A/N: Be warned. This fic is meant for lulz. As such, some characters might be a tad OOC, but hopefully still believable given the AU setting. All these drabbles will be stand-alone, but also mesh together to paint a whole picture (if all goes according to plan). Since it's a drabblefic, don't expect cohesive chapters; also keep in mind that things might not always be in strictly chronological order.

Reviews are welcome—as are suggestions of more crack to include!

A:tlA is not mine. This is your standard and solitary disclaimer.

title ; First Day

characters ; Sokka, Katara, Jet

rating ; K+

word count ; 945

"Sokka, please get out of there before someone sees you."

Katara had big plans for her first day of high school. None of them involved fishing her older brother out of a dumpster.

Thankfully, he was nice enough to duck back out of sight when a few of the other students shuffled by. She pasted on a wobbly smile, tugged at one strap of her backpack, and once they were out of sight, figured it didn't hurt to try again.

"Please, Sokka. You're going to embarrass me."

"Hate to break it to you, Sis, but I'm not getting out." He cracked a grin, scratching the back of his head before he flicked a piece of trash off his shoulder. "Oh, and I didn't get in here by myself so I've already been seen…kinda."

"What? You actually got someone to help you in there? Why?"

Sokka sent her another attempt at a grin that, considering she was growing steadily aware of how much he smelled, wasn't doing much for him. "You don't think this will play with the ladies?"

She was getting impatient. Lunch would be over soon, and she'd only found him because she knew better than to think he would voluntarily skip a meal. The day that happened she'd also expect the world to come to an end.

"Just let me help you out, okay? I have to get to class and I am not letting you ruin today for me."

Apparently her glare was enough to change his mind. Or it could have been the fact that she'd just cry when they got home and then there'd be even more hell to pay. Either way he caved and took the arm she offered him to scramble up and out of the mess.

Finally. She could pinch her nose with one hand and use the other to brush off his back for him. No one would be the wiser—

"Dude, I know you're not rich like some kids, but dumpster-diving?"

Katara froze. Her back was to their audience, but she read something akin to horror on her brother's face. He sputtered out a nervous, "Oh, hey, Jet. I, uh—"

The so-called Jet took a step closer. "Who's this? Your girlfriend?"

With that, she whirled around, coming face-to-face with a crooked smile and a raised brow. "I'm not his girlfriend, I'm his sister. And for your information, he wasn't dumpster-diving either," she snapped, facing Sokka again with a look that promised a lot of grief for him later for putting them in that position to begin with. "Come on, let's go."

"Hey now," Jet said, throwing his hands up to feign innocence. "I was just joking, sweetheart. No need to run off." Those same hands crossed in front of him, his expression the epitome of smug. "So, Sokka, what were you doing hanging out in a dumpster?"

Her brother broke into an awkward chuckle, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. "Well, see, it's kind of a long story…"

Jet stayed where he was, expectant.

"Ah, I kind of ran into Zuko earlier—"

Understanding dawned on those roguish features, that same smirk sliding back into place across Jet's face. "Gotcha." Sokka briefly slumped in relief, before the other teen's focus flickered back to his sister, gaze turning dark with another realization. "So I haven't seen your sister around before. New here?"

Before Sokka could answer, Katara cut in with a clipped, "Yes, it's my first day. Now can we please go? I'm going to be late to class."

"First day, huh? That makes you a freshman." That smirk remarkably grew at least an inch.

She was about to offer a pert reply along the lines of wow, someone's a genius when she caught the pained look from her brother. 'What?' she mouthed, with a confused look back at Jet. He just watched with growing amusement.

"Look, Jet," Sokka tried again, even taking half a step forward as if to shield Katara from the taller male. "I asked Zuko to dump me, you know? Like a trade, right? And he promised not to bother my sister."

Jet nodded along, but something about that expression still on his face made Katara uneasy. That, and his gaze was trained on her like she was some kind of meat on display. "Better say 'thanks' to your big brother. Unfortunately…"

Before she even knew what was happening, he'd brushed past her lanky brother to hoist her over his shoulder, sending her that wolfish grin from just a nose's breadth away—before he unceremoniously dropped her in that blasted dumpster. "Your brother didn't make a deal with me."

As she floundered to regain her footing amid the piles of paper, food leftovers, bags and other things she didn't even want to think about, she was shouting an indignant, "Hey! You get back here and apologize!"

Once she managed to right herself, she saw he was already walking away, one hand in his pocket while the other lazily waved off her protests. "Don't take it personally, sweetheart. It's just tradition." He stopped mid-step, pivoting just enough to send her a wink over his shoulder. "Shame, though, because you're pretty cute." His hand formed a phone that he put up to his ear with another smirk and a mouthed, 'call me,' before he continued on his way, ignoring a couple of girls who giggled and blushed a few yards away.

"You're not calling that jerk," Sokka's voice broke through her rising anger.

She snapped. "This is all your fault! I can't believe—Ugh. Just help me out of here!"

So much for a first day.