The choir room was incredibly cold, typical of all music rooms in most American high schools; however, this one, with its ice sculptures and sentient snow creatures, was a choir room that was essentially Arctic in nature. The sign above the door that read "Warning, Abominable Snowman- Eats Children" was more of a joke than anything else but that still did not comfort Jack, or anyone else for that matter, the image of a gigantic snow monster eating and grinding their bones to make bread that wouldn't even eat engraved in their minds. Still, if only on Basil's good faith, Jack opened the door to the choir room.
The room itself was large, also like most typical music rooms, in order to account for acoustics. With enough room for twenty seven desks and a full size bleacher section for practices as well as a podium, stand, and chalkboard, the choir room had everything that one would need if they aspired to be a singer. But, being in a poor neighborhood and also being in the music department, an undervalued study, the desks and bleachers, new for the school but old by standards and never used, were empty and sad having never known the love and care of a student or a teacher.
Elsa was sitting at her desk in a small corner of the room when Jack arrived, she was wearing her traditional blue dress, apparently it was the nicest she had; she was also sporting reading glasses despite not really needing them in order to make herself feel more sophisticated, a sign of her inferiority complex that she hid rather well with regular psychiatric sessions with Jiminy Cricket and medication. Looking up from her coursework on the introductory class, specifically the classifications of tenor, alto, bass, soprano and all the intermediates, Elsa could not help but have the immediate first impression that Jack was there to make a smart comment instead of actually trying to learn something.
"So I take it that you're here to mock me?" Elsa said as she closed the binder she was working in, "Come to tell me that I shouldn't even be here or how stupid this program is?"
Jack shook his head, for he didn't really care about those things, at least not at the moment, having no idea of their significance especially in terms of the Project. The only thing he really cared about was getting out of the neighborhood as fast as possible, and if Elsa or anyone else was able to help in that regard he would accept it, even if it meant suspending his own reality.
"No ma'am" Jack replied, "I'm here to learn."
Elsa raised her eyebrows curiously and darted her eyes around, taking note of the state of the room and how it empty it was, at the same time noting that the titular abominable snowman that the sign suggested, Shadrach, was chained to the wall in the opposite corner.
"You're serious right?" Elsa continued, "Have you seen this place? Look around you. No one comes in here, what makes you think you can just walk right in and expect something out it?"
Jack pulled out the paper that Basil had given him and set it on the desk. Examining the paper for authenticity and understanding, Elsa began looking Jack over, as if she were inspecting him for defects.
"So the mouse thinks that you're worth it" Elsa declared as she stood up, "No offense to Baker Street but I just don't see it. I mean look at you, you're-"
Elsa paused for a moment, she knew that she would have to weigh her next few words carefully. Jack meanwhile, had folded his arms and was standing off kilter, as if he already knew that whatever it was she was going to say was going to be an insult.
"You're a jock. Jocks don't like music, they have no appreciation for it. If they do it's only temporary, they view as a way to get an easy A or to count towards Gen-Eds."
Jack rolled his eyes and huffed, in complete disbelief that Elsa, a teacher, would be so narrow-minded and misinformed. Although he did not value education as highly as most people he still found some value in it, for it was far better than the alternative of being shot in the streets over petty crimes. It was a survival tactic, a way to stay on top of the drug dealers and the pimps who controlled the power; an outlet to rage against abusive parents and the broken families, to save his own voice from not having to cry as long or shout as loud in order to be heard.
"You don't even know me" Jack defended, "how can you say that?"
Elsa shrugged and sighed, slightly hating herself for it, but regardless she could not argue with experience. Too many times she had placed her faith in students only for them to fall well below expectations, she was tired of being insulted and tired of seeing them fail of their own accord.
"Because it's always true" Elsa replied in a defeated sort of way, "Now if you don't mind I've got a lesson plan to prepare."
Jack laughed and looked around, "For who?" he returned, "You said no one comes in here. So what the hell are you doing expect wasting time?"
Shadrach fidgeted in the corner, anxious to see what was going on, a curious creature by nature. Elsa glanced over and rolled her eyes, for the monster was always wanting to get into things that it had no business being in.
"Hey" Elsa said, shouting across the room, "Calm down!"
Jack, curiosity getting the better of him, craned his neck over in the corner room. Upon seeing the monster, Jack did not flinch, for it did not seem menacing nor as if it ate children. An idea, a stupid and spur of the moment idea, popped into his head. Looking at the numerous piles of ice that littered the room, for Elsa no longer cared what condition the desks and chairs were in, essentially making the choir room her own personal sandbox, Jack picked up an icicle and slowly made his way toward the monster.
Shadrach only continued to fidget, casually tugging on the chain as if begging to be set free. The monster, although perfectly capable of ripping the chain off did not do so out of consideration for the wall, the building having done nothing to provoke its wrath and so was spared indignity. That did not the fact that Shadrach found it uncomfortable, for the neck brace that was attached to it was tighter than it should have been, Elsa having followed strict codes in the care and proper storage of large beasts.
"You don't seem too frightening" Jack said as he walked over, icicle in hand, "What your deal huh?"
The monster only tugged and struggled with its chain, paying Jack no mind and instead focusing on freedom. Slowly and carefully, with the confidence of a nervous child in a petting zoo, Jack approached Shadrach, open palm extended balancing the icicle as delicately as he could.
"Come on you stupid monster" Jack continued under his breath, "Take the icicle. Be a good little pawn to help me convince this bitch of my sincerity."
Shadrach eventually could not help but take notice of the small human that was pathetically extending a peace offering, for despite his intentions Jack was whimpering and shaking in fear. The monster laughed to itself as it thought about all the times that it had been offered gifts and never receiving them, mostly because the gifts were insincere and a practical joke played by Elsa's former prospective prodigies. Shadrach however, had to hope that somehow, this one was different, that despite his motives, for Jack was not a good whisperer, that he could be the one that Elsa had been looking for; and with a little bit of luck, Shadrach hoped that a friend could be found inside this small and pathetic human being. So, with this, the monster reached out, took the icicle and slowly began to eat.
Opening his eyes, for he had closed them, not wanting to look in the event that the sign above the door had proved to be true, Jack relaxed and smiled, satisfied that it had worked and that he wasn't being currently digested.
"See" Jack said, turning towards Shadrach with a sense of approval, "You ain't so bad."
Shadrach said nothing and slowly began to gnaw the icicle to a point in hope of using it as a pick of some kind, another attempt to break the chain that it found itself in. Elsa, who had been watching mostly out of morbid curiosity, for she loved it when Shadrach tormented annoying students, looked on unimpressed- her arms folded, her head tilted slightly to the left, and a stance that spoke of general indifference.
"One monster does not a good student make" Elsa exclaimed.
Jack rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"What's its name?" Jack asked straight-forwardly.
Elsa glared towards the ceiling in annoyance, she already hated the idea that Jack was in the room, not because she didn't want to do her job but because of previous experience and that she had been convinced of Jack's character.
"You're telling me that you keep that thing in here without giving it a name?"
The Snow Queen sighed and faced Jack, finding that his eyes were serious and his demeanor cold and disrespectful.
"Shadrach" Elsa answered, "Its name is Shadrach."
Jack nodded and turned back towards the monster, who was still struggling with the chain around its neck. It didn't take long for Shadrach to notice Jack this time, after which it sat down the nearly used icicle and rested on its haunches, where it was most comfortable.
"Why Shadrach?" Jack pressed, "Of all the names you could pick?"
Elsa shrugged and casually made her way over in order to hear him better.
"It's what it wanted to be called" Elsa defended, "Picked up straight from the Book. Don't really know why, but I guess anything is better than being called Marshmallow all your life."
Jack could only nod in agreement, for Marshmallow was a ridiculous name, especially for a gigantic snow monster. He couldn't but laugh at it for a bit, after which it subsided when he remembered the monster's current condition.
"Why is it in chains?" He said, a hint of sadness as he approached, placing a comforting hand on Shadrach's thigh; "Don't you think it would want to be free?"
Elsa nodded, for now Jack was stating the obvious.
"Of course it wants to be free" Elsa declared, once again taking the defensive, "But I can't change the school policy. This is the place I can keep it and still look after it. Iger says it stays in chains, it stays in chains. I don't like it any more than you do."
Shadrach, as if it knew that it was being talked about, gently put its hand on Jack's head and proceeded to pet it as if he were a cat or a dog. Jack, at the prospect of being petted, could only look up and laugh, grateful that the sign above the door was indeed a falsehood.
"It likes you" Elsa continued, "Now enough about that. What exactly do you want?"
"I told you" Jack answered promptly, "I want to learn."
Elsa huffed and shook her head, for nothing was ever that simple.
"You want to learn from me" Elsa replied, "You have to prove yourself. I can't just teach anyone."
Jack failed to see why Elsa had any restrictions as far her instruction went, given the size of her classroom and that no students were present despite it being well into the fourth class of the day.
"What do you want?" Jack asked, half joking and half sarcasm out of disbelief that he still had to prove himself even after everything that had been discussed, "You want me to find some crystal? Save a kingdom? Help you find a decent man so you won't PMS all the time?"
Elsa did not laugh nor was she amused, for like Mulan she had a specific type of humor, but unlike Mulan, hers was literal instead of ironic and not altogether funny, for she was still trying to figure out the way the world worked.
"You do realize I could freeze you where you stand right?" Elsa quipped, "I could have my monster eat you and it wouldn't make a difference to me; There are plenty of students just like you who will waltz in here one day expecting free favors. So show some respect."
Jack huffed, he failed to see why he should Elsa any respect considering that he had received little in return. The only person he actually managed to like was the Shadrach and the monster didn't even say a single word to him; the only remarkable thing he found out about Elsa was that she was too uptight and too judgmental to be of any use, until her opinion changed there was little to be done.
"Fine" Jack said, annoyed and tired of being insulted, "If that's how you want to be that's how it is. Give me that paper, stop wasting my time."
Walking out of the choir room, paper in hand and the sound of Shadrach's whining behind him, Jack made his way down the hallway, hoping to find better luck with Iago.