Frozen belongs to Disney
Trigger Warning: Drugs, Clothed Grinding
Chapter 9
Anna stared at the bright red digits at the top of her history test.
"Fifty-nine," she thought, "I guess trying to cram everything on Sunday night was not the best idea."
It had been near impossible to pay attention in class or focus on studying over the past week and a half. While her grades hadn't been terrible, she wasn't exactly a straight A student to begin with, and this failing score plus the one she'd received on a math exam earlier in the week had combined for the worst academic week of her college career. She did some did some quick mental arithmetic and figured she needed something north of eighty on her final exams and paper to keep from failing either class.
"If my grades slip too much, I'll be suspended from hockey, and there goes my scholarship," she thought. Anna's ears prickled as the reality of her situation set in. She shoved the paper into her bag; it was just another thing hovering over her. An overwhelming urge to find a bottle of vodka or whiskey and drink until she didn't care anymore came over her, and she did her best to ignore it. Not only did she not have easy access to hard liquor, the memory of her lone morning-after practice reminded her that she couldn't drink heavily and then play. Even if she kept her grades up, if her on-ice performance suffered, she could still lose her spot on the team.
"And I need to work tonight, what the hell," she thought.
The jeers and whispers had continued all week, though with the knowledge there was an entire world out there where nobody knew her name, Anna found them easier to ignore. Every time her situation started to get to her, she recalled the Empire State Building, or the dinosaur bones, or laughing on the drive home, and her day-to-day existence went from mortifying to more-or-less tolerable. It was dinner time, and the line for sandwiches had grown to the point Anna really needed to focus if she was going to get through it without pissing people off. She wrapped one to go, put it up on the counter, then immediately pulled out another roll of bread.
"Can I take your order?" she asked. She looked up to see a skinny, dark-haired boy and two of his friends.
"Yeah, I'll have a ham and cheese, extra onions," the kid said.
She laid the meat down on the bread and went to open another industrial sized packet of American cheese.
"See, told you she's still working," the kid said to his friend, "dumb bitch didn't even make any money off it."
Anna paused for a second and contemplated spitting in his food, but she couldn't because they stood right in front of her and the transparent sneeze guard let them see everything she was doing. She gritted her teeth, but what she and the boy making fun of her didn't notice was Kristoff had moved right behind him. He wasn't as big as Gaston, but when he tapped the kid on the shoulder, the asshole had to crane his neck to look past Kristoff's folded arms.
"Apologize. Now," he said. The jerk's face actually turned white.
"Sorry," the kid mumbled, and Anna smirked and flipped him off as she put his sandwich up on the counter. He took it and he and his friends slunk away towards the checkout counter.
"Thanks," Anna said.
"Don't mention it," Kristoff said, "when's your break?"
"After I get through this line, are you ordering?" she asked.
"Yeah, the usual," he said. She whipped together Kristoff's favorite, pastrami, lettuce, tomato, and cucumber, with mayo and black pepper.
Twenty sandwiches later, Anna untied her apron and ducked outside to the back steps of the dining hall. Her breath steamed in the chilly autumn evening as she sat down. The simple act of getting weight off her feet, even though she sat on freezing concrete, was like a slice of heaven. She flipped her phone open to call Kristoff, and he rounded the corner a few minutes later.
"Hey, how are you holding up?" he asked.
"Better than before," she replied, "seems like it's dying down a little… or maybe that's wishful thinking and I'm just getting used to it. Any luck finding someone who knows about computers to try and get the videos taken down?"
He shook his head.
"Flynn figured out how to contact the website, but they haven't gotten back to us yet," he replied.
Anna nodded and frowned.
"Hey, try not to worry, we'll get them taken down one way or another," Kristoff said.
"How's Hans? Is he still pissed off?" she asked, "are people like… making fun of him too?"
"Am I still banned from the frat house?" she thought.
"Yeah he's still annoyed I think, but, sort of moving on, I guess? Some of the brothers made fun of him for like.. a day, nothing like what you're going through," Kristoff said, "if anything, he's gotten even more popular."
Anna squinted her eyes in confusion.
"What?" she asked.
"Yeah, I know, it's fucked up," Kristoff said.
She grimaced and punched the concrete wall next to the steps hard enough that her knuckles ached.
"There's no fucking justice in this world," she said as she flexed her hand.
Kristoff took a breath like he was going to say something, but then he closed his mouth. He'd asked her to file a police report at least a dozen times now, and Anna guessed he had been about to repeat himself.
"Listen, no matter what happens, I'm here for you, okay? Just wanted you to know that," he said.
She smiled.
"Thanks, that means a lot," she said.
He nodded and for a second it looked like he wanted to say more, but ultimately closed his mouth; either he couldn't or wouldn't speak up.
"I've got to get back to work," Anna said, "see you later?"
"Yeah, take care," he said.
She finished her shift and tried to get some studying in before bed, but she couldn't focus and decided to look at the photos from New York, instead. She fired up her laptop and opened the pictures folder. The memories of their trip, her acting like a complete goof and Elsa's ecstatic smiles, helped put her in a better mood.
"I wonder if her father's company is online…" she thought.
It didn't take long to find Anderson shipping, the twelfth largest container ship company in the world, based out of Norway.
"Holy crap," she muttered as she scrolled through the company profile and their thousands of employees. She typed 'Elsa Anderson', but the search came up empty.
"That's weird," she thought.
Anna's brows came together as she continued typing. Elsa's father's name was Agnarr, and she searched for mentions of a daughter, but there was nothing, not on the company page, and not on his Wikipedia page either. There were numerous pictures of him, but Elsa didn't appear in any of them; it was almost like she didn't exist. Anna's tongue protruded from between her lips as she continued searching.
"I don't think she said where she went to high school… oh wait, duh, she was in the Olympics," Anna thought. She quickly typed in a search for 'winter Olympics, women's ice hockey, Norway', and recordings of several games came up on YouTube.
"There she is," she thought as she spotted Elsa on the bench as the video flashed some stats. Her features were softer, but still easily recognizable. Anna watched the game for a bit as Elsa dominated, scoring a hat trick and setting up another goal. If anything, she played even better back then. Anna watched as Elsa spun away from a check and lifted a perfect no-look backhand pass half the length of the ice, and it landed right on her teammate's stick.
"That's ridiculous, how did she even know she was there?" Anna thought. She skipped through parts of the game to only watch Elsa's shifts, then continued combing through Norway's games.
"Here's the gold medal game against Canada, but she didn't play in that one… where's the semifinal against Sweden?" she thought. "Maybe they mislabeled it?" She searched and searched, and while every other hockey game of the entire Olympic games was available, the recording of the semifinal match between Norway and Sweden was nowhere to be found.
"Weird," she said, then she glanced at the clock, "shit!"
It was nearly two am, and she had class and practice tomorrow. She set the mystery of Elsa Anderson to the side and made the short trek to her bed to pass out on top of the covers.
"Christiansen, my office after changing," Coach Westergard said at the end of practice. Anna's heart thumped in apprehension as she walked to the locker room.
"My grades aren't that bad, not yet anyway, what could it be?" she thought.
She finished off her water bottle, showered quickly, and slung her bag over her shoulder. She caught Elsa's glance on her way out, and a small smile found its way to her lips. Anna squeezed her way into Westergard's office as her bag slid against the door and set her bag on the floor.
"Have a seat," Hans' father said, and Anna sat in the chair indicated. Her heart rate started to spike; she didn't like the expression on his face.
"There's no easy way to say this, but a certain incident is bringing unwanted attention and creating distractions among the team," Westergard said, "I have no choice but to suspend you, indefinitely."
"What?" Anna said.
"You're off the roster, and you won't be allowed to attend practices either," Westergard continued.
The floor opened up beneath Anna and she fell into the abyss. Her mouth worked silently for a moment before she found her voice. Westergard had continued speaking, and she cut him off.
"You can't. I'm on a scholarship. If I'm off the team, I'll have to drop out of school," Anna said. Tears sprung to her eyes and she desperately tried to keep them from falling.
He paused and frowned at her.
"I'm sorry, but I have to do what's best for the team," Westergard said, "believe me, this isn't a decision I make lightly."
"But I'm on the top line," Anna said, "and I have the second most goals on the team. You can't do this."
He casually pointed a finger in her direction.
"You're on the top line because I put you there, and most of those goals are thanks to Anderson. Anyone on her line is going to put a lot of pucks in the net," Westergard replied.
Despite her efforts, tears spilled over, and she wiped them away with the back of her sleeve.
"But… but.." she said. Westergard grimaced.
"Look, if you want my advice, take the spring and summer off, make some money, give this incident a few months to blow over, and come back stronger in the fall," he said.
That would mean admitting to her parents that she couldn't make it on her own, and set back her graduation date.
"I… no! Did Hans put you up to this?" Anna asked.
Westergard narrowed his eyes.
"No," he replied, "he hasn't mentioned you in weeks."
"Well… he was in the videos too, is he off the men's team?" she asked.
Her coach shook his head.
"I haven't heard anything; that's between him and old man Hitchcock. Even if I wanted to have a say, I don't have any influence there. The university employs strict rules on communication when family members are involved, to avoid conflict of interest," he said, "And now there's nothing more really to talk about. You can have a few minutes to clear out your locker."
Her breath caught as she spoke.
"I don't keep anything there," she said. Tears now streamed unchecked down her cheeks.
"I love playing, and we're winning. How can he do this?" she thought.
"Well, then," he said, and motioned to the door.
Anna stood, fumbled her bag as she picked it up, and, in a daze, walked towards the exit. The automatic doors opened into the freezing night air, and she spotted Elsa leaning against the exterior wall. The blonde's smile turned to concern when she caught sight of her.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Coach kicked me off the team, said the whole video thing was too much of a distraction," Anna said between hiccoughs, "I think Hans might have something to do with it but…"
She gritted her teeth in an attempt to keep from breaking down completely. Elsa's visage darkened.
"He what?" she said, "We'll see about that."
She flicked her braid over her shoulder and marched straight back into the building.
Elsa stormed past the public skating lockers and banged into Coach Westergard's office; the middle-aged man looked up in alarm, and then his expression turned to confusion.
"Put Anna back on the team," she said. He blinked.
"Close the door," he said, and she did so, then folded her arms across her chest.
"I know you're close, but she's a lightning rod for controversy. The decision is final," he said.
"Well, if you want me to keep playing, you'd better un-finalize it," Elsa said, "remember our deal? I play on a line with Anna. No Anna, no deal, no me. And then you can kiss any chance of a playoff appearance goodbye."
Coach sat back in his chair and studied her carefully.
"No individual is more important than the team. You don't think the rest can win without you?" he asked.
"I know our chances are a hell of a lot better with both of us on the team than off it," she replied.
"You'd hold the entire team hostage like that?" he asked, "sure you don't want to sleep on it first?"
"That depends on you," Elsa said as she pointed a finger at his chest, "why don't you sleep on it, Coach Westergard. If her name isn't on that roster tomorrow, you might as well leave mine off too. And then I'll tell the rest of the girls exactly why I'm not playing."
She turned and swept out of the office before he could formulate a response, and forced herself to close the door rather than slam it. Maybe she'd just argued herself off the team, but if she had to bet on it, Westergard wouldn't risk losing her and Anna both.
"Maybe I should have threatened him by accusing Hans of releasing the videos," she thought, "then again, maybe not. If I'm wrong, that could cause all sorts of problems, and Anna didn't want to get the police involved."
She stepped out of the rink and Anna stood up; the redhead had stopped crying but her eyes were still red and puffy. Elsa wanted nothing more than to hold her and shush her worries away, but she checked herself.
"What did he say?" Anna asked.
"He didn't say anything. I told him if you weren't playing tomorrow, then I wouldn't either," Elsa said.
"Seriously? You'd do that… did that, for me?" Anna asked.
"Of course… and I think he'll fold, too," Elsa said.
Anna sniffled and wiped her cheeks.
"What makes you say that?" Anna asked.
"Something my father taught me, about leverage. He's got a lot more to lose than I do. I mean, I like playing, but I don't have to, whereas he needs me to play. He needs both of us, really," Elsa said. She shrugged. "Maybe I'm wrong. We'll see tomorrow when the roster comes out."
"Wow, I don't know what to say. Thank you," Anna said.
Elsa smirked at her.
"Do you want a lift to your dorm?" she asked.
Anna grinned.
"I won't say no to that," she replied.
Elsa held the door open while Anna shoved her bag into the back seat, then ferried her up the hill. Anna stepped out and opened the rear door, then paused.
"Seriously, I don't know how to thank you enough. Again. Do you want to come in for a little bit? I can make hot chocolate," she asked.
Elsa thought about it for a second. Given that they had just spent a weekend together in New York, a hot chocolate was probably no big deal.
"You do make a good hot chocolate," she replied. She followed Anna into the dormitory, to her room, then stood by the unused bed as Anna poured the powder and set two mugs in the microwave.
"Can I ask you something?" Anna asked.
"Sure," Elsa replied.
"I looked up your dad's company and all," Anna said.
The smile faded from Elsa's face.
"Oh," she said.
"Yeah, that's pretty crazy," Anna said.
Elsa grimaced.
"It's his life. He lives and breathes that company," she said, "he wants me to start taking over. Wants me to start right now… I don't know."
"Yeah… I guess that's why you're studying logistics," Anna said, and Elsa nodded in response, "but like… there's almost nothing about you online."
Elsa shrugged her shoulders.
"My dad was very protective when I was younger," she said, "he wouldn't allow any pictures or anything."
"Smart. But then I found the recordings of the Olympics, you were amazing by the way," Anna said.
Elsa chuckled.
"Thank you," she said.
"What happened? Why didn't you play in the gold medal game? I bet Norway would have won if you were on the ice," Anna said, "and I couldn't find a recording of the game against Sweden."
Elsa sighed deeply. Anna was dredging up bad memories, and part of her wanted to shut her down, to push her back to arms-length and not reveal the ugly parts of her past. Another part of her clung to the fantasy that they might grow closer still, and wanted to confide in her, to share a secret. The microwave dinged and startled her out of her reverie. She smiled as she accepted the hot mug, and blew across the top to cool it a little bit. The powdered hot chocolate came with marshmallows. Anna stayed silent as Elsa gathered her thoughts.
"I um… okay, I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone," Elsa said. She locked the door, just in case. Anna moved to her laptop and started playing some pop music, then turned the volume up.
"Katy Perry," Elsa thought, and she looked at the redhead questioningly.
"The walls are thin," Anna said, and Elsa nodded in understanding; the music would ensure they weren't overheard. She leaned against the spare bed and stared down into the hot chocolate as the marshmallows continued to melt.
"I was… dating someone, at the time," Elsa said. Anna tucked a foot beneath her and leaned over the back of her chair. "Danish girl, hockey player. They played against Sweden in the quarter finals, and there was this one player, I won't mention her name…"
Elsa sighed as she closed her eyes. The memories were painful, but on the other hand, it felt good to share with someone.
"Anyway, she slashed my girlfriend during their game, more like an overhand chop, and caught her between her elbow pad and glove, broke her arm," Elsa said.
Anna shook her head.
"I was at the hospital with her. They only handed out a five-minute major during the game, and that was it; not even a one game suspension," Elsa said, "I can't even describe how… incensed I was."
"I can imagine," Anna said. She hadn't touched her hot chocolate.
"So, we play Sweden next, and it's a back-and-forth game. She laid down some big hits, some more slashes, nothing really dirty, but I was… I guess you could say I was playing with a lot of passion. I wanted to win, and I put up a couple of goals. We're up by one we're in front of their net again, and there's some pushing and shoving after the whistle. Her helmet had come off, and she slashed one of my teammates on the arm, just like she'd done to my girlfriend," Elsa said. "And I… just snapped."
Anna's mouth had dropped open as she hung on Elsa's every word, but the next part was the most difficult.
"What did you do?" the redhead asked.
"I skated over and a crosschecked her. In the face," Elsa said.
Anna smirked and stifled a laugh.
"Did you knock her teeth out?" she asked.
Elsa shook her head slowly.
"She fell backwards and hit her head on the crossbar," Elsa said, and Anna's eyes widened, "Blood all over the ice. They took her off on a stretcher. I found out the next day she had swelling in her brain and it compressed her spinal cord. They had her in an induced coma for two weeks."
"Oh my God," Anna said, "did she recover?"
"Last I heard, she still has trouble walking," Elsa replied. Anna's hand went to her mouth, and Elsa shook her head slowly as she stared at the stained carpet.
"And Father's lawyers advised against paying for non-standard medical treatment, as that might be seen as accepting responsibility," Elsa thought as her gut clenched, "Will Anna see me in an entirely different light now?"
"That's why I wasn't in the gold medal game; they suspended me from international competition," Elsa said, "I'm still suspended."
"But, it was an accident," Anna said.
"The IOC didn't see it that way," Elsa said, "anyway, that's ancient history. Some time after that, my dad paid an internet consultancy company to get the videos and all mention of me removed, which is why you don't see anything on the internet about me, or the game."
Anna nodded, then sat up bolt straight.
"Wait, you can get videos removed from the internet?" she asked.
Elsa grimaced.
"It cost hundreds of thousands of dollars," she replied. Anna's shoulders slumped.
"Oh, never mind," she said.
"Yeah, I thought about it as soon as you told me; that's why I didn't say anything before," Elsa said, "I can afford a getaway to New York for the weekend no questions asked, but-"
"No no, I get it, forget I asked," Anna said, then she tapped her fingers on her desk, "so… uhh… oh, you had a girlfriend, but you're single now, I guess?"
"Yes," Elsa replied quietly.
"Because of what happened during the Olympics?" Anna asked.
"No, we broke up later," Elsa said, "because…"
"Because I'm a monster," Elsa thought. The panic, the guilt, the agony on her then-girlfriend's face as she grimaced and tried to tell her it wasn't that bad, it all came back to her.
"Umm.. well, it was a long time ago," Elsa said as her voice dropped to a whisper, "can we talk about something else?"
"Sure, umm," Anna said, she looked around the room helplessly.
"Did you want to see the video? It's on a secure server; you need a password," Elsa asked.
Anna nodded, and Elsa moved to her laptop.
"Anything to take my mind off what happened," Elsa thought.
She opened a browser and typed in the address from memory.
"Hey," Anna said quietly as Elsa typed out the login and password, "you're super cool, I'm sure you'll find someone soon."
"I already found someone, but I can't be with her," Elsa thought. She looked up at Anna and gave her a small smile, then hit enter. She opened the video file and scrolled to the end. Elsa had seen the video dozens of times, and Anna stayed silent as she watched it for the first.
"Ooh, she fell really funny. Wow, that was totally an accident, I mean, you didn't mean for her to fall that way," Anna said, "you didn't even hit her that hard, although I guess yeah, that was a crosscheck to the face. Do you think she was embellishing to try and draw a penalty?"
"I don't know. I doesn't really matter; someone was in a coma, and then a wheelchair. They had to do something," Elsa said.
"I guess," Anna said, "I feel bad for her but… that's just a freak accident. I'll be sure to keep my helmet on though, jeez."
Elsa nodded.
"What she doesn't know, and truly I don't even know myself, is whether I made the ice trip her and cause her to fall like that," Elsa thought. It was something she had wrestled with for weeks afterwards. In the end, she resigned herself to never knowing. She closed the video and logged out of the secure server.
"So, now you know," Elsa said.
"Yeah," Anna said, "thanks for sharing. I mean… really, thank you."
"I trust you, and thanks for listening," Elsa said, "just please don't tell anyone. I'm worried if people know then they'll start looking at me differently and um…"
She bit her lower lip.
"And it'll be like it was before I left for Arendelle," she thought.
"Hey… look, it was an accident… but your secret's safe with me," Anna said.
Elsa took a deep breath and smiled.
"Game tied, one last chance to win it in regulation," Anna thought. Elsa won the faceoff and the puck skittered back to the point where their D collected it, and Arendelle's first power play unit went to work. Elsa slipped around behind the net and the D shot the puck around the boards, but Anna saw the play developing and she knew it would never get there; the opposing defense had read the play and moved to intercept the pass, with Anna right on their heels. She used her stick harass them from behind, then fought along the boards to regain possession. In the scrum, Anna pushed against the other players and kicked at the puck until it squirted out and Punzie skated away with it. Anna spun away and planted herself in front of the goalie. Rapunzel was far better at deflections so it was usually her in front of the net, but she currently had the puck. Anna took a crosscheck in the back and fought for position as the opposing defense tried to shove her out of the blue painted crease in front of the net.
"You can do this," Anna thought Rapunzel passed to Elsa, who wound up for a slapshot. A heavy shove from behind knocked Anna down and she put her arms out to brace herself just as the clap of Elsa's stick on the ice reached her ears. A stinging pain on her rear end was followed immediately by the roar of the crowd. Anna stood up to see the goal light lit up bright red before Rapunzel and Elsa joined her in the crease and the opposing goalie skated away with her water bottle.
"I think that went in off my ass," Anna said.
"Who says you're no good at deflections?" Rapunzel said.
"Another goal for Anna. They don't ask how, they only ask how many," Elsa added with a laugh.
They headed to the bench and Merida's line came out to kill the rest of the clock. After showering and changing, Anna waited for Elsa outside the locker room, then they walked out of the rink together. As they left the building, Alice, their goalie, waved to them and walked over.
"Hey Anna," she said, "we're having a party, at our house, before Thanksgiving, if you wanted to come. Oh um, you're invited too, of course, Elsa."
"Oh err… what kind of party?" Anna asked.
"Music, some games. A few drinks maybe, nothing too wild," Alice replied.
Anna shared a glance with Elsa.
"Ehh… sure," Anna said, and Elsa immediately nodded her agreement, "when?"
"Tuesday after class, at what used to be Delta Delta Delta house, at the end of fraternity row," Alice replied.
"Used to be?" Anna asked.
"Yeah, the frat shut down last year and a group of us got together to rent it. Super convenient and cheap," Alice replied with a sly wink, "anyway, see you Tuesday."
She walked back to the rink to retrieve her bag from near the wall, then turned to wave to Anna and Elsa before walking off towards campus.
"You're coming, right, you're not going to flake out?" Anna asked quietly.
"I…" Elsa said as appeared to struggle with her response, "okay, I'll be there."
"Wicked," Anna said.
The following Tuesday, after drama rehearsal, Anna and Elsa hiked across campus towards fraternity row.
"Kristoff is going to be there, but I don't really know Alice's friends, err, housemates… whatever. So, if it's not fun, we'll leave," Anna said.
Elsa glanced at the overcast night sky.
"I'm a little worried about getting trapped on campus; it's supposed to snow tonight," she said.
"Ooh, maybe we can build a snowman," Anna said, "don't worry, worst case you can crash on my spare bed."
Elsa hmmed. They walked past Alpha Delta Alpha house, and Anna gave it the middle finger as they passed. Alice's was the last house on the street. Even from this distance, voices and music carried over the wind. A floodlight had been set up, illuminating the second story deck, where a few people braved the cold. Anna led the way to the front door. The old frat symbol, three triangles arranged in a triad formation, was still visible as less weathered wood. The front door opened into a living room with a few off-color couches and beanbags populated by a half-dozen people she didn't know, all watching some film on a big screen television. The distinctive odor of marijuana washed over her, and Anna reflexively inhaled. She didn't see any joints or bongs, but they must have been around somewhere.
"Uhh, hi. Alice invited us?" she said.
One of the kids pointed up, and Anna picked her way past them to the staircase. Thankfully, nobody made any snide comments, or even glanced at her. The second level hosted the kitchen, a hallway that led to the toilet and probably a few bedrooms, a sliding glass door which led to the deck, and stairs up to the third level, presumably where more bedrooms lay. Alice waved to them from the side of the room where tables and chairs had been stacked to make some open space.
"Hey! Glad you could make it," she said. The blonde goalie gestured to the open area. "For dancing, or whatever, later," she said. "Kristoff's already here, doing his thing on the barbeque outside. Beer? Or perhaps a mixed drink?"
"Rum and coke?" Anna asked.
"Umm… some fruit punch and either vodka or rum," Elsa said.
"You got it," Alice said, and she turned to the counter to start mixing.
The tinkle of ice cubes in glasses followed Anna out the sliding glass door as they exited back into the freezing night. The deck looked out over the soccer field, currently lit up, and few tiny snowflakes, illuminated in the glare of the halogen lamp, had started flurrying down, but nothing stuck to the ground yet. Kristoff's large frame stood with his back to them, and the sizzling of cooking meat reached her ears.
"Hey," Anna said as she approached.
"Hey, you made it," Kristoff said as he turned a few kebabs, "can I interest you in some meat on a stick?"
"Oh yeah, gimme your meat stick, I wanna shove it in my mouth," Anna reply.
Kristoff rolled his eyes and handed one of the skewers to her. Elsa took one as well. While she waved hers about a bit to try and cool it off, Anna opted to pull the first chunk off with her teeth, then sucked freezing November air to cool the meat inside her mouth.
"Drinks are here," Alice said from the door as she nudged it open with her elbow, "Anna, can I borrow you for a sec?"
"Sure," Anna said. She passed Elsa's drink to her then followed the goalie inside, into one of the bedrooms on the second floor.
"So, I know you're kind of in the middle of a shit storm right now," Alice said.
Anna chuckled uneasily.
"You think?" she said.
"I just wanted you to know a lot of us are on your side. And uhh, I made you something special to help you feel better," Alice said. She opened a dresser and pulled out a plastic bowl covered with saran wrap, then pulled it back to reveal a slice of brown cake.
"A brownie?" Anna thought as she set her drink down next to it.
"What's in it?" she asked.
"A little of this, a little of that," Alice replied with a shrug, "nothing really serious."
"Waaaiiit, is this that stuff you took over Halloween?" Anna asked.
Alice shook her head.
"No no, nothing like that. You might not even have a hangover," she said, "you can eat the whole thing no problem. Or we could split it. Either way."
Anna hesitated. Exams were done until next week, and they had played their last game until after Thanksgiving. Lord knew she needed to cut loose a little bit.
"Why don't we split it," Anna said. Alice grinned.
"You won't regret this," she said. She picked up the brownie, broke it in half, and handed a piece to Anna.
"Cheers," Alice said, then she took a bite. Anna balanced the kebab on top of the bowl and took a bite of her own. It tasted very chocolatey, but there was something else underneath, something she couldn't quite place.
"Oh, I'm so stupid. I know what this needs. Stay here," Alice said, and she bustled out of the room. Anna paused with her mouth open, then alternated bites of kebab and brownie. Alice returned a few minutes later with two glasses of milk.
"Can't have brownies without milk," she said. They tapped glasses and finished off the 'special' dessert. Alice brought the dirty plates to the kitchen, while Anna returned outside with the empty skewer and her glass.
"Everything okay?" Elsa asked.
Anna nodded.
"Yup," she replied as she handed the skewer back to Kristoff. The snow had started falling heavily now, and several flakes stuck to Elsa's hair.
"C'mon, let's head inside," Anna said.
Around the kitchen table, a few people had started a game of 'never have I ever', while in the open area, Alice had just finished laying down a 'Twister' mat.
"Are you serious?" Anna asked.
"It'll be fun, trust me," Alice said, "you'll play, right?"
Anna thought about it for a second.
"Sure, why not?" she replied.
Elsa demurred and Alice gave her the job of spinning the arrow. Kristoff came in from the cold and Anna roped him in. Two of Alice's friends joined as well, for three guys and three girls. About halfway through the game, Anna started feeling lightheaded, and then her clothes started feeling funny.
"Right hand red," Elsa said, and Anna managed to get herself so knotted up with other people's limbs the entire group fell to the ground in a tangled pile. She laughed out loud, moved to the couch, and took a long sip of her coke. She stared at the carpet, then the couch. Everything looked more vibrant, and colors bled into each other.
"It's starting," Alice said. She held out a bottle of lotion. "Here," she said as she squeezed out a large dollop for herself, then held the bottle out for Anna. The cold lotion hit her hand like an electric shock. "Rub your hands together, it'll feel great."
Already buzzed from the rum, Anna blew out a breath as the sensation of the lotion against her palms and fingers shot through her like a thunderbolt. She had to drink with both hands to keep her glass from slipping, but it was like her skin had grown hypersensitive to everything.
"Are you okay?" Elsa asked.
"Yeah," Anna replied. She realized she couldn't stop smiling, "I feel amazing."
She remembered Elsa smiling at her, and then she lost track of her. Anna played another round of Twister, then Alice kicked off an honest to goodness game of pin the tail on the donkey, followed by musical chairs. Anna laughed at the childish games she hadn't played since she was in grade school, but she didn't realize how competitive they would be. One of Alice's friends shoved her to the floor in the first round when the music stopped. She hit the ground, realized she was out, and burst out laughing again. Kristoff made it to third to last player out, then joined her on the couch.
"How you doin', champ?" he asked.
"Never felt better," Anna replied as she leaned against his shoulder for a second, "you're really awesome, you know that?"
She had started to slur her words a little, but her ability to care had definitely gone on vacation.
"Alright, let me know if you need anything," he said, and she nodded.
Her hands continued to slide against one another, and every movement sent little jolts of electricity through her. They sat like that for at least one more game of musical chairs, and Anna basked in the euphoria and stared at everything she could. When Alice switched to dance music, she blinked and looked around the room.
"Maybe Elsa will dance with me. Hey, where did Elsa go?" she thought.
Elsa stood at the edge of the deck as the snow grew heavier. It came down in thick, wet flakes that built up on the railing of the deck and quickly covered the soccer field opposite fraternity row. Parties weren't really her thing, especially games where she had to be in physical contact with others, but Anna was another story.
"Plus, she's definitely taken something, given the way she was acting. Whatever it was might be risky, possibly even illegal, but if it helps her relax and have a good time for an evening, to forget about real life for a few hours, I can't really blame her," Elsa thought.
Part of her wanted to go back inside, to be with her, but another part knew that as much as she wanted to spend time with Anna, every second would also feel like torture.
"And there's always the possibility you slip up," she thought. So she stayed outside as the entire campus turned into a pristine, wintry landscape.
After at least an hour, possibly two, the sliding glass door opened.
"There you ar- oh wow," Anna said. Elsa turned to see Anna staring up at the snowflakes illuminated in the floodlight.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Elsa asked.
"That's so cool," Anna said as she reached up towards the light.
"Hey close the door," someone said from inside, and the glass slid shut behind Anna. She glanced to Elsa, and her mouth dropped open again.
"Oh," Anna said as she walked up to the railing and stared out at the snow-covered campus. One glance at the look of wonder on Anna's face, and Elsa fell for her all over again. The clouds glowed orange with the reflection of street lights off the snow, and the entire campus, normally pitch dark at night, was lit up with an eerie ambiance, "it's so beautiful."
She turned to Elsa.
"You're so beautiful, did you know that?" Anna asked.
Elsa blinked. Anna's pupils were dilated so wide so as to nearly erase her irises.
"You're so nice to me, like an angel," Anna said, "my angel."
The redhead leaned forward and pressed herself against her.
"She's hugging me again, and it feels so damn good," Elsa thought as her breath caught in her throat. Anna's hands clutched at her back.
"Oh, but where are your wings? You can't fly without wings," she said, "Elsa, where are your wings?"
"She's high, on drugs, or something," Elsa thought. She backed up, slid along the railing and Anna moved with her, until Elsa's back hit the corner of the deck. Anna leaned into her. It was just a hug, but Elsa's body responded on its own and a tenseness and warmth grew in her stomach as Anna's hands continued to caress her back.
"She's not sober, you can't do anything," she thought, "you'd be taking advantage of her."
Anna pulled back and looked up into her eyes with what could only be a gaze of longing, and Elsa almost kissed her on the spot.
"Don't!" she thought, and instead wrapped Anna up with her arms to pull her close. The redhead responded by nuzzling the juncture between her neck and collarbone with her cheek. She whispered something that Elsa couldn't make out, and Elsa inhaled the scent of her strawberry conditioner as the warmth in her belly spread lower to grow into a tingling between her legs. Her hands slid up Anna's back; this was what she had dreamed of, to have Anna in her arms, whispering to her, pressed against her. Breaths came heavier, and Anna ground herself against her thigh. At first, Elsa thought it was a mistake, but she kept moving, until the warmth from her groin bled through their jeans and into Elsa's leg.
"She's turned on," Elsa thought, "she's turned on by me."
Her heart thudded against her ribs so strong that surely Anna must have felt it through her jacket. Elsa leaned farther back against the railing and adjusted her footing slightly so she could press her sex against Anna, just as she pressed against her. If she angled it just right, the seam of her pants nudged up against her clit through her panties, and she bit her lip.
"Oh… Even through jeans it still feels so damn good," Elsa thought, "you shouldn't, Elsa, she's not herself."
She knew it was true, but at the same time, her thoughts had been occupied by Anna for months, and now she was here, in her arms, all but throwing herself at her; she couldn't stop. Anna pressed herself tighter against her, and Elsa braced her leg against the railing for more leverage.
"So smooth," Anna said against her neck, and Elsa reflexively lifted her chin. The first touch of Anna's lips against her pulse point forced the breath from her body.
"Anna," she whispered.
Anna froze, then scrambled back several steps and stared at her, openmouthed.
"I'm not… I'm not like that," the redhead said, and she stumbled as she retreated back inside. Elsa blinked a few times; the cold, the sudden loss of physical contact, left her shocked.
"Go after her!" she thought.
Elsa crossed the distance to the sliding door and opened it, only to see Anna and Kristoff in front of the speakers, her hand around his neck, their lips locked with one another, as whoops went up from the other students. A stabbing sensation cut through Elsa's chest and a blast of icy wind swept through the room.
"Close the fucking door!"
Elsa pushed the sliding door shut, sealing herself outside again, but not before Anna looked over to her with an expression of… Guilt? Regret? Fear? Elsa wasn't sure. She turned to stare at the spot at the corner of the deck where the snow had been disturbed by the two of them, not more than a minute earlier. The wind picked up and the wet, heavy snow became a driving squall, but Elsa didn't care. She walked back to the railing and leaned over it as the warmth between her legs dissipated. Heavy snow obscured more and more of the campus, until she couldn't even see the soccer field anymore.
"She's high, on drugs," Elsa said, "that's why you should have stopped it right when it started. But you didn't, because you're weak and selfish. What kind of person does that to someone they supposedly like?"
She squeezed her eyes shut bowed her head.
"What will she think tomorrow, when she remembers what happened? What you did?" Elsa thought. If it had been some kind of cosmic test, she was sure she'd just failed. The wind died down on its own a few minutes later, and, after wiping her eyes, Elsa returned to the party. After a few minutes of searching, it became apparent that neither Anna nor Kristoff were still in the house.
"Unless they're in one of the bedrooms," she thought. The resulting vision turned her stomach. She did spot Alice, however, making drinks in the kitchen.
"Alice? Do you know where Anna went?" Elsa asked.
"She and Kristoff left a few minutes ago," the goalie replied.
"Oh. Together?" Elsa asked.
"Yeah, you saw them, right? Good for her, Bjorgman's a great guy, at least that's what everyone says," Alice said.
"Better than me, probably," Elsa thought as she mentally flagellated herself again, "then again, maybe not, if he left with her."
She considered calling Anna.
"For what? You're not still thinking of staying in her room tonight after all that, are you?" she thought.
"Okay. Umm… I was going to either drive home or stay in her room but it looks like neither of those things are possible. Is there a spare bed or couch I could use tonight?" she asked.
Alice smiled.
"You're in luck, one of my housemates left early for the holiday. You can use his bed," Alice replied.
"Thanks, I appreciate it," Elsa said.
"No problem. C'mon, I'll show you where it is," Alice said.
Anna pulled her jacket tighter as she and Kristoff hiked along fraternity row.
"Forget it, my ears are about to freeze off; I'm not walking all the way up to your dorm," Kristoff said, "my room is right here."
"I'm not allowed inside, remember?" Anna said.
"Fuck that," he said.
The snow creaked beneath their feet as they walked.
"I don't want you to get in trouble," Anna said.
"County's declared state of emergency, we're not supposed to be out in the storm," Kristoff replied.
"Really?" Anna asked.
"No idea, but that's what I'm going to say," Kristoff said.
He led her by the hand up the rickety steps and into Alpha Delta Alpha house. Rapunzel and Flynn were curled up on the couch watching TV on the first floor, and both of them looked up as Kristoff and Anna stomped the snow off their boots.
"Anna?" Punzie said, "Kristoff?"
"Where?" Flynn said as he looked right at them, "I don't see anything."
Anna stood there with her mouth open, wondering if it was the brownie.
"They're right there-"
Flynn put his hand atop Rapunzel's head and turned it towards the TV.
"I didn't see anything, did you?" he asked as he glanced at Kristoff and Anna and winked.
"O-oh. Uhh, nope, nothing at all," Rapunzel replied.
She waved with one hand over the back of the couch as Anna walked past and followed Kristoff upstairs to his room. The voices of other brothers in the house echoed from the kitchen, but they made it without encountering any of them. Kristoff closed and locked the door behind him.
"Okay, what the hell was that?" Kristoff asked.
"Umm," Anna said as she licked her lips.
"You kiss me out of nowhere, not that I'm complaining, mind you, and then ask to leave?" Kristoff said.
Elsa grinding against her leg. Elsa's fingers in her hair.
She sat down on the edge of his bed.
"Do you want to have sex?" Anna asked.
"Do I-" Kristoff said, "no! I mean… of course you're… super cool and hot and funny, but-"
"But what?" Anna asked.
"But what's wrong with you, are you on drugs?" he asked.
"No," she replied.
He put his hands on his hips.
"Okay, fine, Alice gave me a brownie," Anna said, "but I'm not… I mean I'm thinking clearly."
"Obviously not, if you're trying to jump my bones," Kristoff said.
"I'm not gay. I can't be," Anna thought.
"Look, do you want to or not?" she asked.
Kristoff threw his hands up in the air.
"I am not nearly drunk enough for this," he muttered.
She seriously considered stripping down and laying on his bed, but then decided that could possibly be the only thing she could do to embarrass herself further.
"Why is he turning me down?" she thought.
"I thought you liked me," she said.
He looked down at her and sighed.
"I do… did. Maybe I still do, I don't know, and maybe we could try going out or whatever, and eventually like… take that step," he said, "but not like this."
"Okay, but… you'd want to try?" she asked.
"Let's talk tomorrow, and we'll see," he replied.
Kristoff moved to the closet and pulled out a spare blanket and pillow, then set them up on the floor. He pulled off his boots.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"You're taking the bed," he said.
"Forget it, it's your room; I'll take the floor," Anna said.
"I'm not sleeping on a bed while you take the floor," Kristoff said.
"Well, I'm not taking the bed," Anna said.
"Fine by me," Kristoff said as he flattened the blanket out.
"Fine by me too," Anna said as she rolled up her jacket as a makeshift pillow.
He went to the bathroom and returned with two large glasses of water. Anna accepted it gratefully and drank several large gulps then lay down. Kristoff killed the lights and the rustle of his sheets stilled a moment later as he got situated.
"Hey," he said, "What happened tonight? Why'd you kiss me out of the blue like that?"
Snowflakes in Elsa's hair. Elsa's pulse against her cheek. Elsa's skin against her lips.
"I don't know. I'm high on drugs and acting like an idiot," she replied as she lay on her back.
Despite the drama, Kristoff was out and snoring within minutes, and it wasn't long before Anna started shivering without a blanket. She refused to give in and sleep on the bed, and only crept over to it to pilfer the pillow and comforter to avoid shivering the entire night.
The next morning, she awoke with her jaw aching, a headache that felt like a jackhammer against the inside of her skull, and a cramp in her back from sleeping on the floor. The glass of water beckoned from the top of the dresser, and she got herself up to her knees to reach it, then sat against the dresser and guzzled it down. Sunlight filtered in through the cracks in the blinds; the events of the evening came back to her in a rush, and she shook her head. She closed her eyes and put her forehead into her palm. She struggled to her feet and, after a moment of dizziness, nudged Kristoff's leg with her toe.
"Hey," she said as he stirred.
"Whu?" he said, "oh, hey."
"Hey. Listen, about last night," she said.
"Oh, yeah, don't worry about it," he said.
He sat up, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned.
"Do you really want to try dating?" she asked.
He paused and blinked a few times.
"You're not fucking around?" he asked.
"I don't know. I didn't know you still liked me," she replied, "if you do, you should ask me out."
He cleared his throat and studied her face for a few seconds.
"Do you want to get dinner on Friday?" he asked.
"That's Black Friday but… yeah, sure. We can take things slow," Anna said.
"Take it slow, good idea," he said.
While Kristoff brushed his teeth, Anna pulled on her jacket and boots to brave the outside world for the hike back to her room. She checked the window; at least six inches had fallen overnight, and the sun was blinding white off the snow. Her head pounded just looking at it from the window, and she blinked her eyes to re-adjust them to the dim of the room.
Kristoff walked her outside, but as soon as Anna exited the front door, she realized half the fraternity were already outside with shovels, clearing the driveway and sidewalk. She squinted in the glare as eyes turned to them.
"Hans, you let Anna back in?" someone asked.
Her ex-boyfriend looked up from the walkway.
"No, I did not, but it's fine, this is just too hilarious," he said, then raised his voice to yell, "Hey Bjorgman, how'd you like my sloppy seconds?"
Anna's hackles immediately went up.
"I wouldn't talk. He's better than you ever were," she said.
A collective 'oooh' went up from the fraternity brothers, but Hans only smirked at her.
"Careful Anna, at this rate you'll have banged half the team by Christmas," he said.
Anna barely registered the insult and Kristoff was already down the steps, charging across the walkway as Hans' eyes widened. The frat president tried to duck to the side but Kristoff tackled him about the waist; the two of them fell into the snow, with Hans laughing like a maniac. Kristoff straddled him and tried to line him up to land a punch, but the rest of the brothers swarmed in and pulled him off.
"It's okay, it's okay," Hans said as he stood up and brushed the snow off his clothes, "can't make this shit up."
"Why are you such an asshole?" Kristoff asked.
"Me? You fucking idiot, I'm trying to do you a favor," Hans said as he pointed a finger at Kristoff's chest, "She screwed me over you're still going to date her? You're gonna get everything you deserve and more."
"I told you, I didn't fucking post the videos," Anna said as she descended the steps.
"Whatever," Hans replied without looking at her.
"So… she's allowed back in the house?" Flynn asked.
"Yeah yeah, fuck it, the year's almost over anyway," Hans replied with a wave of his hand.
Kristoff didn't look like he was done though, and he glared at Hans.
"Stop," Anna said as she put a hand on his chest, "C'mon, let's go."
She took his hand and started walking towards the hill.
Elsa awoke in a strange bedroom, still in her clothes from the night before, and it was a moment before she remembered she was at Alice's house. The smell of bacon and eggs permeated the air. She stretched and put her shoes back on, then descended the steps to the second story kitchen. Alice and a couple of her housemates sat, bleary eyed, around the table, which hosted a frying pan with scrambled eggs, and plates of toast and bacon.
"Good morning," Elsa said.
A murmured, hungover response bubbled up from the group.
"Help yourself," Alice said as she pushed the eggs closer to her. Elsa spooned a serving out and set it and a few strips of bacon on toast for a makeshift sandwich. She didn't drink much the previous night, so she didn't even have a headache. Of more concern was the confusion around her and Anna, and now Kristoff, apparently. She blinked as she realized the others were talking about the other two.
"-scuffle in front of ADA house this morning," Alice said, "apparently Kristoff and Anna really are together now."
The words were a dagger slicing Elsa's heart to ribbons.
"Are they?" she asked.
"Seems that way," Alice replied.
"No," she thought.
Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out to see Anna's name. She hesitated a moment before sliding her thumb across the screen to answer.
"Hello?" she said as she stood up and walked away from the table.
"Hey," Anna said, "listen… about last night… I have to apologize. I don't know what I was thinking," Anna said.
Elsa forced her mouth to form the words.
"No no, I should be the one apologizing," she said.
"No, I convinced you to come to the party, and then I just left you there, in a snowstorm," Anna said.
She was talking about leaving her alone. Of course.
"Alice had an extra bed, so it worked out," Elsa said.
"Okay… okay that's good, and like… on the deck," Anna said, "I don't know what happened. I was on something and-"
"This is too painful," she thought.
"It's fine, forget it," Elsa said.
Anna fell quiet; perhaps she was being overly curt, but you couldn't just grind yourself against someone and then kiss someone else twenty seconds later and expect no reaction.
"She doesn't really know how you feel about her though," she thought.
"Are you sure? Like… we're okay, right?" Anna asked.
"Yes," Elsa lied.
"Okay," Anna said. The relief in her voice came through the phone loud and clear, "I'm so sorry um… I have rehearsals today and then I have to study over the holiday otherwise I'm screwed, but I'll call you soon, okay?"
"Sure, talk soon," Elsa replied. She ended the call and stared at her phone. Anna had been single. They had shared a weekend together in New York and become friends. Now she was attached again, this time to Kristoff. Whatever had happened on the deck last night, she decided to try and behind her, maybe go back to her original plan of keeping a healthy distance from Anna.
"It's probably for the best," she thought.
She got a taste of how difficult that would be though, as her mind started to replay their pseudo-tryst on the deck, among the snowflakes, and she smiled despite herself.