Ice Skates & Guitar Strings

Chapter 3- Shopping Encounters

    The minute I walked through the door to my room, I flopped right on my bed face first. My eyes actually hurt from all of the note taking I took today, and my hand was cramping up because of the non-stop motion; I really have to get a laptop soon. I could feel my body start to drift to sleep, so I whipped my phone out of my pocket to summon Siri.
            “Wake me up in 15 minutes.” I ordered.
            “Okay, I set an alarm for 6:48pm.” She responded. I left my phone beside me and allowed my body to be covered by the blanket of sleep.
**********
            “Come on!” Theresa pleaded. “Just one party.”
            “No, I’m okay.” I declined. “People will be drinking and smoking weed; I’ll pass.”
            “Elsa, don’t be so prude. You’ve never been to a party before, so could you just come out this once?” My friend Rick pleaded. “If you don’t like it then we’ll never bring you to one again.” I put my pen down and closed my notebook.
            “Where is it?” I asked putting my stuff away.
            “Alice’s house. It’s right by the lake.” Theresa responded.
            “Fine, I’ll go if you promise never to badger me about going again and you don’t throw me into the lake.” I stated.
            “Wait… Are you in?” Rick asked. I sighed and got up from my desk.
            “Yeah, I’m in.” I nodded. My two best friends jumped for joy and high-fived each other before leading me out of my house…
***********
            I groaned as the beginning guitar solo of an Arctic Monkeys song blasted from my phone. My body still felt heavy, but I forced myself off of my bed and ragged my bag to my puny desk. I flipped open my textbook and got working on all my assignments this semester. I literally touched the tip of my pen onto the paper when-
            “Elsa! STOP WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING!!” Anna demanded as she busted into my room.
            “Hello to you too.” I smirked as I set my pen down. “What’s up?”
            “We need to go shopping. Like right now.” She said.
            “Why? What do we need?”
            “Clothes, food, and some decorations for my room. It’s so blank in there.” She listed.
            “You can go for your stuff, I just need a laptop for school.” I said getting up.
            “Fine, then let’s go to Target. Walmart’s always busy and messy.” She suggested. I nodded and grabbed the keys to my car.
************
            “17.3 inch screen, Intel core i7, 12 GB ram and 1TB hard drive.” I read the tag of the laptop in front of me.
            “Is that good?” Anna asked.
            “Very good actually.” I said. “Dad never taught you?”
            “No… You’re daddy’s little girl remember?”
            “So what does that make you? The mama’s boy?” I teased.
            “Haha, very funny sister.” She said. “How much is it?” I checked the tag and moved onto the next laptop.
            “Too expensive.” I groaned.
            “You know dad would pay for it.” Anna pointed out.
            “I know, but I want to pay for it myself.” I explained. “AMD- A10, 15.6 inch screen, 8GB ram and 750GB hard drive.”
            “$700. It’s within my budget.” I smiled. “We can get it later; let’s get your stuff first.” Anna immediately grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the other isles.
            “I need a mirror first.” She said as she started searching for one.
            “You have a full-length mirror on the door of your closet.” I frowned.
            “I need a magnified mirror for my make-up.” Anna clarified. She left me to go hunt down a mirror. I however just kept walking around and browsing with myself. The store was playing good music today; Do I Wanna Know by The Arctic Monkeys, then You Need Me I Don’t Need You by Ed Sheeran. I was in the picture frame isle when I heard it; Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood. I found myself humming to my favourite tune of the music as I chose a few frames to put in my room.
            “’Cause it’s too cold for you here, and now.” I sang.
            “So let me hold both your hands in, the holes of my sweater.” Another voice joined in on the other side of the isle. My heart started pounding; nobody outside my family has never heard me sing before. I’m not too sure how I feel about this.
            “Hello?” I called out… No response. Concern led me to walking over to the other side; however I only found an empty isle of lamps and storage compartments. Not going to lie; a small wave of relief hit me once I realized whoever it was may not have heard me.
            “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to hit you.” I heard my sister cry a few isles over. I started to speed walk to her immediately.
            “Don’t worry about it. I have a thick skull.” An unfamiliar voice replied with a small chuckle. When I found her, she was talking to a tall blond guy. I have no clue what happened, but there was a mess of decorations Anna most likely picked out, as well as some protein powders and wrist casts on the floor.
            “Uh… what happened here?” I spoke. Both of them turned to my direction.
            “Oh Elsa! There you are. I heard you sing so I ran to find you, but then I ran into…” she trailed.
            “Kristoff.” He introduced holding out his hand. I took it just to be polite; I could tell Anna wanted to talk with him, so I thought of a way to give her some privacy.
            “I’m gonna get the laptop, and some CDs.” I said. “I’ll meet up with you later.” Anna flashed me a grin and nodded. I smiled at Kristoff before walking away so the two could get acquainted. Normally I would’ve dragged Anna to come with me; but she’s in university now, she makes her own decisions (Unless they’re stupid ones. Then I’ll step in.).
            “Can I help you miss?” someone asked as I studied the laptops once more. I turned and his expression changed from ‘bored as hell’ to ‘holy shit’ in a millisecond. I think I’ve seen this guy before; reddish hair, pale skin, striking green eyes, a few ear piercings and a couple tattoos on his arms. Yep, I’ve seen his face before, I just forget where.
            “Yeah, can I get this Lenovo?” I asked.
            “Sure.” He replied as he got his keys out to unlock the cage. “Is that all? Or did you plan on getting a few more things?”
            “If it’s okay, I wanted to browse a little bit longer.”
            “Sure, I’ll hold this for you at the register over there.” He pointed. “Just come and get it when you’re ready.” I walked away as quickly as I could to avoid any type of conversation with him. I made my way to the decent selection of CDs they had. I didn’t mind to top 40 on the radio; like I would occasionally listen to Beyoncé or Jessie J, but I prefer listening to the shredding guitar riffs of from the Arctic Monkeys of the soft melodies of Ed Sheeran. In reality I could enjoy any kind of music if it was catchy, or if I can make graceful movements with it when I figure skate. The soundtrack of one of those adult movies caught my eye, I reached out to grab it; instead my hand crossed with someone else’s.
            “Sorry.” I flinched back.
            “It’s no problem.” The girl said in a thick Scottish accent. “I just wanted to grab this.” Her fingers obtained the green cover of Multiply, the Deluxe Edition.
            “Good choice.” I found myself blurt.
            “I know. My roommate keeps blasting his first album in our dorm. We were both hunting this edition down, and this was the cheapest we could get it.” She explained. I turned to say something to her, but her appearance stunned me. This girl had pale skin, freckles, curly red hair and gorgeous blue eyes. She wore a green flannel shirt, ripped skinny jeans and combat boots. The studded bracelets and silver necklace made her different from all the other hipsters.
            “Well, your roommate must have good taste.” Were the only words I managed to say.
            “You should ask her yourself.” The girl said to me as we saw the top of a blond girls head.
            “Mer, did you see the sale on movies over- “She stopped when she saw me. “Elsa?” I had to blink twice for my memory to jog.
            “Rapunzel?” I answered. She squealed and almost jumped on me. I wrapped my arms around my cousin as well, just to even out the pressure so my insides wouldn’t get crushed.
            “It’s been so long!” she said in my ear. Three years? Was that long?
            “So clearly you two know each other.” The other girl smirked. Rapunzel released me, and I indiscreetly took a breath through my nose to get air in my lungs again.
            “Sorry Mer. This is Elsa, my cousin from Norway.” She introduced. “Elsa, this is Merida, my roommate.” I smiled and stuck my hand out and she gladly took it.
            “Why didn’t you tell me you came back?” Punzie asked, playfully slapping my arm.
            “I thought my parents told yours.” I defended. “But we just got back a few weeks ago anyway.”
            “Nope, haven’t heard a peep form anyone really.” She admitted. “So are you going to school here? DDU I mean.”
            “Yeah, I’m in the Business program but also majoring in Psychology. Anna’s in the fashion program I believe.” I replied.
            “Oh cool! I’m in the Astronomy program, but minoring in visual arts.” Rapunzel answered.
            “How about you Merida?” I asked.
            “History and Health Science.” She responded. “It’s an odd mix, bit I don’t really care what I do since I got the scholarship through the archery team.”
            “Wow. That’s impressive.” I was taken aback
            “Wait is your sister back too?” Rapunzel asked just as I saw a red head zoom behind her.
            “There you are!” Anna huffed. “I was looking for you.” Her eyes immediately went off of me and turned to the people I was talking to.
            “Punzie?”
            “Anna!” I wasn’t surprised that the two girls embraced immediately; they were closer than I am to them. I looked at Merida and saw that even though she was smiling, she felt awkward.
            “Hey Merida, do you have any movie recommendations?” I asked and led her out of the awkward. As my relatives began catching up, Merida and I walked towards the TV isle. I was picking out a season of Friends when Merida tapped my shoulder.
            “What the heck did you do to that guy at the counter?” she whispered.
            “What?” I looked up from the selection.
            “That red head dude keeps staring at you.” She pointed out discretely. I caught a small glance; sure enough he was staring right at me. I felt myself blush and look away like I usually do.
            “Doesn’t he go to our school?” Merida asked.
            “DDU?”
            “No, the University of Fairies and Pixies.” She rolled her eyes. “Yes DDU. I’ve seen him with that group.”
            “There’s a known group on campus?”
            “Well theirs. They have tattoos and piercings and wear all black. I forgot their name, but it’s supposed to be some scary and intimidating one.”
            “But it really isn’t?”
            “Exactly.”
            “Like ‘Voldemort’? Or ‘Darth Vader’?” I referenced. Merida covered her mouth to hide a laugh while I heard someone knock over what was most likely a stand.
            “Crap.” A familiar dorky voice cursed. I spun around to see Hiccup fixing a Walking Dead cut- out and a blonde girl bend down to pick up fallen DVDs.
            “Hey Hiccup!” I greeted. I walked over to help gather the stack of DVDs on the floor.
            “Hey Elsa. Sorry, I heard Harry Potter and Star Wars and got excited.” He groaned and helped us gather the mess.
            “Wow, I thought you saw Meagan Fox or Jennifer Lawrence because I’ve never seen you turn around so fast.” The girl giggled. “You really are a dork.”
            “Hey now, I’m your dork.” He cooed. He playfully hit his arm and kissed his cheek. I stood up feeling a slight awkward tension. Both of them followed me up.
            “Elsa, this is Astrid.” Hiccup introduced. “Astrid, Elsa.” The blonde smiled and offered me her hand. As I took it, I really got to realize how gorgeous she is; striking blue eyes, long blond hair in a side braid, perfect curvy body and freckled yet flawless skin. This was Hiccup’s girlfriend.
            “Hi!” Hiccup’s told me a lot about you.” She smiled. She had a slight edgy tone to her voice that seemed a tad intimidating, but had a hint of kindness in it.
            “Same it you.”
            “Good things I hope.” She joked.
            “Nah, the worst things.” I played along.
            “Well, it looks like it’s a small world after all.” Merida said from behind me.
            “Looks like it Mer.” Astrid concluded as they did some kind of handshake.
            “Uh… care to explain who this is?” Hiccup cleared his throat.
            “Sorry babe. This is Merida; Merida. Hiccup.” She introduced. “Merida and I used to take fencing until she switched back to archery.”
            “And it’s a good thing too, Astrid took the fencing scholarship.” Merida explained. “She could’ve also taken the dance scholarship, soccer, swim, track and there was something else too.”
            “Martial Arts. Dance doesn’t count. I just needed it to become more flexible.” Astrid defended.
            “Flexible for sport, or flexible for…?” Merida trailed. I held in my giggle as Hiccup turned a deep shade of red.
            “Wow, opposites really do attract.” My sister’s voice came out of nowhere. She pushed me out of the way and gave Astrid a hug. “The jockey fell for the nerd.”
            “Dork actually.” Hiccup corrected. “If you’re going to make fun of me, do it correctly.”
            “Are you smart?” Anna asked.
            “Yes?” he answered unsure.
            “Nerd.” Anna stood her ground. Astrid laughed while she squeezed Hiccup’s hand.
            “Wait, you two know each other?” I asked my sister.
            “I know Astrid, not…”
            “Hiccup.” He finished.
            “Anna.” She greeted. “Yeah, Astrid was recruiting for volleyball.”
            “Training before tryouts in the spring.” Astrid remarked.
            “Wait, since when did you like volleyball?” I asked.
            “Since Grade 10.” Anna snapped. “You’d know that if you paid attention.” She grumbled the last part. Luckily nobody heard because they were all talking.
            “Well, I’m going to pay for my laptop.” I excused myself. Anna gave me an apologetic look as I turned to walk away. Of course the red head was there, and he looked like a kid on Christmas morning when I walked over to the counter.
            “Hello there.” He greeted.
            “Hi.” I replied with a shy smile. He scanned the box and I tried to avoid any eye contact with him. I didn’t even really talk, but whenever he asked a question I would respond with the shortest answers I could think of. It’s not that I wanted to come off as a so called ‘bitch’, I just didn’t want to talk to him. He gave off this weird vibe and I didn’t like it.
            “Did you need a receipt?” he asked.
            “Yes please.” I nodded. He printed it out and was about to hand it to me.
            “Okay Ms. Arendelle, if you have any questions, please contact this number.” He scribbled on the back of the paper and handed it to me.
            “Thank you… Hans.” I read the name on the piece of parchment. He gave a pretty cocky smile before I walked away as fast as I could. The group didn’t move; but somehow they got on the topic of hanging out and playing Mario Kart.
            “I would say my dorm, but I don’t think my roommate would agree to that.” Hiccup said.
            “He doesn’t like Mario Kart?” Anna asked in disbelief.
            “I have no clue,” he shrugged. “I’ve only spoken to him once; but I do know that he won’t like the screaming once that blue shell is thrown.”
            “Our place then.” Rapunzel offered.
            “Done.” Astrid agreed.
            “Yeah, that’s fine.” Hiccup agreed.
            “Party at Rapunzel’s!” Anna cheered. I held in my protests as they came up my mouth.
            “Oh shit, Babe we have to go.” Astrid said. “Snot’s going to be pissed that we left him there for that long.”
            “Okay.” Hiccup nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
            “Yeah, I’ll save your seat.” I agreed. The couple walked away and we waved goodbye.
            “We should probably go too.” Rapunzel said.
            “I know; I’m starving.” Merida replied. “Do you guys want to join us for dinner?” Anna opened her mouth to say something, but turned to me as if to ask for permission.
            “Go. I have to set up my laptop anyway.” I pushed.
            “Then, knowing you, you’ll finish all of your work that’s assigned for the next month.” Anna finished.
            “No… just start the rough drafts.” I looked down. “Go. I’ll be home if you need me.” Anna pulled me into a bear hug before going back to Rapunzel.
            “We’ll have her back before midnight Ms. Arendelle.” Merida called as they walked towards the exit.
            “Make good choices!” I called out before they disappeared around a corner. I sighed and made my way out of Target.  As I walked through the isles, I heard Sweater Weather play again.
            “Dude, whose playlist is this? It’s pretty sweet.” A worked asked.
            “Oh, it’s my friend’s. He’s got okay taste.” I heard Han’s voice say. I was terrified that I would have to talk to him again, so I kept my head down and kept walking. I crashed right into a shelf, almost knocking everything off. As I started to pick things up, I felt a hand on my shoulder.
            “Need some help there Queeny?” Jack snickered as he bent down to help clean my mess.
            “Don’t call me that.” I mumbled.
            “Why not? You’re going to be one soon aren’t you; I might as well start now.” He reasoned. I rolled my eyes in annoyance and stood up.
            “You know nothing about me Jerkface.” I hissed.
            “Jerkface?” he snorted. “Queeny here’s getting feisty.” I held in all my urges to slap him in the face right then and there for being so ride to a practical stranger.
            “Watch it Frosty.” I sneered before taking my bags and walking away.
            “You’re the one who should watch it! You don’t even check if you’re alone before you belt out lyrics.” He called out before walking towards Hans, who tried calling me out; but I just kept walking towards the parking lot.

Hey guys!!! I'm soooo sorry that i haven't been posting in awhile, however i've been busy. Like school is too stressful!!!! Whatever, just don't be expecting fast updates. Tell me what you think plzz!!! Lol i totally forgot what i was going to say here so i'll say it next time.  Luv you all!!! Happy Reading ;)

P.s. The Sequel to Beware His Frozen Heart is coming soon. Stay tuned for the announcement this weekend ;)