A/N- Welcome to chapter 1 of A Penny For Your Thoughts! (It actually happened YAY!) This is, as stated, a modern AU. Some of the characters have been slightly tweaked to better fit the storyline (you'll know which and how as the story goes along). This chapter is in first person point of view but the rest of the story will be in third person. I realize it's weird, but please don't let it turn you off on this story. WARNING: there will be elements of abuse, mental illness, suicide, and possibly some other things in this story. If you are not okay with reading those things or if you or someone you know has recently suffered from those things and it's still a touchy subject this may not be the best story to read. Having said that, the previous version of this story did really well so I think this one will do even better. This chapter is only the introduction so it is very short but the other chapters should be much longer. Read, review, and enjoy chapter 1 of A Penny For Your Thoughts rewritten!
This is Berk. It's twelve days north of civilization and a few miles south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery.
My town.
In a word, close. With not many people everyone knows everyone. They laugh together, cry together, and always have someone to talk to.
The only exception is me. You see most people have friends or family, I have… no one.
Most people would make friends. Not me. I'm different, so they have acceptance issues.
My name's Hiccup. Great name, I know, but it's not the worst. Parents believe a hideous name will frighten off unwanted newcomers, like our charming, cruel demeanor wouldn't do that.
Onto Stoik the Vast, mayor of the town. They say he's the perfect man for the job. Do I believe it? You'll find out.
Now, the meathead with a prosthetic hand named Gobber. He's the head of the only school that has ever been in Berk, the only one that ever will be in this small town.
Speaking of school, I should probably get to it. Not that anyone will miss me if I don't. You'd think with my father being the Great Stoik the Vast, the mayor of Berk, I would be popular. Most kids would. I'm very different from most kids. How? Let me explain.
First off, most kids have two living parents, or have at least met both parents. Not me. My mother died when I was a baby. I know not all kids have both parents, but I'm pretty sure every kid I know has at least one parent who loves them. My father barely even acknowledges I exist. I don't remember ever hearing the words, "I love you." I often wonder if my mother ever said those three words to me. If she did, I have no way of remembering. I suppose I could ask my father, but he would probably just yell at me or hit me.
Secondly, most kids like doing sports or hanging out with their friends during their free time. We are currently covering the latter of those issues, so no extra needs to be added. For the sports issue, I have never been able to play a sport. I am very small and weak and, frankly, I prefer drawing. I'm sure you're thinking that drawing isn't too bad; tons of people do it. Not people from Berk, they think drawing or doing anything else very creative is a sign of weakness. They don't think drawing is a good use of time, and they especially don't think a fifteen-year-old boy should be drawing dragons from children's fairy tales.
Another thing: I'm not loud and straightforward like most Berkians. I'm shy and very sarcastic.
I'm so different from the others here; it's no wonder why most of them pretend I don't exist. Though, there are those select few who do see me when they look. And when they do see me, I usually get a very close up look of their fist before I find myself with another bloody nose or black eye. But don't worry; they don't always punch me first thing. They make sure to insult me a few times then they punch me. Or kick me. Or slam me into a locker. Or slam me in a locker.
So, yeah, that's my life. Pretty great, huh? I keep telling myself that I'm strong, that I can make it one more day. But the truth is… I don't know how much longer I can take this.
A/N- I suppose some of you are thinking "haven't I seen this before?" Well you would be right; you have seen this before. This is the official re-written version of A Penny For Your Thoughts! The old version is still up, don't worry. This chapter only has a few minor grammatical corrections because I love it too much to part with it. Why mess with a good thing? The rest of the chapters will be completely rewritten because they are downright embarrassing. I am sorry to all of those who had to read them. I have a few chapters written in advance and over the next few weeks I'll decide when the most viable posting time will be. Posts will be weekly on the same day (probably Saturdays) and (hopefully) around the same time. This initial post is an exception from those rules because I just couldn't wait any longer! I'll let you all know when that time will be as soon as I figure it out for myself. Thank you all so much for reading! Until next time!