Behind the mask

No second chance

Hiccup nodded dumbly, the shock and dizziness of being forgiven striking him dumb. Maybe if he had spoke to Miss Sylvester before the weekend, he would have protested, but after Saturday...and especially the illuminating Sunday morning...he had a better understanding of Astrid's life. And she had smiled at him...

"Thank you," he said self-consciously and gave a small smile.

"Don't make me regret it," she told him with a smile as the door opened and the class began to pour in. Hiccup shook his head.

"Um, you won't..." he promised as the class took their seats and stared expectantly. He stared at his fellow students and took a breath. Every eye on him was hostile and he felt very exposed. "I...um...I wanna apologise for my behaviour last week...and I...well...I kinda wanna ask for your forgiveness...um...well yes...there you are..."

There was a wall of blank stares at his stumbling apology and he swallowed, feeling incredibly awkward. "Thank you, Mister Haddock. Take your seat now," Miss Sylvester announced when her class remained silent. He nodded and swiftly headed to the back of the class, his cheeks gently warmed with embarrassment. He sank in his chair and stared at the desk.

At the end of class, Miss Sylvester kept him back and beckoned Astrid. Hiccup sighed: this was the hardest part. "Mister Haddock...is there something you want to say to Miss Hofferson?" she probed. He swallowed.

"Um...yeah?" he suggested.  He took a small breath. "I...um...owe you an apology...I shouldn't have shouted at you...um...and if you still want a tutor...um...I'm w-willing to help..." Astrid stared at him in shock: there was a faint flush on his cheeks and he was looking very embarrassed and fidgety. And he had stammered and stumbled through the offer, not bearing much resemblance to the cocky and sarcastic boy she was used to. She gave him a small smile and nodded.

"Apology accepted," she said calmly-how could she say anything else? Against all expectations, he had burst in and saved her during the party-and that was apology enough for his not unfounded accusations. "And...I would be grateful for any help and tutoring you can offer..." Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously.

"Um...any day...my calendar really isn't busy...except...I have detention every day...so if you can wait, I could afterwards..." He looked up at the teacher. "Um...if you don't mind...?" Miss Sylvester nodded.

"You know you can come here anytime, Hiccup," she said gently. "Now scoot! You'll be late for class..." Astrid rose immediately, nodding and heading for the door. Hiccup followed her, his head down. She was waiting for him and he looked up in surprise as she fell into step beside him.

"If we arrive together, we may not get into so much trouble," she reminded him and he shrugged.

"It's Math next-and Mr Mildew hates me anyway," he shrugged.

"You do realise you're actually really good at Math?" she reminded him and he cocked a cynical green eye at her.

"Yeah, make fun of me," he snarked.

"No," she argued calmly. "Since the incident your grades are really good. I think you're tying top of class at the moment." With me. He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, big joke," he scoffed.

"No joke!" she retorted. "No matter how you might see it, you're acing Math." He sighed.

"Can we change the subject?" he huffed and headed up the stairs, long legs taking them three at a time with her speeding up beside him.

"Fine," she said mollifyingly. "Tutoring. Any day-take your pick. I can stay after your detention-I tend to have cheer practice or athletics most days. How about tonight?" He flicked another look at her...then nodded.

"I'll see you at the Art Classroom after detention," he said and opened the door to Math, standing back to allow Astrid to enter, then following her in. Mr Mildew looked up, his mean eyes narrowing in delight at the sight of his favourite target entering late.

"Good of you to join us, Haddock!" he sneered. "And Miss Hofferson! What've you bin doing with this no-good loser?" Astrid felt a jolt of anger run though her but fought to remain calm.

"I'm sorry, Mr Mildew, but Miss Sylvester asked us to stay back after Art Class," she explained. The teacher turned his gaze on Hiccup.

"Um-what she said," he said sullenly and Mildew's face creased into an even more unpleasant scowl: Astrid stared at him in concern, wondering if she was going to get into trouble just by association.

"Sit down, Miss Hofferson," the teacher commanded and she slid, relieved,  into her usual front row seat, mere feet from the teacher who was still glaring at the tall, moody shape of Hiccup. "And you...how many times late is this?"

"You're the Math teacher-you count!" Hiccup snarked back. "It's not that big of a deal! I turned up, didn't I? I could've just cut class and done something more interesting...maybe staring at a wall or sleeping..."

"You really 'ave no respect, do yer?" Mildew sneered.

"For you...not really," Hiccup admitted casually.

"Then take your lack of respect and present it to Mr Treacher, you insolent little bastard!" Mildew snapped. He stabbed his finger hard in the boy's chest. "Go on-git!" Astrid raised her hand tentatively. Mildew glared at her. "What, Miss Hofferson?"

"Um, sir...we really were held back by Miss Sylvester..." she began but he turned to her angrily.

"It. Doesn't. Matter," he growled. "Shut up or I'll send you along with him!" Her eyes widened and Hiccup glanced at her in shock: it was the first time of years that anyone had even tried to stand up for him. He shook his head very slightly and she subsided.

"Yes, sir," she mumbled, blushing. Mildew glared at her, then turned back to the boy. "And you-what the fuck are you doing here still? GET OUT OF MY CLASS!" Hiccup nodded and managed a small smile.

"Finally-something we agree on!" he said, turning to the door, then slamming the door behind him. Mildew turned to his absolutely silent class in a rage.

"Turn to page 57," he growled. "I want you to work through the calculations there and for homework, I want you to work through pages 58-61." The entire class felt like groaning-the class task was hard enough but the homework would take hours. But with Mildew in this mood, no one made a sound and they turned to their work, hoping he would ignore them for the rest of the class. And Astrid felt shocked as she bent over her workbook at the vindictiveness in the teacher's tone and the way he had leapt at the chance to punish the boy. She frowned and tried to concentrate, knowing Mildew would be marking hard...but she was good at Math-almost as good at Hiccup, she admitted silently. But her mind slid back to the look in his eyes, the briefest of flashes of hurt and resignation at Mildew's words when she had been dismissed and sent back to her seat.

It seemed, no matter what he did, he would never be forgiven, never be given a second chance. And worse, he had accepted that...

oOo

He was actually standing outside the door, his head resting back against the wall and anger and hurt tightening his chest. He really hated Mildew, really wanted to lash out...but he knew that would only get him in worse trouble. And he had been shocked that Astrid had tried to intervene on his behalf. It may have been self-preservation but she had already been let off the hook and she had risked Mildew's ire to try to help him out. He sighed. It hadn't worked but it had felt...nice.

He slammed his head back against the wall, teeth gritted and eyes closed. Mildew would have contacted Alvin and he would be waiting...again. He opened his green eyes. Fuck it. He wasn't going. If Al wanted to suspend him, he was welcome to. He shoved himself upright and headed back to his locker, deciding to grab his bag and head out. In fact, he was so distracted he didn't hear the approaching steps until it was far too late.

"There you are!"

It was Dogsbreath...with the entire crew...and he looked mad.

"I wanna talk with you," he said.