Rivals (A Jelsa Story)

Chapter 26 - Missing Pieces

A/N: Artwork is by The Arctic Scarf.

Elsa's POV

"Sweatpants again?" Anna asked me, her eyebrows raised.

I looked down at my outfit. "What? They're comfy."

"I mean, no offense, you look really cute. But are you okay? You've seemed really mopey the last couple days."

"I'm fine."

She gave me a sympathetic look. "Is this about Jack?"

"I don't want to talk about it." I moved past her toward the stairs. "Come on, let's just go."

By Monday I'd almost forgotten that I had first period with Hans. Today I tried not to scowl as he walked in, instead drawing an endless circle on the top of the page open in my notebook. He sat at the desk next to me, which is not where he normally sits. I decided to just ignore him and focus on the lesson.

"Hey, snow queen." Apparently he had not made the same decision.

"Leave me alone," I growled back, not looking at him.

"You've looked pretty low-maintenance lately. Something got you down?"

"Like you care," I muttered.

"Oh, I'm just finding this whole thing entertaining."

My face burned. Just ignore him, Elsa.

"Missing your boyfriend?"

I chewed my bottom lip, staring straight ahead at the board.

"He seemed pretty unhappy to me when he left the dance on Friday. Something happen between you two?"

If he didn't stop talking right this second I was going to lose my mind.

"Well I guess you can add him to your list of partners you've run off."

I slammed my hand on the desk. "HANS, I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE –"

"MISS WINTERS!"

I realized everyone was staring at me. Gaston snickered from his seat a few rows away. Dr. Facilier was glaring and pointing toward the door. "I think you need to excuse yourself if you're going to disrupt my class in this manner."

"Oh, sure, blame me," I grumbled under my breath as I grabbed my bag and booked it out of the room.

I stormed through the halls, not really sure where I was going. Ms. Fairy spotted me. "Elsa! Why are you out of class? Is something the matter?"

"I, um..." It suddenly felt like all my defenses had gone down. I slumped against the wall as tears started pouring down my cheeks.

She lay a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Hey, let's go to my office."

Jack's POV

"And that is why, if you ever end up in a foreign land, you should not pretend to be a god," Tulio said just as the bell rang.

Everyone started packing up their things.

"Jack, could you stay behind please?" Tulio asked.

Normally I had to go to the student council meetings on Wednesdays after school, but now that I was off the council my schedule was wide open. "Sure."

Tulio nodded and sat on his desk at the front of the room.

Just as the last of the students were filing out the door, Miguel walked in. "Ah, there's the man of the hour." He handed me a paper. "Here's your map back. Nice job."

I glanced at the score on the top, then at Tulio, who was looking at me. Miguel normally gave assignments back in class; he wouldn't come find me in another teacher's room just for that. "Okay, drop the act. I know you two are a tag team. What did I do?"

Tulio held up his hands. "Nothing. We've just noticed you've seemed a bit down lately."

"More so than usual," Miguel added. "Which is odd since we didn't think you could get more down than you were already –"

"Miguel," Tulio interrupted, giving him a look. Then he turned his attention back to me. "We just wanted to make sure you're okay, is all."

"I'm fine," I said for what felt like the thousandth time.

"Jack, you know you can talk to us. Is something bothering you?"

"I just – saw my dad at the dance, is all," I said. "It caught me off guard. And I'm pretty bummed about getting kicked off the student council."

They nodded understandingly. "That makes sense," Miguel said.

"Well, you can go now." Tulio stood up. "Just remember, if you ever need anything, you can talk to us. I know you can tend to bottle things up, and that can't be good."

"Yeah, I know." I stood up and slung my backpack over my shoulder. "Thanks."

"Have a good day!" Miguel called.

"You too!" I replied as I walked out.

I felt bad for lying. Miguel and Tulio were my two favorite teachers. They were funny, they were good at their jobs, and they actually seemed to care about us. Not to mention they were chill enough that they let us call them by their first names.

I just didn't want to talk to anyone about Elsa. I'd already decided what happened between us was a good thing, so why couldn't I stop thinking about her? Why did I miss her so much?

My friends had been pestering me about her ever since the dance on Friday. But it wasn't like there was anything I could do about it. I didn't have her number, I hadn't had the chance to give her mine – I absolutely was not going to ask any of them if they had contact information for her. I wanted to get over her. I was Jack Frost; I was a player. I didn't get attached to girls easily. I went on one or two dates with them, and then I lost interest.

Why couldn't I lose interest in Elsa?