Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III looked up as the school bus skidded to a stop in front of him. He sighed and prepared for the daily routine of sneering. The most avid of those jeering sat at the back.
The popular crew, Snotlout Jorgensen, a stocky, arrogant teenager with spiky black hair and blue eyes that were glaring at him. Next up we have the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston. Both have long blond hair, Tuffnet's in dreadlocks while Ruffnet's in braids. Then there's Heather Bezerk, the raven-haired beauty with green eyes. Last but not least, Astrid Hofferson.
Her long blonde hair like golden curtains cascading down her head, downwards towards her athletic body. Over than half the boys in their middle school has a crush on the feisty, golden-haired valkyrie. However, Hiccup isn't most boys.
Hiccup could still remember the days where the two were inseperable, they smiled together, cried together, got into trouble together. No matter what, they did it together. But one day, everything changed.
Flashback
2 months ago
It was the thrid day of middle school, the bell rang as Hiccup began to pack up his workbooks and headed to the cafeteria for lunch. He looked around to find the familiar blond hair that belonged to his best friend since he could remember and spotted it at the far side of the cafeteria. Hiccup frowned, the far side was where all the popular kids sat and although Astrid was popular, she never sat with them because they all bullied him. So he kept on walking, eager to find out why she was with the popular kids as laughter erupted from the table.
"And then we dumped the rest of it on his face!" Tuffnut said, eyes wide and arms waving around, "He literally looked like a tomato!" More laughs were heard after hearing one of the twin's wild pranks.
After the table had managed to calm themselves down somewhat, Astrid giggled,"Oh my Thor! You guys are so much fun to hang with, so much better than Useless!"
Smirking, Snotlout leant over and swung his arm onto Astrid's shoulders, "See babe? You should really hang out with us, instead of that loser!" The rest of the people on the table nodded in assent. Astrid scanned the table with a smile on her face, "Alright then."
"A-Astrid?"
The popular crew turned to see a wide-eyed Hiccup staring at Astrid. Immediately, one could feel the mood sour as everyone on the table, including Astrid, scowl at Hiccup.
"What are you doing here Useless?" Snotlout sneered, "No one wants you here!"
"That's not true! Astrid wants me here! Right Astrid?" Hiccup trailed off as he turned to Astrid. However, what he found was not what he was expecting. Astrid gave him a scornful glance before turning to the others, "Come on guys, lets go. Useless being here is making me lose my appetite." Ignoring Hiccup's stunned and hurt expression, she picked up her plate and left with the rest of the popular kids.
Flashback End
Hiccup was shaken out of his memory as the bus stopped and everybody got off. As usual, he was the last one off the bus and prepared himself for another day in hell.
The Next Day
Astrid sat at the back of the bus, checking her latest Instagram feed when the bus rolled to a stop. She looked up, expecting the familiar shape of Hiccup stumble onto the bus. Contray to popular opinion, Astrid doesn't hate Hiccup with every inch of her being. All she wanted was the popularity offered by the Gang. Everytime she said something mean or degrading to Hiccup, her heart would crack some more. After witnissing a rather brutal beating that Snotlout gave Hiccup last week, she began building up her courage to tell the Gang that she didn't want to hang out with them if they kept on being so mean to Hiccup as well as apologize to Hiccup.
However, no one got on the bus at this stop.
Astrid frowned, Hiccup never missed school, no matter how much he hated it or even if he was sick. But she brushed it off, he must be late, she thought and went back to her Instagram feed. But when she got to school and first period has already started and yet Hiccup was still not here, Astrid began to get worried. So as soon as recess begun, she rushed out the doors and called Hiccup and got sent straight to voicemail.
The school tried to contact Hiccup's father about his disappearance. However, the famous mayor of Berk, Stoick Haddock, could not be reached either. It was a week later that he was found dead, a bullet straight through his head.
So Astrid waited for Hiccup to come back. Everyday, Astrid would sit at the back of the bus, waiting to see that familiar mop of auburn hair. Everyday, she was disappointed.
Until two years later, on the exact date of Hiccup's disappearance, someone got on at Hiccup's bus stop.
And that's it for this chapter guys. I know some of you are wondering what happened to Hiccup and how he's going to reappear in the story. All I can say is don't worry, I have actually planned this book out and I know where and when everything will happen. So you guys will just have to wait and see - Zan
