Yeah, so I'm not dead, I just had a crappy job for a while, then I wrote and boarded the pilot of a story I plan to animate soon. Not as a job. It's literally a DIY cartoon. I still live in my mom's drafty-ass attic. But I still care about this story so here, have some drama.

Class was going start in just two minutes, and Merida still wasn't there. She had waited for her as long as she could outside the doors, but she wasn't about to get marked late over it. The way things were going, it didn't surprise her that she would skip. Astrid knew it wasn't a popular class to have first thing in the morning, plus Merida had seemed unwilling to talk for some days. It turned out a unit on soccer was next, so maybe that would get her back in the gym once she got the news.

The morning declined with time as the next hour started. If she tried thinking of something other than Merida, her mind didn't turn to the micro-economics powerpoint in front of her, just Heather. That might have put her in a better mood, but it certainly didn't make for very useful notes. It was so odd, the way she would disappear for a while and come back with a hundred new stories. Why disappear anyway, though? The teacher gave a much needed pause as someone entered to give him something, which he then held out to her; a slip from the office. "They need to see you by the end of the day".
Though curious, she settled on saving it until after the next period- she might as well stay for an easy class like English, and spending a half hour break around a brag, a snark, the twins, and a recent bird-watching enthusiast felt like too much for that day. For all she knew, they might just be asking her to collect a textbook she forgot in the locker room… No, she knew she didn't, she never lost things like that.

Crossing the hall to her next class, which Merida should have been leaving from, there was still no sign of her. Astrid watched the other students file out and prepared to hear a lengthy rant later on about how unfair it was to be punished for skipping a full day of school. The note nearly slipped her mind, but remained the preferred course of action. She slipped out of the current towards the office.

When a few yards away, the door opened, and out walked Ruffnut. A bad feeling rooted there that she was about to be questioned as a witness, yet again, to some nonsense Snotlout, Tuff, or Hiccup had gotten into. The only thought comforting her was that she didn't remember witnessing anything questionable, and she'd be out quickly. She strolled in, looking calm as she passed the slip to the receptionist and began to politely ask what she was there for, but a woman in uniform approached from the corner.

"Astrid Hofferson?" she asked.

"I… Yes?" At first it seemed the officer might have been a security guard, but Astrid then noticed a badge.

A counselor she'd never seen stayed in the room while she answered questions, probably to keep her calm, but it didn't do much.

"Have you seen or heard from Merida DunBroch since this last Saturday?"

Astrid's heart pounded once. "Uh, no."

"When was the last time you heard from her?"

"Friday. Here - at school, I mean."

"Would you please tell us if she said anything about going somewhere, meeting someone on her own...?"

"No. I - I mean, she didn't."

"You're not going to be in any trouble, Astrid."

Heat ran into her face. She had better not look afraid."She didn't say anything weird."

The counselor leaned forward in their seat. "Do you have any questions for us?"

Immediately she answered, "No," then realized she had dozens.

Either they spoke only in fragments, or she could only hear her own thoughts as they went on.

She stepped out into the hall, trying not to look tense. Fishlegs and Snotlout were wandering some yards away with Hiccup, who asked, "Where have you been?"

"Office." When Snotlout gave her a weird face, she asked, "None of you have gone in yet, have you?"

"What for? Who said we had to?"

"They didn't ask for you?"

He grimaced. "Please don't tell me they're making us do more 'future focus'."

"Astrid!", she heard Ruffnut shout and run up from behind, "Did you talk to the cops, too?"

"Woah, what?" Hiccup said, followed by Snotlout complaining, "God, they're gonna do another 'say no to drugs' spiel."

Tuffnut caught up quickly. "You guys didn't hear?"

Ruff finished, "Merida's gone!"

Everyone stopped to absorb those words, then Fishlegs hesitantly asked, "You mean 'dead', or 'absent from class'?"

The twins shrugged. Tuff answered, "Somewhere in there," and Ruff added, "And slash or."

Tuff corrected her, "No, no, she's definitely absent, but may or may not be dead. It's more accurate to say at least absent and at most dead."

"She's missing," Astrid interjected. "Nobody's seen her since Friday."

Fishlegs, Hiccup, and Snotlout were shocked to silence.

Astrid asked the twins, "Why were you two the only others they called in?"

"People trust me with secrets," Tuff told her, but Ruff elbowed him.

"Come on, just be serious for once." She wasn't acting herself, but Astrid wondered if that was because this was 'upset' Ruffnut.

Tuff answered again, "I don't know, we sit in chemistry class together. Our teacher's always pissed at us for screwing around, so she probably assumed we're her friends."

Astrid's nerves turned from numb to aching all over. "We can't be the only people that ever talk to her."

"Yeah," Snotlout pointed to himself and Fishlegs, "We talk to her too, sort of. When she's with you guys..." His attempt at looking levelheaded was undermined by his encouraging smile tilting away one side at a time.

"I think Hiccup counts for at least an acquaintance," Fishlegs nodded.

Astrid asked, "Wait, Hiccup, if state police know about this, shouldn't your dad? Didn't he tell you?"

Hiccup looked more confused than anything else. "It… certainly wasn't brought up over dinner." Thank God he didn't want to talk any more than that, because Astrid didn't want to listen.

As easy as it was to get pissed at Merida, as much as she seemed to try to get on someone's nerves, there was no girl around to get angry at now. Instead, Astrid was just angry. Someone was gone (lacking any better description), her friends were cluelessly bantering over it, and nothing in that town ever made any damn sense.