This is my first ever HTTYD fanfic, and I hope you like it!
Any reviews, whether positive or negative, are appreciated! I'd like to hear what you think!
Disclaimer- I do not own any of the characters from HTTYD mentioned here, they all belong to Dreamworks. The only characters I own are the ones not from HTTYD (i.e. Thorn and the teachers).
New Arrival
The classroom was as it usually was at the start of a new year- noisy, and full of boisterous people who all thought they were the best in the room. As soon as the teacher walked in, the atmosphere changed. Kids put away their phones, quietly spat out the gum they were chewing, adjusted their clothes to make sure they fit with school regulations, and hurried to their desks. Standing to attention, twenty nine pairs of eyes watched the teacher walk to the front of the class. Although, it was probably more likely that most of those twenty nine pairs of eyes were watching the other person meekly following the teacher. It was a boy, of below average height. He had floppy reddish- brown hair and wide eyes the colour of an evergreen forest. His clothes were rough and utilitarian- pale green shirt, and loose brown trousers flapping over a pair of scuffed trainers. Nearer the back of the class, all the rest of the boys were smirking and silently sniggering. The boy was also very scrawny. He looked like he would break with the slightest impact. Most of the boys already had him pegged down as an easy target, one who wouldn't put up much of a fight.
The teacher addressed the class.
"Good morning, class. I hope you all had a nice summer, but now you have to get your brains back in gear for the start of the year. I would also like to introduce you all to Hiccup. He didn't have such a great summer, but I hope this year will more than make up for it. Would you like to say a few words about yourself, Hiccup?"
At this, the teacher stepped away, leaving the small boy on his own in front of some of the toughest kids in the county.
"Um… Hi, my name is Hiccup, and… I like to… draw. And build things."
Most of the class laughed at this, but one girl stayed silent, her eyes, one brown, one blue, regarding him. His piece said, Hiccup picked up his bag, a leather satchel that looked to be about fifty years old with the school's logo of a dragon curling within a circle on it, and walked silently over to the girl. He took a seat next to her, as the teacher started calling the register.
"What's your name?" Hiccup whispered out of the side of his mouth.
"Thorn. Nice to meet you, Hiccup."
Her mismatched eyes were set below a mass of unruly black hair, always seeming to try and worm itself off her scalp. She was not well liked in the school- her well- worn, unfashionable clothes and strange demeanour saw to that. Her small frame and slim body also picked her out as an easy target. She might as well have had one drawn right on the middle of her forehead. The bullies sniffed her out within ten seconds of meeting her, and then the torment began. For most of her time at school, she never had a single friend. Every lunchtime she would sit on her own in the corner and read a book, or write. She worked hard in class, and always tried to do as she was told. Thorn was an outcast.
As the teacher read out the names, the students duly answering them, the two outcasts sat together in silence.
"Rose?"
"Yes, miss." Thorn politely answered.
"But… I thought your name was Thorn?" said Hiccup.
"It is. It's my last name. I hate Rose, it's too… flowery. Everyone else gets names that make them sound tough, except me. So, I choose to use my surname instead."
"Oh." The short conversation over, both of them sat awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. The teacher finished the register, and walked over to Hiccup.
"Here's your timetable. I see you've made a friend already. Why don't you show Hiccup round today, and help him find his lessons, Rose?"
"Yes, miss," Thorn replied with a sigh. Hiccup's face held a slight frown for a moment, not sure whether Thorn was unhappy with the assignment, or with the teacher calling her Rose.
When the clock ticked round to the end of registration, everybody quickly gathered up their things and scrambled for the door. Everybody, that is, except Thorn and Hiccup. The first lesson of their new year was P.E. For all the bullies, the best lesson available to beat up the scrawny nerds. For the weaker kids, it was a living hell. Dragging their feet, Thorn showed Hiccup to the changing rooms, both going their separate ways to change. Ten minutes later the class were gathered in the gym, the teacher walking in front of them, steely grey eyes missing nothing.
"WHERE ARE YOUR GYM CLOTHES?" bellowed the teacher, a giant hulk of a man called Mr Jones. His only volume when talking to a student was eleven. The unfortunate student on the receiving end of this question was Hiccup, standing there wearing the same clothes he had been wearing in registration. Since he had only been in possession of his timetable for about twenty minutes, he didn't know about the lessons he was meant to be having.
"Um… I don't have any. I'm new… and I didn't know about my timetable before today…" Hiccup rambled on, shrinking down smaller and smaller as Mr Jones leaned in closer and closer, his musty, sweaty smell almost overwhelming him.
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT EXCUSES! NOW, GIVE ME ONE HUNDRED PRESS UPS!" Trembling, Hiccup began to lower himself to the ground, when he was stopped by another bout of yelling.
"No, not here. IN THE CORNER! I still have to continue my lesson for the good students. Now, SCRAM!"
Hiccup could not have made it to the corner any faster. He visibly sagged, then dropped to the ground and began attempting press ups. Unfortunately, since his arms lacked muscle, the task was almost impossible. After a couple of Hiccup's pitiful press ups, Mr Jones lost interest and addressed the rest of the class, or rather, his favourite student, Snotlout.
"Now, I think we should start the year with an excellent team building exercise. Dodgeball! Right, Snotlout, you'll be captain of one team. Fishlegs, you're captain of the other team. Snotlout, first choice!"
The two team captains started choosing players for their team, quickly at first as they just picked their friends, but after a while all that was left were the people nobody wanted. Thorn ended up on Fishlegs' team, just like she thought she would. Fishlegs was a hard worker and a bit strange too, but he was huge, so he mainly got left alone. Snotlout wouldn't choose her over a bucket of puke for his team. Finally, all the teams were chosen, and the game began.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the first instalment!
I know dodgeball is quite overused (to be honest I've never played- it's not a British thing really), but I thought, oh well!
Also, this chapter, along with the next one, are due for revision (hopefully) quite soon so that the standard of story is the same acRoss the board.