Note: What's this? Well, it's my very first (and possibly only) HiJack story! /Fanfare/ I love Icelandic Hiccup so... yeah... I hope you do too! I hope you enjoy this! ((This is also posted on my tumblr - fluffduckling))
I own nothing!
Deep breath in your nose, out your mouth. One moment of calm and recollection. A second to frantically pull all your emotions together and put them into place.
Hiccup opened his eyes and looked up at the sign hung over the front entrance of his new school. The letters were all mostly familiar, some missing their accents, and others just made no sense to him in their order. He took another deep breath and wracked his brain for the pronunciations of all the letters and letter groups.
He was going to Burgess High School (if his English served him right). It was a tiny school in a tiny town in a huge state in an even larger country. But Hiccup was thankful for that; the tiny school, not the huge country.
He didn't know what he would do if he'd been uprooted from his tiny village and placed in a large city like New York or somewhere in California. Probably die, so says his dramatic conscience. That or worse. Get lost.
Hiccup tore his eyes from the building and to the sheet of paper in his hands. It was typed up in English, but he had made notes the day prior in Icelandic on what some of the larger words meant so he didn't have to stumble around too bad his first day, looking for the main office.
There were students milling about, even though school didn't start for another hour or so, and all Hiccup could hear was a mosquito buzz as they all talked in rapid English. Maybe he wasn't ready for this. Maybe he'd overestimated his confidence in the language and now he'd be uttering broken half sentences that didn't even make half-sense until he was shipped off back home to his much more comfortable Icelandic village.
Hiccup followed the map, matching the letters on the paper to the ones on the signs hanging over doors until he found the office. He knocked hesitantly and was ushered in immediately by a young woman in glasses and a pants suit.
"Hello, is there something the matter?" She asked. "Can I see your ID?"
Hiccup stared blankly at her for a moment, trying to translate in his head what it was she was saying so he didn't look stupid.
"A-Ah…" ID, Hiccup knew what that was. He quickly fumbled for the plastic card that had been made for him to identify himself as himself. He thrust it at the woman and she nodded.
"Did you have a question Henrik?"
"J-Já. Ah, yes." He stumbled and stuttered for another moment before he decided to just hand over the paper.
"Oh? Oh! You're the exchange student! Oh, dear, yes! Here," the woman shuffled through a few papers before handing a few to Hiccup. "These are for your host family and this one," she handed the last one separately, "is your schedule. Do you understand, sweetie?"
Hiccup looked at the papers, trying to catch a few words that the woman was saying. He caught family and schedule. He nodded his head and stuffed the first few papers into his bag, clutching his new schedule like a lifeline.
"Er, thank you," he said, his accent sticking out strongly in the first utterance he'd managed to not mess up too badly.
"You're welcome, dear. If you have any more questions, just ask me or anyone else. Burgess is a very helpful place. Have a nice day now."
Hiccup gave a tiny wave as he left the office, his head hung over the paper in his hands. He had English at the very beginning of the day. He gave a sigh of relief. At least he'd get some help soon.
Finding the English Department wasn't as tough as he'd thought it would be. The walls of the school were decorated heavily with student projects and Hiccup used those as guides, walking past dates and historical figures and past silly drawings with words he could definitely say were not English and soon he found himself passing a library. The classrooms surrounding the haven of books were all part of the English Department and then Hiccup only had to follow the numbers on the doors.
Oh, but surprise surprise, English was nothing like he thought it would be.
As soon as he'd walked into the classroom, he was handed a book and pointed towards a desk and given an order to begin reading poems from the ancient world.
Hiccup took a glance around the room, hoping to spy maybe a childish alphabet strip or something he'd be able to cheat off of to help him remember the pronunciations, but all he saw were faces of old authors and old projects from students long since graduated. What kind of English class was this?
The book in his hands was pretty thin so Hiccup flipped through it, not understanding half. The chalkboard had numbers on it so he flipped to see if they were in the book and just started reading from there when he found the book did in fact have that many pages.
As it turned out, English class was actually more like a Literature class. Real English class, when you spent the whole hour learning definitions and spelling, apparently ended in elementary. Hiccup was so screwed now.
Math was pretty simple. The numbers were all the same and he was pretty good with numbers if he did say so himself. He busied himself with multiplication and division, figuring xs and ys.
Hiccup had garnered more than his fair share of stares by the time lunch was being served. Apparently Burgess didn't get newcomers often and the news that a foreign exchange student would be transferring for a whole year to their little school had spread like wildfire until even the lowly freshmen knew what was going on.
But despite all the stares and whispering, not a single one of the students had come up to Hiccup themselves, asking his name or introducing their selves.
Lunch was a fiasco. It was a stampede for the serving lines, but also simultaneously, it seemed every seat was taken. Hiccup wandered around the cafeteria, searching for any empty seat and just gave up after five minutes of walking around like an idiot. He found a spot in the back corner, where it was less crowded due to the lack of tables and sat himself on the floor and ate his lunch in his lap, while going over his schedule for the millionth time that day.
"That floor's disgusting, you know."
Hiccup took another bite of the sandwich his host mother had made him that morning after she'd begged for him to tell her what kinds of foods he liked. He'd blushed and stumbled over his words and told her that whatever she made would be fine.
"Hey! Dude, seriously."
Hiccup glanced up as a hand came to wave in front of his face. A boy was standing in front of him with a smirk on his face. Oh Gods. Here it finally starts.
"You can come eat at my table if you want. That floors pretty rank." The boy held his hand out and Hiccup took it in a daze. Weren't all American teenagers supposed to be bullies? But helping someone up was a pretty kind gesture…
"You're that exchange kid right? From Norway?"
Hiccup scoffed. "As if."
"Woah, okay." The kid held his hands up in submission. "So you're not him. But you're new so…"
"N-No," Hiccup stuttered. "I-I am… Exchange student. F-From Iceland. Not Norway." He flushed, feeling guilty for seeming rude. "I am sorry."
"So you are him! Awesome! So, what's your name? I'm Jack. Jack Overland." He held his hand out again and Hiccup took it once more and they shook.
"Henrik Haddock. Nice meet you, Jack."
"Nice to meet you too, Henrik. So, my tables right over there," he gestured vaguely with his arm and led Hiccup toward a round table full of people. Hiccup wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. He prayed they talked slower than Jack.
"Hey guys," Jack said as they sat down. He pulled Hiccup into an empty seat and began introductions. "This is Henrik. He's the guy from Iceland, not Norway." He smirked towards Hiccup.
"Henrik, this is Anna and Aster and Other Anna and Sandy. Sandy's from Germany, Henrik. That's kind of like Iceland, right?"
Hiccup smiled at the group of people, waving shyly. He heard Jack ask as question and stared at him for a second. "U-Um, Germany not Iceland. It is much colder and different." He gave another shy smile.
"Ah, well, potato, potatoe. Oh! And Aster's from Australia. That's definitely not like Iceland. Or Burgess, for that matter. Tell 'em, Bunny."
"Yeah, mate, it's pretty sunny down under. Do you get snow often in Iceland?"
Hiccup nodded. "In winter." He glanced down at his things, feeling awkward and unsure. Talking with his friends back home was so easy, despite the whole language thing. They were familiar, but these kids weren't. He didn't know their sense of humor or what could offend them and he didn't want to be outcast after just meeting them. For now, simple answers were a go-to.
"So, Jack, do you have any siblings in Iceland? What's your family like?" The first Anna asked, leaning forward and smiling brightly at him, showing off her pearly whites.
"Ah, no. Just me." He shrugged and gave a tiny, close-lipped smile. "I live with father and mother is gone."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Anna pet his hand and smiled kindly at him some more. "Anyways, how do you like Burgess? Is it very different from where you're from? Where are you from in Iceland?"
"Ah, I am from Burk. Tiny island, not much of anything. It is very different here. Warmer and loud."
Hiccup was bombarded with loads of questions from each of the kids and in the process he'd found that Sandy was mute, but that didn't stop him from being very charismatic in his questioning of Hiccup's life in Iceland.
By the time lunch was over, Hiccup had given a few laughs and felt himself loosening up a tiny bit. Jack showed him his next class and gave him shortcuts to the last few. He promised to find Hiccup the next day so they could eat lunch together again, only if he wanted to that was.
Hiccup's host mother picked him up from school at the end of the day. He saw her minivan and scurried towards it, dodging other kids and a few teachers to the safety of the lovely woman who was working hard to make him feel welcome to both her country and her home.
"How was school, Henrik?" Val asked as she pulled out of the parking lot. Hiccup had slammed the door almost before he'd actually gotten into the car and tugged his seatbelt on, hoping she would start the car quicker if he did.
"It was long," he said sheepishly. "But nice."
"Did you meet any friends yet?"
"I don't know. I met kids, but I'm not sure if they are friends yet."
"Well, I'm sure they will be soon. Everyone in Burgess is pretty nice, even the kids." Val focused on the road as she questioned about Hiccups day, wanting to know if he was doing okay.
"C-Could I call my father?" Hiccup asked as they were pulling into Val's driveway. He ducked his head and flushed a little.
"Of course! You don't need to ask! You know the numbers to call out of the country?" Hiccup nodded. He'd written them down as soon as he'd gotten them in a meeting before he'd ever even left Iceland and he'd not let go of them. He knew they were his lifeline to the only family he had left while he was out on his little adventure.
"I-I just want to tell him about day."
"Of course, dear," Val said kindly. "You take the phone in your room so it can be private. I'll start dinner afterwards. Do you mind helping out?" Hiccup nodded and promised to be quick as he took the phone and inched towards his room.
He closed the door quietly and dropped his bag onto the desk in the corner and quickly pulled out the series of numbers he had to dial before dialing into Iceland and then finally his father's phone. As he clicked the 'talk' button, he prayed that his father was home from work.
The phone rang many times and it even went to the voicemail so Hiccup started talking to it, hoping that his father just needed a few more seconds to get to the phone.
Stoic answered the phone just before Hiccup was ready to hang up with a frown.
"Halló? Henrik?"
"Pabbi?"
"Ah! Henrik! You call late here! I was almost asleep!"
"Sorry, Pabbi."
"No, it's fine, son. How are you? How was your day? The village was asking after your all day."
"It was fine. Nothing special. How was your day?"
"Long." Stoic gave a hearty laugh. "Fishing is a long process, you know Henrik."
Hiccup nodded at the phone. "Yeah, dad, I know. How's Toothless? Is he doing okay without me?"
Stoic laughed again. "That cat is lost without you, Henrik. He yowls at the door in the morning and sleeps in your bed when he'd not looking for you."
Hiccup sighed fondly. "Well, make sure to give him a scratch under the chin from me. He likes that."
Hiccup talked with his father for a few more minutes before wrapping up and fishing the papers from that morning from his bag to give to Val.
The robust woman was in the kitchen, cutting up vegetables into neat little cubes. Hiccup wondered what on earth she could be making.
"These are for you," Hiccup said softly as he walked up behind her. "I don't know what they are." He said with a shrug. "Can I help?"
Val set the knife down and skimmed over the papers. She passed a few zucchini along and an extra knife to Hiccup, asking for cubes the best he could. "I need to sign these and then you give them back to whoever gave them to you. Alright, Henrik?"
Dinner was another awkward affair. It wasn't nearly as bad as the first dinner he had with his host family, but it was nothing like the loud meals he had with his father and uncle and cousin. Val and her husband tried to entice Hiccup into the conversation they were holding, but he was shy the entire time and gave simple answers that were short and to the point.
While he was helping wash up, he promised Val that he wouldn't be so awkward soon. He told her he was shy and she laughed and told him she'd been the same way as a child. "Of course, I was never in another country where everyone spoke a different language. You've been far braver than I would have been at your age. Take your time warming up to us, it's fine, really."
The next day went rather the same. Hiccup fumbled with his words as the talked to any adult and he kept his answers simple to anything asked of him. None of the other students approached him on his second day either and he felt slightly relieved for that.
He ate lunch with Jack and his friends again and they asked him a whole new barrage of questions that he answered happily, smiling more than he had the day before even laughing at their jokes (though he didn't understand some of them).
Jack was a very nice kid and Hiccup was warming up to him quickly. He made the whole 'from another country' thing not as awkward as Hiccup seemed to and the Icelandic native was fast learning how to loosen up around him like with his friends back home.
The energetic youth was fast becoming a fixation in the foreigners stay in America. Hiccup very shyly asked Val one day if he could invite a friend over and she graciously accepted his request. (She may have even gone a bit overboard on dinner that night as well.) And now Jack regularly came over to Val's home to visit Hiccup.
It was before just before Christmas break that Jake learned Hiccup's nickname.
And Gods was that an embarrassing day.
It was lunchtime and Hiccup was enjoying his lunch that Val had made. Anna and Other Anna were making jokes that the group were all laughing at when Hiccup swallowed his juice wrong.
In between guffaws and choking on his apple juice, Hiccup began to, well, hiccup; very rapidly at first and then in a steady rhythmical balance of hiccupping and breathing and still choking on his juice.
Jack was quick to start pounding on Hiccup's back and the juice soon cleared from his airway, but the hiccups were relentless. Hiccup hiccupped for the rest of lunch break and his new friends were not ones to let it go.
The two Annas laughed and patted his back while smiling brightly and mischievously. Aster tried to give tips on getting rid of them and Sandy made wild hand gestures that were somewhere between actual signs and Sandy-gibberish.
"Ó Guð!" Hiccup moaned and he hiccupped again, loud and sounding more like a squeak. His face was bright red and he just wanted to float back to Iceland in a raft, forgetting this had ever happened.
By the time the lunch bell had rung and Hiccup was still hiccupping, Jack became worried. "Are you sure you're okay, Hen? You don't need to go to the nurse or anything?" The two boys were walking to the intersection where they would split to go to their next class.
"I-I'm – hic – fine. Really. A-Actually, I get th –hic – them all the time."
"Not that I've seen," Jack said with a smirk as Hiccup tried holding his breath, but only got himself dizzy and hiccupping rapidly again.
"Oh, I get them in class all the time. It's very embarrassing." He hiccupped three more times and had to catch his breath.
"Well, in that case," Jack said with an evil grin, his eyes narrowed playfully, "Hiccup."
Hiccup immediately covered his face, hiccupping behind his hands. "Oh Gods. The Gods hate me."
"What's wrong, Hiccup?"
Hiccup sighed and slumped his shoulders. "My friends call me that back home. I got the hiccups when I was little and my friend Astrid, remember?, she started calling me that and it stuck!" There was another attack of hiccups and Jack laughed.
"Really? That's great! So like, your nickname is Hiccup?"
"Yeah."
"Ooh, I gotta tell Anna."
Hiccup just let it be as he hiccupped until the end of school, apologizing to every teacher whose lesson he had to sit through, trying to reign in his hiccups as they made a steady stream of noise in the unusually quiet classrooms.