Being a curious person had its ups and downs. For example, it helped Elsa understand why her brother joined Vanessa's group. The downside of that was she was only able to do it after getting emotionally and physically hurt. After all, it was only when she was harmed by his 'friends' that he decided to leave them.

Elsa did not mind the struggle. As long as things did not make sense, she would do everything in order to understand. If she knew she was in the right, she would keep going even if it meant she had to do it alone. She was blessed to find a supportive friend in Rapunzel. But being supportive this time was... something she could not do. Rapunzel had thrown in the towel, and Elsa could not blame her.

"Okay, Elsa. You can do this. Calm down." Elsa mumbled the same words for over three times, threading her fingers along her fringes and sweeping them backward. She glared at the phone vibrating on the nightstand. Holding her breath, she reached for it. "Hello?"

"Van's coming today." The phone nearly slipped from her hand. "Elsa? Are you there?"

"Y... Yes. Yes, I'm here."

"Are you coming?"

Was she? She had been the one to ask her uncle for an update about Vanessa. It had been a few days since she requested it, and the anxiety only grew as the days passed. Hearing the confirmation now, of all days, almost made her want to throw up.

"Elsa?"

"I'll... I'll be there," she croaked.

"Alright. Be careful! And don't forget what I told you. Don't scare her!"

Elsa slumped on the bed, the phone bouncing on the mattress from the impact. She sighed. Rapunzel made a valid point; involving herself with Vanessa would surely cause Anna to question her. If anything, this could only add to the main reason—whatever it was—why Anna was avoiding her.

But... I can't ignore it.

Vanessa was a girl with pride. She was vicious, strong-headed, and arrogant. People feared and hated her. If someone tried to go against her ideals, she would do everything in her power to crush them, including using underhanded tricks like hurting someone important to that person. How can someone like that suddenly change in such a short amount of time? How can she allow herself to be made fun of?

Elsa rolled out of bed and grabbed a change of clothes. If she was going to keep wondering about this, she might as well talk to the girl herself. Maybe she would not get answers or anything even remotely close to it, but she should at least give it a try.

Best to hurry if I want to catch her.

After double-checking her keys and phone, Elsa locked the apartment and went straight to the mall.

It was a crowded afternoon and the people moved with purposeful strides. When she saw the huge line for the lifts, she turned the other way to take the escalators instead and pressed a hand against her chest, steadying her breathing and calming the erratic beats inside. This was it. The only thing left to do was go to the optic shop and have a nice, peaceful conversation.

...

She cringed.

Her palms began to sweat as a thought occurred to her. What if Vanessa acted stubbornly and started a fight? Elsa had the experience with her on that at school; she could manage. But she would like to avoid getting involved in one in the presence of her uncle.

Elsa shook her head and curled her hands tightly until she regained control. Before another piece of doubt entered her mind and kept her from actually doing something, she forced her legs forward until the Eyes Palace came into view. She craned her neck to catch a glimpse through the glass windows.

"AHH! Vanvan! This one is pretty!

Vanessa gasped. "Chelsea, be careful!"

Time froze and a new set of questions kicked Elsa's brain into another start. She did not dwell on it further after noticing that Vanessa was not paying her any mind and was, instead, pulling a little girl happily pointing at one of the lined up specs away from the fragile glass drawers.

Right. I'm not the only—

"'Chelsea'?" A man asked from the other side of the counter. "She has the same name as my niece! You know her, right?"

"I'm sorry—" Vanessa wrapped her hands around the child's shoulders to keep her in place. "Who?"

Kai was about to answer when he caught sight of Elsa. "Oh, there she is!"

Multiple heads, including random customers and colleagues, snapped to the door where she stood. Vanessa's face twisted and Elsa stayed as still as possible as if a single movement would make the girl lash out.

"Wow, pretty!" Chelsea said.

Elsa waved timidly. "Hello."

The child squealed and returned the greeting with her short arms waving frantically. They nearly hit Vanessa on the cheek. "Chelsea!" The senior chided, patting each of the outstretched arms. "Behave."

"She was saying 'hi'!"

"Lower your voice." Vanessa pressed an index finger in front of her lips and shushed. "You wouldn't want to distract anyone, would you?"

Chelsea squeaked, hands flying to her mouth and muffling everything. "M' swhory!"

Vanessa ruffled her hair. "Good girl." Chelsea giggled and Vanessa faced Kai. "Is she the one you were talking about?" she asked, gesturing towards Elsa.

"She is, indeed. I'm guessing you know her as 'Elsa'?" Kai chuckled when Vanessa nodded. "She prefers being called that."

Chelsea lowered her hands. "Why?"

Elsa shifted her attention to the girl and smiled. "Because if we're in the same room and someone said Chelsea, it might get confusing."

"If someone says my name, it's me!"

Two emotions flashed on the senior's face. One of horror and one of embarrassment. It looked like she wanted to apologize for the child's behavior, but the moment passed and she simply left it with a simple "Kids" comment while chuckling awkwardly. "Can I get the glasses now?"

"Sure!" Kai handed over a small bag. "Here you go. How many pairs does that make?"

"The second."

"Really? That's strange. I feel like I've seen you more than twice since you started coming here."

"I couldn't decide what to buy, remember?"

Kai laughed. "Ah, yes. I remember now. Are you sure you don't want to consider buying something else?"

"I'm sure. I wear these for convenience, not fashion. I appreciate the compliments, but I don't think I'll be wearing anything that sticks out."

"If you change your mind, give us a call and we'll get something personalized for you."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Kai."

"Anytime!" He ruffled the little girl's hair. "Byebye, Chelsea! Come back, okay?"

Chelsea giggled, screaming "Buh-bye!" as she reached for one of Vanessa's hands. Vanessa murmured her farewells without sparing Elsa another glance as they left. They had only moved a short distance before she led the child to a corner and fished out her phone.

Kai leaned against the counter. "I thought you have something to talk about?"

"Yeah, we... we do."

"It must be important if you're acting like this. Do you need a push?"

One look at her uncle and Elsa immediately knew he was seriously going to push her if she asked him to. She lowered her head and stared at the tip of her shoes, reminding herself of why she asked her uncle this in the first place. She had questions that needed answering and while the idea of him giving her a push was tempting, she didn't want to keep depending on everyone for help. This... was something she had to figure out on her own.

Knowing better than to challenge the man, Elsa reluctantly stepped out of the shop. She was easily able to pinpoint Chelsea and Vanessa among the crowd because of the little girl's bursting energy. She was still jumping up and down in front of the high school student busy with her phone. Taking that distraction as an opening, Elsa walked over to them. Five more steps and she would have been there, but that was when Vanessa decided to raise her head. The air grew thick once their eyes met. After a short glance at the child, Vanessa lifted an eyebrow as if to ask what Elsa wanted.

"Hey," Elsa began.

"Oh, it's big sister Chelsea!" Oblivious, little Chelsea cheerfully announced, "Mama is coming to pick me up!"

Before Elsa could say anything, Vanessa pocketed her phone and said, "Chelsea, your mother is in the parking lot. She'll be here soon."

The little girl squealed and ran around in circles, giggling happily and waving at the little kids that pass by with their own parents. "I thought you were sisters," Elsa said as she watched the kid. Vanessa did not say anything and when Elsa glanced at her, there was an unamused look on her face. "You look a little alike and... nevermind. Can we talk?"

"As you can see—" She gestured to the child. "I'm not free."

"You said her mother is in the parking lot, right? I can wait."

"I have something to do after this."

"Don't lie!" Vanessa gasped when the girl forcefully pulled her arm. "Lying is bad! You said this was the last in your sh... sche... sketchdule!"

The senior's cheeks flushed a bright shade and Elsa mentally thanked Chelsea for the small victory.

Vanessa sighed, standing properly and poking the little girl's nose. "It's not 'sketchdule'. It's 'schedule''."

"Sch... skeshule!"

A soft laugh. "We'll work on that next time."

The scene was oddly peaceful to look at. After months of knowing Vanessa, 'peaceful' wasn't something Elsa ever thought she would see when the senior was involved. It was already strange, seeing her with a child, but the interaction she was having with the little girl was far more different from what Elsa would have expected. She had not pegged the senior as someone who was patient enough to deal with children.

"Chelsea! Van!" A woman, looking somewhere around her late twenties, came running towards them.

"Mama!" Chelsea jumped to her mother's embrace. "You're here!"

"Oh, thank you, thank you! I'm sorry I didn't expect the meeting to last long!" The mother said, her hair coming undone. "Thank you so much!"

"It's okay, Ahn." Vanessa high-fived the little girl. "I love looking after Chelsea."

"You're the best!"

"Mama, look!" Chelsea stretched an accusing finger at Elsa's direction. "She's also a 'Chelsea'!"

Ahn followed the tip of her child's pointer. "Oh! I'm sorry I didn't notice you! Are you a friend of Van's?"

"She's just a schoolmate," Vanessa said.

Ahn's face lit up. "It's a friend, then! Chelsea, right?"

Elsa nodded. "You can call me 'Elsa'."

"I'm Anastasia, Chelsea's mother. Call me 'Ahn'!"

"Mama, I want to have ice cream." Chelsea clasped her hands together and looked at her mother with big, teary eyes. "Vanvan said I can't without you! Can we? Can we? Pleaaaase?"

"Wha- now? It's cold, honey. You might get sick." Ahn kissed the top of her daughter's head when she pouted. "Next time, okay?" She turned to the teenage girls. "It's so nice to meet you, Elsa. And Van, thank you again. Have you eaten anything yet? I can treat you, girls, somewhere."

"No, thank you," the girls said in unison.

"I'm still full from lunch," Vanessa added. "Besides, I think you should spend some quality time together and have a mother-daughter bonding. It's been a while."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't mind," Ahn insisted.

"I'm sure."

"How about you, Elsa?"

"I wouldn't want to impose. And I want to talk with Vanes- Van about something."

"Okay. Be careful, you two!"

"Buh-bye!" Chelsea gave each of them a hug.

The comfort that the mother and daughter brought with their presence left with them. With no one and nothing else to focus on, Elsa picked on the edges of her coat. There was no use getting nervous now that she was here, but her stomach was starting to feel uncomfortable and she was beginning to feel queasy. She already mentioned wanting to talk twice. She had to push through with this.

"I didn't give you permission to call me that."

Elsa's fingers twitched, and then they eased. The wild beings inside her stomach settled down as the bite in those words sunk in.

The words, the statement.

Cold as they were, they calmed her down.

She picked her head up and took in every inch of the senior. As expected by now after seeing her multiple times in school, Vanessa was wearing a rather plain look; pink zip-up hoodie, tapered jeans, and maroon sneakers. A simple white beanie was on her head and a basic pair of lenses sat on her nose.

"What? If you have something to say, spit it out."

Elsa pursed her lips, letting her eyes linger for much longer before saying in a hushed tone, "I've been wondering why you changed your style."

"I don't need to explain anything to you." Elsa mentally agreed though she decided not to say anything else as she continuously watched the senior. Vanessa scowled, returning her scrutinizing look. "What do you want? It can't be a coincidence that you're here right now. Did Kai tell you?" The expression on Elsa's face faltered and the senior laughed emptily. "Seriously? I can't believe this."

Neither can I.

The hesitation that Elsa felt before going to the shop rushed back to her at once. The moment Vanessa was in front of her and they were left alone, the more Rapunzel's words repeated like a broken record inside her head. Maybe she was right. Maybe this was not a good idea. Elsa did have questions. A lot of them. Why the students were harassing Vanessa, why she was not fighting back, why she had Anna's journal... and many more.

She should have known that Vanessa would not make it easy.

"Go home, Elsa. Leave me alone." Vanessa turned. Refusing to end the conversation there, the blonde followed. "Are you for real?!"

Ignoring the threat in the senior's voice, Elsa balled her hands into tight fists and pressed on. "Why are the students treating you like that?"

"If you are here to make fun of me, you're wasting your time."

"I'm not making fun of anyone. It just bothers me. I'm glad you and your friends stopped, but this situation doesn't feel right. What's going on?"

"You can't protect everyone, you know? That's delusional." Her words nearly made Elsa freeze on the spot; they reminded her of Anna's own back in the locker room. The inkling feeling she'd been having since Vanessa returned Anna's journal became stronger and her stomach, once again, twisted in uncomfortable knots."Besides, shouldn't you be glad this is happening? I've made your girlfriend's life miserable and even made your parents angry at you."

There were many things Elsa wanted to address regarding those statements, particularly the comment about Anna being her girlfriend. But the last sentence nagged at more. Elsa furrowed her brows, digging inside her memories for any semblance of clarity. When did that happen? When did Vanessa even see her parents?

Oh.

The words of her mother from that time echoed in her head. She lifted a hand and clutched her elbow with it. "You didn't make them mad. They were angry because they thought I was the one who started the trouble. I was called to the Principal's office."

Vanessa scoffed. "That's the same thing. I was the one that started it, and they blamed you."

"Do you feel bad about it?"

"As if." She resumed her walk and didn't comment when Elsa tailed after her. "I don't feel bad about anything. That's what weak people do."

"You wouldn't bring it up if you don't."

"You really can't get a hint, can you?"

"If I could, I wouldn't get to know Anna and Ariel like I do now." That stopped the senior's hasty strides, allowing Elsa to catch up. "I wouldn't understand why my brother did what he did, or even make him stop."

"Then bother them instead! Why are you even following me around?!"

Elsa... wanted to know that, too. She kept trying to convince herself that it was simply because she disliked bullying. Maybe it was a factor, but even she knew how ridiculous that was considering who she was dealing with. Vanessa was a bully and as early as childhood, Elsa had already accepted that she would never understand what was running inside a bully's head. Maybe this whole revenge thing students were plotting was simply karma at work. Marshall was not involved in hurting her, and none of her friends were involved as well. Elsa should leave it alone.

Wrapping her arms around her torso, Elsa said, "I'm curious. You used to stand up for yourself, physically if needed, when someone tries to get in your way. Now, you just talk. I want to think you've changed your ways." The senior gave an incredulous look. "I find it... hard to imagine you taking care of a child if you haven't."

"Oh wow. So even you can judge," Vanessa murmured, shaking her head. "People can act, Elsa. It doesn't mean they've changed."

"Everyone is capable of changing."

"How naive can you be? There are people out there who don't want to change, okay? And those students? There are people who love treating others like trash just because they can!"

"Is that why you made fun of Anna?" The question slipped before Elsa caught herself.

"What?"

Elsa buried her fingers on her elbow, her eyes wide as she flipped her own words inside her head. The beats inside her chest thudded at irregular intervals and her mouth, which were completely fine before her outburst, instantly ran dry. All the events since the beginning of the school year rushed to the front of her mind without much pause. Her interactions with Anna before... and after they became friends.

I want to know why she was treated unfairly.

"Why did you do those things to Anna?" Elsa asked, swallowing past the dryness of her throat and lifting her gaze to the slightly wide ones of the senior. "Was that it? Because you can push her around?" Vanessa blinked twice and closed her gaped mouth. "She once told me you picked up on her being gay. Jasmine also said that... that because she was tough, you involved Ariel and took your frustrations out on her instead since they were cousins."

An audible gulp carried through the air, and then Vanessa pinched the bridge of her nose. "After all this time, you ask now?"

"I've had this question for a long time. What you did... I can't just accept that as a reason."

"Well, that's how it is! She's gay and that's wrong. It's disgusting and immoral!" she groused, flipping her hands. "Now will you please stop following me?!"

"I don't think that making someone's life miserable for that long just because they're gay is a good enough reason." Elsa let her arms fall back on her sides. Slowly, the inkling feeling and rumbled thoughts she'd been having since Anna's avoidance began to align, allowing her to voice them out in coherent sentences. "Actually, there's no good reason for doing it. But if that's what you believe in, why didn't you hurt me? Everyone thinks Anna is my girlfriend. That makes me one, too."

Frustratingly rubbing her face, the senior sighed. "Did you forget? Mars didn't want us to touch you!"

"You didn't touch me even after he turned his back on you," she reminded. "There was that one time at the old school building, but I get the feeling you did that out of anger because he used you in a way."

Vanessa tensed, her eyes narrowing behind the glasses. "What are you getting at?"

Finally receiving a different reaction from the stoic senior, Elsa spoke with certainty and confidence for the first time that day. "Anna is special to me. I'm what you call 'wrong', 'disgusting', and 'immoral'. If you feel this strongly about homosexuals—" She looked at her dead in the eye. "—then why did you kiss me? It should've repulsed you."

Remember when Vanessa stole Elsa's first kiss in Chapter 13?

On that note, I want to clarify that there are no new characters added. Little Chelsea and Ahn have already been a part of this fic before. They appeared as far back as Chapter 10.