Little Stories (How To Train Your Dragon)

Under the Radar

Mabel was the quiet girl in school. She had struggling straight A's, never spoke up, never raised her hand, messy hair, wrinkled and tattered clothes, and never drew attention.

She needed no attention. She needed to have no friends, to be on no one's radar, to be in no ones thoughts. Why? Hiccup had no clue, but the beautiful brown haired mud brown eyes girl was a mystery he was determined to unravel.

Starting today.

The bell rung, ending class. The teacher dismissed them, and students shuffled off to their next class. Some students found a friend or three and chatted while they could. A few, specifically Mabel, stayed silent, her eyes low, clutching her current book in a deadly grip as she swung her dirty backpack over her shoulders.

"Hey, Mabel," Hiccup greeted.

Mabel looked shocked- or maybe surprised. No one spoke to her at school, and she didn't bother to talk to anyone in return. What was the rare popular nerd doing talking to her?

"Can I help you?" she responded, with more venom than she meant.

He held his hands up in surrender, walking beside her in the hallway. "Relax. I just wanted to know if you wanted to hang out this afternoon."

"Pass," she immediately dismissed, not waiting a second after he finished the offer.

"Why not?"

"Don't want to," was the curt reply. Fifth period was her last real class of the day, her next being study (which she was allowed to leave campus for).

"Please, I would really like to be your friend," he tried.

"Don't need any. Bye."

They walked into their next class, but Mabel hurried to the corner and pulled out her math notebook. Math was one of the subjects she struggled in, but she needed to keep her grades up if she wanted to take care of those she cared about while attending collage at the same time.

Hiccup politely asked the girl sitting beside her to switch seat with him. The girl complied, having a major crush on the tall and handsome boy, but Mabel rolled her eyes, uninterested.

"Please, Mae. Just one afternoon. Doesn't matter when."

"No, not interested. Please leave me alone, I really need to pass this class."

"You're making straight A's," he commented.

"Barely," Mabel muttered, zoning in on yesterday's notes.

The teacher was strict, starting class and demanding silence the moment the bell went off. Class was long and boring, but Mabel did her best to focus.

Class only stopped at the bell, and Mabel hurried to pack up her belongings.

"You know, I can tutor you in math," the boy offered, following her to her locker. His was a few lockers down, and took the advantage to also shuffle his stuff around.

"No, thanks. I'll manage. I don't need help." And Hiccup had the feeling that last one meant for more than just school.

"Of course you don't need help, but I don't mind helping anyways."

Mabel slammed her locker and stomped off. Glad they were the only two students in school with the same schedule, he followed her.

She quickly noticed. She spun and her heels, halfway down the block.

"Look, I don't know what your problem is, but you need to quit following me and leave me alone! I don't need help; I don't needs friends, okay?" She stormed off, not waiting for a reply.