***39***
JACK
All I could see was complete darkness. There was only silence until I heard voices echoing in the dark. I opened my eyes and the bright light stung so bad.
My vision finally adjusted and I saw my grandparents by my side. I'm in a hospital.
I groaned.
"Good morning, Jackie-boy." My Grandma smiled at me but she still looks worried as hell. Both of them were still wearing their sleeping clothes under their coats.
"Urgh..." I groaned again. I feel really weak at the moment. "What time is it?"
Grandpa looked at his wristwatch, "4:39 AM."
"Did you guys even sleep?" I suddenly asked.
"We would if we could. We were bloody worried about you." Grandma went closer and sat right next to me. I felt sorry.
"The doctor said it was an allergic reaction." Grandpa said.
I looked at them, confused. "Allergic reaction?"
"The doctor asked us what you ate last but all we remember was that you ate gumbo." Grandpa said.
"You can't be allergic to gumbo. If you were, the reaction should've occurred the time you swallowed that dinner." Grandma added.
Of course it wasn't. I was never allergic to gumbo.
"Then what are you allergic of, boy?" Grandpa asked me.
"Chocolate."
"Don't remember feeding ya' chocolate, did we?" He leaned in closer to me as if he's sensing I'd done something wrong. "Did you?"
"Of course, I didn't. Why would I even do that?" I defended.
"Just checking." Grandpa said, sitting back.
"All that happened last night was that I ate the vanilla cake from the fridge." I explained. I began remembering what happened last night.
Grandma suddenly looked like she knew something.
"What was in that cake, Grandma?" I interrogated. I was 100% sure it was the cake.
"I did put a little cocoa powder in the cake mix." She said.
So that's why that vanilla cake didn't taste like vanilla. I've never felt so dumb.
***
HICCUP
"No!" I shouted when Toothless ran around the living room, almost knocking off Mom's figurines.
It's only five in the morning and I'm trying hard not to wake my parents up, but with the work I am doing right now, I wouldn't be surprised if one of them would come downstairs to see what's happening.
"Damn it, Toothless! Stay put!" I quietly shouted.
Toothless ran on top of the TV and then sat there. It was the perfect time to get him down.
"Come down, Toothless." I commanded, calmly. He slowly stood up and looked at me. "Yeah, come on down, little guy."
Slowly, Toothless jumped down from the TV set. It actually calmed me down. My parents still don't know about Toothless but they'll know, eventually. Just not today, I guess, especially when my Mom never liked cats.
***
"I saw that black cat, again, in the garage." Dad said while he was driving me to school. "Aren't black cats a bad omen?"
I guess I shouldn't have put the thing in the garage that morning, and now my Dad thinks Toothless is some kind of devil cat.
"Hiccup, are you paying attention?" He asked me.
"O-oh yeah, I was listening." I answered while looking outside the window.
I was riding on the shotgun seat, that time. I stared at the side mirror and saw something.
What was that?
***
RAP
I sat alone in our hide-out, checking out that wooden sceptre that Jack always scribbles on whenever the gang is here. I found it just standing at the edge of the cabana. I never got a close look at it since Jack always hides it somewhere. I don't know why it ended up here in the cabana.
He wrote some phrases there using a black marker. He also drew some black swirly linings all over the staff. I don't quite get the purpose of this, anyway.
But what really caught my attention was the trunk part of it.
I saw all of our names.
Hiccup • Rapunzel • Jack • Merida
It wasn't written in black ink, instead, it was carved on the wood. Mine was written in cursive and I could really see the effort that Jack did in this sceptre.
"What are you looking at?"
I quickly turned around while I had the staff used as a weapon.
"Ouch!" I saw Hiccup crouching in pain. I must've hit him in the stomach.
"I'm so sorry!" I helped him up from the ground.
"Why did you do that?" He asked me.
"I thought you were one of those creepy stalkers that always sneak up on me." I replied to him.
"Stalker or not, that's still no reason to beat someone up with a stick." He said while rubbing his stomach.
"I'm sorry." I apologized again.
"Yeah, I'm okay." We both sat down on one of the chairs in the cabana.
"So, did your parents say 'yes'?" I reminded him.
"Yeah." He answered. "They think it's a great way for me to relax from school for a while."
"Really?" I said. "So where will your parents go for their winter break?"
"I think they'll be in Africa?" He replied, unsure. "At least, that's what they told me."
I just nodded and then after that, we fell silent. I don't really know what to say.
"So, about the Winter dance," I suddenly added. I don't know why I chose that as a topic.
Hiccup looked like he wasn't up to it. "Er... What about it?"
"Y'know. About you and Merida's midnight kiss." I told him. That came out of nowhere.
Hiccup's cheeks turned red. "T-that wasn't even a real kiss! Our lips didn't even touch!" He said, defensively.
"Whose lips didn't touch?" Merida came out like a mushroom. Her hair was messy, well it had always been messy, but this time, it was messier.
"NOTHING!" Hiccup yelled.
"Okay, Hiccup. Calm down!"
I was pretty sure he doesn't want to talk about that midnight kiss with anyone. Not even himself.
"I've got bad news and good news." Merida said as she sat on top of the table.
"Good news." I said, quickly.
"Good news. My Dad said I can go."
"Bad news?" Hiccup said.
"My Mom said 'no'." Merida frowned. "I badly want to go, just this once, I could get on one ski vacation with ye guys!"
"Don't worry, Merida." I stood up and patted her back. "With a little bit of teamwork, we can work this out."
"Teamwork?" Merida looked at me in confusion.
"Well duh, I'll help asking for your Mom's permission." I volunteered.
"Wait... Ye can do that?"
"What's so hard about asking?" I said, confidently. I always get my parents to get what I want so why not her parents?
***
ELSA
Find the value of x, find the value of x, find the value of x...
I am currently finishing my Math assignment during History class because I forgot to do it last night.
Mr. Rodriguez was so busy talking, he had no time to find those kids who aren't paying attention to his lectures.
"Ms. Hansen, what are you doing?"
Or maybe, he wasn't too busy.
"Don't worry about her, Mr. Rodriguez. She's just writing down her life realizations after her meditation ritual this morning." Marissa said, standing up from her seat. What the frick is her problem with me?
I heard a couple of boys laugh in the back.
"Yes, thank you, Ms. Boone but I was not asking you. Please sit down." Mr. Rodriguez said.
Ugh, does she really want me to humiliate her again?
I stood up.
"I was only writing an essay about how you should be contented and thankful with what God had given you and p.s., make up is too overrated. I also added a mini speech about this school's dress code, banning cleavage exposure." And then I sat down. Marissa looked back at me in disgust. That was the big blow.
The boys in the back clapped their hands so loud, Mr. Rodriguez had to calm them down.
"Okay, Ms. Hansen... That was quite inspiring. However, that is not my topic. Now, let us go back now."
What I said was too mean, but who cares? Marissa is a bitch and has the right to shut her mouth.
I sat down, catching Marissa glaring at me. She rolled her eyes and then sat back, confidently, as if I just hadn't humiliated her for the second time.
I could imagine Jack giving me the usual grin he gives whenever I do something stupid just like this just behind my seat.
For a moment, I realized, why did I even imagine Jack doing that? The thought just came out of nowhere. I honestly had no idea where it came from. I think.
***
MERIDA
"Are ye really, really, really sure?" I asked Rapunzel for the ninth time. We quickly head to my house after school. We were sitting in the living room, waiting for Mom to arrive from whatever place she is.
"Of course I am, and will you please stop worrying? I know how parents work." She answered, confidently.
"How do parents work?" I asked, sarcastically, hoping she wouldn't answer back, but knowing Rap, she always answers back.
"Parents become very kind and welcoming whenever their kids have visitors. Everybody knows that."
"So ye're telling me that my Mom will do anything what ye say because ye're a visitor?" I summarized her explanation, but the idea still seems like it's not going to work with my Mom who is ALWAYS right and is never wrong.
"Exactly!" Rap twirled the tip of my hair.
"I'm still not sure about yer plan, exactly." I said. "Not all parents are the same. To sum things up, my Mom is a control freak and no one could control a control freak because that would be ironic."
"Stop fussing, start trying." She said as she covered my mouth.
After waiting for a couple of minutes, I heard the car's engine in the driveway.
Rap suddenly takes my hand and smiled, reassuringly. "Let's hope for the best."
"And expect for the worst." I added with a sigh.
*Credited to: thehopefuls