Well, since nobody voiced their opinion on updates, you all will continue to receive whatever I dish out.

So, I pose another poll: Anyone have any ideas what Elsa's "secret" is? I won't tell you if you're right or wrong, but it could still be fun. I love interacting with my readers, so please, humor me.

Enjoy!

Chapter Three: Blow by Blow

It was the next night when I ran into her again. I was walking into the locker room of the gym around eleven-thirty at night, and there she was in all her glory, finishing up a workout of her own.

"Hey again," I greet as I walk swiftly to my locker, remembering her foul mood last night and wary of how I would be received this time.

She looks to me from her spot on the bench, towel around her neck, and smiles at me.

Actually smiles.

I think I died and went to heaven.

"Hi," she answers in a soft voice; it was like she did a complete one-eighty from last night.

Maybe she has a twin? Maybe I met her evil spawn last night?

Regardless, I smile back.

"Better day?" I inquire.

This causes her to look away and I want to smack myself for saying the wrong thing. Looking at the floor now, I can see her trying to keep a tough front on, but deep down, I knew she was struggling with something. She was closing in on herself.

"Maybe a little bit," she whispers.

I'm afraid to ask why, since when I asked last night, she immediately shut me down.

Instead, I hesitantly sit down next to her and duck my head down, trying to get a glimpse of that beautiful face of hers.

Our eyes meet and I beam. She smiles back, almost shyly.

Seriously, this was not the same girl from last night.

"Things will get better, you know?" I tell her, being the optimist I always am.

She frowns again and I internally berate myself once more for always saying the wrong things.

"I appreciate your optimism, but I seriously doubt it," she mumbles back.

I smile awkwardly, not really knowing what to say. Do I ask why she thinks that and risk being given the cold shoulder again? Do I brush it off and pretend to be uninterested?

Without really giving it much thought, I choose the latter.

"I'm Anna," I say, holding a hand out before me and smiling.

She glances to my hand briefly before biting her lip and looking away.

She doesn't shake back.

"Elsa," she mirrors.

I drop my hand, secretly disappointed she refused my attempt to reach out.

"You like to box?" I ask next, deciding to pretend I'm unaware of who she is was the best option for now.

I get another smile out of her at that, but her eyes are still troubled.

"I love it," she replies, speaking in a soft tone again. "I've only been doing it for a few years, but it's just the best."

"I love it too," I say. "I've only been competitively boxing for two years, but I'm hoping to make it big here soon."

"New York is one of the best places to get your start, I suppose," she tells me, looking back up to me finally. I grin when her eyes meet mine.

I swear I see her blush.

Then, like always, she looks away again and pushes her bangs out of her face.

"Listen," she begins with a sigh. "I'm sorry about the way I spoke to you last night. That was rude of me; I'm usually not like that, really. You just…caught me at a bad time."

I smile, trying to let her know I didn't hold anything against her. "It did look like you had a personal vendetta against that bag or something."

My heart swells when I hear her laugh, and I swear it sounds like the chimes of the most precious bells.

"In a way, I suppose I do," she responds.

I raise an eyebrow in question. She smirks briefly before it falters again.

"It's nothing," she sighs. "Really, don't worry about it. I did want to apologize, though."

I wave her comment away. "Totally forgotten all about it," I reassure her, even though that was the least bit true. I was still trying to decide if this girl before me was really the Elsa I ran into last night. I'm beginning to think I may never figure it out.

She smiles briefly again before looking to the clock on the wall behind me.

"I should go," she says. "Leave you to your workout."

"We should work out together sometime!" I chirp before I could reel the thought back in.

She blinks, momentarily surprised, but then I see that same look of fear I saw last night cloud her eyes.

Why was she scared? She seemed to be having no problem interacting with me tonight.

"M-Maybe," she stumbles out, before she quickly gathers her belongings and flees the room.

Once she was out of sight, I did end up smacking myself in the forehead.

Four times.

"Way to go, Anna," I grumble to myself. "That was going pretty well until you basically tried to set up a date with her."

I suppose this shows I've always lacked the ability to be suave. Probably why I've never had a girlfriend before; I scare them away with my awkwardness before I can lay on my "Anna charm."

Hell, who am I kidding; I don't have any charm. Might as well resign myself to the fact that I'll most likely be forever alone. I manage to take comfort in the fact that Kristoff will most likely join me in living a lonely life. There's no way that guy is going to get a girlfriend if I can't. He's worse than me.

And I'm not just saying that.

XxXxX

"So wait," Kristoff begins, pausing the movie we are currently watching on Netflix. "You're saying you actually saw Elsa Arendelle two nights in a row and spoke to her?"

"Yeah," I nod. "It was so weird, Kristoff. I mean, the first night she's basically a bitch to me, and then last night it was like she was some nervous, cornered school girl or something!"

Kristoff chuckles. "Well, maybe she disappeared because she has multiple personality disorder or something."

I frown. "That's not funny," I tell him seriously.

"Did you ask her what happened to make her quit boxing?" he asks next, totally brushing off my previous comment.

"No," I reply, somewhat offended. "You expected me to go up to her and say, 'Hey, you're Elsa Arendelle! Why have you suddenly dropped off the face of the Earth? You know, 'cause everyone totally has a right to know, so might as well start with me?'"

Kristoff chuckles again. "Well, maybe not quite that elegantly," he jokes.

I huff. "You funny, funny man," I grumble. "Actually, I kinda pretended to not even know who she was."

"And why would you do that?"

"I didn't want to scare her off or risk having my head bitten off again!" I retort. "Were you not listening to anything I just said?" I groan. "Either she would have transformed into Ms Bitch again and probably yelled at me to mind my own damn business, or she would have clammed up and cowered in a corner because I knew who she really was!"

"I think you're blowing this way out of proportion," Kristoff deadpans.

"Well, you weren't there, sir, so you have no right to judge me."

Kristoff raises his hands in mock surrender. "Fair enough," he says. "So, do you plan to actually tell her you know who she is? Or just continue to be some crazy stalker?"

"Acting like I don't know who she is doesn't make me a stalker!" I cry. "If anything, telling her I do know her is even more stalker-ish!"

Kristoff rolls his eyes at me. "Calm down, feisty-pants, it was just a suggestion."

When I simply glare at him in retaliation, he rolls his eyes yet again.

"You think you'll ever see her again?"

"I hope so," I mumble. "She was hot."

Kristoff smacks me upside the head.

"Um, ow!" I yell. "You bastard, that hurt!"

XxXxX

I didn't run into Elsa again for another week.

For a second, I thought maybe she had dropped off the face of the Earth again. I mean, with the way she was acting the last time we ran into each other, it wouldn't be that surprising, really.

Maybe me showing up at the gym two nights in a row and confronting her really did startle her. Maybe that was the reason she went to the gym so late; in hopes no one else would be there.

Maybe she was hiding something?

She didn't just "disappear" or anything after the last Olympics for no reason; something must have happened that caused her to become this way. She's hiding from something, and, in essence, hiding from everyone.

But why?

I had to know.

Because of my newfound interest in this girl, I continued going to the gym late at night in hopes to see her again. For a while, I had no luck—maybe I really had scared her off—but then one night, I brought Kristoff with me and she was there again.

"This place is creepy this late," Kristoff mutters, actually throwing in a visible shudder to add to the effect.

"Oh, calm down you big baby," I grumble, sliding my card through the reader. "This isn't one of our video games where a deformed creature is going to jump out and startle us. The only thing here is maybe Elsa, and she's far from deformed, trust me."

"I take it we're heading to the boxing room in hopes she'll be there again?" Kristoff asks, as he slides his own card through.

I had taken to going straight to the boxing room after changing to see if Elsa was there again. If she wasn't, I just shrugged it off and went to start my workout—even though now I'll admit I was always slightly disheartened that she wasn't there—and if she was…?

Well, obviously she never was there, so I hadn't gotten that far yet.

But when I did?

I actually hadn't thought that far ahead.

Typical Anna. Go me.

"Doesn't look like she's here," Kristoff announces.

I come back to reality and realize that we had already arrived at the boxing room.

Sure enough, it was devoid of the blonde beauty.

I sigh.

"Maybe I really did scare her off," I whisper, finally voicing my thoughts.

Kristoff grunts in response before I become acutely aware of a presence behind us.

"Scared who off?"

Jumping, I immediately spin around.

I couldn't help the grin that flooded my face.

"Elsa!"

Said blonde just smiles cheekily.

"You were expecting someone else here this late?" she inquires.

This time, I blushed. I wasn't sure, but were we flirting? Well, I had yet to say anything but the unpleasant squawk of her name, but was she flirting with me?

Elsa Arendelle had done a complete one-eighty yet again. At least her bitch persona had yet to make itself known.

Still grinning like a love-struck fool—what? I'm just being honest—I suddenly remember it wasn't just us tonight.

"Oh! This is my friend, Kristoff," I explain, gesturing to the bulk of a man next to me. "He usually comes during the day, but I convinced him to come with me tonight."

Elsa instantly reverts back into her shell as I introduce Kristoff. I see her eyes dart nervously over to him—and is that a hint of sadness in her eyes?—before she grabs her right arm, her left curling around her middle almost protectively. I notice she was yet again wearing that black brace on her right arm.

"Hi," she says so softly I almost miss it.

Then she turns on her heel and flees down the hall.

I blink and look to Kristoff. He had the same puzzled expression I'm sure I was donning.

Shit, what had I done now?