Elsa squealed as the cold, wet snowball came in contact with the back of her thigh, taking her completely by surprise. Spinning around, she found herself face to face with Jack. He smirked at her before bursting into loud laughter.
"Got you!" he spoke, coming to stand by her side.
Pursing her lips, she bent down and scooped a ball of snow into her hand. Standing up, she pressed the cold lump onto his head. She chuckled as she watched him shake as he moved to brush the snow off his head. In the distance she could hear the sound of Emily and Anna's loud giggles as they came out of their hiding spot. From the look on their faces, they were enjoying the sight of their older sibling's private snowball fight.
"Not fair, Jack. You are on my side," she scolded, poking her tongue out at Jack.
"You do know that the two of you are supposed to be on the same team, right?" Anna pointed out, standing beside Emily who signed for Jack.
"It was friendly fire!" she shot back, watching as Emily continued to translate. "The teams were youngest against oldest. I got taken down by my own friend and teammate."
"I couldn't resist," Jack protested. "Besides, we didn't have much competition. You and Emily are hopeless shots, Anna."
She placed a hand on her hip and turned to watch as Emily helped to translate, filling in the signs that she wasn't aware of yet. She rolled her eyes as she watched Anna lean down to whisper something in Emily's ear, only for Emily to smile and nod in agreement. If she knew their younger siblings, it was likely something to do with her and Jack having romantic feelings for each other.
Opening her mouth, she was just about to speak up and remind the younger siblings that it was rude to whisper when she was hit by yet another snowball. She turned to scold Jack, but noticed that he, too had been hit by a snowball. Frowning, she turned around and watched as her mother and Mrs Frost scooped up a snowball each and took aim at Anna and Emily.
The snowball missed Emily, but managed to hit Anna on the shoulder. Crossing her arms over her chest, she turned to face her and Jack's mother.
"Come inside. We've made hot chocolate," Caroline Frost chuckled
Nodding, she watched as Anna and Emily led the way towards the back door of her family home. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied Jack as he lagged behind and scooped a handful of snow in his hands. Catching her gaze, he smirked at her and nodded in the direction of their siblings. She smiled and bent down to grab a handful of snow in her own hands. Together, her and Jack crept behind the younger duo and simultaneously dumped the snow over their heads.
"We won!" Jack spoke, holding his palm up for her to high-five.
She giggled, watching as Emily and Anna reacted to their final attack.
A tap on the shoulder startled Jack. Raising his head, he found a note had been dropped on his open math textbook. He paused and turned to find a boy who he recognised to be Ryan, a member of the school's basketball team, standing by his desk and staring at him.
He gulped. He could feel his heart racing as he looked down at the note. In the five weeks since he had spoken out loud in defense of Elsa, the bullying had only increased. Tyler and Violet had even begun to rely on other students to deliver abusive notes to him in class. Now they had a way to get to him, even when they weren't in the same class. He had hoped that the Christmas break would have helped the bullies forget that he had used his voice, but it hadn't.
Having heard his spoken voice had now given their bullies even more ways to tease him. It had quickly spread around the school that the 'Deaf boy' had spoken. Tyler and Violet had been quick to make fun of his accent. They had even gone so far as to create a series of poorly photoshopped pictures of him standing on the American Idol stage with 'Future American Idol' scrawled all over the image. The pictures had been printed and stashed in his locker, or had been delivered to him in class along with suggestions that he should consider a career in public speaking.
To make matters worse, the same notes and poorly edited images had been sent to Elsa. Only difference had been that the notes she had received implied that they were in a romantic relationship. The crass notes that she had been sent all dared to say that she would be forced to hear his voice in their rumoured intimate moments.
He felt a tap on the paper and looked up. Glancing to the front of the class, he saw Hans watching him intently. He shrugged at him and focused his attention on steadying his shaking hands. Slowly, he unfolded the paper. He hadn't seen Ryan hanging around Tyler during his time at the school. However, that didn't mean anything. Half the people who had delivered notes had been people that he'd not seen hanging with Tyler. Nervously, he looked down at the scribbled note in front of him.
'Hey, is it true that you are dating the German girl, Elisa?'
A sense of relief flooded over him as he realised that the note wasn't another of Tyler or Violet's work. Furrowing his brow, he turned to look at Ryan. He noted the way that the boy shifted uncomfortably on his feet.
'Her name is Elsa and she is Norwegian. No, we are not dating. We're just friends.' he wrote, handing the note back to Ryan.
He watched as Ryan turned to bend over an empty desk to scrawl a response before handing the note back to him.
'So, she is single then? Do you know if she has a prom date?' Ryan asked, shoving the note back on his desk.
He frowned. 'Yes, she is single. I don't think she has a prom date yet, why?'
He slid the paper back to Ryan and watched as a small grin broke out on his face. He took a few seconds to bend down and write his response before handing it back.
'Thanks. I'm going to ask her out then. She's hot,' Ryan replied, giving him a thumbs up before heading back to his seat.
He scowled. Scrunching up the paper, he shoved it into his pocket. He turned in his seat to watch as Ryan settled back into his seat before reaching over to whisper to the kid who sat beside him. Groaning, he forced his attention back to his textbook. He could feel Hans looking at him with curiosity, but he ignored him.
However, try as he might, the interaction with Ryan clouded his mind. Something about the boy didn't sit well with him. On the surface he appeared fine with his neat brown hair, green eyes and a light splattering of freckles which covered his nose and cheeks. He was popular with the girls as well. The few times that he had seen Ryan in the cafeteria, he had been swarmed by girls. They fawned all over him like he was a member of a boyband and not an ordinary teen in a suburban high school. He could have any girl in the school and yet he had apparently decided that Elsa, a girl whose name and nationality he'd not even known, should be his date for the upcoming prom simply because she was hot.
The vibration of his watch broke him from his thoughts and alerted him to the start of the lunch period. Hastily, he slammed his books closed and stood to his feet. He paused briefly to wave goodbye to Hans before racing out the room.
Elsa frowned and watched as Jack's eyes darted around the cafeteria. Something seemed to be off with him. He had been acting strange ever since she had met up with him at his locker. He had appeared to have stood even closer than normal to her and shot dirty looks at almost anyone who dared look their way.
Leaning over, she tapped him on the shoulder. "What's wrong, Jack?" she asked, frowning. "Tell me, please."
"Nothing," Jack replied, shrugging her off as he turned to fix his attention on a table featuring members of the school basketball team and cheerleading squad.
Reaching across the table, she grabbed her ASL book and flicked through to find the sign that she needed. She turned to face Jack, but his focus was still fixed on the jock's table. Tapping his hand, she called his attention back to her.
"It's not the bullies is it?" she quizzed. "Why won't you tell me? I am your friend."
Jack shook his head. "I'm fine, Elsa. Trust me," he replied and bent his head down, diverting his gaze.
She sighed. Grabbing her drink, she took a sip and looked at him. It was obvious to her that something wasn't right with him. He was clearly not happy. However, there wasn't much she could do when he was clearly reluctant to tell her who, or what had made him upset.
She pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled a note. 'I don't know what is wrong. You clearly don't want to talk about it, but when you are ready, I am here for you.' she stated, dropping the paper in front of him.
Standing to her feet, she gathered her and Jack's empty lunch wrappers in her arms. She made her way towards the nearest bin and dropped them in. Turning around, she was just about to return to the table when a boy she recognised from a few of her classes, approached her and cleared his throat.
"Elsa?" he asked, running a hand through his neat brown hair.
She nodded. Her eyes glanced over him as she tried to recall whether or not she knew his name. The basketball sweater he wore indicated that he played on the school team. However, to her disappointment, it gave no clue as to what his name was.
"My name is Ryan," the boy said as if reading her mind.
She blushed. "Sorry. I'm still learning people's names," she admitted, reaching out to shake his hand.
Ryan chuckled and flashed her a warm smile. "That's okay. I know that you are new. I was just wondering if you were planning on going to the prom? If so, I wanted to know if you wanted to be my date?" he asked.
Blushing, she wrapped her arms around her waist. She knew that the prom was coming up, but she hadn't put much thought into it. All she knew was that Anna had been pestering her to go. She claimed that it was yet another must-do in the American school experience.
"I...uh...haven't thought much about it, to be honest. I know that it's in March, but that's about it," she replied, smiling bashfully. "I really haven't stopped to think about whether I was going to go."
"So, is that a no?" Ryan prompted, staring at her.
She shook her head. She turned to look at Jack, who was glaring at her and Ryan. Biting her lip, she turned and focused her attention back on Ryan.
"It's not a no," she whispered. "It's just that I don't really know anything about you, other than your name and that you are in a few of my classes and that you play basketball. I just think that I should know a bit more than those few details before I agree to go to prom with someone."
Ryan nodded and smiled at her. "So, you want a date first," he chuckled, brushing a hand through his hair. "I can do that. How about I take you out this Saturday?"
She could feel her cheeks heating up. Turning to face Jack, she saw that he had shifted his attention to his phone. Frowning, she met Ryan's gaze. "I...uh..I'll have to think about it," she murmured. "Can I get back to you?"
She glanced over Ryan, taking in his features while he considered his reply. On the outside, he appeared to be a nice enough guy. He was definitely what one would consider attractive. He was apparently confident enough to approach girls on a whim and ask them out. Still, there was something about him that didn't sit right and she couldn't put her finger on it.
Jack could feel the anger rising. He watched as Ryan stood up from his own table and casually sauntered over to Elsa, cornering her when she was on her own. He noticed the way Ryan looked at her and turned to shoot cocky looks back to his friends. All the while, he leaned over Elsa and looked at her as if she was some kind of trophy to be won.
Worst of all was that Elsa seemed oblivious to it. Instead, she blushed and tilted her head as she listened to him and gave him her full attention. Sighing, he pulled out his phone and flicked through it. He pulled up a photo of him and Elsa from New Years Eve as he recalled the fun they'd had. Their families had celebrated the evening together along with her and Anna's grandparents, who had flown in from Norway to visit. As the end of the year had wound down, he had wrapped his arms around her shoulders and had smiled happily for the camera while Anna had snuck into the background of the photo to pull a funny face.
Raising his head, he looked at Elsa. He could feel his heart sink as he saw that she was still deep in conversation with Ryan. She was no doubt captivated by the guy with his so-called good looks, popularity and his hearing.
He sighed. He knew that he should be happy for Elsa. After all, she was beautiful and beautiful people deserved to be together. If she dated Ryan, it would make sense. They would be considered an attractive, popular couple. Ryan's position on the basketball team would mean that she wouldn't have to worry about bullies targeting her. She would become one of the elite crowd. It would also mean that she no longer had to carry a book on sign language around with her, or keep a supply of pen and paper on hand in order to hold a conversation.
Elsa didn't deserve to be burdened by someone like him. She was too good a person. Everything about her was seemingly perfect, from her intellect, beauty, caring nature, to the way that she gave her undivided attention to a person, making them feel like the most important person. Then there was the cute way she would laugh, covering her mouth with her hand in the most adorable manner.
He, on the other hand, was the guy who was always a little bit on the skinny side. He was the one with the weird silver-white hair that never sat quite right, no matter how hard he tried. He was the guy that had read Harry Potter countless times and who was happy to hang with his kid sister and act like a dork in order to gain a few laughs. He was the guy who required a series of modifications in his home, or for an interpreter to follow him around school just so that he could get an education. He was different and she deserved better.
Sighing, he stood up and pushed his chair back under the table. Grabbing his pen and paper, he purposefully avoided looking at Elsa as he brushed past her and fled the cafeteria.
Elsa watched as Jack rushed out of the cafeteria. His head was down as he brushed past her and Ryan. He didn't even spare her a passing glance. She sighed. Now, it was obvious that he was upset and that whatever had him feeling that way involved her
"Yeah, sure. I'll see you around, Elsa," Ryan replied, snapping her out of her thoughts.
She shook her head. In all her concern for Jack, she had completely forgotten that Ryan had asked her out. She turned her attention back to Ryan and nodded, flashing him a shy smile.
"Okay, see you later, Ryan," she replied, blushing slightly.
She made her way back to their abandoned table and scooped up her book and papers that Jack had left behind. She flicked through the book, hoping that he had left a message to explain his sudden departure, but he hadn't.
She sighed. She knew that she should be mad at Jack for blowing her off and for not even caring about her property, but she wasn't. Instead, she was hurt. She had thought that their friendship meant more to him. She had always thought that he knew that she cared deeply for him and that he, in turn, cared for her. Yet, in under an hour he had managed to make her question their relationship. Suddenly, she found herself wondering if she had seen things that hadn't been there.
Sniffing, she clutched her books to her chest and made her way out of the cafeteria. She made a mental note to try and find Jack after school.