... He Loves Me (COMPLETED)

•Chapter Eighteen•

•Chapter Eighteen: Fourth of July•

•Elsa•

I am awoken by the sound of Anna singing "Grand Ole Flag" at the top of her lungs. She doesn't seem to notice that the noise could wake up the entire neighborhood, which makes me laugh.

"Anna be quiet! We're going to have complaining neighbors if you keep going!" I rush downstairs to find Anna marching around the kitchen. We always have cinnamon rolls for breakfast on the Fourth of July, and she's already inhaled half of hers.

"YOU'RE THE EMBLEM OF, THE LAND I LOVE! THE HOME OF THE FREE AND THE BRAAAAAAAVE!" Anna continues singing amidst her giggling. I roll my eyes. "Come on, Elsa! It's my favorite holiday today! Just relaaaax!"

When it comes to holidays, Anna definitely gets excited. This year, her special Fourth Of July outfit is denim shorts with a long shirt that has an American Flag pattern and a darker denim vest. She has her hair in two braids with little firework hair ties and a firework bracelet, then American Flag keds. Anna even painted a little firework on her cheek.

I, on the other hand, chose a simple high-low bright blue dress and red sandals. It's really simple compared to Anna's, so of course she gave me an American Flag hair bow to top it off. All of our friends are going to the city parade, then watching fireworks and roasting marshmallows later tonight, so we're all trying to look festive.

"You ready for the parade?" I ask, grabbing a cinnamon roll.

"Of course I am! This is going to be the best year ever!" Anna jumps excitedly and continues singing her patriotic songs.

I take that as my cue to text Punzie and Merida. We're all coming here before meeting the guys (and Emma) at the parade. It's Jamie's last two weeks before he goes home, so of course he's going to celebrate the Fourth with Emma. Unlike the rest of us, Jamie is "too cool" to dress all festive, since he's twelve and in that annoying stage of life. So he's just wearing regular shorts and a red t-shirt.

In just minutes, Merida and Punzie are here. Punzie is almost as dressed up as Anna; wearing a sleeveless dress with the stars on the top and the stripes on the skirt. She has gold flats and these gold earring Eugene got her once, which reminds me that I need to tell him my ideas for the proposal. Merida is wearing a navy blue and white baseball tee, a red baseball cap, and American Flag toms with distressed shorts. A lot more celebratory than I expected from her.

After finishing the cinnamon rolls, we head to the parade. They've closed off a bunch of streets, so driving is definitely not an option. Since it's so crowded, we agreed to meet the guys at Freia.

"Over here!" Kristoff yells as we weave through the crowd.

We all find our way to them. They definitely aren't dressed as festive; Hiccup is wearing a white shirt and jeans with a patterned baseball cap. Eugene has an American Flag t-shirt. Kristoff is wearing a red and white vertically striped shirt and blue and white starred shoes, so he's a little better. Jack has a light blue button up with a starry bow tie. I guess if anything, his ecstatic grin is pretty festive. Emma is wearing a red and white striped shirt and blue skirt. I secretly hope it makes Jamie wish he had dressed more celebratory.

"Hey guys!" Anna says, running up to Kristoff.

You'd think I'd be use to being the alone one in the group, but I'm not. It still feels weird when everyone finds their partner, including the twelve year old, and I just stand awkwardly. I want to talk to Eugene, but I guess now is a bad time. Maybe during the fireworks or something.

"Hey," Jack stands next to me, interrupting my thoughts. He hold his hand out with another big grin. "Want to be loners together?"

I hesitate, looking at him. Things have changed so much in the past year. At some point I didn't like him, and then I was confused, but now...