Chapter 10

Jack Frost

I leaned back and passed a note to Hiccup. We had a whole conversation on that one piece of paper:

So, you still okay, Hic?

Yeah, I'm fine. At least, I hope I am.

C'mon, Hiccup, how can you not be sure?

I don't know. I just . . . don't know.

Tell me what's going on.

I . . . might still like . . . her.

HER?! As in ASTRID?

Uh, yeah . . .

My God, Hiccup! Even after what she did to you and Merida?

Yeah . . . I guess I'm a sucker like that.

Sheesh. Man, that's rough.

Yeah, I know and I-

Miss Susan towered over me. "Excuse me, Jack?" she asked pleasantly. "May I please ask what it is that you're reading?"

I shot a sort of panicked look at Hiccup. He just shrugged his shoulders and pointed to his head. Hmm. What would Hiccup say? I lifted my chin up, looking my teacher right in the eye (no easy feat, let me tell you) and said, "I am reading a very interesting article written by my best friend Hiccup for the newspaper. He wanted me to revise it for him." I managed to keep a straight face.

Miss Susan smiled. "All right, Jack, but please-no reading in class other than your textbook. Speaking of textbooks," she said, turning around to face the rest of the class, "Please flip to page 91 and read silently as I pass out your worksheets for you to work on for the rest of class. If you don't finish it, it will be assigned for homework." The whole class groaned, but I sighed in relief.

"Come on, Frost!" Gobber shouted at me from the sidelines. "Use yer arm muscles, if you have 'em!"

I rolled my eyes. It was another game of dodgeball in gym class and I was on the same team as Rapunzel and Heather. The two of them were whimpering and ducking away from the balls. I threw a ball half-heartedly and it bounced off of a girl's shoulder. She threw her ball down and walked over to our makeshift "jail cell" where she would stay until somebody else got out. That was Gobber's version of dodgeball.

"Move it, girls!" Nod commanded imperiously to Rapunzel and Heather. "We gotta make sure that no one fills up that empty jail space. NO ONE!"

I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Cool your anger, dude. Take it out on the other team and hit someone in the stomach or something." Nod harrumphed, but went off to cream the other team anyways. I turned towards the girls. "Rapunzel. Heather. You two have to play, or you'll be stuck in that cell and Nod won't be a happy snowflake." I grinned at them, ruffling my hair. "So just try throwing a ball, okay? You're making the girls on our team look weak."

Heather grinned wickedly. "Oh, I'm gonna show those guys a thing or two about GIRL POWER!" She snatched a ball from one of the guys on our team and hurled it, fast and straight as a bullet, into a guy's stomach. The guy doubled over, groaning. She turned back around and flashed us both another wicked grin before flouncing off to gather more balls.

"What about you, Punzie?" I asked her, a smirk floating on my face. "Bet you can't take down as many people as I can!"

Her eyes flashed at the challenge. "You're on, Frost!" She caught a ball mid-air and slugged a guy with it.

I laughed, and we were both slamming people down with the balls. We were a powerhouse; we moved like one. We took down almost the entire opposing team. Only Flynn was still standing. He dodged he balls with amazing precision, and even succeeded taking a few of our numbers down. But Rapunzel wouldn't hit him because he was her boyfriend, and he wouldn't hit her since she was his girlfriend.

I grabbed two balls at once. "Come on, everybody!" I shouted to the entire team. "Let's finish this once and for all!" Everyone but Rapunzel picked up a ball. She gnawed on her pinky nail, then picked up a small green ball.

"I'm sorry, Flynn," she whispered, but she let out a small smile.

"Ready!" Nod yelled. "Aim! Fire!" We all threw our balls with such force, it actually literally knocked the poor guy down. But we won! We all whooped and danced around. Well, I just stood there with this idiotic grin on my face and my arms crossed. Punzie twirled over to me and gave me a big hug. I staggered back a little in surprise, but hugged her back. It was all so cheesy, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Great work, everybody!" Gobber yelled. "Remember that try-outs for the fall sports teams are next week! Coach Thorston will be with the girls, and I'll be with the boys. All right, go an' change out of yer filthy clothes!"

There was a stampede for the locker rooms.

"Hey, Hic, you gonna try out from any sports?" I asked him as I pulled my blue sweatshirt over my head.

"No, I think I'd rather just stay in Mathletes," he answered, putting his glasses back on. Then he seemed to consider it. "Actually, the Mathletes haven't really been talking to me lately. It'd be a good idea to expand my horizons."

I snorted. "Good idea, Hiccup," I teased him. "Maybe you can try out for the football team. Or, ooh, I know! The wrestling team!" I doubled over with laughter.

Hiccup just rolled his eyes at me and pulled on his brown loafers. "Just shut up." I laughed a little bit longer, then wiped my eyes and followed him out the door and up the stairs, me smiling the whole way.

"Who can tell me who started the American Revolution?" The sub asked in her whiny voice.

I stuffed my hands in the pockets of my sweatshirt and looked over at Elsa, who sat behind me. She looked up and smiled, making the cuckoo motion with her hand. I grinned back and winked at her. She let out a small laugh.

'How about you Mr. . . . Jackson Frost," the sub said, looking right at me.

"Uhh . . . Kevin Bacon?" I guessed. The entire class burst into laughter. Elsa was giggling a little, too. I leaned closer to her and whispered, "Oh, great, now my girlfriend's laughing at me. This day couldn't get any worse."

She just laughed some more and said, "Oh, Jack, it's just great to laugh. We all mean well. And it was kind of funny."

I smiled at her, flashing my pearly-whites, then turned back around. The sub was trying to calm everyone down, but then the bell rang and everyone grabbed their books and started to leave.

"Wait!" she called out desperately. She scribbled on the board. "You have homework tonight! Pages 42-47, chapter 5 in the textbook! Use the worksheet we did today in class!" I just shrugged and gathered up my stuff.

I turned to Elsa. "Hey, Els, you ready?" I asked her. She nodded, and I put my arm around her as we walked out of class. When we parted, I said awkwardly, "Um, Elsa, I was wondering if you'd, uh, like to go see a movie with me Friday afternoon?"

She smiled. "Of course, Jack," she replied. "I'd love to." We walked back to our lockers.

"Jack, stop fidgeting!" Rapunzel put her hands on her hips and made an exasperated sound. It was three hours until my date with Elsa, and Rapunzel, Merida, and Hiccup were helping me get ready. Well, define "help". Rapunzel was scolding me, Hiccup was laughing at us behind Rapunzel, and Merida was busy texting on her phone.

"Can I help it?" I hooked my finger in between the blue necktie and my throat, loosening it. Rapunzel had forced me into some nice black slacks, a white collared-shirt, blue tie, and blue vest. I had argued with her for over half an hour about letting me wear my blue and white sneakers. "You're practically acting like my babysitter, Punz! I need some space, okay? It's just a movie, not some gala or Oscar premier or anything."

"True. But it's your first date with Elsa, and I am going to make sure it goes perfectly!" Rapunzel announced. She and Flynn were going to double-date with us. Hiccup didn't want a girlfriend after Astrid, and Merida had broken up with that dumb-ass Macintosh yesterday. She was going to see the Berk County Derby with Hiccup while we were at the movie theater.

"All ah'm gonna say es don't be ah bitch ," Merida said, not looking up from her phone.

Hiccup snorted. "Yes, I'm sure that's great advice, Mer," he said sarcastically. I smirked at her glare.

"Are we goin' the derby or what?" she snapped, storming outside. Hiccup hurried after her. They were taking her car, after all.

"Yeah, we better go, too." I held my arm out to Punzie in a mock gentleman manner. "May I?"

She giggled, then curtsied. "You may, my good sir." She took my arm and we walked out like that, fighting over laughs.

Hiccup was just pulling out of my driveway when he saw us. He slammed on the breaks.

"Goddamnit, Hiccup!" Merida screamed. "Why did ya have ta do that? Ah almost thew mah phone out the window!"

"Sorry, Merida," I heard him say. Then he honked his horn and stuck his head out the car window. "Hey, what're you guys doing?"

We collapsed into laughter, high-fiving each other as we made our way over to my car-a blue SUV. We both got in, me driving, her sitting in the passenger seat. I saw Hiccup shaking his head at us, then pulling out of the driveway for real.

Our first stop was Elsa's house. It was a huge, beige mansion, and when Rapunzel rang the doorbell, a man dressed in red opened up the door.

"Ah, you must be Mr. Jack Frost," he said. I nodded. "Wait just a moment. Miss Elsa shall be down shortly." He closed the door in our faces.

I quirked an eyebrow at Rapunzel, and she exchanged the same confused look with me. The door opened and Elsa came out in light blue jeans and a sparkly white tank top. She flushed when she saw me dressed up.

"Oh, I didn't know it was formal," she murmured. "I'll just go and change-"

I walked up to her and grabbed her hand. "No, no, you're beautiful with just what you're wearing." She blushed deeper. "Punzie forced me into this. If it were up to me, I'd be all sweatshirts and jeans."

She laughed. "Good to know. Now, do we go pick up Flynn?"

"Yeah," I said. We got into the car and drove to his house. He was waiting by his mailbox, looking irritated and tapping his foot. His arms were crossed. When we reached his house, I honked my horn and stuck my head out the window.

"Get in, Rider, or we're leaving without you!" I yelled.

"Finally!" he said in frustration. He stomped over and climbed into the back next to Elsa.

"Sorry, Flynn, but we got into a little traffic along the way." Rapunzel smiled apologetically.

"Fine, Blondie," Flynn replied grudgingly. "Let's just go see this stupid movie already and get it over with." He glared at me. "So move it, Frostbite!"

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, Rider," I said, then stomped my foot onto the gas pedal. The girls shrieked as we flew down the highway at 80 mph, and I laughed from the thrill rush.

When I parked my car in the lot at the cinema, we all got out and went to the box to buy tickets.

"Sooo . . . what movies are they showing?" Rapunzel asked eagerly.

"Hmm . . ." Elsa looked at all the pictures of the movies they were showing. "They have The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games, and Divergent. Which do you want to see?"

"The Hunger Games," Flynn and I both said at the same time. Then we both glared at each other.

"Sounds interesting enough," Elsa mused. "How much blood?"

"Not too much, but enough to give a 6 year old nightmares," I promised her.

"Swear words?" Rapunzel asked.

"Just damn and hell," Flynn replied. "There are worst words in other movies."

"The Hunger Games it is, then!" Elsa said. She walked up to the hippie-guy in the box office, asking for four tickets to see The Hunger Games. We bought two of everything, so Punzie and Flynn would share, and Elsa and I would share. Two jumbo-sized popcorns, two huge sodas with four straws, and two large bags of M&M's.

The movie began, and it was just as action-filled as Flynn and I thought. Plenty of blood and damn and hell, but pretty good. Afterwards, Rapunzel said we should all read the book. Only she and Hiccup had read it before they knew the movie was coming out.

I drove the others home, and Rapunzel came with me back to my house. There, Merida and Hiccup were standing at the front door. Merida attacked us with questions.

"What movie did ya see? How much was the popcorn? Was anyone else from our school there?" Merida wanted to know everything.

"We saw The Hunger Games, Mer!" Punzie bounced on her feet. "It was pretty good, but the book was MUCH better."

"Yeah, the book is almost always better than the movie," Hiccup added. "Speaking of books, Punzie, we have a report due in English Honors on Tuesday. We need to get to the library before it closes."

"Oh, right, thanks, Hiccup!" Rapunzel smiled warmly. "Let's go right now!" They both hurried off quickly and were soon out of sight.

I turned to Merida, an eyebrow raised. "Well, this afternoon sure went quickly," I commented. "Nothing could top it in its weirdness. Well, bye, Mer, see you tomorrow."

"Whatever, Frost." Merida smiled, though, as she walked down the street back to her house. But then she turned back around and called, "You don't think anything could top it? Well, you're wrong." Then she ran down the street.