Things Do Get Better (HTTYD Modern AU)

My Life Before

Before I tell you how my life changed, I should tell you how my life was before. Now I'll admit, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was before. It had its moments, but still, my life is way better now. I'll focus more on my secondary school days (besides, my time at primary school was basically the same).

Around my teens, I attended Isle of Berk Secondary School, one of three secondary school in the town. It's known to be the most well-known school since many of the students that attend there goes on to have successful careers (hopefully, I'll be one of them). But just because a school is great academically, that doesn't mean you won't be subjected to a bit of bullying (and by a bit, I mean a lot).

Like I said previously, I was the awkward, sarcastic and weak kid at school (I mean, I'm still am, but not as much), so I was an easy target for bullying. Not a day went by when I was constantly ridiculed and mocked by classmates. It mainly came from our PE lessons. I wasn't the most athletic person, so it made it easier for them. And even outside PE lessons, I was still the target. Most of the students did it, but none more so than Snotlout Jorgenson.

I've been around him since primary school. He's the same age as me, with short black hair and a short stature. We may be friends now and I may have forgiving him, but that doesn't mean I forgot about it. To this day, I'm not sure what his issue was. I never provoked him, and I hardly look like a threat; he would just mock me, out of the blue, like he would make feel better. You know what? Maybe that was his reason. I never asked him because I want to leave it in the past.

Despite this amount of heckling I got at school, I never complained about it. I just... allowed it to happen and kept it to myself. I know it sounds sad, but honestly, it helped. I was able to survive the majority of secondary school by doing this. Snotlout would make fun of me; I'd just laughed (sarcastically, might I add) or make a sarcastic joke and be on my way.

I won't give him all the credit, though. He was among a group who would do the same. Not all of them did, like Fishlegs Ingerman, but Snotlout and twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston would do it the most (just to be clear, I'm friends with all of them now).

Things at home wasn't as great either. I lived with my dad, Stoick. He had red hair and long beard and he was a mountain of a guy! (Ok, I'm exaggerating, but he was tall). He was so tall that it made me look like a little kid. That it seemed hard to believe that we were ever related.

Now, to be fair, he wasn't a bad father. Looking back, I can see that he always wanted the best for me. But our relationship, for a while, was really strained. We were... just very different. He was very strong and boasting, and I was, again, the awkward, sarcastic, weak kid (I'm probably going to say this a lot).

What really didn't help was his ambition for me. He wanted me to become a head teacher, like he was, or even a teacher. He wanted me to work at a school, a place where, to quote him, 'I can aspire so many young minds, both young and old.' It was nice and all, but I didn't want that. I couldn't even survive school as a student, let alone as a teacher. Plus, teaching never really grabbed me. You want to know what did? Engineering.

I know, 'what a nerd' you would say. But I don't care. I have such a desire to build, fix and even invent things. When I was young, I would always take my toys, break them apart, figure out the mechanics and put them back together again. It was so interesting to see the engineering that went into every toy. And that expanded as I got older (wow, I really do sound like a nerd).

But engineering was not something my dad wanted me to do. Because of this, every time I or he brought it up, we get into arguments. A lot of arguments. I know he meant well, but sometimes I wished he'd listen to me and understood what I wanted (he did eventually, but I'm going ahead of myself).

OK, enough of all the sad things because like I said, my 'past' life had its moments. As per mentioned, I really enjoyed fixing things, which is why my favourite lessons were Physics. It was the one place where I don't keep to myself. I would always answer questions and, not to brag, would normally have the high scores in my homework. The students would call me a nerd, among other things, but I didn't care. I was in my element. It also helped that my Physics teacher was Mr Gobber Belch.

Gobber was a close family friend, being especially good friends with my dad. Not only was he my Physics teacher, he was also my form tutor. I would always go to him before registration and talked to him about, well, anything. I couldn't talk to my dad since one, it would be awkward (more so than me) and two, it could lead to another argument. But with Gobber, it was easier. He didn't judge and sometimes, he would just let me rant, which I appreciated.

So, as you can see, while there were parts that I'm grateful, my life before wasn't the best. Between mockery at school and awkwardness at home, I'm honestly surprise that I didn't go crazy with insanity. I always believed this would be my life, and that I should just deal with it. But little did I know that things were going to get better for me. It did take a while, but things don't come on a silver platter (unless you're rich, of course).

And it was started with a little puppy. It all started with my dog, Toothless.