Here it is! The long awaited for chapter! I would like to let everyone know that I love the reviews (seriously, every time I get an email saying I got another review, my heart does a happy dance), and I do think about people's questions and recommendations about where the story will go, but ultimately, it is my story. AND I DO WHAT I WANT :) That being said, enjoy!

"Elsa Winters?" My mind is a blank, and I feel like my heart just tried to jump right out of my chest. Jack nods at me expectantly, and his eyes are full of something that I can't quite name. Then, without thinking, I say, "The name sounds familiar. Isn't she Anna's sister?"

The moment the words leave my lips, I wish I could take them back. Jack's whole body seems to deflate just a little bit, like his expectation was a balloon that I just poked a hole in.

"Yeah, her older sister. She's the one I told you about a little back at camp. She left about three years ago and I never heard from her again. And since you're living with the Winters family now, I was just wondering if you knew anything about her." As he's speaking, Jack moves over to sit down on the chair in front of his desk, and I take a seat on the edge of his bed.

I try to look like I'm thinking hard about it. "Well, they haven't really mentioned anything, except they told me they moved me into Elsa's old room." I don't know why I'm saying these things, they just seem to keep coming out and I have no control over them. You're weaving a thick web of lies, Elsa.

Jack looks thoughtful, chewing on a pen cap across from me. I decide to be bold and try to take control of the situation. "Just out of curiosity, where did that question come from?"

He shrugs, and avoids eye contact.

"Jack." I don't want to give up. I want him to tell me.

He looks up at me and straight into my eyes. His expression is almost enough to make me question whether or not I remembered to put in my contacts this morning. "I just…I heard from someone that you would know some things about her."

"Who did you hear that from? And why did she leave? And what made this mystery person think that I would know about her?" I smile apologetically and add: "Sorry, so many questions."

He smiles back, but it's more serious than happy. "Don't worry about it. I suppose I do owe you an explanation for such a strange question. Elsa and I were best friends. We were inseparable. We had a whole group of friends that did stuff together all the time. Then one day, there was…an accident. We were ice skating and Anna and Sophie fell in. Then I jumped in to get Anna. The three of us all ended up in the hospital; Anna almost lost the hearing in one of her ears, Sophie did pretty okay – she wasn't in the water as long – and I…well, I had some problems. The cold water did some damage to my legs and stuff, I had to go to physical therapy and it took a while to recover. My mom wasn't too thrilled, but she was going through a lot of tough stuff at the time. And she took is really hard. She was mad at the Winters for a long time, because it had been Elsa's idea to go skating, even though that's not really fair, because it wasn't her fault the rest of us weren't careful enough to realize the ice was so thin. But by the time I got out of the hospital, Elsa was gone. She never called, she didn't leave a note, it was like she just vanished into thin air. We all tried looking for her, I visited her house every day for three months, but Mrs. Winters never told me anything. But I've never really given up. Hiccup – one of the guys from our old group – has been helping me. He's got some high-tech computer stuff that we use every now and then to do some searches, but we haven't come up with anything. About a month ago, I got a message from this guy, I don't know his name, but he told me that my exchange partner could help me find Elsa again."

Jack goes silent suddenly, and I look up from staring at the strings of his guitar to see that he's giving me that expectant look again, like maybe asking a second time would do the trick and jog my memory about the "information" I have about Elsa's whereabouts.

I take a deep breath. "Wow, that's one heck of a story."

He laughs shortly. "Tell me about it."

"Are you mad at her for leaving?"

He looks thoughtful. "Am I mad at her? I think I used to be. Maybe I still am. I just want to know why."

I just want to know why. His words remind me of Anna's questions the day I moved in, when we found the letters hidden under the floorboards of the closet. Should I tell him? Should I keep my mouth shut? I feel so torn.

"Oh, I almost forgot," I start, and his look of expectation becomes even more obvious. "The day I moved in, me and Anna found a stash in the closet." I pause for a minute to see if he'll get where I'm going with this, but he looks confused, so I continue. "There were a bunch of letters in there. And one of them was addressed to you. There was one for Anna, too, and Sophie, and Flynn, Merida, Hiccup, Rapunzel…" I trail off when I see the look on his face.

It's a combination of weird things. I see surprise, sadness, and maybe a little bit of frustration. There's some happiness there, too, though. He jumps up out of his chair and shakes both of his fists at the ceiling. "Why didn't I ever think of checking the stash?! Clara, this is huge! Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I don't know," I mumble. "I guess it just slipped my mind."

"Do you have the letters now?"

I shake my head. "No, I left them where I found them until I could figure out who they all were supposed to go to. I can get them to you when we go back to the house, though, if you want, and you can give them to all the other people."

He nods excitedly. "Sounds good."

I smile. I feel glad that I made him happy – and didn't completely lie, I guess – but I also feel a little guilty about not telling him. I told Anna, why can't I tell him?

I think, deep down, I'm more scared of Jack's reaction than I would care to admit. I know Anna isn't really capable of keeping a grudge. And I knew that she would understand my reasoning, at least a little bit, and would forgive me easily. I know Anna, even after being away for three years. I don't know Jack, not anymore. From what I've seen of him, he's mostly the same person, except for his hair. From what I've heard from others, though, he has changed in ways that I can't understand. He's a troublemaker, he hangs out with people who aren't so good, and he was bullied to the point of changing his physical appearance to make it stop. I don't know this Jack. I can recognize him, but I don't know him. And I'm afraid that this new Jack wouldn't react well to me telling him now. You should have told him right away, Elsa. Now you're trapped.

"…Clara?"

"Huh?" I ask, jerking out of my thoughts.

"I was saying that we should probably do a little bit of work on the song."

"Oh, sure," I reply distractedly and move to the portable keyboard. Jack snatches up his guitar and comes to join me, and we start to play.

As Jack's car pulls away from the curb, I wave at him and try not to run back to the front door. Just breathe, Elsa. Take deep breaths. I count my steps as I walk up the front sidewalk. One, two, three, four… As I reach the door, it swings open, and Anna is there, almost jumping up and down with excitement.

"What?" I ask.

"You gave him the letters!" she squeals.

"I accidentally let it slip that I 'found' them," I try to explain myself. "I just feel like I had to tell him something."

"But you didn't actually tell him?"

"Of course not." I honestly feel a little disappointed that I didn't tell him, though.

"Elsa! Why not? You're just digging yourself into a deeper hole than you were already in! He's gonna be mad at you for lying to his face when he does find out."

I bristle. "You think I don't know that, Anna?" I snap at her.

"I'm just saying…"

"I know you're just saying. I don't need you to tell me what to do. I know I messed up and I'm gonna have to figure out what to do. So just leave me alone, okay?"

Before she can respond, I race up the stairs to my room and close the door. I shouldn't have gotten angry with her. It's not her fault I completely messed up today with Jack. I just needed to let off a little steam, and she was in the way, unfortunately.

After a while, there's a hesitant knock on my door. "Elsa?" I hear Anna's timid voice ask. "Will you let me in?"

I get to my feet and open the door a little. "I'm sorry, Anna."

"Me too," she says, almost shyly.

I let her in and she immediately jumps on the bed, and I join her. I lay on my stomach and let my head fall down to the bed. Right away, I feel Anna's hands fiddling with my hair, pulling it back from my face into a big braid.

"So…" she starts, breaking the silence, "what's wrong?"

I huff and leave my head down. "Jack wants me to help him."

"Help him do what?"

"He wants me to help him find me."

"And what did you say?"

"I told him I would."