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Forty Four: Old Friends

Forty-Four: Old Friends

A combination of heavy snow and a run of long shifts at the Diner delayed Hiccup from going to the ABI for a couple of days-until he definitely decided he had to go because Astrid was nagging him and he had taken to hiding in the boy's washroom whenever he saw her bearing down on him, a determined look on her beautiful face. And this time, she was waiting for him as he warily emerged and grabbed his arm.

"Ow." he protested as she punched his shoulder. "Why...?"

"That's for hiding from me, Mister Skinny!" she scolded him. "You haven't been to see Throk, have you?" Embarrassed, he rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged.

"Um...no...?" he mumbled, eyeing the irritated blonde warily. "But in my defence, the City Council have issued travel warnings so I've been just going home-school-work-home the last few days..."

"Even over the weekend?" she teased him and he grinned.

"You know me-always the model student," he sassed back and she chuckled.

"Even when we're cheating at Civics by being almost a couple?" she checked and he leaned forward and pecked a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Especially then," he admitted as she took his hand and they walked down the hall. It was kind of strange, walking along with Astrid at his side but Hiccup was willing to field the odd looks and whispers provided she was. After all, she was Astrid Hofferson who had been made an almost-pariah by him and his friends for no crime other than being better at soccer than Cameron and arriving at the school partway through Sophomore Year. Yet she had managed to be a model student, straight As, great disciplinary record and respected Captain of the Soccer Team-while his disciplinary record had bombed since his Dad died, his grades were still good but he had nothing else of note except his fall from grace. And even younger kids who had looked up to him at the start of the year now jeered him as a loser and a nobody.

"Look, Hiccup-I'm coming with you," she told him firmly. "The blizzard has settled and it's just quite snowy out there-which means the streets have been ploughed and you shouldn't have any problem getting to see Throk..." He sighed.

"You aren't going to drop this, are you?" he checked and she shook her head.

"Never," she smiled as they headed into English. "This is important-and Ryker tried to run me down last time as well! So he needs to be stopped..." They quietly entered the classroom and chose seats next to one another as Mr Larson smiled at the class.

"Right-how are we doing with our sonnets?" he asked as the teens looked up. Hiccup smiled: he had swiftly chosen Sonnet 18-'Shall I compare thee to a Summer's Day' because it reminded him of Astrid while she had picked Sonnet 12 'When do I count the clock that counts the time' and they had already completed their assignments over the weekend. There was muttering from Snotlout, who hadn't even looked at his and the twins, who were trying to recall which one had chosen which sonnet to study. Fishlegs tentatively raised his hand.

"How long was our critique supposed to be?" he asked nervously. "I mean, I've only done two thousand words and I'm worried I may not have met the assignment minimum..." Rolling his eyes, Mr Larson tried to frame his response. The brief had been for five hundred words and he was finding Fishlegs's obsessiveness quite hard work, for his assignments were getting steadily longer by the week.

"I sure it will be perfectly acceptable..." he began as the door opened and two bulky shapes entered. Hiccup gaped, his eyes widening in shock and a sudden sick feeling clutching his gut as Eret and Thuggory entered the classroom. Both young men walked unselfconsciously into the room and reported to the teacher.