Chapter Seven

A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews on the last six chapters! For this one I was going to return to Rapunzel's story, but I couldn't resist a chapter about Heather from Rider's of Berk. Thank you to gwendalyn as well - hope everything is okay with you! - and sorry again that it isn't Fishlegs and Heather; I've got something else planned :) Hope you all enjoy and please review as it really makes my day when I read them!

Ginger xx

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" said Mr. Rider, leaning out of the car window.

"Yeah, Dad, I'll be fine," Heather Rider replied, giving a tight smile and a wave. She tucked a lock of thick black hair behind her ear and turned towards the school. She had to admit she was nervous. Starting a new school wasn't on the top of her bucket list. In fact, starting anything new always made her nervous. Heather just wasn't the sort person who liked new things. Change made her anxious and apprehensive.

"Heather?" Mr. Rider called.

"Yeah, Dad?" Heather turned back one last time.

"Good luck!"

Heather nodded and walked up to the school. She shifted the strap of her messenger bag back onto her shoulder and slowly went down the corridor, past the walls and walls of lockers. Her last school hadn't been as big as this.

She was late for class as it was, but Heather was fairly certain the teacher wouldn't mind. She was new after all. How she was going to find the class was the real problem. Her footsteps echoing on the hard floors, she continued down the corridor, occasionally peering into classrooms. Naturally, they hadn't given her a map.

Suddenly, Heather found herself hurtling to the ground, tripping on her untied bootlace. Blinking in confusion, she looked up. Standing above her was a tall, gangly boy, with a green beanie over his long lanky hair. "Whoa," said the boy.

Her cheeks flushing in embarrassment, Heather pushed herself back up off the hard tiles to face the boy. He stood far above her though.

"Are you OK?" he asked, unaware of the fact that he could've helped her up.

"Yeah, fine," Heather replied. "Actually, could you show me where Room 49 is?"

"Room 49?" the boy repeated. "Uh, sure, if that's where you wanna go. How come you're lost?"

"I'm new," Heather explained. "Today's my first day."

"Oh," said the tall boy. He gave her another glance, looking her up and down. "That's some nice style you've got going on there," he smirked.

Heather looked down at her green and blue plaid shirt, brown hiking boots and faded demon jeans. "What do you mean?" she asked.

The boy just laughed an easy laugh. "It doesn't matter," he said. They turned a corner and reached a door which read '49'. "Here we are," he said. "Now, remember that I've done you a favour."

"Aren't you going to be late?" Heather asked.

"Sure I am, but it's not like that's not normal." He pushed up a sleeve of his dark green hoodie. "Hey, what's your name again?"

"Why?" Heather eyed him suspiciously.

"I need to know," he said, "so I can cash in on the favour."

Heather rolled her eyes. "Heather, Heather Rider."

He held out his hand and she shook it. "Nice one, Heather. I'm Tuffnut. See you around."

Heather watched him walk off before turning and knocking on the door to the class. She slowly turned the handle and opened it.

"Ah, you must be Heather." The teacher turned to face her. He had golden-brown curls framing his round face, and wore a strange combination of browns and yellows. "My name is Mr. Gold. Welcome to our class."

"Thanks," Heather muttered. Ugh, she thought, now time for the hard bit - facing the other kids.

"Why don't you tell us something about yourself, Heather?" Mr. Gold asked in his soft voice.

"Um," Heather hesitated, "My name is Heather, and me and my mum and dad moved here last week for my dad's new job."

"And what is your father's job?" Mr. Gold asked, genuinely interested.

"He's... a, um, a zookeeper," said Heather, swallowing slightly.

There were a few sniggers from the back of the class.

"Very interesting," said Mr. Gold. "Any brothers or sisters?"

"No, Sir, just me," Heather replied.

"Well, I hope you settle into the school well, Heather," said Mr. Gold. "You may sit at the desk just there, behind Rapunzel."

Heather looked to where he was pointing. She walked down the rows of desks and took a seat behind a girl with very long blonde hair that was tied in a messy braid.

"Heather, right?" she asked, leaning back in her chair.

"Yeah," said Heather.

"I'm Rapunzel," said the blonde girl, holding out her hand.

Heather shook it. "Nice to meet you," she said.

By lunch, Heather was welcomed into the 'Rapunzel-Anna Friendship Group' and sat with them to eat.

"So," said Heather, "I was wondering if you guys have any advice? I am new here, so..."

"Don't get into the wrong crowd," said Rapunzel.

"Don't go against the Populars," said Anna.

"You should never even talk to the Populars, especially the girls," Rapunzel added.

"Never annoy a Popular, or get in their way," said Anna.

"Okay," Heather interrupted, "Anything I should do?"

"Always say 'thank you' to the kitchen servers," said Anna. "They will love you forever."

"Be on time to class, but not too early," Rapunzel advised. "If you're too early you'll be called a nerd, but too late and you'll be in trouble."

"Get your homework done on time," said Anna, "But try not to do it amazingly. Only nerds do that."

"That's only for small homework though," Rapunzel added. "For big assignments, do the best you can and you might impress some people."

Heather's mind got a little confused at listening to all of their endless advice. She was starting to think this school was more complicated than she had thought. Suddenly, her green eyes met another pair of green ones from across the cafeteria and she audibly gasped.

"What are you looking at?" Anna asked, following her gaze.

"Who is he?" Heather asked, looking over at the boy. He was now surrounded by a group of bigger boys.

"That'll be Snotlout," said Rapunzel. "He's an eleventh grader and he is the most popular kid in school. He's also the bully."

"Not him," said Heather, "The boy he's beating up."

"Him?" said Anna. "Um, I'm not sure. I think he's got some stupid name like... Sneeze?"

"No, it's not that," said Rapunzel.

"Achoo?" Anna suggested. "Cough?"

"No..." said Rapunzel, "... Ah, it's Hiccup, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah," said Anna. "Hiccup."

"He's an eleventh grader too," said Rapunzel. "Why d'you ask?"

"I don't know," said Heather.

"You don't fancy him, do you?" Anna asked.

"No way!" Heather exclaimed.

"Like the look of anyone so far though?" Rapunzel asked.

"I haven't really been here that long," said Heather. "Actually, there was this guy I met earlier. He helped me get to class."

"Ooh," said Anna, getting awfully childish. "Who is he?"

"He's called Tuffnut, I think," said Heather. "I don't like him though, or anything like that."

"Oh," said Anna, strangely disappointed. "Well, Tuffnut's pretty popular. He's in eleventh grade, and he's got a twin sister."

"How do you know so much about people?" Heather asked curiously.

"I just do," said Anna. "My sister's in eleventh grade, so I kind of find out about people."

Heather looked on at the scene as Snotlout and his cronies tried to steal the boy's lunch. Heather felt sorry for Hiccup, but she didn't know what she could do. By what Anna and Rapunzel had said, this was a common occurrence. But that didn't make her feel any less angry. She abruptly stood up from the table.

"Where are you going?" Rapunzel asked.

"I'm going to put a stop to this," said Heather, marching over to the boys.

"Heather!" Anna called after her. But there was no stopping Heather.

"Hey!" said Heather, approaching Snotlout.

"Oh, hey," said Snotlout. "And no - I won't go out eight you."

"That's a bit cocky," said Heather. "I wasn't even asking."

"Oh," said Snotlout, unfazed. "Most girls do."

"Well I'm not most girls," said Heather. "What do you think you're doing?"

Snotlout laughed. "What does it look like?" he said. "Are you thick or something?"

"No," said Heather, "I'm not."

"Hey guys, what's up?" Tuffnut approached the group, pulling his beanie back over his lanky hair. He looked over the scene, taking it in. "Hey, Heather right?" he asked. "Nice to see you again."

"Are you friends with him?" Heather demanded, nodding towards Snotlout.

"Yeah, why?" Tuffnut asked.

"Can't you see he's beating this guy up?" Heather exclaimed.

"Yeah, it happens every day," said Tuffnut absently.

Heather took a step closer to him and slapped him right across his left cheek. It made quite a loud noise, attracting the attention of part of the cafeteria. "You can act like you don't care," she said, "But by doing so, you're just being a jerk."

"Feisty one here, eh, Tuff?" Snotlout laughed.

Heather turned to him then. "And you," she said. "What do you have to say for yourself, Snotlout?"

"That's cool that you know my name," said Snotlout, smirking. "You know, you're not so bad looking. How about I take you out? I'll leave the guy alone."

Heather looked him in the eye and swung her fist up to his face. It collided, causing Snotlout to stumble back, and Heather to clench her stinging fist in pain. "You leave him alone!" she said.

Snotlout stood over her, though being short they were about the same height. "You're gonna regret that, girl," he said, a menacing look in his eyes.

By now the whole cafeteria was watching. And then Mr. North came in to break it up before Heather and Snotlout started fighting. "You're in detention, I'm afraid," he said to Heather.

"But he was doing the bullying!" Heather objected.

"And you were doing the hitting," said Mr. North gently. "My room after school please. Better not to get in trouble with Principle."

Heather nodded, giving a heavy sigh. She looked over at Snotlout and Tuffnut and the others, who had walked off to find their table. She wasn't sure if it had all been worth it. She looked down at the blood on her knuckles, wincing as she flexed her hand.

Mr. North had left the cafeteria too, and Heather stood there. She glanced over at Hiccup, who was shoving his belongings back into his bag. Without even looking at her, he started to scurry off.

"Not even a thank you?" Heather called after him.

"You shouldn't have hit Snotlout," said Hiccup, turning to face her. "You're really going to regret that."

"Maybe," said Heather.

"Why would you stand up for me anyway?" Hiccup asked.

"I don't know," said Heather. "I saw you and I just- I just did, okay?"

Hiccup shook his head. "Thank you anyway," he said, "But I can stand up for myself! I don't need you to, so don't do it again."

"Yeah, you didn't need any help." Heather rolled her eyes.

"You'll become a target for Snotlout, believe me," said Hiccup. He sighed. "I've gotta go."

Heather watched him walk off before returning to her table.

"Why would you do that?!" Anna exclaimed.

"He needed help." Heather shrugged.

Rapunzel sighed. "What happened to 'don't mess with the Populars'?"

"I guess it didn't work out," Heather replied.

The other two sighed.

Later that day, after detention, Heather walked out of the school. All in all, her day had been a mixed one. At least she had gotten a detention with one of the nicer teachers – Mr. North. It could've been much worse, she reassured herself.

"You pack a neat slap."

Heather looked up to see Tuffnut standing against the doors. "Thanks," she muttered. "You deserved it."

Surprisingly, Tuffnut grinned at her and walked beside her. "I guess I did," he said. "How was your first day? Get lost?"

"Not much," said Heather. "I made a few friends."

"That's funny," said Tuffnut.

"Why?" Heather asked indignantly.

Tuffnut shrugged. "You didn't seem like the 'making friends' type when I met you," he said.

"First impressions aren't everything," said Heather.

Tuffnut laughed. "That sure is true," he said. "I thought you were the 'lost rabbit' , but I think you're more the lion."

"Do you always talk in metaphors?" Heather asked, chuckling slightly.

"Sometimes," said Tuffnut.

Heather rolled her eyes. Maybe Tuffnut wasn't as bad as Snotlout after all.