All right. Here's my next chapter...it's not my favorite piece of writing ever, but I want to post it before I start agonizing over every little detail about it, like I usually do. As with every other chapter, please review, please let me know what you think! Peace out homies.

"Anna's not speaking to me," I say into the phone.

"What do you mean she's not speaking to you? What did you do now?" Tooth's voice sounds almost amused, as if the fight between my sister and I is just a feud between two toddlers over a favorite toy.

"I…" I claw my fingers through my hair. There's no way to spin this situation to make it look like I'm not an overprotective older sister. "Okay, look, Anna has a boyfriend that's three years older than her. Don't you think that's weird?" Please, Tooth, agree with me on this.

"You mean he's a senior? And she's a freshman, right?"

I nod, but realize that Tooth is hundreds of miles away and can't see me. "Yeah, and I just think that he might be a little too old for her. And I might've maybe told her that."

I can hear her exasperated sigh. "Elsa, you can't just say things like that so bluntly. You have to soften the blow a little bit. Now I agree with you that three years in high school is a bit much, but I'm guessing you probably didn't build up to your opinion about their relationship, did you? You just jumped right in, am I right?"

"Well, yes." When she doesn't say anything, I add, "And I know I probably shouldn't have but I was just feeling a little upset with her and I know that's not the best time to have a conversation about a secret boyfriend but –"

"Elsa!"

"Huh?"

"Be quiet, I'm trying to think."

"Oh, sorry."

While I wait for Tooth to speak, I get up from my desk and pace around the room, my feet leaving faint prints in the plush beige carpet. After three trips around my bed, I whirl and throw myself headfirst into the pile of pillows by the headboard.

"You still there?"

"Yeah," I say, swatting an errant accent pillow away from where it had lodged uncomfortably by my neck.

"So you say you've already tried to talk to her?"

"Several times."

"And what does she do when this happens?"

"She just kinda clams up, I guess. She doesn't say a whole lot, and she'll leave as soon as she can find an acceptable reason to split."

"Hmmmm. That's interesting. I don't think she's mad at you, Elsa. I think she's scared of you."

I scoff. Anna, scared of me? Anna, scared of anything? "Don't be ridiculous," I say, "why in the world would she be scared of me?"

"Well, just think about it from her point of view," Tooth says, and I can see an image of her in my mind using the face an extremely patient teacher would use with an especially clueless student, "you suddenly appear in her life again after three years. She's grown up without you, and you've grown up without her."

"Ouch."

"It's the truth, isn't it? She probably doesn't really know what she should tell you and what she should keep to herself. And she probably thought it would just be best to keep the whole Hans boyfriend thing to herself, since you obviously have enough to deal with, without worrying about your little sister and some guy all the time, too."

"That makes sense, but Tooth, I'm her sister."

"Who disappeared for three years. That doesn't exactly encourage relationship building and sisterly affection."

"Ugh, why is this so hard?" I wail. It's hard not to be frustrated by this entire situation. "Why would it be so difficult to tell me, 'Hey Elsa, by the way, I have a boyfriend and his name is Hans.'?" Now that I think about it, though, I never told Anna about Jack kissing me, either. But that's because we were already fighting when it occurred to me that she didn't know.

"Because she doesn't know you anymore."

Tooth's response knocks the wind from my chest. Really, again? I'm a stranger to my own sister now? What is this?

"But why would she not know me anymore? Why would I feel like a stranger to her and yet she doesn't feel like a stranger to me?"

"Elsa, you literally look different. You're not the person that she remembers growing up with. You took care specifically to not look like that person."

"I forgot about that."

"I'm sure you did."

Tooth's arguments make a lot of sense. I wish I had her ability to see things from other people's points of view, but alas, I only see my own. I yawn. The clock says that it's almost midnight. This has been the longest day of my life, and I should have gone to bed hours ago, but I had to talk to Tooth. It has been too long since I've talked to my friend.

"So, what's new with you?" I ask, not just to change the subject, although that does play a factor in it.

"Nothing much, really. Cheerleading is fun, although I'm not a huge fan of the early morning practices. Getting up at 5 o'clock isn't my forte. Ummmm what else? The football team is doing well, North and Bunny are both on starting varsity, and OH! I almost forgot! What are you doing next Friday?"

"Not anything I can think of," I say warily.

"Well, good! Because next Friday, our schools play each other in football! It's here in Arendelle, so you'd have to drive a ways, but I think it would be fun if you came down and stayed for the weekend, because I haven't gotten to see you in a long time and it would be great for all of us to catch up!"

"That's a brilliant idea!" I say excitedly. It has been way too long since I saw my Arendelle friends last, and I miss hanging out with them. But then, I start to think about Kevin and Angie, and my heart sinks a little bit just remembering. Maybe you can go visit them while you're there.

"Awesome! We can figure out the plans when the date gets closer, but I just thought I'd throw it out there." Tooth's voice is full of happiness, and it makes me smile to think of seeing her.

I'm about to respond when there's a knock at my door. "Hold on, Tooth," I say, and cover the receiver with my hand. "Come in."

Anna peeks around the door at me. Her hair is pulled up in a messy bun, and her eyes are bigger than I've ever seen. She really is scared of me. The confirmation of Tooth's suspicion is dismaying. "Elsa, um, can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, sure," I say, surprised. "Tooth, I have to go, I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Sounds good," she says quickly. "Remember to be sensitive, yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Good luck."

As the connection goes dead, I place the phone carefully on my nightstand and fish around for a pillow to place in my lap. I have a feeling that I'm going to need something to squeeze during this conversation.

Anna's still standing in the doorway, looking uncomfortable and timid and a bunch of things that I don't normally associate with my peppy, confident sister. I try to smile invitingly. "Wanna come sit on the bed?"

She returns my smile hesitantly and creeps into the room, cautiously making her way over to the bed and sitting on the further corner from me that's possible. She clears her throat, and one hand reaches up to fiddle with the strands of her hair that are falling out of her holder. "Um, I just kinda wanted to explain about," she pauses and steadies herself, "me and Hans."

I raise my eyebrows and blink several times at her, but keep my mouth shut. I won't say anything unless I have to, because I don't want to say anything I'll regret.

At my silence, Anna starts to speak. "I'm really sorry that I didn't tell you about Hans. I know that I should have told you, but it just never seemed like the right time, and I didn't want you to worry about me or anything, so I just let it slide, and it seemed okay without you knowing because, I don't know, it just was easier that way I guess. And um…" she fades off, obviously uncertain of what to say.

I look down at the pillow in my lap and trace the winding threads with my thumb. "Why didn't you tell me?" I ask, almost in a whisper.

She shrugs. "I don't know."

As I start to lean back against the headboard in a gesture of giving up, she holds her hands out in front of her. "Wait, no please, listen. It's been a really long time since we've been together, Elsa. I mean, you disappeared for three years! And suddenly you just come back, and you expect everything to be the same way that it was before, but it's not, and I'm trying and you're trying but we're just not there yet, and I just didn't feel comfortable telling you…I don't know why. You don't know what it was like Elsa! You have no idea –"

"No, you have no idea!" I yell, sitting up suddenly. I waited and listened quietly throughout her explanation, but it didn't help me see from her perspective. It just made me mad. How dare she tell me that I have no idea what it's like to not see someone for three years!

Anna's head whips toward me, and I can see a flush rising on her face. I know I should probably stop while I can still backtrack and make this okay, but I want to get the words out. I have to.

"Don't you ever try to tell me about what it was like. Don't you ever try to make it out that your hardships were worse or more difficult than mine. Were people spreading lies about you? Getting restraining orders against you? Keeping you from your friends? You're not the one that had your life torn from you! That was me! I was the one who had my life ripped away from me. TWICE!" Tears are now streaming down my cheeks. I rub them away and slam my fist into the pillow that's been lying innocently in my lap.

The door to my parents' room squeaks open, and I hear footsteps coming down the hall. My dad appears in the doorway, looking tired and confused.

"What in the name of all that is holy is going on?" he mumbles sleepily, although his eyes are growing more alert the longer he stands there.

I groan and lower my face to the pillow. Maybe if I don't respond and just stay like this, he'll go away. After half a minute of heavy silence, I hear Anna's voice, much stronger than I thought it could be at the moment. "it's nothing, Dad, we just were talking and got a little overexcited, but it's all okay."

My dad mutters something incoherently about being up too late and working in the morning, but he just waves a hand at us and slowly paces back down the hall. We wait in silence until we hear the squeak of the door hinges again.

I remain still, keeping my face pressed to the pillow. It's Anna's turn to speak.

"I…I never thought about it like that," she says haltingly.

I almost laugh. It seems I'm not the only one that has a problem seeing things from other people's point of view.

I don't look up at her.

"I'm really sorry, Elsa."

"Me too, Anna." Anger is still boiling inside me, and I can't seem to find an outlet for it. I don't say anything more, and eventually I feel the bed move slightly as my sister stands up to leave. I hear her footsteps as she moves to the door, and they pause after a while, which makes me think that she's just gotten far enough away that I can't hear them anymore, but then she speaks, and her voice is surprisingly close.

"Goodnight Elsa. I love you."

I finally move my head from the pillow, but only for a moment. "I love you too, Anna. No matter what." She smiles at me before leaving, and shuts the door behind her.

I immediately turn away from the door and reach over for my phone, pulling the earbuds from the nightstand drawer simultaneously. Music helps my brain calm itself, and hopefully it will help me be less angry, too.

However, the first song that comes up isn't one that will help me calm down. At all.

Why don't you just go away?
I can't seem to get my head straight
There's so much I need to say
It could take all day, yeah

But what you got, I don't need it
I can't listen to all your reasons
Wake up, I don't feel it
I can't listen to all your reasons

Your bad mood just ties my hands
Turn my cartwheels into headstands
I've done everything I can
To get all I had, yeah

But what you got, I don't need it
I can't listen to all your reasons
Wake up, I don't feel it
I can't listen to all your reasons…

Surprisingly, though, the longer I listen, the better I feel. Thank you, Matchbox 20, for accurately putting to music exactly what I feel right now. I know I probably shouldn't have snapped at Anna like that, but it was too much to listen to her talk about how hard her life was while I was gone. As if I was just vacationing on some tropical beach somewhere for three years.

With these indignant thoughts still swirling around my head, I slowly drift to sleep.