A/N: You can also find this chapter on my tumblr blog korra-ships-kainora. updates should be coming pretty quickly with NaNoWriMo being next week. Enjoy!

Jinora tapped her pencil against her face, a habit she'd acquired a couple weeks into freshman year. She wasn't even writing anything; instead she was reading a chapter from her physics book. The steady beat helped her concentrate.

She squinted at her textbook, as if blurring her vision would somehow make it easier to read. It was times like this when she regretted taking AP physics.

Jinora glanced at the clock.

12:06.

They were late.

Perhaps they weren't coming. Jinora smiled at the thought, though she knew she was probably getting her hopes up.

Creeeaaakkk. The library door flew open. Jinora's smile faded as they filed in through the door. One by one the boys entered the peaceful library.

She removed her pencil from her face and the rhythm transferred to her foot as her leg began bouncing vigorously against the chair.

Every day at noon a group of obnoxious boys came into the library, dragging their scratched up skateboards behind them. So everyday around noon was usually the time Jinora would abandon hope of finishing her homework.

The once quiet library was quickly filled with laughter, non-stop deep-voiced chatter, and the constant presence of the word "dude."

Jinora wasn't a hateful person, but these guys irritated her. They only come in here because at this point in the lunch period, they've already terrorized the rest of the school. So why not just terrorize it all?

Even from across the room she could tell they smelt bad. They were all ragged looking. With their baggy yet tight pants and oversized t shirts.

None of them were attractive.

Except for him.

Jinora didn't know his name. But she knew a bit about him. He was new to the school, yet he's already got the skater gang following him around. And she knew that he was the only decent looking boy in that group.

He had tan skin and dark hair that was cut in the most unusual way, the bottom half of his head was completely shaved. It was odd, yet she found it endearing. And his bright green eyes contradicted the deep color of his skin. But his smile made her shiver, it was as big and full of life as a smile can be.

Jinora shook her head and silently laughed at herself. Her parents would probably ground her for even looking at a boy like him.

She put in her headphones and Beethoven began ringing through her ears. Jinora prayed that the classical music would help her concentrate, though it hardly ever did.

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Kai propped his skateboard up against the table and swiftly took a seat, propping his feet up on the desk.

"Well aren't you just the king of the world," Skoochy took a stab at Kai's ego. Kai placed his hands behind his head and balanced his chair on its back legs.

"As a matter of fact, I am," Kai's expression was smug. The others laughed.

"Yeah some king of the world," Murry chuckled. He walked behind Kai and kicked the leg of his chair. Kai's head smacked down as the chair collided with the floor. Everyone burst out laughing.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny," He rolled off the chair and looked around the library, making sure nobody cool just saw him receive a minor concussion. He scoped the library and luckily for him, it was just nerds and the loner chick.

That's what he liked to call her. She was in here every day, sitting all by herself. Granted, Kai had seen dozens of nerds sitting alone. But this one was different. She was, well, actually pretty.

She hadn't seen him fall. Instead she was focused on her homework, her head slightly swaying along to whatever was playing in her headphones. He stared at her a moment longer, hoping she would look at him. He'd caught her staring at him a few times before. The eye contact usually ended with her blushing furiously.

"Hey lover boy," Skoochy called. "You gonna take a seat or what?" A couple of the boys chuckled. All together there were six of them; himself, Skoochy, Murry, Drew, Grant, and Tommy. Skoochy thought of himself as the leader, but Kai could manipulate any of them to do what he wanted.

"Shut up," Kai smacked the back of his head. "I was told you used to date that chick." Kai picked up his chair and sat down.

"You open the door for a girl one time and suddenly everyone thinks you're dating!" Skoochy exaggerated each word with a swing of his head. "That's the last time I ever open the door for anyone."

"People only thought that because you never have manners!" Drew chuckled.

"Hey she was carrying a lot of books," Skoochy defended himself. "I'm not a complete monster!"

"Aw! You really do have a heart!" Tommy cooed. Kai chuckled, along with everyone except Skoochy.

"Yeah, whatever. Just shut up."

"Don't dish it if you can't take it," Kai chuckled.

"Hey guys check this out," Grant had a mischievous grin on his face. "Let's still how far I can launch my pencil." He placed his pencil partially over the edge and smacked down on it. The pencil soared through the air, landing about ten feet away.

"Oh come on. That's nothing," Skoochy challenged. He positioned his pencil the same way and catapulted his pencil fifteen feet away. "And that's how it's done." Skoochy smirked. Kai laughed, shaking his head. "What? You think you can do better?"

"I never said that," Kai raised one eyebrow.

"Just give it your best shot," Skoochy leaned back in his chair. Kai smiled, accepting the challenge. He took his pencil and placed it on the edge. He stood up and lifted his arm, determined to build as much momentum as possible. He swung his arm and the pencil flew higher and higher, to an almost miraculous height. It was almost as if there was wind inside the library, carrying the pencil further away. Finally the pencil landed.

Right on her head.

The loner chick looked up from her book, her eyes as wide as saucers. She reached up and touched the spot on her forehead that had just been hit. Then she looked down at pencil that was now lying on the ground. Her eyes looked once more at the group of boys. But more specifically, at Kai.

Immediately the other boys began to laugh their heads off. Except Kai. He continued to stare at her. She swiftly packed her textbook into her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. The laughter continued as she exited the library.

A minute later the laughter had died down, but before anyone could say anything else a small voice came from behind a large desk.

"Boys, didn't you hear the bell ring?" The librarian, a wrinkly old lady who smelled strongly of lemons, asked. Kai looked at his phone. 12:33. That meant he had two minutes to get to his class across campus.

"Shit."

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Jinora's face was still warm from the library. Her face at heated up intensely as she watched all those boys laugh at her.

Well, not all of them.

He didn't laugh. Why didn't he laugh? Did he just feel sorry for her?

She shook her head, brushing off any thoughts of him, and continued to walk to class. But as she walked she heard the faint sound of something ripping. Frantically she checked her clothes, but everything was intact. Jinora shrugged and kept walking.

Suddenly the bottom of her shoulder bag gave way and ripped wide open, its contents spilling onto the filthy public school floor. "Great," Jinora sighed, looking at all her papers scattered on the floor. She knelt down and picked up each paper, along with a few books and various pens, pencils, and highlighters.

Once everything was into a nice pile, Jinora tossed her bag in the trash. It was useless now anyways. She glanced at her phone and saw the time. 12:34. She would never make it to her class in time. She scurried down the hallways as fast as her legs would permit.

"Incoming!" A voice shouted from down that hallway. Jinora turned around to see the boy from the library riding his skateboard at an alarming speed. She quickly clung to the wall in hope that he would glide right past her. And he would have if a teacher didn't suddenly open a door, causing him to swerve immensely to avoid collision. He lost control of his skateboard and came hurtling towards Jinora.

"Watch out!"

Omf. The boy crashed right into her. He knocked her right off her feet as he fell backwards. The papers she had just spent forever picking up went flying into the air, once again scattering throughout the hallway. Her eyes were clenched together as she felt the force of the fall. Somehow, it wasn't nearly as bad as she had imagined. Slowly her eyes opened.

"Shit," Jinora was right on top of him. Her face was pressed against his chest. Immediately her cheeks began to heat up and she bolted into an upright position.

"Ow," the boy let out a slight groan in pain. Jinora looked down. She was sitting on his-

"Oh my spirits," She stood up as fast as she could. "I am so sorry!" Her whole body was heating up with embarrassment.

"No, it's fine really," he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm more concerned about my head."

"Are you okay?" She knelt down by him, attempting to examine his head. "I am so sorry."

"Why do you keep apologizing?" he chuckled. "I ran into you. Remember?"

"Sorry," Jinora looked away from him as she began picking up her papers once again.

"Here, let me help you," he got up and knelt beside her, handing her papers and books from the floor.

She didn't look him in the eyes one time as he helped her. She was far too embarrassed. It's one thing to crash into a stranger in the hallway, but it's another to crash into the stranger you've secretly been admiring from afar.

Finally, Jinora had everything back in order. They both stood up at the same time. "I, uh- thanks," Jinora managed to say.

"It was my fault anyways, don't worry about it," he smiled. "Thanks for not getting mad after I knocked you off your feet."

"Well, every girl dreams of getting swept of her feet. Just maybe not like this," she finally looked him in the eyes. He was a lot taller than she had imagined; he was a whole head above her.

"I'm Kai, by the way," he offered his hand for her to shake. She smiled. Now she wouldn't have to refer to him as 'that boy.'

"Jinora," she grabbed his hand, which proved to be difficult with all her papers. The handshake lingered, each second getting more and more awkward. Jinora jerked her hand away, embarrassed. "I need to get to class."

"I'll, uh, see you around, Jinora."

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"Who can recap what happened in Book I of the Iliad?" Kai's English teacher asked the class. He had no intention of answering. Instead he sank deeper into his chair. He sat in the back of the class; his theory is that the teacher placed him there because she knew he wouldn't do any work.

Luckily for him, Murry sat in the back as well.

"Kai, you've been at this school for nearly two months and you haven't asked a single girl out," Murry whispered.

"And?" Kai didn't see his point.

"What are you waiting for? The girls at this school aren't that ugly," Murry said.

"I don't know man, no one's really sparked my interest," that was sort of true. Until ten minutes ago, no one had sparked his interest. But Jinora, she definitely sparked something.

"Oh spirits, you're not gay are you?"

"What? Of course not."

"Just making sure," Murry raised his hands innocently. "But seriously, there's got to be at least one."

"Well, there is this one girl," Kai trailed off.

"Who? Is it Shelby Curtis?" Murry asked. "Word on the street is that she wants you to ask her to homecoming."

"No, not her," Kai had talked to Shelby. She was nice, she was just another carbon copy of every other girl at the school. "Do you remember that chick from the library?"

"No," Murry's face dropped. "You can't be serious."

"What? She's not that bad," Kai said.

"Kai, there's a reason we teased you and Skoochy about liking her. She's probably the biggest, weirdest nerd on the planet. She's got these freak parents who lock her in a cage if she doesn't get good grades," Murry said.

"You don't honestly believe that, do you?" Kai was amazed at Murry's stupidity sometimes.

"She's pretty alright, but she spends every day alone in the library. She's probably mentally unstable," Murry looked around, as if she could somehow hear them.

"So she's a nerd and she's mentally unstable? Jeez, Murry, make up your mind," Kai sighed.

"I'm trying to look out for you man, just stay away from that chick."

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After eight long hours at school, Jinora was finally home.

"How was school sweetie?" Jinora's mom, Pema, asked.

"It was good," Jinora could barely repress a smile thinking about her first interaction with Kai. "But my bag broke."

"We'll have to go get you a new one then," Pema said sweetly. "Do you have a lot of homework?"

"I just have some more studying to do," She said.

"Get started and when you're finished, we can run to the store."

"Okay," Jinora set all her books and papers on the kitchen table and headed for the fridge. She grabbed a bottle of lychee juice, along with her text book, and headed up to her room. She hopped onto her bed and set her text book and juice in front of her.

Reluctantly, Jinora opened her physics book. She began reading the first line, but to no avail. The only thing she could concentrate on was Kai.

He only talked to her because he accidently knocked her down, and she embarrassed herself immensely. Yet she couldn't help but be overjoyed that he now knew who she was.

Perhaps today was the first and last time they would talk. Jinora frowned at the thought. He had said "I'll see you around." Surely that implied he had intentions of talking to her again.

However, it's still a vague statement. If only he had said "I'll talk to you later." Or something more specific. Jinora had never understood those girls in the movies who racked their brains over things guys said. Now she was one of those girls.

She flailed her body back into the arrangement of pillows on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Jinora had promised her dad that she wouldn't get a boyfriend in high school so that she could concentrate on her grades. It was a good promise. Kai was clearly interfering with her studying.

This green eyed boy would prove to be more trouble than he's worth.