Hiccup walked into the giant gymnasium. Seriously, it was bigger than his entire house. He couldn't help but notice that everything felt wrong. His uniform was way too baggy even though he'd gotten the smallest size available and hung of his bony shoulders. Everyone around him was at least a head taller and three times as buff. He knew he'd never stand a chance against any of them in any type of sport, unless you count cowering in the corner a sport.
He moved into the center of the gym where the rest of the class was gathering, and there, he saw it. Well technically it was not an "it" but a "she". Her baby blue eyes stood out against her gray uniform. Her hair was tucked into its signature braid, hanging down her neck. She had a small build, but Hiccup knew what she was capable of. She'd appeared back into Hiccup's life like a ghost, silent and just as terrifying.
"Are you serious?" He yelped in spite of himself. A few of his classmates turned back to stare and Hiccup turned scarlet. Luckily Astrid didn't seem to notice him, as usual. In his mind, Hiccup had a slight breakdown. "This can't be happening. I thought I'd gotten her out of my life. What did I do to deserve this? What did I do wrong to deserve this cruel and unusual punishment? Does some higher power enjoy playing with my heart?" All he wanted to do was go back to his room and crawl under the bed.
"Alright class," a teacher interrupted his internal questioning. Hiccup reluctantly looked up, staring into the eyes of the teacher that would most likely ruin his high school experience along with Astrid. He was buff, really buff. In fact, he looked like he could have easily been one of the dragon hunters back in Berk. He had thick black hair pulled back into a low ponytail and a dark mustache. Hiccup felt the food he had just consumed churn in his stomach. Things were not going to be easy.
"Today we will be playing dodge ball so I can assess your agility, speed, and overall reflexes. At the end of the school year, you will receive a chart measuring your improvement over the school year and a final ranking. The only way you will rank high is if you apply yourself and work hard. Your rankings affect about twenty percent of your final grade so I suggest you take this seriously," The coach boomed in a loud voice. Hiccup gulped. Dodge ball, rankings, scary coach, he was dead.
"I will now number off in ones and twos. Meet with your groups and converse on strategy. Ones on the right side, twos on the left," Coach instructed. Hiccup watched as everyone was numbered off. Astrid was numbered as a one. Hiccup didn't know if he wanted to be on her team or not. If he was, he wouldn't have to face her horrifying wrath, but if he wasn't on her team, he wouldn't have to worry about making a fool of himself trying to talk to her. Coach stood over him, raising one skeptical eyebrow. He then shook his head and labeled Hiccup as a two. He knew he was about to find out what Astrid could really do.
He walked to the left side of the gym and tried to join the growing circle of massive boys and well-built girls. If he didn't know better, he'd say he was accidently put in to the gifted gym class. That couldn't happen, right? "Okay guys, here's what we're going to do," a tall girl said in a mock whisper. Hiccup looked to the other side. Astrid was giving her team the same type of talk. "We're going to all of our worst players in the front, that way the other team will think that they are our best players and target them first. Then, once the week ones are eliminated, and we have all the balls, we can lead a full attack on the other team," the girl instructed. Hiccup didn't like the sound of this plan at all. It meant that he would more than likely get hit with a dodge ball. Dodge balls hurt. 'What kind of school plays dodge ball on the first day?' he wondered to himself.
"Wait, isn't the object of the game to have the least amount of people eliminated? If we put the weaker ones in front, they'll get eliminated almost instantly and we'll have fewer players," one boy interjected. Hiccup wanted to hug him for being his savior. "Most people put the weaker players in the back, than if the stronger ones are eliminated, the game falls on the weaker ones and they get destroyed as a result. I've put a lot of thought into this, and this is the best way to do it," she stated stubbornly. Hiccup deflated. The others saw this logic and agreed with the plan. Then they started calling out the weak ones.
There were a few people closer to Hiccup's size, more than he expected anyway, that were called to the front. He tried to hide behind a guy with muscles bigger than an actual dodge ball itself but was soon discovered. "Come on, I'm not weak," he pledged. The girl who has given the plan raised her eyebrow. "Who could think this was weak?" He asked, flexing a non-existent bicep muscle. The girl smiled slightly as if to appreciate the poor boy's effort. "Get to the front line. It will be over quick," she directed. Hiccup hung his head and walked to his place in the front right of the three lines formed. Judging by the other team's arrangement of players, the girl's logic was unflawed. Hiccup knew he would be out almost instantly and braced for impact.
Coach scattered dodge balls in front of both teams. Hiccup picked one up in hope of defending himself but someone behind him hissed that he hand it over. It was all part of the strategy, he'd said. Hiccup now stood unprotected. Few people in the front held dodge balls, just enough to fool the other team. "On my whistle, the battle starts," Coach screamed. Hiccup felt butterflies wrack his small frame. He'd rather be anyplace than where he was, and considering a certain unnamed, fierce beauty was standing directly opposite of him in the other side, that was to be expected. Astrid raised her eye to meet Hiccup's and smiled a dangerous sneer. It was the first form of attention she'd given him since she'd been here and it made Hiccup want to run the other way screaming.
Hiccup cringed as the coach blew the whistle. He chucked his ball at Astrid, aiming for her stomach and hoping that if he hit, she'd have a higher form of respect towards him. The ball flew through the air and collided with something, the floor. It hadn't even reached halfway to the other side. Hiccup mentally kicked himself for lacking such upper body strength. Red dodge balls flew through the air from every side. Most of the members in the front row were sitting on the side lines, rubbing their new bruises.
Astrid made eye contact with Hiccup again. The shade of her eyes made his knees weak. She smiled another dangerous smile and flipped her bangs out of her eyes. She cradled the dodge ball she was holding in her arms before mercilessly pitching the ball directly towards him. Everything seemed to change to slow motion as the ball flew Hiccup's way. "Oh no," Hiccup muttered, just before the ball hit him square in the forehead and his body collided with the floor.