When I looked in the mirror the next morning, I knew that nothing and no one would get me out of the house today. My nose and the insides of my eyes were completely blue and still slightly swollen. The throbbing wasn't too bad anymore, but I could still feel it a little, especially when I moved my facial muscles. This was going to be a great day.

After painfully and slowly brushing my teeth, I went downstairs to let my dad know who immediately agreed and told me to keep the area cool. He also said he'd bring me my favorite ice cream after his shift. I hugged and thanked him for that, he really was the best dad one could wish for. He kissed me on the head, then left the house.

I went back to my room, laid down on my bed, and picked up my phone where I opened my messages. There was a new one from Elsa in our group chat, a math meme, which I reacted to with a laughing emoji. Then I switched to Hiccup's and my chat.

7:35am
Hey, I'm not coming
to school today, my face
looks even worse than
yesterday 🫠

7:35am
Could you please send me
everything you guys did?

7:36am
... oh god, I already
sound like you, what have
you done to me?

I didn't just mean academically, but thankfully he wouldn't understand that. It didn't take long for his reply to come in.

7:39am
😂😂

7:39am
I've rubbed off on you
in a good way 😌

7:40am
And of course I'll send
you everything, but I can
also bring it by in person

7:40am
Whatever you prefer

My heart fluttered at that. I wanted to see him, touch his hand as he handed me the papers, maybe even hug him, a kiss wouldn't be unwelcome either ...

No, I can't think like that anymore, he's taken. Even though I didn't particularly like Stacy, it wasn't fair to her. She was his girlfriend, and I, as a friend, needed to pull myself together. Of course, I couldn't just throw away my feelings instantly, they were still there, but with time, I would be able to forget them. Until then, I shouldn't give such thoughts any room to grow. It wasn't right. Still, I typed a contradictory message and sent it without thinking twice.

7:41am
You're more than welcome here

❁

After going back to sleep for a while, I finally got up shortly after nine and made myself some cereal for breakfast. While I was munching on it on the couch and watching TV, my grandma messaged me. She wanted to video chat to talk about everything that had happened since the last time. I replied that I'd be ready in half an hour, and she sent me a thumbs-up emoji.

When I was sitting at my desk and called her on FaceTime, it took less than two seconds for her face to pop up on my screen.

"Oh shit!" she said immediately, leaning a bit closer. "You really do look as crappy as your dad said."

"Wow, thanks Grandma, that's exactly the kind of greeting I was hoping for," I said sarcastically.

She gave me a sympathetic smile. "Oh, sweetheart, you know me. I say what I think."

She wasn't wrong. That woman never held back, as I'd witnessed plenty of times in my seventeen years. "Yeah, I know."

"So how exactly did it happen now? Your dad mentioned something about a door," she asked, leaning back and listening attentively as I told her the story. I left out the part about wanting to ask Hiccup on a date, of course. But I did make sure to mention that he was back with his ex. I needed someone to be upset with me about it.

She rolled her eyes. "There's a reason an ex is an ex. What a stupid boy, and he's supposed to be helping you? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

I laughed, which instantly made me flinch in pain. "I tried, but he didn't listen. She won't take long to mess up again anyway. Hopefully he'll realize it then."

"Hopefully, huh?" she said with that knowing tone I always hated. It never meant anything good. Her grin didn't either.

"Hopefully, because he's a really good friend and I don't want him to be screwed over and treated badly again." That wasn't even a lie, just not the main reason.

She nodded once. "Of course that's the reason. What about that photo of him? Still looking at it before bed?"

My eyes widened. She couldn't possibly know I did that one time, no way, she was just testing me. "Grandma, please, I'm not that crazy."

She grinned at me. "Well, I thought the Halloween picture of you two was really cute. Have you framed it and put it in your room yet?"

"Grandma!"

She laughed. "Oh, you're so easy to tease. Besides, I already told you, I don't believe for a second that you're not into him. There are too many signs."

My grandma wasn't a stupid woman, after all, she had been a lawyer almost her entire life. She could read people incredibly well and even when she didn't mean to, she always hit the mark. She always knew when something was wrong with me and she always found out what it was. So I sighed and finally admitted it.

"Alright, you win," I said, closing my eyes. "I'm in love with Hiccup."

The expected cheering and I-told-you-so didn't come, so I opened my eyes again and saw my grandma smiling sadly. "I know, sweetheart. I've known since the day of the photo."

I shrugged. "To be fair, it wasn't as bad then as it is now."

She chuckled. "Oh, sweetie. These things tend to grow. Now come on, tell your grandma everything. I promise I won't interrupt."

So I did. How it started, when I realized it, how it grew, how I first thought he liked me too, and how he ended up getting back together with Stacy. Her only reactions were facial expressions ranging from confusion to sympathy to annoyance. She needed a moment before responding.

"He went to her to find out what she wanted to talk about and then slept with her?" she asked, just as confused as I had been.

I shrugged. "We don't know exactly what they talked about, but yeah, that's basically how it happened."

She rolled her eyes. "What an idiot. Sleeps with a scarecrow when he could've had you."

I smirked, even though her word choice made me blush a bit. "Elsa said he should've come to me too."

She laughed. "Well, she's right. Would've been better for everyone involved."

"Except for Stacy."

She waved her hand dismissively. "Who cares about her. Your heart is broken and that's all that matters to me. Guess I'll have to bring my bat and knock some sense into them."

"No," I said, though I was smiling. "If he's happy with her, then we won't do anything."

She sighed. "You're too nice. I would've kicked Hiccup in the ass ages ago and launched her to the moon."

I laughed, and even though it hurt like hell, it felt good. "I believe you. Now tell me what's going on with you guys."

Apparently not much, just new puzzles and some neighbor gossip, but we still chatted until my grandpa had lunch ready. After we said goodbye, I picked up my phone to check for new messages. A few from Elsa and one from Hiccup. I read Elsa's first.

8:33am
Man, the day already sucks
without you :(

8:33am
But of course your face
needs to heal first 😘

12:37pm
ASTRID

12:37pm
I'm losing my mind

12:38pm
Stacy is seriously
pushing it!!!

12:38pm
Even Jack just wants
to leave, and you know
how often he kisses me!!

12:38pm
So you know how bad
it is

Now that sounded just great. I was glad I didn't go to school. Watching Hiccup and Stacy make out in the cafeteria was the last thing I needed. That wouldn't just be rubbing salt in the wound. It'd be Stacy dumping the whole mountain of it on me with a truck while laughing as I suffocated.

12:42pm
She's definitely doing
it on purpose, she just
wants to show off 🙄

After sending that reply, I switched to Hiccup's chat.

12:15pm
Last period was canceled,
so I'll be at your place
at half past one at the latest

Technically, he could've left ages ago, but apparently Stacy's lips were more important. I just rolled my eyes. This whole situation was getting more annoying than sad. So I just sent a thumbs-up emoji and put my phone away. I decided to watch The Big Bang Theory until he arrived. I had to kill time somehow.

Elsa texted me again only five minutes into the episode.

12:56pm
OH

What was that supposed to mean? She kept texting.

12:56pm
Hiccup just stood up 👀

12:56pm
And Stacy does not
look happy

12:56pm
Hehe

12:57pm
OH he's heading
for the exit

12:57pm
And he's not looking back 😱

Then she sent a picture of Stacy, who looked torn between pouting and being furious, so her face showed something in between. That made me laugh, because I knew Hiccup was on his way to me and that was the reason she was having an emotional meltdown. She didn't want to screw it up, so she let him go. But of course, she hated it.

12:58pm
That's the best thing
I've seen today 😂

Elsa responded with the same emoji and then went offline. I grinned like an idiot, feeling a bit too great at the thought of Hiccup telling Stacy he was leaving to see me. I knew it wasn't right, but Stacy had it coming. She was playing the same game with me, after all.

When the doorbell rang, the second episode was playing. I paused it and opened the door, where he stood smiling.

"Hey, your face looks better already," he said as I let him in and closed the door.

I shrugged. "A little. At least it doesn't throb anymore. I just hope the huge bruise goes away soon."

He laughed and hung up his jacket. "Yeah, it still looks pretty brutal. Did you ice it?"

"Yes," I said, dragging the word out. "You're the third person to tell me that. At some point I get it."

He grinned and followed me into the living room, sitting down across from me on the couch. I let the episode play in the background to avoid awkward silence.

He told me what happened in class and let me take pictures of his notes, which I'd copy later. We sat in silence for a few minutes watching the episode until I realized this was the first time we were alone since he got back with Stacy. As much as I didn't want to ruin the mood, I needed to hear his side, why he went to her. I just wasn't sure if that would cross a line. We'd talked about his relationship before, but it hadn't been like this. I hadn't been in love with him then.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, making me look at him. He'd apparently been watching me for a while.

I could've lied, but that wouldn't help either of us. So I didn't listen to my head and asked bluntly, "Why did you go to her?"

He immediately knew what I meant. His mouth hung open for a second, like he was searching for the right words. "She texted me that she wanted to talk about something important. I wanted to know what it was."

"And then you just accidentally ended up inside her?" That shocked us both because I hadn't expected to actually say it out loud. I was really starting to take after my grandma.

"Uh," he muttered, looking away. "That's ... kind of complicated."

I laughed bitterly. "What's complicated about it? She lured you in, fucked you, and now you're dancing to her tune again. You do know others can ride you just as well, right?"

Holy crap, what was I even saying?

He must've thought the same, because his eyes, like mine, widened in surprise. Except his cheeks didn't flush like mine did. At that moment, Sheldon knocked on Penny's door, distracting both of us so we stopped talking.

How to Ruin Everything With a Few Words: A Book by Astrid Hofferson. That would probably sell well. Lately, I seemed to be stepping into one emotional mess after another. To be fair, part of it was his fault too.

Thankfully, my dad came home a few minutes later. I immediately felt better, because he broke the weird tension. "Hey, you two. Done studying already?"

We glanced at each other, then turned to him as he stood in the hallway with my ice cream in hand. He looked just as confused as we were. "What? It's Tuesday, you two always meet up then."

Oh crap, I had completely forgotten. Hiccup seemed to have forgotten too. We looked at each other again, for the first time really locking eyes today, and burst out laughing. Whether it was from my dad's confused face, our stupidity, or the tension of the past few minutes, I didn't know, but it felt damn good to laugh with him and forget the emotional chaos for a moment.