This chapter is short, because I wanted to end their detention stuff and get into the high school part, but didn't want to shove the high school part into this chapter either.
"Do ye know how long it'll take mah to wash this out?" Merida grumbled to Hiccup, irritably tangling her fingers in her hair. "Forever, laddie."
"I'm sorry-" Hiccup sighed. "I forgot the vent had air conditioning."
"You have it all over your pants, Hiccup," Rapunzel scolded, and brushed at his jeans with her nimble fingers. "That'll take a wash to get out."
"Who cares if they've got junk all over themselves," Jack said. "Say, Merida, I found this interesting note in the chemistry classroom- Who's Macintosh?" He flashed the note he had taken to Merida, and Merida quit her attentions towards her hair in shock.
"Give mah that!" she screeched, reaching for the paper. Much like he had done to Rapunzel, Jack held it tantalizingly out of her reach. As a response, instead of Rapunzel's struggle, Merida simply kneed him in the groin, hard.
"Argh!" Jack doubled over in pain, and Merida mercilessly snatched her note. Hiccup stifled a laugh, but Rapunzel was worried.
"Are you okay, Jack?!" she panicked, and grabbed Jack by the waist, squeezing the boy. "Are you hurt?"
"Just his pride," Hiccup couldn't bite back the laugh that sprouted from his lips.
"Damn-" Jack gripped Rapunzel's arms and lifted himself up from his fetal position. "You hit hard, Princess. Almost as hard as a boy." Oh, he was asking for it. He was so asking for it. Merida was fit to burst, and Rapunzel quickly hugged Jack, trying to protect him from the angry Scot's wrath.
Before they could do anything, however, a squeaky, jingling sound filled their ears.
"Do you hear that?" Hiccup said, and Merida lowered her hand. Rapunzel slowly let go of Jack, straining to hear along them. The realization suddenly hit hard: it was the janitor.
"Run for it, run for it now," Jack hissed. Grabbing Rapunzel's hand, he yanked her towards the nearest hallway. Hiccup and Merida ran right after him, the wheels of the janitor looming closer.
"Where are we going?" Hiccup panted, already out of breath as he caught up with the others.
"Gym," Jack said quickly. "Then we'll go to the detention room; he'll never suspect anything went wrong."
"Ye've got his keys, dumbass," Merida rolled her eyes. "O' course he'll know somethin' went wrong!"
"Uh, forgot about that," Jack said. "Well, let's just drop 'em here and he'll find them eventually. But we've got to hide." He dropped the keys and they crashed loudly, causing his companions to wince. The squeaky jingling stopped, seeing as the janitor had paused.
And that was how the four kids in detention ran as fast as their legs would carry them into the gym.
"Can't- breathe-" Rapunzel panted, her chest heaving as Jack slammed the door shut behind them.
"That was close," Jack said, locking it from the inside. "He almost got us."
"No thanks tae ye," Merida muttered sourly. "How do we get back tae that stupid classroom anyway?"
"We can go out the back," Hiccup suggested, pointing at a door. The four of them raced to get to this door, and Merida shoved it hard.
"Pull, not push," Hiccup said helpfully, and turned the doorknob. Merida only gave him a sheepish smile in return. Jack and Rapunzel exchanged quick okay-what-happened-here looks. After all, Merida was quick to nearly rip the head off of anyone who proved her wrong.
Hiccup had opened the door, peeked outside, and waved for the others to follow him. The three of them followed the brunette boy outside, and found themselves out in the basketball courts.
"The detention room is down this way," Jack pointed at a nearby classroom. "Right in-" He paused and turned to the gates that shielded the courts. "Shit." They all followed his gaze to a sleek black car parking.
"Who's is that of?" Rapunzel asked curiously.
"Pitch is back," Jack said. "Shit, shit, shit."
"Run!" Rapunzel shrieked. The three of them were running- again- this time from Pitch. Jack yanked opened the detention classroom's door, and the four of them ran inside.
"That was so close," Hiccup panted, but he couldn't help it, he smiled. Merida, before she could stop herself, caught Hiccup in a tight hug.
"Very close," Merida breathed, also laughing as she squeezed him.
"Oh my God," Rapunzel said, laughing uncontrollably as she leaned against the wall. "That was fun!"
"That was fun?" Jack shared her giddiness, grinning.
"So much fun!" Rapunzel tossed her arms around Jack's neck, giggling. Jack looked surprised at her contact, but hesitantly hugged her back. Toothless came from a corner, mewling at being left behind.
"Hey bud," Hiccup said. Merida let go of him, and Hiccup scooped up his kitten in his arms. "I'm sorry we were gone for so long, but-"
"Guys," Rapunzel interrupted, her arms still linked around Jack. "Is that Mr. Black coming closer?"
"It is!" Merida's voice rose up in panic. The four of them scrambled into their seats just as Pitch Black popped into the room.
Striding with his usual air of confidence, Pitch eyed them all warily before stepping behind his desk again. The kids had all gotten out things to be working on, but Pitch knew that something was up. Hiccup, for example, kept closing his backpack and keeping it far too close to himself.
"Haddock," Pitch said the dreaded words. "Give me your bag."
"M-My what?" Hiccup stammered, clutching the pack protectively.
"Your backpack," Pitch narrowed his eyes. "Now. Unless you'd like another month's detention, which I'm sure Frost would be ecstatic about, seeing as he spends all of his time in here without company." Hiccup hesitantly handed his backpack over to Pitch, letting the teacher snatch it.
"Now, let's see what you're hiding, Haddock," Pitch said, unzipping the compartment slowly and enjoying the tortured look on Hiccup's face. "Drugs, perhaps? Illegal substances?" Jack had the most idiotic oh-this-is-going-to-be-good look on his face, but Rapunzel was horrified, as was Hiccup. Merida was hiding the impulse to laugh.
Pitch unzipped the rest of the backpack off and ripped open the bag. A tiny bundle of black fur popped out to attack him.
"ARGH!" Pitch whirled around ad Toothless's tiny claws clung to the older man's face. "Get it off! What is this?" Fumbling around, Pitch managed to get Toothless off of his face- and promptly slipped in cat pee and crashed headfirst into the wall; Toothless's claws slinking into his shirt.
Jack was the first person to laugh. And laugh he did. The chuckling started low but steadily raised as Pitch attempted to pry the kitten off of his clothing. Slowly, Merida joined in the laughter. Rapunzel couldn't help it, she emitted a low giggle. Even Hiccup finally began to find the situation hilarious.
"You, boy-" Pitch growled, finally getting the cat off of himself and advanced towards Hiccup. "Are in such trouble- detention for two months-"
"It wasn't his fault," Jack said, before Hiccup could say anything. "I put the cat in his backpack." Pitch turned his rage on Jack next, frowning.
"You-" he snarled. "Detention for two months. The principal will hear about this."
"Great," Jack didn't even flinch. "Here, Hiccup. You can keep the cat in your backpack for today."
"He shall do no such thing," Pitch snarled. Jack smirked.
"Well, Pitch, I didn't peg you as an animal hater," he said. Rapunzel inhaled sharply at that, and Pitch's amber eyes flickered to her briefly before refocusing on Jack.
"The cat can stay," Pitch growled, and Toothless scampered to Hiccup's legs.
Thus detention stretched on into a few more hours in general silence.
"I thought that would never end," Rapunzel giggled as the four emerged from the classroom.
"Time passes pretty quickly for me, actually," Jack admitted.
"Fer ye," Merida seemed in better spirits then when she had first arrived. "That's the longest ah've ever gone without mah phone."
"Same here," Hiccup laughed ruefully, petting Toothless. Wandering outside to the parking lot, the four of them awkwardly faced one another.
"So-" Rapunzel asked. "What next?"
"What do you mean, what next?" Jack asked. "Nothing really changes, Punz- on Monday you'll forget about me, you'll ignore Hiccup, and Merida is just that random chick in your P.E. class." Rapunzel, before she could stop herself, planted a quick kiss on Jack's cheek. Jack's face bloomed a bright pink at her kiss.
"I won't forget you," Rapunzel promised solemnly. "Any of you," she added, turning to Merida and Hiccup. And then she tossed her arms around the three of them, pulling them closer to herself in a group hug.
Squashed between Rapunzel and Hiccup, his nose in Rapunzel's lilac-scented locks, Jack felt oddly happy for once in his lifetime. It was the first time someone had given him in a hug for quite a while- and he liked it. Hiccup also felt at ease with the other three, with Toothless snuggling under Rapunzel's chin and Merida's hand gripping his shirt. Even Jack's cold body relaxed against Hiccup.
Rapunzel hadn't felt this glad before. It was an actual bubble that surrounded her as she kept both arms locked around Jack and Merida, feeling like they could have an actual bond. Merida's experience with the hug was bipolar; she didn't usually hug. But this time, it just felt right. The four of them hugging in the parking lot felt like the start of something new.
They separated somewhat reluctantly, releasing one another's arms and stepping apart. The honk of a car's horn snapped them all out of their daydreams, and the clunky blue car responsible for that sound drove up.
"Get in the car Hiccup," an older man sporting a long blond mustache and even longer hair grinned. "Stoick's waitin' fer ya."
"I've- got to go," Hiccup said apologetically. "But- er- guys?" Merida, Rapunzel and Jack all waited for his next words expectantly. Hiccup felt his face flush but mustered the courage to say his next words. "I won't forget either." Then he opened the passenger door of the car and was gone, just like that, him and his kitten.
"Ah ought tae go," Merida said next, watching as Hiccup and his companion drove away. "Mum makes a fuss if ah'm not home in time fer lunch." Fishing a bundle of keys from her pocket, she unlocked an expensive and sleek Porsche parked nearby. Jack whistled.
"She's a beaut," he admired the car's shining exterior. Merida smiled, but didn't reply with a retort like she usually would.
"Ah promise not tae forget yeh guys either," Merida said. "Even if we're laughed at o' somethin' worse." Jack nodded his agreement and Rapunzel beamed. Merida got into her car, started the ignition, and offered her two new friends a smile- something so rare in her- before leaving.
Alone, Jack and Rapunzel stared until Merida turned the corner.
"Jack?" Rapunzel asked tentatively. "Do you think the four of us will still... You know..."
"Yup," Jack said.
"But- how do you know?" Rapunzel asked. Jack chuckled, and laid a hand on Rapunzel's shoulder.
"Trust me- there's no way the four of us can go through all of that and not be friends," he said, and Rapunzel shared his smile.
"I guess I should be going too," Rapunzel said finally. "I walk home."
"And I skateboard home," Jack smiled. "See ya, Punz." Taking an old wooden skateboard plastered with snowflake stickers, he moved away like a surfer would. Rapunzel waved after him, and then went on her own way home.
Jack was right. They were all friends now. And now they could change some things around the school.
Next chapter will be written soon- and I promise that the chapters after this one will be longer.