I woke up to an incessant buzzing near my head. After a few confusing seconds of battering around my pillow, I found my ringing phone and swiped right on its screen, then immediately hit the speaker button so I could cuddle my way back into my haven of pillows.

"Hello?" I said groggily, not even looking at the caller ID.

Hans' voice blasted through the speakers. "HEY SIS, HOW'S IT GOING?"

I ripped the blanket off of myself and scrambled up into a sitting position as I took the phone off of speaker and pressed it into my ear.

"Hey…" I greeted him. I glanced across the room at Kristoff's bed; he had turned in his sleep but had not been awakened by the noise. I held in a relieved sigh.

"It's going," I answered his question as I made my way to the hallway. With one hand I set the bolt so it would keep the door open and I wouldn't get locked out. "How's London?"

"Marvelous, simply stunning, my dear" he replied in an absolutely reprehensible British accent.

"Glad to hear it, old chap," I said in an equally horrible excuse for an accent. "Did the South Aisles have their gig yet?"

"Several, actually!" I could practically hear him waggling his eyebrows at me. "This whole trip has been really promising. Thanks again for covering for me. It went smoothly, I presume?"

"Uh… yeah. They totally bought the appendix thing. And Mom just thinks you're at Dad's of course, so that worked out."

"Great! It's already been a week so it seems like we won't get caught. We're a regular Bonnie and Clyde!"

"Without the, like, killing and robbing part."

"Right." He chuckled, giddy. He must be having the time of his life across the pond.

I exhaled heavily, turning into the wall as a neighbor passed me in the hall. "There is one issue, though…"

"Oh no, don't tell me Mom's on the hunt."

"Not Mom, but there is another predator in question. Ingrid won't leave me alone. She keeps ambushing me at the most inopportune moments…"

"What does she want?"

"You, dummy! You won't answer her calls."

"Does she know I'm in London?"

"No…" I spun around and planted myself in front of the hallway window, trying to keep my voice down in case Kristoff were to wake up and wander out of the room.

"Why didn't you just tell her?" said Hans. "Maybe she'll give up." A pause. "Maybe not."

"Knowing her," I sighed, thinking about the fiasco at the restaurant last night, "she'll never give up."

"Tell her I'm outta the country and will get back to her soon. It'll get her out of your hair at least."

"Yeah…" I said, wishing it were so easy.

"I believe in you, sis."

"What if I tell her and she goes and blabs to Mom or… that school." I paused, pretending to think hard. "Er- what's it called again?"

"Hilton, or something," was his answer, as though Mom hadn't talked about the stupid school our whole childhood.

"Right," I said, staring straight at the "Milton" sign outside the dorms.

"Ingrid won't say a word, don't you worry Young Grasshopper."

"Whatever you say. You still owe me BIG for this one. You'd better get me the best souvenir on the planet."

"Sir, yessir!" He laughed again. I could feel his concentration slipping.

"I'd better go before I have to tell more lies to someone else," I said, glancing down the hallway again: empty.

"Sounds good, sis. We'll catch up more when I'm back."

"You mean when you're handing over the best souvenir on the planet."

"Yeah, yeah. So needy."

I saw a group of dudes from my soccer team turn the corner on the way to the bathroom so I quickly re-entered Kristoff's and my dorm room. "I learn from the best. All right, Hans, get outta here."

"Bye, sis. You're the best!"

"I know," I said and hung up, closing the door behind me. I heard the guys from the team pass by beyond the door, laughing and joking. Shaking my head at the antics of my crazy brother, I turned and found that Kristoff had finally woken up and was eyeing me from his bed with a raised eyebrow.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"A good friend of mine from my old school," I said, dropping back down on my bed. I was getting better and better at this lying thing.

"His name is Hans too?" He seemed suspicious.

I chuckled guiltily. "Small world, right? Must have been fate, meeting him and everything."

"Yeah, very weird." To my relief, he dropped the subject completely and got out of bed. "Wanna get breakfast with me before the paintball game?"

"I'm not too hungry, " I said. "And I should actually start on my English paper. Knowing me, it'll take two weeks to write and it's due on Friday."

"You'd better get started, then!" he said, heading to the door, pajamas and all. "See you in a few."

I waved him out and resigned myself solemnly to my desk. Pulling up a blank document on Word always impeded my productivity instead of motivating me. I spent ten minutes staring at the blinking cursor before I cussed at it and picked up my phone, weighing my options. I soon decided what I thought was the best course of action.

It rang three times before she picked up.

"Hey, Elsa. It's Ann- uh..." I cleared my throat, going into a lower register and hoping she didn't notice the change. "It's Hans! Did you have a good rest of your night last night?"

I guess she didn't notice, because she didn't miss a beat. "Hi, Hans. I did, thank you. Did you need something?"

"Uh, yeah, I just was going to ask a favor. I have to write a paper on Macbeth and I'm kinda stuck already. I wondered if you could offer any tips or anything."

"Do you have a thesis yet?"

"I don't even have a topic yet."

She laughed slightly. "Oh, boy. You are in trouble."

"That's why I called you, I'm sure that you can get me out of it."

"You have quite a lot of confidence in me."

"I know a bookworm when I see one."

She laughed again. "I suppose I must help out the less fortunate."

"I would be forever in your debt."

"I'll be there in ten and help you pick a topic."

"Thanks, Elsa. You're the best,"I said, stealing my brother's line.

After we had hung up, I continued to stare down the blank Word file in front of me, hoping that I could have a headstart by the time Elsa showed up, but the knock came before I knew it and my heading remained the only thing I had typed.

When I let her in she was wearing, to my surprise, baggy cargo pants and a T-Shirt, which was much different than her usual classy style. Granted, we were usually wearing uniforms but it was still a bit of a shock.

"Are you paint-balling after all?" I asked as I rolled Kristoff's desk chair over to my side of the room for Elsa.

"Maybe…" she said, taking a seat in the chair I had brought over for her.

"What's with the evasion?" I said, also sitting down and scooting up to my desk again. "Kristoff isn't here, I'll keep your secret."

"It's not a secret," she said, crossing her legs. "I just haven't decided whether or not I want to risk it yet. Last year I was on the losing team and we had to streak across the field in front of the admin building."

"That… is pretty intense," I said, imagining for a moment Elsa - naked and running. I couldn't quite picture it: Elsa seemed so innocent and introverted. Like a little kitten (with a snarky side). "Did you guys get caught?"

"The Headmaster turns a curious blind eye to some of the shenanigans that go on here. Maybe they remind him of his own Milton days."

"Wait… Weaseltown went to Milton? That must have been a century ago."

"You didn't know?" She placed an elbow on my desk and her chin on her fist, swiveling to face me entirely. "He thinks he has the school under an iron grip, but honestly, he's probably more lenient than a non-alumnus would be. Not that any of us are complaining."

"I bet," I said, chuckling.

"Really though." She scooted slightly closer to me, moving her elbow from my desk to her knee. Her foot touched my shin but I was too focused on her scrutinizing blue eyes to notice. "How are you liking Milton, Hans? And don't give me a default answer you'd give Westleton or a teacher or your parents. I want the truth."

I looked at her straight, seriously considering letting my guard down. She was a nice person after you chipped away the icy exterior. And we had become friends in a relatively fast time, even though my first thought had been to take advantage of her smarts. Out of all of the people here, she did seem the most trustworthy, besides Coach Kai (but he guessed my secret and trusting him was the only option I had). I could just tell Elsa about the ICI...

...but I still had a week of my charade to go and a moment of vulnerability could cost me more than I could afford.

"I mean, it's school," I finally said, looking away from those blue eyes. "So same old, same old. I like all the people I've met. Just wish the classes weren't so challenging."

"Which brings us back to your Macbeth paper," said Elsa, retreating to her original position. Her foot left my shin and she uncrossed her legs, sitting up all business-like. "You really have no clue what you want to write about?"

"None at all."

"Is there anything that intrigues you about the story or the characters? Or is there a symbol or motif or theme that you'd want to explore?"

I stared at her blankly. This girl was way too smart, I couldn't handle it.

"Have you even read the damned thing?" Despite her impatience she seemed amused.

I shifted in my chair. "Does the Sparknote summary count?"

"I'm not sure I can help you much if you don't even know the play."

"But it's boring!" I whined.

"What's boring about death and betrayal and madness?" On each word, she gestured hugely, which was the most energy I had seen her put out to the world. I had to hold back a smile at how cute it was.

To stop a most un-manly reaction, I leaned back in my chair in defeat. "I think you should just write my paper for me. I think you'd actually have fun, and you'd probably go way past ten pages." Besides that, watching her get all fired up about literature was amazing to witness.

"Oh stop it," she said, punching my shoulder lightly. I liked playful Elsa. I raised my fist in threat of retaliation and she ducked, raising her hands in defense and giggling. Before I could make good on my threat, the door opened announcing Kristoff's return from breakfast.

At the sight of his roommate getting chummy with the girl he liked, his face plummeted and flushed red. Or maybe it was embarrassment at the fact that he was still wearing his pajamas and Elsa was in the room. Either way, to lessen the blow, I stood and picked up my laptop, striding straight for the form that was still stopped in the doorway, glancing between the two of us.

"Yo, Kristoff, have you read Macbeth? Elsa's helping me think of a paper topic but we're failing epically."

"No, you're failing epically," said Elsa, standing and rolling Kristoff's chair back to its usual position at his desk. "The game's about to start, you two should probably get ready."

Kristoff brightened instantly. "So you are playing."

"You've found me out, whatever will I do?" she said, sighing dramatically. "I'll see you guys down at the field!"

"See ya!" I said, and closed the door behind her. As soon as it was shut, I broke into an apology. "Kristoff, I swear that wasn't what it looked like."

"Dude, it's totally cool. Elsa is the best person to ask for help on an English paper!"

"Right?" I said, slightly more excitable than I needed to be just because I was so relieved I hadn't offended my teddy bear roommate.

"Yes! Let's go, let's go!" he said, coming over to physically hustle me. "C'mon, get out of those pajamas. We got a game to win!"

How I had spent the whole week at Milton and not noticed the giant paintball course by the soccer field was beyond me. I guess I was just that unobservant.

"So… the school just has sets of paintball gear that they let everyone use randomly?" I asked Kristoff as we neared the course. There are already people milling about and suiting up.

"Well, we have to check them out. There are only 20 suits, and they're pretty beat up. The guns, too. They don't have a lot of power, so getting shot doesn't hurt as much as newer guns would."

I hadn't thought about the pain of having paintballs exploding on my body before this, but I shook off the momentary anxiety - it would be fine. Can't be as bad as breaking my arm when I was a kid, right?

Teams were already being picked when we arrived - there was a red team and a blue team. A masked blue team member meandered over to meet us at our approach, and shouldered me when we neared.

"Yo! Hands off the goods," I said. The masked paintballer let out a muffled laugh and reached up to remove their helmet. It was Elsa, of course.

"Blue team?" scoffed Kristoff.

"Red lost last time, I prefer not to risk it."

"Kristoff!" called a guy from the soccer team whose name I didn't know. He tossed Kristoff a blue suit.

"Really, man?" said Kristoff, catching it easily.

"Trust me, bro. You wanna be on the blue team this time."

"Whatever you say! Got an extra suit for my roommate?"

"Sorry, dude, last one," the guy said to me. I shook my head and held up a hand to indicate that it was okay. "They'll probably need the soccer star on the red team anyway - it'll make it more fair!"

"Have a good game, Hans!" Kristoff called as he walked to his base with his teammate to get suited up.

"Here," said Elsa, pushing a red suit into my hands. "May the best team win."

"Or the best side of the color wheel," I said, smirking.

"Ha, ha," she said and walked back toward the blue base. I followed suit and went back toward my own base, hoping that red would not be the losing team today or at least that nudity was not the punishment for being defeated. That would literally ruin my whole week.

Who did I find at the red base but…

"Hans!" Gerda said when she saw me.

"Hey Gerda!" I said, relieved to see a friendly face. I doubted that she would be extremely helpful during the game but at least I had a friend. Looking around my base, I sawthat the rest of the red team was all the scrawny, nerdy guys. Plus Gerda and me… and although I was the athletic type I was no match for guys Kristoff's size. I guess I would have to play as a stealthy sniper.

Gerda helped me into the red outfit Elsa gave me - it was way too big and probably made for actual men, not girls pretending to be men. I hoped that letting Gerda help me dress didn't make it seem like I was flirting with her. I liked her well enough but I would feel like an ass if I found out I was leading someone on, especially after asking her out on that double date last night. I looked closely at her before securing the mask on my face but she didn't seem the least bit bothered.

When the whistle rang out to start the game, I ducked immediately left into a tube, crawling my way to the other end. I could already hear other players shooting and yelling as the courageous, reckless ones ran straight out into the line of fire.

I neared the end of the tube and poked out my gun in case there was an opponent nearby. I heard footsteps coming upon the opening I was at and I aimed right at the approaching player, only to find it was Gerda.

"What are you doing, Gerda?" I asked looking around as I scrambled out of the tube and rose to a crouch. "Get down!"

I grabbed hold of her forearm and dragged her back behind the tube I had just crawled through.

"Sorry, I'm not wearing my glasses. They didn't fit under the mask thing."

"Be careful! If you get shot, you're out and we'll have lost a team member. Whoever loses all of their team loses the game."

"Is that how it works? I suppose I should have known that," she said, sounding as though she were pondering her existence "It's sounds like chess."

"Have you ever played a game of paintball before, Gerda?" I asked, trying to keep the incredulity out of my tone.

"No, but when I heard you guys talking about it last night I thought, 'why not'? I'm trying to be more adventurous."

"Okay, well, keep outta sight, okay? Unless you think you can take someone down. Just try not to get shot."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" she said, saluting me with her gun.

I took hold of the tip and pulled it down to point at the ground. "Don't aim that at your own teammates either!"

"I'll remember that," she said, nodding. She sat right down on the grass behind the tube, which I took as my cue to leave.

I peeked over the top of our hiding spot and saw some of the blue team rushing our base. They were set to move right past where I was so I took aim and rapidly fired into the mass. To my surprise, I actually got most of them out. They slumped off the field, frustrated with themselves. The two I missed darted behind some haybales.

With a burst of heroism, I leapt over the tube and ran straight for their hiding places; I had hit them both before they had time to realize what had happened. I skidded around them and launched myself behind another tube; now I was halfway down the field, closer to the blue base than any red player had been the whole game.

I crouched, panting harshly and fogging up my mask. I listened for any footsteps and wondered how many players were left on the red team. I couldn't lose - I couldn't afford to do a punishment that would expose my secret!

"Aha!" came a muffled voice from behind me. I turned, flinching in anticipation of the paintball that did not come. A slender blue player had stepped in front of me just in time and taken the traitor's bullet from their teammate.

The player who fired the round removed their mask, exposing Kristoff as the blue culprit. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the look of surprise on his face when my savior, too, removed their mask and turned out to be none other than Elsa. From my position on the ground I couldn't see her expression but I'd know that blonde braid anywhere.

What happened next was a surprise to everyone - suddenly a red splash of paint exploded on Krisoff's back, covering his suit and hair in a bloody, dripping red. He spun around to face the offender, my second savior, and it was someone on my team this time.

"Nothing personal," said Gerda. She had taken off her mask and replaced her glasses. "But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."

Just then, a whistle blew and a voice cried out: "RED TEAM WINS!"

"What!?" I shouted involuntarily, springing to my feet and dropping my gun.

"No way…" Kristoff said.

I hadn't realized Gerda and I were the last red players left on the field. Were paintball games always this short?

"I've never been on the losing team before," Kristoff said, scratching the back of his paint-splattered head in disbelief.

"There's a first time for everything, buddy," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder comfortingly before turning to Elsa. "I don't know why you did that, but I'm grateful for it."

"I didn't think the new kid needed to take a naked dip in the disgusting Milton pond on his first week of school," she said, smirking.

Before I could respond, the rest of the red team was upon me, congratulating and thanking me and Gerda.

Gerda was her usual modest self. "I really didn't do anything, I hid most of the game. It's Hans who won you the game."

Before they could begin talk of a celebration, there was the business of punishment to attend to…

Since most of the red team had lost the time before and had to streak past the Headmaster's office, they were all in favoring of making the blue team skinny dip in the far pond on campus. By now the sun was beginning to set, so the losers could have a nice moonlit swim. I decided I would watch from a distance because I really didn't want to get a good look at all the guys' family jewels. I can't tell you how relieved I was that I only had to watch and could continue to keep my secret after all the chaos.

"Hey, now you can wash your hair when you jump in the pond, right?" I called to Kristoff as he removed his gear. He flipped me off and I laughed like a maniac. Sore loser.

The trek across campus to the pond was a festive parade from the red team and an embarrassed sulk from the blue team. When we arrived, the blue team began stripping immediately, to get it over with as soon as possible, with the red team (people who hardly ever won anything) teasing them as they went. The shadows deepened as the sun lowered further beyond the horizon.

Bringing up the very rear of the loser party was Elsa, the only reason I was not the one stripping and jumping into the murky pond. Making one of my signature snap decisions, I glanced around quickly to make sure no one was watching and snagged her arm as she passed me. She let out a slightly startled yelp and I placed a hand over her mouth as I led my savior away from the frivolity and into a nearby cloister of trees.

We stumbled together through the darkness side-by-side like a drunken pair, my arm still wrapped around her shoulders, my hand over my mouth. I released her when we were successfully hidden from the paintball teams.

"What was that for?" Elsa asked immediately after I had liberated her. We continued walking away from the pond, the shouts and laughter growing more and more distant.

"Isn't it obvious?" I said incredulously. "You saved me from punishment during the game, I think it's only fair that I return the favor."

"How very brave of you," Elsa said. "We left Kristoff and Gerda back there, though."

My stomach dropped. Oh no. How in the world could I have spaced out the fact that I had just pulled the object of Kristoff's affection from him - especially when he could have seen her naked? I felt guilty, but then the next second I felt oddly protective as another voice in my head said - good. She's not a piece of meat to gawk at.

Then I immediately thought about poor Gerda and how awkward she was around anyone, much less a bunch of naked guys. I hoped Kristoff would sort of take her under his wing… but I hoped that he was fully clothed when he did. Maybe I could head back to the pond after I made sure Elsa was safely on her get away boat.

"Hans, are you okay? We can go back for them."

I blinked, realizing I had stopped dead while I thought. Elsa was standing right in front of me, looking me in the eyes, confused and slightly concerned.

"No, it's no big," I said. shaking my head and continuing to walk, making a wide circle around her. "They can handle themselves."

The sudden eye contact had caused a flushed heat to rise into my cheeks. I was confused once more - the last time I felt so inept and childlike was when I had had a crush on the boy's soccer captain back at my old school. But Elsa was a girl. A beautiful one, but a girl nonetheless.

The trees cleared out into a sharp drop of grass that then leveled out again into an expansive lawn. This was a corner of campus that I had not yet seen. As I reached the edge of the trees, trying to give my cheeks a chance to cool off, my foot caught the very last stump and I was propelled forward with a most girly cry. I hit the slope and rolled all the way down the slick, wet grass until I came to a stop on my back, out of breath and dizzy. Why does this stuff always happen to me?

Elsa was still at the top of the slope, laughing in a way that sounded like she felt bad but she couldn't help it anyway.

"Are you okay?" she called down to me between giggles.

"Yeah," I said, "just give me a second."

Elsa, still giggling, laid herself at the top of the slope and let herself also roll down it, a lot more gracefully than me. She tumbled down, coming to a rest right beside me, her head by my feet. We both laid there and laughed and panted.

"It's a clear night," Elsa said, pointing up at the sky. "Do you know any constellations?"

I squinted upwards, trying to draw shapes in the dots of light. "Just Orion."

"Here," she said, moving her finger to point at it, "if you start at Orion and follow his belt up and out, you can find Canus Major and the Big Dipper. The little Dipper you can't see because it's under the horizon. And that one is Gemini, can you see the shoulders of the twins?"

We continued to lay there, stargazing, me listening to Elsa explain how to find constellations and I realized that this was the least stressed I had felt so far this week as I tried to keep up with the ICI. For once I could be Anna, not Hans. I was just a person who had somehow made pretty good friends within a week of being at a new school (under false pretenses but who's keeping track).

"Those are all the ones I know," Elsa said, concluding her astronomy lesson. "I mostly just like the names and mythology behind them. When I was little I knew every Greek myth."

"Isn't Greek mythology filled with sex, betrayal and killing?"

"Yep. Kid Elsa grew up pretty fast," she said, and we both laughed. Then she sat up and looked over at me, where my sprawled form was making a life-sized dent in the grass beneath me. "Well, I should probably get back to my dorm, I have a lot of studying to get done tomorrow and I want to get a head start."

"Yeah, of course," I said, also sitting up. I got to my feet, then reached out to help Elsa up. Her hands were slender and very cold, almost like ice. When she was on her feet, I tried to drop her hands, but she held on tight, our bodies facing one another. Our eyes connected again and the heat came back to my cheeks. Despite this, I noticed once more that odd look of recognition in her gaze that had been there when I first sat next to her in chem.

"Thanks again, Hans." And before I knew it, she had leaned forward and planted a soft kiss right on my lips, pulled away, and turned to walk back to her dorm.

I stood like a deer caught in the headlights, watching her tall form get swallowed by the darkness as I slowly let myself accept the fact that the kiss had made my heart stop and restart again.

I wasn't sure what was happening in my brain but it was very confusing and made me feel so guilty that I sort of felt nauseous. Then I remembered I hadn't properly thanked her for saving me during the game, or even bid her goodnight but it was too late - she was gone.

By the time I got back to my own dorm (Kristoff had not yet returned), I had realized three fundamental truths:

1) Kristoff must never know what happened because he would literally murder me.

2) I seemed to have some sort of crush on Elsa. But I was Anna, and

3) Elsa liked Hans. And I wasn't Hans.