Frozen belongs to Disney
Chapter 13
"Ew, ew, ew," Anna said as she slid her still-wet, freezing cold elbow pads up her arms and strapped them into place. They'd had a late practice yesterday, and now with a light morning skate before an afternoon game, her equipment hadn't had time to dry.
" Just need to skate a few laps and it'll be fine," she thought. She tucked her arms into her practice jersey and pulled it down over her pads, then picked up her helmet, sticks, and water bottle.
As she stretched on the ice, she looked around. Elsa wasn't playing, but something felt off. They seemed to be short, more than just Elsa. She looked up at Merida, who stretched just a few feet away.
"Where's Chloe?" she asked.
"Ye dinnae hear? She bombed her finals. Academic probation," Merida replied.
" What?" she thought. Anna wasn't sure how to feel. On the one hand, Chloe had been a bitch to her, and to Elsa too, for that matter. On the other, Anna had narrowly avoided being kicked off the team herself, so she had some kind of idea what Chloe was going through.
"That sucks," she said noncommittally.
"Aye," Merida said.
Westergard put them through a light workout, just a few laps, a few drills, and a short scrimmage. The whistle sounded a long blast, signifying the end of practice.
"Alright, gather 'round," Westergard said, and the team skated over to the bench. "As you may have noticed, we're down two centers. That means we'll be rotating through forwards in the center position. Dunbroch, you'll start between LaFleur and Christiansen."
Westergard went through the rest of the lineup, then Anna left her equipment in the locker room, showered quickly, and hiked up to the cafeteria with a few of the other girls to have a pasta snack to fuel up before the game. Then it was back down to the locker room to suit up. They faced a small school, the New Haven Otters, from Connecticut. Merida won the opening faceoff back, and Anna took off, trying to get open. The defense passed up to the center, and Anna streaked up the wing, but had to stop at the blue line to avoid going off sides. Merida deked around a defenseman to gain the zone, and shot the puck through a screen, which the goalie saved and deflected into the corner. Anna, having had to stop at the top of the zone, didn't have a chance to even get there to fight for the puck, and it was cleared out easily by New Haven's defense.
" Dammit," Anna thought. The rest of the shift was spent chasing after the puck in their own zone, and when they finally regained possession, it was time for a change. Anna shoveled the puck to Rapunzel, who dumped it in so they could get off the ice.
Panting on the bench, Anna realized she was going to have to make adjustments. Whereas Elsa was a nimble skater and an amazing playmaker, Merida had arguably the best shot on the team, so where Elsa would look to pass to Anna, Merida was more likely to take the shot herself. That meant Anna would have to get into a position to fight for rebounds, and set Merida up for shots, instead of the other way around. She tried to remember what Elsa had told her, about knowing where everyone was on the ice at all times, and predicting where the puck would go instead of chasing after it. While Elsa made it look effortless, it was apparently more difficult than it seemed. Twice, Anna was knocked off the puck as defenders got to her faster than she'd anticipated, and her hip ached from how she'd fallen after one of the hits. A few times, she found herself open and raised her stick in the air to call attention to herself, but either the pass didn't come, or it came too late and she was covered by the time it arrived.
" Elsa would have found me," she thought as she skated to the bench for another change.
Still, when it came to her turn to play center, she managed to set up Merida for a goal in the first period, and Rapunzel for another in the second, and even without Elsa, the Ice Wolves won handily, 5-1.
" Good win, but it could have been more," Anna thought. A pair of assists wasn't a bad game, but she always felt bummed whenever she didn't manage to score a goal. After showering and changing, she slung her bag over her shoulder and stepped out into the parking lot, where Elsa leaned against the wall of the rink.
"Hey," the blonde said, "nice game."
"Hey! You're back," Anna said. Elsa smiled at her.
"I'm back," she said. "Can I give you a ride up to your dorm?"
"I won't say no to that," Anna said. She followed Elsa into the parking lot where she led her to a black car, different than the one she'd had in the fall. This one was lower to the ground, with a retractable roof, and Anna felt it must have been something expensive, then she saw letters emblazoned on the rear of the car.
"You rented a Porche?" she asked.
"Umm… no. It's actually not a rental," Elsa replied. It took Anna's brain a few seconds to catch on.
"You bought a Porche," she said.
Elsa shrugged sheepishly.
"What can I say, I like going fast," she said.
"Won't the salt from the roads get all over it?" Anna said as she dropped her bag into the trunk.
"Probably. I hadn't really thought about that. I think there's a car wash near my hotel, so it shouldn't be a problem," Elsa said. Anna opened the door and sat down on the brand-new leather seat.
"Hm. Must be nice," Anna said as she wiggled her toes inside her duct tape repaired shoe.
Elsa paused with her key in the ignition and stared off into the distance. With the horror of realization, Anna put her hand over her mouth.
" Idiot! She's probably thinking she'd give it all up for more time with her dad," she thought, " quick, distract her."
"Umm… I guess you saw the game. I know you're not, like… playing anymore, but do you think you have time to run through some of the plays?" Anna asked.
Elsa blinked, then glanced over to her.
"Oh, err, sure, yes. If I have time, I mean," she replied. She paused for a second then smiled at her, and Anna's heart started to slow from its frenetic pace. Elsa took them up the hill to Anna's dorm and switched off the engine. Anna climbed out of the car, lugged her bag out of the trunk, and as she closed it, Elsa rounded the rear fender with a small gift, a box wrapped in red and green.
"Merry Christmas," she said.
Anna's eyes widened.
"I… thank you," she said as she accepted the box with one hand, "umm, do you want to come upstairs?"
"Sure," Elsa replied with a nod. She took Anna's sticks so the redhead could more easily fish out her student ID and get the door open, and then they climbed the steps to her room. Anna dumped her bag on the spare bed and Elsa leaned the sticks against the closet door.
"Should I open it now?" Anna asked.
"Please. It's well after New Years," Elsa replied.
Anna tore the wrapping paper and her mouth open a bit as she recognized a dark grey jewelry case.
" She wouldn't…" she thought. The box refused to slide open quickly, but then the top came off and a pair of brown stud earrings stared up at her.
"I thought, since you love playing…" Elsa said as she wrung her hands.
Anna smiled as she recognized them as a pair of hockey sticks. She chuckled.
"These are perfect, thank you so much," she said. "Are you… are you okay?"
Elsa frowned for a second.
"I- …I will be," she replied. "It's tough but… I know what I have to do, at least for the time being."
Anna nodded, then closed the box and placed it on the desk.
"If you ever need anything…" she said.
Elsa smiled.
"I know. Thank you," she said. "I'd umm… I'd love to stay and chat, but I have some things I need to take care of."
Anna blinked.
" That was fast. Was she waiting for me just to pass the gift over?" she thought.
"Oh, yeah, sure. No problem," she said, "I guess… I'll see you later?"
"Later," Elsa said as she stepped out the door. Anna closed it behind her and went back to the earrings. They looked to be silver, or maybe white gold or platinum; she didn't know enough about jewelry to be able to tell.
" It doesn't mean she likes you. It could just be just… a way to try and smooth things over," she thought. At the same time, her heart started to thud in her chest again, and she swallowed. She pulled the small studs from the grey box and affixed them into her ear lobes, then checked the mirror. They weren't flashy or overstated and they were something Elsa had given her, something she could keep forever. She decided to leave them in.
Elsa watched from the front row of the mezzanine level as Anna circled with the puck, got to the slot, and fired a shot. Even from where she was, the *clink* of the puck hitting the post reached her, and she winced as another almost-goal deflected up and into the netting. Someone shoved the redhead down to the ice after the play, and as Anna picked herself up, Elsa found herself on her feet.
" Not that I can do anything from up here," she thought. It was okay though, as Merida came to her defense, jawing and shoving at the opposing team. " Probably threatening them with some medieval Scottish torture."
Elsa smirked, then her phone rang.
" 47," she thought, " Norway."
"Hello?" she said as she answered. It was a joint call between her father's property management firm and a landscaping company, dialing her from a new number. She held a finger over one ear as she answered questions about several properties transferred to her name, while also watching the game, specifically Anna's shifts. The final buzzer sounded as she hung up, and Elsa checked the scoreboard, 4-3.
" Oh no, we lost," she thought. Deep in her bones, she knew she could have made a difference. " But then you would have missed the call. You have to think about what's really important."
She exited the rink and walked to the parking lot to wait for Anna. Several of the girls sent her questioning glances as they left the building and passed by her, but Elsa ignored them. Then she spotted the redhead, ice pack held against one elbow, and waved.
"Do you want to talk about the game while it's fresh?" Elsa asked as she held out a hand to collect Anna's sticks. Anna paused and looked torn.
"I… really do, but I'm supposed to get over to the Fine Arts building now to help build sets," she replied. "Hey… do you want to help? Then we can do both."
Elsa hesitated. On the one hand, she didn't know any of the theater folks. On the other, the powerful magnetism of her near-obsession pulled her to spend more time with Anna.
"Okay. Maybe this one time," she replied, and managed to feel both unsurprised and disappointed in herself at the same time.
They drove up to Anna's dorm to drop off her equipment, then she followed the redhead as they walked down to Fine Arts. Anna's wet hair stiffened in the cold air as the water froze, until they pushed into the building with its heated air. The scene in the auditorium was one of organized chaos. In one corner of the stage, students, all of them wearing zany, colorful, personalized clothes, painted large canvasses laid out on the floor. On the other side, two boys busied themselves stacking planks of wood. In the middle and flitting between various groups, a brunette oversaw everything.
"Hi Anna," she said, then glanced to Elsa, "you brought help? Great. Olaf and Marshall could use the extra hands making box frames."
" Box frames?" Elsa thought. Anna saluted then motioned for her to follow, and Elsa pointedly kept her gaze above the waistline of her jeans. The two boys, one skinny and nerdy and the other massive, even bigger than Gaston, had just divided up a jar of nails into two smaller cups.
"Olaf, Marshall, this is Elsa," Anna said as they approached.
Marshall gave her a wave of one massive hand, and Elsa waved back. The smaller boy, Olaf, turned and pushed his thick glasses higher up his nose.
"Oh ho ho, the great Elsa, at last," he said as he held out a hand, "nice to meetcha."
Elsa raised an eyebrow and glanced to Anna as she shook his hand. Despite his wobbly appearance, he had a surprisingly strong grip.
"I… might have mentioned you once or twice," Anna said as she ducked her head a bit.
"Once or twice, an hour," Olaf said. "Marshall and I could probably give you a rundown of your greatest plays."
"Hey look, box frames," Anna said as she stepped over to the wood, "so… how do we do this?"
Elsa joined Anna by the lumber.
" She talks about you," she thought, practically giddy. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Marshall smack Olaf on the back of the head.
"Ow, what'd I say?" Olaf asked. Marshall merely rolled his eyes and pointed at the wood. The two boys showed the girls how to create a rectangular frame with a pair of crossbeams each, and nail them in place. The first one took a little while, but then they started getting the hang of it. As they took a break, Anna pointed at the corner of one of the frames they'd assembled.
"You watched the game, right? Remember the play when I got squeezed off the puck here? What would you have done?" Anna asked.
Elsa smiled; she remembered the play, and pointed more towards the center of the frame.
"I would have cut back here. That would have given Rapunzel time to catch up, and then the defensemen would have had to make a choice, to stay with you or cover her as she went deep. Then depending on what they did you could either cycle it around the back of the net, or pass it to her, or circle back and try to find a lane to shoot through a screen," she said.
Anna squinted her eyes.
"Here," Elsa said. She picked up a few nails to represent players and set them down inside the box frame. "Their center was lagging behind the play a little bit, so, if you turned here, then the defense would move this way to stay between you and the net, and that would have opened up a passing lane, because by then, Rapunzel will have moved here." As she spoke, she slid the nails around to represent the play as it developed and showed Anna the path between the defense, to the nail that represented Rapunzel. She kept moving the nails, predicting how the play would develop, until none of the nails were anywhere near their starting position.
"Holy… crap," Anna said as she studied the makeshift model. It was like she was playing chess and looking ten moves ahead. "How did you…?"
Elsa smiled, but then it faded.
"My dad, back when the company was smaller. He always taught me not to chase the puck, to predict where the puck was going to go. Everything else just grew from there," she replied.
"Hey! Less talking, more hammering," Olaf said. Anna jumped and they cleaned up the nails and pulled out some more pieces of wood. Thirty minutes later, and they finished the last box frame.
"What happens now?" Elsa asked as she set her hammer back in the toolbox.
"I think they're going to stretch canvas over and paint them? Not sure," Anna replied, "that's it for us though. Do you want to get dinner?"
The image of Ariel's features contorted in pain flashed before her eyes.
"Maybe another time," Elsa replied. She was already breaking her promise to herself to keep her distance from Anna; she had to do better.
"Oh… okay," Anna said. They went their separate ways, with Elsa heading up to the dorm to retrieve her car and Anna walking to the dining hall alone.
" It's for the best," Elsa thought as she turned the ignition. The engine rumbled to life and settled in a low purr.
"… And she just left. Then yesterday, she pretended not to hear me, until I called her name like three times, only for her to say she was busy and couldn't talk," Anna said
"Doesn't she do that all the time?" Rapunzel asked.
"Yeah. Well, I mean it slowed down towards the end of last semester but now, I don't know. Drives me nuts, I have no idea where I stand with her," Anna said.
The microwave dinged, and Anna pulled out two glasses of near-boiling water.
"Maybe she's just like that. It's not like she's the most social person on campus. I mean, you do know you're practically the only one she talks to, right?" Rapunzel said.
"Hmm," Anna said as she peeled back the flaps of two Styrofoam instant noodle cups. She poured the steaming water in then set forks on top of the flaps to keep them shut. The scent of chicken flavored MSG filled the air.
"So," Rapunzel said as she sat cross-legged and tucked her feet beneath her on the spare bed, "do you think she has the hots for you?"
Anna rolled her eyes.
"She already told me she doesn't," she replied, "although…"
"Yeeaah?" Rapunzel said as she leaned forward.
Anna paused. To share or not to share.
" Punzie's your best friend. If you can't tell her, who can you tell?" she thought.
"Take a look at this photo," Anna said. She fired up her laptop and pulled up the specific selfie from the top of the Empire State Building, then turned it around to show Rapunzel. "You can kinda see her eye; is she looking at me? Or am I insane?"
"You are such a loon," the blonde said as she grinned at Anna's puffed out cheeks.
"Focus!" Anna said as she pointed at Elsa's sunglasses. Rapunzel leaned in.
"Yep, totally checking you out," she said.
Anna grew quiet and watched steam curl up from the crack in the flap sealing in her instant noodles.
"You really think she likes me?" she asked.
"You said she's gay, right? Did she get you a Christmas gift?" Rapunzel asked.
"Earrings," Anna said.
Punzie turned both hands palms up as if to say 'duh'.
"And she took you to New York for a weekend," she added.
"That was just… actually, now that I think about it… we kind of got in a fight just before Christmas," Anna said. "I didn't notice at the time, but she said I was leading her on, which…"
She bit her lower lip.
"Well, how do you feel about her?" Rapunzel asked. Anna looked up at her friend.
"I don't. Not like that. I'm not-" Anna said, but she stopped short as realization hit her. "Ohhh. Okay, there was this one time. You have to swear to secrecy."
Rapunzel's eyes gleamed with the potential of juicy gossip.
"I swear," she said as she used her finger to draw an 'X' over heart.
Anna started a Rihanna song on her laptop and turned the volume up, then took a deep breath.
"Last year, I might have kind of made out with her a little bit," Anna said.
Rapunzel's mouth dropped open.
"You WHAT?" she said.
"Shh, keep your voice down," Anna said as she looked at the walls. Even with the music on, loud voices would bleed through. She brought the noodles and sat on the bed next to Punzie.
"You what?" Rapunzel whispered.
"It's kind of hazy. I was high, or rolling or tripping on something Alice gave me. We were outside, on the deck, and it was snowing, and… I was like, hugging her. And I might have… kissed-her-on-the-neck," she said.
Rapunzel stared at her in shock for a few seconds.
"That's… not really making out with someone, but more importantly, how the hell have you never mentioned this?" she asked.
Anna threw one hand, the one not holding noodles, in the air.
"We agreed to pretend like it never happened and I just, I don't know. I didn't think about it," she replied. She felt like she wanted to cry, and the worst part was, she had no idea why.
"Hey, it's okay," Rapunzel said as she scooted closer. "I've made out with a bunch of girls."
Anna blinked.
"You… when? Wait… like, at once?" she asked.
"No, not at once, jeez. Last year," Rapunzel replied.
"And you didn't tell me?" Anna asked.
Rapunzel seemed to think about it for a few seconds.
"Oh yeah, that's a good point," she said.
"So… you're what… bisexual?" Anna asked.
Rapunzel shrugged again.
"I don't like labels," she replied.
Anna chuckled, shook her head, then blew on a forkful of noodles and took a bite.
" Did you ever want to make out with me?" Anna thought. " Don't say that, things might get weird, and then you'll have fucked up your friendship with Rapunzel just like you did with Kristoff."
"Have you talked to Kristoff recently?" she asked.
"Yeah, he's still pissed at you. I think he might be coming around though," Rapunzel replied. "Don't change the subject. The real question is, how do you feel about Miss Anderson? Do you liiike her? Do you want to make out with her? Again?"
Rapunzel pursed her lips and made kissing sounds.
"Shut up," Anna replied, but heat rose to her cheeks and she focused on her noodles; soon she would only have soup left.
"You know, a sure-fire way to find out if she likes you is to ask her out," Rapunzel said. Anna nearly choked.
"No! Oh my God," she said, and Rapunzel smirked. "If you like her so much, why don't you ask her out?"
"I just might," Rapunzel said. Anna paused. She was pretty sure Rapunzel was joking, but there was always the possibility she wasn't.
"So you'll date anyone, then?" Anna asked.
"Not anyone; I do have standards, thank you very much. I guess you can think of me as a cutie-sexual," Rapunzel replied with a grin, "I'll go for it if I'm single enough and they're cute enough, and Elsa definitely qualifies. Shoot, I might go for it even if I'm not single, I'm pretty sure Flynn wouldn't mind. If I knew she liked me. And assuming she ever says more than one word to me, that is."
" She's a better hockey player than me, and prettier, and more fun," Anna thought, and a sense of possessiveness came over her; Elsa was hers , " why am I even thinking like this?"
"Come on, be honest. Objectively speaking, you don't think she's pretty?" Rapunzel asked.
"I…" Anna said.
Elsa's cheeks. Her jaw. The way her bangs fell forward over her forehead. Her smile. Her neck. The feel of her smooth skin beneath Anna's lips came back to her.
"Oh wow, I don't believe it. You're totally into her," Rapunzel said.
Anna shook her head and set the nearly empty cup on the edge of the bed frame.
"Shut up. Even if I was, it doesn't matter," she said, "I can't. I can't, what would my parents think?"
Anna put her hand over her mouth and her forehead creased as she took a few deep breaths through her nose.
"Hey, hey, I was only teasing you. Kinda," Rapunzel said. She slid over to Anna again and put an arm around her shoulder to pull her into a half-hug.
"What am I gonna do?" Anna asked.
"Ask her out," Rapunzel replied, "then convince her to play hockey again because we're going to get destroyed in the playoffs without her."
Again, Anna felt protective of Elsa. She'd just lost her father after all, and it wasn't fair for anyone to be asking her to do anything she didn't want to. Anna gave Rapunzel a side-eye glance, then scoffed, and Rapunzel laughed.
"Look, don't worry about your parents," Rapunzel said.
"Easy for you to say, your parents are cool," Anna said.
"Well… I didn't tell mine either," Rapunzel said. "What they don't know won't hurt them, right? Seriously though, like her? I will totally help you out if you ask."
"…I don't know," Anna replied.
Elsa looked through the menu, Anna having put hers aside some minutes prior. The redhead admonished herself for staring at Elsa's face while her attention was occupied, pulled her eyes away, and started to walk her fingers on the lazy Susan to slowly spin it around.
"Oh no, here come the toothpicks," she said, and her fingers leapt over the small sticks like a hurdle.
"I don't know, what are you getting?" Elsa asked.
"General Tso's Chicken Combo," Anna replied, "it has broccoli so I can pretend it's healthy. I'm going to order fried dumplings too, to share."
"I'll try these… fat noodles," Elsa said. Asian paintings and faux motifs adorned the walls, and a Chinese family, the only other patrons on this Tuesday night, sat in the far corner of the restaurant. Anna ordered for both herself and Elsa, and the waiter set down a bowl of some kind of fried crackers as appetizers.
"Do they really have the little white boxes?" Elsa asked.
"Uhh, only if we pack leftovers," Anna replied.
"Hmm. We always see them on TV, is all," Elsa said.
"You don't have them in Norway?" Anna asked.
"We have Chinese restaurants, of course, but they use clearish plastic containers," Elsa said.
"Hmm," Anna said as she popped one of the crackers into her mouth. "See, there's a Chinese family here. That's always a good sign."
"It's otherwise empty, that's not such a good sign," Elsa said.
"Who comes out to eat on Tuesday night?" Anna asked.
"Us, I suppose," Elsa said, then her phone rang. "Hello? Hi, yes, this is she."
She held up a finger as she stood, then walked towards the front of the restaurant. It was weird. Elsa was her friend, but at the same time she was now the head, or soon to be head, of a major shipping company. A plate of fried dumplings arrived and Anna bit one open and blew on it a few times to cool off the insides before taking a real bite.
"Sorry," Elsa said as she returned.
"Who was it, anyone I know?" Anna asked.
"Another charity group," Elsa replied, "I reached out to a few last week to ask some details, you know, figure I should do something for the disadvantaged." She broke her wooden chopsticks and affixed them carefully in her fingers. "But it turns out that these particular charities spent over ninety percent of their donations on administration and expenses. Less than ten percent actually goes to the causes they're supposed to champion."
Anna wrinkled her nose.
"So they were keeping most of the money for themselves?" she asked.
"Well, they do have to pay salaries; people won't work for free. But it wasn't what I was looking for," Elsa replied. "Apparently though, my phone number got out, and now I keep getting calls from random charities looking for donations."
"That sucks. So, what are you going to do?" Anna asked.
Elsa shrugged helplessly.
"Wait for it to die down I guess, and if it doesn't, I might have to change my phone number," she replied.
Anna shook her head. She was about to say more but their food arrived and she dug into the chicken and rice combo.
"Are you sure this is Chinese food?" Elsa asked as she stared at the steaming plate of noodles.
"Yeah, why?" Anna replied.
"It isn't like any Chinese food I've ever seen," Elsa replied.
Anna swallowed half her mouthful of food before responding.
"Maybe it's from a different part of China," she replied.
Elsa nodded.
"Do you want to try some?" she asked.
"Sure," Anna replied. They traded some of their dishes on a pair of the small plates provided. The savory, steaming noodles shocked her taste buds and her eyes widened.
"It's so good," Elsa said as she stared down at her plate.
"I know right?" Anna said with a grin, "I was hoping you'd like it."
"I love it. We'll have to come back here… once in a while," Elsa said.
They ate in silence, and Anna asked for takeaway boxes. Their leftovers returned along with the check, a plate of sliced oranges, and a pair of fortune cookies.
"Oooh, you pick first," Anna said.
Elsa grabbed the cookie nearest her, cracked it open, and pulled out the little slip of paper inside.
"Experience is the best teacher," she said.
"In bed," Anna said.
"What?" Elsa asked.
"You're supposed to add the words 'In bed' after fortune cookie fortunes," Anna said.
Elsa laughed.
"I've never heard that before," she said.
Anna nodded.
"Works every time, here," she said as she reached for her own cookie, cracked it open, and cleared her throat.
"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm," Anna said. Elsa stayed silent, and Anna leaned forward a bit.
"In bed," Elsa said, then chuckled. "Yours was better."
Anna grinned.
"I told you, every time," she said.
"Well, we'll have to come back here again to read some more," Elsa said as she reached for the check. Anna pulled her wallet out but Elsa waved her hand.
"Come on," the blonde said.
"Hey, I'm not a freeloader," Anna said.
"Of course you're not… but let me do this at least. I'd be thinking about it all night if I let you pay half," Elsa said.
"At least let me get the tip," Anna said, and Elsa smiled.
"Okay. If you insist," she said. Anna pulled out several bills from her wallet and left them on the table. Elsa drove them back to campus.
"I had fun," Anna said as Elsa stopped by her dorm.
"Me too. The fortune cookies were hilarious," Elsa said.
"See you later this week?" Anna asked.
"Maybe, if I have time," Elsa replied.
As she drove back to the hotel, Elsa alternated between replaying dinner with Anna and admonishing herself for spending so much time with her.
" That was practically a date," she thought, " just what do you think you're doing?"
She arrived at her room and locked the door, then slipped out of her shoes and proceeded to pace back and forth in front of the television.
" You're going to make a mistake, one you can't take back," she thought. She pulled out her braid and ran her fingers through her hair, then dug her nails into her scalp.
"That's it, no more hanging out with her," she said, "just… study sessions only."
" Sad, you can't bring yourself to cut it off completely, even though you know that's what's best," she thought.
The following day, Elsa ate alone in the dining hall. She looked up as someone called her name, just as she recognized Anna's voice. Her heart leapt as the redhead waved and walked towards her, tray held in two hands. Elsa held up a hand.
"I'm in a bit of a rush, can't stay," she said.
"O… okay," Anna said. Elsa picked up her two remaining sandwich slices and capped her Snapple bottle.
"See you," she said.
As she pushed out of the exit from the dining hall, she ran into another redhead, Merida Dunbroch.
"Afternoon, Anderson," she said in her thick Scottish accent.
"Hello," Elsa said.
"Wanted to catch up with you," Merida said, and Elsa nodded. She set her Snapple bottle on the guard rail above the steps.
"I understand why ye're not playin," Merida said, "I respect it, but I have to ask, for the girls, and for meself. Is there any way I can convince ye to make a return?" Elsa started to shake her head, but Merida plowed on. "Look. Some of us have next year to look forward to. For some of us though, it's our last chance. I cannae force ye to rejoin, but just know that you're missed, on the ice. You can even have the 'C' if you want. I don't care, I just want to win."
Elsa sighed deeply.
"It's not about that at all," she said, and Merida nodded as if she'd known that was the case all along. "I'm not in a place right now where I can play and commit to the team."
"We'll take what we can get," Merida said.
"I'm sorry. My answer is still no," Elsa said.
"Ach. At least now I can say I tried," Merida said. "I hope ye find what you're lookin' for. Peace or whatever it is."
Elsa nodded.
"I appreciate that," she said.
The Scot clapped her on the shoulder as she passed by.
"Take care of yourself," she said.
"You too," Elsa said as she retrieved her bottle. As she descended the steps, she frowned.
" She doesn't care about you at all. She just wants you back on the ice to give the team a better chance of winning," she thought.
After classes and dinner, she hiked up to Anna's dorm. She had half a mind to cancel, but her conversation with Merida had left her feeling down, and watching Anna go through her lines always lifted her spirits. So, five minutes later, she knocked on the door and Anna threw it open.
"Hey, you made it," Anna said. She sounded surprised, but Elsa didn't press it. She closed the door behind her. Anna wore the hockey earrings, and Elsa smiled.
"Wouldn't miss it," she replied.
"Okay, you don't have to do anything special, just read the lines so I can practice," Anna said. As they went through the script, Elsa was practically in heaven as she got a front row seat to Anna's other passion. At one point she grew so enthralled watching her performance that when Anna finished, she started to clap. Anna giggled.
"You're supposed to read the next line," she said.
"Oh. Yeah," Elsa said as she looked down at the script. Her cheeks burned as she flipped the page.
"Damn, it's already ten o'clock and… wow, it's really coming down," Anna said. Elsa looked up to see the redhead staring out the window, where thick flakes fell in the light of the lamps illuminating the walkway. She stepped up next to her, and although her eyes swept down to the snow-covered ground, all her essence was focused on Anna, her nearness, the strands of hair that had come out of her braid, the curve of her neck…
"You can crash here tonight, if you want," Anna said. She turned around and Elsa took a step back as the redhead motioned to the vacant bed.
"What, in your room?" she asked.
"Yeah. You can't drive in this, not in a sports car," Anna said. Even though they had technically shared a bed in New York, this felt somehow much more intimate. It was an invitation to sleep in Anna's room, her private sanctuary, and even though she knew it was stupid, she was already standing in it, for goodness' sake, Elsa's heart started racing with the implications.
" What if I talk in my sleep?" she thought. Since returning to New Hampshire, she had drifted off to thoughts of Anna more often than not. " Don't take the risk."
"I'd better not," Elsa said, to which Anna's eyebrows came together in confusion. "I'll… I'll sleep on the couch in the common room, by the TV."
"That dingy old thing?" Anna said.
"It'll be fine," Elsa said.
"But.. there's an empty bed right here. I don't mind, really," Anna said.
"I… I don't want to. Please," Elsa said.
"O…kay," Anna said, and she continued to regard her strangely, as if Elsa's words had somehow wounded her. Elsa retreated downstairs; luckily the common room was unoccupied, and she rolled her jacket up to use as a pillow, then set her phone's alarm to wake her up early. The couch was not exactly comfortable, and Elsa tossed and turned, and more than once considered returning to Anna's room.
" No. Stay strong. Don't get too close. It's for her own good, and yours," she thought. She let her mind wander down paths of what could happen if she were to return, fantasizing about somehow ended up on the same cot with Anna, and then what would happen afterwards.
" Why do you do this to yourself?" she thought as heat spread from her belly down between her legs. Hopelessly aroused, she dared not try anything in the common area. Every now and then she checked her phone as the time ticked past 11, then 12, until she stood up and checked the window as the snow continued to pile up. Eventually she returned to the couch and dozed, off, only to snap awake as her alarm went off at six-thirty. She looked down in confusion, where a blanket had appeared on top of her. She rubbed the soft material between her fingers for a second as she tried to place the purple and blue design, and then it came to her: the blanket Anna had purchased back on Halloween, in Salem. Her chest ached as she realized it meant Anna had lain awake until even after Elsa had fallen asleep, then had come down to check on her, and thrown the blanket over her. She pressed it to her nose and breathed deep; it smelled like Anna. Elsa stretched her stiff joints, slipped her shoes back on, and folded up the blanket. She'd have to return it and thank her, of course, but when she knocked on the door, there was no answer.
" Hmm, where could she be this early in the morning?" Elsa thought. Outside in the pristine winter wonderland, all sound muffled, she used her keychain to locate her car in the parking lot, then trudged through the snow and exchanged the blanket for her backpack with a change of clothes in it, then headed down to the dining hall. Luckily, the walkways had already been shoveled, with a snowblower by the look of the piles off to the side. She ate a light breakfast and then, since she was already on campus, figured she would head to the gym for a quick workout before class. After changing, she stepped into the gym proper, then did a double take as she spotted Anna lifting weights. Her stomach did somersaults as the redhead sat up and noticed her staring, then smiled and waved. Elsa walked over.
"Hey, didn't expect to see you here, since you're not playing anymore," Anna said.
"It helps with the stress," Elsa replied. "Thank you for the blanket. I have it umm.. in my car. I hope you were able to get at least some rest?"
"Enough," Anna said, "err, do you think you could give me a spot?"
Elsa nodded and stood behind the barbell as Anna went through her set. She forced her eyes to stay on the bar, to make sure it was level, and not on Anna's running shorts and cream-colored thighs. The bar clanked as Anna returned it to its cradle, and she sat up.
"Hey, I was just thinking…" she said between breaths, "I know it's a really stressful time for you and all, maybe you could try getting away too? Punzie's parents are letting us use their cabin in the mountains for the weekend."
A weekend, in the woods, with Anna.
"I…" Elsa said.
"I mean, you don't have to, of course, and I'll totally understand." Anna said. "I just thought… I mean I can't take you on a fancy trip to New York, but, maybe you need a break, kind of like I did, and I definitely owe you."
" She's trying to help, the way you helped her. But… it's not her cabin," Elsa thought.
"Who else is going?" she asked.
"Umm… you, me, Rapunzel, Flynn I'm sure, and maybe Kristoff. If he, you know, can stand to be in the same room as me," she said.
She frowned, then straightened up and blinked a few times.
"Oh hey, do you know how to ski?" she asked.
" At least a dozen trips and lessons every winter since I was five," Elsa thought.
"Yes, I ski. Is this a ski trip?" Elsa asked.
Anna hunched her shoulders and smiled sheepishly, and Elsa's heart nearly melted.
"Uh, kinda? Hey, at least this time I mentioned it before we were on our way. That's an improvement, right?" she said.
Elsa chuckled as she recalled their first trip ice skating.
"Yes, that's an improvement. I don't have any equipment here; I'll have to rent," she said.
"That's okay, there's plenty of time before this weekend. So, you're coming?" Anna asked.
"I'll go," Elsa replied.
"Yes!" Anna said with a fist pump, not unlike the one she'd made when she scored her first non-empty net goal. Elsa laughed, but an unsettling feeling nestled deep in her stomach.
" Is she acting?" Elsa thought as Anna, all smiles, started going through the plan and schedule for the weekend. She shoved her concerns about getting too close to her aside. " Who cares, you're going on a weekend ski trip with her."
