Sokka Should've Said No
When I heard the song 'Should've Said No', I practically fell in love with it. Inspiration struck me as I thinking about one of my other stories that I was planning in my mind and decided to write this. I guess I was bored and feeling lazy also. Read and Review!
Disclaimer: I don't own 'Avatar the Last Airbender', Nickelodeon does. I don't own 'Should've Said No', Taylor Swift does. I don't own or have ever participated in Rock Eisteddfod, so please don't try and hunt me down if I get it wrong. But I do own what you are about to read :).
Sokka stared at the clock hanging on the wall as the second hand ticked loudly in his ears, making him think of a heart beating its pulse. His shining blue eyes moved away from the timepiece and automatically glued to his girlfriend, as her head leaned against his chest and her body rested beside his, trapped in a light snooze. He tried to reach for the remote control sitting on the opposite arm of the couch he was sitting, without waking up Suki who would not let go of his blue hoodie. Suki, his girlfriend, he thought bitterly, his first and third girlfriend.
Sudden images of another girl laughing and smiling with him danced into his head somehow, the memories haunting him. He could still taste the flavour of her minty breath; could still inhale the strange scent of soft flowers mixed with dirt she never intended to carry; could still feel the fun atmosphere she used to offer him lingering.
He never meant to hurt her and he still felt guilty whenever he couldn't avoid her empty gaze in the school halls. He sometimes even felt like he loved her more than he did with Suki whenever he was forced to talk to her. He was angry she wouldn't talk to her best friend, his sister. It was hurting Katara. He was angry that she hated him. Though he knew it was deserved, it was hurting him. He could picture her now, singing an old song whilst playing her black guitar:
It's strange to think the songs we used to sing,
The smiles, the flowers, everything,
Is gone
Yesterday I found out about you,
Even now just looking at you,
Feels wrong
You say, that you'd take it all back,
Given one chance, it was a moment of weakness,
And you said yes
Finally able to grasp his dark fingers around the small remote, he flicked across the channels on the small TV, smiling cunningly as he turned the volume higher when he found a good program, wanting to wake up the sleeping Suki in an amusing way. He realised he had come across what was broadcasting Rock Eisteddfod, a schools' and colleges' singing or talent competition, the perfect alarm clock for his girlfriend. Of course, it wasn't live, the event had happened last week, but he had missed that. The hostess was thanking some high school that had just finished their act. After, she was announcing his school, inviting them onto the stage, and Sokka remembering that his ex-girlfriend had signed up for this program, devoted his attention to the TV entirely. He had wanted to watch the rehearsals in the school hall, but he knew he would just make things worse.
He saw dancers dressed in red, yellow, green and blue fly onto the performance area, and thought he caught Aang amongst the crowd, clearly looking embarrassed as he held another girl's hand and swivelled her gracefully. Sokka wondered how his sister had felt, when she had sat in the crowd applauding for her boyfriend. Then someone else captured his notice; a teenager two years younger than him, walking onto the stage and standing in the corner near the large red curtains clutching a black guitar securely, with her jet black hair to match it. He watched as she blew at her bangs so they wouldn't shield her sightless pearly green eyes as much. He could hear her words before she even started singing:
You should've said no,
You should've gone home,
You should have thought twice before you let it all go.
You should've known that word 'bout what you did with her'd, get back to me.
And I should've been there, in the back of your mind,
Shouldn't be asking myself why,
You shouldn't be begging for forgiveness at my feet,
You should've said no
Baby and you might still have me.
Sokka was mesmerised by her voice, it was like the old times again, when she would strum those soft fingers of hers on the chords of her guitar with her guitar pick flawlessly and play his favourite songs as her delicate ears listened carefully to strike the right musical tones. That was what he had loved about her; her heart that sings and voice that tickles his ears, as sweet as her taste.
She was wearing a black shirt under a Cruel Girl Tricia long sleeve. Her worn out jeans were fading into white around the knees and her favourite pair of sneakers, the ones he bought for her, were slightly glowing in the lack of lighting. She was such a contrast to Suki and her pleated miniskirt and lace baby doll tank top. Sokka didn't even know why he favoured them above all others when they were so different, almost opposites of the kind.
His ex-girlfriend's hair was dripping wet, as if she had just come out of the rain. The young teenager's eyelids had a dark green shade and her makeup was bright lipstick, glitter around the corners of her clouded eyes and excessive mascara coating her long thick eyelashes. But she brought her hand up to her face and wiped away all the makeup as she continued to vocalise, slightly smudging her cheeks with the mascara and her wet bangs, giving a good depressed impression of herself crying.
Sokka laughed, he could imagine her makeup artist groaning on the side of the stage, he or she should have known that she despised makeup. The blind girl softened the sound of her guitar, finishing off the chorus while playing a small piece on it. She sang:
You can see that I've been cryin',
Baby you know all the right things,
To say
But do you, honestly,
Expect me, to believe,
We could ever be the same?
You say, that the past is the past,
You need one chance, it was a moment of weakness,
And you said yes
He smiled proudly at the teenager whom he used to call his 'little girl', when then she would punch him lightly and order him not to call her that. Sokka smiled wistfully. How he missed those days. And it was true; he had always expected her to come back to him, fling into his arms and cry, saying that she was sorry and she couldn't live without him, then that way, she would be his again. But then he had thought of Suki; what would she say and how was she supposed to cope with that? He knew he couldn't just ditch her like he had unintentionally done with his second girlfriend. So he stopped hoping, knowing his expectations were way too unlikely.
Yes, he had been weak. After Suki left him because of a big fight, he had been so heartbroken. He needed someone to take his mind off his first girlfriend and asked out the first girl that popped into his head. She was much more than he had known, much more beautiful than he had ever seen her as. He was having the happiest time of his life when he returned to Suki. Sitting on the front porch of her tall red brick house; she had been waiting for him as he passed in his car. Sokka almost shivered as he thought of what happened next; the kiss, the ignoring of his 'girlfriend's' phone calls and telling Suki he loved her.
You should've said no,
You should've gone home,
You should have thought twice before you let it all go.
You should've known that word 'bout what you did with her'd, get back to me.
And I should've been there, in the back of your mind
Shouldn't be asking myself why,
You shouldn't be begging for forgiveness at my feet,
You should've said no
Baby and you might still have me…
She hit a high note, Sokka never knew was possible for her, on the last word. She played a small solo on her guitar as the chorus finally sunk in. He didn't want to think about the night she found out he and Suki had gotten back together. Of course she grew suspicious when he was more distant and Suki was as cheery as ever. She was never one to keep to her business and was just as hurt as he was when she heard the rumours.
The damn rumours that ruined everything, Sokka sighed.
Just as he had expected, she confronted him the night she found out about his reuniting with Suki. "Is it true? You're with Suki now?" she had asked. He could recall everything that followed her piercing question.
He could vaguely see an image of himself grabbing her by the arm and pulling her to him with such strength, nearly lifting her, making her stand on her toes. He could remember the desperate kiss, his begging and the cold blow she offered in return, which tempted her into giving him a whole pounding. He still had the bruise on his leg from where she had kicked and the throbbing on his arm from her punches and his left cheek still stung on which she slapped him. And it was months ago when that incident had occurred.
He could picture her then, sitting silently on the set of old swings in the town park, most likely reminiscing at that time, just like what he was doing now. Time had not eased her heart or his, and she followed his tactic to get rid of the heartache; to find someone to get rid of the pain as soon as possible. Suddenly her soft voice broke through his thoughts and pulled him back into the present:
I can't resist,
Before you go tell me this,
Was it worth it?
Was she worth this?
It was almost as if she was asking him personally, asking him whether Suki was really worth his breaking up with her, whether all that love between him and her was just a test that she did not pass, whether she was just a replacement for Suki until he could get her back. The teenager danced wildly as she sang into the microphone, jumping up and down like a child throwing a tantrum and dropping to her knees, as if she were begging. She shook her head, causing her raven sleek hair to dance around her, as if it had a mind of its own. Her pale features emitted a soft glow in the dark, with her bangs sticking to her forehead, the sweat like glue.
She sang the main lines once more as got back onto her feet, strumming her pick against her chords gently, though her guitar was as loud as the microphone would allow it to be. Sokka watched sadly as she stretched out the note of the last word and ended the song, ending the act of her school's performance, of which Sokka had completely forgotten about. The dancers were now motionless, before they were invited to leave the stage by the hostess.
But the blind girl stayed put, placing her lips close to the microphone and saying: "That was for you Sokka!" Before leaving the stage, she grabbed the microphone and threw its holder to the ground, ignoring the complaints of the hostess and the confusion of the crowd, only acknowledging the older teenager visible on the side of the stage holding a bunch of blood red roses for her. She wrapped her arms around Zuko's neck as he held onto her waist and they probably kissed behind the curtains.
How cliché, Sokka thought. He could her murmuring somewhere in his head:
No, no, no, no
The sixteen-year-old growled before turning off the TV, forgetting he wasn't watching his ex-girlfriend live. He turned his attention back to Suki, remembering she was still in his presence. But instead of being greeted with a soft snore his blue eyes burned into Suki's.
"Toph's a pretty good singer, huh?" she whispered. His 'alarm clock' had worked.
"Yeah. She is." Sokka replied. "You awake the whole time?" he asked. The beautiful auburn-haired girl nodded in reply, before leaning against his chest again as an attempt to avoid his gaze.
"She was very pretty." Suki said aloud. Sokka was taken aback by her comment but said nothing at first. Silence struck between the couple as they awkwardly waited for the other to break the quiet. Sokka thought about Toph – there, he had 'said' it – and how tremendous he had felt when he was around her and compared that to Suki and how incredible she made him feel. He could hear her words lingering in his mind:
You should've said no,
You should've gone home,
You should have thought twice before you let it all go.
You should've known that word 'bout what you did with her'd, get back to me.
And I should've been there, in the back of your mind
Shouldn't be asking myself why,
You shouldn't be begging for forgiveness at my feet,
You should've said no
Baby and you might still have me…
"But you know what?" Sokka asked, addressing the question to his girlfriend, but he left Suki no time for an answer when he kissed her the moment she turned to look at him. "She's wrong, if she thinks I should've said no."
There. It ends with Sukka, so if you don't like it or you do, review! This is probably going to be the only song fan fiction story I'll write unless someone wants me to write more. I wonder if I suck at writing song fan fics. Don't ask why I chose this song 'cause I don't know or maybe it's because I'm obsessed with Taylor Swift so much, even ask You can call me Lemon.
So, did you enjoy? I hope you did because this took me several hours writing it :). Please tell me through a review and maybe even some advice on how to improve next time (if there will be a next time), if you feel I have a lot of room for improvement. Thanks for reading.
Happy Days!
TezTra