Astrid's mother was very special.

She was the bestest, amazingest, greatest, prettiest, beautifulest, bestest mom in the world. After all, she gave Astrid chocolate milk. If only she didn't make her wear these two braids. She wanted one braid! But besides that, Astrid's mother was awesome, and the tiny blonde wanted to draw something for her. It was a heart. And it wasn't going to be pink like they were on Clemintine's Day, no, they were going to be blue and red and purple and green - and where was her green?

Astrid frantically went through her superhero box. Captain America's face winked at her as she searched for her green. Her heart wasn't complete without her green. Shut up, Iron Man.

Maybe the Hulk took her green to draw himself. Unless he was human. Then he was skin color. That wasn't a color. But how could Hulk take her green crayon? Dad had told her that he was nice! Astrid's lip quivered. She would have a serious talk with him, because the Hulk was not nice, he just stole crayons. She bet he had taken everyone's crayons. But when she looked up, she saw that she was the Hulk's only victim. Stupid Bruce Banny.

Today was the last day of the week, Thursday. Tomorrow was Saturday and she would have nothing to give to her mom! All because of the Hulk!

Astrid looked around at the kids on her table. There were five others, and they were all busy was talking in the room, even the teacher. The rule was to see if anyone else on your table could help you, and you could only call the teacher if they couldn't. So that meant Astrid had to ask them. She looked at each of them carefully.

Steven - or Snotlout, as they liked to call him, because his nose was always running in preschool - didn't have any good crayons. All of his crayons were broken because he was always slamming them. She looked at his paper. He was drawing himself. That wouldn't do. Astrid wanted to make a nice drawing, and broken crayons did not make nice drawings. Snotlout was out of the question.

Next to Snotlout was Frank. They called him Fishlegs because he had spilled some water all over himself while feeding the fish all over himself earlier in the year. Almost everyone had laughed at him, but Astrid hadn't, so she supposed he would help her. She called out his name. "Hey, Frank!"

He looked up, as though slightly scared of her. "Y-yes, Astrid?"

"I need a green crayon. Can I have one of yours?"

"Say please, Astrid," the teacher chided gently, walking by.

"Can I please have one of yours?"

"I don't have a green crayon," said Fishlegs, holding up a green crayon.

"Liar, liar! It's in your hand!"

He looked to what she was gesturing and he hastened to explain. "That's not green, Astrid, that's pistachio."

She huffed, it looked like green. "Fine." She sat back down in her seat, now more upset than ever. He didn't have green! Of course it was pistachio, the two colors were totally different.

There were other options. In front of her were three people. There were the twins.

Rachel and Tyler Thorston. Astrid would never say it out loud, but they scared her a little bit. On Halloween, they had both come as monsters, with Tyler shouting, "I'm tough!" and Rachel shouting, "I'm rough!" all day. That earned them the names "Tuffnut and Ruffnut." The nut part was really earned too. She didn't want to ask them because they would both make fun of her for losing her crayon, even though it wasn't her fault, it was Hulk's.

The last option was Hiccup. And the strange thing was, that was his real name, not a nickname. His name was actually Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. And his crayons were perfect. And he didn't smash them. And he probably wouldn't make fun of her, he was quiet. And he probably didn't use pistachio.

But Astrid didn't want to ask him, because he was a nerd. Nerds were those kids who read books at recess. Instead of running around and playing on the monkey bars like she did, he just sat down on a bench and read. He was a nerdy nerd. The nerdiest nerd she had ever met.

But she didn't have any other option!

"Hiccup," she said quietly, looking very professional, and when he didn't answer, she said it again, louder. "Hiccup!"

The tiny boy looked up, his green eyes curious. Green. What if the Hulk gave Hiccup her crayon? And then he used it to draw his own eyes?

That guess was proven wrong when she looked down at what he was drawing. It was a...dragon. A completely black dragon. It had big wings, and it was even more adorable than Astrid's pet bird, Stormfly. Wait. No one was more adorable than Stormfly. But Hiccup's dragon was close.

"May I please...borrow...your green crayon?"

He didn't give it to her, he just stared. "Why?"

She wanted to say "because I said so, you doofus" but she thought that might make Hiccup upset and he wouldn't give it to her. Mom had told her doofus was a bad word. And Mom was usually right. That was why she was getting a drawing. Also because of the chocolate milk.

"I'm drawing a heart for my mom," she explained patiently, "and I need green."

"Hearts aren't green," Hiccup protested, putting his noodle arms on the table.

"They are too. I'm making one. And I need to get it to Mom because it's Thursday and tomorrow's Saturday."

Hiccup shook his head rapidly. "Tomorrow is Saturday, but today is Friday."

"That's not a real day," she said accusingly, "you're just making it up."

"I am not. Ask the teacher."

So Astrid did. She raised her hand high and when the teacher called on her, she asked confidently, "Friday is a fake day, right?"

The teacher looked surprised. "No, dear. Today is Friday. Remember, we went over it this morning?" She pointed to the front board.

Astrid Hofferson suddenly felt very small. She had been wrong.

"I told you," Hiccup said, crossing his arms, "I read a lot, so I know."

"Don't toot your own horn." She pointed at him, very mad. "That's rude. Mom said so. Tooting your own horn is rude, and you just did it. I'm gonna tell on you." She raised her hand.

Hiccup looked terrified. "Wait, wait!" He flailed his arms around. "I'll - I'll give you the green crayon! Here," he offered, holding it out, "just don't tell on me. Please?" He made a very pouty face, the same one Astrid did when her parents said no ice cream for breakfast.

Astrid thought about it long and hard for two seconds. "Alright," she decided, "I will not tell on you. Now give me." She snatched the green crayon from his hand and he frowned.

"You're not very nice."

"Neither are you."

They both had a staring contest, which lasted so long, but Astrid blinked after ten seconds. It was the longest she had gone, though. Both kids were quiet after that, and Astrid finished her heart. Take that, Bruce Banny.

When the bell rang, she gave Hiccup back his crayon. "Th-th-thank you," she said very uncertainly. It was always hard to thank a nerd. Or anyone.

"No problem," he said softly, and he looked at her paper, "that's a very nice heart."

"It's for my mom." She smiled before realizing she had already told him that. Quickly, the girl changed the subject. "That's a nice dragon."

He looked down and grinned a little. "He's a Night Fury."

"Cool!" Not as cool as Stormfly, but dragons were kinda cool too. And since they were kids, all animosity was forgotten and suddenly they were acting like best friends.

They continued talking as they went out to recess. And for once, Hiccup didn't read a book, and Astrid didn't go on the monkey bars. They just talked to each other.

Hiccup wasn't such a nerd, after all. But that didn't mean she wouldn't question him for being the Hulk's partner in crime later.

Astrid's mother loved her gift.