I'm engaged.

I'm engaged.

The thought kept on swiveling around my head. It felt so unreal.

What was I going to tell my friends? What was I going to tell my parents?

I groaned as I fell backwards onto the bed, my mind still trying to process  what had happened.

Once again, I'd been dangerously close to kissing Hiccup, and right after that I got engaged to Eret.

My stomach twisted into a knot as I turned around and groaned into my pillow.

"Skree!" Stormfly cried out softly from her cage, in a desperate attempt to aid me.

I got up and made my way over to her. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I opened the cage and set her free.

A happy 'squeak!' could be heard from her as she flew up to my shoulder, only to nuzzle with my neck.

"I'm sorry I worried you, girl" I told the bird as I scratched her underneath her chin, gaining a satisfied sigh from her.

Then she caught a glimpse of my ring. The shininess of it must've intrigued her, seeing as soon as she'd made her way down to my hand, she just observed it.

"Guess I should've told you about that, huh?" I said, gaining a sarcastic look from her, which I had no idea how she managed to do.

Suddenly, I heard the front door downstairs click, indicating that someone had entered the house. I was about to go check who it was when a familiar voice rang throughout the house.

"Honey, we're home!"

I could feel the blood drain from my face as my skin turned pale. They were home.

I glanced down at the ring on my finger and quickly tried sliding it off. But guess what? It wouldn't budge.

My parents were making their way upstairs, one heavy footstep at a time as I was desperately trying to yank the ring off my finger.

Stormfly eventually realized that I wouldn't be standing still for a while, so she flew over to the open window and sat down on the handle.

"Why. Isn't. It. Coming. Off?!" I mumbled to myself as I continued trying to get the ring off, which had come off perfectly earlier that day.

The door to my bedroom swung open, revealing my parents that stood in the doorframe, huge grins taking up their faces. Wide eyed, I quickly hid my hands behind my back.

"M-mom, dad, you're back" I stuttered nervously as the two of them approached me.

"We've missed you so much, darling!" My mother exclaimed as both she and my father pulled me into a big hug.

I tried wriggling out if it, confused about what was happening to my parents, "What has gotten into you two?"

My parents pulled out of the hug, exchanging excited looks before turning back to me.

"Do you want to tell her?" My dad asked my mom as their eyes met.

"No, no, you tell her!"

I sighed as I rubbed my temples. "Could you guys stop? This is getting really cliché"

Dad cleared his throat before the grin from earlier returned. "We're going to New Zealand!"

I blinked rapidly, doing my best to take in what my parents had just told me. "What?"

"Seeing as your father and I did so well at the last two conferences we've been to, the company has decided to send us to New Zealand for two months!" My mother informed me, her excitement very audible.

"To do what?" I furrowed my brows, still not on board with the 'living in New Zealand for two months' plan.

Dad snaked his arm around mom's waist before pulling her closer. "Work. Talk some big companies into cooperating with ours"

"Do I have to come with you?" I asked them in a low tone, somehow hoping they didn't hear me.

My mother furrowed her brows. "We thought you would love to go, sweetie"

Before I could utter a single word, my dad stepped in. "Honey, you know why she doesn't want to leave"

Mom shifted her focus onto dad as she placed her hands on her hips. "Enlighten me"

"She's 17, her life revolves around school, boyfriends and friends, it's perfectly understandable why she wouldn't want to go"

"You do realize it's only two months right? It's not like we're permanently moving there"

"Honey—"

"I'm going to stop the two of you right there, seeing as it's clear you've forgotten about my presence" I told them, still busy trying to get the engagement ring off.

My parents turned to me, awaiting my next statement.

"New Zealand sounds sweet and all that, but like dad said, I have friends, school and a boyfriend, I can't just—" I was cut off by the sound of something clattering on the floor.

The room went dead silent as I glanced down and found the ring that had been on my finger not even a second ago, now on display for everyone to see.

My parents' eyes were set on the ring between my feet. They were staring so intensely at it I was afraid they would melt it.

I let out a nervous chuckle as I placed my hands on my hips. "Not really boyfriend anymore, eh?"

The tension in the air between us was thick enough to be cut with a battle axe. I physically felt myself growing smaller as the eyes of my parents slowly made their way up from the ring and to me.

"Eret?" My mother asked, calm as ever, something that sent chills down my spine.

I nodded slowly as I met my mother's gaze, a stern wrinkle in her forehead.

My father took a deep breath as he straightened up. "Alright, seeing as it doesn't seem like anyone's going to bring this up, I'll do the honors. Astrid, sweetie, are you pregnant?"

My eyes widened in shock at my father's question. "What? No! Dad, I'm still a virgin"

A look of confusion and surprise appeared on my parents faces.

"Wait, really? We thought for sure that you and Eret—" My dad began, but was cut off by me and my desperate wish to not hear the rest of his sentence.

"No, we haven't and aren't going to anytime soon, that's that"

"So you're not pregnant?" My father asked.

"NO!"

The stern expression on my mother's face returned. She stared at me for a brief moment before turning on her heel and calmly exiting the room. My dad kept his eyes on me for a little longer before following her out, closing the door after him.

There I was, alone again. Or not really alone, seeing as Stormfly was with me.

Stormfly took off from the window handle and landed on my shoulder. It was like she knew what thoughts were going through my head, my every emotion. She nuzzled her head against my cheek as I caressed the top of her head.

A small smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I watched the bird. I had Stormfly.

***

The rest of that weekend was really awkward.

My parents were making it very clear that they were no fans of my engagement. My mother hadn't spoken to me since Friday night and my father only spoke to me when absolutely necessary.

Dad had told me that all they needed was a little time. That they still loved me, no matter what, but that was getting harder to believe, seeing as all they had done since Friday was to ignore me.

I spent most of that weekend curled up between my sheets, all lights in my bedroom, turned off. Hel, I even turned off my phone!

I couldn't talk to anyone, I didn't want to talk to anyone, all because my parents were overreacting to the news of my engagement. It was stupid, really, but I just couldn't help but feel hurt.

It surprised me that they weren't over the moon at the news of my engagement, they had always been mine and Eret's number one supporters, but now... they just weren't the same.

Monday morning I woke up to a note my parents had left on the kitchen table, excusing themselves for having left so early.

As I slumped down into my chair at the breakfast table, it felt like my heart had gained three pounds. I usually took some time out of my morning to eat breakfast with my parents, but now that they weren't here...

I sighed as I dipped my spoon into the cereal, stirring it as I felt every organ in my body growing heavier and heavier with each passing second. I ended up forcing down the cereal before heading outside to wait for Eret.

I plopped down on the steps leading up to our porch. I held my head in my hands as I tried figuring out how I was going to hide all of this for the rest of the day.

I filled my lungs, trying to compose myself as I heard Eret's Honda roll up in our driveway.

I put on a smile as I got into the car. "Hey babe"

"You're really early, I usually have to honk a few times for you to come out" Eret mocked me as he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.

I fastened my seatbelt before turning back to face him, the fake smile from before still plastered on. "I don't know, I suppose I just felt like sitting outside for a bit"

He furrowed his brows as he placed his hand on top of mine. "Astrid, are you okay?l

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I lied as I faked a laugh.

He caressed my hand with his thumb. "I don't know, I guess I just found it weird that you just sat outside"

I shot him yet another fake smile. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine"

That's how the rest of my Monday and Tuesday went. I just kept on lying to the people closest to me that I was alright, when really, I was not.

I also decided not to mention the engagement either, I don't know if I could've handled another episode similar to the one I had with my parents.

Wednesday night, I was eating dinner with my parents, in complete silence.

"Astrid?" My dad spoke up, breaking the tension-filled silence. I glanced over at him, a little surprised to have heard my name. "Your mother and I have had some time to think, and we wanted to inform you that we are very happy to hear about your engagement to Eret"

I closed my eyes and sighed before returning to my meal.

"Astrid" my mother said sternly, a tone she rarely used when talking to me. "Your father is talking to you"

I ignored her remark as well.

"Astrid" My father raised his voice at me.

"What, dad? I thought the two of you enjoyed ignoring people when they say or do things you don't like, shouldn't you be proud of me now?" I barked at him as I abruptly shot up from my seat.

My mother sighed. "Astrid, don't—"

"Don't what, Mom?" I barked at her. "Don't grow up? Don't do things that make me happy? Don't get sad because your parents ignore you for almost a week because of a minor incident? Well, I'm sorry to inform you of this mother, but that's not how things work, that's not how I work, and if you can't understand that... then I'm sorry, but we can't be near each other"

I stormed out of the kitchen, furious as I stomped up the stairs and slammed my bedroom door behind me. I slung myself down on the bed, burying my face in a pillow as I tried to contain the emotions that were raging inside me.

I could her my phone buzz from the other side of the room, but I just couldn't find the willpower to get up from my bed and check it out. Tears stained my cheeks as I let out all the emotions that had gathered inside me. My crying turned out every sound around me, Stormfly's sad squeaking, the loud mumbling that came from downstairs and the constant buzzing that came from my phone.

Gods, I felt like a mess.