Ch. 1: Alone…or so I thought?

My name is Hadrian "Hiccup" Haddock, or to most people, just Hiccup or on special occasions, worthless. The first name I earned in Middle school, when someone said I was the definition of "hiccup"- an accident or mistake, and the other sheep followed along, agreeing with that "creative" statement. The seconds because, well for the exact reason most of you are thinking. I'm weak, scrawny, and an incurable smartass, earning me more than my fair share of swirlies and visits to the nurse. Needless to say any nurse has quickly become a good friend of mine, along with her bottomless pit of Band-Aids.

I live in the tiny old town of Berk, Michigan. Its twelve days north of hopeless, and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly next to the Great Lake of Misery. The town is unbelievably old, yet, most of the buildings are surprisingly new, mostly because the fact that it's pathetic population has doubled in the past 5 years, which I don't understand. What level of crazy do you have to be to move here of places? And to top off my list of suckiness, my dad is the principal at Berk High. Great right? WRONG. Seriously. Although it's not like I have to worry about bad grades. Anyway, moving on, I've never really had many friends, other than an on and off friend (depending on who is around) who we call Fishlegs. And there is a very good reason for that, that reason being the fact that ever since elementary school, being my friend was social suicide, and guaranteed daily beatings and getting teased all the time. Needless to say, I was at the bottom of the food chain.

However, not all of my life was that bad. Due to not having a social life, I was the second top ranking student in the high school, and being a senior now, I had scholarships out the whazoo and was planning on getting out of this pit of misery and making a life for myself in Zoology at Harvard. Specifically lizards, I loved them, all of them really. I mean don't get me wrong, other animals are great too, I just really loved lizards. Sorry, I'm going off another one of my tangents. Now, recently, for whatever reason, people had been moving to Berk recently, not that I cared too much, since none of them spared me a second glance and instead joined the jerk brigade, or the few smarter ones laid low, surviving high school. But one day, recently really, my life took a surprising turn, but I can assure you…I will never regret anything that happened that fateful day, when he came into my life.

I suppose I should tell you what happened, but first, I want you to know, I don't care if you judge me. I'm happy….finally happy….and not alone anymore.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

I groaned and lifted my head from my pillow, giving my alarm clock a scathing glare as I raised my hand and slapped it off the bed stand before rolling over, going back to sleep, only to find my bed tilting, and myself rolling onto the floor with an undignified squawk.

"RISE AND SHINE SON, TIME FOR SCHOOL!"

I groaned and crawled for my pile of blankets but my dad picked me up and stood me up on my feet.

"Really Hiccup, get ready, you need to leave soon, I have to go-NOW" he yelled, upon looking at his watch. Without even a goodbye, he thundered out, and I say thundered because it sounded like a rhino barreling down the halls. And in case you didn't catch it, yeah he calls me Hiccup too, but he doesn't know how that nickname came to be. I yawned and stretched out as I slowly made my way to my closet. I yanked a green sweater and dark brown jeans off the hanger, dressing before slipping socks on and shoving my feet into sneakers. Not bothering with a brush, I ran my fingers through my hair as I scooped my backpack up, dumping my phone, IPod and chargers into the bag before zipping it up. I made my way downstairs, pulling a poptart from the pantry and filling my metal water bottle with orange juice. I blinked owlishly at the time on the microwave and sighed, seeing that if I didn't leave now, I would be late. I was heading out when something caught my eye. There was a large moving van in the driveway of the house next to me. I stood there and watched curiously as the door opened, and a boy stepped out, calling out a good bye as he shut the door, and slung his backpack onto his shoulder. I quickly turned and started the walk to school, sighing. Great, another sheep to join the masses. I grumbled to myself until I was startled out of my thoughts by a warm hand landing on my shoulder, bringing me to a halt.

"Hey, um, do you go to Berk High?"

I sighed and turned to face him…momentarily finding myself speechless. He had beautiful olive skin, and toxic green eyes surrounded with black lashes, complimented by his dark black hair that framed his face. He was tall and lithe, yet somehow I could tell he was strong.

"'llo? Hello?"

I jumped, surprised by the hand waving in front of my face.

"Hi, hi, oh, um hi there, yeah, sorry I mean, yes I go to Berk High!" I stuttered, my cheeks flaming. He smiled, showing off his perfect smile.

"Great, well, do you think you could show me the way?"

I nodded, and turned, resuming my walk. He walked beside me, humming softly. We strode in awkward silence, till he broke it with the clearing of his throat. "So, ah, what's your name? Mine is Talos, but my friends and family call me Toothless, so feel free to call me that" he said confidently, though I detected a hint of shyness. I bit back a smile.

"My name is Hadrian but everyone calls me Hiccup….and wait, you said friends and family?" he nodded, and gave me a sly smile.

"Yeah, well I mean, you will be my friend, right?"

I crossed my arms and gave him a warning look.

"I don't think you want to do that. Hanging out with me is social suicide and will only bring you a crappy year" he shrugged and linked his hands behind his head.

"I really don't care. I was a loner at my old school, and you seem like you would make a good friend"

I sighed and remained silent for the rest of the walk. He would change his mind when we got there. After a while, we approached the school gates, and he gazed at the groups scattered around the entrance. I frowned and waited for him to bolt, or declare I was lame and leave, but to my surprise he inched closer to my side and scowled.

"They look like jerks, I'm definitely sticking with you"

A girls head jerked up and she gasped, and whispered to her friend. Within minutes the roar of conversation had toned down to a low buzz of gossip. I sighed and slouched, but Toothless just grabbed my sleeve and dragged me inside, a small smirk on his face. I blushed and felt the tips of my ears grow hot. This was going to be interesting…..