9:34pm
Hey, if you want we
can meet with Jack
and Elsa in front of
the school tomorrow

9:36pm
Okay, what time?

9:36pm
8:30? Then we have
enough time to find
a good spot in the gym

9:37pm
Alright

I had looked over those messages from last night for the fifth time now to make sure I remembered them correctly, because it was already a quarter to nine and I was still standing alone next to the glass doors. Had he forgotten about me? No, that's not like Hiccup. When he made plans, he showed up, I knew that much by now from our tutoring sessions. Were Jack and Elsa late? Were they stuck in traffic? That's when I realized I didn't even know how they usually got to school. My dad had driven me today since his shift didn't start until ten, so I had actually been earlier than necessary. Mrs. Coleman should've seen that.

When I looked up from my phone, I saw the next wave of students heading onto the schoolyard, all getting off the yellow school bus that had just pulled into the parking lot. Among them were the three I had been waiting for this whole time.

Hiccup smiled the moment he saw me and came straight toward me, Jack and Elsa in tow. "Hey, sorry we're late, th-"

"This bus ride was a complete disaster!" Elsa cut him off. "At first it was already five minutes late picking us up, and then there was an accident right in front of us at the intersection because the driver ahead of us thought, 'Oh, the light's still orange, I'll just go for it.' Yeah, well, bad idea, because by the time he hit the intersection, the light was green for the other direction and another car smashed right into his side. That's what happens when people think traffic lights are just for decoration."

I looked at Hiccup for help, completely overwhelmed by her tirade. He just grinned at me like this was totally normal. Maybe it was, after all, I didn't know Elsa, so I had no idea what she was like.

"At least we made it," said Jack.

"We could've been here earlier, though," she replied and turned to me. "And hello." Without hesitation, she hugged me, which left me even more confused. But she let go just as quickly. "Now let's head in before we get stuck standing next to the bleachers." She grabbed Jack's hand and dragged him behind her.

For a moment, I could only stare after them dumbfounded. Was that real? Had she just accepted me into their group and hugged me like we'd been doing that forever? I hadn't even exchanged a single word with her before, ever.

"That ..." I began, but couldn't find the words to describe it.

"Is Elsa," Hiccup finished for me, still with a grin in his face. "Come on, before we really have to stand."

❁

In the end, Elsa had saved each of us a seat next to them in the second row, guarding them like a lioness protects her cubs. I had known her for about ten minutes and already decided that I liked her. After we sat down, Jack formally introduced himself as if I didn't already know his name since he was one of the school's top football players.

He laughed when I told him that. "I hear that all the time." Right after, Mr. North tapped his microphone and asked for silence.

By now, Hiccup and I were sitting in Biology Room 2 and waited for Mrs. Coleman, because of course biology was our first class on Mondays for the rest of the school year. Sure, we didn't start until third period, but what was the point of sleeping in if you knew Mrs. Coleman was going to be the first teacher face you saw that day? My only silver lining was that Hiccup and I had decided to sit next to each other. That way, we were able to find out which classes we had together and came to the conclusion: all of them. Our schedules were identical.

"Do you think Mr. North is behind that?" Hiccup asked me.

"It's possible. Maybe he did it because of the tutoring, it'll definitely make the assignments easier that way."

He grinned. "Indeed."

Then Mrs. Coleman marched through the door and the room immediately felt ten degrees colder. I had almost managed to forget the incident before the break, but the moment she called on me and sneered, "Do you remember my rule or does another member of your family need to die for it to stick?", everything came rushing back. How badly I wanted to jump up and punch her. Probably the rest of the class too, judging by how tense they all looked. Instead, I just glared at her. Let her try another comment like that, I had regular meetings on Fridays with the principal now, including a witness. He looked pretty angry too, but understood from a look I gave him that he shouldn't say anything. She was going to get what was coming to her.

At lunch, we met Jack and Elsa in front of the cafeteria. I was prepared for them to head to their usual table with the other football players while I slunk off to some corner by myself, but apparently, the three of them had a different idea. When I went to say goodbye, Elsa stopped me. "Where are you going? Don't you eat in the cafeteria during lunch?"

"Uh, yes I do, just, um ... over there?" I stammered, pointing to the empty table in the corner.

She looked over, then back at me. "Not anymore. Come on." She grabbed my hand and pulled me with her, just like she had done with Jack that morning. Must be part of her personality.

The football team was already gathered and talking loudly when we got to the table. "Hey, boys," Elsa greeted them with a smile and placed her hands on my shoulders. "This is Astrid. She'll be joining us from now on."

"Welcome to the cool kids' table," one of them said with a wink. Another rolled his eyes. I managed a smile and just hoped they couldn't tell how weird the whole situation felt to me.

I sat down between Elsa and Hiccup. Elsa drew Jack and a blond guy into a conversation while Hiccup pulled out his phone because apparently he'd just gotten a message. That's when my ears caught what the others at the table were talking about, which was hands down the most disturbing thing I'd ever heard.

"So you're telling me," said a dark-haired guy with acne, "that you didn't know women have three holes?"

Another one, light brown hair with a thick beard and a nice tan, raised his arms. "I just can't picture it. We only have two, why do they have one more?"

"Would you want to push out a kid or shove a dildo into the same hole you pee out of?" said a third guy, definitely Latino judging by his build.

I sat there, paralyzed, staring at them in disbelief. Were they seriously having this conversation? And did the blond guy really not know that it was different for women? This had to be a joke, right?

Hiccup leaned over and whispered, "Told you."

He had, indeed. When it came to the topics of their conversations, I was truly a genius.

❁

I sat with them at their table the entire week and no one seemed to mind, even though I kept asking Hiccup in private every now and then, and every time he would respond with, "No, Astrid, you're not bothering anyone. We want you to sit with us." It still felt strange. Especially because of Stacy, who had made it her personal mission to kill me with looks. Hiccup told me to ignore her, but I could still tell how his eyes occasionally drifted in her direction. I really hoped that would pass, even though it's not always easy to move on. But if he ever went back to her, I'd slap him.

On Friday, we stood outside Mr. North's office during lunch break and knocked. Immediately, his "Come in!" rang out.

"Ah, Ms. Hofferson and Mr. Haddock," he said with a smile as he saw us. "Please, have a seat. Let's get straight to the point: how's the tutoring going?"

"Well," I began, "we started during the second half of the break and have gone over the first quarter of eleventh grade so far."

"And everything we've had on neurology up to now," Hiccup added.

It had been a good call to do that, because just like we predicted, Mrs. Coleman had quizzed us on all of it on Monday. I'll never forget the shocked look on her face when she called on me and I gave the right answer. How I wish I had a picture of that.

Mr. North raised his eyebrows. "You already started during the break?"

Hiccup and I glanced at each other before he replied. "Uhm, yes? Were we not supposed to?"

"Oh no, don't get me wrong," he said quickly. "That's great! I just didn't expect it, especially since you were both pretty against the idea in the beginning."

I shrugged. "That may be true, but I realized I really do need the help, so I pulled myself together."

He smiled at me kindly. "That's good to hear. Admitting it is the first step toward improvement." I almost rolled my eyes because that sounded exactly like something Hiccup would say, but I managed to hold back. "Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?"

"Mrs. Coleman," Hiccup and I said in unison. Mr. North sighed and gestured for us to continue, which we did.

❁

After our last class of the week, Spanish, Hiccup and I were standing outside the school building with a group of other students, waiting for the bus. Jack and Elsa had caught the earlier one and were already on their way home. I would've loved to get the empty one too, but one last vocabulary had to get squeezed in.

"Are we meeting tomorrow at eleven again?" Hiccup asked as a yellow school bus pulled onto the lot.

"Just like every Saturday," I replied with a smile. "That one's mine, by the way."

"Oh, I have to go the other direction."

"Too bad, otherwise we could've spent more time ranting about Mrs. Coleman."

He laughed and waved at me as I said goodbye and walked toward the bus. He kept watching me until we turned onto the main road and I disappeared from his view. The whole time, he never stopped smiling.

———

What do you think? New school year, new luck? Will it be good or will everything fall apart? 👀