Stepping through the double doors of her new high school, Korra was too taken by the uniquely abhorrent pioneer printed onto the grimy school wall to avoid the puddle of neon Dutch Brothers cleverly lying in wait for her foot. All at once, her heel slid forward and the girl spilled onto the ground.
"Shit," she grunted, pushing herself back up. Luckily, she had avoided getting the malevolent liquid all over her pants. Korra was aware that she could be clumsy, but breaking a new record for time taken to fall on her ass was not one of her priorities. At least no one had seen her.
Right on cue, a voice called out from above, "You ok?" Korra craned her head up until she met the bright green eyes of a girl leaning on the second floor railing.
"Yeah," she said, embarrassed. "Thanks."
The other girl smiled, brushing back her dark hair. "Are you new? I haven't seen you around."
"This is my first day here," Korra answered.
"Where you from?" she said quirkily.
"Alaska," Korra said.
"Whoa…Don't hear that very often. That's cool. Hey, if you need any help with getting acclimated- just let me know. I've been here for the last three years, so I know where everything is," she said.
Korra smiled and said, "I didn't catch your name?"
The dark haired girl replied, "I'm Asami. Asami Sato. And you are?"
"Korra," she replied.
"Korra what?" Asami asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Just Korra," she replied, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. The singular name was always a source of confusion. Every time she had to move she was forced to try explaining it to some skeptical teacher or would-be friend.
"Just Korra? Funny first name," she smiled, still friendly, and Korra almost rolled her eyes because it wasn't anywhere near the first time someone had made that joke. And it would definitely not be the last.
"Yeah, well, I have to get my schedule and figure everything out. See you later," the blue eyed girl said. She walked under the overpass, disliking the tactical disadvantage of traveling on the ground floor. Her head was a prime target for misbegotten lunch food, spit, and crumpled paper.
"See you," Asami called out behind her. Korra didn't look back.
Her first class was P.E. Korra entered the girl's locker room, taking in the cramped blue lockers and the permanent stench of feet and perfume.
A voice escaped from a miniature office at the front of the locker room, calling her over.
A stout blonde woman in a loud pink jogging suit stepped out. "And who are you, coming so late to class?"
"I'm a new student here," Korra explained, wanting to avoid an unpleasant encounter.
"Your name?" the woman said rudely, arching a drawn-on eyebrow.
"Korra. It's just Korra, I don't have any last name," she stared in the pudgy woman's beady eyes, wondering why gym teachers were never athletic.
"Korra, huh? Really, no last name? You're not just being lazy?" the teacher asked. "Normally, I have late students do twenty pushups to avoid a tardy on their permanent record."
Korra shrugged, not really caring about anything on her permanent record. Pushups weren't hard though, so she went along with the plump bitch. "Sure," she remarked emotionlessly. Dropping to the floor, the girl positioned her arms and feet, keeping her back straight.
"No girl push-ups," the teacher said redundantly.
Korra didn't react, just started lowering herself to the floor.
A chemistry later, the girl found herself staring into the void that was the cafeteria, wondering where she was supposed to sit. The tables seemed to be an interconnected web of social connections and newcomer exclusion. Korra briefly studied two particularly loud girls; a redhead and a brunette, who somehow occupied the same seat, and seemed happy yelling at their friends across the room. At her old school, she had had a small group of friends, but still had been friendly with the general population of the school. There were so many more people here she didn't even know where to start…
"Korra," someone said brightly behind her.
"Yeah?" Korra said automatically, turning to see who had addressed her. Asami Sato sauntered towards her, an attractive boy in tow.
"Do you want to sit with us?" Asami asked, one hand resting on her hips.
"Sure," Korra said, almost seeming moody. If she hadn't had to move to Oregon, she wouldn't need to try and make new friends. The situation was unfair.
They sat at one of the circular tables and Korra pulled her blue lunchbox out of her bag. Setting it on the tabletop, she looked up as Asami said, "Korra, this is Mako. My boyfriend. Mako, this is Korra, she's a new student here from Alaska."
"Nice to meet you," the guy said through a mouthful of sandwich. Korra nodded and pulled out the contents of her lunch. A peanut butter sandwich, beef jerky, and a baggy of skittles claimed their places on the table. "Is that, like, walrus jerky? Cuz you're from Alaska?" Mako asked, eying the dried meat.
"Yeah," Korra lied, inwardly smiling. "My dad killed it and I helped skin it. Want to try some?"
"What does walrus taste like," the boy asked, completely believing her.
"Oh, I don't know, what type of animals do you have down here?" Korra asked, amused.
"Uh… cows… chickens…pigs, you know," he said awkwardly.
"What's a cow?" Korra asked, trying to look confused while fighting off the urgent need to laugh.
Asami giggled and elbowed Mako, saying, "She's kidding, idiot."
He looked even more confused for a couple of seconds. "Oh… so is that walrus jerky?"
Korra burst out laughing, surprising herself with the sincerity of the expression. Asami joined in, hand covering her mouth. Smiling good-naturedly, Mako shook his head. He leaned back, then shot forward and grabbed the bag of jerky, pulling out a handful and stuffing it in his mouth. Korra froze, mouth open, and stared in furious amazement at the boy. He smiled cockily, resembling a self-satisfied chipmunk. Asami reached over and pretended to pull his spiky hair, face contorted in faux anger.
"Mishn accmplshd," he congratulated himself.
"Jerk," Korra said, but she couldn't help smiling.
The rest of the day passed relatively quickly. Korra had Zoology, English, and Discrete Math, and the latter was stretching minutes into days. Fortunately, she had the class with Mako and his brother, Bolin. Unfortunately, they sat on the other side of the room. Korra spent most of the period pulling faces at Bolin, who was an expert and contorting his features. They hadn't even officially met, but Korra found herself liking his clowny personality. Mako watched the two coolly, refusing to join in on the antics, but having trouble not smiling. Maybe this school wouldn't be so bad after all…
Finally, the bell rang. Korra headed outside with the rest of the students, spilling outside like aggravated ants. She surveyed the line of clunky yellow buses, wondering which was supposed to take her home. Hesitantly stepping up to the nearest driver, she asked, "How do I know which bus to take?"
"Where do you live," the driver asked irritably.
"South Redland road… I don't remember the street address. We just moved." Korra tried, smiling despite her premonition of the bus driver's indifference to her recent relocation."
"Well that's too bad for you," the woman grunted. "Get off my bus, first round has to leave."
"But, how am I supposed to find my bus-"
"Off," she barked, practically pushing Korra off the steps. The girl almost fell but twisted and landed on her feet. She looked up at the obese woman, blue eyes icy. Snapping shut, the bus doors formed a sound proof barrier.
Korra locked eyes and slowly mouthed the word asshole.
The engine sputtered to life and the bus pulled away, leaving the girl alone on the pavement. Well, almost alone. One guy was heading determinedly in her direction, face set in suggestive grin that could only mean one thing.
"Bitch face equipped," Korra muttered to herself.