High School Musical-Chapter 10

"Jack would you listen to me?!" Astrid asked. 

"I'd love to, once you drop this subject." Jack retorted.

"Why should I? I'm your best friend who you haven't told that you're gay!" 

Jack spun around and put his hand over her mouth. "Shut up." He said. "First, this is a library. Second, I don't need everyone finding out about me, okay?" Jack walked further down the aisle. But that didn't stop Astrid from following.

"What has that little elevated-IQ temptress boy done to you?!" Astrid asked loudly.

"I don't know, Astrid. What has he done?" Jack asked.

"You want to be up on stage singing show tunes!" Astrid yelled. 

"Who cares." Jack said.

"Who cares?! How  about me? Your loyal best friend?!" 

Suddenly, the librarian swung around the corner and glared at Astrid. "Quiet Miss Hofferson." He ordered.

Astrid held her hands up in surrender. "It's him, Professor Yobbish, not me." The librarian grumbled something under his breath but left nonetheless. Astrid looked back to Jack. "Listen to me. You're a hoops guy." She insisted, spinning the ball on her fingertips. "Not a musical singing guy." She slapped the ball down in his hands. He irritably threw the ball behind him and kept walking. Astrid snatched it up and followed. "Have you ever seen Micheal Crawford on a cereal box?"

"Who's Micheal Crawford?"

"Exactly my point!" Astrid persisted. "He was the 'Phantom of the Opera' on Broadway. My mom has seen that musical twenty-seven times. And she put his picture in our refrigerator." Jack shot her a confused look. "Oh yeah. Not on it, in it." She lifted the basketball in her hands. "So my point is: If you play basketball, you'll end up on a cereal box. if you sing in musicals, you'll end up in my mom's refrigerator."

"Why would she put his picture in her refrigerator?" Jack asked, still slightly confused.

"I don't know. One of her weird diet tricks. I'm a girl and don't even know what she was thinking." Astrid said.

"Astrid," Jack said gently. "The Mouth-To-Mouth Mona Dummies are more girly than you." Astrid scowled at him.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." She said. Professor Yobbish came around the corner and glared at Astrid again. "Jack. Stop being so loud." She said. Jack rolled his eyes and walked over to one of the tables. Astrid followed him still. "How do you expect the rest of us to be focused on a game, when you're off in leotards singing 'Twinkletown'?"

"Hey, no one said anything about leotards." Jack reassured her.

"Not yet my friend, but just you wait." Astrid said. "Look, we need you captain. Big time." They looked at each other.

"Miss Hofferson." Growled Professor Yobbish.

"I tried to tell him Professor Yobbish. I really tried." Astrid said without looking away. Astrid shook her head and left. Something had to be done. She needed help. As she made her way to the Chemistry classroom, Astrid found Snotlout and Jamie for moral support. 

The three teammates walked into the classroom. Unfortunately, Ana and Fishlegs saw this. "Something isn't right." Ana said as they stood in the doorway, eavesdropping.

Astrid walked up to Hunter. "We need to talk." Astrid set the basketball down on the counter and leaned on it.

"Go." Hunter said, turning his attention to Astrid. As they talked, Ana and Fishlegs were beginning to worry.

"They must be trying to figure out a way to make sure that Jack and Hiccup get into our show." Fishlegs said. "Now, the jocks rule most of the school, but if they get Jack into the show, then they've conquered the entire student body." Ana's eyes widened in horror.

"And if those science guys get Hiccup and Jack together, then the Scholastic Club goes from drool to cool." Ana said, horrified. That quickly faded, though. Soon replaced with anger. "Fishlegs, we need to save our musical from people who don't know the difference between a Tony Award and Tony Hawk." The siblings walked away angrily.

"Do you really think that'll work?" Hunter asked Astrid. The Scholastic team had now gathered around Astrid.

"It's the only way to save Jack and Hiccup from themselves." Astrid said. "So we on?" Hunter nodded.

"Yeah."

"So we start tomorrow?"

"First thing."

"Nice." Astrid smiled at him. "Let's go guys." The boys left the Chemistry lab.

~*~*~*~

The next day, Astrid his behind one side of the stone staircases outside the school, waiting for Hunter. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching as she ran out to talk to him when he finally arrived. "Alright, my watch is 7:45 mountain standard time. We synched?" Astrid informed him.

"Whatever," Hunter said.

"We're a go for 12:05 exactly?"

"Yes Astrid!" Hunter insisted. Astrid wasn't looking at him, so he waved a hand in front of her face. "But we're not Charlie's Angels, okay?" He handed Astrid a laptop with a webcam.

"I can dream can't I?" Astrid replied. Hunter just shook his head and walked away.

Astrid then made her way to the locker room where she assembled the team and started the plan. Jack came walking into where his locker was to see his entire team standing around a table with pictures and trophies on it. "'Spider' Bill Netrine. Class of '72. He was the MVP of league championship game." Astrid said before Jack could say anything. She held up an old photo.

"Sam Nedler, class of '02. Also known as 'Sammy Slamma Jamma'!" Snotlout said, high-fiving Jamie. He also held a picture. "Captain, MVP of his championship team."

"'The Thunderclap'-" The whole team clapped once, loudly. Jamie continued, "Hap Hadden, '95. He led the Dragons to back-to-back city championships. A legend." Jack looked around at his team, slightly confused as to why they were all doing this.

"Yes. Legends." Astrid said, matter-of-factly. "And do you think that any of these 'legends' became legends by auditioning for their school musical just days before the league championship game?" She asked. Now Jack understood what this was about. He gritted his teeth to stop him from saying some smart comment.

"Get'cha head in the game." Yelled the team.

"No. These legends became who they are because they never took their eyes off the prize." Astrid pointed to the table with the trophies.

"Get'cha head in the game." The team yelled again.

"Now, remind me, who was the first Sophomore to ever to make starting varsity?" Astrid asked cupping a hand to her ear.

"Jack!"

"And who voted him our team captain?"

"Us!"

"And who's gonna get they're sorry butts kicked in Friday's championship game if Jack's off singing show tunes?" Astrid crossed her arms.

"We are." The team answered discouraged.

"Guys, come on. Are you serious right now?" Jack asked. "Are you really doing this? I mean, there's twelve people on this team. Not just me."

"Oh really? Twelve? I thought you were good at math." Astrid said, irritably. "I think you forgot about one very very important thirteenth member." She handed him another picture frame. He turned it over and saw North. He was very young in the picture, with no beard and short black hair. He was wearing the Dragon brown and green uniform with a big 

"North." Jack said, a small smile appeared on his face.

"Yeah. North." Astrid replied, unimpressed. "Dragons basketball champion, class of 1981. Champion, father, and now coach. It's a winning tradition Jack. Like no other."

As Astrid and the team were confronting Jack in the locker room, Hunter and his team were talking to Hiccup in the Chemistry lab, he was showing some sort of slideshow on a laptop.

"From lowly Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon, to early warriors, medieval knights." Hunter said, as he progressed through the slides. "All leading up to-" One of her teammates unrolled a poster. It used to be of a basketball player with a normal head. But someone had enlarged a picture of Jack, cut out his head, and glued it over the poster's real head. "-lunkhead basketball man." Hiccup giggled, unable to contain it. "Don't laugh. This is a serious matter. Our culture has worshiped this aggressor throughout the ages and we end up with spoiled, overpaid, bonehead athletes who contribute little to our civilization other than slam dunks and touchdowns." Hunter seemed to grow even more irritated as he talked. "That is the inevitable world of Jack Overland." He pointed to the poster.

"Sure it is." Hiccup replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

" But the path of the mind, the path we're on, ours is the path that has brought us these people-" Hunter hit a button for the slideshow. "-Eleanor Roosevelt, Frida Kahlo, Sandra Day O'Connor, Madame Curie, Jane Goodall, Oprah Winfrey and so many others who the world reveres."

"Hiccup!" Hunter yelled, startling Hiccup into sitting back down. "Sorry. But, Jack Overland is just one side of our civilization, while our side of education, acceptance and accomplishment is our culture's future!" He insisted. "This is the side where you belong." Hiccup stared back at them.

Back in the locker room, Jack stared at his team in disbelief. "Guys! If you don't know that I'll put a hundred and ten percent into that game, then you don't know me."

"Oh really?" Astrid retorted. She spread her arms out. "Well, we just thought-"

"Well I'll tell you what I thought." Jack interrupted, irritably. "I thought you guys were my friends. My brothers." Astrid glared sharply at him. "And sister. My teammates! Win together, lose together, teammates."

Astrid nonchalantly moved around the table and opened the laptop, adjust the webcam on top. "But, suddenly this guy shows up and you're all into singing."

"Guys! I'm for the team!" Jack insisted. "I've always been for the team! He's just someone I met. That singing thing is nothing. Probably just a way to keep my nerves down." 

As he talked, little to his his knowledge, it was being viewed up in the chemistry lab. Hiccup looked at the screen, completely hurt. "I don't know. It means nothing to me. You're my guys and this is our team." Jack continued. "Hiccup is not important. I'll forget about him. I'll forget about the audition and we'll go out and get that championship." Hiccup looked horrified at what he was hearing. "Everyone happy now?"

"Behold lunkhead basketball man." Hunter said in a disappointed tone. A few tears slipped from Hiccup's eyes. As the rest of the room exited, Hunter said, "Well Hiccup, we'd love to have you on the Scholastic Decathlon team." Hiccup didn't answer. "Would you like to grab some lunch?" Hiccup shook his head. "O-okay, well, we'll be there... if you wanna come." Hiccup nodded as a few more tears rolled down his cheeks. 

As Hunter left, there was a lot of cheering coming from outside. Hiccup, reluctantly, stood up and walked to the window where he saw Jack being lugged around on the shoulders of his teammates, all cheering the school's song. Hiccup sank down to the floor, crying into his knees.