Trouble (Hijack)

Part 9

Hiccup hardly slept all night, wondering how he could even top Jack's date. He was in a dither as he finished his homework when Astrid texted him nearly five times bugging him to tell her everything. He finally gave in and put his homework down to call her.

He had to practically keep the phone away from his ear by the time he finished telling her all about his night, including their kiss; she was screaming with happiness.

"You need to lay off the caffeine." He laughed.

"Oh God, Hiccup, this is the greatest thing ever! I am loving it!" she cried happily.

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, but I'm freaking out cause I told Jack I'd take him out tonight and I have no clue where to go or what to do."

Astrid thought for a minute, "Well, I don't know if he would be into it, but Clyde and I are going to this battle of the bands thing tonight. Clyde's trying to check out the competition and see if there are any potential members for his band."

Hiccup suddenly smiled, "Astrid, once again; you complete me!"

....

Jack got excited when Hiccup told him to dress casual but for a party. He was fine with just another t-shirt with a band logo on it and his black skinny jeans. He grabbed his blue converse and ran out the door before grabbing his crisp white jacket.

"Jack!" his mom called.

"Yeah Mom?" he called back as he put it on.

"Can you come here really fast?" she said.

Jack walked to the kitchen, wondering what on earth she wanted when he saw her at the table looking at something and looking very sad.

He came over and noticed packets from the military, filled with registration information.

She looked up as he sat down then put them down on the table in front of her. She put her hands on the table and took a breath and leaned forward, "Jack...I think we need to discuss this."

Jack sighed and looked at the clock. He had thirty minutes tops. He hoped this wouldn't ruin his night.

"Mom, look, I wanna join the military, just like Dad and Uncle North." He said quickly.

His stomach sank when tears came to her eyes and she wiped at them quickly, "Jack...I'm only going to say this once and it's only because I love you."

Jack stared at her, wondering what on earth she would say.

"I'm not allowing you to join." She said simply, "I want you to go to college and do what you love doing. I am throwing these away and we're not discussing it anymore. And I'm telling North not to discuss it with you."

Jack was shocked. His mother was always very fair in her thinking. She heard everyone's side and listened. She never just made a blunt decision without question.

"Mom!" he yelled suddenly, feeling angry, "I wanna go!"

"And I said we are done discussing it." She said getting up.

"How can we be done? You haven't even let me talk about it!" Jack roared, "You can't just keep me from joining. I'll find a way!"

"Not if I can help it." She glared.

"How can you do this?" Jack suddenly yelled, "This is not fair! I'm not Dad, I might not even die! But at least I have a chance to do something!"

"Jack, I said no. I'm not losing any more children." She said angrily, "I think it's admirable that you want to be like your father, but I can't let you go. I'm sorry. But that's my final word. I want you to start looking into colleges now for interviewing." She said, getting up and walking away. He stared after her in shock, unable to believe that she could just control his decision like that.