It was yet again another first day at St. Clamence High School. The first day after summer break. There was always a lot to see on a first day. Young freshman trying frantically to get to their lockers, without being trampled upon by the older and more secure sophomores, juniors and seniors. They clung together in the hope that someone would notice them before they were mowed down, and so forming new friendships at the hand of survival. Meanwhile, old friends would look over the crowd to spot each other and yell when they found one another. Thus creating a hectic, loud, and cluttered atmosphere.
Katara stepped out of her brother's car, scanning all the people who were trying to get in the school, looking for a familiar head of short, messy brown hair that belonged to her boyfriend.
Boyfriend. Jeez. She had an actual boyfriend! She still had difficulty believing that he was actually hers. Even though they had started dating before summer break, and all through summer break hanging out with each other. But hey, he was one of the popular guys at school. He was handsome, muscular due to the fact of him being the football captain, and he had a certain devil-may-care air about him that made him all the more attractive. He was a senior now, which meant that his attractiveness had probably been increased ten-fold.
Not being able to find the before mentioned head, Katara sighed and turned around to close the car door.
"Katara!" Sokka shouted over the roof of his car.
"What?" Katara asked annoyed.
"Don't slam with Carsie's door! She has feelings too you know!"
Katara sighed again, seriously! She thought, the fact that a guy loves his car, I can deal with. But giving a car such a ridiculous name and treating it like it's a human being is over the top.
"Sokka, it's a car. It doesn't have feelings, it's just a hunk of metal. And a filthy hunk at that."
Sokka's mouth dropped open, as if he couldn't believe his ears. Turning away from her he began patting his car. "Don't you listen to the mean girl Carsie, she just doesn't get the complicated relationship you and I share" he muttered under his breath.
Katara rolled her eyes at her brother and started to turn around, but was stopped by a pair of hands that found their way in front of her eyes.
"Guess who's behind you" a seductive voice whispered in her ear.
"Jet!" Katara smiled and turned around so she was facing her super sexy, super hot boyfriend. "I've missed you! It feels like an eternity since I last saw you."
Jet laughed. "You saw me two days ago, on Saturday remember? When we went to the movies. By the way, now we're talking about it, what kind of movie was it? I can't seem to remember."
"I sincerely wouldn't know, even if my life depended on it" Katara smiled, remembering how their date had gone.
Jet hadn't seemed interested in the movie at all, and five minutes after it began had made that fact clear as day. He had leaned towards her in his chair, moving his arm around her shoulders. Making it possible for her to lean against him. When she was settled, he had started whispering things in her ear, his lips seductively touching her ear shell. At first it had been comments about the movie and how bad the actors were. As the movie progressed however, the comments changed to little nips and caressing kisses. He even started suckling her earlobe when she couldn't take anymore and turned to him. She forgot all about the movie when they started making out. Not even when the movie ended and the end titles and credits rolled of the giant screen. An employee of the movie theatre had to tap Jet on the shoulder before either of them noticed that the theatre was empty.
"It truly is a shame" Jet said. "But at least I had fun" he smirked.
"Yeah, me too" Katara smirked back at him.
Right then, the school bell rang out, signaling all the students it was time for class.
"See you at lunch?" Jet asked.
"Yeah, see you there" Katara answered while leaning towards him, making her intentions clear. Jet smiled and indulged her by leaning down and placing his lips against hers, kissing her softly.
"See ya later Hun"
Before Katara could open her eyes he was gone. Smiling to herself she opened her shoulderbag to get her schedule. Hmm, first English in room 214.
Walking towards the entrance of the school with the other students Katara noticed a lonely looking, black haired guy lounging just inside the entrance. She could only see his back, but he looked vaguely familiar. He also looked old enough to be walking around here for a while. Probably a senior
Then the guy turned around and Katara recognized Zuko Ozai. He was a classmate of Jet's and son of the principal of St. Clamence High School. He had a nasty looking scar on the left side of his face, but Katara didn't know how he had come by it. She had asked Jet, but Jet hadn't known either. Just like everyone else. No one in the entire school knew, and if they knew, they won't tell, Katara thought. She quickly looked away from him, before he caught her ogling him, or rather his scar. Apparently he was really sensitive in that respect, because every time someone was watching his scar, he would scowl menacingly.
Getting through the entrance without being squashed by the other students, or being scowled at by one student in particular, Katara made her way to room 214. Along the way, she caught up with Suki, who was a sophomore, just like her. They compared their schedules and it turned out that they had English, math en history together.
"So… Are you trying out for the swim team again this year?" Suki asked as they walked into the classroom.
"Of course! Swimming is my life, you know that. Or at least you should, you know, with you being my very best friend and all" Katara shot her friend a look.
Suki laughed. "Duh! Of course I know swimming is your life, I only have to hear it at least once a day from you!" Suki stuck out her tongue at Katara.
Katara was about to make a snappy retort when the teacher, professor Zei, came in.
"Good morning students, please take your seats, so we can begin this new year fresh."
The class fell silent as they listened to professor Zei talking about what they would cover this semester. The hour went by with amazing speed and afterwards Katara and Suki walked to their next class together, history.
"Ugh, I don't get history you know? I mean it's in the past, we can't change a thing, so why bother learning about it?" Suki complained.
Katara had heard this before and refrained from answering. Unperturbed Suki continued. "But hey, at least we're not the students that have to come here in the future."
"What's wrong with being a future student?" Katara frowned.
"Because they'll have to learn even more history" Suki grinned. Katara looked at her friend amazed. Than the laughter burst forward.
"What's so funny?" All of a sudden Sokka appeared out of nowhere effectively shutting Suki up.
"Nothing Sokka, just a joke" Katara told her brother.
"Aw come on, I love jokes! Love to hear them, love to tell them as well! I'm like the Joke Master, or better. I'm the Jokiest!" Sokka laughed over his own joke.
"Too bad you're not the funniest" that shut him up. He glared at his little sister. Then he turned to Suki. "You think I'm funny don't you?" he appealed to her.
Suki blushed. "Uhm, sure Sokka, your jokes are ok" Suki stammered.
Suddenly Sokka stopped, putting his hand on Suki's shoulders, causing her to flush red.
"Ok?! You think my jokes are ok? My jokes are brilliant, they're the best jokes you'll ever hear!"
"Sokka, stop harassing my friends, we're late for class" Katara cut in, seeing her friend's discomfort.
Sokka let his hands drop from Suki's shoulders and frowned at his sister.
Without as much as a glance at her brother, Katara grabbed Suki's hand and pulled her towards the history classroom.
Unlike Suki, Katara liked history, especially the stories about long ago battles and the legends and myths that derived from those long forgotten places. There was one myth in particular that spoke to Katara. The myth of the Painted Lady.
She liked the fact that there could be such a person, who was completely selfless, who always let other people's needs and wants go first, before she thought of herself. And that millions of years later people still remembered her and what she did. Katara was amazed by the sheer goodness of the Painted Lady. Katara was rudely interrupted from her contemplations by the history teacher Mr. Bumi.
"Good morning you young people, it is a bright new day, perfect to learn some history!" Mr. Bumi exclaimed.
Mr. Bumi was one of the strangest teachers Katara had ever had. No one really knew how old he was. Some days you could see him wearing old, shabby, almost robe-like clothes, which seemed to swallow him up, making him look like a fragile old man. Other days he would wear normal clothing, stand up straight, and then you could see how muscular his chest was.
Rumor had it that when Mr. Bumi was younger, he was a professional boxer, hence his muscular torso. He even had a nickname. King Bumi. But he had taken too many blows to the head, explaining his odd behavior. Despite all this, and the disgusting tufts of hair that stuck out of his ears, Katara found Mr. Bumi was one of the best teachers.
"Good morning Mr. Bumi" the class chorused
"So how was your summer? Anyone visited any nice old city like I told you to?" that was one of the good things about Mr. Bumi, he made history personal. Drawing from their own experiences. Making them talk about their vacation to the Mausoleum in Greece, or the Colosseum in Rome.
Today it turned out that a freshman, named Aang, who was in Mr. Bumi's last class, went to the ancient city of Pompey.
"And I thought that would be a good place to start this year everybody, so get out those notebooks and pens, and start making notes" there was a rustle when everyone collected their writing utensils and started copying the notes Mr. Bumi wrote on the board.
Five minutes before the end of class Mr. Bumi assigned them their homework.
"All right you young scavengers, for homework I want you all to write a three pages long essay about something you did in your summer break. But please, make sure it's historically correct" Mr. Bumi eyed some students in particular, who quickly started packing their bags.
"Well, I'm off to Spanish bella señorita" Suki said to her friend and walked away. Katara checked her own schedule. Study hour. Seriously, what crazy mind planned a study hour on Monday morning, right before lunch? Katara sighed and headed to her locker, where she got her laptop and put it in her shoulderbag. Next, she went to the school's study lounge and installed herself at a corner table so no one would bother her. She fired up her laptop and started browsing the internet. So far, the only homework she had was Mr. Bumi's assignment, but that wasn't due until Thursday, so she decided it was ok to just do nothing for now.
She checked her email and saw that her anonymous pen pal had sent her an email. Smiling, she opened it.
From: TheBlueSpirit21
To: PaintedLady362
Subject: Last First Day of High School
Time: 11.32 AM
Hey Painted Lady,
What have you been doing lately? It has been a while since we talked. Had any fun this summer? I know I have, but I'm also glad to go back to school. There is only so much I can take from my little sister, and she was getting worse as summer break progressed. I mean, I know she wants to look good and all, but I'm her big brother, I don't take it very well when she wants to go out while she is half naked…
But besides her, I'm doing well myself. As you might have guessed (see the subject of this email) this is my last first day of high school. I can't wait to go to college next year. Then I'd be finally able to live on my own.
Well, hope to hear from you soon.
The Blue Spirit
Katara was about to reply when a pop-up came on her screen.
"TheBlueSpirit21 has requested a chat" it read. Clicking on the confirm button, another screen came into view.
TheBlueSpirit21: Hey you, had a nice summer?
PaintedLady362: Hi! I just finished reading your email, was about to reply :P My summer was fine, yours?
TheBlueSpirit21: My summer was great, went to Italy, sightseeing with my dad and sister. Especially Venice was amazing. What did you do?
PaintedLaby362: I stayed at home most of the time… dad couldn't afford the time, he was away a lot… spent a lot of time with my grangran. It was nice, but not really exciting or anything. But Venice sounds great. When I can, I will go there for sure
TheBlueSpirit21: You should! It is really beautiful, but beware of the pigeons on Piazza San Marco, they'll eat your fingers if you're not careful… :P
PaintedLady362: I'll keep that in mind… if I'm ever lucky enough to ever go there
TheBlueSpirit21: So… how is your first day going so far?
PaintedLady362: Smooth, just had to classes, and only one homework assignment. We have to write a 3 pages long essay about something historical we did this summer… problem is, I haven't really done anything historical, unless you count the ancients reruns of some tv shows…
TheBlueSpirit21: bommer…
At that moment the bell rang out, signaling lunch. Katara started. She had no idea time was going so fast.
PaintedLady362: I gotta go, it's lunchtime already, and I'm starving. Talk to you later
TheBlueSpirit21: Yeah, I'm gonna get some lunch as well, but Painted Lady?
PaintedLady362: Yeah?
TheBlueSpirit21: beware of the pigeons. They're EVIL!
Katara snickered
PaintedLady362: LOL, evil pigeons. See you later
TheBlueSpirit21: see ya later
Without further ado, Katara shut her laptop, put it in her bag and headed for the cafeteria. Unbeknown to her, on the other side of the study lounge, an 18 year old senior shut down the computer he had just been chatting on with his pen pal. When he turned around his golden eyes fell on a retreating figure in blue. She has a boyfriend you moron! He thought to himself as he watched Katara exit the lounge. But still, he couldn't deny she was beautiful, nor that he had had a thing for her ever since he laid eyes on her. If only he could talk to her as he talked to the painted lady. An idea popped in his head. Of course! The painted lady could give some advice in that direction! Already composing an email to her in his head, he headed out of the lounge to get some lunch.
The cafeteria was crowded and noisy, students standing in line to buy their food, while others already sat at the tables, keeping each other's seats. Since Katara had made her own lunch at home, she didn't need to stand in line. She scanned the crowd and spotted Suki waving at her. Smiling she made her way to her friend. In the way, she bumped into a young freshman, or rather, he bumped into her, almost spilling his tray over her.
"Ow! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you!" the boy exclaimed. He was wearing a weird skin colored hat with a light blue arrow in the middle. Katara thought he looked ridiculous, but she smiled at him and told him she didn't mind, since no actual harm was done.
"It's ok, no harm done"
"Wow, you're the first non-freshman who is actually nice to me! I'm Aang!" he looked up at her with a big gray eyes and a goofy smile.
"Hey, you're the kid who went to Pompey this summer"
Aang frowned. "How would you know that?" he asked her.
"Oh, Mr. Bumi, the history teacher, told us in class. But I have to go, my friends are calling me" Katara went to turn away, but was stopped by Aang.
"Hey, would you mind if I sit with you at lunch? I kinda don't know anyone around here, I just moved here"
Katara looked at him perplexed.
"Er… Wouldn't you rather sit with the other freshmen? You should really try to make friends among your classmates" Katara saw his face fall and didn't have the heart anymore to turn him down. "It's ok to sit at my lunch table today I guess…" she trailed off.
As if by magic the goofy smile reappeared on his face. "Great!"
Katara heaved an inward sigh and lead the way to the lunch table where, besides Suki, now Jet also waited for her. Jet eyed Aang suspiciously before putting his arm around her shoulder. "Who's the fish?" he asked her.
"This is Aang, he bumped into me" she sat down next to Jet and took her lunch from her bag.
"You bumped into my girlfriend fish? What, you didn't see her or something?" Jet glowered at Aang, who turned deep red and began to mumble an apology.
"It was an accident Jet, he got shoved from behind, it wasn't his fault" Katara cut in, saving Aang and placating her boyfriend at the same time.
"So why is he here now?" Jet remained hostile.
"Jet!" Katara exclaimed, not believing the rudeness her boyfriend displayed.
"It's ok, I'll go" Aang said and stood from his place.
"No Aang, you can sit here if you want…"
"No really, I can get a message, I'll go" Aang turned and walked away.
Katara glowered at Jet.
"What?" he asked.
"You just totally scared him away! Do you have any idea how rude that was?" she slapped his arm.
"He's a fish, he has to learn his place. And his place is most definitely not at our lunch table" Jet excused himself.
Heaving an exasperated sigh Katara turned to Suki, who just rolled her eyes. The rest of the lunch hour went by uneventful and when the bell rang again Katara and Suki got up together and headed to math.
Math had always come easy to Katara and she zoned out as the teacher, Mrs. Dee, or as she said "Please, the Mrs. makes me feel old, call me Joo Dee!" droned on about equations and variables. Mrs. Dee never took note of students who weren't paying attention, or even to students who were asking questions. She just talked nonstop and didn't stop before she told them all she had to tell.
After math Katara said good bye to Suki and headed off to biology/healthclass, which was given by Mrs. Hama, an old woman who should have retired years ago, but somehow was still around. During class Katara copied notes from the blackboard.
"And I want you all to memorize the blood vessels in the human body, I will be giving a pop-quiz next week" Mrs. Hama announced. The entire class groaned in exasperation, a pop-quiz so soon? It couldn't be termed fair.
On her way to her last class for the day, Katara walked into Coach Pakku, the coach of St. Clamence High School swimming team.
"Hey coach" Katara greeted him.
"Ah, miss Hakoda, good thing I run into you just now. Tryouts for the swimming team are tomorrow morning before school, since you were such an exemplary swimmer last year, can I expect you to be there?" Coach Pakku asked.
"Of course coach, I'll be there"
With a nod, Coach Pakku walked off. Katara resumed walking to art appreciation, given by "The Mechanist" Bodan. He was actually more of an inventor than an artist, but he viewed his inventions as art.
The hour went by quickly with a discussion about the different kinds of columns used in ancient Greek architecture.
When the final bell rang Katara stood, checked her journal for her homework and went to her locker to get her books she would need. Besides the essay for history and learning all the human body blood vessels, she had to make two paragraphs worth of assignments for math. When she got to her locker, she took out her biology and math books and put them in her bag. Contemplating if she had forgotten something, Katara reviewed her day.
It had been a good first day.
