Let's Give it a Year

Chapter 35

"You almost lost your leg? How?"

"Well, it was in our old house and there was a pretty big fire, probably taking over the whole house, and my Dad had called the fire department but they were late getting to the house. When he started to drag me out of the house, I noticed our dog was missing. The dog had belonged to my Mom and his name was Cloudjumper. Anyway, I ran away from my Dad back into the house to go find him and when I found him he was trapped in his doghouse in the kitchen. So I ripped open the cage and started carrying him out of the house, bearing in mind I was about 15 at the time. As we got close to the door, a massive explosion of fire came up behind me and I had to do all I could to run out of the house before it could get to me. I jumped out through the door and my leg was left behind, but luckily the fire didn't reach that far." Hiccup told Astrid with a scarred look in his eye, the fire still alive in his memory and it was just as hot.

The two of them were walking along the beach together after just having had their dinner and the sun was starting to set behind the horizon. Their feet trudged through the sand, having taken their shoes off and holding them in their hands as they walked over the soft, cold sand. Both had been telling stories about themselves when they were younger, things that were unbelievable, things that were scarring and things that nearly happened.

"What about you?" Hiccup asked, turning to Astrid to repeat the question she had asked him earlier. "What was one of the most traumatic events that happened in your life?"

Astrid thought for a moment, tapping her chin lightly with her finger as she thought, the action causing a smile to spread onto Hiccup's face as he found the action to be quite cute. At first, nothing came to Astrid's mind, only mildly irritating or scary incidents came to mind. Until she was reminded of her college years, and that one party...

"Well, okay. Since you told yours, I'll tell mine." She took in a deep breath. "It was in college and my friend and I had been invited to a party. It was a college frat boy type of party and it was clear that once we got there, it was a drug party and everyone was already wasted. Now, I had never been to a drug party before, and after that night, I've never been to one since. But basically, it's a party where--"

"I know what a drug party is. I went to college." Hiccup interjected, cutting Astrid off. She paused for a moment as her throat dried up slightly, the words dying in her mouth.

"Okay..." She nodded and continued her story. "Anyway, so we got there and thought we'd just ride the party out and see how it went. So we had been there for a couple of hours and I was starting to get a little bored, I was only slightly buzzed because of all the alcohol that had already been used for some guy's keg stand and there wasn't much to be had, and many were too drugged up to drink anyway. So I decided to go look for my friend, who I had lost sight of over the course of the party, but I couldn't find her anywhere. I looked all over, in bedrooms in bathrooms, the backyard, everywhere. It was like she had disappeared. Anyway, I said to myself 'oh well, maybe she went home and forgot to tell me or couldn't find me either', so I decided to leave and head back to the dorm without her, thinking that maybe she was at the dorm."

"You left your friend at the party, alone?" Hiccup asked judgmentally, a raised eyebrow sent her way as they slowed their walk along the beach.

"Hey! This is my storytime, and I know! It sounds bad, and honestly, I still feel guilty about it." Astrid groaned, anger and regret filling her voice as she was forced to recall the traumatic event. "Back to my story, I was out of the house and walking along the front yard when this tall, bulky group of jocks walked up to me and towered over me. Seriously, they must've been like 7 feet tall or something, I swear. Anyway, they basically grabbed me and picked me up off the ground and dragged me over to some part of the driveway that was hidden from other party-goers and started groping me, and ripping clothes off me, and basically trying to have their way with me." Astrid paused and took another deep breath. "But luckily I had been trained in martial arts, so when they had their guard down, and they were also pretty wasted, I managed to break free and I started pelting it across the lawn and down the road, eventually finding a place to hide in someone else's yard until they gave up and went back to the party." Astrid finished, and the air between them was tense and silent. Neither one of them spoke a word.