Rivals (A Jelsa Story)

Chapter 17 - Enemy Territory

A/N: Artwork is called Kiss by neimyedits on Instagram. (It's not really relevant to this chapter, I just thought it was cute.)

Jack's POV

Elsa looked like she was about to cry. She kept pulling at her shirt and staring at it. She must have really liked that shirt.

I thought about taking her to the girl's locker room so she could shower and change immediately, but I didn't know where it was and I wasn't sure she wanted anyone else to see her right now. I figured walking through the halls was bad enough.

Instead I led her out to the parking lot and toward my car. She stopped once she realized what was happening. "Wait, where are we going?"

I pulled my keys out of my pocket. "I'm taking you to your house."

When I didn't hear a reply, I turned around. She was standing still, shaking her head. "Please don't. My mom is home right now, I don't want to have to explain this."

I thought for a minute. "Alright, I'll take you to my house."

Elsa's POV

The car ride was silent. I glanced over at Jack a few times; his mouth was set in a grim line, and he was staring at the road so hard I thought it might burst into flames.

I couldn't believe he'd punched Hans for me. First he goes and flirts with Silvermist right by my locker, and then he does this. I didn't know what to think.

I found myself wondering what his house was like. DreamWorks was a pretty elite private school, and he was driving a Rolls Royce, so he must be pretty well off. Did he live in a mansion? What were his parents like? Did he have any siblings? Pets? Other family members living with them?

We left Pixie Hollow and drove into Burgess. Well, that made sense. DreamWorks was in Burgess – it was reasonable that he would go to the school closest to his house.

What I was worried about was coming up with an explanation I might have to give to my parents as to why I left school in the middle of the day to go to a boy's house in Burgess that didn't involve the story of two jerks pouring grape juice on me.

He pulled off the main road onto a quiet suburban street full of beautiful mansions. This must be an old-money neighborhood; none of the houses had an inch of modern feel to it. Eventually he turned into the driveway of a gorgeous brick house shaded by large oak trees.

"Come on," he said, getting out of the car.

I followed him up the front path and waited awkwardly while he unlocked the door. He held it open for me.

"Jack?" I heard a voice call from somewhere in the house. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, Mom!" Jack called back.

"Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine. I have a friend with me, she needed to leave school for a bit."

"Is it Tooth?"

"No, her name's Elsa."

"Oh. Hello, Elsa!"

"Hello!" I called back timidly.

"Alright, well, let me know if you need anything!"

"We will!" Jack motioned for me to follow him up the stairs. "You can use my shower. I'll find some clothes to lend you. I can also try and wash the grape juice out of your clothes if you'd like."

"Um, yeah, that'd be nice." I bit my lip to keep my eyes from welling up. "Thank you."

"No problem." We'd reached his room by then. He opened the door for me and then led me over to the bathroom. "You can go ahead and get in. Just leave your clothes on the counter, I'll bring some new ones in and take those to the washing machine. And don't worry, I have a shower curtain, not a glass door."