they'll get the upper hand, and then they'll never win." Marshell went on. Elsa didn't know what he meant by that; she seemed to be doing just fine in the game, but then again, Marshell would know better since he's been to more of her games alone than Elsa has been to any game in her life. The buzzer sounded, which scared Elsa nearly out of her skin and earning a laugh from the group of friends she was with.
"Never been to a game, huh?" Mr. Golding asked. Elsa shook her head, her heart still beating rapidly.
"Defense on three; one, two, three, DEFENSE!" The Gypsy team chorused together and broke out, two different girls now substituting.
"Teamwork on three; one, two, three, TEAMWORK!" The Reindeer team mocked and broke out as well, Anna sitting out on the chairs, wiping her face free of sweat with a towel, hunched over.
"Awesome, I'm going to talk to her. Be back in a bit." Kristoff said and walked down the stairs of the bleachers to the very bottom row right behind Anna. Elsa couldn't hear what was being said, but she could see Anna shake her head tiredly. She saw Kristoff's head drop and pick back up, said something more and, after a pause from Anna, she nodded her head. During the entire exchange Anna didn't look back to him, nor did the coach notice Kristoff giving Anna a pep-talk. After another nod from Anna, Kristoff stood up and quickly returned to the bleachers where the others were.
"Something was wrong?" Olaf asked as he sat down.
"Yeah, apparently she's still thinking about what Hans said earlier." He informed. Marshell sighed.
"She really can't let things go, can she? Oh well, at least you talked some sense into her" He added.
She's still upset about that, huh? She sighed to herself. You're such a hypocrite, Anna, telling me not to take what he said seriously.
The game continued with Arendelle in possession, a Gypsy member getting a foul for grabbing the substitute Coach Phil put in for Anna, a tall girl with long brunette hair. Shooting her free throws and making both, the score went up Gypsies-12 and Reindeer's- 14. Another buzzer sounded and everyone on the court paused and jogged back to their coaches, Anna's team retreating out of the gym while the other team retreated to a corner furthest away from everyone.
"What's going on?" Elsa asked as the boys stood and stretched.
"Halftime. We're going to get a few snacks at the concessions. Want anything?" Kristoff asked. Elsa thought about it. She wasn't really hungry, but she wondered if they had anything good to drink.
"Yeah, I'll go with you." She said as she also stood and stretched, not realizing how long they've been sitting until she stood up. She followed the boys out of the gym and into a room that branched off of the gym and was hit with the smell of pop-corn, nacho's, and other food items of questionable origin.
"Alright, what do you want? I'm buying." Kristoff asked.
"Just water will be fine…" Elsa replied, sounding distracted. Kristoff raised an eyebrow at Elsa, but she didn't notice as she was looking back into the gym and toward the locker rooms. Kristoff shrugged and bought the snacks, leading the way back to the bleachers where Mr. and Mrs. Golding were still seated and handed everyone the snacks they told Kristoff to buy for them. By the time they sat down and were situated, the Lady Reindeer's emerged back from the locker rooms, looking more energized and a lot more excited. The buzzer sounded and the Gypsies broke their group to join their five players in the court with the five Reindeer players.
Anna was back in the game, but Rapunzel was sitting out on the bleachers, a tall brunette taking her place on the court. The whistle sounded and the Gypsies were in possession, going to the opposite goal they were shooting at from before.
"Wait, hang on. What's going on now?" Elsa asked, clearly confused.
"The teams switch goals after half time. Now we're shooting over there." Olaf explained.
"But why?" Olaf pondered the question with a thoughtful expression.
"I don't really know! They've just always done it this way." He said with a laugh. It didn't clear anything up for Elsa, but at least she knew they weren't going to score on the wrong goal.
The Gypsy player with the ball in possession didn't even wait for her team to get situated before she charged right into the lane for a layup. There was a sudden streak of red and when the Gypsy went up, the ball was gone and Anna was halfway down the court with it, the short black haired girl and tall brunette trailing behind her. After a split second of confusion on the Gypsy side, they bolted after Anna as she came in for a lay-up. A particularly tall Gypsy managed to get ahead of her and stood in front of her like a brick wall, blocking all chances she had of making a shot. Anna didn't have time to stop, but she quickly bounce passed the ball to the short brunette, who dived for the ball and passed it under the legs of the tall Gypsy blocking Anna, and into the hands of the tall brunette, who jumped and shot, earning two extra points for the Reindeer's.
After several more shots, questionable tactics and two buzzers, the game was finally in the last quarter with both teams tied with 28 points and three minutes left on the clock. A time out was called seconds after the game began once more and both teams went to their coaches.
"Looks like Coach Phil is giving them their usual two minute pep talk." Marshell said. Elsa watched as the Reindeer's were getting excited, Anna especially since she was jumping up and down on the balls of her feet.
How can she still have this much energy after all of this running and jumping?!
The two teams broke off and went back into the game. There was clearly a change in tactic with the Lady Reindeer's plans, as Anna was now on post and the tall brunette up top with the ball, calling the plays. The Gypsies have placed double guards on Anna, quickly figuring out she was the key player in the game as she put up most of the points and stole the ball most often. There was a lot of work to get her open, but it would only be for a split second, and in that second, the brunette point guard would be busy trying to shake her guards. She tried passing it to Rapunzel, who was put back into the game, but it got intercepted by a quick Gypsy member who took off with it down to the other side of the court.
Only twelve seconds left…
The Gypsies quickly set up with the Reindeer's scattering to find the ones they were guarding before. It was much quicker pace, but also a lot sloppier, both teams knowing very well whoever made the next shot would be the ones to win the game. The ball switched hands with much more speed than before, confusing Elsa as she tried to keep up with who was in possession. The Gypsies quickness was short lived however, as the short one made a mistake and the ball sailed away from their possession and into the hands of the energetic redheaded Reindeer.
Two seconds…
Anna quickly looked up to the goal on the other side of the court.
You can't make it, even if you sprint the entire way!
Anna reared the hand back, ball in hand, and chunked it towards the goal. The entire gym held its breath as the orange ball sailed through the air, the timer ticking down to one second remaining just as the ball hit the square of the backboard as it came down, the last buzzer sounding as the ball fell through the net, and the gym erupted in ear splitting cries of joy, the Reindeer's jumping up and down with glee as the Gypsies solemnly looked at the scoreboard at their losses; Gypsies- 28, Reindeer's- 30.
Elsa found herself cheering along with the friends who brought her, Olaf jumping up and down with pure bliss as he was grasping Sven's sweater, Sven laughing silently, Kristoff, Flynn and Marshell dancing around like they won the championship, and Mr. and Mrs. Golding giving proud smiles and shouts to their daughter and niece. Elsa heard, though it was drowned out by the loud cheering, someone exclaim 'damn it!' and storm away, though when she looked back, no one who could have said it was there.
The two teams lined up behind their own teammates and walked toward one another, giving each teammate on the opposite team a high five and a well-earned 'good game' as they passed. Once the last two exchanged their good sportsmanship, the teams gathered around their coaches for their respected 'good job's and more information, more than likely for the upcoming games and practices. When Coach Phil was finished talking to the team members, Anna and Rapunzel split off from the group and sprinted towards their friends in the bleachers.
Rapunzel jumped and nearly tackled her parents to the ground in her excited hug, laughing wildly, but Anna passed her by, Elsa rushing down the stairs to greet her, though tripping in her efforts to navigate the smooth seats and falling directly into the strong arms of Anna as she made it in time.
Elsa felt the shorter girls arms wrap around her middle as she pulled the taller but lighter girl up and away from falling on her face. Elsa instinctively flung her arms around Anna's neck so she wouldn't slip out of her embrace and squeezed her eyes closed, inhaling sharply. Even though Anna was thoroughly drenched in sweat, Elsa could still smell the light fragrance of strawberries and Lilacs as she buried her head in the girl's shoulder. Anna lifted her away from the bleachers and lowered her back down to the safety of the wooden floor, but the two of them kept the embrace a second longer before Elsa quickly realized what the scene must look like to the other on-lookers. Both she and Anna quickly let go, Elsa's face a violent shade of red as Anna's was redder than it already was from all of the running she endured during the long time she was in the game.
"Awesome job, girls! And Anna, that was a great shot!" Mr. Golding praised, snapping out of her embarrassed state. She smiled widely in thanks.
"So, how was your first game, Ms. Elsa?" Mrs. Golding asked. Elsa glanced at Anna, then back to Mrs. Golding, smiling kindly.
"It was great, Mrs. Golding!" She answered.
"That's good! I didn't think you were a sport-watching kinda gal though." Rapunzel commented.
"I'm not usually, but this was surprisingly fun. Congratulations on your win!" She said with a smile, though more to Anna directly than the team as a whole.
"Hey, we're all going to have a celebration at my house for our first win! Wanna come, Elsa?" Rapunzel asked.
"We can drop you off at your parents house when it's over. It'll end at about ten or until everyone gets tired of each other!" Mr. Golding offered. Elsa hesitated. Here was her chance to get closer to the new friends she's made, but she wasn't sure if her parents would let her.
Even if they say yes, which I'm sure they will, I don't know if I will be able to handle another awkward situation with Anna like that!
"Please? They have cake, and sodas, and chocolate, and snacks, and chocolate-" Anna begged.
"You said chocolate twice, Anna!" Olaf caught.
"Chocolate is awesome! I don't think I could survive without chocolate!" She defended. Elsa gave a light giggle.
"I'll have to call my parents first though." Elsa answered, pulling out a thin blue flip phone and dialing her mother's number and waiting while the others watched with anticipation.
"Hello darling! Is the game over?" Her mother answered.
"Yes, it's over, but my friends wanted to know if I could go to a celebration with them. It's the Golding's." Elsa added.
"The Golding's?! We haven't seen them in ages! Sure, honey! Go have fun! Do you want to call us when that's over so we can pick you up, or are they dropping you off?"
"They said they can drop me off whenever. It ends at ten though." Elsa informed.
"Alright then! We'll see you when you get home! Love you!" Her mother answered.
"Love you too." Elsa hung up and turned to the others.
"I can go."
CHAPTER END
Well, sorry about the long pause guys. Anywhoo, more comedic bantering! Gotta love it though! The Lady Reindeer team will be introduced in the next chapter and more plot shall be released! We'll also get to see more about the characters pasts! Wooo! I'll try to update more often XD
***EDIT***
Sorry about the sudden delete guys, I had to update it because I was missing a very important story break XD Anyway, it should be fixed now, so enjoy!