Survival

Chapter 30

Elsa has been avoiding Jack.

He spent all weekend trying to call her. She probably got over twenty voicemails from him. Of course, she never listened to them.

And once the weekend was over and school resumes again, Elsa wasn't there for the first few days.

It wasn't until Wednesday when she returned to school that Jack spotted her. Class was already starting when she walked in.

Elsa looked...tired.

She looked exhausted as she navigated herself to the back desk.

As Jack looks at her, she turns towards the window. He was about to walk over to her when the teacher walks in and begins the lesson.

And as soon as the class ended, he turned to hopefully speak to her but Elsa was longer spotted in her seat. It is as if she did not wait a second before dashing out of there, no doubt to avoid Jack and whatever he had to say.

***

It wasn't until Thursday that he was a step ahead of her.

He followed her.

Jack made his way through the hall, dodging people left and right. Elsa doesn't even bother looking back, assuming she probably lost him back in class.

But she is not getting away that easily from him.

He follows her all the way to the quad, past other buildings. Eventually, she stops by the auditorium.

Jack hides behind whatever he can as she looks around to make sure she is alone.

She opens the door and steps in.

Jack does not hesitate to walk over to the door and open it.

No one is here. The seats are all empty. The only lights on are the ones pointing at the stage.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Elsa hisses from a row of seats.

"You didn't give me much of a choice did you. So I followed you," Jack explains.

Elsa glares at him, snatches her backpack from the floor, and prepares to leave the way she came from.

Until Jack blocks off her path.

"Get out of my way," she coldly says.

"We have to talk."

"I don't want to do anything!"

They stare at each other for a while, the silence between them unbearable.

"Elsa," Jack sighs, "Please,"

Elsa looks away, biting her lip. She looks down at the floor and lets out a whimper, debating if she wants to have this conversation.

Jack dares a step closer. But when she looks up he is rooted in place.

Tears streak down her face. "I was only a j-joke to you," she whispers.

"No!" Jack shakes his head. "In the beginning, it was a joke—"

"Oh, that makes me feel better."

"But that changed–"

"That doesn't matter!" Elsa shouts at him, her voice echoing the auditorium. "I saw the messages. You never wanted to...be with me"

How can Jack possibly convince her?

"I trusted you! And you made a fool out of me!"

"Elsa–"

"Stop, Jack," She cries. "I don't want to hear what you have to say. Nothing will change what you did. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to look at you. I don't even want to breath the same air as you. Please, just go."

Elsa takes a step back as he advances. "But I care about you."

"Stop," she pleads.

"If you can just–"

"NO!" She bellows. "Understand that I want nothing from you! Leave me alone! Do me this last favor and leave me be! It's the least you can do."

He was about to protest, but when she puts her hands up in surrender, Jack shuts his mouth.

"Please! Please, Jack. I can't take any more lies. I c-can't," Elsa sobs, her hands wiping away her tears.

Oh, god. What have I done?

I never meant for this to happen.

Elsa looks away from him and cries. But she manages to glance at him one more time, and in a small voice she tells him, "I think I preferred it when you hated me because at least then, you weren't pretending."

Jack begins to shake his head in disbelief. "No, Elsa, I never–"

"Forget it," She whispers, "Forget everything."

But he doesn't want to forget.

But he has already caused her so much pain as it.

He dares to cross the distance between. He grabs Elsa by her shoulders. Jack holds her tight as she tries to get away. "There has to be someway I can fix this!"

Elsa's body begins to tremble. But Jack doesn't notice.

"Please, Elsa!" He continues.

Elsa pulls herself away from him and argues, "No! I hate you! I hate you! Why can't you see that!? Just go, Jack!"

She stands her ground, and glares at him, breathing hard. "Go."

He tried. Jack tried to explain. But she doesn't want to hear it.

So, with a heavy heart, he nods his head and does what she pleaded him to do.

Without another word, he leaves her alone.

He will never bother her again.

***

Elsa and Jack are done.

And it is because of Rapunzel. It was not just her doing, but her and her friends.

Jack called her the day it happened, after the party. Actually, Jack called everyone; Merida and Hiccup.

He told them all what happened. And when he finally told Rapunzel she didn't know how to console him. He was in hysterics. And when he told her the end of it, she was speechless.

Rapunzel exhales a heavy sigh as she walks to her next class.

By coincidence, as if her thoughts summoned her, Rapunzel spots Elsa by her locker. They lock eyes for a heartbeat. But Elsa quickly looks away and slams her locker shut.

She then walks off in the other direction

Rapunzel was tempted to run after her, but then Eugene spots her and comes up to her. She smiles through her guilt, and luckily he doesn't notice anything amiss.

Apparently, he was also at the party and witnessed everything that unfolded. He told her that happened on Monday, when the entire school was talking about it. But it's now Wednesday; the school found something else to gossip about.

Throughout the whole week, Rapunzel and everyone else felt guilty. Especially at lunch since Elsa used to join them. But now it was the four of them. The Big Four.

Jack has been especially quiet during their lunches. Everyone has tried to engage in conversation so there wouldn't be any uncomfortable silence between them. But that changed nothing.

Nothing can fix what they did.

And what The Big Four did is ruin Elsa's life.

They broke her.