I

Frost

The morning had dawned clear and cold, with a crispness that hinted the end of summer. A fresh blanket of crisp, pure, white, snow lay across the town of Berk. For Hiccup it was like any other typical Monday except it was the first day back at school. The D.T. Academy prided itself on being an 'élite' school, but Hiccup begged to differ. He saw nothing particularly élite about the inept teachers, the intolerable and boorish students. Hiccup loathed going back to the D.T. Academy and it was clearly showing as he couldn't seem to sit still. His legs were bouncing and his fingers fiddled with the hem of his dark brown vest. He was sitting in the back of one of his father's town car; being driven to school by his father's chauffeur Mr Stark, his little brother Toothless sat to his left and was struggling to finish some homework he had forgotten to do over the summer break.

Hiccup looked out of the window with dim eyes, head leaned against the glass. Sunlight caught in his brown hair, teasing out crimson tints in the messy mop. Hiccup glanced at his younger brother, well, his adopted younger brother who was still scribbling away on his notebook. Timothy Haddock obviously looked nothing like his older brother, his skin was darker and his hair dark ebony, but they were closer than anyone could ever imagine.

"We're almost there" Hiccup muttered, high enough so his brother could hear. The twelve-year-old glanced up, "Aw men, I'm not ready yet!" He groaned, fell back into his seat and continued writing. Hiccup smiled, "Next time why don't you, I don't know, try doing your homework during summer vacation not after." Toothless glared at him but said nothing and continued to write.

The car pulled to the curb, he saw a bunch of students still outside, school having not started yet. It took a moment for Hiccup to realize he needed to get out of the car. His eyes rolled at the thought of heading back to the school, he looked down at his brown shoulder bag picking it up as Mr Stark opened up the door.

As he and Toothless stepped out of the car, the ice winds of Berk came howling out to greet them, they thanked Mr Stark before he drove off. Right in front of the entrance was a large group of guys wearing the high school letterman jackets.

"You'd better start heading off Toothless." Hiccup whispered to his little brother, never taking his eyes of the jocks gathered in front of them. Toothless looked at his brother worriedly, he knew that his brother got bullied but would never admit it. Hiccup felt his brother's piercing green eyes on him; he looked at him and smiled. "Don't worry bud." He said, ruffling his hair. "I'll be alright." Toothless nodded and headed off, reluctantly, towards a group of his friends.

With a sigh Hiccup put his head down, adjusted the strap of his shoulder bag and began walking towards the group of jocks blocking the entrance. "Uh, excuse me, sorry, um, I guess... could I just scoot on through here... Ow! I'm so sorry, that was my-never mind," This was Hiccup's dialogue as he tried to navigate his way through the group of jocks blocking his path.

He prayed he would just be ignored this time. 'Just a few more inches and I'll be home free.' Hiccup thought to himself. He had almost been clear of the group, only to have his boot meet an inconveniently placed patch of ice; he tripped, and fell to the floor with a yelp. Laughter erupted behind him, 'Oh so close,' he thought bitterly. As he wobbled up to his feet, a fat foot shot out of nowhere and he fell flat on his stomach again.

"Ha-ha nice going faggot! Daydreaming about your boyfriend eh?" A call from a familiar voice reached Hiccup, followed by another burst of gleeful laughter. It was a voice he knew too well, he found in times like this, being unresponsive was the best way to get through it. Hiccup finally, successfully, staggered to his feet.

Magnus Snoutlout Jorgenson, Hiccup's cousin, came towards Hiccup like predator bearing down on a wounded animal. Magnus put his face close to Hiccup's. He stank of deodorant. He had layered it on far too thick and it stung Hiccup's nostrils and made him want to cough right into Magnus's face. Hiccup frowned as his cousin gave a teeth baring smile, "What? Did I touch a nerve? We all know what your idea of a good time is." "Well when I think of you, my head is always in the clouds 'Snoutlout'." Hiccup said and gave him a sideways smirk and a wink, so much for staying unresponsive.

His cousin cringed at the sound of his middle name and flared with anger, pushing his dark hair from his face as it flushed red, his eyes narrowed into slits "You little cunt," Magnus spat, "You want to say that again, faggot?" he hissed, spraying Hiccup's face with saliva. "Which part Snoutlout? The Snoutlout part or the part where I expose the fact we are dating Snoutlout." Hiccup replied coldly.

'What the hell I'm I doing,' he thought. 'Have I totally lost my mind? Magnus is going to kill me.' Magnus was built like a bulldog and had all the physical advantages football had gifted him, he was scared and Magnus knew it.

"Leave it, bro!" someone called after Magnus. "He ain't worth it, but it was too late. Hiccup jerked back as Magnus's fist curled around his green stripped scarf. It happened so fast. Hiccup felt himself being shoved roughly backwards into the wall of the school. He felt it slam against his back but was barely aware of the pain.

"Hey!" a bark, from a deep gruff voice, called from somewhere behind Magnus. The jock glanced up to see a very tall and very angry-looking boy dressed in all black with wild black hair. Next to him a gorgeous blonde girl who looked equally pissed, if not more. Glaring at Magnus "Back off, Snoutlout" the tall boy growled. "Terrance… Astrid…" He quipped. "So good to see you again, I was just walking and he bumped into me, I'm just politely telling him that he needs to get out-of-the-way."

Hiccup didn't attempt to pry Magnus's hands off him. He knew it was fruitless. Magnus's grip was too strong. "Drop him." He heard Terrance say, he felt Magnus's fingers jerk away from him like he was stung. "We were just talking," Magnus said his eyes still fixed on Hiccup. "We were just having a lively discussion." Hiccup said weakly.

The bullies cackled and then scurried off into the school. However, before Magnus walked in with the others, he whispered into Hiccup's ear "Next time you're dead and the name's Magnus not Snoutlout got it?" "Yeah," Hiccup said quietly. He kept giving dirty looks to the trio until he was officially out of sight.

"Thanks guys." Astrid let out a sigh, spun around to face Hiccup giving him a slightly concerned gaze. "You okay?" Hiccup smiled weakly "Astrid its fine." She looked at him and shook her head as he urged, "Just ignore them, its fine, really." Rolling her eyes, Astrid began walking into the school, "Just so you know, if he touches you again, I'm gonna kill him." She said with a smirk, Hiccup grinned at the thought, "Right." he said sarcastically, "Hi Terrence." "Hey." The taller teen replied, smiling warmly at the smaller freckled teen, the three of them headed into the school with Astrid leading the way. None of them noticed the limousine pulling up to the school.

Students were already drifting into their respective classes when they got in. There weren't many students at D.T. Academy, about 800 in total and grade 11 was the smallest with 90. Hiccup didn't mind the small classes however, it meant that gossip travelled around like wild-fire and to him it was a dingy hub for pubescent teenagers with attitude problems. There were only two sorts of students at the D.T. Academy. There were the Jocks. Boys and girls from very, very rich families who had great sporting talent and then there were the cheerleaders girls and very few gymnast boys who were hyperactive and had some sporting talent. If you didn't fit into one of those two categories, you didn't belong at the D.T. Academy.

Henry Haddock III had no category. He had gained the epithet "Hiccup" because when he was five, he had the case of the hiccups for a whole month. So the nickname had stuck to him ever since. Little was known about Hiccup, just that he was intelligent to the point of being threatening; he knew how to build things that people, especially a teenager, just shouldn't know how to build. He was the shortest of the, male, eleventh grader, which made him an easy target for those who thought he made wonderful locker interior. To them he was an outcast, a freak, he was just . . . 'different' and the other students made his life a living hell for it.

Hiccup's emerald-green eyes travelled the classroom. He took his usual seat in the back corner, as the bell rang, waiting for the teacher to arrive. At the front of the room, a figure was emerging from the front door, followed by several students carrying their backpacks. The teacher was fairly tall, and rather skinny. Grey hair was kept shoulder length and an oddly long, unclean, grey moustache. His features were hard and rigid, with deep grey eyes that gave him a very expressive air.

Had he met him on the street, Hiccup was willing to admit that he would not have looked at his new teacher very closely. Unremarkable might be the best word. However there was one thing that distinguished his person.

The thing to catch his attention was the way the teacher was dressed. He was attired in clothes that looked very… well, tight. They did not flow or move; his sickly green pants were uniformly narrow through the legs, almost seeming to cling to them. The belt around his waist was ridiculously thin, like rope; you would need the fingers of a mouse to belt it properly. Except, it didn't look belted on, more like hooked through a metal ring at the front. And lastly, there was his Jacket. This greenish-brown jacket seemed quite stiff in appearance. The two sides overlapped in front. The fringe of the coat went over the hem of his pants slightly and, down the front there were small brass knobs.

Perplexed murmurs came from the student as they began to take their seats. "Good day class. I am Mr Cornelius Mildew, your new AP Biology teacher. Welcome to the eleventh grade, hope you had a good summer all. Please be seated and... SHUT UP!" he bawled, when some students continued to talk, as loudly as ever, through his introduction. They all turned to peer sheepishly at him. "Sorry, Mr Mildew-" "Yeah, well, you will be," he muttered angrily, sitting at his desk and flipping open the blue roll folder.

"Alright," Mildew tugged out a slip of paper from it and snapped the file shut. "Let's see who I'm stuck with... Heather Ack?" Hiccup sunk lower in his chair and felt his eyes drift towards the window. The usual chorus of "here's" and "yeah" began their familiar rhythm. "Henry Haddock?" Mildew's voice contained an almost audible wince. He seemed to recognize the name, but then chose to ignore it.

"Present," Hiccup replied, and sat up at the sound of his name. "Present," mimicked a large, blonde boy with a squashed nose and a square jaw, followed by a few titters. The tiny teen dropped his eyes to his lap at the taunt. 'Asshole.' he thought, as he adjusted his glasses, while the roll call continued.

"Whoa!" a female voice said followed by a resounding chatter that cut through the silence of the classroom. "Wow," said the red haired girl, sitting in front of him, to no-one in particular. "He's gorgeous;" another girl muttered "Is he real." Hiccup glanced up to see what the commotion was all about. The figure standing in the doorway slowly walked into the class. "Oh, my," escaped Hiccup's lips at the sight of the 'new' teen now standing at the front of the class.

The male teen in front of the class was about his age, he was tall at least six foot and lean. His skin was smooth and very pale, like freshly fallen snow. His face was sculpted perfectly. He had a smile identical the sun on a hot summer day, with eyes like ice.

He wore a deep blue pullover hoodie, flecked with beautiful snowflakes all over the top, the hood and sleeves, and a pair of dark brown skinny jeans, that was a little tight on him, with leather brown straps around the bottom of the legs. He wore a light blue and white converse also imprinted with white snowflakes.

The most striking thing about him was his silvery hair, swept slightly to the side, which gleamed in the sunlight. Hiccup could swear that he'd probably been staring for a couple hours, he felt like there was a bullet in his chest, and suddenly he turned to the direction of Hiccup his blue eyes catching his green. 'CRAP,' Hiccup thought, as he immediately dropped his eyes to his lap again. 'Did he notice me staring, No, half the class is staring he couldn't possibly single me out... right?' That's when he heard it, the name he could and would never forget. "Hi, I'm Jack frost..."