High school part, like finally! This one's longer, and still going to be cut up into two parts. Thanks so much for the support on the last chapter. :) Also, if you read any of my other stories, so sorry that those aren't being updated. You see, I feel good about this one so it's easier to get started on. I hope it's acceptable to read- I'm so unoriginal and out of practice and it's sickening-
"Sloppy Joe day!" a lunch lady wearing a greasy apron and an unflattering hairnet brandished a silver ladle of runny brown mush. Rapunzel grimaced at it. She wasn't a huge fan of meat, and even less of a fan of the lunch served. Still, Rapunzel let the woman pile it onto a wheat bun and moved along in the lunch line.
"Vegetable and a fruit," another lunch lady told Rapunzel kindly, indicating a selection on the lunch bar. Rapunzel took a salad and an orange, placing those next to her Sloppy Joe. Finishing her lunch with a Jell-O and a carton of milk, Rapunzel paid for it with a few dollar bills, pocketed the change carelessly, and walked into the cafeteria wondering where she was going to sit.
Her first choice was originally the cheerleaders's table. All of her friends were there, the girls who Rapunzel practiced with. One of her friends, Mavis, caught Rapunzel's eye and waved her over, pointing at a seat between her and the captain of the baseball team. Rapunzel smiled at her politely, moving towards that empty chair, but her eyes strayed over to another nearby table. Flynn was there, seated between his two best friends, these two burly redheaded twins, and a few other guys. Rapunzel was unsure about joining her boyfriend, however, the two of them didn't usually interact in front of his "uber-cool gang friends."
Rapunzel decided the safe choice was her usual table with the other cheerleaders, but an almost empty table caught her eye. Its only occupant was a boy with bleached, pale hair.
"Hi Jack!" Rapunzel plopped her lunch tray in front of the boy with a smile. Jack looked up at her in surprise as Rapunzel pulled the chair across from him back and took a seat.
"Punz," Jack finally let a smile grace his face just like hers. "Guess you were serious about not forgetting me."
"Why do you sit alone?" Rapunzel asked curiously. "You mentioned you were friends with Ana, and with a few other people. Why not sit with them?"
"They're great, they are," Jack said distractedly, "But I ask them to leave me by myself most of the time. I'm kind of a loner like that."
"You don't get lonely?" Rapunzel asked.
"Uh-" Jack inhaled, considering that question. "Not really." Rapunzel watched Jack carefully for a few seconds before looking down to her lunch.
"I know I could never do that," Rapunzel admitted. "My mother doesn't like me to talk to anyone when I'm at home- I guess that's why I'm a bit too social for my own good at school." She flashed Jack a brilliant grin, one Jack couldn't resist but smile back to.
"Too nice," he shook his head. "Far too nice."
"Aren't you going to eat?" Rapunzel switched to a new topic, seeing as Jack only had a few notebooks splayed around him and a soda.
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Have you seen the lunch?" he snorted. "No way." Rapunzel giggled, opening her Jell-O can rather than even try the main course. Because Jack did have a point.
In the line, Hiccup fished around in his pocket for the five dollar bill his father had given him to pay for his lunch. Finding it, along with a marble, he payed for his lunch and then walked into the cafeteria. The dreaded social scene for anyone like him.
"Watch it, nerd," a boy slammed into Hiccup, and it took all of Hiccup's willpower to keep his eyes downcast and tighten the grip on his tray.
"Aren't you going to say anything, nerd?" the boy continued to taunt, and shoved Hiccup harder. "Don't you talk?" Hiccup resisted the urge to speak up. He'd just give the guy what he wanted. He did, however, look up at the boy and glare at him. The boy's curly raven-colored hair and piercing blue eyes snakily grinned back.
"Macintosh," a familiar biting voice cut in. Hiccup looked up to see Merida, who seemed to have just come out of P.E. Curly hair tied up in a ponytail, Spandex shorts, tennis shoes and a basketball jersey indicated that. Hiccup found himself thinking she was pretty- again.
"Merida, babe," Macintosh kept his eyes far too long on the redhead's body before traveling up towards her face. "Did you come looking for me?" Merida's features twisted into one of disgust, and clamped a hand protectively on Hiccup's shoulder.
"Leave him alone," she said clearly. "Or ye'll regret it. Are we clear on that?" Macintosh frowned, clearly not expecting this.
"I was just havin' some fun with him," he huffed. "What have you got up your ass?"
"Bastard," Merida snarled, tightening her grip on Hiccup. "Stay away, Macintosh. Or yer dad'll be the first tae know all about what ye did last weekend."
"You wouldn't dare," Macintosh dismissed her blackmailing threat. "You're my girlfriend now Dunbroch- surely your precious mum reminds you of that all the time."
"Want tae bet?" Merida growled. "Stay in line, Macintosh- don' even talk tae mah friends."
"He's your friend?!" Macintosh laughed brazenly. "Ha!" Merida pulled Hiccup by the arm after her, muttering something about a stupid prick.
"Hey, um, thanks," Hiccup said somewhat shyly.
"Macintosh is just a-" Merida shook her head angrily. "Ugh."
"Is he your- boyfriend?" Hiccup asked.
"Er-" Merida thought it over. "It's complicated." Spotting Hiccup's lunch tray, she looked around herself. "Ye ought to go an' eat now, laddie- go find some o' yer friends."
"You already ate?" Hiccup asked. Merida shook her head.
"Ah've got tae go and get lunch still," she said. "Say, is that-" She pointed suddenly at a table, where Jack and Rapunzel laughed with one another.
"Yeah," Hiccup's face lit up in a smile. "Do you want to-?"
"Might as well," Merida said, her own face smiling.
"What! No!" Rapunzel was laughing at something Jack said when Merida and Hiccup caught up to them. "He actually did that?"
"Yup. Man, Sandy got him good," Jack chuckled at the distant memory. "Pretending to die, and letting Pitch think he killed him- the look on his face was priceless."
"That's so wrong!" Rapunzel squealed with laughter, clasping her hands to her mouth. The two of them noticed Merida and Hiccup standing over them right at that moment, and their laughter subsided happily.
"Hey," Jack tilted his head towards them in greeting. "Princess. Hiccup." Merida rolled her eyes but refrained from saying an insulting name right back.
"Alright if we join ye two?" Merida asked.
"Totally!" Rapunzel exclaimed eagerly, like a valley girl would, patting a seat next to her. Merida sat by Rapunzel, and Hiccup took a vacant seat next to Jack.
"How is it, reflecting back in school with the detention fresh in your minds?" Jack asked, smirking.
"Well-" Rapunzel laughed nervously. "Mother was pretty mad that it ran late- mainly because I hadn't told her I had gotten detention."
"Ye didn't tell her?" Merida said, surprised. "What'dja tell her then?"
"Said I was meeting a mandatory study group," Rapunzel said, forcing a smile. "She didn't seem to buy it though."
"Hmph," Merida said. "If ah told mah mum that, she'd think ah was barkin' mad. Ah had tae tell her about the detention- but she gave mah this long lecture about bein' a lady, and that a lady does nae get detention. Ugh."
"Well, at least your parents are unhappy that you got detention," Hiccup huffed. "When I told my dad, it's as if he won the lottery or something. He told me that I was finally becoming a man, and that this was a good sign. He thinks I beat a kid up or something." The table burst into laughter at that.
"Ooh-" Merida said, hiding a snort. "If only mah mum was like yer dad- Mah own dad just looked at mah like he knew ah was goin' tae get the detention already."
"I can picture my mother saying something like that-" Rapunzel said breathlessly, rebounding from her peals of laughter. Even Jack was chuckling, shaking his head in mock despair.
"You? Beat a kid up?" he said. "Even I know that's impossible."
"Haha," Hiccup said dryly. "You guys are hilarious."
"We're just kidding, Hiccup," Rapunzel reached across the table and squeezed Hiccup's hand in her own.
"What about ye, Frosty the Snowman?" Merida asked, crossing her arms.
"...What about me?" Jack asked.
"What's yer parents reaction tae ye gettin' detention?" Merida shot back.
"They were cool with it," Jack shrugged, but avoided looking at any of them. "I mean... they're used to me getting detention all the time."
"Oh," Rapunzel said awkwardly, seeing that he looked crestfallen. She could tell that this was a sore subject with him. Even Hiccup could. Merida, however, wasn't as vague nor did she catch on.
"Really?" Merida snorted. "Mah parents would never be that acceptin'... are ye sure?" Before she could keep talking, however, Rapunzel gave her arm a quick pinch. "Oi!" Merida said in surprise, pulling her arm away. "What was that fer?"
"Nothing, sorry," Rapunzel faked a smile. "Er- did any of you guys understand the English homework?"
"No," Merida said, giving Rapunzel an are-you-joking look. "Aren't ye in English Honors?"
"Yes-" Rapunzel's face flushed. "Sorry, you guys aren't?"
"I am," Hiccup said. "What didn't you understand?" Rapunzel's face lit up.
"Here, on the syllabus she gave us!" Rapunzel flourished a paper and brought up a book with it. "For the novel.."
Seeing as Rapunzel and Hiccup were stuck in an English flurry, Jack and Merida decided to strike up a conversation.
"How's that boyfriend of yours?" Jack asked.
"If yer makin' fun o' him, ah'll kill ye," Merida snapped.
"Please. You don't even like him," Jack said. "I saw you crying the other day, running from him." Merida looked shocked at this turn of events.
"Ah wasn' cryin'," she said, but looked skeptical of what Jack had seen. "Why?"
"I'm not blind," Jack said. "You don't have to be embarrassed; I just noticed one day."
"Don't mention that," Merida hissed, giving Jack a death glare. "That's not fer ye to be gettin' mixed up in."
"Excuse me if I'm trying to be a good person and help you out," Jack said. "It's what any guy would do."
"Look," Merida said angrily, "Ye don't even know me. Stay out o' it." She stood up, her chair scraping noisily.
"Merida?" Rapunzel looked up from the book she and Hiccup had between them.
"Ah've got tae go," Merida said, her eyes flickering towards another table, this one laden with girls from the soccer team. "Ah'll see ye later." She marched away angrily, her red hair bouncing over she shoulders.
Hiccup and Rapunzel exchanged looks of confusion, but Jack simply brooded silently. That was the main reason he didn't have friends, because they were never really his friends. Not when they knew what he was actually like.
"Ready? Okay!" a group of girls chanted on the field in unison. Rapunzel supervised it all as team captain, squinting to see the formation they had built up through the sun.
"Toothiana," Rapunzel called up to the very top of the pyramid attempt. "Try and be a little lighter on your arms- you look stiff." Toothiana let her arms slouch a bit more. "Perfect!"
"Uff-Ah-" Rapunzel's friend Mavis muttered to herself, looking unsteady on a male cheerleader's shoulders. What was his name? Once-ler, she believed. Either way, he needed to straighten her out.
"Mavis needs a hand up there," Rapunzel called. Once-ler placed a hand on Mavis's shin, helping her retrieve her balance. "Guys, it looks great!" Rapunzel beamed. "Take a five." The pyramid disassembled immediately, the boys and girls that made it up scattering over the green field.
A pair of hands covered Rapunzel's eyes just as that happened, and Rapunzel squeaked eagerly.
"Guess who?" a husky voice sounded at her ear. Rapunzel couldn't stop the grin that broke across her face, recognizing that voice.
"Flynn," she laughed, "I know that's you." The hands dropped, and a pair of lips pecked her cheek.
"None other," Flynn Rider, her charming boyfriend, grinned. "I'd better be the only one, too."
"Who'd take your place?" Rapunzel leaned against him, and Flynn wrapped her in his arms.
"Almost done with practice?" Flynn kissed the top of his girlfriend's head.
"Not yet," Rapunzel smiled, gripping his forearms with her hands. "Want to watch? Their pyramid looks so good."
Another kiss was plastered on her head. "Can't. Me and the guys were heading out," Flynn said. "I was hoping you'd come."
"You know I can't," Rapunzel sighed. "Mother expects me to be home right after practice, so in another thirty minutes. She's still mad about me 'studying'."
"I forgot to ask.. How was detention?" Flynn asked. "Was it a bore? I'm sure it was just you and that one kid who always spends his time there."
"You mean Jack?" Rapunzel's interest was peaked.
"Yeah, him. The bastard threw water on me last week," Flynn frowned, his tone turning angry. "He got detention, but I bet he just lives in there."
"He told me he'd thrown water on someone!" Rapunzel giggled. "That was you?" Instead of laughing along with her, however, Flynn just growled in anger.
"Why are you talking to that loser?" he asked. "You're better than that. Better than him." Rapunzel got offended at the comment, and pulled away from her boyfriend.
"It's none of your business who I talk to," she said firmly. "And I'm sure it was a mistake. He didn't seem like the type to do that."
"Sure," Flynn snapped, "He saw me coming and chose to throw a bucketful of water at my face. It was completely an accident."
"I don't want to argue with you," Rapunzel's face softened, choosing to let it go. Flynn's hard expression melted.
"You're right. I'm sorry," he said, and took his girlfriend's hand. "Sure you can't blow off practice?"
Rapunzel glanced around hesitantly. The squad was busy, grabbing water and chatting away.
"I suppose we can end early," Rapunzel shrugged. Turning to the crowd next to her, she cleared her throat loudly. Everyone turned to look at her. "Practice is over, everybody!"
"Already?" Mavis' surprised voice rose from the crowd. "We barely practiced!"
"You guys are doing so great, and-" Rapunzel failed lamely, struggling to find the right words. "Practice next week, same time."
"Finally," Flynn breathed, wrapping an arm around Rapunzel's shoulders. The rest of the cheerleaders finally got the message into their heads, and had started to leave and pick up their bags.
"Where are you guys going?" Rapunzel asked, as Flynn guided her towards his car, a white vehicle that he'd nicknamed Maximus.
"The Snuggly Duckling," Flynn said casually, opening the passenger door for his girlfriend.
"The-" Rapunzel's face blanched at the mere mention of the place. It was a typical hangout for thugs and gangs.
"It's not that bad," Flynn promised. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, I'll stay with you the entire time. The guys don't even have to sit with us."
"No, it's just-" Rapunzel squeaked nervously, and cleared her throat again to give an air of confidence. "Just that I have to get home in another hour, and-"
"We'll leave by then," Flynn assured her. Finally, Rapunzel slid into the passenger seat, Flynn going to the driver's side.
"You're sure?" Rapunzel asked as she buckled up.
"Positive," Flynn said, and gave her such an attractive smile that she didn't push anymore on the subject.
"So, this is the new team," Gobber, the captain of the wrestling team, said with a smile. Gobber was an old family friend of Hiccup's, and it had taken a lot of persuasion and pleading on both Hiccup and his father Stoick's part to get Hiccup into the team.
Hiccup, inside the regulation wrestling wear, eyed his team anxiously. There was Snotlout Jorgenson, his cousin. Then there was Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston, two twins that were ruthless. Fishlegs Ingerman, a friend of Hiccup's and clumsy. Hiccup had persuaded him to try out for the team with him. Then, finally, there was Astrid Hofferson. A blond beauty that radiated confidence and a don't-fuck-with-me aura.
"Pair up according to weight!" Gobber said. "So, if the weights you gave me were correct, the pairs are as follows: Hiccup and Astrid, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Snotlout and Fishlegs."
Hiccup gulped. Astrid was skinny, and was as lanky as he was, but the hard glare on her face was not an indication of a typical girl. The rest paired off, and faced their partner on a mat. When Astrid faced Hiccup, she continued to glare. It was scaring Hiccup.
"On my whistle, yer going to pin the other person down on the mat. That way I see the weaker links I'm going to need to straighten out," Gobber said. "Go!" A sharp sound that sprouted from a silver whistle hanging on his thick neck set everyone off.
Hiccup sized up his opponent, but she never let her guard down. They paced around one another for a few seconds, before she pounced. Hiccup had the wind knocked out of him as Astrid's thin arms pinned his down on the mat. Her knees were on his forearms, and her blond braid swept over her shoulder, brushing Hiccup's forehead.
Hiccup winced in pain. Why, of all things, did their school sponsor a mixed wrestling team? He'd just been beaten. By a girl. If it was a guy, he'd at least still have some integrity left.
Astrid didn't even speak. She just sat there, letting her bottom rest on Hiccup's chest and waited for Gobber to come. Hiccup didn't even attempt to struggle. He just laid his head back on the mat and prayed Gobber wouldn't tell his dad.
"Alright, alright!" Gobber called. "Ruffnut, I said to pin him down. Not to punch him repeatedly."
"He started it," the girl twin huffed. Craning his neck, Hiccup caught a glance of the two twins. Tuffnut clutched a hand to his bleeding nose, the red dripping off of his chin. Ruffnut didn't even look harmed, she simply stood there with her arms crossed.
"Alright, lad, get on to the nurse," Gobber sighed, and sent Tuffnut away. "Snotlout, good work- Fishlegs, you're going to need to work on your balance. You weigh more than Snotlout, and he still took you down. Work on that, shall we?" Fishlegs nodded weakly, still pinned down by Snotlout's arms.
"Astrid," Gobber moved on with appreciation in his voice. "Well done." Astrid hopped off of Hiccup, tossing her braid back over her shoulder and strutting away with a swagger. Hiccup groaned as he rose, rubbing his arm.
"Hiccup-" Gobber gave him a hard jab in the shoulder. "We're going to need to work on those muscles."
"Argh," Hiccup whined. "Alright."
"Not bad, not bad for the first time-" Gobber said. "Oh- do we have a spectator?" They all turned to view who had been watching. Merida stood there, still in her gym clothing, still looking flawless as she stood next to the bleachers.
"Sorry," Merida said, her eyes flickering towards Hiccup. "Am ah not supposed tae watch?"
"Of course you can, lassie," Gobber said kindly. "Thinking of joining?" Merida shook her head.
"That's not mah thing-" she said. "Actually ah shouldn' stay. Er- bye Hiccup." She directed the last part towards Hiccup, jutting her chin out. Hiccup was so surprised, her could only wave dazedly in her direction.
Merida scampered off, her hair bouncing much like it had done when she had run out earlier in the cafeteria.
"That's your girlfriend?" Snotlout sounded so surprised, jaw open. From beside him, Astrid snorted.
"That's not his girlfriend," she said sharply. "She's dating Macintosh."
"Yeah, that makes much more sense," Snotlout laughed, edging closer to Astrid. She moved away from him.
"Alright, kids, how about a round two?" Gobber raised the whistle to his lips. "Same partners- except for you, Ruffnut, you'll have to sit this one out- on my whistle."
They all positioned themselves on the mats again. Hiccup noticed Astrid's glare wasn't as hard as before, instead, she was examining him as if she had never seen him before. It still wasn't kind, however.
The whistle resonated throughout the room sharply again. Hiccup groaned inwardly. Here it came- he didn't make the first move and let his arms fall to his side helplessly.
Astrid advanced on him scarily.