Chapter 7: For the First Time in Forever

Following the Women's Equestrian Club competition, a new week began with the sun rising on a typical Monday. But within a large house that lay at the foot of the mountains and next to the river that snaked its way through the city further south, a young girl was walking down an empty hallway wearing the Disney Academy girls uniform and carrying a leather bag. She had strawberry-colored hair tied into braids with one blonde streak in it and turquoise-blue eyes. Upon reaching a white door with a snowflake pattern on it, she knocked.

"Elsa," the girl muttered. "I'm heading to school now."

There was no sound from the other side.

"I know you're in there," the girl claimed. When no response came, she said, "Are you nervous about my upcoming graduation from Disney Academy, or the party to celebrate your becoming the CEO of our family's refrigeration company now that you've come of age to inherit it?"

Again, no response came.

"They say have courage — at least, that's what the school counselor Willow says," the girl added. "I'm trying to, but I also want to make it clear that I'm here for you. After all, it's just the two of us following—

"You should get going, Anna," said a female voice on the other side.

"Okay," the girl replied, lowering her head. "Bye…"

Leaving the white door, the girl Anna made her way down a flight of stairs where she was escorted to a private riverboat that took her down to the city. From there, she took the school bus straight to Disney Academy and put on a happy smile for every person she greeted inside.

"Hi, Ariel!" Anna said to a teenage girl with long red hair. "How are things going between you and Eric?"

"Oh, pretty well," the girl with red hair responded. "We're actually planning to get married after we graduate, and all I can think of is what the name of our first child will be."

"Well, good luck with that," Anna said before walking past Esmeralda. "Hey, I didn't get to tell you this earlier but I really liked your dance at the Festival of Fools — except for that last part."

"Yeah," Esmeralda frowned. "I wasn't expecting the crowd to suddenly torture that poor boy, and Frollo's attempt to arrest me for interfering wasn't liked by the city press who pegged it as another sign of the growing bigotry against Romani."

Unsure of what to say, Anna said, "Have you thought about apologizing to the boy?"

"Of course I have," Esmeralda insisted. "The only problem is I can't find him, and I certainly don't want to ask Frollo about it."

"I thought I heard someone in the crowd claim the boy was the fabled 'Hunchbacked bell-ringer of the Disney Clock Tower,'" Anna recalled. "Maybe he's in there."

Esmeralda paused. "I'm not one to believe in school legends, but I have no other leads."

Then the bell suddenly rang, forcing Anna to leave Esmeralda and head down a perpendicular hall to her first class. However, she ended up bumping into someone and backed away so suddenly that she ended up falling on her rear.

"My apologies," said a young male voice that came up from above Anna. "Are you hurt?"

Holding her aching head, Anna looked up and saw a teenage boy standing above her wearing the male uniform for Disney Academy. But what drew Anna's attention more was his short auburn hair and soothing green eyes.

"I'm all right," Anna insisted, and upon realizing her knees were up she immediately closed them. "You didn't see anything, did you?"

"No," the auburn-haired boy said as he shook his head.

"Oh, good," Anna sighed and slowly got to her feet. "Because as much as I love the Disney Academy uniform, I think the skirt is a little too short for—

Someone pushed behind Anna, causing her to collide into the auburn-haired boy again. Fortunately, he caught her and the two stared awkwardly into each other's eyes.

As her cheeks flushed red, Anna said, "Um, you can let go of me."

"Oh, right," the auburn-haired boy flinched and let go of Anna's arms. "Sorry…"

"No, it's fine," Anna claimed. "I should go."

Then before the auburn-haired boy could respond, Anna walked past him and entered Mythical Creatures Class which was taught by a small male Fairy named Eidilleg.

"Ah, Anna Arendelle," Eidilleg remarked, looking down at his attendance sheet while flying midair. "Glad you could join us for today, despite almost being late."

"Sorry, Mr. Eidilleg," Anna apologized, sitting down next to Merida. "It won't happen again."

"Don't worry about it," Eidilleg claimed. "Since you're one of my better students, I'll let this slide. Now today, class, we're going to be discussing Trolls."

Though Anna tried to pay attention to the lesson, she found herself thinking back to that auburn-haired boy and genuinely smiled.

For the first time in forever, I'm actually happy about something instead of pretending to for the sake of others, Anna thought.

After class ended, Anna noticed Merida looking upset and walked beside her.

"Is something wrong?" When Merida didn't say anything, Anna looked away. "But I understand if you don't want to talk about it."

"My Mum is making me get engaged to one of my Da's business partners' sons, depending on whoever wins a series of games they have to compete in," Merida murmured.

"Oh, wow," Anna remarked. "Are these sons Disney Academy students?"

"Yeah," Merida replied. "Do the names Dingwall, Macintosh, and MacGuffin ring a bell?"

"The guys who signed up for every sports class despite the school only allowing students to sign up for two to three each semester?"

"Same ones…"

As the classroom for Anna's next class came up, she answered, "Well, I could check these guys out and see if I could at least take one of them off your hand."

"How?"

"By…dating them so they'd be less interested in you."

Merida's brows widened. "You don't have to go that far for me."

"It's not an actual commitment," Anna corrected. "I'll just see if any of them are attractive, and take it from there."

"Um, thanks, I guess," replied Merida.

End of Chapter 7