Biology

Chapter 3

The rest of the day was pretty much a blur of nerves and confusion and what was he going to do? Because what he'd said was true—he sucked at biology—but for some reason Hiccup seemed to think he could tutor him in it and what in the hell had even given him that idea?

Last period was the hardest to get through, mostly because Hiccup was in that class—ancient history—with him and he could feel the other boy's eyes practically boring into him from his seat at the back of the room for the entire time. Jack, seated closer to the front of the class, only barely managed to focus on the lesson, jotting down notes with a slightly shaky hand and hoping that none of what the teacher was talking about that day would be on the next test because it wasn't sticking at all.

When the bell rang, freeing hundreds of students from their prison for the remainder of the day, Jack made a point of taking his time packing up his notebooks and pens in the hopes that Hiccup would be gone by the time he made for the door. It didn't work. Once his things were ready to go he stood and turned, slinging his backpack over his shoulder—

And there was Hiccup, leaning against the frame in the doorway, an unimpressed look on his face. Jack hesitated for a second before moving toward the exit and as he drew closer, Hiccup straightened up and pushed the hood of his jacket back. The fabric caught on one of his earrings and he fiddled with it until it was free.

"Took you long enough." He commented dryly, and then, "just remember: the field at five. Don't be late."

"Look, I really don't think—"

Jack started to try to reason with him, but Hiccup was having none of it. He narrowed his eyes, shot Jack a little look and jabbed a finger into the pale boy's chest lightly. Jack startled at the contact, then let his eyes slide sideways and hiked his bag up farther on his shoulder.

"You'd better show."

"I..." He worked his throat dryly before muttering quietly, "yeah, okay. I know. I'll be there."

Hiccup nodded shortly, seeming satisfied, and Jack watched as he turned and disappeared into the hallway, presumably to head out for rugby practice. Jack loitered in the history classroom for a long few minutes afterward before he stepped out as well, going to his locker and then to the school library.

Curled up in a chair in the back corner there, he passed the time doing homework—and then, when he was finished with that, reading the same ratty paperback he had been engrossed in during lunch hour. Or, at least, he tried to read. His focus wasn't really there, but he skimmed the text anyway. Only when he found himself re-reading the same page for the fifth time with absolutely no idea what it said did he finally give up.

Sighing in frustration, he shoved the book back into his bag and glanced at his watch. Four-thirty. Jack decided that was close enough and stood from the chair, picking up his backpack and shrugging it on.

It was with trepidation that he headed to the rugby field. This wasn't going to go well and he knew it, but he figured the best thing he could do was to get it over with as quickly and painlessly as possible. Surely when Hiccup saw how absolutely hopeless Jack was with biology, he would drop the entire tutoring idea, right?

Right.

Decided, he felt a slight bit more confident when he finally reached the bleachers next to the field.

He wasn't the only one there and that didn't surprise him. The rugby team apparently had quite the fan following amongst the other students, so the cheering girls and hollering boys weren't entirely unexpected. Still, the crowd made him slightly uncomfortable, and Jack shifted a bit before moving over to stand by the side, out of the way of the rest of the onlookers.