Chapter 2

(Rapunzel's POV)

I was practically hyperventilating when he sat down next to me. But I knew that I didn't really like him. I mean, half the girls in school are already after him and I don't want to be one of them. However, I have to admit, I like him. Just a little bit.

Anyway, he sat down next to me, setting his bag down. He leaned in toward me and I can't help noticing his eyes. It was brownish blue. What kind of eyes are those? Not to mention the hair; white hair. Somehow those eyes and hair made him look weird…. In a nice way.

"Hi," he said, his hand outstretched. "I'm Jack." He smiled and a flash of perfect white teeth showed. And by perfect, I mean PERFECT perfect. His teeth were straight and white. Seriously?! Now I'm admiring his teeth? Nice, Rapunzel, that's really nice.

I took his hand in mine and shook. "I'm Rapunzel," I said. He smiled even wider and I blurted out, "I'm sugar hyper." Jack raised an eyebrow and I blushed red. . WORD. Just bury me alive! I am so embarrassed.

I was still red when our teacher, Mrs. James, started teaching (thank goodness!). I looked over to where Merida sat and giggled. She looked so bored. She was slumped on her chair with her green hoodie pulled over her head, showing only half of her face and her red hair was covered. Hiccup, on the other hand, was not so bored. He was listening intently and nodding from time to time every time the teacher said something important. For a seventeen-year-old, he was kind of tall. Six feet something, I think. His face was also quite handsome; his chin was square and sprinkled lightly with hair on the top and bottom of his full lips. He was also lanky and, like Jack, quite muscular. I only realized I was staring for too long when Jack nudged me and I looked at him. He had this weird look on his face and I blushed. Was there jealousy I detected? Jack gestured toward the teacher with his head, indicating that I should listen. I quickly turned my gaze back to Mrs. James.

"The experiment will not take place in this classroom," She said. And I leaped in joy mentally. "Instead, you and your partner will do it at home." I groaned, and so did Merida.

She gave us the instructions and we were dismissed.

As students filed out of the classroom, Jack (of all people), approached me. I smiled as politely as I can, although seeing his handsome grinning face made me want to punch him and hug him at the same time. How many girls have fallen for that?

"Hey," he said, rubbing the back of his neck; it made him look cuter, honestly. "I was just, uh…. Wondering…..you know…. If we could… uh, get some ice cream sometime." I nearly choked. And Merida, thank goodness, interrupted before I could say anything else that would embarrass me.

"Ice cream?! We'd love to!" She faked spontaneous. "But you know what? We have a LOT of homework to do," she nudged me. "Don't we, Rapunzel?" She asked me through her fake grin.

"Uh, yeah!" I replied. "Lots and lots of homework!" Jack looked at me with an eyebrow raised, clearly not believing me. Oops. I think I said it too loud and fake.

"Yeah, you guys should totally come," Hiccup said behind Merida. "I don't think you have much homework to do, right?"

As I nodded in confession, my eye caught something around Hiccup's neck. It was a necklace. Now you might be wondering why that necklace captivated me. The reason was because it was a lot like Merida's, only his bore a mark of a dragon and Merida's was a bear. Apart from that, the shape, texture and color were the same; circle with a silver outline, a bit rough, and the color inside the silver outline was green. The symbols of the bear and the dragon were engraved on top of the green. Probably jade.

"Where did you get that necklace?" I asked him, gesturing casually to the necklace.

"Oh," he said, looking down at his neck. "My grandfather gave this to me before he went missing."

"Missing?" Merida asked. "How did he-"

"No one knows," Jack interrupted. "He went to visit his homeland, Scotland, and never came back."

I gasped. "Did you ask the police or something?" I couldn't help asking.

"We tried everything," Hiccup murmured. "And still there's no sign."

I looked over at Merida. She had the LOOK on her face again. A face that said "there's excitement in the air and I am not backing down." I immediately knew what she was thinking.

"No Merida," I groaned. "Please don't do what I think you're doing!"

Instead of answering me, Merida turned to the boys. "Let's go get that ice cream!"

Both boys' expression lit up. I was starting to worry. I didn't want to spend the rest of the day with THEM! Suddenly, I thought of something.

"But what about school," I asked triumphantly. "We can't just skip the rest of our classes!"

"Yes we can," Merida replied. I glared at her. Why is she doing this? Hiccup nodded and so did Jack.

"Jack and I are both straight A students," Hiccup said. "We can afford to skip a few. What about you girls?"

I was about to say my grades were so low they should be in the sewer (which is, of course, a total lie), Merida's big mouth opened.

"So are we!" she exclaimed. "we never failed a single test!"

And so it was decided; we were going to skip the rest of our classes (much to my dismay and Jack's delight).

As we walked out the door, a girl with blond hair and stylish clothes bounded up to Hiccup. Merida and I both rolled our eyes. Everyone in school knew who she was; Astrid Hofferson, popular girl and bully. She has dated almost every boy in school, and now, she's trying Hiccup.

"Hi," she said, batting her eyelashes at him. "I'm Astrid. You're Hiccup, right? We should hang out after school."

Merida gagged and I stifled a giggle. Then we both looked up at Hiccup. He was rubbing the back of his neck and was as red as… uh, well, red.

"Nice to meet you," he replied to the now-really-close-Astrid. "But, uh, I'm going out with my friends." He gestured towards Merida, Jack, and me.

Astrid glared at the person closest to Jack, which was Merida, and glared at her.

"I see." She said through clenched teeth. She then smiled up at Hiccup and stomped away.

"Well," Merida turned to me with a twinkle in her blue eyes. "Looks like the witch won't be bothering us anymore." We all laughed and suddenly Hiccup's phone vibrated.

He fished his phone out of his pocket and looked at it.

His face turned white and his jaw dropped. His eyes widened and brimmed with tears as he turned to Jack. He was silent for a few moments and we waited for him to speak.

"That was my grandfather," he choked out. "He sent me an email. He's alive!"