Chapter 4: The punishment

" Ow….." Both me and Snotlout groan in pain outside the dean's office.

Gobber was right. I did really bruise up my cheek when Snotlout had launched the ball at me. Already it has started to swell up pretty good and throb even more. Luckily I have ice to kinda make it better. But it wasn't that much.

I look at Snotlout's physical. Unlike me, he has earned himself a black eye that has swollen shut and his abdomen was bruised where I kicked him. Luckily it wasn't serious since I was not that strong enough to put him in the hospital. I kinda have to thank my lucky stars on it.

" You bitch." He groans angrily at me.

" Watch your language. I am your cousin." I glare at him.

" Cousins don't beat each other up." He snaps back.

" Oh. Like you haven't touched me." I rolled my eyes as we hear the door to the dean's office open.

The dean is a very serious man with a hard face and sharply cut salt and pepper hair. People who have been in his office know that he is not a person to be messin with.

" Henrietta. Simon." The dean calls us. We both nod at him and go inside his office with our ice packs still held on our faces.

We both sit down in the chair in front of the desk of the dean." Simon. Simon. Simon." The dean tsks at him. " This is the third time this year that you have been sent here. When will you ever learn."

" Hey this is a completely different situation!" He said and points to me, " She beat me up! My beautiful face is ruin because of her!" He gestures to his swollen eye.

I roll my eyes at this. Here he goes being overdramatic as usual. " I already apologized." I groaned as I adjusted the ice pack.

" You were verbally harassing your classmate, Frederick Ingerman, before she assaulted you. At least that's what your other classmate, Astrid Hofferson, has stated." He said the facts.

" Well I was…..teasing." He said squeamishly. He should better than to mess with the dean.

" Liar." I mumbled.

" Miss. Hofferson says otherwise." The dean said. " You will serving detention for the next two days. You know very well that we have zero tolerance for bullying at this school. Stay out of trouble Mr. Jorgenson. At least you are not being suspended from your olympic training again."

He scoffs at that before pointing to me angrily, " What about her? She ruined my face. She should be expelled!"

" My face isn't that much better Snotlout." I said

" But I was beautiful. You don't know what it's like to be gorgeous like me Hiccup!" He snarls at me as I roll my eyes very annoyingly again. Yeah I don't know what it's like to beautiful. Not like I care.

The dean holds up his hand to silence the both of us, " Simon I will be addressing Henrietta's punishment from here. You best see yourself home before I consider adding more days to your detention."

He grunts as stomps out of the small office. Leaving me to see what my fate is from the dean.

" So what is my punishment?" I look at the dean. He lets out a heavy breath in response.

" Alright after looking at what we are dealing with, we will not be suspending you from school. Since this is your first offense and that Astrid has stated that you were defending Fredrick from being verbally harassed."

" Thank you." I mumbled.

" But. You will be seeking counseling services after school with Ms. Briggs twice a week for at least an hour for the remainder of the semester. She feels that you need this more than you do need detention. Consider yourself getting off easy since you have physically assaulted one of your fellow classmates." He tells me.

" What?" I said taking the now warm ice pack off my cheek. I can't believe he wants me to see some shrink for the remainder of the semester. " I don't want to see a counselor. I'm not crazy."

" Many people go to counselors all the time. You don't have to be considered crazy to see one." He said. " I went to one at one point in my life and it has most certainly helped me through some rough patches."

" Well good for you. But it's not for me." I said stubbornly. " I can handle it. I already apologized to him. I don't need to see a shrink."

" It's either that or you face detention for the rest of the semester young lady." He raises his eyebrows at me. " Which is it going to be? Because one of them will be on your permanent record."

I thought I was going to hate him then. But I really hate him now. But I know what decision I have to go with, " Fine. I'll see the shrink." I groan.

" That's more like it. You're excused." He tells me. " I will be contacting your father and letting him know of the arrangement.

Great. This is my lucky day. I'm forced into an art show by my teacher. I got hit by a volleyball. I got into a fight with Snotlout. I have to see a shrink. Now my father will hear about this and I am so dead. This is so not my day

I wanted to say more against the idea. But I decided at the last minute to take it as is and leave the office. I just want to get out of there and pretend none of it had even happened.

I just walk out of the school when I hear, " Hiccup!"

I turn around to see Astrid. " Oh. hey. Astrid." I mumbled tiredly. I am so tired that I am not even hyped up about seeing my crush in front of me like I'm usually am.

" So how did meeting with the dean do?" She asked me out of concern.

" Oh! ummm… I didn't get off too badly. I have to see a shrink though." I said looking down at my feet. She must think I was pretty pathetic.

" Well. What you did for Fishlegs, that was pretty good of you." She told me.

" You think so?" I almost squeaked as I throw away the melted ice pack. She actually complimented me.

" Yeah. Snotlout really deserved it." She told me.

" I really shouldn't have been too hard on him though. He's all mouth and no bite." I said. He may be mean sometimes, but he's not like Dagny who do anything to hurt someone. She has even gone as far as trying to drown me when I was a kid.

" Tell me about it." Astrid said. " He get's so egotistic of himself all the time. He thinks I have the hots for him. As If!"

" Yeah he keeps putting his foot in his mouth ever since he could talk." Both of us laugh in response. It is true though.

" Poor Fishlegs though." Astrid said.

" I really do feel bad for him. I should never have turned him down like that in front of everyone. He's such a nice guy. " I sadly said.

" He told me that he forgives you. Especially since you stood up for him." She said to me.

" Really?" I asked. I hope she serious.

She nods, " Really." Before she asks, " Why did you turn him down?"

That is really hard to explain. I can't just simply tell her that "Hey! I can't go the dance with Fishlegs because I'm transsexual!" She'll freak and tell everyone. I can't let them know. That is all the more the reason why it has to stay a secret.

I decided on the easiest answer as possible, " I just only see him as a friend. I can't imagine anything else with him. It would be weird to go the dance with my friend. You know?"

" Well people have gone with their friends before, but I guess that's understandable." She nods before I heard a car beep and I see her turn attention towards it. " Oh. That's my ride. See you."

I watched her run toward the card and I see it drive off into the distance.

" She actually talked to me." I said to myself in shock of what just happened. She actually talked to me and I didn't stuttered!

After recovering from it, I take a look at my watch. Shit. it's almost four thirty. I should really get going to the pharmacy before it closes up for the day.

I immediately start walking to the place. The pharmacy is luckily on my way home from school and it shouldn't take too long to get my pills.

After walking for about twenty minutes, I finally reach the small store. I walk into the place and head straight to the back where you would typically go to pick up your prescriptions.

" Hello. Welcome to the Berk Pharmacy. How can I help you?" The pharmacist smiles at me when I walk up to her.

" Hi. I'm here to pick up my prescription. It's under 'Henrietta Haddock.'" I told the lady.

" Oh! I was wondering when you were going to start picking them up again. It has been a while since you were last here." She said. " Wait right here."

I quickly take off my shoe and fish out the folded check. It smells a little of sweat, but the signature is still clear from my dad. Good thing I kept them here in case someone try to demand money out of me and fish through my pockets. Which has happened a lot to me in my life.

I look around the place. I haven't been here since a couple of years ago. Before my mom well…. I don't want to talk about it. I was originally on the blockers for a while, but I had to stop due to the fact that I couldn't pay for them. I had to wait until I was a certain age to ask for money from my dad to pay for them since I had to convince him that it was birth control pills that he was paying for. Not for hormone blockers.

" Henrietta Haddock." The pharmacist called with the prescription in hand at another desk.

I walk over with the check in hand. The pharmacist said noting my bruised cheek, " That looks nasty my dear. You should get a cold compress."

" Thanks. But I'll be fine." I roll my eyes and gave her the check that dad had given me earlier for the hormone blockers. She looks at the check with the cashier machine before it gives me the ok that it has been paid for and I was sent on my way.

Even though I may have lost my temper with Snotlout and it caused me to be landed in counseling services. I at least got something out of and it was getting the thing that will stop me from turning into a woman completely. But unfortunately it can't turn back time to the moment I was born and correct my gender from the start.


Her seeing Ms. Briggs is going to be a major part of the story. We will learn about what has been going on with Hiccup in his past. I will be trying to refer Hiccup as a boy for now on, because it's one of the steps to accepting transgender people is to use the pronouns of the sex they want to be identified as. It just will be a little bit confusing and that I might make some typos, so please be patient with me.

Snotlout is obviously not going to be the enemy in this story. It is obviously Dagny. She will become more the nasty piece of work that she is as this story moves forward. But this story is mainly about acceptance for Hiccup from both himself and other people.

Please review and see you later.