A/N: Hey all, please read the A/N at the bottom, they are all rather important. I'm so sorry I haven't updated in absolutely ages, thanks so much for not giving up on me or the story. I dunno, I just haven't had the time and didn't know what to write. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

When Ruffnut, Heather and I arrived at lunch, I tried to ignore the stares that kept shooting my way. It seemed high school students had done what they were best at: spread rumours. I collected my lunch and sat down at our table, where Fishlegs, Tuffnut and Snotlout were already sitting. I focused on my lunch, pretending not to see the looks the other kept shooting me. I could hear the whispers all around me.

"I heard she cried!"

"Pretending she is so much better than us… can't even get through an obstacle course!"

I felt someone come up behind me and stiffened. I knew who it was before he spoke and kept my back turned.

"What, you done crying? Couldn't handle the truth?" Eret's arrogant voice floated towards me. I clenched my fist and kept eating, shaking with anger.

"I thought 'Hoffersons didn't cry'. Guess that was just a rumour. Oh wait, Hoffersons are fearful, aren't they! Like Fearless Finn Hofferson who froze at the sight of the mere sight of a fire! He deserved to die!"

I whirled around, red with anger.

"Aww look! Widdle Atwid decided to grow a backbone," mocked Eret, his beefy arms crossed, and face stretched into a grin. Distantly, I noted the area had become quiet, everyone eager for some drama.

"I wonder how far her blush goes down, huh?" Eret winked, giving a disgusting smirk and trailing his eyes down my figure. My blood boiled.

"Now listen here, you little bi-" I was cut off by a hand on my shoulder. The crowd whooped as the colour drained from Eret's face, and he took a step backwards. My stomach gave a familiar swoop, shoulder tingling slightly from the contact.

"Remember what I said would happen if you tried something, Eret? Well, I'm not very pleased with the little 'stunt' you pulled today in PE," Jay snarled. I noticed the animalistic fury radiating off the man behind me. Everyone seemed to sense it, the room strung with tension.

Eret, still white-faced, seemed to muster up enough courage to address me.

"What, is Astrid Hofferson going soft? Need your little 'bodyguard' to stand up for yourself?"

I bristled, but before I could say anything, Jay gave a low chuckle.

"Oh, Astrid is quite capable of dealing with you herself. If anything, I'm the one who needs her to protect me. He squeezed my shoulder, and I understood.

Jay wasn't there to pick my fights; he knew I was quite capable of dealing with them myself. He was there to remind everyone else that, so I wasn't forgotten completely. I could feel the warmth of his hand through my shirt as he squeezed my shoulder again, and I took the invitation. So, with a grin, I curled my fingers into a fist and swung, a sweeping yet precise punch to the chin that sent Eret stumbling backwards and left a satisfying ache in my knuckles. I cracked them and turned to glare at the onlookers, who scurried off, whispering among themselves.

Jay leaned down, his lips close to my ear. "Impressive," he said, then lowered his voice even more. "You okay?"

I smiled/ "Never been better, Haddock."

His eyes widened slightly at the mention of his name, then narrowed. "Looks like I don't need to interrogate you after school, after all." He winked. "I've found my match."

"And you better believe it." I bumped his shoulder with mine, trying to ignore the solid muscle and restraining from rubbing my now-sore shoulder, and sashayed away towards the table. Jay gave a low chuckle and followed suit, sitting just close enough to invade my personal space, but not quite touching. We didn't notice the look of shock and confusion on Heather and Fishlegs' faces.

After school, I was cornered by my friends, minus Jay (I ignored the snide voice in my head saying I wished I could consider Jay as more than a friend). I quirked an eyebrow. "What?"

"We heard what you called Jay at lunch," Heather said. "You called him Haddock. The name sounded familiar, so Tuffnut," The boy grinned at the mention of his name, "hacked into the school files and we found out why Haddock sounded familiar." She fixed me with a heavy stare as if knowing my thoughts were going off track. Since when did Tuff hack computers? "Hiccup Haddock. Hiccup the Useless, the Toothpick, the Clumsy. Haddock."

I released a breath. I thought about saying something clever like 'huh?' or 'whaaaaat?' but I knew I couldn't fool Heather, of all people. I gave a wry smile. "He looks different, huh?"

Snotlout gaped at me. "Wait, it's true?" A look of horror passed across his face. "That means my puny little cousin beat me up! ME! The Snot-man!"

"Not so puny anymore," Ruff interjected. "I mean, muscles….leather…..yummy….."

Tuffnut looked a mix between horrified and disgusted at his counterpart's statement, while Fishlegs hummed in thought.

"She's right, you know!" When everyone turned to stare incredulously at him, he hurried on, red creeping up his neck. "Not about that! I mean he's changed so much. And it isn't the kind of development most teens go through. He was forced to change. It probably has something to do with his new-found fighting skills."

"And abs," Ruffnut muttered.

I shot her a look and she rolled her eyes, holding up her hands in mock defence.

"Just an observation! Calm down, Viking! New and improved Hiccup Haddock 2.0 is all yours. Just because I look at all the candy in the store doesn't mean I'm gonna eat it!" She paused and gave a wink. "You, however, can take that piece of yummy-dummy chocolate home to eat any day!"

I gave her a slightly disturbed look and turned to face the group. "This is serious. He doesn't want anyone to know, so keep calling him Jay for now. We'll talk to him tomorrow."

As I walked home, my hands curled into fists. Hiccup Haddock was a mystery, but I'd be damned if I didn't figure him out.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! I live in Australia so we don't have canteens where everyone gets their food on trays and stuff, so I don't really know how it works, so sorry if I got it wrong or something. I also wanted to just get this up as quick as possible, so I haven't edited it or anything. Please review!

DeathlyGummyAlphaxx