Surfers in love

Chapter 7 - News can spread fast

Hiccup sat around the people that had majority of influence in his life from his parents that sat either side of of him to his childhood babysitting surf coach who would teach when his mother was unavailable which to hiccups dismay happened to be most of the time. He sat there for what seemed like hours listen to their families business manager strategise a plan to get this competition with Astrid possible . And his surfing instructor praising the improvement that he has drastically made through the last few weeks.
He wanted this. He wanted to prove himself to the world that he was the best and for all that Hiccup knew it was going to be a piece of cake beating her. From all the videos and articles had had scoured the internet to find anything about her and what he could expect a quote squeaky clean reputation and a easy-going surfing show . It would be so easy to humiliate her with first place .

"Look" Hiccup interjected as he intertwined his fingers on the table and started directly at their manger and Dylan who stood in front of a written master plan " I get this plan . But we need to put the word out there" . To prove his point his stood up and leaned down inward and gabbing his right index finger into the glass table that he lent upon . Asserting some dominance to prove he wasn't some toy they could play with. "She needs to know I'm serious. I'm here to prove that I'm the best and that there's no way she can take this title from me"

Dylan who was stood at the opposite end of the table with smirk strapped onto his devilish face as he nodded in agreement . "You're right. We need to make a full on statement something big and put there for her to notice". Looking over at the haddocks manager and exchanging a glance .
"Well luckily for you I can pull I a few strings" The manager started looking at the family "I know a few people that can make this go to the front page in tomorrow's paper . I mean it's not huge and put there but I recon it will get her attention"
A smile couldn't help but let a smile set onto his face "well that's perfect with me with me"

-

It was just just a regular day or at least it started that way as Astrid and the gang spent their afternoon just being normal teenagers as they laughed and chugged down on milkshakes to their heart's content.
It was just peaceful and in someway just perfect as the responsibilities of being a pro on the waves was at the his moment floated to the back of her mind as she listen to the uproarious funny stories that Tuffnut would tell.
But the moment was short lived as one Snotlout Jorgenson rushed in , startling a few unsuspecting customers and frantically raced towards his friends. His arms frantically waving what looked to be the freshly printed print of the paper which Astrid found weird , 'since when did he read the paper' she thought .
"GUYS ! OH MY GODS YOU ALL NEED TO SEE THIS" he bellowed as he made his way through the onlookers."ESPECIALLY YOU BABY!"
Astrid firmly placed the milkshake onto the table and rolled her eyes in annoyance at the muttonhead that now stood head of the booth . "Don't ever call me baby Snotlout or I swear to the gods -"
Snotlout threw the paper on to the centre to the table , taking a couple deep breathes in and out. "It's him Astrid!"

"Him who ?" She asked snatching the paper from the table as curiosity started to consume her .

"Hiccup Haddock" Snotlout told her. His voice not with it's usually goofy input but with full on seriousness . It made her stop in her train of thought and cause her eyes to widen . Gods , apart of her wishes that it was all a joke . She didn't want to deal with an entitled spoiled boy from the other side of the island .
"W-w-what" in shock she accidentally spotted out a small portion of her milkshake out down her chin.

It was all there . Freshly printed in black ink that marked the first page. Hiccup Haddock declaring a surfing competition against her . She was speechless in a way she didn't understand as he didn't really believe he would actually want to compete with her . She thought that an commonplace girl like her wouldn't even be able to get her attention, but here she sat completely wrong as held physical evidence that proved otherwise.
Her eyes couldn't help but scan down the column reading each of the word with caution. She couldn't believe what she was read.

She dropped the paper onto the cluster of plates and napkins that scattered the table and took a few deep breaths in and out as the process the information.

"Are you going to do it ? You have to accept his offer ?" Heather said . Astrid opened her mouth to respond but nothing but air seeped out . Unable to speak due to the shock Astrid just stared blankly at the paper .
"I... uh...don't know" The words slowly crept out of her lips .
"Oh come'on ! You can totally beat this lanky piece of hot ass" Tuffnut expressed from the other end of the booth causing everyone to become slightly uncomfortable.
"Lanky hot ass ?" Fishnets questioned.
"Yes" Tuff tapped his finger onto the small but so clear imagine of Hiccup in the paper standing proudly on some beach with his surfboard in hand and a cocky smug grin strapped appropriately to his face " I mean look at him . I know he's a douche but you gotta admit that he's a bit of a hottie".He then proceeded to wiggle his eyebrows creepily but Tuffnut was probably enticing .
"And moving on from that" Snotlout started as he moved in , sliding into the booth directly next to Astrid " are you going to respond ? It looks like he's waiting for you to say something and I gave feeling he isn't going to wait long"

"I know" Astrid unsteadily spoke tracing her finger around the rim of her milkshake glass " I'm just not sure if -"

"Beat him ?" Fishlegs butted in.
"Please" Ruffnut then added looking towards him unamused " she could beat him any day of the week"

"Guys" Astrid spoke up hopefully getting the whole gangs attention which was hard at times " it's not that I'm scared of beating him .. which I could probably do every easily might I add , it's just that I've just got back from competition and I want to have a break!"
A sudden forced cough then came from her left where snotlout , who had a proud grin on his face and attempting to smoothly wrap a arm around Astrids shoulders "Baby" he started but quickly turned into a high pitched scream that got the rooms attention for a moment as Astrid twisted his arm back and placing at his side. "Call me baby one more time and you'll never be able to produce one"

"Ouch . Okay lesson learned" he soon whined with a pout painted across his lips. "In life you never get a break , take his opportunity as it comes and shown this lanky fishbone what you have !"
Instead of arguing or throwing the correct logic around ,Astrid leaned back into the soft booth and nod in somewhat of agreement . " I guess we'll just have wait and see" she then teased " I just need to sleep on it"
She understood that she couldn't waste a moment of her life . Yes the competitions will always be exhausting and sedulous but they were apart of her and what she did and maybe a couple more couldn't exactly hurt , but at the same time she was ready to go with the flow and take a break from life and just experience life for what it was.
Maybe battling the infamous Hiccup Haddock would help her decide if competing was for her and if she wanted to continue . The more she thought about it  the more Astrid began to believe that the competition might be good for her . From what it appeared it the competition herself would give her a boost in the surfing world and get her some recognition. She might not be looked upon as some flawed girl who knew one or two moves on a board. But at the same time she was torn . A quiet peaceful break sounded like paradise to Astrid at the moment with everything she had put herself through these last few years .

But as she said , we'd just have to wait for that answer a little longer.