Behind the mask

Collision

The collision was deliberate-Astrid was sure of it in the handful of seconds as she slammed into the locker and dropped her armful of books. She stumbled and glared, angry at the shove, then crouched down to collect her belongings, aware of the calls from her friends who were arriving to help her. Heather and Camilla (or Cami) instantly scooched down by her and helped her tidy up as she cast a scorching glare at the boys who were laughing at her from a little way down the hall. It was the bad boy crew-big surprise!-consisting of Gregory 'Thuggory' Hughes, Darren 'Dagur' Oswaldson, Lee 'Savage' Stringer and Hiccup Haddock. The latter-a tall, lanky boy with messy auburn hair, stunning green eyes and sarcasm that could melt steel-had been the one to barge Astrid aside and was roaring with laughter at her discomposure.

"Are you okay, babe?" The bulky, powerful shape of Simon 'Snotlout' Jorgensen loomed over her, his handsome face twisted in a forced expression of concern. As the Captain of the football team, he was the prime Jock on the senior class and had an opinion of himself to match. He had been pursuing her for years and she had steadfastly refused his advances-often forcefully-but he had thick skin and little imagination so he was convinced she would one day fall for for his dubious charms.

"Fine, thanks, Snot," she said briskly, rising to her feet and offering a small smile. "Just the idiot crew again." Snotlout turned, his fists tightening.

"Yeah...they'll get theirs," he growled.

"Any time, Snotface!" Thuggory laughed. "You bring your bitches along and we can settle it..."

"Name your time and place and we'll be there!" Snotlout sneered. Dagur laughed.

"You'll know!" he scoffed and sauntered away, the others laughing as they followed. Astrid frowned. Dagur always made her uneasy, his air of only mildly repressed violence unsettling. She could guess he was someone who would do anything and lacked any internal boundaries. And much as she was exasperated by Snotlout's persistence, she didn't want him to get hurt.

"Be careful," she murmured. "That one's a lunatic..." He gave her an offended look until she added. "And we need our finest quarterback if we want to win the State Championship this year!" He preened and grinned at her.

"Yeah-and you'll be there, won't you babe? Head of the Cheer squad and Captain of the Team? Sounds like a perfect match!"

"Eurgh! In your dreams," she said, pulling a face. Fortunately, the bell rang and she followed Heather to their first class. Senior Year at last! And as Class President, Astrid was determined to get the most out of this semester-and not let idiots like Hiccup Haddock ruin her year.

oOo

He hadn't been able to resist it: she had been a sitting target, distracted as she juggled her books and got ready for her first class. She was a goody-goody, one of the most popular girls in school and it had been his pleasure to embarrass her on his way in. The boys had appreciated the joke and it had gotten his year off to a good start. The sight of Snotlout threatening them was amusing as well, because they all knew that the Jock wouldn't risk getting into a fight with them for fear of jeopardising his scholarship chances. So the Bad Boys started the year off with a point in the 'win' column.

Hiccup followed the guys as they headed to their lockers. Not that they cared about classes much, but most of them had parents who would make life inconvenient if they truanted or were suspended so they reluctantly separated and headed to their classes. Hiccup slid into Math class just before the bell sounded and trudged to the back, ignoring the sarcastic greeting that Mr Mildew threw in his direction. He sat on the back row, pulling the hood of his green track top up and prepared to be bored.

It wasn't that Hiccup was stupid: far from it. Until his Mom had remarried, his grades had been heading for a straight A average but since...well, school assumed less importance and he did the minimum to avoid complications while wasting his attention on causing trouble and hanging around with the worst crew in school. Any dreams he had harboured for the future were long gone and now all his energies were directed to surviving school and getting the Hel out of Berk once it was done. He did have a Plan for after school and for that, he needed a good grade in Math so he reluctantly paid attention. Unfortunately, Senior Math was taught by a man who hated him and that made his resolve to do well in the subject difficult. He had been in Mr Mildew's class the previous year and the teacher was a sarcastic, irritable man who disliked Hiccup intensely...though the paint bomb in his car last semester probably had something to do with that.

"What did I say, Mr Haddock?" the teacher snapped and Hiccup flicked his forest green gaze up from his sketch pad. The man was standing with his arms folded, his scrawny shape in the rumpled sport jacket and dark slacks vague ridiculous, topped by a wild crown of grey hair.

"a= root b over c," he said sulkily. The teacher strolled over to glare at him.

"Lucky guess," he growled, snatching the sketch pad. "You know...I was surprised that you chose this class out of all the options. Surely there must have been something more suited to your meagre talents?" Hiccup stiffened.

"Hey, I just love your charming and warm personality, Mr Mildew," he retorted sarcastically. "I really felt it wouldn't be school without the opportunity to hear your dulcet tones."

"Be careful, boy," the teacher told him coldly, waving Hiccup's sketch pad in his face. "I'll expel you from my class without hesitation if you step out of line. "What have we here?" He flipped through the pages, seeing a selection of beautiful sketches of everything from the view across Berk at dawn to a stray dog. With a smile, he rolled it up and made to go back to his desk. Hiccup lurched up and snatched it back, his eyes flashing with anger.

"That's private!" he snapped. "Keep your hands off it!"

"Hand that over," Mr Mildew commanded coldly. "You can have it back once class is over..."

"No..." Hiccup growled. "It's private." His face was twisted in a scowl, his fists clenched and body angled to protect his book. Mr Mildew narrowed his dark, mean eyes and glared at him. His face reddened.

"Go to see Mr Treacher!" he ordered, grabbing the boy's arm. Hiccup wrenched his arm away, throwing a punch instinctively. The teacher dodged and gripped his wrist, wrenching his arm down.

Hiccup almost went feral, kicking out and lashing out with his other arm, screaming "GET OFF ME!" Mr Mildew released him as a fist connected with his face and he backed away.

"Get out!" he growled. "Go to the Principal's office!" Still shaking with anger, the boy grabbed his bag, shoved his way past the teacher and slammed from the room.

From the front, Astrid and Heather watched him in shock. They had never seen anyone lose it so completely in class and there was an outburst of shocked whispering as Mr Mildew composed himself and slowly walked towards the board, the look on his face daring anyone else to cross him. Meekly, they turned back to their work.