Achy Breaky Bolin
"Bolin! Where are the car keys?"
Bolin rolled over on the messy bed, the sheet crumpled and blankets strewn around. A pillow was on the other side of the room, and he wondered if he should bother getting up the effort to retrieve it. The mattress groaned as he slowly began to sit up.
"Bolin! Korra will be here in five minutes! Do you have them?"
Bolin let the panic draw out, slowly, tortuously, bitterly as he sank back down on the bed. "...No!"he finally shouted through the closed door.
"Do you know where they are, then?"
Bolin's eyes roamed around the room half-heartedly. He saw no sign of his brother's plain keychain decorated with a small red panda key chain and, now, a blue-carved bead.
"No!"
"Can you help me look?"
"Sure!" Bolin covered his face with his arm and muttered, "Not." He was being immature, he knew—but he didn't care. The boy closed his eyes and refused to think about his brother, hair slicked back and red scarf neatly smoothed, with his best friend.
"Korra! Can I...ask you something?" Bolin rushed up to his best friend, quickly running his fingers through his hair and checking his lucky socks—purposely mismatched. His backpack stopped thumping once he reached his friend.
"Anything you want." Korra beamed at him. That's what he liked about her—the easy smiles that came to her face that made her sapphire eyes brighten as if sunlight was dancing on the ocean. He loved them; he loved especially to make her laugh, feeling a big part in his chest expand when her carefree laugh ring throughout the air.
"I...Did you like our little hang-out at the noodle shop?" Bolin asked, barely managing not to stutter.
"I loved it; I had a great time!" She grinned at him again, and he felt himself flush right up to his brow.
"That's great! I mean, since you liked us hanging out, maybe we could hang out more...like at, um, Homecoming...this week?"
This time Korra did not smile back. Bolin's face was still red, but now he felt a new burning, like coals relighting. Korra was fiddling with her wristbands and didn't meet his eyes as Bolin felt as if his heart had stopped beating completely and wouldn't resume until she spoke.
"Oh...Bolin, I'm really, really sorry. But...I'm going out. With Mako. I—"
Korra was babbling awkwardly and gesturing frantically, but Bolin had stopped listening after his brother's name. The monster inside his chest roared—there was a burning sensation inside that place, too, as if he had been born a Firebender, not Mako, and his Inner Flame had just flared, scorching his lungs and heart, leaving him stunned for breath.
At first, he felt as if the world had smashed all around him, and he was demanding how, but his mind latched onto something—Mako humming that stupid hit love tune. Humming. Mako never hummed, much less those corny songs. Suddenly his mind was filled with that stupid song, that stupid, hopeful song that had played during his and Korra's "date" at the noodlery...
"...Anyway, I'm really sorry, Bolin." Korra looked at him softly, with pity, but Bolin kept staring at the space in front of him, not really seeing her at all. Whatever, he thought as he finally forced himself to smile, say something close to "It's fine," and walk away, feeling shell-shocked and stupid and stunned.
"Bolin! I found the keys...withoutyour help!"
"Congratulations!"Bolin yelled sarcastically back, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, and he heard Mako mutter something under his breath as the keys jingled. He slouched his way out of the bed as he heard the doorbell ring.
"Mako, hey!"
"Hey, Korra." Mako's voice was soft, and there was silence but that gentle, sweet sound which Bolin had never experienced but only dreamed about, many times, with Korra's brown locks around his face.
"Ready to see that movie?"
"Course. Got the tickets?"
"Psh. Reserved them."
"Planned ahead? That's unexpected."
"Get used to it, pretty boy."
"Don't call me that—it reminds me of Tahno."
He heard Korra laugh, and it made his chest ache. He finally got up once the door shut with an eager slam. Might as well do something.
He went over to Mako's old radio and pressed the button. Static came out, and angrily, Bolin hit the side as hard as he could. It straightened itself out, playing a familiar twangy beginning that he hadn't heard in a while. He shrugged. Why not?
He picked up a pencil from Mako's neat desk. Scrunching up his face and wrinkling up his nose, he bellowed:
"You're on the phone with your...boyfriend;
he's upset.
He's going off about something that you said.
He doesn't get your humor...
Like I do."
His voice squeaked slightly on the high notes, but he continued. Bolin acted out the scenes clumsily, like a juvenile actor, kicking off his shoes and jumping on the bed as the chorus picked up.
"He wears high heels, (Bolin doodled Mako in these on his wall with the pencil)
I wear sneakers,
He's football captain,
And I'm on the bleachers.
Dreaming about the day where you wake up and find what you're looking for...cause it's been here the whole time!"
His muscular arms pinwheeled as he tried moonwalking. He was almost towards the end of the song. Ignoring the noises outside his window, Bolin threw back his head for the finale and belted out his heart into the mechanical pencil:
"You could see that I'm the one who understands you!
Been here all ah-along...
So why can't you seeeeeeee!
You belong with meeeeee!
You belong with m—"
A rapping on his window stopped him. Looking over, to his utter mortification, he saw Asami Sato—his brother's ex—clinging to the fire escape with her fist on his slightly opened window.
"Uh..." Bolin dropped his "microphone" and jumped off the bed. "You saw nothing."
Asami laughed, much to his relief. It was more of a giggle, like tiny bells, but pleasant.
"You might want to keep it down. Iroh wants to call the cops."
"Oh. Sorry."
"No problem. You're just disrupting the wonderful world of AP Calculus AB."
"Um..." Bolin tried to scan his brain what he knew about calculus from Pre-Calculus, but only came with with doodles of Pabu the Super Ferret and utter confusion. "Fun."
Asami snorted. "Right. I can't believe I signed up for it." She shrugged. "Oh, well." Climbing back onto the stairs, she smiled at him. "Nice voice you have there. You should drop by on karaoke nights at Narook's Seaweed Noodlery."
Bolin brightened up considerably. "I lovethat place."
She grinned. "Then I'll see you there sometime. Gotta go!" Asami clambered back up the fire escape stairs as Bolin watched her dark hair swish into the night.
I have no idea what I wrote. Blame Taylor Swift. I also wanted Bolin to sift through Mako's Adele collection, but I thought that might be going too far.
I actually love Borra and just felt for the poor guy when he saw Mako and Korra kissing. We've all been in his position, poor guy. Prayer circle for Bolin finding his dream girl in Season Two!