The Royals and The Cool Kids

True or False

Jack's POV

It was all so obvious now.  Kristoff was Elsa's attacker.  Before she had come to our school he was always absent.  Now he hadn't had so much as a tardy.  He was always following Elsa around.  Both incidents where the frost appeared, Kristoff had been angry.  The first time was because we were teasing him, the second time because we were all going to the movie theater.

As for his motives: he was trying to control Elsa.  The reason wasn't clear yet, but it would be.  He was using his frost powers to make her do whatever he wanted, or maybe as a fear tactic to keep her in check.

Kristoff had to be dealt with.

"I don't really have a lot of time," Kristoff said as he shifted from one foot to the other.

"I think you'll have time for this," I replied.  People weren't coming out of the school doors anymore.  That was good enough for me.  I pulled back my fist and punched his smug little face.

Kristoff reeled backwards and grabbed his chin.  I'd missed a little, but it should still bruise nicely.  The nearby kids were turning to watch us.  They were probably hoping for a good fight.

"What was that for?" he demanded.

"Like you don't know," I retorted as I readied another punch.  He swung off his backpack and used it as a shield.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you?"

"How long did you think you could get away with it?"

"Get away with what?"

"Elsa!  Did you think I wouldn't catch on?"

Finally, a reaction from him that wasn't anger.  This was shock and, dare I guess, suspicion.  I was onto something here.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said.  "There's nothing going on."

"Oh really?  Then how do you explain all this?"  I reached in my pocket for the list I had made, but it was gone.  It must've fallen out at some point.  "Never mind, I dropped it somewhere.  But I know what you're doing."

"Then please tell me, because I want to know what I'm doing!"

"You're controlling Elsa!  You're making her do whatever you want!  And you're the one who's been attacking her!"

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Kristoff growled.  He kept holding his backpack between us as he moved away from the door.  He was going to just abandon the conversation?  Not on my watch.  I pounced forward and slammed him to the ground.

"GET OFF ME!" he yelled.

"You're really making me want to hurt you!" I shouted back.  I had to give it to the guy, for a nerd he was actually pretty athletic.  It was as much of a fight to defend myself as it was to keep him on the ground.  His fist jumped up, nailing me solidly in the ear.

"I always knew you were the jerk of the group," Kristoff growled as the kids around us started cheering.  "You're beating up someone who never did anything to you!"

"Maybe you didn't do anything to me, but you put Elsa in the hospital!"

"That wasn't me!  I care about her safety as much as you do!"

"You don't care about her at all!"  I lowered my voice so that the people nearby couldn't hear us above their own shouts.  "I know about the frost."

Kristoff stopped struggling.  "The frost?"

I took the chance to catch my breath.  "Yeah, the frost.  It had to be someone in our school who attacked Elsa because of the frost.  And I figured out it was you."

Kristoff closed his eyes.  He looked as tired as I did.  The cheering around us was ringing in my ears, making it hard to think clearly in the chaos.  I pressed the brief advantage I had.

"What did you do to Elsa now?" I demanded.  "Why didn't she leave school today?"

"She left early, alright?"  Kristoff's eyes flew open.  "Now let me up.  I can explain things."

"I'm not moving until you give me a good reason to trust you."

He sighed.  "Look, I'm not the one attacking Elsa.  I'm not following her around or being bossy because I'm trying to control her.  I . . . I've got a crush on her, ok?"

I stood up.  Kristoff climbed to his feet as well, eyeing me warily.

"You like Elsa," I repeated.

"Could you keep it between us?" he pleaded.  The crowd was starting to disperse but someone could have heard his confession.

"And the frost?"

"I have no idea about that.  I've just been trying to look out for Elsa, ok?  I visited her a lot when she was homeschooled."

Wasn't this something?  Kristoff had a crush on Elsa.  It explained a lot, but it didn't make me feel sorry for punching him.  If anything, I wanted to punch him even more.

"Why'd she go home early?" I wondered.  Kristoff shrugged.

"Family matters or something.  They called her to the office."

"Do you have her address?"

"I think she might want to be left alone.  She told me when she went home.  But maybe we could go do something to cheer her up?"

"Sure.  Whatever."  It wasn't that I didn't trust Kristoff when it came to Elsa, but . . . I didn't trust him.