Author's Note: Here is the summary: Your dream for your reunion: Hooking up with your high school crush. Reality: A dead body, a drug scheme, and being hit on by your best friend.
I wanted to do something different so I am now working on a romance, murder mystery. It's basically set at a high school reunion and the whole gang is there, little do they know secrets are revealed and a murderer is among them. I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.
Chapter One:
Try not to fall on your face. Please don't fall on your face. You are not a disaster. You are a sexy beast. You can do this. You aren't the same nerdy girl you were from high school.
I scanned the mirror, making sure I looked a thousand times better than I felt. I had grown so much better looking from high school. I had full hips and a nice bust. The cobalt blue dress hugged my body like a second skin. Tonight I would make up for not turning ANY heads in high school all those years ago Especially if Zuko was going to be there. I sighed and applied another coat of lips gloss. Just thinking about Zuko after all these years made me shiver. I made sure the curls in my chestnut hair fell in cascades as the toilet flushed. She went over to the sink next to me and began washing her hands.
Between her and Toph, I couldn't tell who had the most improvement after graduating high school. In high school Toph was a total tomboy. She wore oversized shirts and sweatpants as her staple almost every day. I hadn't even seen Toph's legs until prom night. In the past she wore her hair in a sleep bun and was anything but feminine. She burped, fought with the guys, and was more outspoken and brash than I could ever dreamed of being.
Now in the present Toph's raven locks were bone straight and came to her waist. The emerald green cocktail dress stopped three inches above her thigh and the sweet heart neck line excintuated her small chest. She was gorgeous. Toph pushed her bang to the side for a moment which revealed her green eyes which were accented by long, thick black lashes. She applied another coat of mascara and pulled her bangs back down to cover her eyes. How a semi-blind woman could do her make up better than Katara who had two good eyes was unknown to her.
"Can you stop breathing so heavy Kat?" Toph asked as she played with her hair. I was breathing hard? Ugh, I'm so lame. Just as lame as I was in high school. I'm getting all worked up but who knows if Zuko's going to notice me anyway. He never did before.
"Sorry. I'm just nervous. I haven't seen any of these people in YEARS. It's a little bit of a habit to try to impress them." I sniffed my pits to make sure I didn't stink for the sixth time probably. I wanted to emerge as a beautiful swan and shock everyone there. I wanted to make them forget all about prom night.
"You don't have to impress jack shit Kat. These people don't really matter. Of course if by people you mean impressing Zuko then I'm sure he matters even less than the rest of those idiots in there. You pined over him for four years. If he didn't see your beauty back then it won't matter now." Toph was wrong he did notice me. The way he looked at me on prom night before the hellish part happened confirmed it. They were lab partners for two years in chemistry class for God's sake. How could he not remember her?
Flashback
The room was filled with acne and caffeine filled teenagers who were either asleep or scrolling through their phones. Katara was watching the demonstration attentively while her lab partner was leaning on the lab bench bored out his mind.
Being this close to him made her stomach get butterflies. He smelled so good. The way his muscles bulged under from under his Bring Me the Horizon Band tee was marvelous. His gold eyes were half shut before the lecture even began. Luckily his thick, side bang served as an ample cover for his eyes so he could sleep in a disclosed fashion.
He was so cool and so hot. Katara could never dream of falling asleep in class. Here she was in her pink, over-sized kitten sweater and plaid red and black skirt. She thought it was cute. She thought the pig tails and the knee high black socks finished off the look but Zuko didn't even bat an eye in her direction. She pushed her thick, black brimmed glassed back up towards her face and smiled, showing her braces. She was wearing the hipster glasses before they were cool and STILL got made fun of for it. Who was she kidding she'd have to dress like Mai or Ty Lee to even get a glance from Zuko.
"Alright class. Now that you've seen the demonstration, I'll let you and your partner replicate the same thing. I will be available for question but I will not give answers. You have 45 minutes." The professor said as Katara finished writing down the final step of the experiment. When she looked up from her notebook Zuko was drooling on the desk. She couldn't possibly finish this by herself.
She gave him a tap on the shoulder and hoped he would wake up. Oh God, she just touched him. His shoulder felt so warm and muscly.
"What, what! I'm up!" Zuko yelled as he flipped his bang from in front of his eyes.
"Zuko, we have to do the experiment. We barely finished the last one." Unfortunately her braces created a lisp on all of her S's which she was deathly embarrassed about. She wanted to speak as little as possible.
"Oh shit. I wasn't paying attention. Do you think you can carry this one? Do you get this stuff? I'm barely passing chemistry lecture, let alone the lab." Zuko groaned. The way he looked at her made her want to lose all of her inhibitions and listen to whatever he said.
"Of course." Katara said smiling seductively or at least trying to considering her braces were an insecurity of hers.
"Thanks. Hey Katara, you're really smart. I owe you one big time." He owed her one! If what he owed her was one night alone she could already feel her heart pounding.
End Flashback
Turns out she ended up carrying his lab grade for the next two years because chemistry wasn't "his thing". Zuko was the captain of the football team, who had time to study for chem lab when he had an important position like that. She never got whatever it was that Zuko owed her but being so close to him was enough for her. He was so handsome it was insane.
"Relax Sweetness. This is a high school reunion. Everyone's either fat, ugly, balding, or on their fourth kid. We're already beating those odds. Let's go in there and stop hiding in the bathroom." Toph pulled Katara's arm and yanked her out of the bathroom.
This was it. This was the first time she was making a statement to people she hadn't seen in 5 years. She was going to leave with Zuko whether anyone had a problem with it or not. Tonight, he would notice her if she had anything to do about it.
Toph and I stood in front of the doors about to enter. Her palms were sweating and she could feel her feet throbbing in her heels. Why hadn't she worn flats or something? She couldn't walk in heels on a regular day, let alone when her knees felt like Jell-O.
"Well, well if it isn't the Stinky Girl and Nerd-Tara." A voice said from behind them. God of course SHE would be here. She turned around and got sight of the holy trinity themselves. Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai. They were all beautiful, all skinny, and all had ridiculous amounts of money and popularity. She hated all three of them in high school because they constantly ridiculed her whatever chance they had. From fat to ugly to cat lady they called her every name in the book. Azula was the ring leader and always began the teasing, Ty Lee was the instigator and kept it going, and Mai well Mai actually didn't say much at all during the bullying. Mai was too busy sticking her tongue down Zuko's throat. To be honest that was the entire reason I didn't like her.
Luckily their looks didn't sour along with their rotten personalities. Azula and her two minions still looked great after all these years and by great Katara meant pretty slutty. They couldn't have found more material? I could gag at how desperate they looked.
"Hi Azula," I said politely trying to not relive high school all over. "How've you been?"
"Oh good. Just married to a millionaire and all." Azula flipped her hair and drew out all of the syllables in the words.
Ty Lee chimed in next, "Oh, I see you've lost weight Katara." She was as bird brained as they come.
"Um, I was never fat Ty Lee." I retorted giving myself a once over. I wasn't chunky in high school. I was just curvy like I am now. Not like those three knew anything about curves considering they were all thin. Mai remained silent still but burning a hole in my face. What was her problem?
"We must go now. Oh and be careful Katara. We don't want you to have a reenactment of prom night. Bye, bye girls." Azula snapped her fingers, rolled her eyes, and her two minions followed behind her into the dance hall.
"God, I still hate them." I mumbled under my breath as Toph and I stepped into the ballroom. There was music playing, an open bar, and a room full of strangers who she hadn't seen in five years. Sounds like a party. From across the room she saw him. He was dressed in a black fitted suit and had had cut off his hair and got a professional cut. He aged well for sure. Suddenly her knees gave in and she felt herself falling to the ground.
"Pull it together Kat." Toph held up so she wouldn't fall but that didn't stop her legs from shaking. He still had this much of an effect on her even now. She was pathetic. She couldn't even look at him without feeling embarrassed.
"Ugh, I need a drink." I stalked off to the bar to get something strong. Maybe it would help me loosen up a bit. I order a rum and coke and sipped it like my life depended on it. The liquid felt good going down my throat. The burn was satisfying enough to make me calm down a bit.
"Katara! It's so good to see you!" Oh no, someone actually recognized her! Who was it but none other than her ex-boyfriend Aang. He was the only person who was as nerdy as her in high school. He was not who she wanted to see.
"Uh, hi Aang. Good to see you." Lie in between sipping your drink? Sounds like a plan. I remembered when Aang and I were perfect together, until prom came around that is.
"You've changed. Not that it's a bad thing. You look-"
My heart stopped that baritone voice I could remember so clearly. He was on the other side of the bar ordering a drink. I wanted to duck and hide under the bar stool. Aang was clearly talking but all I could hear was the sound of blood rushing to my head.
Much to my annoyance Mai came over to Zuko and completely captured his attention. Uh, she was hanging on to just like she was in high school. This wasn't happening. She may not be in high school but she still could be pretty caddy when she wanted.
"Um, excuse me Aang." I marched right over to Zuko and Mai and interrupted. "Hi Zuko. Katara, from your chemistry class."
I could feel Mai's disapproval from her death glare but who cared. I finally had enough confidence to talk to him.
He gave me a once over with wide eyes and almost spit out his drink, "Nerdy Katara! You look… so different." He smirked at me, revealing his pearly white teeth. Oh yeah! Score one for Katara. "I was actually hoping I'd see you tonight."
Yes! Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes! He wanted to see her after all this time! Maybe he did like her!
"People change. You look good yourself. You still look like captain of the football team."
"Ha thanks. I guess I should. I played all through college. What's changed with you these past few years?"
"I can legally drink." He gave me a blank stare. "I mean, I moved to New York."
"Fun, it's still the same here. I just wanted to thank you for all your chemistry work. I wouldn't have passed without you. I know I was an awful partner but you have to forgive me for not being book smart. Anyway Mai and I were catching up. But I definitely want to see you later." Zuko walked off with Mai at his side, who followed him like a lost puppy.
Super lame. Now I was standing here all alone with a watered down drink in my hand feeling like just as much of a loser as I did in high school.
Meanwhile…
Zuko snuck off to the restroom when he got a phone call, "Yes, I understand. I'm on it. They won't know what hit them."
He clutched the gun hidden under his suit jacket. His mission was clear. Something was going down for sure tonight and his old classmate weren't getting in the way.