HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL YOU INCREDIBLY AWESOME PEOPLE! YAY! *throws streamers and balloons everywhere* It's 12:07 AM and I AM PERKY. I AM UNBELIEVABLY PERKY. And then I'll lay down in bed and be out in a second, lol. :D

So I am really enjoying writing this Modern Day AU. I mean...I am really, really, really, really, REALLY enjoying it. I have so much more planned for this fic than most of you realize. Before you continue, I would like to say, I do NOT know what Astrid's middle name is, but this is a Modern Universe, and I don't think anyone will care if I'm getting it wrong. Anyways, here. We. Go! *swirling vortex appears out of no where* I don't know where the vortex came from, but let's roll with it! Woooooosh!

"Do you have a phone?" Astrid asked.

"Uhh...yeah, why?" said Hiccup, taking his iPhone out of his pocket, hesitating ever so slightly.

Without hesitation, Astrid took it and punched the home button. She smiled.

"What?" said Hiccup. "What are you smiling at?"

"Your lock screen," said Astrid. She turned it around and showed Hiccup. His screensaver was a picture of a tiny black kitten in mid-yawn, so its pink gums were in perfect view. "Is this Toothless?" Astrid asked.

"Yeah," said Hiccup.

"He's adorable," said Astrid.

"What's the real reason you wanted my phone?" Hiccup asked.

"I wanted to give you my number," she replied. "May I?"

"Uh...sure," he replied. Astrid grinned and punched in her number. She handed him her phone absently while her other hand worked.

"Give me your number," she said.

"Oh...okay," said Hiccup. Astrid smiled. He was so awkward. After they both gave each other their phone numbers, they handed them back to their owners.

"Thanks," said Astrid, then she looked at the name Hiccup had punched in. "Hadley Horrendous Haddock the Third?" she asked.

"It's a family name..." Hiccup grumbled.

Astrid laughed.

"And you," said Hiccup, looking at the name Astrid had put in. "Astrid Rose Hofferson? Nice. I think it's pretty."

"Thanks," said Astrid. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then? Maybe we can, I don't know...get lunch? What time works for you?"

"Sure," said Hiccup. He shrugged. "Tomorrow, just call me, or text me, or whatever. Winter break just started, and my Mom's normally on late night, early morning work house calls during this time of year, so I'm pretty much open for any time."

"Okay, I'll just text you," said Astrid.

"Sounds good," said Hiccup. "See you then." He turned, waved, and then bolted down the sidewalk to his own house. Astrid smiled, turned, and walked through the door to her own house.

Her mother was stirring something on the stove, eying the door warily.

"Who was he?" she asked.

"A new kid," said Astrid. "His name is Hic...Hadley."

"Did you make a new friend?" her mother asked.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," said Astrid. "We're meeting for lunch tomorrow."

"Cool," said her mother. "Don't stay out too late."

"I won't," said Astrid. She turned and bolted up her staircase, to her own bedroom. Stormfly, her blue parrot, was sitting on one of her bedposts.

Her room was a wreck. Papers sprawled out on her desk, the pencil cup knocked over, the writing utensils that were once in it piled in heaps on the floor. Stormfly chirped.

"Hey, girl," Astrid greeted, ruffling the bird's feathers. Stormfly shook her head to fix them, and then flew, landing on Astrid's shoulder. The girl smiled and walked over to her bed, sitting on the edge of it. While she took out her phone, her black, violin case caught her eye.

She hadn't played it in forever, and she really didn't like playing the instrument very much, but she was good at it. That was something. She was good at it. A little out of practice, but still good at it.

Refocusing her gaze, Astrid unlocked her iPhone and tapped her contacts list. After finding Hiccup's number, she texted him.

Whatcha workin' on? she typed, and then sent. She waited for a few minutes before receiving her reply.

Astrid, I haven't been gone five minutes.

Astrid grinned, her fingers tapping the screen madly as she tried to reply as quickly as possible: I know. Whatcha workin' on?

Hiccup: Guitar. You?

Astrid: Not much. Bored.

Hiccup: Um...yeah.

...

Hiccup: *awkward silence* Lol. :)

Astrid: Strange...I never know what to say over the phone.

Hiccup: Me neither! Ha3!

Astrid: What does Ha3 mean?

Hiccup: Oooh, sorry, I meant Lol. I'm from Malaysia, and we text Ha3 instead of Lol. Still getting used to it, I guess. :)

Astrid: Malaysia, huh?

Hiccup: Uhhhh...yeah. I guess I just forgot to tell you where I was from the other day, and I suppose I just forgot to say it today. Sorry about that. :(

Astrid: No worries.

Hiccup: Yay! :) Oh, I've got to go to bed. See you tomorrow. Goodnight.

Astrid: You too. Goodnight, Hiccup. See you tomorrow.

She sat there for a while afterwards in silence, until she looked back down at her abandoned violin. Sighing, she picked it up, unzipped it, and strummed it. It was so badly out of tune, she couldn't hear the original notes. But, she took out her tuner, and got to work on it.

It took her nearly ten minutes, but she finally managed to get the violin back into perfect tune. Once she was done, she took her bow in her hand and rosined it. After she was finished doing that, she took up her instrument, and started playing.