Frozen belongs to Disney
Chapter 10
Wednesday afternoon, Elsa returned to the hotel to find the parking lot completely filled, to the point she had to park down the street and walk back. Guests jammed the lobby, checking in, and milling about, and she excused her way past a small group near the elevator. Back in her room, she stared at her bed and wondered what she was going to do with herself over the next four days.
"Might as get started on your schoolwork… you're going to have to get it done at some point," she thought.
She set her backpack on the desk and flicked the lamp on as she sat down, then pulled out the first assignment. Emotions warred within her as she attempted to internalize the words on the page. Flashes of memories from Tuesday night kept interrupting, either Anna all but throwing herself at her under the snow, or her kissing Kristoff on the dance floor. Elsa looked up from the page and rested her cheek against her fist.
"She was high, but she's made her choice," she thought, "that's why she's going out with Kristoff Bjorgman now… ugh, stop dwelling on it."
She refocused on the page, but the words wouldn't stick. She left the book on the desk and picked up the remote, then settled on the bed to watch some television, but nothing was on except news, which she skipped past, and mindless sitcoms, which held virtually zero meaning for her. Her phone rang: Father. She closed her eyes and sighed, but it wasn't like she was doing anything else at the moment, and she would have to talk to him eventually.
"Hello?" she said.
"Elsa. It's been some time, how have you been?" he asked in Norwegian.
"Doing well. Finals are in a few weeks," she replied as she switched over.
"Good. I assume you're coming home for the winter break," he said.
"I haven't decided," she replied.
"There is a company gathering but I expect to also have some free time. You should be there. I'll send you the details," he said.
She stayed silent for a moment.
"It's Christmas. You should go home for Christmas," she thought.
"Okay, as long as finals are done, I'll be there," she said.
"Good," he said, and then there was some background noise, "I have to go."
"Of course," she said, "I'll talk to you soon."
The call ended and she looked at her phone. No doubt she'd receive the dates and locations of the company holiday party from his personal assistant within the next day. She thought about calling Anna, but tossed her phone to the far side of the bed instead.
"She's not interested; keep your distance," she thought.
"Thanks for dropping me off," Anna said.
"Anytime," Kristoff replied as he pulled into her driveway. Even though it hadn't grown in weeks, the grass was still way too long, evidence it had not been cut since sometime in October.
"Probably earlier," she thought, "actually, I wouldn't be surprised if nobody mowed it since I left for school."
"We're still on for Friday, right?" he asked.
"Yep," she replied, even though her chest cringed at the prospect of an actual date with Kristoff. She opened the car door before he could ask any more questions, or worse, lean over and try to kiss her.
"See you," she said as she closed the door. She stood in the glare of his headlights to wave as he backed up, and only stepped up to her front door as his red tail lights pulled away. SJe thought the porch drooped a bit more than she recalled, and her keychain jingled as she fished it out and fitted the one for the front door to the lock. The house was technically paid off, but her parents still never seemed to have any money, so the porch remained unrepaired. She jiggled the key until the stubborn lock turned.
"Hello?" she said as she walked in, "I'm home."
Running water from the kitchen turned off and her mom, hair red like hers but with streaks of grey, rounded the corner.
"Heeey, Anna banana," her mom said.
She stepped forward and gave her a crushing hug.
"Hey mom, missed you," Anna said.
"You're just in time," her mother said, "I'm making meatloaf."
Anna's mouth started watering at the thought.
"Where's dad?" she asked.
"Sleeping," her mom replied. Anna nodded. A timer dinged from the kitchen and her mom headed back, while Anna turned the other way, towards her room. The carpet was just as stained, the floorboards creaked the way they always did, and though the wallpaper was slightly more peeled than she remembered, it didn't make any difference; she was home. Anna dropped her bag on the floor and returned to the kitchen to enjoy her mom's cooking, and her presence. Afterwards, she headed to her room and collapsed onto her old mattress. Her shoes tumbled to the floor and she lay on her back with her hands behind her head. She only meant to lie down for a few minutes, but when she opened her eyes, the hallway outside her room was pitch dark. She glanced at the clock: 2:30am.
"Dammit," she thought. She stumbled to the bathroom to pee and brush her teeth, then pulled her jeans and sweater off, followed by her bra, then climbed under the covers.
The following morning, she woke up around ten. After lying around in bed for a few minutes, the smell of something cooking got her to her feet. Yawning and stretching, she threw on comfortable sweats and trudged into the kitchen to find her mom had baked bread rolls.
"Awesome," she said as she picked one up off the tray and blew on it a little bit before scarfing it down.
"Hurry up and change, I can really use your help in here," her mom said. Anna gave her a thumbs up as she chewed, then retreated to her room. She pulled her old robe from the closet, she hadn't brought it to school, and made her way to the bathroom to shower. The errant showerhead squirted her in the eye like it always did, and she had to dodge out of the way when the water pressure dropped as someone flushed the toilet, which always heralded a stream of scalding hot water.
"There's no place like home," she thought.
When she returned, her father was sat in his La-Z-Boy chair watching a football pregame.
"Morning Anna, welcome home," he said. He started to stand.
"It's okay dad, you don't have to get up," she said. Ever since he'd injured his back at work, he'd had trouble getting around.
"Wouldn't be much of a Thanksgiving if I didn't stand up to hug my daughter," he said as he braced one arm on the chair and got his feet under him. She embraced him with one arm.
"How is school going so far?" he asked.
The image of her recent less-than-stellar marks flashed across her mind.
"So far so good," she replied cheerfully.
"Excellent. And I'm sure you'll be getting some practice in over the holiday, right?" he asked.
"Sure," Anna replied, "long as you'll give me a ride to the rink."
He grunted as he sat down again.
"Might have to ask your mother," he said.
"Anna? Are you coming?" she called from the kitchen.
"Go go," he said.
Per the normal Thanksgiving routine, her mom bustled around the kitchen while her father watched the football games. Anna helped her out, mashing the potatoes and stirring the sauce while the turkey baked, then she set the table. By the time three pm rolled around, they were just about ready. Her father popped a bottle of white wine open and poured a glass for her mom and himself, then he hesitated and poured half a glass for Anna while her mom looked on.
"Thanks dad," she said.
"Yeah, well," he replied, as if to say he expected she had been drinking on campus.
Her mom brought the gravy out and set it on the table, then took her apron off and sat down.
"Happy Thanksgiving," her father said, and she and her mom echoed him. He folded his hands and looked down as he closed her eyes, and Anna mimicked the action. "Bless us oh Lord and these gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen."
"Amen," Anna said and she immediately reached out for the bread, still warm from the oven, and butter.
"Any interesting stories from your first semester on campus?" her mom asked.
Flashes of parties and hockey, the torment of her sex video distribution, a secret trip to New York City, all flitted through Anna's mind's eye in half a second.
"Nothing really," she replied, "oh, I joined the Drama Club."
"That's wonderful," her mom replied, "You always loved being on stage."
Anna nodded and smiled. Her dad chuckled.
"Long as it doesn't affect your game," he said, "and try not to catch anything from the drama queers."
Something unpleasant settled in her gut as she thought about Belle, and Olaf and Marshall. She had no idea if they were gay or not, but Elsa was.
"Elsa," she thought. It had been two days since the encounter at Alice's house. "New York was so much fun, but then at the party…"
Her memories were fuzzy, but she recalled pressing herself against Elsa on the deck, under the snow. She was pretty sure she'd kissed her neck too, right on her pulse point, though maybe she'd only imagined it?
"She said she wasn't into me but-" she thought.
"How's that boyfriend of yours?" her father asked.
Anna blinked and looked up from her food; she'd totally zoned out.
"Oh um.. Hans and I broke up," Anna replied, "I'm dating Kristoff now."
"From high school?" her mother asked.
Anna nodded. Her father grunted.
"Hmm, you can do better," he said.
"Dad!" Anna said.
"Take it from me, the guy's a loser. He's not going anywhere," he said.
Anna looked to her mother. As usual, she only sighed and rolled her eyes, but kept her mouth shut. Anna crossed her arms.
"Well, we're going on a date tomorrow," she said.
"Mmm," her father said as he chewed, "fine, just don't neglect your studies."
Anna's phone buzzed and she flipped it open.
"Flynn got the videos taken down!"
It was from Rapunzel.
Anna's eyes widened.
"What happened?" her mom asked.
"Nothing, it's just Punzie," Anna replied as she tapped out a reply.
"My computer's at school, can I come over later?"
"Sure!" Rapunzel responded.
"She asked me if I can head over there later," Anna said.
"I don't see why not," her mom replied, "don't forget we have chocolate pudding pie for dessert later."
Anna's mouth watered at the prospect of her mom's famous pudding poured into a chocolate crust and topped with whipped cream. Nothing short of a full scale alien invasion could keep her away.
"Oh don't worry, I haven't forgotten," she said.
She scarfed down the rest of her meal, then suited up with her winter jacket and headed to the garage. Her 'gently used' ten speed leaned against the wall, tires deflated from disuse while she was at school. She sidled around their car, a Toyota four door with way too many miles on it, strained to lift the garage door, then pulled the bike and an old bicycle pump out onto the driveway to reinflate the tires. After huffing and pumping for a few minutes, she kicked them to make sure they were inflated enough, then, with her wool hat pulled low to protect her ears, she set off for Rapunzel's house. She passed by their old high school, deserted for the holiday, and kept going as the homes grew larger. Rapunzel lived on the more well-to-do side of town, in a development of nearly identical plots of land, all far too small for the McMansions residing on them. Anna left her bike parked just off the walkway near the top of Punzie's driveway and rang the doorbell. Her friend pulled the front door open a moment later.
"Hey," she said, "come on up."
Anna pulled off her shoes, then followed Rapunzel's bare feet as she led the way upstairs to her room. An orange lava lamp bubbled in the corner of the room and a tie dyed blanked with a gigantic peace sign on it hung in place of the window curtains.
"How was your Thanksgiving?" Rapunzel asked.
"Oh, you know. Turkey, football, my dad being my dad," Anna said.
Rapunzel pressed her lips together as she fired up her laptop and opened her email.
"The server people got back to him, and they said they'd take it down," Punzie said as she through to the remote directory, "see? The folder is still there, but all the files are gone."
A sense of relief washed through Anna. Although the damage had been done, with the removal of the files from the link, perhaps she could start to put the whole thing behind her.
"Thank God," Anna said, "you have no idea what a fucking… shit show it has been."
"I can only imagine," Rapunzel said. An unsettling sensation came over Anna.
"You didn't like… watch them, did you?" she asked.
"Hell no," Rapunzel replied as she made a face, "I mean no offense but I don't want to see that."
Anna laughed. Rapunzel smirked, then grew serious.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
Anna paused, then nodded.
"I think I will be," she said.
Rapunzel nodded, then bit her lip.
"Is it true you're dating Kristoff?" she asked, then closed her mouth again, as if she hadn't been able to keep the gossip in. Anna blinked, considered lying, then sighed.
"Technically yes," she said.
Her friend's mouth dropped open and she leaned forward.
"Okay, how is it I wasn't the first to know?" Rapunzel asked.
"I'm sorry it was just… I don't know what happened," Anna said as she ran her hands over her hair, "I kissed him at Alice's party on Tuesday and now we're 'going out', but…"
"…but?" Rapunzel said.
"But it's Kristoff. I don't know," Anna said. Punzie leaned back in her chair.
"Yeah, it is kinda weird," she said, "you know he's had a crush on you since like, freshman year."
Anna shook her head.
"You really didn't know? I'm going to nominate you for president of the space cadet union," Rapunzel said, "Well… it's good to give him a chance, I guess?"
"I guess," Anna said.
"You do like him, right?" Punzie asked.
Anna shrugged.
"I guess we'll find out. We're going on a date tomorrow night," she replied.
"Wait. If you don't like him, then why did you kiss him?" Rapunzel asked, "you did kiss him, right? That wasn't just people making stuff up?"
Anna fell back on Rapunzel's bed and put her hands over her eyes.
"Yes, I kissed him. As for why?" she said, and the sensation of Elsa's body pressed against hers through their jackets came back to her, "I don't know. It's complicated."
"Oh boy. Umm, good luck on your date, I guess," Punzie said.
Anna nodded without looking up. She eventually got up to watch 'A Peanuts Thanksgiving' on TV with Rapunzel, then rode home for dessert, as promised. The following morning, she woke up early for Punzie's mom to pick her up and drop both of them off at the mall for Black Friday shopping. Amidst bargain hunting for Christmas gifts for Kristoff, Rapunzel, and her parents, she tried to find something for Elsa.
"What do you buy for a billionaire heiress?" she thought.
Then she hit on the perfect idea.
Anna paced in the living room.
"It's only Kristoff, why are you so nervous?" she thought.
He'd told her to wear something comfortable, so she had on jeans and a fitted t-shirt under her jacket, nothing fancy. The doorbell rang and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She pulled it open to see Kristoff with his hair combed, and a bouquet of roses in one hand.
"Flowers?" she said.
"Hey, if we're gonna do this, let's do it right," Kristoff replied.
She took the bouquet, inhaled the floral scent, then smiled at him.
"Let me put these in water, and then we can go," she said. He let her into the house and walked to the kitchen, where her mother stood by the sink, scouring a pot.
"Mom?" she said.
"Ooh, fancy," her mother said as she turned around, "go on, I'll take care of these."
"Thanks mom," Anna said as she passed the bouquet over and returned to the front door. In Kristoff's beat up old Civic, she tensed, her muscles knotted up, and she couldn't figure out why.
"I've gone out with Kristoff a hundred times, what gives?" she thought. Then she realized she wasn't worried about the date itself. She was worrying about, dreading, what might happen afterwards. "Will he try to kiss me? It's only normal at the end of a date, right?"
"Soo, what are we doing?" she asked.
"Rock climbing," Kristoff replied.
"Indoors I'm guessing. Okay. I've never been," Anna said.
"I know," Kristoff said.
"This might actually be fun," Anna thought.
They pulled into the parking lot and as they entered the well-lit interior, they pulled off their jackets. Several climbing walls of various difficulties were dotted with climbers, while staff managed multicolored safety ropes from the ground, one for each wall. Kristoff handed over their reservations, and they were ushered over to a briefing area where staff fitted harnesses onto them, then they traded their sneakers for rented climbing shoes. They sat through a pretty boring safety briefing, and then they were off. Anna started on the easiest wall while Kristoff, who had obviously been before, chose one of the harder ones next to her. She got stuck about halfway.
"Come on Anna, stretch out your left hand," Kristoff, having already finished, said from the ground. She looked up at the handhold and while her fingers could brush against it, her arm wasn't long enough to get a good hold.
"Here goes nothing," she thought, and she took a leap of faith. She snagged the handhold without falling, and after that near miss, she managed to make it to the top without any more issues and rang the bell.
She pushed off with both feet while holding onto the rope attached to her harness and decided rappelling down was ten times more fun than climbing up. Kristoff went again while Anan waited for her next turn, and scaled his wall without a problem. Her second climb went well too, and then for the third, she tried a medium difficulty wall. About halfway up, her fingers went numb and she ended up losing her grip. Kristoff tried a wall with an overhang and he fell too, then their time ran out.
"So, what did you think?" he asked as they walked back towards his car.
"It was fun," Anna replied as she flexed her fingers, "not something I'd do on the regular though."
He nodded and they drove back to her house, while Anna's stomach tied itself into knots again.
"So, successful first date?" Kristoff said as they pulled up to her driveway.
"Be cheerful," she thought.
"Sure, I had fun," Anna replied with a smile. Her eyes widened as Kristoff leaned over to kiss her, and at the last possible instant she turned her head to let his lips land on her cheek. His whiskers scratched her face for a split-second, and then he leaned back.
"Would you want to go out again before we head back to school? Tomorrow or Sunday maybe?" he asked.
"Sounds like a plan," she said, "let me know."
"I'll text you," he said.
"Okay, bye!" she said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door. She waved as he pulled out of her driveway, then opened the door and went inside. She closed and locked the door behind her, then turned around to lean against it and let her head thunk against the heavy wood.
"He's a good guy, and not bad looking, as far as guys go anyway," she thought, "…and he likes you. It's not like you have guys coming out of the woodwork to ask you out; this is almost a no-brainer. What the hell is wrong with you?"
She sighed and opened her eyes to trudge to her room. Her stomach churned again as she passed the roses set in a vase in the center of the dining table.
"What the fuck am I doing," she muttered.
After two days of finishing off all her schoolwork, then putting in some time for extra conditioning at the gym, Elsa had run out of activities to keep herself occupied. The hotel had put together a fancy five course turkey dinner for the American holiday, but now she was eager to get back to class and hockey, and it was only Saturday. After puttering around her room for a couple of hours, braiding, then rebraiding her hair, she decided to head over to campus. On the way, dark sunglasses on, she opened the windows to let the chilly November wind blow through her bangs without a care in the world. Although the campus was open, the rink was closed, as was the gym. She walked the deserted pathways, around the quad and the empty dining hall. The snow had melted during the week, taking the magic with it, and leaving the campus brown and barren. Eventually, she sat on a bench near the forest to look over the soccer field, put her chin in her palm, and frowned.
"This is what you wanted, right? To be alone? When you're alone, you can't hurt anyone," she thought, "consider it your punishment for not stopping Anna when you knew you should have."
Her phone vibrated, and she pulled it out of her pocket: Speak of the devil…Anna. She hesitated as her finger hovered over the touchscreen, but curiosity got the better of her, and she slid her finger to answer the call.
"Hello?" she said.
"Elsa, I'm so sorry, I was busy and I completely forgot your family are all in Norway," Anna said. "Did you um… did you do anything for Thanksgiving?"
"She's sweet," Elsa thought, "Stop. She's dating Kristoff."
"The hotel organized a turkey dinner," she replied.
"Oh. That's cool. But… you didn't like… know anyone there, did you?" Anna asked.
"No," Elsa replied.
"Oh my God, that's terrible," Anna said.
"It's okay. It's an American holiday; it doesn't really mean anything to me," Elsa said.
"Still. Are you umm, are you doing anything today?" Anna asked.
"Tell her you're busy," Elsa thought, but the idea of spending time with Anna brought a bloom of excitement to her chest, and her mouth responded without conscious thought.
"No," she replied.
"Cool, do you uhh, wanna hang out?" Anna asked, "I kind of want to talk about something."
The stress and apprehension in her voice came through clearly, even from her phone's tinny speaker.
"Maybe about what happened on Tuesday?" Elsa thought. The chance, however infinitesimal it might be, that something more could come of it, sent her heart thumping. She swallowed.
"Sure," she said, "do you… do you need me to pick you up?"
"Is that okay?" Anna asked, "I know a good coffee shop we can go to."
"Of course. You'll have to send me directions to your house though," Elsa said.
"Okay, you're coming over now?" Anna asked.
Elsa smiled.
"Stupid. You're setting yourself up for more pain," she thought, but for the chance she would get to spend more time with Anna, she would risk the hurt.
"Yes," she replied.
"Okay, see you soon!" Anna said, then she hung up.
"She wants to see you, that's good, right?" Elsa thought, "would she still want to see you if she knew how you felt? But what if she feels the same? What if that's what she wants to talk about?"
It seemed almost too good to be true. Elsa's phone buzzed in her hand as she hiked towards the lower parking lot. Twenty minutes later, ten of which were spent with her phone balanced precariously between her thumbs at the top of her steering wheel so she could see the directions without taking her eye off the road, Elsa pulled up to a rundown bungalow with its yard of overgrown grass and weeds.
"This is where Anna lives?" she thought. She looked down at her phone to text her, but then the house's front door slammed. Anna, wearing a dark green sweater, jeans, and her canvas sneakers, waved as she walked towards her.
"Hey, thanks for driving," Anna said as she slid into the passenger seat, "ready?"
Elsa nodded.
"Make a U-turn and head out that way, then make a left," Anna said.
The redhead directed them to a nearby mall, where a Barnes & Noble stood at the end of the two-story building.
"So, for some reason, the best coffee in all of Arendelle is at this café inside the bookstore," Anna said as they skirted the rows of cars, "Rapunzel says it's because the flavor of the knowledge gets absorbed during the brewing, but who knows."
The redhead led them into the well-lit store, and the distinctive scent of thousands of books washed over her. The café was located at the very center of the store, with nearly all of the tables occupied with shoppers stopping for a break.
"Why don't you find us a seat. What do you want?" Elsa asked.
"Are you sure?" Anna asked, "I can-"
Elsa interrupted her with a pointed glance, and Anna chuckled.
"Okay okay, a large hot chocolate," she said.
Elsa nodded and joined the queue. When she neared the front, she glanced around and spotted Anna waving from a small table near the edge of the café. She ordered the hot chocolate for Anna and a mocha latte for herself, plus a pair of chocolate chip cookies, just in case, then carried the tray over.
"Thanks," Anna said. She closed her eyes as she took a first, tentative sip of the steaming drink. "Okay, so, I wanted to get your advice on something. Normally I'd talk to Rapunzel but she's like… I can't talk to her about this."
"What happened?" Elsa asked.
"So, I went on a date with Kristoff last night and… um… listen, about Tuesday night," Anna said.
Elsa blinked at the abrupt change in subject.
"Are you sure we're okay?" Anna asked.
Elsa took in her expression, the tenseness of her jaw, the crease between her eyebrows; she was worried, perhaps that she'd crossed a boundary, jeopardized their friendship. Instinctively, she wanted to put Anna at ease.
"Of course. Don't worry about it. Nothing really happened anyway," Elsa said.
Anna sighed and smiled slightly, relieved.
"Yeah, that's right. Why don't we just forget the whole… I mean, it was just a weird, college party thing, right?" Anna said.
"She wants to forget it ever happened. It wasn't special for her at all," Elsa thought.
"Okay," she said quietly. Anna nodded.
"So… Kristoff," the redhead said, "I don't know what to do."
Elsa did her best to put their snowfall pseudo-tryst out of her mind.
"You said you went on a date, did something happen?" Elsa asked.
Anna shook her head.
"No, the date was fine, he was fine," she said as she looked to the side, "I don't know. I asked him out because he's wanted to go out with me for like… a long time, but the whole time I was just dreading doing anything with him. But he's a good guy, and he's one of my best friends, I don't…"
Anna sighed heavily.
"You don't want to hurt him," Elsa said.
Anna nodded.
"And I can't ask Punzie because she's also really good friends with him and, I don't know. Maybe I should stick it out and see if it gets better?" Anna said.
The redhead looked at her hopefully, and it was all Elsa could do to not lose herself in those deep, teal-colored eyes.
"You're not the one to be giving her advice on her love life, at all, for multiple reasons," Elsa thought, "you've been thinking about her almost non-stop for months. For that reason alone, you should recuse yourself. But… she came to you; she doesn't have anyone else to turn to. But… you want her to break up with him!"
"I think…" Elsa said. She considered whether what she was about to say is what she would say to a random person who asked her thoughts, and not the girl she'd been almost obsessing over since summer. "I think… you have to be honest with him," she said, speaking slowly and choosing her words carefully. "If you don't feel a connection, you have to tell him. If he's really your friend, and you really do care about him, you won't lead him on."
Anna took a deep breath and nodded.
"Yeah, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking. Thank you," she said.
"She's going to break up with him," Elsa thought. She wasn't sure if she felt good or bad about her part in it. Anna took a long sip of her hot chocolate, looked around the room, then back to Elsa.
"Sooo…. Hockey?" Anna said, "umm.. Oh! I meant to ask you, how do you always seem to know exactly where to be? Like you'll just be in the middle of nowhere, and suddenly the puck bounces over to you."
Elsa smiled. Hockey. This, she could talk about.
"I… well, when I was younger, I played against girls who were older, so I was always smaller, and a lot of them tried to take me down to stop me from scoring," she said. "So, in order to keep myself from getting killed, I had to know where everyone was, all the time. After a while, I just sort of got a sense of where they were going, too, and where the puck was going. I don't know, it's hard to explain."
"It's insane, you have to give me some pointers," Anna said, "like that one pass in the Olympics when you hit your teammate as they came out of the penalty box? No-look behind the back, halfway across the rink? I mean… how?"
Elsa chuckled. She remembered the moment well; it was one of the best passes she'd ever made.
"I'll tell you a secret," she said as she leaned forward and lowered her voice, "I saw her reflection in the glass."
Anna's mouth dropped open.
"Oh. Ohhh, that is sneaky," she said, "I'm definitely going to keep that one in mind."
Elsa smiled. It felt like a date. They talked and laughed like they were on a date. Elsa almost placed her hand atop Anna's and forced herself to stay still, to not ruin the moment. Eventually, they finished their snacks and Elsa dropped Anna off at home, then returned to the hotel.
"It was so easy. It was so natural," she thought, "maybe I should… No Elsa, don't do it, not if you care about her."
Kristoff picked her up just as the sun was going down. This time, he didn't bring flowers, but he still looked somewhat dapper in a dark blazer, deep blue sweater, and khakis. He took her to see a movie, and about midway through, he slipped her hand into his on the armrest. He seemed relaxed, while she cringed the entire time, and wondered when she should tell Kristoff she didn't want to date him after all. Her stomach tied itself into knots and although she tried on several occasions, she could not follow the plot of the film. It was something about a football player and that's all she took away from it. Afterwards, it was a short drive to TGI Friday's for dessert, where they split an Oreo sundae.
"So, what did you think?" he asked.
"I don't know, it was alright. Better than Twilight," she said as she scooped up some ice cream, then let some slide off her spoon, then added some back.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I don't know," she said, then looked him in the eye, "no, I'm not, really."
He gave her his undivided attention, and she steeled herself so she wouldn't chicken out at the last second.
"This, it's not working out," she said as she motioned back and forth between them. He blinked.
"Seriously?" he asked.
"I'm really sorry-"
"You're sorry? It's only been two dates, not even a week," Kristoff said, "I mean, I know I didn't do anything wrong. Seriously, why did you even ask me out in the first place?"
"Ugh. He's angry," Anna thought, "I hate it when he's angry."
"I don't know. I knew you liked me and I thought, 'why not give him a chance?'" Anna replied.
This was, apparently, not the right thing to say. He stared at her in disbelief.
"You… You… What the fuck Anna, you can't mess around with people's feelings like that. You kissed me. You practically threw yourself at me at Alice's party, and afterwards," he said.
"I know, and… I really appreciate that you didn't like… take advantage," she said, "what do I say? I fucked up."
"Yeah, you're fucked up. You know, I was literally over the moon for the past week, I mean you have no idea how happy I was, and now I find out you only wanted to go out me because of pity? What the hell?" he said.
He shook his head, and she bit her lip and struggled to keep the tears in while he called for the bill.
"He still paid," Anna thought, "he really is great. Why couldn't you just like him?"
The walk to his car was beyond awkward, and in the privacy of his beat up old Civic, while Kristoff drove in stony silence, the tears flowed freely down her cheeks. He stopped near the bottom of her driveway, and she unbuckled and got out, but stayed on the street while he pulled a U-turn. She took a step forward and he stopped to roll down his window.
"What?" he asked.
"I just wanted to say, you didn't do anything wrong," Anna said, "I'm… kind of messed up in the head right now."
"I know. Honestly, I don't even want to look at you right now," Kristoff said.
"I'm sorry," Anna said, "I know I messed up, and-"
"Yeah, you did," he said, then he accelerated away, leaving Anna standing in his exhaust.
The following day, she realized she no longer had a ride back to campus, and considered asking her mother to drop her off at school, but then remembered that she should be talking to Rapunzel first.
"Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone," she thought.
"Hey," Anna said as her friend answered her call, "do you think your mom could drop us both off at school?"
"Uhh, Flynn's taking me, but… yeah, your house is on the way," Rapunzel replied, "hey wait, how did it go with Kristoff?"
"I'll tell you on campus," Anna said.
Twenty minutes later, Anna found herself in the back seat as Rapunzel sat in the front while Flynn drove.
"Can you drop us off at Castle One?" Rapunzel asked, "I have some stuff I need to bring to my room first."
Flynn nodded and headed up the hill.
"See you at the house," Rapunzel said, and she gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Thanks Flynn," Anna said with a wave.
"Anytime," he replied.
As soon as he exited the parking lot, Rapunzel turned to Anna.
"Okay, spill," she said.
"Inside," Anna said. They both walked to Anna's dorm room. She set her bag down on the bed, while Rapunzel took one of the chairs, spun it around backwards, and laced her fingers beneath her chin.
"I… wanted to tell you first," Anna said, "I broke up with Kristoff last night."
Rapunzel blinked.
"What the- already?" she asked.
"Yeah, it just… I wasn't feeling a spark, you know?" Anna said.
Rapunzel winced and sucked air in through her teeth.
"Oh man," she said.
"What?" Anna asked.
"Well, he and I talked on Saturday… he was really excited and he said he wanted to show you what it was like to date someone who actually cares about you," Rapunzel said.
Anna sat down on her bed.
"Oh no," she said.
"Yeah," Rapunzel said.
"He seemed really upset, too," Anna said, "I mean… more than I would have expected."
Rapunzel looked at her like she was an idiot.
"Well, think about it. Yeah, he's Kristoff, but he's still a guy. You dated Hans fucking Westergard, who, by the way, is a total asshole, all summer. You made sex videos with him, and Kristoff just kind of goes with the flow, has your back the entire time. Then you kiss him, and like… don't sleep with him, then break up two days later," Rapunzel said, "what's he supposed to think?"
Anna buried her face in her hands.
"When you say it like that, it sounds really bad," she said.
"Hello? It is," Rapunzel said.
The thought that she may have ruined a friendship she'd carried all the way through high school, one of the few people who had stayed by her side through her entire scandal, made her want to scream in frustration, but there was nothing she could do about it now.
"Ugh, I'm such an idiot. Do you think I can make it up to him somehow?" Anna said.
Rapunzel sighed and moved to her side and sat next to her. Anna let her head fall onto Punzie's shoulder.
"I don't know. Give him some time. I'll talk to him," Rapunzel said as she gave her a side-hug.
Anna sighed.
"Thanks Punzie," she said. She squeezed Rapunzel's hand, and received a squeeze in return, but the gesture was a mere bucket of water in the desert of Anna's despair.