Time is what we want most, and what we use worst.


Anna had never seen her sister flirt before.

And, sadly, that fact was still true.

Elsa's face had never been redder, though her sister wasn't sure if it was due to embarrassment or anger. She assumed it was probably both. Jack didn't seem to mind – in fact, the more flustered Elsa became, the more he seemed to be enjoying himself.

From across the room.

He hadn't even said hello, and Elsa had already suggested leaving. In fact, if her demeanor hadn't changed so drastically, Anna probably wouldn't have even noticed Jack's presence. But the moment her sister's silver-haired admirer entered the café, the younger Arendelle could literally feel the tension in the air.

"Hello again," Jack smiled politely, his ice blue eyes darting between the sisters as he stood beside their table, before directing his gaze towards the drink in Elsa's hands. "I see you haven't yet discovered the variety of hot beverages these places have to offer."

Anna held back a snicker at her sister's annoyed expression.

"I happen to enjoy my coffee iced," the blonde deadpanned, before giving Anna a stern look. "And we happen to be leaving."

Again, Anna tried not to laugh. She was probably expected to be a good sister and back up the blonde's claim. But, being a sister was part of the equation, and every sister enjoyed watching the other flounder.

"Oh, but can't we finish our coffee first? It's so cold outside," the strawberry-blonde suggested, her voice laced with innocence.

Elsa had already stood from her chair, her expression torn between shock and embarrassment. Anna knew her older sister was used to getting her way, partially due to the fact that she never left much room to argue. But it wasn't every day an eligible bachelor blatantly flirted with the blonde, and Anna wanted to take advantage of it.

"Why don't you join us, Jack? After you get your drink, of course," Anna smiled. Elsa looked appalled.

Jack, on the other hand, looked delighted. "I'd love to," he grinned, his eyes glued on Elsa. "Do either of you have any suggestions on what I should get?"

Elsa was slowly lowering herself back into her chair, her eyes silently pleading with Anna's.

"You can never go wrong with a mocha," the younger Arendelle supplied, giving her sister a smug look. "The espresso here is pretty good, too."

Jack was still standing beside their table, either ignoring or oblivious to the sisters' silent conversation.

"You know, I am in the mood for something bitter," Jack replied lightly, before turning away from them and heading towards the counter.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Elsa's rage surfaced.

"Anna!" she hissed, leaning towards her over the table. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" the strawberry-blonde questioned between nonchalant sips of her cappuccino.

"You know very well what," Elsa snapped, her voice barely above a whisper. Her cheeks were still tinted red, though it was obvious she was gaining her composure.

Anna felt a twinge of disappointment stir in her stomach – a composed Elsa was a closed-off Elsa, and a closed-off Elsa wasn't much fun.

Glancing towards the counter, Anna watched as Jack waited for his drink.

"Jack's really nice, you know," she pointed out with a shrug. "And he's cute."

"He's not my type."

Slightly taken aback by the blonde's immediate answer, Anna turned back towards her sister. "Oh, and what's that – boring? Come on, Elsa – this guy is so obviously into you!"

"I don't like boring guys!" Elsa defended, conveniently ignoring the rest of Anna's statement. "I like guys who are mature and responsible."

"Boooor-iiiiiing," Anna sing-songed, ignoring the scowl she received in response. Elsa always claimed 'responsible' to be her type, and then spent hours complaining about all her dates ending in disaster. But she would never admit to her being the problem; she didn't like boring guys, like she was 'supposed to'.

Before Elsa could come up with another excuse for why she wouldn't give Jack a chance, the guy in question strode back over to their table, pulling a chair along with him. Setting it at the end of the table, he plopped onto it with a smirk.

"So, anything fun planned for New Years?"

Anna immediately perked up at his question, pushing aside her plan of teasing Elsa. "Actually, I'm in the process of convincing Elsa to go to a party with me!"

If she wasn't mistaken, Anna swore both her sister and Jack deflated at her reply.

"Oh?" Jack mused, his smile looking rather forced. "Some fun ole' frat-party, I assume?" He shot Elsa a quick glance, but the blonde was focused on the iced mocha before her.

Anna suddenly felt awkward – were non-Greeks invited to these kind of parties?

"Yes, our brother fraternity throws a huge New Years bash annually. It's strictly Greek, unless you're invited," Elsa answered robotically, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. Anna was thankful for her sister's contribution to the conversation.

"Sounds cool, I guess," Jack replied with a shrug. "My old college didn't have a Greek system, so we all were subjected to lame dorm parties – if even that. Most students lived off-campus."

It was then that Anna was hit with the realization that Jack was just as clueless as her when it came to Arendelle University. He was basically a freshman, regardless of the amount of credits he had. Which meant, Anna now had the perfect excuse for inviting Jack along – she was merely helping out a fellow newbie.

"You should totally go!" she squealed, almost bouncing out of her seat in excitement, and receiving surprised stares from both her companions. "I hear it's the party to go to!"

Her sister seemed less than pleased.

"It's a glorified mixer with less class and more alcohol, along with an abundance of glitter," Elsa pointed out, her gaze darting towards Jack for a moment. "It's stupid, really."

But Jack seemed unfazed. "Maybe I'll check it out," he mused.

Anna grinned in response, bringing her drink to her lips and ignoring the fact that she finished it minutes ago.

Unfortunately, it seemed that fate was not on Anna's side. As soon as Jack brought up music – a topic that Elsa actually enjoyed discussing – his phone rang, and he quickly excused himself.

"I've got to take this," he began sheepishly, scooting his chair from the table after checking the caller ID. "I'll see you guys later, yeah?"

Anna smiled in response, while Elsa merely nodded, her gaze shifting out the window.

As soon as the silver-haired boy was out of earshot, the younger Arendelle leaned across the table eagerly. "He's really nice, don't you think?"

Elsa continued to watch the falling snow. "Most people are, Anna."

Unfazed by her sister's cool demeanor, Anna pressed on. "And he's so cute. I mean, if he wasn't so obviously into you, I'd probably be completely smitten."

But, again, her words did nothing to break the blonde's façade. "He's not 'into' me, Anna."

Letting out an exasperated huff, Anna leaned back into her chair, giving her sister a halfhearted glare, that unsurprisingly went unnoticed.

"He is always running off to answer his phone, though," Anna mused thoughtfully, remembering the way his face lit up the first time it happened. "Huh. Maybe he's got a girlfriend or something."

It was then that Anna swore she saw Elsa stiffen slightly from the corner of her eye. Turning her attention back towards her sister, she watched as the blonde's blank expression grew more and more forced.

"You think?" she replied lightly, her voice a tad bit higher than usual and her eyes darting to Anna's momentarily. "I guess it wouldn't be that surprising, seeing as he comes off as a total flirt," she continued.

Anna tried not to smile at her sister's sudden distress, and even though Elsa fell back into her stoic ways almost immediately, the slight break in character was all the reassurance the strawberry-blonde needed. Elsa was interested in Jack.


"Please, Merida! It would be so much fun!"

Anna couldn't bear the thought of rushing without her roommate, despite only knowing the redhead for a few days. Her dreams of sisterhood and bonding outweighed almost anything else.

But Merida was still hesitant. She had agreed to meet Elsa for coffee the next morning, but Anna knew it was only to appease her incessant pleading. The redhead was adamantly against sorority life, despite never living it.

"I already said I'd give yer sister a chance ta persuade me, Anna," Merida replied, somewhat annoyed. "Though I doubt it'll do any good. I'm not the 'sisterly type' – you could ask my brothers."

Anna toyed with her braids as she leaned against the wall, sitting cross-legged on her bed. She was having reservations about rushing, too, though it stemmed more from the possibility of being rejected – something Elsa claimed would never happen.

"It's not how movies make it out to seem, you know," Anna insisted.

Merida gave her a pointed look, before returning her attention to the laptop sitting in front of her. "Damn England's kicking our butts!"

Anna wasn't sure what Merida was talking about, though she knew better than to ask. The redhead was very into sports – archery being her favorite – and had already subjected the strawberry-blonde to a number of sports-related rants. But at that thought, Anna felt a metaphoric lightbulb go off above her head.

"The captain of Arendelle's archery team is in Delta Zeta!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Locking gazes with her now-interested roommate, Anna couldn't help but grin.

"Really?"

The strawberry-blonde nodded vigorously. "Mulan, uh, something. She's super nice, and looooooves sorority life. And all of the sisters go to her competitions and whatnot to support her!"

Merida was finally starting to look interested as she slowly closed her laptop. "Mulan? As in the national target and field competition champion? The captain of the leadin' archery team in this country? The reason I transferred 'ere in the first place? She's a Delta Zeta?"

"Yep," Anna chirped proudly. "Rushed her freshman year with Elsa."

Merida's blue eyes widened significantly. "She's practically royalty!"

Anna did little to hide her triumphant smirk as her roommate began to rant excitedly. It seemed Elsa wouldn't have much trouble convincing her anymore.

While Merida stepped out of the room to report back to her family with her newfound information, Anna decided it was now the opportune time to pick out an outfit for the following night's party. New Years Eve had always been one of her favorite holidays, and it only seemed fitting to go all-out. Sliding open her closet's door, the strawberry-blonde began perusing the many dresses hanging inside. She was grateful for thinking ahead and bringing a few formal dresses, though the walk to her house wasn't too far if she deemed her choices unworthy. But at the thought of returning home to her empty mansion, Anna decided she'd just have to make due with what she had.

The death of her parents had greatly affected her, though she felt she was able to properly mourn them throughout the past six months, unlike her dear sister. But Elsa always had a habit of bottling things up – a concept that Anna was entirely unfamiliar with. The younger Arendelle had spent the summer bawling her eyes out, before slowly coming to terms with her loss during the fall. And though spending the holidays as an orphan was hard, she felt she muddled through it quite well.

Smiling sadly, Anna continued going through her closet, before settling on a sparkly gold dress. She could pair it with a black cardigan and black boots, and then perhaps curl her hair; she hardly ever wore it down.

Making up her mind, Anna took the dress off of its hanger and laid it on her bed, before pulling out her jewelry box and matching her earrings accordingly. Once she was satisfied with her chosen accessories, she set them aside on her nightstand and hung her dress back up, inspecting it for lint while doing so.

Merida reentered their room a moment later, her grin still stretched across her face. Seeing how her roommate appeared to be in an exceptionally good mood, Anna decided to take advantage of it.

"So, you up for going to a party tomorrow night?"

The redhead nodded absentmindedly as she flopped onto her bed. "Sure."

Wearing a matching grin, Anna plopped down onto her own bed. "Really? Awesome!" she squealed, clapping her hands together in excitement. "It's a frat party, so all of Delta Zeta will be there! This'll be, like, our first impressions, you know? We just have to make sure we come across as fun, but not too much fun, so we'll need to shoot for somewhere in the middle. And since we're both under-aged, I say we only drink if we're offered something – but we pour it ourselves, obviously. Oh, shoot… I'm not sure how that'll be possible…"

Slumping against the wall behind her, Anna attempted to sort through her thoughts. Elsa had told her she was basically guaranteed a place in the sorority, so she didn't want to jeopardize it by getting wasted at the party. But she also didn't want to miss out on her first ever frat party, nor did she want to spend it mulling around with Elsa while making snarky comments about her fellow party-goers.

"How about we just dance or somethin'? People dance at these things, don't they?" Merida mused, her attention more focused towards the cellphone in her hands. "We can show up, look cute, and then properly introduce ourselves when we rush er whatever."

Anna nodded absently, despite not feeling completely onboard with her roommate's plan. Even though Merida had the right idea, and that keeping a low profile was probably the best course of action, Anna really wanted to experience the party organically. Calculated fun was more of Elsa's thing.

"I guess we could do that," the strawberry-blonde shrugged, feeling more or less bummed, before remembering the outfit she picked out. "Oh! I need your opinion on something!"

Jumping from her bed, Anna ignored her roommate's groan as she raced towards her closet.