A/N: Wasn;t sure where to end this chapter. Some parts of it I feel I may have rushed a little. But I'm decently happy with how it's coming along. Hope you all enjoy. Thanks for feedback. It's always a great feeling to know people are enjoying your work and it motivates me to write more.
LG
Chapter 11
Hiccup lies on his bed, sketchbook sitting next to him. It's the middle of the night and he can't sleep. He can hear Stoick's snores down the hallway. The big man doesn't snore every night but when he does, the racket is unbearable. He decides to go for a walk. There's too much on his mind. Too much has happened earlier in the evening for his mind to be at ease. He puts on his winter coat and goes for a walk in the cold winter night.
The winter breeze was chilly but Hiccup welcomed it. He walked to the nearby park, Hobblegrunt Park, and stood out front of the small pond. The pond was mostly frozen over but the ice was dangerously thin. Spring was just around the corner and Hiccup was ready to welcome it with open arms. He glances up into the sky. For the most part, it was a clear sky and the stars seemed to twinkle in the twilight. He took a deep breath and headed for home.
Astrid lay in bed. This was the second night that she couldn't sleep. She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Hiccup, that lanky, scrawny dork from school, not only punched but knocked out Eret, captain of the football team and all around douchbag. She had always found Hiccup rather friendly and somewhat interesting but she never seen him look so courageous before. That moment had turned an entire different light on Hiccup for Astrid. She kind of wondered why she never seen it before. Maybe she would talk to him on Monday. She couldn't very well go to his house for a few reasons. It's the middle of the night. She has no idea where he lives. And she doesn't want to come off as creepy. She still couldn't sleep so finally she decided to go for a run. Up out of bed, she tosses on a light layer for running and out the door she goes.
The night air causes her breath to come out in frosty bursts. It's colder than she thought it would be but nothing she can't handle. Truth be told she enjoyed the cold. She headed to the nearby park. Hobblegrunt park. It wasn't the nicest park in the city but it had a quaint little pond in the middle that Astrid loved to jog past. The view at night was nothing to get excited about but during the day it was quite a view indeed. Just as she was getting near the pond she thought she seen a shadowy figure leaving the park. Must have been her imagination because it's much too late for someone else to be out isn't it? And Berk doesn't have homeless people. They were a proud city that helped out those who are down on their luck. She stops at the pond and catches her breath. She kicks a few small pieces of ice around as she walks around catching her breath. She decided that she really needed to talk to Hiccup on Monday. She heads back for her house with hopes that she will be able to sleep when she gets there.
Sunday went way too fast, Hiccup thinks to himself as he sits in Fishlegs SUV, Meatlug. "Common. How bad can it be?" Fishlegs tries to reassure him.
"Are you kidding me? She took a drawing I did of Astrid and threatened me with it. How can that not be bad?" Hiccup asks in despair.
Fishlegs shrugs. "Maybe she'll be flattered." He didn't really believe that but he is doing his best to reassure Hiccup.
Hiccup slams his head down against the dash of the SUV and keeps it there.
"Hey! Watch the dash." Fishlegs exclaims as he shoves Hiccup's head back to check on the dash. He rubs Meatlugs dash affectionately. "What's wrong with you?"
Hiccup stares at him deadpanned. "Was that a serious question?"
"Of course not. Just don't think you should be smashing your face down on my car. Might cause serious damage to both of you." Fishlegs says casually.
Astrid opens her locker. It was a long weekend and she was ready for everything just to go back to normal. She notices an envelope face down at the bottom of her locker that someone had pushed in through the vents on the locker door. At least that was the only explanation she could think of as it wasn't there on Friday and she's never given out her number to anyone. She bends down and picks it up. She flips it over. There's writing on the front of it but all it says is "ENJOY." She's puzzled by the gift so she sticks her fingers under the flap. It's not sealed so it opens easily. It contains a single paper inside that she slowly unfolds. It takes her breath away. It's a perfect drawing of… her. The artist's signature is a triple H. She can't believe the amount of detail there is to the drawing. It's almost as good as a photograph. She looks around expecting to see someone watching her. Maybe they're drawing her right now.
Hiccup walks in to the school. The first person he spots is Astrid looking at something in her locker. He dodges down a side hallway. Looks like he was taking the long way to class. He was not ready to face Astrid yet. He glances at the first classroom he passes by. There is a photocopy of his drawing on the door. He tears it off the door. Below the drawing are the words, "HHH is clearly obsessed with someone." He crumbles it up and puts it in his pocket as he looks around to see if anyone seen him do it.
Looping around to avoid Astrid's locker to get to his causes Hiccup to be late for class. This is not the inconspicuous day that he was hoping to have.
"Mr. Haddock. Glad you could make it to class. Please have a seat. We're about to begin." Mr. Edison says in a monotone voice.
Hiccup just shrugs, and doesn't offer an excuse. He glances up at the class as he makes his way to his seat. Heather gives him a sneer as he passes by her. He sits down in his seat and glances at Fishlegs who has a concerned look on his face. He doesn't say anything to him but he nods his head towards the front of the class. Hiccup looks up to see his drawing taped to the blackboard. No, not his drawing but a copy of his drawing. Above it in bold chalk letters was the simple words. "Someone has a secret admirer. Guess who?"
Hiccup's jaw drops when he sees it. How did he not notice that when he walked in? Was he really that focused on the floor and his feet that he didn't notice that chalkboard? He puts his head in his hands and groans as Mr. Edison speaks. "So? Who is the great artist?"
Hiccup drops his gaze. How would he live this down if everyone found out. He looks over at Heather to find her staring right at him with an evil grin on her face.
Mr. Edison inspects the drawing more closely. "It kind of looks like you Ms. Hofferson." He states as he tosses it on to his desk.
Astrid can't believe that copies of the drawing that was in her locker are now all over school. Who wanted her to know that they liked her this much? How come they couldn't just come up and tell her instead of giving her a cryptic message. She wasn't the greatest at playing detective. First the drawing in the locker and now the one on the black board in class. This mystery was really pulling at her curiosity so much that she just might have to start to investigate it. She needed to find this mystery admirer but she still had no idea what HHH stood for.
Class went so slow. He was finally glad that it was over. He had spent the entire time worrying that someone would figure out that he was the artist that had sketched the drawing that was now plastered everywhere. The second that the bell had rung to signal class was over, Hiccup was out the door. Now he was walking rather briskly for the shop. He really just needed to get away from all this stress, even if it was only for 15 minutes between classes.
Astrid stayed after in class. It wasn't like her to need help in anything. After all she was an A student and she didn't even need to try. She waited till every other student was gone before she approached Mr. Edison. She stood beside his desk quietly waiting for her teacher to notice her. He finally looks up from writing down notes from the day's lesson. "Can I help you Ms. Hofferson?"
"I was just wondering if I could have that." She says quietly as she gestures to the drawing.
Mr. Edison raises his eyebrows at her. "You want the drawing that your secret admirer did of you?"
"Yes. I'm hoping to find out who it is." Astrid says quietly.
He picks it up and hands it to her. "It's all yours. I would just end up in the trash here anyways."
She gives him a quick smile. "Thank you Mr. Edison." She walks out of the classroom holding the drawing. She looks at it and notices a light outline on the page. She stops in her tracks as she flips it around to check the back. It has a big letter "E" put on the back. She narrows her eyes as she tries to link the letter to the drawing but nothing comes of it.
Hiccup sits on a stool beside his car. He is enjoying the peacefulness that the shop has to offer. Unfortunately, his peaceful silence is cut short. "Nice touch wi' th' drawing Hiccup."
Hiccup snaps out of his own thoughts and looks at Gobber with wide eyes. "How did you know I drew it?"
"Are ye serious?" Gobber answers him. "A've known ye since ye wur a wee laddie. Ah know yer style better than ye think."
That answer does nothing to comfort Hiccup at all as he lets out a groan. "Gobber, you can't tell people that I drew it. Please."
"So ah tak' it that ye didnae place al' them aroond th' schuil." Gobber says matter of factly.
Hiccup sighs as he stands from the bench, slumping his shoulders as he shoves his hands in his pockets. He trudges around the shop restlessly. "That would be Heather. She got in to my sketchbook and exploded on me over the weekend."
"Whit are ye goin' tae dae aboot it?" Gobber asks him.
Hiccup shakes his head. "I have no idea. It's all so messed up."
No sooner does he finish his sentence and the class bell sounds. He looks up in panic. "Shit. Class is about to start." He takes off running. "See ya later Gobber." Hiccup shouts as he runs out of the shop.
Hiccup sits in his classroom. Social studies isn't very exciting. It really wasn't useful either. At least not in Hiccup's opinion. On a plus not, Hiccup was alone in this class. No Astrid, no Heather, and no Fishlegs. He didn't mind Fishlegs but at the moment he had so much going on that he just wanted to be alone to try and arrange his thoughts. However he knew that that would require much more than an hour and fifteen minutes.
Astrid had gym class for second period. It was her favorite class usually but she was having a hard time staying focused. The drawing mystery consumed all of her thoughts. It didn't help that there had been another drawing on the gymnasium wall. All the other students had giggled about it and laughed about it. They had even picked at her a little, teasing her about her secret admirer. Coach Cathy, the gym teacher, wasted no time in tearing it down while mumbling something about "the audacity of young people putting tape on her walls." She had been about to tear it up but Astrid had asked her if she could have it.
The response had been a very rough, grumbly. "Fine but get it out of my sight." So now it was sitting in Astrid's locker with the other one. This new one had another letter on it. A big "O" or maybe it was a zero. She wasn't really sure but either way, it held no obvious connection with the other one.
Astrid is suddenly and shockingly knocked out of her day dream when a basketball hits her in the arm. "Get your head in the game Astrid." Coach Cathy shouts across the gym as the balls goes rolling away from Astrid and is swiftly claimed by an opponent.
Astrid gives her head a shake as she tries to get back into the game. She scans the game, analyzing the plays and taking notes. Something throws her off. Heather staring at her with a smug look on her face. What the hell was her problem anyways? They used to be pretty good friends and just all of a sudden the whole thing came crumbling down.
She manages to intercept a pass and takes off up the court. She was by far the best basketball player in the class as she had no problem taking the ball up the court. She takes a two point shot. It bounces off the rim and is taken by an opponent. Astrid gives her head a shake. She never missed those easy shots. This drawing mystery was definitely taking its toll on her. She couldn't get her head in anything.
The rest of gym class went by kind of the same way. Astrid just floated around. Now she was glad it was over. It was almost embarrassing how poorly she played. She tries to sneak past Coach Cathy to get to the locker rooms.
"You weren't on your game today Astrid." Coach Cathy says.
Shit. Astrid thinks as she tries to find an excuse but nothing comes to mind. "Yeah. I had a hard time keeping focused. Sorry Coach."
Astrid keeps walking towards the locker room hoping to escape from Coach Cathy. "I hope you keep focused tonight at the game." She shouts after Astrid.
Hiccup enters the shop again. This is his second time at the shop but it was the only place that he could be absolutely sure that people wouldn't see him and notice him as the artist of the infamous drawing. The last time here, he only had time to visit but now it was lunch break. He could get something done on Toothless.
"Back again Hiccup?" Gobber asks him.
Hiccup glances over at him while pulling on his blue coveralls. "Yeah. I'll be here till the whole drawing thing blows over."
"Now common. It cannae be that bad." Gobber says.
Hiccup tugs back the car cover from Toothless. "Was the fall of Rome bad?"
Gobber, always the optimist, tries to show Hiccup a different option. "Whit if ye juist tollt her that ye drew it?"
Hiccup pick up a new grill and positions it on Toothless. "Oh so just walk on up and be like "Hey baby. I creepily drew that picture of you. Wanna grab an ice cream?" Is that what I should tell her?"
"Yes." Gobber responds a little quicker than his train of thought. "Weel nae quite lik' that bit alang those lines."
Hiccup bolts the grille into place. He's glad that he could restore the original grille. Aftermarket pieces never fit as well as original and he is thankful for the time savings. "I think I'll pass on that Gobber."
"Suit yersel'." Gobber says before returning to his office.
Next up for Hiccup came the foglights in the grille. He could have easily deleted the Shelby's foglights but he kind of liked the look of them. They were fairly easy to put in. Just a few screws and voila, all done.
He checked the time on his phone. Lunch was only half over. He needed to find something else to keep himself busy.
Astrid sits at a table by herself for lunch. Two people had already came up and handed her two more copies of the drawing. Apparently they didn't know who had drawn them. All they knew was that they had appeared in their lockers with instructions to give them to Astrid. And with the two drawings came two more letters. The first was a "H" while the second was an "R". She had the four drawings laid out in front of her. R-O-E-H. What was the message they were trying to tell her?
The lunch bell rings and Astrid looks up in surprise. She was so consumed with this mystery that she didn't even remember to eat and now it was too late. Guess she'd just have to grab a quick bite before the soccer game. Luckily it was a home game which meant she had a bit of free time where she could run out and grab a bite.
Hiccup used a shop towel to wipe grease from his face. He hadn't planned on getting dirty but he had noticed the oil pan was leaking and so he set out to change the gasket. Unfortunately for him, he was so flustered with the drawing he accidentally knocked over the bucket that he had drained the oil into and made a mess everywhere. He then spent most of his remaining free time cleaning up his blunder. He barely even had time to get the new gasket and oil pan back on and then put new oil in the engine.
He walks briskly down the hallway. He keeps from making eye contact with everyone in case someone could see that he was the creator of the drawing. No one paid him any mind but paranoia was a powerful thing.
Hiccup is the first to arrive in class. Mrs. Fernan is as surprised as he is. "Well. This is quite a surprise."
"For you and me both." Hiccup replies fairly quick.
He makes his way to his seat and sits down. His eyes spot another drawing on the blackboard and he groans.
"So you've seen the drawing pop up around school have you?" Mrs. Fernan asks after looking at the cause of Hiccup's groan.
How did no one catch Heather posting these all over the place? Were other people in on it? Was this all a major scheme by a big group of students to bring down Hiccup? He had no idea but he knew that he hadn't pissed off that many people.
Other students begin to enter and take their seats and so Hiccup stares down at his desk as he tries to shrink himself in to his chair.
The drawing on the black board is in everyone's conversation.
Astrid enters Mrs. Fernan's class and notices the drawing right away. She walks over to the teacher and whispers to her. "Do you mind if I have that drawing and could you drop it off on my desk during class."
Mrs. Fernan nods her head. "Of course Ms. Hofferson."
Astrid takes her seat, content with the answer her teacher had given her.
By the end of the school day, Astrid had three more drawings which also came with three more letters, and that's not counting the one that she had gotten from Mrs. Fernan's class. The new letters were D-A-R-C. What did all the letters spell. She had written them down in a scribbler and had studied them while she had a quick supper but still they meant nothing to her. She would continue to toy with them after she was done of the soccer game. Right now she needed to stay focused for the team.
