[ Jack ]
"You've been staring at that ever since you woke up." Hiccup said. I turned around to face him; he's fixing his uniform, wiping off any possible dirt on it. I turned back around and faced the mask again. All my attention is with the owner of it.
"I'm just ..." I searched for words, but instead I ended up sighing, for no words can describe my exact feelings right now. I dreamt about her again last night. Unlike all the previous dreams I had of her where our dance just replayed, this time it was different. It looked more like a...vision than a dream. In the dream, we were walking, while holding hands, in a place filled with tall grasses. The mountains were visible from where we stood, and the wind blew a chilly breeze on our backs. She shivered and I placed an arm around her waist to keep her warm. Though my body is freezing, she actually felt my radiation quite comforting as she sighed in content. We walked further and sat down on the field of grass. We were talking about life and about us. I kept stealing glances at her, but whenever I look at her mask-less face, my vision becomes a blur. In curiosity, I suddenly leaned forward, our faces inches apart and-
The closing of a door brought me back to reality. I jumped in surprise and saw Astrid exit the bathroom, fully dressed in her uniform. "I forgot I had a spare uniform in your closet" she smirked at Hiccup.
"Yeah, well, you can keep some of your stuff over here so you won't have to go back and forth to your dorm room" Hiccup smiled.
"I was going get a dorm around this vicinity, but it was all full" she pouted and started putting her long socks on. Hiccup sat beside her, "I told you to get one earlier than usual, remember?"
"Well, I'm not as diligent as you babe." she smiled.
"Hiccstrid, please!" their heads snapped to meet my gaze. "Ants are starting to crawl on the two of you" I snickered.
"You're just jealous because you don't have a girl, dude" Hiccup teased.
"Wh-wha! Me?!" I gestured to myself, "Jealous?! How-what a ridicule!
"You're stuttering, again!" Astrid laughed softly.
"Astrid, please..." I grabbed my backpack. "Me? Stutter? Never" I snickered and made a kissy face before walking out of the room to give them the space they so need.
[ Elsa ]
"Ugh! That witch!" Punzie grunted and spanked the table.
I stared at her with wide eyes; I've never seen her this frustrated or mad before. She just told us that Jenna is flirting with Eugene and trying to hypnotize him into liking her. Of course this made Punzie extremely mad. I wouldn't blame her though, if I was in the same situation; I'd freeze the girl who's trying to steal my boyfriend. None of us said a word, Punzie tried to calm herself down but she always ends up getting angry again. Jenna suddenly walked by our table. "Oh hey Big Five Girls." she greeted as a tease.
Punzie's eyes narrowed at her, her once green eyes filled with kindness now filled with rage. Jenna looked at all of us and waited for a response. Her eyes suddenly landed on me, I was sitting beside my sister and she looked at us back and forth. "Oh my gosh!" Jenna exclaimed and dropped her food tray on our table. Punzie's eyes landed on it and using her arm, she jerked the tray off the table and it fell on the floor. Jenna backed away tensely as the food spilled on the tiles. She glared at Punzie, "That's my damn breakfast!"
"You're not welcome here" Punzie said with so much hostility.
Jenna just smirked at her, "Right. It's a good thing I walked by though, or else I wouldn't see the most wanted girl on campus." she arched an eyebrow and smirked. She glanced at me again and with a toss of her hair, she walked away. I looked at my friends, hoping they'll answer my already obvious question. They all just stared down at their food and bit their lips. Now I'm beginning to doubt something. "What's going on?" I finally asked.
Then I remembered what Astrid told me: the Mojos are looking for the girl that fought with Jack and they'll teach her a lesson themselves. Now that I realized it, I shouldn't be so surprised anymore. But Astrid said the Mojos are secretly passing out the flyers so the Big Five wouldn't know about it...but from the looks on the girls' faces, they already know. Why aren't they telling me?
I remained on my chair and waited for one of them to speak up. No one did, even Punzie- who has her own problems at the moment. I sighed and stood up from the table.
"Hey, where are you going?" Merida asked with concern.
"I don't wanna be a burden to you guys. I can protect myself, no need for drastic planning"
"Elsa!" Anna called out but I ignored her and just continued walking out of the cafe.
Them not telling me is hurtful. How they're keeping it to themselves and excluding me out of the trouble I'm in. I can only guess that they already laid out a plan for me to get out of the Mojos view. But not telling me? I don't know, that sounds like a stab in the back- preparing something for me without seeking my permission or talking to me about it. I'm the type of person who doesn't want her own friends keeping secrets from, even though I have secrets of my own.
I exited and went right, where all these bushes are blocking the view from the open area, then I bump into something- or, rather, someone. I shook my head, clearing my vision. Standing in front of me is a brunette girl with the same height as me. She has a thin figure and tan skin. I recognized her, she's a Mojo. She looked at me strangely then all of a sudden, she looked at me like she knew very well who I am.
"Well well well." she smiled. "If it isn't the girl I'm looking for." her smile widened. The way she looked at me with the devilish smile and fierce eyes, I already got slightly intimated by her. This is how Olivia Orson is described by people: intimidating and evil.
I can feel trouble coming, I know I have powers and I can just freeze this girl in a snap but I can't do that. I slowly backed away from her. "Wait!" she grabbed my arm, "Where do you think you're going?" she slowly dug her French nails onto my pale skin.
I silently groaned in pain. "Let me go!" I jerked my arm away from her touch, but it's useless. The more I try to get away, the more she dugs her nails into my skin. "Oww! Stop it!" I exclaimed.
"Why?" she asked sarcastically. "What you did to my Jack is more painful than this." she dug harder.
"Oww!" tears started to form in my tear ducts. Her long nails are so painful they're like huge pins. I can feel liquid coming from my arm. I bent in pain and leaned on a plant box nearby. She just held onto me, like I'm the anchor and she's the boat.
"I filed these babies specially for you, you must feel honored!" She grabbed that same arm with her other hand and scratched my skin harshly. I cried in pain, her cat claw-like nails cause my skin to flap.
"Hey!" A familiar voice came from behind me. Olivia looked up and let me go. I quickly pulled my arm close and held it. Blood rushed from where Olivia's nails were. "Elsa." someone came from behind me and touched both of my shoulders. I glanced behind and saw...Jack.
Oh, great
He looked at me then his eyes landed on my bloody arm and he gasped. I hissed in pain and stared at my arm. He pulled out something from his blazer and handed it to me. "Here" I looked at his hand and saw a brown handkerchief. "N-no..." I shook my head.
He rolled his eyes and began wiping the blood off with it. More blood kept coming out of the wound. I couldn't help but lean my back on his torso as he kept wiping the blood off my pale arm. His body's so cold.
"Jack?" Olivia looked down on us both. Simultaneously, Jack and I looked up at her. "What?" Jack asked.
"What is this?" Olivia asked with a stern look on her face. By the looks of it, she doesn't like what she's witnessing.
"Elsa." Jack whispered into my ear. I turned my attention to him. "Go by our dorm's building. I'll meet you there." he whispered. I nodded and grabbed the wet cloth from his hand and placed it on my arm. He helped me stand up and I walked away weakly. What is Jack going to do?
I don't want to think about it. Right now, I'm more focused on myself. All I can feel and think about is the pain Olivia caused me.
[ Jack ]
I helped Elsa stand up and watched her walk away. When I'm sure she's completely out of sight, I turned to Olivia. "What?" I asked her again.
"Why were you helping her, Jack?" Olivia asked curiously, crossing her arms.
"Why not?" I shrugged my shoulders.
"Uh! Because she's the reason behind that!" she gestured down to my right foot. It's still swollen until now, but the pain is reducing. "I already apologized to her." Lie
"What?! Why did YOU apologize? Shouldn't she be the one to do that?!"
"I was the reason why she did what she did. So I made the first move." I made up all the most convincing lies I can come up with, but even if I tried, she didn't listen.
"No Jack! No!" Olivia walked closer to me "Her actions are her own will. She's a grown up with a mind now! It's her fault!" Olivia reasoned.
"I know that and so what? We started over!" I backed away from her.
"You can't stop the swelling!" she snapped.
"Olivia, why do you even care? My problems aren't yours so get out of it!" I said.
"I'm only trying to help you Jack!"
"I don't need your help!" I yelled.
She gasped and was taken aback. She looked down and crossed her arms. She stayed silent for a while, I can tell she's hurt by what I said but I don't care. "I saw the way you looked at her." her bossy voice suddenly turns low pitched and humble.
Uh-oh, she's trying to get something out of me.
"I'm none of your business." I scolded. "Never was." I turned around and started walking away, leaving her speechless and just standing there. "Oh." I turned to her again. "I almost forgot, don't bother passing out those flyers no more." I said. Her eyes widened and I just continued walking away without saying anything else
I walked to the place where I told Elsa to go to. As I walked there, the sad sight earlier won't get off my mind. This time, Olivia's the one that pinned Elsa down. But what she did is worse than what Elsa did to me. She made it bloody, Elsa only reddened mine. When I saw the pain in her eyes, I pity her but at the same time I felt so glad I caught Olivia before she can hurt Elsa more. I looked around and saw Elsa sitting on a bench near the staircase. She's looking down, holding my handkerchief to her wounded arm. She looked like a statue, not moving a muscle. I went to her and clicked my fingers in front of her eyes. She snapped out of the trance and looked up at me. "Come on." I reached my hand out to her.
"Where to?" she asked.
"To my dorm. I'll heal that." I gestured my head to her arm.
"We have a class to go to." she said.
"So we'll skip then" I smiled.
She thought hard about it first. Honestly, Elsa seems like a good girl, the type who won't do anything wrong or against the rules and yet... she has an attitude. I hope she'll reconsider, this is for her own good anyway. She finally took my hand and stood up. I felt her flinch as she quickly lets go of my hand and I lead her up to the dorm.
When she first entered, her eyes wondered all around. I blushed at how the room looks like. "I'm sorry for the mess." I apologized, kicking a random shoe out of the way.
"It's alright." Elsa said calmly.
"We were, uhh, pretty crowded last night since Astrid slept over" I explained. "Sit." I gestured to the couch by Hiccup's bed. She sat down and looked at her wounded arm. "I'll just get some stuff." I pointed to the bathroom. She nodded, not taking her eyes off her arm.
I went in and opened the medicine cabinet. I grabbed the pack of bandage and medicine to apply on her wound. When I got out; Elsa had just taken her blazer off, revealing her white blouse. I shook my head to prevent any lurking thoughts.
"Hope you don't mind" Elsa said as she took off the handkerchief from her bloody arm. I rushed to her and placed the stuff on the couch. "Let me see." I rolled up my sleeves and took her arm. She let me touch her bare skin, I noticed how cold she is. The same kind of cold like me...odd. "It's deeper than I thought." I said, looking at the hole-like dig marks on her flawless skin. I heard her sigh.
I looked up at her with assuring eyes, "You're going be alright." I smiled then I began wiping away more of the scattered blood and applied some medicine on the wound to make it numb and less stingy. Then I started wrapping the bandage around the affected area.
[ Elsa ]
This is so weird! Jack, the person whom I share mutual disliking for, let me in his and Hiccup's room just so he can tend my wounds. I wonder if he ate something...or a sheep hit him in the head. I just realized now that if we didn't start with a rocky conversation then we would have been good friends. I would want him to be my friend! He turns out to be protective and caring. As I watched him apply all sorts of ointments and liquids on my arm, my 'dislike' for him started to disintegrate and turn to 'like'.
Not 'like' like I have deep feelings for him, more like a 'trusting-like' feeling. He looked so serious and focused while doing what he did. I have to admit, when he rescued me earlier, I expected to get beat up even more. But, no! His touch was so gentle and subtle, yet, cold at the same time, never warm- but the cold never bothered me anyway.
Why do I feel like I really met Jack before?! I don't remember meeting someone with white hair before! So what's up with him being so familiar from the start? His eyes always reminded me of eyes I've stared into before. His voice earlier really calmed me down and his touch might send shivers up my spine, but it's the comforting kind. I kept staring at him, suddenly Jackson came to my mind.
Although I haven't met the both of them for long, I can tell they're very much alike. Jackson and Jack. Hey! Both J's and has 'Jack'! I just realized that...wait! Could it be that? No, impossible! If so, he should have recognized me by now and would hate me for doing what I did- kissing him out of the blue. Yeah, he hates me now, but for a different reason. Does that count?
"There" Jack finished wrapping a bandage around my wound.
I quickly glanced away from him and pretended to still look all around their room. I can still feel his hand holding my arm, but I didn't mind. I quite enjoyed it actually. Whaa? Elsa! What are you saying?! Remember what he did before! Don't be so naive!
"So, uhh. I'm guessing you already know?" Jack began talking. I looked at him and nodded, "I know how to get you out of their radar." he pointed out.
My eyebrow arched, "Are you sure you want to help me after all that happened between us?"
"Fine, if you don't want my help then be on your way. I'm just being a good person"
I sighed and looked away from him "Okay!...and Thank You, for saving me back there" I blushed slightly.
Jack crossed his arms, "I can't believe that you just said that"
"Yeah? Well, believe it. It's not like I'm a devil or something, I'm not that wicked."
He let out a small chuckle, "So? Don't want this to happen again?" he held my arm up gently. I sighed, battling if I should accept his help or not. I don't wanna be a damsel in distress, I can protect myself. The only reason I didn't earlier is because my powers might get out of hand again and I'll lose control. Everyone will find out, then I'm doomed, no one must find out about my powers. No one.
But maybe my sassiness and fierce attitude can save me? Nah, that'll only end up in a cat fight and making enemies. But from the looks of Olivia earlier, looks like I already made one. Or three. I looked at Jack, he was waiting for my reply. Well, it's now or never. "Alright." I nodded at him.
Jack smirked and I unintentionally blushed. "Okay. All you got to do is always hang out with us" he said. "That simple. Always be with one of us and those girls can't lay another finger on you." he said confidently.
I didn't ask him how come, I understand why. The Big Five are campus royalties so anyone can't mess with them. But I'm kind of mad with the girls for not telling me what they already know. We were supposed to tell everything to each other and yet, they kept something from me. "Something's bugging you." Jack leaned his back on the couch.
"Why do you care?"
"Just pretend I'm not Jack, okay?" He smiled.
I looked at him, then back down. I reluctantly nodded at his question. "What is it?" he asked.
"I'm...kind of upset with the girls." I confessed.
"Why?" Then I told him what happened at the cafe earlier, right before I had my first encounter with Olivia. He listened quietly, I sort of admired him for that. He's so keen.
"They probably just don't want you to freak out or go into hiding." He said.
"Maybe..." He has a point but then again, they should've just told me.
"It'll wear off..." he remarked.
"Mhm." I already ran out of words. He just rendered me speechless.
Silence hovered us both. I'm just sitting here with Mr. Popular- the last person I really want to be alone in a room with. His change of aura and character is strange and a shock. I think we've both made it clear that we dislike one another, so why is he being like this all of a sudden? One logical explanation is the girls talked to him about how he should treat me, or something similar to that. Or maybe there's another reason?
"So, shall we head to class?" he stood up, breaking the eerie silence.
"Umm, yeah." I stood up as well and steadied my wounded arm on my side.
"What class do you have?" he asked.
"English Lit" I answered.
"Me too. Alright, let's go" he grabbed his backpack and mine.
Okay, now this is just getting weirder by the second. First, he was treating my wound, now he's carrying my bag for me? Odd. We walked out of the dorm room, side by side. He always sticks by me as we descended down the stairs. I mentally took note of asking Hiccup if he fed Jack with some kind of herb that made him so kind and gentle all of a sudden.