Principal Haddock looks down at us with a cold glare. Snotlout, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, Jack Frost, and I sit in the tiny, wooden desks that sit across from the principal's desk in the detention room. DreamWorks High is usually so laid back that the detention room is hardly ever used, but what we did last night, that was a bit extreme. Even the lax rules of DW High are against breaking and entering. Principal Haddock, who practically has his own zip code, gets up from the giant leather chair and saunters over to my desk. He doesn't say a word, but his eyes speak volumes. I am disappointed in you. You let me down. They were outraged. What am I supposed to do with you?
He sighs and holds his hands behind his back. "Boys, you know that here at DreamWorks High, we have a very relaxed set of rules. We do everything we possibly can to make our students feel comfortable in the a learning environment. But there are still lines to cross, and last night, one of those lines was crossed." He stands at the back of the room now, but I can still feel his eyes boring into the back of my skull. "Now I know that we have had a long-standing rivalry with Disney Academy, and it provides for a fair amount of enjoyable competition. This is just another part of high school, but crashing a party? Throwing their student body into turmoil? Spray-painting their Head Mistress's car? There are some things that even I cannot tolerate. You acted like… like hooligans, and I will not stand for it." He begins to pace towards the front of the office, and I can feel his disappointment when he walks by. "Therefore, I'm sorry to say that there must be some form of punishment. And, since the flood that happened last month, there have been many stray animals to be rescued. The animal shelter in Burgess needs volunteers to keep up with the incoming animals, so you will work there, helping out in any way you can, until I say that you have done enough to make up for the trouble you've caused."
The other boys groan and moan, but I don't let a single sound escape my mouth. I know that out of all of us, even if this wasn't my idea, I'm the one who's in the most trouble. Principal Haddock sits down in his leather chair again. "You are dismissed." We all leap up, me especially. "Except you, son." The other boys grin and look at me. I fall back into the desk with a sigh. I'm so dead.
As Jack leaves, he salutes me with grin. "Good luck, Hicc. I'll keep Astrid company for you." I throw a pencil at him, and he scurries out the door.
Everyone at DW knows that Principal Stoick Haddock is my dad, so I've gotten used to being teased about it when people see how scrawny I am compared to my dad, who was the star football player of his day. I'll never be remembered as anything more than the guy they call when the school Wi-Fi goes down, but my dad and everyone else who knows him, still wishes that I could've followed in my dad's footsteps. But after I stopped picking up weight when I was twelve, people tossed out that notion with the trash.
Dad sits there, stroking his unruly, red beard and looking down at me. "Son, I don't know what else to do. You keep hanging around those kids, and all they ever do is get you into trouble. Son… you… you used to be such a good boy. Sure you always had your head in the clouds, but you never got into this kind of trouble before. Hiccup, I know that you have a good mind. You can choose for yourself, chart your own course. You don't need to follow others your whole life. I just hope you realize that sooner rather than later." Dad sighs and nods towards the door. "You… you can go now, Hiccup."
I get up from my desk, grab my laptop bag, and leave the room as quickly as possible. True to his word, Jack Frost is leaned over Astrid next to where our three lockers are. Frost is long and lanky like I am, but unlike me, he is coordinated and fast. He's the star of the school hockey team, and he's sworn to beat the Disney team this fall in the playoffs. All the girls in the school would give their left foot at a chance to be Jack's girl, but Frost is only interested in himself at the moment. "And that's how I chipped this tooth." Jack smiles, revealing all of his perfectly white teeth. "Dad paid to have it fixed, and the dentist couldn't believe how white these babies are."
Astrid punches Jack in the shoulder. "Get over yourself, Frost. That self-centered attitude is really unappealing." Astrid flips her blonde hair over one shoulder and slams her locker door shut, and when she sees me approaching, she gives me "that look". The look that made Snotlout cry in third grade. Oh this is perfect. Not only is my dad mad at me, but now Astrid is wants to kill me, too. "I thought you said that you'd be at the library last night to study with me. And then I hear that you've been crashing an Academy party? I thought you were better than that, Hiccup." She slings her bag over her shoulder.
"Wait! No, no, no. Astrid, please let me explain." I grab her arm, but when she gives me "that look" again, I drop my hand from her arm. She stays, though, to let me beg for her forgiveness. "Last time Jack asked me to go somewhere with him, I told him no, and he made me promise that the next place he asked me to go with him, I had to say yes. So I had no choice."
Astrid raises an eyebrow at Jack who nods at her, confirming my story. Instead of saying something like "I forgive you" or even "Don't let it happen again", Astrid just pulls my phone from the pocket of my jeans and holds it up for me to see. "You see this, Hiccup? It's a phone. A phone can call or send messages to people to tell them things. You can tell them all sorts of things. You can even tell them when you have a change of plans. It's a considerate thing to do." She sticks the phone back into my pocket. "See you guys later." She turns and leaves this time, and I can't help feeling a little glad.
Jack slings an arm around my shoulders. "Don't take it too hard, bud. Astrid is a mystery to us all." Frost backs off after a moment. "Look, man. I'm really sorry about what happened. I didn't mean to make your dad mad at you, but if you don't get out there and do crazy things, then you'll never figure out who you are."
Above us the tone sounds for us to go to the Assembly Hall. Jack and I fall into step with all the other students walking by. Guy, mine and Jack's roommate, runs up to us. "Hey, did you hear about all the new students? Someone said that we've got a whole bus-load outside. Nobody knows why." Guy looks around at the crowd that passes by. "And have either of you seen Eep? She said something about meeting up with Thunk, but she never came back."
"Hey!" Eep jumps onto Guy's back. "What are you guys talking about?" Guy wraps his arms around her legs, supporting her as we trump down the hall.
Jack runs his hands through his white hair. "We're talking about the bus of new kids outside. You know anything?" Frost can hardly stand being around Eep. It's not that he doesn't like Eep, most everyone does, but he can't stand that she doesn't care about him at all. The only guy that catches Eep's eyes is Guy, and Frost just isn't used to that at all. "I bet you know something. You know something about everything that happens around here."
It's true. Eep is as curious as they come, and she's excellent at learning every bit of gossip that there is crawling around the depths of DW. Eep wiggles her eyebrows at Jack and me. "Oh, yes. I know everything about that. You are going to love this." She taps Guy's shoulder, and he releases her. Eep squirms her way in between me and Jack. "They're from another school! It burned down just the other week, and now they all are coming to school here instead. I've never even heard of the school, but Disney wouldn't accept them. So here they are!" Eep spreads her arms wide as we walk through the doors into the Assembly Hall which is just one big room with a stage and a bunch of little tables that have chairs encircling them. We find an empty table near the door, and sit down.
Guy taps his fingers on the table while I doodle in one of my notebooks. Eep won't quit fidgeting, so I stop trying to draw her and try for Jack instead, who is staring at the stage. We wait a full ten minutes after everyone has been seated for my dad to lumber up on stage and stand behind the podium. "Good afternoon students, today I have a very important announcement. A few weeks ago, Fox High School had an unfortunate fire that consumed the entire school. Since they haven't had enough time to rebuild, they sent their students to us, so starting tomorrow, the students of Fox High will be joining you in your classes. They will be staying in the dorms on campus, and the new rooming lists will be posted outside the doors after assembly. Please check to see if you have anyone joining you in your rooms and welcome them as best you can." Dad shuffles some papers. "Also, starting next week, we'll be having try-outs for the hockey team along with auditions for this year's school production of A Midsummer's Night Dream. Now, there is something special about this year's production. I had a chat with the Head Mistress from Disney Academy," the crowd erupts into boos and hisses. Dad clears his throat, and they all quiet down. "She feels it would be best that we join forces for this performance so actors and actresses from both schools will participate." He gives us all a stern glare, daring us to make a noise. "That is all. You are dismissed."
People flood out of the Assembly Hall faster than I've ever seen before. We're all eager to find out if we have a new roommate or not. Jack, Guy, and I were due for another roommate anyway since we've only got three guys in a room made for four, so I'm pretty sure that when we show up at the dorm, there will be some Fox kid that we'll have to welcome in with open arms. We don't even bother to check the roster on our way to our room.
"I bet five bucks that the guy is going to be a total slob." Jack holds the five dollar bill in the air above his head. Guy takes him up on the bet, but I like keeping what little money I have. So I opt out. We say good-bye to Eep as she shrieks and races to her room. "Why is she so excited to have a new roommate? The less people in a dorm the better. More space."
Guy shrugs his shoulders and watches after her longingly as she goes. "She's kind of used to sharing small spaces with other people, so I guess it's kind of weird for her to be sharing a room with just Astrid and Ruffnut, especially since six people can fit into the girls' dorms."
We head to the room, and Guy pulls out his key. But the door swings open first. Inside, someone is cranking up the music on our stereo. The guy is throwing socks into one of the drawers that is tucked under the vacant bed that is now no longer vacant, and when he sees us he nods to us. "The name's Nod. Nice to meet you!" He offers us a hand. "I'm your new roommate. This place is a mess. You mind if I clean up a bit?"
Behind me, I hear Jack groan and hand the five dollars over to a brightly smiling Guy. "No," Guy says, "we don't mind a bit. Just make yourself at home. I'm Guy. This is Jack and Hiccup." As he says our names, he slings an arm around our shoulders. "This is going to be so much fun."
Jack snorts. "Yeah, right. I know fun, and this isn't it." He lowers his voice a little so that Nod can't hear us. "Fun is when we could pile our stuff on the extra bed. Fun is when we could use the extra bed as a couch. Fun is when we didn't have a neat freak for a roommate."
"Sorry," Nod chimes in, obviously overhearing the conversation. "I was raised in a military home, so I like to keep things neat and tidy. At least you guys aren't total slobs. My last two roommates, Mub and Grub, were. I swear, I've never seen two guys who were more gross." All this time, Nod is making his bed. The guy can straighten out wrinkles in his sheets like a machine.
Jack picks up a dart off the floor and chucks it at the bull's-eye on the wall farthest from the door. "If you guys really want some fun, I know something we can do."
Guy and Nod's ears perk up, but I know that this isn't going to be good. "No, Jack. We just got in trouble. Let's not do anything stupid again."
Jack looks at me with that gleam in his eyes, and I know that there's no stopping him now. "So, we crashed their party the other night which was cool and all, but tonight, we're going to break in and steal the hockey team's equipment right out of their ice rink. Let's see how well they play without pucks or sticks." Frost steps over to retrieve his dart from where it stuck into the wall. "What do you say?"
Nod looks like he's all on board, and Guy is practically drooling at the thought of doing something dangerous. And then there's me, the one who always gets dragged into these stupid things because I hang out with the wrong people. "Da, da, da," I sing. "We're dead."