=Normal POV=
{Wednesday, February 9, 2022-9 am}
(Archian Preparatory)
Tuesday the 8th marked a full week that Astrid had been living inside Haddock Manor with Hiccup, Stoick, Valka, Gobber, Runa, and the other staff who resided on the grounds. Astrid was entirely settled into the room Hiccup provided her. Valka took Astrid shopping for clothes on Friday night the 4th of February since Valka noticed that Astrid didn't have a lot of things to wear. Astrid was against them helping her, but Hiccup reminded Astrid that everyone needed a little help sometimes. Astrid gave in and decided not to argue because in truth; she was grateful that the Haddocks were helping her out in this time of need where she had been left alone to fend for herself. Stoick continued working on the will situation but hadn't made much headway in location a loophole to get Astrid the things she was meant to have in the event her parents passed away. Things at school had been somewhat calm, except for Astrid purposely trying to make sure she wasn't seen with Hiccup anymore than in their shared classes together.
Astrid was thankful for his help, but she didn't want anyone having more ammunition in giving her trouble regarding her state of life as it were. Hiccup and Astrid would arrive in the morning; then she would hurry along to her first-period course. At the end of the day, Astrid would meet Hiccup by his Jeep. Dagur would take Toothless and Stormfly home along with his Gronckle, Shattermaster. If it were a night Astrid didn't have work, she would take Stormfly under Dagur's guidance. Astrid could fly Stormfly as long as she was with an adult licensed dragon rider flier. Hiccup was an exception to some of the laws because of his extensive dragon knowledge and owning a Night Fury. However, at school; Astrid heard the whispers about why Hiccup was always seen arriving at the academy with Astrid in his Jeep. The leaving part made sense, not showing up together in the morning. Currently, Astrid and Hiccup were both in Language Arts with Gruffnut, Snotlout, Camicazi, Eret, and Nadia.
"I will be right back, stay put and keep workin'," Mr. Mildew Fungis told them firmly, then he departed from the classroom.
"Hic," Snotlout got Hiccup's attention.
"What?" Hiccup replied.
"What's the deal with Saturday night? We still allowed to come over and game even though there's that event?" Snotlout asked. "Tuff, Legs, and Dag wanna know,"
"Not sure. Gotta talk to mom and dad, but I'll let ya know," Hiccup responded.
"Okay, cool. If we're allowed, are the girls invited?" Snotlout wondered.
"You know they are always welcome. Them coming is up to them and their parents," Hiccup reminded. "My parents typically don't care because they know we just sit in the basement to game or watch a movie,"
"True," Snotlout nodded, then went back to texting. Moments later, Hiccup felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Hiccup pulled it out and checked to see something from Astrid.
Astrid[9:03 am]
What event happening Sat?
Hiccup quickly thumbed back a response to her.
Hiccup[9:04 am]
Party dad hosting house.
Astrid saw his reply, then slipped her phone away. It didn't matter, but she wanted to make sure she was out of the way for whatever was going on. It looked like if Hiccup's parents said it was okay, then all Hiccup's friends were coming over to game in the basement, and possibly sleepover too. Astrid didn't know if Hiccup told his friends that she was living with him; it didn't seem like he kept secrets from his group.
"Ast," Nadia whispered. Astrid ignored her.
"Hey…" Gruffnut tried. Astrid focused on her work.
"Astrid. Come on," Camicazi attempted to get Astrid's attention.
"We know you can hear us," Eret retorted.
"Astrid…" Nadia said louder.
"Ast, hey…Hey!" Gruffnut continued. Finally, Astrid whipped around with her eyes narrowed.
"Oh, my Thor…What? What is it? If I wanted to talk to you; I wouldn't have answered the first time. So what the hell do you want?" Astrid snapped angrily.
"Miss. Hofferson!" Mildew stated as Astrid flinched right away as she turned to see that Mr. Fungis had returned. Astrid heard the four behind her snickering. "I believe I said to keep working,"
"I-I'm sorry, Mr. Fungis. I-I was wor-," Astrid began quickly.
"If you're going to be in this class, then you follow my rules. I stepped out for five minutes, and return to find you yelling at innocent students who are doing as they were told. Perhaps a little time in Mr. Meatsen's office can remind you of your responsibilities in class," Mildew huffed.
"I-I was working, Sir. Th-They started with me," Astrid tried.
"Blaming others for your screw-ups, interrupting class time when you should be working. Your grades can't afford your attitude to interfere," Mildew went on as Astrid cast her eyes to the desk. "Your parents would be sorely disappointed at how you've turned out in their," Astrid closed her eyes sadly at the mention of her parents.
"Mr. Mildew!" Hiccup spoke up as all eyes fell on him. "That's enough,"
"Excuse me. Who are you to tell me how to run my class, Mr. Haddock?" Mildew spat out.
"You just told me who I was. I'm Mr. Haddock, a student in this class and a fellow teacher for the Dragon Training course. Might I remind you that it is our job as educators to teach the students, and you are degrading one of yours," Hiccup remarked cooly.
"What you do in your class is your decision; in mine, she-," Mildew started.
"Has done nothing wrong," Hiccup cut in, taking Astrid by surprise. "So you have no right to be publically degrading her in front of the entire class, mentioning her grades; all of which are private between teacher and student unless permission is given to reveal such. How can you stand there and accuse her of not working and disrupting others? You weren't in the room, and you didn't see what happened,"
"Well, I…Came back to see her yelling at Mr. Thorston, Mr. Trapp, Miss. Warrier, and Miss. Boggs, who appear to be doing as I said," Mildew informed.
"But you still didn't see what happened while you were gone, so it's unfair to accuse Miss. Hofferson of the things you are when you don't know. It's highly unprofessional and makes you, if I can be frank, an asshole," Hiccup stated. Mr. Mildew fumed angrily as what Hiccup said, his brows furrowing.
"I don't care if you're a teacher or not; you aren't right now in my class. I saw what I saw, and I want Astrid out of my-," Mildew began as this time, Hiccup's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You have zero right to throw her out of class with those four idiots behind Astrid purposely aggravated her to get pissed off. Astrid ignored them and focused on her work. When they persisted, she got angry. I'm a witness, so is Snotlout, and anyone else. Those four would do anything to avoid getting into trouble and look like saints," Hiccup informed.
"I don't care. I want her out, and you as well for talking ba-," Mildew tried.
"Go ahead, throw me out of class, but if I go down to the principal's office; I'm telling him that you didn't adhere to the teacher's code of conduct in respecting a student's privacy," Hiccup warned as Mildew flinched. "And I'll add in that you degraded Miss. Hofferson, accusing her without proof. Also, that you were about to tell Astrid how disappointed her parents would be in her if they were still here. Verbally attacking your students is a fireable offense; I will take it right to Mr. Meatsen, and you'll be out of this school by next period. Perhaps consider that in your calculations of throwing us out of class. Astrid is innocent, and I'm free as a teacher in this establishment to call you out on your bull when you're in the wrong," he added.
Flustered, angry, but defeated; Mildew turned from them both and returned to his desk. "Fine; I won't throw you out," he said finally.
"And I believe you owe Miss. Hofferson an apology," Hiccup remarked.
"I apologized for accusing you, Miss. Hofferson and I hope you can forgive my previous statements towards you," Mildew said, hatefully. Astrid only nodded, getting back to the work they were supposed to be doing. Astrid, though, couldn't believe Hiccup stuck up for her and proved her innocence to the teacher. Hiccup didn't seem to care if anyone saw him helping her out, and yet, Astrid still felt weird about accepting it. Hiccup could have gotten into a lot of trouble for what he said if he hadn't been a teacher too. One thing she did notice is that as much of a model student Hiccup was; he would throw his earned weight around if necessary.
. . .
{9:45 am}
It was one of the classes that Hiccup's friends and Astrid's former gang had together; Physical Education. And Hiccup was in the mood to embarrass the fuck out of seven people who had been giving Astrid trouble all day. Hiccup knew that Astrid didn't know he knew what happened, but secretly, and maybe slightly stalkerishly; Hiccup had been making sure to keep an eye on her throughout the day if they weren't in the same class. Right now, Hiccup could see that Astrid was the last one out of the girl's locker room; her hair messed up and rubbing her arms, walking with a slight limp that she was desperately trying to hide.
"Are you alright?" Hiccup asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. J-Just slipped and fell in the locker room," Astrid replied as the teacher, Mr. Sven Silenson, began taking a roll call of the student. Hiccup could see Nadia, Ragna, and Camicazi grinning and snickering a little as they had walked out two minutes before Astrid did. Astrid wouldn't look over at them; she kept her head down.
Time to even the score… Hiccup thought.
. . .
Towards the end of gym class, Hiccup came up with the perfect plan to get back at the populars for giving Astrid trouble. Now, he just needed a little time to put it into motion.
"Dude, get your head in the game!" Tuffnut called to Hiccup. Snapping from his thoughts, Fishlegs tossed Hiccup the basketball. Dribbling a few times, Thuggory and Eret were coming at him to take the ball. Hiccup looked around quickly.
"Snot! Net launch position!" Hiccup yelled. Snotlout moved from his spot and got closer to the net; Hiccup hucked the ball to Tuffnut as Hiccup spread his legs into a semi-split while Thuggory and Eret collided with one another. Hiccup got away from them as he rushed to the hoop and Tuffnut passed the ball back. Snotlout put his hands together and lowered them down as Hiccup put a foot in, then Snotlout lifted Hiccup up to slam dunk the ball into the hoop.
"Winner; Vikings!" Mr. Silenson announced. Hiccup dropped down in a crouch, then stood up as his friends were surrounding him, the seven connecting hands and cheering. Astrid couldn't believe that move; it was incredible. Then again, Hiccup had a full basketball court in his basement; it made sense he knew his way around the game.
"Brilliantly played, Hiccup," Minden said.
"Yeah, was worth it to see those two collide," Heather giggled seeing Eret and Thuggory managed to get up, hands on their heads. On the next round, Astrid had the ball and was rammed into by Ragna. Astrid did make the shot but landed on the gymnasium floor, a hand on her side. The whistle blew as Sven got up.
"Foul!" Sven shouted, hurrying over to check on Astrid.
"What did I do?" Ragna argued.
"This is not football, Miss. Falk. No ramming!" Sven informed. "Are you alright, Astrid?" Heather helped Astrid up.
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay, Mr. Silenson," Astrid nodded, cringing a little.
"You should go to the nurse for some ice," Sven stated.
Hiccup saw his chance to leave the class. "I'll take her, Mr. Silenson," he offered. The man nodded as Hiccup carefully helped Astrid to the doors, then out of them and down to the nurse's office. In there, Myra said that Astrid should lay down and give her side a little rest, and that Hiccup could return to class. Hiccup left once more then back to the gym; only he went the back way through the girl's locker room. Sneaking around, he found Nadia, Ragna, and Camicazi's things in their shower stalls for after the class ended. Hiccup smirked a little, then got to work on the first phase of his plan.
. . .
{10:35 am}
Myra released Astrid back to the gym so she could get her things for next class, and Astrid was not expecting to be waiting with everyone except Nadia, Camicazi, and Ragna, who were still in the locker room. Two minutes before the bell rang, the three girls came out wearing their casual clothes instead of the uniform.
"Girls, uniforms!" Sven reminded.
"We can't," Nadia muttered.
"Our bags fell off the benches in the showers and soaked our uniforms…" Ragna mumbled afterward.
"This is all we have until the end of the day," Camicazi added, slightly embarrassed. Nadia wore light blue jeans, a yellow spaghetti strap shirt with her pink bra was showing slightly. Ragna had on a blue jean skirt, then a white t-shirt, that was a little wet around the midsection. Camicazi had on white leggings, then a pink tank-top where her black bra showed through slightly. The others in class waiting for the bell started giggled or chuckling. Astrid saw Hiccup standing there with his arms over his chest, a satisfied smile on his face.
Did he have something to do with this? Astrid wondered.
"Priceless, man," Snotlout and Tuffnut said quickly fist-bumping them. Astrid saw Hiccup look at her, then wink. Yeah, Hiccup had something to do with it for sure.
. . .
{11:40 am}
Astrid was making her way to the cafeteria when Ragna shoved her into the wall.
"Bitch," Nadia said.
"What the fuck do I do?" Astrid retorted quickly.
"We know you were the one who knocked over our things!" Camicazi accused.
"Wh-What?" Astrid's eyes widened a little. They thought she did it. "How could I have? I was in the nurse's office!?"
"God's, you're so petty!" Ragna shoved her again. Hiccup happened to be coming out of the boy's bathroom to see the sight. Hiccup stayed hidden around the corner, listening.
"Stay out of our way," Nadia pushed her into the wall again.
"I did nothing; you came to me!" Astrid protested. Camicazi kicked Astrid's shin, then Ragna made it, so Astrid's head hit the wall. Hiccup turned the other way, heading to the Home Ec room.
. . .
Hiccup managed to get into the cafeteria before the populars arrived, and he set everything up without looking suspicious. Afterward, Hiccup hid outside the room to watch. Astrid went looking for a table to sit at after getting her meal and couldn't find one. Frowning, she prepared to leave the cafeteria.
"Astrid, hey…Why don't you come sit with us?" Heather offered.
"N-No, it's okay…" Astrid shook her head.
"Come on; we got plenty of room," Fishlegs said. Astrid sighed but went to sit with them as they insisted. Around 12 pm, the populars strolled in and took their seats at the table next to Hiccup and his friends'. Seconds after they were down, all of them rose to their feet, looking at the chairs in shock.
"Oh, my gods!" Camicazi squealed in fear almost.
"Why are the seats wet?!" Gruffnut exclaimed. Suddenly the lunchroom began laughing and pointing at them with phones out to video and take pictures. Astrid had a perfect view of seeing the girls' pants or skirts soaked with wetness, and there was a yellow liquid on the floor, dripping off the chairs. The guys had wet spots too; it was downright hilarious because it looked like they'd pissed themselves.
"What's the matter, guys?" Tuffnut teased.
"Can't even use the bathroom without mommy and daddy's help?" Snotlout added with a grin. The girls looked horrified, and Camicazi, who was wearing white leggings had a red stain that looked like blood. Astrid instantly thought back to when she had the miscarriage, how all three of them made fun of her. The populars rushed out of the cafeteria in a hurry, the females almost in tears from the mortification of what happened while the males looked positively embarrassed and pissed off about the situation.
"Gods, that was hilarious!" Ruffnut laughed with Minden and Heather. Astrid knew it had to be a prank and set up to humiliate them, but who would have set up such an extensive operation in so little time. Suddenly, Astrid saw Hiccup walking in calmly while on his phone. Hiccup sat down in his chair, seeing the sight of the popular's table.
"What did I miss?" Hiccup wondered.
His friends began to tell him what they witnessed as Astrid felt her phone vibrate. Lifting the device into her lap, she saw a message from Hiccup on the screen.
Hiccup[12:06 pm]
Payback is a bitch, isn't it? One might even call it Karma.
Astrid's eyes widened. Then another message came through.
Hiccup[12:07 pm]
Hope you enjoyed the show. I did it for you.
Astrid immediately looked at Hiccup in shock as he smiled softly, then he put a finger to his lips and winked at her. Astrid couldn't believe it; Hiccup set that prank up to humiliate her former friends in front of everyone just as they'd done to her. And Hiccup did it for her.
