Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third didn't believe in love at first sight.
But when he walked into the Maths classroom, every doubt flew away.
It was the first day of the new term at UnderBridge Senior School. Some kids had come back, leaner and skinner than they'd been last year-some kids returned having gained three pounds and a few cats too. Some kids hadn't changed. There were still the nerds-and he still fitted firmly into that department-there were still the sluts, and the popular kids, and the ones that snuck they're old DS into school so they could play Mario Bros in the toilets at break time.
But never had he seen a girl like this before.
She had to be new. How could he have missed her last term?
"Mr Horrendous." Mrs Mucklusty stopped writing on the board to face him. "I trust you have an excellent reason for being late?"
"I missed the bus," he lied. "I cycled."
She gave him a beseeching look, whilst causally examining his clothes. They were spotless and he knew it.
"Please takes seat, Mr Horrendous." She said. "We'll talk about this after class."
He groaned inwardly, but outwardly neutrally took the seat next to the girl. She didn't even bat an eyelid at him as the lesson tragically began.
The girl must've been new. How could he have not noticed her for the previous year? And he was certain that he'd never seen her page on Instagram or anything similar. She must've just arrived this morning.
"The Pythagoras theorem." Mrs Mucklusty wrote on the board, along with the dates and title. Then she turned and asked Sandra to hand out the new books for the year-Sandra rose out of her seat, half asleep, and stumbled towards the pile of orange books by her desk before handing them out.
When the girl wrote her name on the front, Hiccup sneakily peaked over her scribbling pen.
'Astrid Hofferson' she'd written in bold italics. He made a mental note of the name, before causally wondering if Astrid Horrendous had a nice ring to it.
"Why are you staring at my book?" Someone said.
"Hmm?" He asked, looking up. Astrid Horrendous sounded brilliant, he had to admit.
"Why are you staring at my book?" The voice repeated, louder this time.
Astrid was staring at him, her mouth slightly open.
"Hmm?" He said again, a little quieter. Had he really been staring at her book?
"Whose staring at your boobs?" Asked the guy next to Astrid. He leaned over and saw Hiccup, and started bellowing out a laugh.
"Hiccup was staring at the newbees boobs!" He chortled. "Guys, guys-" he shook the boy in front of him. "Hiccups been staring at the new girls boobs."
The guy behind him turned and gave Hiccup a glance. Then he started laughing too.
"Joking mate!"
"Boys," Mrs Mucklusty scalded. "Please pay attention."
As the laughing subsided, Astrid turned back to him. He smiled weakly at her.
"Keep your gross nerdy hands to yourself." She snapped. "I've got a boyfriend, creep."
His eyes widened. "Sorry," he stuttered.
She didn't reply. She was already copying down what was written on the board.
He spent the rest of the lesson in silence.
AN
Hello! i don't really know what I'm doing-I used to be really active on this account but then I forgot passwords and stuff so I haven't been on here for AGES:-/ so I have literally no idea what I'm doing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯