Sorry for the long wait. Life has been crazy was of late.
Enjoy!
This has got to be the best year of high school. Hiccup thought. I've got Astrid in four of my classes! This is too good to be true.
Hiccup walked to his locker and retrieved, well, none of his books. He did, however, place two he received in class today. He paused for a second and texted on his phone. After he replied, he looked up to see what time it was and he ran to the bus stop.
He got there just as the last student got on, his chest heaving quickly trying to get air into his lungs. He just slid through the door before it closed and the bus started to roll.
"That was a close one Hiccup," Mulch, the bus driver said.
"Sorry," Hiccup panted. "Got delayed in Calculus."
Mulch shook his head as said, "I don't understand why you want to overload your brain with stuff like that. Unless you want to be an engineer or something. Go on. Sit down."
Hiccup smiled and looked around for a place to sit. It was pretty full except for the one seat that was available next to Fishlegs. In the back he saw Astrid sitting by herself but that was a one seater and he couldn't sit next to her.
Darn! He thought. He walked to the seat next to Fishlegs and sat down.
"Are you excited for this year?" Fishlegs asked immediately.
Hiccup looked at the large boy with a cocked eyebrow. "Why? Should I be?"
"Yes!" Fishlegs shouted making Hiccup jump. "It's the year that the college's look at for acceptance. Just think after this year, we'll be Seniors then we'll be in college!"
"Yeah," Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Like getting older is something to be proud of." Hiccup's phone then vibrated in his pocket and he took it out. He smiled at who it was and replied. It went back and forth quickly and he smiled brightly at the last text he sent.
"So you up for video games tonight?" Fishlegs asked after he was done. "We don't have homework after all."
"Sure," Hiccup said. "But I have a meeting tonight. I have to leave around 6:30."
"Oh? What kind of meeting?"
"One that you don't need to worry about. It's personal."
"Ok. Just curious."
"I'll meet you at your house at 4:30 if that's ok?" Hiccup asked.
"Fine by me. Where are you going before then?"
"I'm going to talk to Gobber about something," Hiccup said.
"Is it that prosthetic you keep working on?"
"Yeah," Hiccup nodded nervously.
"Who's it for?"
"No one. Just making one," Hiccup said uncomfortably. He hated lying to Fishlegs but he didn't want it to get around town.
"Ok."
The bus pulled up to a stop and Hiccup grabbed his backpack and turned around. "I'll see you in about an hour or so." Fishlegs nodded as Hiccup looked to the back of the bus quickly and saw Astrid was smiling a bit.
He grinned too as he walked off the bus. "See you tomorrow Mulch."
"See you Hiccup."
The bus pulled away and Hiccup walked to the auto shop that was across the street. The moment he walked in, he was bombarded with the smell of gas and grease. The burning rubber was the most powerful smell in the shop.
"Hey Gobber!" Hiccup called out. "Did someone blow out a tire doing doughnuts again?"
Gobber rolled out from under a black Ford. He was as big in muscle as he was in fat but he was still every bit functional. He was accepting of his size and everyone also accepted his size. In fact, Gobber was one of the most popular men in Berk.
"You need to tell your cousin to stop doing doughnuts," Gobber said. "I don't think Spitelout can take much more of repairing this car."
"Ha!" Hiccup scoffed. "Like he'll listen to me. Snotlout has every intent of decking me. He tried this morning before school started."
Gobber flipped his safety mask up and looked at Hiccup. "I don't see any bruises or a black eye."
"Well, Astrid stopped him."
"Oh!" Gobber nodded. "So how is your lady?"
"She isn't my lady," Hiccup said a bit annoyed. "How many times do I have to tell you that?"
"As many times as it takes me to believe it," Gobber said. "I've seen the way you look at her."
"Ok," Hiccup nodded. "So I have a thing for her. Doesn't mean she's mine."
"And," Gobber continued. "I've seen the way she looks at you."
Hiccup blushed a bit and avoided eye contact. "So? She looks at me. Big deal."
"Big deal!?" Gobber asked astounded. "Who are you and where's Hiccup? The Hiccup I know would leap at the chance that a girl is looking at him. Especially the one he's had a crush on for years."
"Thank you for summing up my life Gobber," Hiccup rolled his eyes.
"Unless you already know," Gobber deducted. "And have been doing something about it."
Hiccup's eyes went wide and he smile nervously. "What are you implying?"
Gobber laughed and banged the table. "You two are doing it!"
"No!" Hiccup exclaimed. "God no! Jezz! What kind of guy do you think I am?" Hiccup shook his head in disgust.
"Well, you know teens nowadays. They don't wait for marriage."
"Well, I respect her too much to do something like that," Hiccup said. Gobber smiled at him and Hiccup quickly added, "If we were going out. But we're not so stop rubbing my shattered dreams in my face please."
Gobber shrugged and said, "Ok. So what can I do you for?"
"I came to get a coiled spring. The prosthetic is starting to lose its flexibility."
"Alrighty. One spring coming up." Gobber went over to one of the drawers and began to rummage through its contents. When he found one that he liked he showed it Hiccup. "This looks to be the right size?"
"Yep," Hiccup said. "That was fast. You're getting better at finding the right one."
"Well, you have been asking for the same type of spring for quite a while now," Gobber said as he went back over to the car. "Does anyone know about it?"
"Yeah. Only one person and you know who it is so don't bother asking," Hiccup said.
"Ok. Ok. I'll keep it a secret Mr. Secret Pants."
"I don't keep secrets," Hiccup argued. He turned his back and guiltily lowered his eyes.
Gobber gave him a disbelieving look. "Yeah sure."
"Ok," Hiccup gave up throwing his hands into the air. "So I have a few but everyone has a few. It's no big deal."
"You say that a lot you know," Gobber smiled. "What's your schedule like today?" He asked suddenly, quickly changing the subject.
"I promised Fishlegs I'd meet him at 4:30 then I have an important meeting at 7. Why?"
"Oh just curious. What about this year at school?"
"A normal school day. Start at 8, ends at 3. Then I might have an after school activity. I don't know what it'll be yet. I might also be a tutor. We'll see. Again, why?"
"I'm going to need help with my coaching this year," Gobber said. "I may still be spry but I'm not that spry anymore."
"Help? How?" Hiccup asked.
"As in a manager or something. Someone who can help me keep things organized and up to date. To make everything easy as possible. Last year was just completely hectic," Gobber said as he shivered, remembering the previous year.
"Yeah," Hiccup said. "Snotlout said something about it but I thought he was exaggerating. But if you're having nightmares, it must have been pretty bad."
"Well? I don't want to worry about things getting done by someone else. I know you'll get it done right."
"Thanks for the faith Gobber. And yeah, I'll help. It could be fun."
"Ah thanks lad!" Gobber breathed in relief. "You're going to make my life so much easier."
"Even with the auto shop, the ice cream shop, and vet hospital?" Hiccup asked. "I don't think I'm making a dent in your schedule."
"Oh, you'll be surprised," Gobber said.
"Ok," Hiccup shrugged. "I'll see you then. I have to pick up some things before I go over to Fishlegs'."
"Alright see you later toothpick!"
"Hahaha! Very funny," Hiccup laughed. "See you later."
Hiccup walked out of the auto shop and quickly walked down Main Street to his house. At the same time he reached it, the bus had pulled up to its stop. He went inside and grabbed the things he needed and left to Fishlegs' house.
