Astrid never thought she'd find a best friend.
In her fifteen years on Earth, she'd always been something of a mixed bag when it came to friendship—not quite a loner, since she was always surrounded by people, but not quite Madame Popularity, since she refused to be close to anyone. She thought she'd never get close to anybody, until Signy Haddock came back to Berk. In just two weeks since they'd started working together on their history project, Astrid had found herself wanting that companionship that came with a best friend. Someone to open up to, someone who would always have your back or slap you if you were being stupid.
She felt like Signy could be that person.
The younger Haddock twin (as she'd learned, Hiccup was five minutes older) was the type of person Astrid felt like she could trust with her life. Something about her was refreshing, new, and honest. She never tried to get Astrid to do stuff that wasn't in her best interest—instead, they spent time messing around on the computer and watching Netflix in the living room. Occasionally, they'd talk about their families and their dragons, so you know.
Typical friendship.
"Which group wants to go first?" Ms. Peabody asked, sitting in her 'I'm-silently-judging-your-projects' chair.
"Us!" Ruffnut yelled, grabbing Hiccup's arm. She and Tuffnut stood at the front of the room while Hiccup plugged in the flash drive that held their project.
"We did our project on the Lost Colony and John White," Tuffnut told the teacher.
"John White founded the colony of Roanoke in what is now North Carolina during a really bad season, where there was a drought."
"There were also attacks from local tribes—"
"So John White went back to England to get supplies."
"It took him three years to return, and when he did, the entire colony was gone, including his daughter and granddaughter, Virginia Dare."
"The only clue to their whereabouts was the word 'Croatoan' carved onto a tree."
"There are many theories as to what happened, including plague and being taken by the Croatoan tribe."
"Of course, our favorite theories—"
"Are aliens and zombies, or perhaps cannibalism!" Hiccup groaned and banged his head on the wall.
"Thank you, you three. You may be seated. Next up is Miss Hofferson and Miss Haddock."
Signy plugged in the flash drive and pulled up their project.
"Our project was on Madame Delphine LaLaurie," Astrid announced. "Madame LaLaurie was a slave owner in New Orleans during the 1830s. She was a beautiful woman who threw many lavish parties that were considered the height of New Orleans society. However, people began to notice that her slaves changed every party, and one neighbor even witnessed Delphine chase a little slave girl off the roof of the house with a whip.
"A fire broke out in the house one day, set by the cook who they chained to the stove. It burned through most of the house, leaving every room scorched and burned. It even burned down the door to the attic, where a horrifying discovery was made. It appeared that Madame LaLaurie and her husband had been torturing their slaves in horrible ways that I can't describe in a class presentation. Madame LaLaurie and her family were run out of town and never seen again."
Claps followed the presentation and the two girls went back to their seats.
The following afternoon, Astrid headed over to the Haddock house, uninvited. She knocked on the door and it was opened by Hiccup.
"OH!" he yelped. "Um, hey, Astrid. Hi, Astrid, hi, Astrid, hi, Astrid…"
"Hey, Hiccup. Is Signy home?"
"Y-yeah. Come on in."
Hiccup shut the door behind her.
"She's in the living room. We were about to watch a movie."
Astrid entered the living room and saw Signy lying with her back on the cushions and her legs hooked over the back of the couch. Her long red hair was brushing the floor, free from its normal braid. She looked up at Astrid and gasped.
"Astrid!"
"What are you doing?" Astrid asked.
"Letting the blood rush to my head. It helps me think."
"Oh. Well, I just came to hang out with you, but if you and Hiccup are busy—"
"No, it's fine!" She swung her legs down so that she was sitting upright. "You can join us! We're going to watch The Wedding Singer."
"I've never seen it."
"Neither has Hiccup. I saw it once at boarding school during movie night. You two get comfortable and I'll get the snacks!"
Signy disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Astrid alone with Hiccup.
"So…" Astrid tapped her fingers nervously. "Signy mentioned you like to invent stuff?"
"Um… yeah, I do. I've been working on some things, b-but it's slow going at the moment."
"Well, good luck with that."
There was awkward silence until Signy re-entered the room, carrying sodas and popcorn with a big smile on her face. She chose to sit on the overstuffed recliner to the side, leaving Astrid and Hiccup on the couch. Both of them could see the gleam in the redhead's eyes, one that said she was trying to push them together. Hiccup inwardly groaned; he could never hide anything from his sister, and his crush on Astrid seemed to be no exception. Astrid remembered what Signy had said a couple of weeks earlier about her and Hiccup being romantics looking for the right people and glanced at Hiccup. He was… actually kind of cute, now that she thought about it, and he was refreshingly honest.
Suddenly, Signy's phone went off, blaring the Legend of Zelda adventure theme. She picked it up and checked the caller ID.
Eret.
"I've got to take this," she told Hiccup and Astrid. "Go ahead and enjoy the movie."
She headed out back onto the deck and sat in a chair.
"Hey, Eret," she said.
"Hello, princess," he greeted her.
"Nice to hear from you, after a month."
"Well, I've been busy. I've been filming a new movie out here, but I still miss you every day."
"I miss you, too."
"Have you spoken to Cami since you left Hollywood?"
"I talked to her yesterday. Why?"
"She mentioned wanting to see where you grew up… and she bought a plane ticket to New York."
"Oh, yay! I get to see my best friend from Hollywood!"
"Thanks, Angel."
"You're my boyfriend… and my brother is my male best friend."
"True. Well, I've gotta go. They need me on set."
"Okay. Love you!"
"Love you, too!"
Signy hung up and went back inside, where she found Hiccup and Astrid sitting on opposite ends of the couch, watching each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. Signy hopped onto her chair, startling them out of their trance and giggling once she did.
"Signy!"
A couple days later, Hiccup opened the door to see Camicazi Boggs, one of the few people in Hollywood his sister had been close to. She was dressed in similar clothes to the ones Signy preferred to wear, with a big smile on her face completing the outfit (Author: Jesus Christ, that's corny).
"Hey, Cami," he greeted her.
"Hey, Hic! Is Sig home?"
"Yeah, she's in her room."
"Great! Can I come in?"
"Sure!"
Cami entered the house and headed upstairs, directed by Hiccup to where Signy's room was. He could hear the excited squeals from his sister and couldn't help but wish he had human friends like that. He might, one day, but for now, he only had Signy.
And maybe Astrid. No, she only hangs out with you because of Sig. You're the class loser.
"Hiccup!" He looked up at the sound of his sister's voice to see her at the top of the stairs. "You're a great guy—you know that? Who gives a damn what those pretentious and idiotic assholes at school think?"
"Thanks, Sig."
"I'd date you," added Cami, making Hiccup blush.
"Come on, Cami!" The two disappeared into Signy's room.
"…were you serious?"
"About what?" Cami stopped spinning in the swivel chair and faced Signy.
"About dating Hiccup."
"Yeah! He's cute and he's smart, and he's so sweet. I remember the one time he came out to Hollywood to visit you and we hung out while you were filming… he's a gentleman. A rare type to find nowadays."
"True." Signy hugged her knees to her chest. "Cami, have you ever wondered what would have happened if we weren't famous?"
"I don't have to wonder. We would be able to go outside without being stalked by the paparazzi and live normal lives. Isn't that why you have a stage name?"
"It's exactly why I have a stage name. Thorn is the famous me, but Signy is the real me."
"Like how I'm your famous best friend and Hiccup is your real best friend."
"Cami!"
"Kidding! But seriously, though, that was a smart move."
"I'm just lucky nobody in Hollywood saw me with red hair."
"I like your red hair!" Cami leaned over and tugged on a stray lock of hair. "it's vibrant and lively. It suits you."
"And I have the temper to back it up."
"Hey, I'm a blonde and I have the same temper."
"So does Astrid."
"Who's Astrid?"
"My new friend. She goes to our high school and she's pretty cool. I think she has a crush on Hiccup."
"Tell her to back off."
"Cami…"
"Fine, I'll back off, but if she hurts him, I'm coming for him."
Signy looked out the window and could see the last of the autumn leaves beginning to fall. It was almost November, which meant getting ready for winter. Of course, that didn't mean they'd have slightly-warm weather much longer. It was far more likely that they'd get a snowstorm before Thanksgiving and then another one right after.
God, I've missed the snow. How long has it been since I've seen actual snow and not the stupid fake stuff on set?
"I'm going to go set up in the guest room," Cami told Signy.
"Okay. It's down the hall, on the left. You can't miss it."
"Thanks!"
And she was gone.
Despite her happy appearance to everyone else, Signy did have some problems. Going into show business at the age of eleven and becoming an almost-immediate hit had taken its toll on her, and even with that particular pressure off of her shoulders, the price of fame still bore down on her. Back before she'd left LA, before the show had been finalized, she'd begun seeing a therapist to talk about her issues—her shitty costars, her constant homesickness, her hatred of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood… pretty much anything. It helped some, but she had chosen another outlet.
She rolled up her sleeve and opened her drawer to grab…
A box of Sharpies. From them, she selected blue and green as her tools for this time and drew vines winding around her forearm. They twisted and turned as much as she desired, until she capped the markers and put them back in the box. She took another moment to admire the design before taking a picture with the instant camera on her desk and grabbing the rubbing alcohol to get rid of the evidence.
Nobody could know.
Yeah, it got a little more real again. Signy has slight depression, like me, and chooses to deal with it by being creative. I channel mine into my writing and she channels hers into pretty designs on her forearms with marker. This chapter is pretty lackluster, but next time we'll have some plot and hints of things to come.
So long and thanks for all the fish!