One-of-a-kind Day

Astrid's day had been going wrong all day long… and now, to top it off, her tire was flat. The only good thing about that darned flat tire was that it just happened to show itself right as she drove into the Walmart parking lot. So now here she stood, watching as one of the mechanics drove her car to the garage only meters away. With a heavy and frustrated sigh, she pulled out her grocery list and flung her purse of her shoulder, hoping they'd have the tire ready by the time she was done shopping.

She stomped inside, getting even more frustrated when the automatic doors seem to jam slightly by her angry stomps on the sense pad. She growled and banged on the doors, and they promptly opened. She trudged through, dragging a cart out of the entry before rolling her way into the chilly building, not even acknowledging the woman who welcomed her.

First item on her list was in the womanly area of the soaps and shampoos, where she collected what she needed before making her way to the grocery section. She first grabbed several bags of chips, then paused as she reached the freezer section before grabbing a carton of ice cream, dropping that into her cart as well for she figured that Netflix and ice cream was what she had to look forward to tonight. And it sounded heavenly.

Next thing on her list was Gatorade powder mix, so she hastily wheeled to the juice aisle and hastily glanced over the shelves for the drink. She groaned when she caught sight of the object sitting on the uppermost shelf, nearly four feet above her.

She moved as close to the shelf as possible before standing on her tiptoes, fingers barely grazing the shelves rim on which the item sat. And even then, she still had to get it off top of a box of some kind. Why the heck would anyone put something that high up!? And she wasn't too short either, nearly 5'8". How did they expect people to reach it on a daily basis?

She jumped up and down, hoping to grab it on one of the trips into the air. Each time she came within inches of grabbing it, but always fell short one way or another. With an angry howl, she reeled back and kicked her cart, sending it skidding to the side slightly but otherwise nothing came of it.

Astrid growled again before turning and facing her foe once more. She placed her hands on her hips, then returned to her hopping, she paused and grabbed the cart, pushing it up against the shelf and attempting to stand on it, but each time she tried it would start rolling away, until she slipped and collapsed to the ground, cart skidding away as though taunting her.

"Dang it!" She shouted, slamming her fist against the ground as she scrambled to her feet.

An elderly man who was inspecting a bottle of energy water glanced at her in concern, but Astrid just glared at him in response. The man hastily looked away, obviously trying to look as though he hadn't noticed anything array.

"Stupid- why the heck would someone put something that high up?" Astrid hissed and stepped further back, refusing to relent and go on without that drink mix. She'd come to get it, and she wasn't going to leave until a can of it was sitting in her cart.

There was an awkward cough from behind her, and she whirled about in all readiness to give that old man a piece of her mind, but she faltered when she noticed it was actually a Walmart employee who'd intruded. She gave him a quick look down, noting his tall and lean figure and shaggy auburn hair. His eyes were a bright green, his mouth quirked in a small smile to show slightly uneven teeth, although somehow, they only managed to make him look more attractive. He also looked to be around her age, maybe twenty or twenty-one. His left hand was tapping awkwardly against his leg, while his right hand tugged on his blue vest, which displayed a name tag marked "Hiccup". Odd name, Astrid thought distantly in the back of her mind, although the thought was quickly pushed aside as he began to talk.

"Um… I couldn't help but-" the man started, voice nasally and carrying a nervous tone. "d-do you need help?"

She flipped her head, braid sliding off her shoulder and onto her back as she shook her head defiantly. "No- I do not need help. If you dopes would only place the merchandise in reaching distance-" she growled angrily, jerking her head in the direction of the Gatorade mix. "Top shelf, seriously? Couldn't put some of the bottled water up there instead?"

Hiccup followed her pointed finger and furrowed a brow at the juice. "Huh, that's not supposed to be up there… actually. Here-" He stepped forward and grabbed a can, lightly tossing it to her. Astrid caught it deftly, not letting up the glare she sent his way as she slammed the item into her cart.

"Thanks." She said begrudgingly with another annoyed flip of her head.

"No problem… uh… do-do you need anything-"

"No. I'm fine." Astrid called back as she exited the aisle and made her way towards the next, pressing her mouth in a thin line as she continued. All she wanted to do was go home, curl up on her couch, eat junk food and watch tv. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?

She hastily grabbed several more items from her list, along with a couple of others that weren't included but she knew she needed. By the time she reached the cracker and bread aisle, she was nearly finished. It wasn't until she was already finished at the cashier's that she remembered she'd forgotten a very important item in her life: coffee.

With a yelp of half alarm and half anger, she wheeled her cart towards the door, hoping that lady who was always standing by at the doorway would watch it for her. She agreed without a problem, and Astrid made a mad dash back towards the drink aisle, hoping it would be a quick trip in and out. She really wanted to get home.

She skidded to a stop once she reached the aisle, pausing to catch her breath before noticing with disappointment and annoyance that the young man- "Hiccup"- was still there, switching out the Gatorade for a different shelf that had packs of bottled juice.

Astrid swallowed before strutting by, purposely fingering through the coffee trying to find the best kind to get. Finally, she spotted the one she wanted- and groaned when she realized with disdain how it rested on the top shelf.

"This day can't get much worse!" She exclaimed out loud in anger. She growled and clenched her fists, but before she could say or do anything more, someone quietly stepped forward and grabbed the coffee before setting it into her limp arms. She glanced up at Hiccup's apologetic smiling face in surprise, not really expecting him to just… willingly and silently help her without being asked. Especially after how rude she'd been moments before.

"Eh- thanks." She tucked the coffee in one arm, tilting her head as her anger simmered and slowly dissolved. "You really need to rearrange this aisle."

Hiccup gestured to the crates and scattered items behind him, smiling as he did so. "Already on it, miss."

She sighed and fell silent, the awkwardness hanging between them like a barrier. She tried to move- tried to just… escape this strange sense of hopelessness for… um, a normal farewell.

"Uh… I should be going." She mumbled.

"Yeah… got an aisle to do anyways." Hiccup murmured tiredly before turning and bending down to continue his work. "Have a nice day."

"You too…" Astrid hurried to dash away, doing a self-checkout before returning to her heavily laden cart. The women smiled and offered her a cheerful goodbye, which Astrid took with a small smile. Somehow, her mood wasn't as terrible as it had previously been. Somehow- she knew that she wasn't he only one having a bad day. For whatever horrible reasons- that reassured her.

She rolled out to her car, and found with abashed frustration that it would be an hour before they had it finished. With a groan she left her groceries in the trunk of her car before returning the cart to the store front, then wandered in to the clothing section.

Upon finding nothing of much interest, she wandered further in and suddenly found herself facing the drink aisle for the third time that day. Hiccup was still there, rearranging and moving stuff about. He only had about half of one side done- still having three-fourths to go.

"Hey." She called out, walking closer. Hiccup looked up in surprise, nearly dropping a bunch of pop cans on the ground in the process.

"H-hey?" The greeting came as a question, as though he didn't understand exactly why she was there. With a grunt he shoved the cans up onto the top shelf, wiping his hands on his pants before turning around to face her. "You back?"

"Yeah. Cars got a flat, am waiting for them to finish up." She explained shortly, eyes flitting about distractedly, finding herself for whatever reason unable to meet his own bright green orbs. "Am rather bored… was wondering if maybe you needed some help?"

Again, his look of surprise was almost comical, for his thick eyebrows shot up and were nearly lost in his shaggy hair as he stumbled a reply. "H-help?"

"Yeah, you know…" she gestured roughly to the boxes and bottles about them. "Looks like you have a ways to go yet. Seems to be an overly large kitchen organization mission."

Hiccup snorted at her description of the rearranging, but didn't bother to correct her. "Uh- yeah I suppose. If you don't mind…"

Astrid simply bent down and picked up some coffee, marching over to the coffee section and quickly rearranging a couple of items before sliding them into what she thought looked to be a proper order. Hiccup laughed softly before coming up to correctly place stuff in the organized manner that the store required, before pointing out what she could do next. He gave her nothing strenuous or hard, mostly stuff that required easy placing and no lifting. He did the hard parts of heaving up the heavy crates of bulk merchandise.

"So, why are you doing this by yourself? No one else to help or what?"

"Nope. This was actually… um, unplanned?"

Astrid jerked her head up and realized she was the reason why he was doing the aisle on his own. "Oh- right. Sorry."

"No big deal." Hiccup shrugged easily before shoving more bottles onto a rack as he switched out tags. "Wasn't doing anything anyways. My work shift is up."

"Wait- so you're doing this… overtime?" She asked in bewilderment.

"Yep." He said cheerfully, switching more tags and sliding them into the correct slots. "Figured I might as well! Besides, Dad will be happy it's done…"

"Your Dad?" She asked, puzzled. Hiccup laughed nervously before tapping his name tag.

"Yeah, my Dad. Manager of this store." He gestured about them. "Reason why I work here- but only part time. I also work at a friend's mechanic shop on the other side of town. The Forge?" She nodded in recognition. "Yep, work with old Gobber. And I'm hoping to work there full time by the end of this month, once Dad finds a couple of recruits."

She simply nodded, understanding why he wouldn't want to continue staying indoors constantly. He looked a bit- out of place. She didn't know why exactly, because he wasn't buff or overly muscular, and yet he didn't look like he belonged working in a store.

"I see. Your Dad for that or no?" She bit her lip at a such a personal question, mentally slapping herself. "Sorry- that was totally out of place. No need to answer." She hastily added with a slight blush. How embarrassing!

"Nah- it's fine." Hiccup waved it off, dusting his hands on his pants legs again before continuing the switching of tags. By now they'd finished rearranging the items, and Hiccup only had to finish scanning and replacing tags- something that she couldn't help with.

"Dad's good with it- he once wasn't but… eh, we're good now though. Like- really good." Hiccup shrugged, and Astrid took that as end of that conversation. It was obviously a touchy and personal subject, so she laid off, not wanting to appear creepy for inquiring more.

"So, did you grow up here?" She tried making small talk, hoping that that wasn't too personal a question.

"Yep! Good old Berk." Hiccup grinned. "Never have lived anywhere else. You?"

"Same here." She leaned her head onto her hands, arms braced on a ring of the ladder. "Don't think I'll be leaving anytime soon either. I work at "The Great Hall", steady job, pays good. Don't really have a reason to leave, huh?"

"'The Hall'?" Hiccup repeated with a whistle. "High class place."

"Like I said, it pays good." Astrid laughed. "Enough to keep me in an apartment building and eating healthy. A bit extra."

"Hm…" Hiccup hummed and leaned back on his heels, inspecting the row before him with a satisfied nod. "Heh, sounds like you have it good-" He stopped short, frowning and running a hand through his hair. "Um… I actually don't know your name."

Astrid smiled, then held out her hand through the bars of the ladder. "Astrid Hofferson."

"Hiccup Haddock." Hiccup grabbed her hand and gave it a firm shake, one that she returned strongly. Just because she worked as a waitress didn't mean she quit her workouts. Daily she made rounds at the gym, and found herself to be keeping up with her athletic shape of her teenage years.

She smiled, and for a fleeting moment she wondered where this happy light-hearted carefree mood had come from. But she pushed the question aside and instead focused on stepping back and letting Hiccup fold the ladder before tucking it on the cart, pulling out a mic and asking for a cleanup to wheel it away.

"I should go check my car…" Astrid mumbled. "It's probably done by now."

"Oh- right." Hiccup slouched noticeably, and he glanced away. "Uh, bye I guess…?"

Astrid turned and took a step away, before huffing and turning back about, pulling out her phone and jabbing at it with her thumbs.

"Uh…" Hiccup said awkwardly. "What're you-"

"Here." She pushed her phone into his hands, he taking it with a yelp of surprise. She held out her hand expectantly, wagging her fingers encouragingly.

He stared at her in confusion.

"Numbers? Phone?" She looked pointedly at his pockets, and he seemed to catch on then. He pulled out his cell, placing it into her hand with a grin before hurriedly typing out his own number into her contacts, labeling the number "Hiccup".

"Text me when you're done with work." She said plainly before taking her phone back, smiling at the new number in her sparse contacts. She quickly placed his number into her number collection labeled "friends", a collection that only contained five other numbers: Heather, Ruff, Tuff, Fishlegs, and Snotlout. Now Hiccup was added to the bunch of odd ball names.

"Seriously?" Hiccup asked in disbelief.

"Yes. Or I'll text you I suppose." She paused, realizing that he might not want this… "Uh, if that's okay?"

"O-okay?" Hiccup echoed. "Yeah- yeah! I mean… this is just the first time a girl has- uh… given me her number."

Astrid laughed softly. "I can tell." She turned and headed down the aisle, pausing to turn around and wave a finger at him. "Remember. Text. Soon as you can."

He waved his phone and grinned from ear to ear. "I will!"

Astrid left the store and noticed with relief how her car was parked outside the garage, ready for her to use. She quickly payed her bill before sliding into her seat and preparing to turn on the engine. She paused when her phone dinged, and she pulled out her phone to see 1 new message.

Hiccup: Texted you :P

Astrid laughed, and hurried to send a reply.

This is a birthday gift to my friend katuridi- I hope you have a good one! :D