Walt E. Disney High

Chapter 46

HICCUP

The day after our museum expeditions, I could barely get out of bed when Mr. Scar gave a rhythmic tap to wake us up. "Rise and shine, boys!" he sang, and Peter whined, kicking his sheets. Kristoff, on the other hand, rolled out of bed to avoid Peter's flying feet, and he disappeared into the bathroom with a spring in his step.

I shut my eyes again, rolling over. "How can he be a morning person? It's supposed to be 10:30 PM at home."

I put my arm over my forehead, blocking out the light, and fell asleep again before I felt Jack lightly shaking me as he got out of bed. "Come on, buddy," he said in a groggy voice.

I sighed and pushed the blankets off of me, falling out of the hotel bed and onto the floor. "I hate jetlag," I muttered, pushing myself off the ground and then stumbling into the bathroom. I tried to tame my cowlick as best I could, but it didn't feel like cooperating.

When I was ready to leave the room with Jack and Kristoff, Peter was still in bed, but Jack ran over to give him a smack on the face before he dashed out the door, leaving an angry Peter cursing after him.

We went down to the lobby to meet up with Alice, Merida, and Wendy, while Kristoff branched off to see Anna. Merida and Alice were definitely not morning people either, but Wendy was the brightest, most chipper person in the room as she kissed Peter good morning. "Hello, Hiccup, Jack. Shall we have breakfast at the cafe across the way?" she asked with a smile, lacing her fingers through Peter's.

We all agreed and exited into the freezing air. Overnight, it had lightly snowed, and we crunched through the powder across the street to take shelter in a warm, wonderful-smelling cafe, ordering hot drinks and breads.

Merida and I sat next to each other, squished between Jack and Alice. "This tastes like mah maw's empire biscuits back home," Merida commented as she bit into a jelly-filled pastry, getting jelly on her cheek. Her hair was unkept and I occasionally had to spit it out of my mouth when she turned to talk to me.

"Does anyone know what we're doing today?" Alice asked the table, guzzling down her coffee. She goes through about 5 cups a day, and always comes to us bewildered as to why she can never sleep at night. 

Wendy piped up, "I'm pretty sure we're doing a tour of Montmartre."

"Wonderful," Merida grumbled, although I had a hunch that she had no idea what Montmartre actually was.

We left after Jack finished his chocolate croissant, which I thought was probably an ode to Elsa and her chocolate obsession. He wasn't over her -- though I suppose if they were taking a break, he wouldn't necessarily have to be over her. He just never stopped thinking about her. He was grumpy and morose all the time, and he'd lost a lot of his appetite. His normal spark for life was gone, and I was starting to worry about him. He hadn't even taken advantage of the snow this morning with his unbridled powers.

I hoped that this trip would distract him a little bit, but it didn't help that the couples at the school were going full force with their lovey stuff, including Kristoff who announced that he told Anna he loved her last night. Jack had just rolled over in bed, hugging a pillow and not taking part in the congratulations Peter and I offered Kristoff.

When we gathered in the lobby, Wendy's idea was right -- we would be taking the metro to the town of Montmartre, and taking part in a walking tour of the city, finishing with a view of the Sacre Cour. A few students ran up to get extra coats, as the air was still freezing. It seemed to me that this adventure was going to be more of a treacherous snow hike rather than a learning, pleasant walking tour.

We set off to the subway station, which we piled into with our individual metro cards. We took up two whole cars of the metros, and Merida laughed as French people gave us sour looks, pointedly exiting the car to step onto an emptier one. On the way to our destination, Merida daringly rode without holding onto the steel bars, and she loudly read the French metro stations and rules in a horrible, Scottish-French-German sounding accent, which made me cringe and laugh at. As we neared our station, the speaker announced, "Le prochain arrêt est la gare des Abbesses," which Merida butchered into "La prochone array ay la gare dey Abbsey."