Jack smiled. Hoisting his backpack over his shoulder, he slowly made his way towards the university library. It may have been his day off, but he had received a text from Elsa earlier asking him if he wanted to meet up with her, Allison and Eric to work on their group project for Professor Lawrence's class. He hadn't hesitated to respond and had told her that he would be there before asking her to meet with him outside the library.
Arriving at the library, he couldn't help being surprised that he had managed to get there before Elsa. He stepped back to lean against the library wall while he waited. A few minutes later he heard a soft cough. Grinning, he lifted his head to catch Elsa's gaze. His eyes flicked up and down, taking in her appearance before he broke into a wide smile.
"Hi," he greeted.
She smiled bashfully at him. "Hi, you wanted me to meet you out here?" she pointed out.
Blinking, he looked at her. "Oh, right..yeah," he remarked, running a hand over the back of his neck. "I just wanted to check you were okay coming here after..you know...yesterday."
Frowning, Elsa gasped as she took in what he was saying. "Oh no, Jack, I'm fine. Besides, you have pissed me off in the library as well and I still come here," she teased.
Chuckling, he bowed at her. "As I said, I aim to please."
Standing up straight, he watched as Elsa let out a giggle, reaching her hand up to cover her mouth as she did so. "Seriously though, Jack, I'm fine. Thank you for caring though," she said.
Grinning, he tightened the grip on his backpack. He nodded his head in the direction of the door. He watched as she gripped her bag and moved to follow him. Smirking, he skipped ahead to hold open the door for her. He blushed slightly as she brushed past him. Pausing, he scanned the room until he spotted the other two members of the group.
Leaning over, he tapped Elsa on the shoulder and pointed her in the direction of where Allison and Eric had set themselves up. "Do you think we owe them an apology for last week?"
Biting her lip, she turned to face him. "Hmm, maybe. You did kind of drive me to become one of 'those' people. You know the kind who storms out of a group project and leaves others in a lurch," she reasoned.
"And yet you're still talking to me," he teased as they made their way towards the table.
Beside him, he heard Elsa groan before she reached over to lightly shove him. "Don't get cocky," she chided. "Besides, I was out of line back then as well."
Slowly, they approached their two other group members. He stood quietly while Elsa apologised for running out the week before and took her seat. Blushing, he mumbled his own apology for having been late and for his role in upsetting Elsa. To his relief, Allison and Eric seemed to accept their apologies.
Jack yawned. Raising his head, he glanced at the rest of the group. They had managed to work diligently on their project and had assigned individual tasks as well as devised a plan for the finished project.
He glanced down to his own textbook and smiled. A strand of Elsa's long platinum-blonde hair had fallen to rest on his book while she had her head down over her own notes. Shrugging, he brushed it to the side, marvelling at how soft it felt under his fingers. He couldn't help feeling surprised with how relaxed she appeared. She was normally so reserved and nervous around new people and yet today she seemed almost at ease.
A loud growl escaped from his stomach. He looked up, grinning sheepishly when he was met by the amused faces of his fellow group members. Eric glanced at the clock and pointed out that they had been hard at work for the last three hours and suggested they go their separate ways. Pushing his chair back, he started to pack his books into his backpack. Pulling his phone out, he found a text from Jamie informing him that he had gone in with Fred and Lana and would be in the cafeteria for lunch, if he was interested. Pausing, Jack stopped to wave Eric and Allison off before firing a text back to Jamie to say he'd be there.
He glanced over at Elsa and watched as she slid the last of her textbooks into her bag. Reaching over, he lightly nudged her. "So, I'm heading to the cafeteria to grab lunch with some of my friends if you want to join me...us...I mean join us," he stammered.
He watched as Elsa paused momentarily before looking at him. Gulping, he steeled himself for the rejection that was about to come.
"I'd like that," she replied, smiling shyly at him.
Elsa smiled. She'd hardly recognised the sound of her own voice as she responded to Jack, telling him that she would join him for lunch. The look on his face as she had replied could only be described as shock. He'd then proceeded to look over her as if trying to check she was really there.
Giggling, she looked at him. "So, are we going to just stand here? Or are we going for lunch?" she teased.
Shaking his head, he looked at her and blushed slightly. "Right, uh yeah," he replied, swinging his bag onto his shoulders. "Come on, it's this way."
"Jack, I do know the way to the cafeteria," she giggled as she fell into step beside him.
He turned to grin at her. They walked in a quiet silence as they wove in and out of the path of fellow students.
"You know, I didn't expect you to say yes" Jack remarked as they entered the cafeteria.
"Well, if you don't want me here, I'll leave," she sassed.
"No, no, no," Jack stammered, a blush creeping across his face. "I mean, I wanted you to come. It's just I'm still not used to you talking to me. It's nice, I like it," he finished with a smile.
She could feel the hint of a blush creeping onto her face and looked at the ground. "It's okay, Jack. I was only teasing," she murmured.
Raising her head, she watched as the familiar lopsided grin appeared on Jack's face. Leaning down, he placed his hand on her arm and turned to point her in the direction of a table. Following his gaze, she recognised his friend Jamie and two other students. She nodded.
Nearing the table, she couldn't help blushing when Jack's friends looked at her before turning to look at Jack. She watched as they exchanged knowing smiles between each other. Biting her lip, she hung back while Jack pulled out an empty chair and beckoned for her to take it. Smiling at him, she took the seat while he moved to grab an empty chair from a neighbouring table and placing it beside hers.
Her eyes fell on the group. She watched as Jamie gave her a wide smile. Beside Jamie sat a tall guy with brown, curly hair and glasses, who she recognised from a few of his classes. To his side sat a pretty girl with shoulder length brown hair. They all appeared nice enough, but she couldn't help feeling nervous.
"Guys, I hope you don't mind if Elsa joins us. We were working on our project for Professor Lawrence's class," Jack explained. "I kind of figured she may be hungry."
To her relief, the group shook their heads. Nervously, she reached for a strand of hair and twirled it around her finger. She wondered if she should say something, break the ice, but was unsure what to say.
"Hi, I'm Lana," the girl spoke, clearing the air. "The guy with the curls is my boyfriend, Fred and you know Jack and Jamie," she finished and extended her hand for Elsa to shake.
Blushing, she let go of her hair and took Lana's hand, shaking it. She turned to give a smile to Fred and Jamie who greeted her. Opening her mouth, she tried to find something to say, but faltered. Instead, she sat back and listened as Lana broke the ice, telling her how Fred, Jack and Jamie were all on the hockey team which was how they had met.
"You know, it's really nice that you can join us today. Normally it's just me. I'm the lone girl amongst these three guys," Lana joked. "It can get a bit lonely."
Elsa blushed. She knew what loneliness felt like.
"Don't get too attached, Lana," Jack cut in. "I'm going to be stealing her away to come with me and find something to eat for lunch.
She flashed Lana a quick smile before jumping to her feet and grabbing her purse. To her side she could see Jack as he grabbed his wallet from his backpack before turning to wait for her. She followed him as he led the way to the front of the cafeteria and grabbed a tray. Carefully, she balanced a bottle of water and a plate of fries on her tray and moved towards the till. Cocking her head, she watched as Jack skipped ahead to pay for his own items before slipping the girl behind the counter a $10 and telling her it was to cover Elsa's lunch.
"Jack," she groaned and shook her head. "Thank you, but you do know that I can pay for my own stuff right?"
She watched as he fell into step beside her. "I do, but I'm going to be honest here. I figured if I paid for your lunch then you'd be less likely to refuse me when I asked to steal a few fries," he teased.
Shaking her head, she watched as he skipped ahead to pull out her chair. "After you, milady," he bowed. "Besides, now that I've paid for your lunch and pulled your chair out it would be rude of you to deny me a few measly fries."
She laughed and took her seat. She dug into her lunch and listened as Jack and his friends engaged in a light-hearted, jovial discussion. Nudging Jack, she offered her plate to him and giggled as his eyes lit up before he leaned down to swipe two fries.
She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so relaxed in the cafeteria without Anna or Punzie being present. She continued to listen to Jack and his friends as they joked around before being drawn into a conversation with Lana. Her previous shyness had disappeared and she'd discovered that both her and Lana shared a few things in common. Glancing up, she turned her head to meet Jack's gaze and smiled.
"Elsa," Lana's voice spoke, breaking her from her daze.
Blinking, she turned her head to face the girl.
"Fred and I have to go to our next class. However, I was wondering if you wanted to swap numbers. Maybe we could catch up some time,"
Blushing, she pulled out her phone and handed it to Lana. "Oh sure, I'd like that," she smiled.
Elsa sat nervously tapping away at her computer as she filled in her details. Looking at the screen, she couldn't help but feel like a rebel. To her peers, having a secret social media web page that one's parents didn't know about may be ordinary, however, to Elsa it was a big deal.
For her entire 21 years she had been the good girl that her parents expected her to be. She had participated in the sports that her parents deemed appropriate and had kept herself groomed the way her parents liked. She had even studied the course that her father had chosen for her. Yet, within a few short minutes she had created a secret Facebook account under the pseudonym of Elsa Kim. One that she hoped to keep a secret from her parents. She had already accepted Lana's phone number and couldn't help wondering if the two of them could become friends.
A knock on the door interrupted her from her slight rebellion. Hastily she hit exit, pulling up a work document just as Anna burst in the room.
"Elsa," she sang, flopping down on the corner of Elsa's bed. "We need to talk."
Grinning, she pushed herself away from her desk and moved to sit beside Anna on the bed. "Excited about your date?" she asked, despite already knowing the answer.
She watched as Anna's blue eyes lit up and her smile widened. "Yes! Oh my god, Elsa. You have no idea. I swear, Kristoff is so nice. I know he seems all quiet and grumpy, but he's not really. He's like a big softy. A big, grumpy softy. We've been talking for a while now and he's so nice, kind, sweet and his dog is sooo cute. He's already promised to introduce me to his dog!"
She smiled and nodded as Anna continued to gush about Kristoff. She liked the guy. From the few interactions she'd had with him, she knew that he was genuine in his feelings for Anna, which led her to believe that he would not hurt her like Hans had. Besides, Jack seemed to believe he was a decent guy and surprisingly, she had found that Jack was slowly starting to become someone she felt she could trust.
Anna's fingers snapping in front of her face forced her from the daze which she had apparently fallen into. Blinking, she turned to face her sister.
"Elsa, are you even listening to me?" Anna asked. "You kind of zoned out on me for a minute there."
Blushing, she twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "Oh sorry. Yeah, I agree. I think Kristoff is great and I feel much better with the idea of you going out with him than I did when you went out with Hans," she admitted.
She watched as Anna beamed at her before her expression changed into a slight frown. "Sis, can I ask you something?" she asked.
Biting her lip, she nodded. She couldn't help feeling alarmed at the sudden change in her sister's tone. "Uh sure. You know you can ask me anything, Anna, what's up?"
.
Taking a deep breath. Anna remained silent for a while and fidgeted with the ring that sat on her finger. A few seconds later, she spoke. "It's about Jack Frost," she admitted.
She gulped and lowered her gaze. "Go on," she whispered.
"Flynn said he saw you sitting with Jack in the cafeteria today. He said that you were sitting next to him and you were laughing. I'm just concerned you know, because of his reputation. He's not got the best reputation from what I've heard. Also, his family are untrustworthy, I mean they betrayed Dad all those years ago," Anna stated before reaching out to lift Elsa's chin to face her.
She pulled her head from her sister's grasp and looked at her. She could feel the anxiety rising within her, but told herself to remain calm. "Anna, relax. We were working on our group project for Professor Lawrence's class. That's why I went in to uni today. We had a study date along with the two other students in our group. After we finished, Jack asked me to join him at lunch to further discuss the project and I said yes. That is all," she finished.
"Oh, I see," Anna muttered. "Just be careful with him. Hans said he's an arrogant asshole and that he has a bad habit of breaking girls hearts and treating them like shit."
Raising her head up, she glared at her sister. "Anna, seriously. You don't even know him. I hardly know him and I can tell you that I'm starting to think I may have misjudged him," she stated calmly. "Besides, Hans is hardly someone whose opinions I value, especially after the way he treated you."
Pausing, she waited for Anna to speak up. However, to her surprise, she didn't. Instead she blinked and waved her hand to smooth at her hair.
"Also," Elsa continued. "We don't know exactly what went on between Dad and Jack's uncle. Even I don't know the full story and I'm the one being forced to become the next CEO."
"You're right. It's just, he hurt you. He made you cry last week, Elsa," Anna admitted and reached over to push a strand of hair from Elsa's face. "If he says or does anything to hurt you…"
"Then you will be the first to know about it and you can punch him in the face like you threatened to do last week," she vowed.
Anna grinned and leapt from the bed. "Damn right I will. If he ever makes you cry again I will go all kinds of crazy on him. He doesn't want to cross me," she threatened as she hunched down to demonstrate a few awkward martial arts poses.
Elsa chuckled and shook her head. "Okay, go on. Get out of here. I need to rest and you...you really need to practise those moves," she joked.
She watched as Anna moved towards the door, pulling it open and hovering in the doorway. "Night, Elsa, love you," she murmured before pulling the door closed behind her.
Elsa sat staring at at the closed door. "Love you too, little sis," she whispered. "You're wrong about Jack though. I was wrong about Jack."