Chapter One- Early Morning
Katara stretched and slammed her alarm clock, rolling sleepily out of bed at 5:00, Monday morning, on the final week of school. She stumbled to the bathroom and flipped on the lights, squeezing her eyes shut at first, but opening them to the brightness as her eyes adjusted. She turned on the shower and laid out her clothes, then got undressed and hopped in. A few moments later she heard her brother, Sokka, stumble in and brush his teeth, wash his face and shaving. She waited for him to leave, and then she got out of the shower, wrapping her hair and body in towels. After she'd stopped dripping, she got dressed and brushed through her hair, and then looked at her reflection in the mirror, and putting on some light eyeliner and eye shadow. After she was satisfied, she went back into her room, grabbed her i-pod, headphones and her backpack, and headed downstairs.
When she arrived , her brother was asleep at the kitchen table, and her father smiled tiredly at her from the morning newspaper, sipping coffee from a mug she'd made for him in kindergarten.
"Good morning, Katara." He said.
"Morning, dad. Meeting today?"
"Yes…these people are going to kill me, making me get up with you kids…" She smiled and grabbed a couple cereal bars from the cupboard, stuffing them into her backpack.
"See you when we get home, dad." She said, kissing him on the forehead and pulling a half-conscious Sokka along with her out the door.
At the bus stop, they met up with Aang and Toph, quarreling, as always.
"I'm telling you- it's the last week of our junior year, we may have over the summer homework or something, but we won't do anything but lounge around and watch movies! Seriously, you have no reason to bring all of your stuff!" Toph said, waving a small bag, containing the few items she'd deemed necessary for the school day. Aang frowned.
"Always be prepared, Toph. You never know what the universe will throw at you." Toph rolled her eyes.
"Come on twinkle-toes! LAST WEEK! Is it registering? Do you get it yet? We won't need all that stuff, I'm telling you!" Toph yelled in his general direction. Aang sighed.
"Follow your own path, Toph, but I think that you'll regret it when we get something you'll need your stuff for." Toph rolled her eyes.
"You need to go back to the mountains. Seriously, Aang. People stare."
"Let them." He said, with a small smile as he took her hand and the bus came down the street toward them.
They headed down the isle to the back of the bus, and Toph sat by Aang in the third row up from the back. Katara sat across from them while Sokka sat by his girlfriend, Suki, still half asleep, but smiling at her good-morning kiss. At the next stop, a tall silent figure slowly walked down the isle, hood up, and his hair across his eye, and you could hear the music from his headphones. Katara caught his flash of a smile when their eyes met, but it was gone in a millisecond, and he was in the back, alone with his music. She sighed, shifting her bag onto her shoulder as they all shuffled down the isle when the bus pulled up to the high school. The sun hadn't risen yet, but the moon was bright enough to where you could see, and as she approached the main building, she saw the leaves rustle, and the stars peek through the bows of the trees. She smiled to herself as the other busses started arriving.
Katara went down to her first class to drop off her stuff, when she ran into a young man with messy hair, followed by a larger boy and a scrawny little one.
"Hey there, Katara! It's great to see you." the one with the messy hair said cheerily, and his companions purposefully walked away when he waved his hand.
"Hello, Jett. Good to see you too." She said, not slowing down.
"How've you been?" he asked.
"Pretty good." She said, opening the door to her classroom and stepping inside. Jett stood at the doorway, still talking to her as she placed her stuff at her desk and put her hoodie on.
"Great weather, eh? Every one'll be at the park today." Katara nodded, walking toward the next hallway over.
"Sorry, Jett, but I have to go to the restroom. Catch ya later." She said ducking into the bathroom. After she was satisfied he was gone, she headed back up to one of the secondary buildings on campus, the only one with two levels. She walked up the staircase onto the landing where everyone always hung out before school started.
Toph smiled.
"Is that the elusive Katara I hear? What took you so long?" Katara smiled.
"How you memorized the sounds of my walking and breathing I will never understand." She said, grinning. "I was intercepted by Jett." Sokka stopped kissing Suki and frowned.
"That creeper still after you?" he said, sounding slightly annoyed. Katara sighed.
"Don't call him a creeper, Sokka…" she said but he frowned even more.
"You know he used you! You want him to leave you alone! Just tell him!" Sokka said.
"I know…" Katara said, hesitantly.
"He says he's changed, you know, Kat." Aang said.
"But I still can't forgive him, Aang. I know he may have changed, but every time I look at him, I see the guy who used me. But every time I tell him no, he just gets more determined! He just won't take no for an answer…" she glanced at her watch- only a few minutes before the bell rang. "I gotta split, you guys. See you later."
"I'll come with you." Toph volunteered, grabbing her small bag and following along.
"Hey, I need to stop off at my locker for a second."
"It's cool." Toph said, following with a hand on Katara's back. "I just don't understand why Jett doesn't leave you alone. It really pisses me off- he knows you don't like him like that." Toph said as Katara opened and
"I don't either, and I know he won't leave me alone all summer…" Katara replied, but her voice faded as the young man from the bus approached.
"H…hi Katara. Hello, Toph." He said, almost uncertainly. Toph tensed up, but Katara mustered up a small "Hello, Zuko."
"Umm, I was…I just… you look nice today." He said, and then walked off, almost embarrassedly. Toph's jaw dropped.
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Toph almost yelled, and a few kids looked at her. "Lemme get this straight. Was Zuko just nice to you? Zuko? The one who hated all of us? And you were nice to him? And…oh my gosh this is…this is like twilight zone weird!"
"Toph…" Katara said.
"No way! And both of your heart rates were through the roof and-" Toph stopped suddenly, and a sly grin crossed her face. "You like him. And he likes you."
"What? Toph, no way…." Katara protested, but she was feeling weak at the knees, her heart was still fluttering.
"You do! Oh my god! This is awesome! Your brother's gonna kill you! And Aang…This is crazy!" She squealed in glee, and Katara put her hand over Toph's mouth.
"You don't understand! Not only would my brother kill me, but Jett and his gang have scared off any guy I've gotten close to since we split up! This isn't something to shout out!" Toph stayed silent for a moment, thinking. She pulled Katara's hand off her mouth.
"Alright. You have a point. This'll be our secret, I suppose. But being the great matchmaker I am, having paired up everyone but you in our gang, I resolve to force you two to get closer." She said, smiling as schemes popped into her head. Katara rolled her eyes.
"Toph, if you were a matchmaker-" Katara started, but Toph cut her off.
"The world's population rates would be WAY up. I know. That's why I try to stick to my friends." Katara laughed.
"See you later." She said when Toph arrived at her class and they went their separate ways.