Saturday came swiftly and Astrid had mixed feelings. It was the day of the twins' party and she was heading over to Heather's to change and get ready mid-afternoon and then they and Cami would all go together to the twins' home for seven. Her parents kissed her and she headed out cheerfully, looking forward to having some fun. Sure they tended to be loud and always crowded but the entire class would attend and no one in their right mind would miss a Twins party.

Of course, it would be slightly muted because the Football team, as feared, had lost to Meathead-though only by two points, mainly due to awesome displays by Eret and Thuggory with Tuff also making his mark. It meant that Berk wasn't out of the cup by any means since they could still make the play-offs if they won the return match on Meathead. The Cheerleaders had definitely done their best and the team had responded so Astrid was exhausted but satisfied she had done her bit.

Over at Heather's, they changed and Astrid had checked herself in the mirror: her dress was a very form-fitting bright red, reaching mid-thigh with strappy high heels. Her golden hair was braided over her left shoulder and a thin chain with a little golden axe hung round her neck. She had a white woollen shawl which wrapped around her and looked over at Heather, who was wearing a strappy emerald dress and Cami, who was in a deep blue shift minidress. All had very high heels and were looking eager to go. Cami's wild hair was twisted into an elegant knot and she was grinning wildly.

"Girls-this is going to be FUN!" she reminded them excitedly. "We're Queens of Senior Year!" Heather grinned and Astrid managed a weak smile: She was looking forward to the party but she just wanted a good time and really didn't want to attract attention. She wasn't supposed to be at the party, after all and she was just hoping the police wouldn't be called-again. Heather's Mom took pictures and then gave them a lift to the end of the street, then drove away, reminding them she would come to collect them if they wanted. The girls giggled, huddled close to Astrid and her shawl in the cold air and teetered to the party.

The place was already heaving, music blasting into the house and students spilling out onto the front garden, laughing and drinking from paper cups. Strings of lights hung from every tree and bush and the door and windows were wide open, with no one monitoring who's going in or out. The girls wove their way up the drive and slid inside...where it was warm and even louder. The hall was crammed with students, talking in huddles, drinking and giggling and a few jumping around and dancing. After a careful search, they found Ruff and Tuff in the main living room, dancing wildly. But the female twin waved wildly as she saw her friends-spraying her brother with beer-and barged her way through to throw a huge and mildly drunken hug round all three.

"My sisters!" she announced happily. "Glad you made it. Especially you, Ast! Thought you wouldn't be able to make it!"

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," she grinned. "Erm...is that alcohol?"

"Beer!" Ruff grinned, waving to her brother. Tuff flipped her off so she steered the girls to a table of paper cups and sloshed beer into four, handing them to the girls and taking one herself. "To us!" They all drank and Ruff wrapped an arm around Astrid. "I'll take your shawl, sister!" she grinned and grabbed it, leaving the girl a little self-conscious as she vanished, dropping it int he pantry, then reappearing. "TUFF! Put some proper music on!"

As the song changed, the room erupted and the girls joined in as everyone began to dance, laughing and singing, are waving in the air. As the evening carried on, Astrid began to relax, enjoying dancing with her friends, eating a few of the mini-pizza snacks that the twins had provided-supplemented by twenty actual large pizzas-and drinking a few more beers. And then she heard a voice that had her groaning as she turned.

"Hey, babe!" Snotlout said, elbowing his way through the heaving throng toward the dancing blonde. The stocky boy swaggered up, completely unselfconscious and oblivious to the utter lack of enthusiasm at his arrival. "Glad I'm here?"

"Ugh, no!" Astrid sighed. "I was having a good time..."

"And you can have a better one, now I'm here," he said, grabbing her wrist and hauling her towards him for a slobbery kiss. She rammed her knee into his middle and he exhaled with an 'oof'.

"Get off me, Snotface!" she snapped, shoving him away.

"You should be grateful for me," he told her. "Don't see anyone else offering to dance with you, babe!"

"I'm dancing with my friends, Snot!" she protested. "Just...go and have fun with yours!" He waggled an eyebrow.

"I thought I was your friend," he said in a puppyish voice. She pulled a face.

"Snot-unless you start wearing a dress-please don't start wearing a dress!-you aren't one of my girlfriends so go and chat to Tuff!" she sighed.

"Yeah-he'll be glad to see ya!" Ruff grinned, swaying to the music. "I think he wants his guys with him. Especially his star quarterback!" Snot preened.

"Yeah-heard they did good without me!" he said approvingly. "Of course...not good enough...but hey! I'll be back next time. And we'll kick Meathead's butt!"

Astrid bit her lip. It was very tempting to point out that he was only missing because he was suspended as he had been stupid enough to get baited by Dagur and get involved in stupid brawl. Though he would have been back at School if she hadn't accidentally told Mr Treacher that he and Dagur had caused the brawl, not Hiccup Haddock. And then she shook her head. Why had she done that? It wasn't as if she liked him, but she was trying to be fair to him because he had gotten her out of there without getting caught and she had known he didn't deserve the suspension. And her good deed in getting him off had damaged the school.

And he had still thrown it in her face by refusing to tutor her and had shouted at her-and Miss Sylvester. And he still hadn't apologised to either of them. So though she knew morally she should own up and get him off the hook, she was sore enough to keep her silence about the fact he was being blamed for something she had innocently done.

She started as Heather touched her shoulder. "You okay?" the black-haired girl asked, her green eyes worried. Astrid gave a small smile.

"A bit tired," she admitted. "Busy week."

"That Snotlout!" Heather smiled. "Never gets the message!" Astrid nodded.

"Rocks for brains and skin thicker than rhino hide..." she admitted.

"But so in love with himself," Cami added, popping up. She handed a cup to each of the girls of something she described as 'punch' but which seemed to be alcohol...diluted with more alcohol. With a splash of even more alcohol. Astrid took a sip and coughed.

"Cami!" she protested and then felt Heather nudge her. Snotlout was hitting on a pretty little redhead that Astrid recognised with shock was Anna. The new girl was grinning and joking with the football player and he was visibly puffing out his chest at the attention.

"Yup. Starting to become a pest," she admitted but didn't feel a single pang of jealousy. Strange. She would've thought she might, since Snotlout had been chasing her since Freshman Year. But she didn't actually want to go out with him...ever. "I'll just have to keep pushing him away until he gets the message..." Heather glanced behind her and her eyes widened in surprise. "And speaking of pests," she murmured.

Astrid paused then turned...to see Dagur swagger into the party, elbowing there other party-goers aside. And with him was his crew...Thuggory, Savage, Madguts, Dogsbreath...and Hiccup.

"What're they doing here?" she murmured.