(Starring characters from Brave, How to Train Your Dragon, The Dragon Prince, and Zak Storm)
Merida sat doodling away in the margins of her notebook instead of taking notes for class. But why shouldn't she? Literature and history bored her to no end. Sure, there were some exciting moments in history and some great books, but, for the most part, Merida didn't like being forced to learn about books or history. Wuthering Heights? A depressing, witty battle between two narcissists. Dracula? A stylized vampire novel, and vampires were way over the top and nowhere near as sexy as everyone wanted them to be. The Grapes of Wrath? She wanted that book to feel her wrath over having to read it. Pride and Prejudice? A sappy love story that . . . scratch that, it had been growing on her the more she read it. Elizabeth Bennett had a lot in common with Merida, so she let that one pass. But the others? Boring. Currently the teacher was talking about John Keats, and all that lovey dovey poetry made Merida sick. Well, sickish, she wasn't going to throw up or anything. She just wasn't interested in it, at all.
She got a little kick from behind her. She glanced back at one of her closest friends, Rayla, with a raised eyebrow. Rayla nodded towards the front. Merida turned quickly, had she been called on?
"So for this assignment, I want you to write your own poem as if you were writing it to the person you have a crush on. Don't name them, you can drop a few hints, but do not name them." She smiled softly, though there was a bit of sorrow in her eyes. "I understand all too well the pressure for a boyfriend or girlfriend, and the pain of being heartbroken." Merida blinked and sat up a little straighter. Her vivid imagination was running wild. What had happened to Miss Richards? Who broke her heart? Merida might not have liked literature all that much, but Miss Richards was a nice lady. A new thought crossed her mind as Merida glanced at the object of her affections, Hiccup Haddock, out of the corner of her eye. Or was it unrequited love that broke Miss Richards's heart? Hiccup was smiling at Astrid. Merida could feel another piece of her heart breaking away. The bell rang, startling her out of her thoughts.
"Remember," shouted Miss Richards over the noises of teens trying to gather their things quickly and rush out the door, "do not name your crushes in your poems, even if you know they like you back! I look forward to seeing what you've come up with on Monday!"
As Merida made her way back to her locker, her mind was racing with a hundred things she wanted to tell Hiccup, the biggest one being that she loved him. Rayla joined her at her locker, followed by the third member of their friend group, Cece. Merida walked towards the front of the school, deep in thought while Rayla brought Cece up to speed as they weren't in the same class period.
"Oh, I do know about the poem," said Cece, "Miss Richards gave us that same assignment." She raised an eyebrow. "I don't see why she would give us something different, unless she was conducting some sort of test or something."
Rayla grinned sheepishly. "That is true. Hey, give me a break, I'm still new at the whole school thing."
Cece placed an arm around Rayla's shoulder and gave her a grin. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it." But the smile faded as they glanced at Merida, or her back, at least.
"What are we going to do about her?" whispered Rayla.
"Maybe have her write a poem to a celebrity?" suggested Cece. She pouted. "But that wouldn't work either, Merida doesn't have a crush on anyone but Hiccup!" She glanced sadly at Rayla. "I guess we're just going to have to be there for her, help her get through this." Rayla nodded and the two dashed after Merida. "Hey Mer, sleepover at my house?" asked Cece.
Merida scoffed. "So we can work on our poems together?"
Rayla put an arm around her. "Better than working on it yourself."
Merida thought a moment and sighed. "You're right. Let me talk to my folks." Merida's parents were alright with the sleepover, and the three girls spent the night talking and writing about their respective crushes. There were tears and laughter through the process, but the poems were finished before they went to bed.
When Monday morning came around, Merida found herself feeling rather anxious. Would Miss Richards ask them to read their poems out loud? Merida almost didn't turn in her poem because of that fear. But she took a deep breath and handed it to Miss Richards. She relaxed when Miss Richards said that she would grade them and return them by Friday. The rest of the week went on as usual. Well, except for thing. Writing the poem apparently gave Cece the courage to confess her crush on Zak Storm, only to have Zak confess that he liked her back. They decided to start going out, which meant Merida got to see more of Hiccup since he was one of Zak's close friends. It was a pleasant surprise to say the least, and it allowed Merida to get to know Hiccup even better, and fall more in love with him. All in all, it was a pretty good week. Then Friday came and Miss Richards began handing back the poems close to the end of class. All, except for two. Merida's anxiety came flooding back. What was going on?
"All of the poems were very enjoyable to read. There were a couple that needed a bit more work, but all in all, they were all good. Give yourselves a hand!" The students applauded. When the applause died down, Miss Richards picked up two sheets of paper. Merida's eyes widened as the word no screamed in her head over and over again. "But, for this class, there were two that were absolutely breathtaking. I would like to read them to you." Merida shook her head slightly, but Miss Richards didn't notice and read Merida's poem out loud. But by the end of it, Merida was feeling fine. Miss Richards had not said who wrote it, though if anyone had been paying much attention, they would have noticed that Merida did not get her poem back. But she blinked. Who else didn't get their poem back?
Rayla was probably the only other person in the room who knew to whom that other poem belonged. But Hiccup's mouth had dropped. He had obviously put two and two together and figured out that the poem Miss Richards had just read was to him. Rayla smirked while others were trying to figure out who wrote it and to whom. They became quite still when Miss Richards read the next poem. Rayla's own mouth dropped open. This poem was practically an answer to the first! No wonder Miss Richards saw the need to read them. There were two hearts pining for each other, and they didn't even know it! Rayla glanced discreetly between Merida's back and Hiccup, who was casting sly glances at Merida. She did the best she could to hold her composure, but she couldn't help the grin.
Astrid burst out laughing. "We have two idiots in love with each other and they don't even know it?"
"How do you know they're idiots?" blurted Hiccup, perhaps a little too quickly. Astrid's mouth slowly began to open as she glanced at him.
"Hiccup does have a point though," said Miss Richards with a brilliant smile. "They might not be idiots, they could be cautious, shy, unsure of what to say, unsure of how to confess, or when. They might even fear rejection if one or both have gone out with other people. There are a ton of reasons, idiocy is hardly ever the main one. And yes, they are apparently the only two in class that compared each other to something in nature or forces of nature. They described it perfectly as a dance. Looks like the only problem is that they don't know when to start dancing with each other."
Rayla raised her hand. "But how do we get them together?" Merida turned and shot her a glare.
Miss Richards chuckled. "First, let them get to know each other as friends. Secondly, give them time. They'll confess when they're ready."
Rayla grinned. "Thanks Miss Richards!"
Miss Richards returned the grin. "My pleasure."
Merida turned back in her chair and snuck a glance at Hiccup, only to find herself locking eyes with him. They blushed and turned away when the bell rang.
"Remember to have pages 45 through 58 read this weekend!" Miss Richards shouted over the noise of leaving students. "Have a great weekend!" She slyly handed Merida back her poem. Merida snatched it and rushed out of the room.
"Merida!" Merida wanted to keep going and stop at the same time, but Hiccup dashed around and planted himself in front of her. She had to look into his eyes, those gorgeous green eyes. Were there gold specks in there? "Did, did you write that poem? I know it was to me."
"I-I . . . I . . ."
"Because I wrote the second poem, and that was to you!" Merida glanced at him in shock. "Listen, I know you didn't try anything because I was going out with Astrid for a while." He paused and took a breath. "We broke up, Merida, we haven't been dating since June of last year."
Merida's mouth dropped. "What?"
He shot her a rueful smile. "That's what I thought, you didn't know. And here I thought everyone would have known by the end of the first day of school last year. But there are apparently some people who didn't even know until this year started." He huffed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "So, um, if you're uh free tomorrow night, would you . . . would you go out with me?"
"Yes!" came two very enthusiastic voices. Merida turned. There was Cece and Rayla grinning from ear to ear. Zak was standing there, watching the whole thing in shock.
Cece grabbed his arm. "We can make it a double-date!"
"That sounds like a good idea." Hiccup turned to Merida. "What do you say?"
Merida's backpack fell to the floor. "Y-yes."
Hiccup brightened. "Great . . .mmph!" Merida pulling him in for a kiss surprised him, but the next second he was returning it amidst squeals and cheers from Rayla and Cece.