SIXTEEN:
Hiccup cringed back instinctively as the door to his hospital room slammed open and a bulky shape burst in, his fists clenched and his face twisted with hatred. He lurched forward, his thick surprisingly high-pitched voice thickened by a broad Berkian accent.
"YOU!" the man shouted hatefully. "I hope you're satisfied, boy! You've crippled my son!"
Hiccup felt the breath freeze in his throat, recognition flooding back. He hadn't seen the man for a number of years for he and his father had fallen out spectacularly when he was much younger-but he still recognised his Uncle Spitelout Jorgensen from old photos. Truth be told, he had always been scared of 'Uncle Spite' for the man made no secret of his feelings for the skinny boy he had been. Spitelout had been dismissive, cruel and snide about the boy he imagined measured up so much worse than his own fine son and those feelings of dislike and fear towards the man had never gone away. And for a second, he felt like he was that skinny, undergrown boy back home, with the grown man in his face sneering at how inadequate he was, what disappointment he must be for his parents. It was the last thing that he needed.
"Wh-what?" he mumbled as his father rose protectively, standing between his vulnerable son and the newcomer.
"Back off, Spitelout," Stoick said with forced calm. "Hiccup has been badly hurt."
"Who cares?" Spitelout sneered. "My son has been worse hurt by yours!"
"What are you taking about?" Stoick growled, squaring up to the man.
"Your son fell down the stairs and in a spiteful gesture, he made sure he pulled my Snotlout down with him," Spitelout yelled. Already shaking his head, Stoick turned to look at his son, reading the distress in Hiccup's bright green eyes.
"Hiccup?" he murmured.
"I-I didn't..." he murmured.
"Lies!" Spitelout accused him.
"But I thought you couldn't remember what happened," Stoick murmured as Hiccup's eyes widened with shock, Surely no one would believe such a thing of him? He swallowed in misery.
"I can't," he managed. "But I'm not spiteful and vicious or cruel..."
"You lost your leg and your career and you were determined to make sure my boyo lost his as well!" Spitelout accused him as Hiccup shook his head again.
"I can honestly say all I want out of Snotlout is for him to stay away from me as much as possible!" he protested.
"You weren't saying that when you entrapped him," Spitelout sneered as Stoick's brows shot up. The intruder gave a nasty chuckle. "He didn't tell you that, did he Stoick? That he and his nasty friends set a trap for my boyo and had him accused of bullying and beating up Hiccup. Not that it takes any effort..."
"How exactly did he entrap Snotlout" Stoick asked, angry at the implication.
"We set up cameras in the bathroom and watched as Snotlout and his friends followed Hiccup in, beat him up and threatened him, calling him worthless and useless," Astrid said from the doorway. "I don't think you can call it entrapment when there was no invitation or any action on our part apart from Hiccup wishing to use the bathroom and being separated from his friends!" Astrid's angry words rang through the room, her eyes blazing as she walked forward.
"And how do you know, Miss?" Spitelout sneered.
"Well, the whole thing was live streamed to Berkbook and the entire video-and lots of stills-are up on Berkbook for anyone to view," she spat back. "No one forced or tricked Snotlout into doing anything. It's as all his own impetus, to go and beat up another student."
"His own cousin," Stoick said in a menacing voice, turned to face Spitelout threateningly. "Bet he didn't tell you that, did he Spitelout?"
"Snotlout isn't really friends with the truth," Astrid added. "And Hiccup was pushed-by Snotlout, As he fell, his flailed out to grab something to help stop his fall. He caught Snotlout and they both fell."
"That's not what my boyo said!" Spitelout argued.
"Snotlout pushed Hiccup down the stairs?" Stoick growled. "That's it-get out! I don't want you here upsetting my son with your accusations..." But Spitelout folded his arms.
"Aren't you even concerned at what your son has done?" he challenged his brother-in-law. Stoick blinked. "Snotlout has ruptured both his cruciate ligaments in his right knee and has a fracture-dislocation of his right ankle. He'll take over six months to recover and that's a career-ending injury. He'll lose his Scholarship and his future career. And that's all down to your son, no matter what he claims." He glared at the shocked Hiccup. "That's on your conscience, boyo! Yours and no one else's!"
At the commotion, the nurses had arrived and the man turned and walked out without another word, his devastating last blow leaving Hiccup stunned and utterly wracked by guilt. He had injured Snotlout? A small fraction himself felt a vicarious pleasure that his self-absorbed and cruel cousin was finally learning what it was like to be physically limited but the much greater portion was sad that Snotlout had been hurt. He honestly couldn't recall what had happened-but he had no reason to disbelieve Astrid and if so, it was clear that the Norns had finally paid Snotlout back for his cruel taunts and bullying of his cousin. Yet Hiccup know that Snotlout was entirely dependent on his prowess as a sportsman for his future, for he was borderline failing his classes and had no clue about any future that didn't include him as a Football star.
"Hiccup? Son? Are you alright?" Stoick asked worriedly but as Astrid walked closer, she realised there was a horrible guilty look in his eyes and he was paler than he had been. She lunged forward and took his hand, leaning over him to look into his eyes.
"Don't you dare believe that idiot!" she told him fiercely. "Hiccup-I know you. There isn't a mean or spiteful bone in your body. Anyone would flail around if they were falling-and Snotlout wouldn't have been there to be grabbed if he hadn't been the person who shoved you backwards down the stairs in the first place!"
"But I caught him and caused him to fall," Hiccup said tonelessly. "Me. No one else. I could have just fallen..." She rested her hand on his face.
"Hiccup-everyone tries to stop themselves falling," she told him sternly. "Snotlout's injury was an accident." But he shook his head, a broken look entering his eyes.
"But it wasn't," he murmured. "It was my fault."
oOo
"What's happening?" Astrid asked Fishlegs as she and Heather plumped down on the sagging leather sofa in his den. The twins were lying upside down on beanbags and Dagur was doing crunches to one side, working off his anxiety with hard physical exercise. The husky teen sighed heavily and effortlessly switched to the Berkbook Berk High Chatroom.
"Somehow, Hiccup has become Public Enemy Number One," he reported in an unhappy voice.
"WHAT?" Tuff exclaimed from the beanbag, rolling to all fours and crawling over to the desk where Fishlegs had his computer set up. Standing up on his knees, the male twin peered at the screen. "No-that can't be right!"
"It is," Astrid read, frowning. "Snotlout has posted a self-pitying appeal. He claims Hiccup fell and grabbed him in an act of vengeance for the bullying. He's hurt his knee and ankle and is needing surgery-and his career is over. He'll lose his Scholarship and College and it's all Hiccup's fault..."
"That's a total crock!" Ruff added, crawling over to kneel by her twin. "You told us what happened, Ast." She looked over. "And you were there as well, Heather." The raven-haired girl sighed.
"All I saw was Hiccup falling and dragging Snot with him," she confessed in a miserable voice.
"I saw Snotlout shove Hiccup and hiss something at him," Astrid insisted. "And then Hiccup went backwards and grabbed Snotlout-and because Snot was leaning forwards from he shove, he fell as well. I mean, why else would such strong and heavy guy actually be dragged down by a fishbone like Hiccup?" Fishlegs nodded.
"She makes a good point," Dagur said from his corner, methodically crunching away. "Snot has a low centre of gravity and knows how to plant his feet to be stable. Hiccup shouldn't have pulled him flying. Snot should have been able to stop him falling."
"If he had wanted to," Ruff muttered darkly.
"I hear ya, sister," Tuff agreed and they high-fived. "He was probably making sure he got a front row view of his cousin's fall. He was bitching about being given detention for his bullying to Thug in the bathrooms. I was hiding in the cubicle pretending to be throwing up so they didn't come in a try to evict me. They thought I wasn't paying attention..."
"I'm not even going to try to understand how that happened," Fishlegs sighed."But people are feeling sorry for him and in the absence of any other version of events, they're believing Snotlout."
"Why?" Heather asked directly. "Everyone knows he's a self-important self-absorbed painfully stupid bully!"
"And he's hurt," Fishlegs told her. "People have sympathy when someone is hurt."
"What? No one has any sympathy when Hiccup was hurt-they were vile to him!" Astrid pointed out.
"Or when your Dad died," Heather added loyally. "We all behaved badly then-some more than others..."
"Though you and Ruff have more than made it up now," Astrid reassured her.
"But Snotlout was popular for years-until two days ago," Fishlegs reminded her. "And some people were still suggesting the video was a set up. They want to believe him. And Hiccup has been cast as the bad guy, taking vengeance on Snotlout for years of bullying..."
"How can they argue the video of Snotlout bullying and beating up Hiccup was a set up and then argue Hiccup was taking vengeance for being bullied by Snotlout?" Astrid asked him.
"Hey-I'm not saying there's any logic to their defence," Fishlegs protested quickly, cringing from her furious tone. "I'm just telling you what's going on. He's a popular guy."
"And being popular is like being covered in teflon," Dagur added, switching to push ups. "People want to be your friend and believe what you're saying, even when it's outrageous, because you're popular. And logic has no place in that. No matter what evidence there is to the contrary, they will defend you because of your image. Some people won't believe anything bad about their heroes, no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary or how many witnesses there are. It's a kind of communal blindness to your faults."
"And the student body has it in spades," Tuff murmured. "They're all accusing Hiccup of deliberately hurting Snotlout for revenge. Some of them are suggesting we were all in it. And Astrid..." He looked up.
"What?" she asked.
"Don't look," Tuff implored her. "They're saying you lied to Atali and duped her into thinking you have a famous Uncle. That it's all a lie and that you set the whole thing up."
"Are they kidding?" Astrid spat. "ARE THEY KIDDING? They think Finn isn't the real Finn? I'll show them Finn Thorstein Hofferson..."
"Atali has posted a video," Ruff pointed out, stabbing her finger at the screen and almost poking Tuff's eye out.
"Ow!"
"Sorry, brother Nut," she added as Fishlegs clicked on the link. There was a pause and Heather rose to stand beside Astrid as they stared at the familiar face fo Atali. The Queen Bee was standing by a tearful-looking Mindy, her arm resting lightly around her friend's waist and she looked suitably sombre.
"We've all heard about Snotlout Jorgensen's horrible injury," she began without preamble. "Snot is one of my best friends and Mindy's boyfriend. And we're devastated that he's been hurt by the spiteful and deliberate actions of Hiccup Haddock, who grabbed him and deliberately threw him down the stairs. Sadly, I've had several students tell me that Hiccup hissed a few words to Snot as he did this horrible deed which has cause Snot such bad injuries that he may have lost his career as a College Football Star."
She paused.
"But I don't think that Hiccup would have come up with this scheme on his own," she continued, now looking at the camera. "And I'm certain that someone plotted with him to do this. And that someone is a person who recently cheated their way into my circle of friends and betrayed me by making a fool of me at the Valentine's Dance. Sadly, she lured away two of my friends with her lies. Astrid Hofferson is behind this vicious attack. I blame her as much as Hiccup. They framed poor Snot for a so-called attack on Hiccup and now they ruin his life. I mean, what have they got against him-except that Hiccup is jealous of his more handsome and successful cousin and Astrid is out for vengeance because Snot rejected her advances on Valentine's because he has Mindy for a girlfriend. Both of them are vicious liars and should be treated with the contempt they deserve!" Her voice had risen furiously and she visibly calmed herself, finally adding an afterthought. "And we all wish Snot a speedy recovery."
The entire room was silent when the video finished and Astrid's jaw dropped.
"I'm speechless," she said. "I really have nothing to say. That is..."
"Astonishing," Heather finished in a shocked voice. "That's the most imaginative interpretation of the truth I have ever seen."
"You believe me?" Astrid asked her breathlessly. Instantly all of the others nodded.
"Of course," Ruff assured her. "We've spoken to you, we've met Finn, I've met Dane-hubba hubba-so we know you are what you say you are. It's Atali who is fake-that and her story."
"It's a brilliant ploy," Dagur piped up, sounding a little more strained as he continued his push ups. "By claiming you and Hiccup are in this together, that you conspired, it immediately casts doubt on your account of what happened. Snot must have told Atali that you were there-you and Heather."
"But why?" Astrid murmured.
"When Queen Bees fight, it's to the death," Fishlegs murmured.
"You didn't expect Atali to lie back and accept being undermined and challenged?" Heather added. But Astrid shook her head.
"But to use her friend's injury, to tell such horrible lies and set everyone against Hiccup-and me?" she whispered. "She's a monster."
"She's someone who is totally invested in being the most desirable and looked up-to student, the biggest fish in her pond," Dagur corrected her.
"But she has her priorities all wrong," Ruff commented. "You should be looked up for your positive qualities, because you're the best. Not because you lie about and trash anyone who looks like a threat..."
"Though that works as well," Heather commented dryly. "So what do we do?"
"We find proof of what happened and show them that it isn't true," Astrid said determinedly. "Because I know what I saw-and I wasn't the only one there. There must be someone who saw it as well. And we have to find out what they saw and why they haven't spoken up."
"Because no one wants to go up against Atali," Tuff murmured softly. "Because of this." Fishlegs nodded.
"But there may be security camera footage," he murmured. "And maybe someone has a video they can share? I'll appeal anonymously on Berkbook-maybe someone will be willing to share as long as they know it can't be traced to them..."
"Please try," Astrid whispered, shake to the core by how vicious her enemies seemed to be. It was a mindset she couldn't understand for she was a truthful person. The idea of lying about anyone else, especially for her own gain, was alien to her. "I can't imagine how Hiccup is feeling..."
Fishlegs sat back in his chair and stared at the screen. He hadn't shown Astrid or his friends all of the conversation threads about Hiccup but he had read them-and he knew his friend would. Hiccup's reaction to the trolling that had been aimed at the jocks spoke of what he had endured...and if he read the words, he would know that pain again. For a second, he wondering if Hiccup had deliberately grabbed Snotlout-but then he had dismissed the thought. He knew his friend as a decent, kind-hearted young man who would never harm anyone on purpose. But he knew others would believe differently.
But how would Hiccup cope when so many others would believe the worst of him?
oOo
Closing his eyes, Hiccup lay back in his bed and laid his phone aside. Someone-probably one of his former 'friends'-had circulated his email address as well as his Berkbook page and he had found himself swamped by vitriol, a tsunami of vicious messages from people who were doing everything up to urging him to kill himself and rid the world of his evil. And the knowledge that these were his fellow students at Berk High, kids just like him who were effectively baying for his death, made him want to sink into oblivion and vanish. He'd thought it had stopped but for them to all attack now, when his head was still pounding and he was already wracked with guilt...well, it was too much.
He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. The room had ceased spinning but his world was just as chaotic. Every time he thought things may be getting better, something knocked him back. In fact, he'd kind of come to expect it, schooling himself for the inevitable rejection. He'd thought he'd got away with it when Astrid had said she was sticking with him, despite being an amazing Valkyrie herself. But this was almost worse because it was relentless.
His phone vibrated again and he didn't bother to look: there was no point. It would just be some other faceless coward tearing at him once more, not caring he had been hurt, that he was wracked by guilt and feeling utterly miserable. Not caring he was a human being, that he was injured and targeted by people who just wanted revenge for being shown up for the shallow fakes they were.
The phone vibrated again and again and he winced, his hand automatically reaching and flipping it over to display the vicious words. But there was another text at the top from someone who believed in him and he sat up, his eyes pricking with unexpected tears at the words. His thumb gently stroked the screen at the words, gently conveying the belief he had so desperately needed, superimposed on the image of the sender.
[14:50] I KNOW THINGS ARE ROUGH BABE BUT I BELIEVE IN U. SO DO ALL THE OTHERS. DON'T LISTEN TO THOSE COWARDS. WE'RE ALL WORKING TO PROVE THAT SNOT PUSHED YOU AND FIX ATALI AND HER BITCHES FOR GOOD. I'LL BE IN AFTER MY SHIFT SO STAY STRONG. LOVE YOU-YOUR OWN PERSONAL VALKYRIE A xx