Beach Bum

Chapter 1

Mustard

"Hey! What the hell, man!?" I stand there, vegetarian hotdog in one hand and the yellow bottle of mustard in the other. In front of me stands a very tall boy, his bare chest dripping in condiment.

"Sorry?" I say weakly, putting the mustard back onto the table along with the hotdog.

"Oh, you're going to be sorry. Smellerbee, Longshot, GET HIM!"

My name is Aang Gyago. I just moved here from Oregon. I have barely been living in town for five minutes and I've already pissed someone off.

Yes, I am that good. I give the mustard-y boy a quick smile before turning on my heels and bolting away. I weave through people, avoiding any major collisions. Behind me I can hear mustard boy and his two goons pushing their way through the crowd and leaving a trail of yells and curses.

I look ahead and see a small alley. I put on an extra burst of speed and run down it. A fence is at the end of it and as I slow the youth and his friends slide into the alley. I start backing towards the fence.

"Any last words?" The tall one asks, crackling his knuckles.

Thinking fast I point behind them. "Look! A distraction!"

Oh my god. They actually looked. Overcoming my initial surprise I run forward and burst through them, running straight out of the alley. I hear their yells die down as I get farther and father away from the gang. Once I'm sure I can't hear them anymore I lean on a railing separating the boardwalk from the sandy beach using it as a crutch until my breathing returns to normal.

"Had a nice break?" I jump and find myself surrounded by the mob again. I take moment to look at each of them. The one I spilt mustard on is tall, brown hair and, apparently, very muscle-y. The boy, no wait, girl beside him is only identifiable as a girl thanks to the fact that her shirt shows the bare outline of a chest. Besides that she looks like a guy. The final member is dress in long pants and a long shirt with a large sunhat. Doesn't he get hot under all that?

"Um. I have to go." I grasp the railing and throw myself over. In a spray of sand I land on the beach and start running. I chance a glance behind me where the three have taken the stairs down to the beach.

I hate running on sand, it's so slippery and as I run I almost eat it a few times. The beach slowly changes into a road where cars of beach-goers are parked. I take a quick turn and start to run through people's backyards. I leap over doghouses, pool and tanners. The fences prove easy to jump and just as I take another look behind me I have my first crash.

The mysterious person and I tumble forwards straight into a backyard pool. Sopping wet I climb out of the pool. There, swimming towards me, is a girl with long brown hair and tanned skin. She surfaces and tilts her head to the side wringing water from her hair, I stare at her. She's really cute.

"What the hell?!" She says after a few seconds. Her blue eyes are blazing and her hands are on her hips.

"I'm sorry!" I say, scrambling out the pool as quickly as possible. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"What were you doing running through people's backyards? It's called PRIVATE PROPERTY! I could call the cops on you!"

I trip over my own feet and fall to the ground, bruising my tailbone. She stands over me, glaring. "No, please don't! I was running away! There was this guy and mustard and he had no shirt and yeah…" I finish lamely.

"Hey Katara." She turns around and there, leaning on her fence was Mustard Chest. His mean attitude has been replaced by a charming smile though mustard still shines on his chest.

"Hi Jet." The brunette says, her voice is soft and her voice seems to sigh as she stares at him. "You going to the tournament?"

"Yeah, I'm going right now. You didn't happen to see kid run by here? Short, he's got a touque, yellow shirt?" Jet flicks his hair out of his eyes and I continue to crouch behind my bush.

Katara looks between my hiding spot and the captivating smile. "Sorry Jet, I haven't seen anyone like that. Oh and you've got something on your chest. See you at the beach." She waves at Jet and he walks away, hands shoved into his cargo shorts.

"Thank you." Standing up I offer my hand out to Katara. "I'm Aang Gyago, I just moved here yesterday."

She takes the hand. "And you're already in trouble with Jet Feng. I'm Katara Kirima."

"So, thanks for not telling him where I was. I really appreciate it."

Katara grins at me. "Well you owe me Aang. Come with me." She invites me into the small blue house. It is cosy, large windows are open and sunlight drifts in. The kitchen she leads me into is sparkling clean and she pulls a cell-phone off the counter. Her fingers speed across the keys and soon it's by her ear and it's ringing.

"Sokka, it's me…yeah, I've got a tourney…what do you mean the Boomerang is not working? Well get down to the beach when you get it fix…okay, see you later." The phone snaps shut. "We gotta go. We're walking, my brother can't give us a ride."

Katara walks deeper into the house and I stand in her living room, doing a little snooping. I glance at the pictures lines up on shelves. The one that catches my attention is one of a younger Katara and what I'm guessing is her brother. They stand together while their parents stand behind them; the man's arm is wrapped lovingly around his wife's shoulder.

"Okay, let's go." Katara emerges her room. She's wearing a dark blue wetsuit; her brown hair is pulled back in a ponytail. Under her arm is a navy surfboard while white flowers printed in creamy white line the edges.

We walk back outside and soon we're down the road heading to the beach. Okay, so I'm walking to the beach with a very cute girl.

I guess this first day wasn't a complete failure.

Author's Note

lol more AUs...XD