CHAPTER ONE| DEALS OF A MOST UNFORTUNATE SORT| HICCUP

High school had gone by like a painful and unfortunate blur. He wasn't like his dad, his dad could swim like a fish in the sea of social interaction and other things that scared Hiccup equally as much. It wasn't that he didn't want to be cool or well liked at the very least…he did, it just always felt forced and unnatural on his part. He felt like he wasn't programmed to have many friends in truth he was just trying to find his voice.

Astrid didn't think that was it though, by some miracle he had managed to convince her to go out with him. Things were wonderful in his life until graduation when she dumped him. She had said he was a coward and a pushover and she wasn't going to put up with that in a guy. Then she moved all the way to Denmark on a gymnastics scholarship.

hiccup was alone in Aniville Maine…well almost alone, he still had Jim. However Jim had been having a tough time himself lately and he couldn't bring himself to harass his much cooler friend with his problems. The only person that really left was his father who had the same opinion of him as Astrid. When he spoke to him he felt like he was talking to her, except his father was literally trying to change him. Why wasn't he just good enough?

Schools seemed to think he was good enough, he had gotten many full scholarship offers to many different schools but instead opted for the local university. He wanted to take a mix of engineering and mechanic courses and the Aniville university-college had the best programmes for both of those things. It was an added bonus that Jim would also be attending but not on scholarship in his case.

Hiccup was sitting at his desk when the unmistakable sound of his father's knock at the door jolted him to reality. "Hiccup!" called his father gruffly, "may I come in?" Hiccup knew that he didn't really have the option of not letting his dad in so he sighed, got up and opened the door. He gestured for his great big hulking, pro football playing father to come in. It was a wonder that he was still in the game at his age.

Hiccup sat on his bed and looked at his dad awkwardly. "So…" he began, unsure of what to say, "what…uh…brings you here?"

"Well…" began his father, "I've put a lot of thought into it and I've decided that I don't want you living here when your first semester starts.." he said uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck.

Hiccup was taken aback, "Oh," was all he could manage. So his dad was really that done with him…where would he go? He had no friends…

"What I mean is, I've decided to buy you a house under a few conditions." said his dad frantically, trying to dig himself out of his hole.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because I think the independence will be good for you," he said reasonably, "I was on my own when I was younger than you and I'm pretty sure I'm stronger for it."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes, "What about bills or groceries?" he asked sceptical He didn't want to have a job while he was at school, he wanted to focus solely on that.

"That will all be taken care of, if you meet the condition." he said, his father's trade mark confidence back.

"What is the condition?"

"You're going to have to find yourself two room mates within the week," said his father smugly crossing his arms. "Find two, bring them to me and I will buy you the house and take care of the bills." His dad had the money…he could do it, Hiccup knew that.

Slowly the blood drained from his face and a pit formed in his stomach, "b..but dad.." he began, concern clear in his voice, "I literally only know one person who might do it!" he was frantic near the end

His father laughed, a great booming chuckle, "Well then I'd be job hunting if I were you." he said before leaving the room.

Time stood still. He was so totally screwed.

He dove for his cell phone on his desk. He had put it on the charger at the beginning of summer vacation and he had hardly used it since. He slowly searched through his contacts for Jim. He finally found it, Hawkins Jim. He clicked the call button and waited nervously for him to answer.

"yeah," came the familiar unfriendly voice, Hiccup's heart began to race with his nerves.

"Uh…Jim…" he said, "I..I need help."