Kristoff looked at the clock. It was five already. He hurried out of bed, getting dressed and on the road in record time. He was going to regret skipping breakfast, and he hated spending the extra on something from the vending machine at the boathouse, but it would have to do today.

He wasn't sure why Coach Mattias hadn't given them the day off practice today, since they'd just had an out of town regatta, but then again, there was another one coming up in two weeks, and he had mentioned something about switching around the boats this week. Kristoff would find out who he'd be trapped together with for the next few weeks.

The parking lot at the boathouse wasn't very big to begin with, and arriving late meant that he had to take the last spot by the driveway. It looked like everyone was already inside, and Kristoff had to scoot around the edge of the room to get to the vending machine.

Elsa and Olaf were in a cluster with Coach Mattias, and he could tell they were discussing the new boat lineups. Mattias looked his way, and cleared his throat. Kristoff knew he must be the last one to arrive.

"Good morning, everyone!" the coach began. "Now that everyone is here, I'll go over the lineups for our next regatta. Remember, it's in just two weeks, so we need to make the best of our practice time."

There was some indistinct mumbling until Mattias cleared his throat again.

"Now then," he continued, "first boat, with Elsa…"

Kristoff let his mind wander, eating the granola bar he'd just gotten from the vending machine, until he unexpectedly heard his name in the eight seat.

"Me?" he asked.

"Yes, you, Kristoff," Mattias sighed, "now, let's not waste time, get going!"

Kristoff obliged and followed Elsa and the other rowers to their assigned boat.

"...second boat, with Rapunzel…" Mattias continued in the front room.

Elsa didn't seem to be one for chitchat, and had them all lined up and lifting the boat before Coach Mattias had even finished with the lineup for the second boat.

They walked the boat to the water, lifted it in, then went to get their oars. As he sat down, Kristoff realized how much he'd gotten used to looking straight ahead with nobody in front of him in the last few weeks, and now he had Elsa a few feet away from him for the next two hours. She tested her headset briefly, asking Eric in the bow to raise his hand if he heard her, and he did, so she ordered them to shove off.

The sun was just rising as they got to the point in the river where Mattias was going to meet them in his launch, and Kristoff grimaced as they turned a little so he was facing the light head on.

"What's the matter?" Elsa asked quietly, her microphone off.

"Sorry, sun's in my eyes," he apologized.

Elsa shrugged. "Well, keep your eyes closed if you need to? You did well enough in Olaf's boat not looking at him, I trust you."

"Uh, thanks," Kristoff replied. "How did I end up in this boat, anyway?"

"I mean, your four actually won its race?" Elsa replied. "That seems simple enough."

Kristoff nodded. He had been happy enough with their result, especially since Hans had basically been hungover, and hadn't paid attention to how the rest of the team had done. The other boats were pulling up, and he could see Mattias in his launch approaching from the boathouse.

"Olaf is coxing and eight now?" Kristoff asked without thinking.

"Well," Elsa said, "Mattias figured it would be fair to give him a better boat, too."

"Are they letting one of the high school students cox that boat?" Kristoff asked. "That one's pretty tricky."

"No, don't worry," Elsa said. "It's my sister there. She's still in college, so she'll only be here for a month."

Kristoff nodded. "Hans mentioned something about that this weekend."

With the sun behind her, Kristoff couldn't tell what Elsa's expression was, but he was pretty sure he heard a sigh, but Coach Mattias was arriving then, and Elsa had turned her microphone back on. It was time for practice to begin.