Hey guys! How's it hanging o faithful readers? I've been good. Summer and all that. I'm sorry it took me a little while to get this one up! I just wanted to make sure I didn't make too many mistakes on this piece-of-crap story of mine. Anywho, I do NOT own HTTYD or any characters used in this story! Remember to read and review, and if you have any comments or ideas, you can PM me! Here goes!
After the newspaper guy - uh… Hiccup, had turned the corner, Astrid had stood in the hallway for a good five minutes, leaning against the tiled wall and gnawing furiously on her lip while considering why she had never heard of this guy before.
She stood out in the hallway until Ruffnut poked her head out the gym door and yelled at her, bringing her back to Earth with the realization that she had a team to practice with and prepare for a big game. She had jogged back inside and started a simple rerun of their plays, but she just couldn't stop thinking about Hiccup.
She tried to force it out of her mind, like she usually did with things when she played basketball. Usually, whatever was haunting her head at the moment dissipated like an ice cube under hot water, and there was only her, her team, and the ball.
But for some odd reason, Hiccup Haddock was determined to stick with her.
Throughout practice, the auburn-haired newspaper geek flashed through her mind no matter if she was perfecting her layup form, shooting free-throws, or running herself into the ground. As practice finished, and her team limped into a circle to discuss times getting places and how bad they'd kick the Warriors' asses the next day, her head was somewhere else.
She grunted in frustration as the team dispersed with a half-hearted cheer and tried to get this shrimpy nerd out of her head. Why does she care so much about a guy she's never even met before? She quickly went down to the locker room and retrieved her blue and black duffel bag from her locker, still considering why she was so hung up on this fishbone-of-a reporter.
She pushed past several tired and drooping seniors, who were busily chugging down some Gatorades, before tromping up the stairs and heading swiftly for the exit. As she trudged out the gym doors and then the school's main entrance, realization hit her like a basketball to the face - all of a sudden and in a somewhat painful fashion.
"That's it…" she muttered as she walked cautiously through the cold Berk air to her car. "I don't know him."
And, truthfully, that's what stung the girl the most out of everything.
She had gone to school with the boy for almost 12 full years and she never bothered to talk to him, much less learn his name. She may be a popular athlete, but she's not a cliche heartless popular athlete.
She half-heartedly kicked at a clump of frozen dirt as she walked, warily eyeing the frost beginning to accumulate on the sidewalk. She pondered the fact that Hiccup did seem a tad familiar as she reached her car, a midnight blue Mustang that she got from her grandfather.
Anyway, back on the Hiccup subject, she didn't know, quite honestly. She let out a frustrated, muttered grunt and a pathetic shiver as she unlocked her driver's side door and hurriedly clambered in, haphazardly tossing her bag into the passenger's seat. She quickly shut the door and rubbed her hands together, trying to regain some feeling in the partially frozen appendages.
The thought that she couldn't remember him hurt her more than it should've, seeing as he was a nerd and she was a star athlete, but it did nonetheless. She gave herself a five-count, sucking in deep breaths of air and exhaling in exasperated puffs, before she jammed her key into the ignition and twisted it, causing the engine to purr to life.
She shook her head and decided to force her mind from Hiccup to driving, so she wouldn't end up crushed in a ditch.
Wouldn't be the best way to end a Wednesday night, would it?
Hiccup couldn't believe that he actually got to talk to Astrid Hofferson.
He had shaken Astrid Hofferson's hand.
He had made Astrid Hofferson smile.
The boy was in his own personal paradise as he snagged his backpack from his locker and dashed out the door, the warmth in his chest successfully combating the cold Berk winds as he scrambled into his rusty red pickup truck and drove off.
As he drove, he had to constantly remind himself to focus on the road, and not how Astrid's hands fit almost perfectly in his, and how deft and strong her fingers were, while still managing to be delicate and gentle, and how alluring her dazzling cerulean irises were when she smiled, (even if it was a slight, meager grin,) and how her sandy blonde hair was pulled back into a perfectly imperfect braid, and -...
He had to swerve back onto the road as his hands relaxed and his arms wilted at the thought of the goddess-of-a-high-school-senior that had him completely smitten. He shook his head at his stupid thoughts and groaned softly to himself and his pathetic, unrealistic intoxication.
He trained his eyes on the road in front of him as he slumped back in his seat, gnawing on his lip distractedly. He sat like that the rest of the way to his home, trying yet ultimately failing to think of anything else but his hopeless love life. He eased into his massive driveway and gazed upon his looming house with a sort of unease building in his chest.
He hesitated only a moment before he swiftly unbuckled and shoved his keys into his pocket. He leapt out of his car and stumbled towards his house with an undignified yelp and several clumsy slips due to the already-forming ice particles against the concrete.
When he reached the front door, he flung it open almost too eagerly and floundered inside, unceremoniously slamming it shut behind him. He sighed ruefully at the cold and slid his shoes off, slinging his backpack over one shoulder right before he heard a loud, resounding bark.
He braced himself for impact as a large, black Alaskan Malamute barreled into the entryway, tackling Hiccup with a gleeful whimper. The auburn-haired teen grunted as he was mercilessly thrown to the hardwood, a large, wet, warm tongue caressing his cheeks and nose.
"Augh!" he groaned, giving the large beast's muzzle a scratch. "Good to see you too Toothless!"
The obviously toothful (so to speak) dog gave his master's chin a final lick before leaping off him, meandering off to go chew on a squeaky toy or struggle to get some table scraps or something dog-like like that.
Hiccup pushed himself up, wiping the dog drool on his cheek onto the sleeve of his button-up before he ambled precariously through his house, bee-lining it for the stairs the first chance he got and hoping to every god imaginable that his parents didn't hear him come in. He scoffed at his hope, realizing that Toothless's bark most likely alerted his entire neighborhood and all of Southern China that he had arrived, let alone his own household.
His fears were confirmed with the, "Hi sweetheart!" he heard from the kitchen, which ultimately stopped him in his tracks. He groaned pitifully and spun around, plastering a fraudulent smile on his face before sauntering casually into his kitchen.
All he wanted to do was pitifully meander up to his room to finish some arduous calculus homework and possibly sketch some more designs for Thor knows what before going to sleep and thinking about Astrid some more.
Who need dinner? Or family? Or a social life? Not him!
He spotted his mother, Valka Haddock, seated at the table, her reading glasses perched precariously on her nose. She was looking up from her pile of scattered bills, a loving smile on her face that immediately made Hiccup feel guilty about wanting to scurry away to his room to cry about some girl.
"How was school dear?" she asked in her faintly Nordic accent, her green eyes gleaming comfortingly. He smiled back, a genuine smile, walking over to place a kiss against her cheek before deciding that he was hungry. He shrugged carelessly as he turned to rifle through his refrigerator, brushing his auburn bangs back from his eyes.
"Oh y'know," he mumbled, his eyes searching for something that looked even mildly delicious. "School-ish things. Writing some more stuff for the school paper. Hanging with Fishlegs at the library and studying for one heck of a history test. Suffering through another day of the painted mildew they call cafeteria food. Again, school stuff." His voice dripped sarcasm that made his mother smile before she turned back to whatever stuff she was doing before he interrupted her.
"That's nice dear," she said as she continued, her eyebrows knitting together ever-so-slightly. He just nodded and snatched up an apple, slamming the fridge door shut as he crossed to the sink, rinsing his red fruit off. "The varsity team missed you at practice today," he commented offhandedly, shutting the water off and peering at his mother. His mom cast him a look.
"I needed to get these done," she said matter-of-factly, gesturing wildly at the paperwork scattered messily across the table. "I mean, they aren't going to do themselves!" He cracked a grin, taking a large bite out of his snack and nodding.
"Astrid seemed pretty overwhelmed, what with the big game tomorrow," he informed her, pursing his lips at the mention of his crush. "She seemed kind of stressed out."
She just smiled and looked up at her son, pushing her glasses further up her nose. "Ah, Astrid's a tough girl," she said with a lot more than a hint of admiration in her voice. "Smart, great leader, and beautiful to boot. She's got this under control." Hiccup gulped almost comically, a chunk of apple catching in his throat on the way down.
He sputtered for breath as his mother rambled on, talking about how Astrid was the best team captain the Berk Vikings had ever seen, and that under her leadership and, of course, her own coaching, they'd dominate state this season, and so on. As he finally got the apple from his throat and decided that he wasn't that hungry anymore, his mother finished with a satisfied smile.
"You'd really like her, Hiccup," she said thoughtfully, rubbing her chin. That's the problem! he wanted to scream out. But, he didn't, of course. His mom continued with a smile. "She's a really great young woman." She stifled a chuckle as she returned to her bills.
"Hell, you two would make a pretty cute couple," she said almost absentmindedly as she scribbled down random nonsense before shaking her head with a smile. Hiccup's heart thumped wildly in his chest at hearing 'Astrid' and 'Hiccup' and 'couple' in the same sentence, but he just forced it down with an uneasy smile.
"Yeah," he croaked pitifully, a light blush dusting his cheeks before he chucked his remaining apple into the trash and practically ran out of the room and up the stairs, his dog trotting close at his heels as he shut himself in his room without another word.