A/N: Okay, so I absolutely love the TV show Catfish. My girlfriends and I have MTV Catfish marathons all the time.I think it's the best MTV show to have come on in a while. I felt inspired by Catfish recently to make this story. I hope you enjoy it.
Summary: AU. Katara has found the perfect guy. He's nice, handsome, charming, and funny. What more could a girl want? There's just one problem… he's not real.
The Perfect Guy is a Catfish
Chapter One
Aang wanted to meet the person who created the internet. He wanted to know if this man was bored on the day he created it, because that's the main reason Aang uses the internet. Out of boredom.
He created a summer list of things to do that was made for the sole purpose of keeping him out of the snares of boredom. Plan number one was surefire to keep him entertained during the summer. It was to get ripped for his senior year by using the workout program Insanity. But really, with a name like Insanity, he should've known he wouldn't last the whole summer. The four weeks he did it consisted of two days out of the preferred six every week.
With the click of his wireless mouse, he deletes the blog he created a month ago to document his transformation status. It's funny how that meticulous summer plan faded away barely four weeks into summer.
Begrudgingly, Aang lifts his yellow notepad off his desk and crosses off goal number one on the list with a cheap blue capped BIC pen. He feels bitterly disappointed in himself. He's on the honor roll, going to be valedictorian next year, and yet he can't get his skinny wimpy ass fit.
He sighs dejectedly as he gets up from his swivel chair and drags his bare feet over the carpet and to the oblong mirror hooked onto the back of his door. He gazes at his shirtless self with resentment.
No girl would ever fall for a guy like him, and he can't blame them. Look wise, Aang is not appealing. He has big ears, ghostly pale skin, an awful fashion sense, and a buzz cut. He looks like he's trying to join the military.
But he wouldn't make it there, because he's closer to the side of healthy anorexic than anything relatively normal. A pounding against his bedroom door makes the mirror tremble and jolts him out of his self-depreciating thoughts.
"It's midnight Aang and I see your lights on," Gyatso sing-songed through the door. "Go to sleep!"
"I'm going now Uncle!" Aang switched off the lights and collapsed face first onto his bed with a groan. His life sucks.
XXXX
Aang woke up to the sound of dog barking and the doorbell ringing. He bolted up in his bed, feeling like his skin was being lit up by flames.
So this is what it feels like to be burnt alive.
"Oh my god," he gasped, slapping his palm against his forehead and feeling the cringe worthy temperature. "I am losing my freaking mind…"
The doorbell continued ringing, now followed by a pounding on the door. Aang carried his body listlessly out of his bedroom, unceremoniously crashed down the stairs, and eventually arrived at the front door. Where the hell was Gyatso?
Oh wait, he's at a fruit cake convention.
Aang was too out of it to be concerned about the fact that the only clothing piece he currently had on were some silky brown Scooby-Doo pajama pants.
And he sure did rock those pants.
Lazily, he opened the front door, mid-yawn, and immediately snapped his mouth shut, gulping that air back in. A solid lump formed in absence of the yawn.
"Jet," he gasped with wide eyes. There, standing right before him in all his handsome shaggy brown hair glory, was Jet, Aang's role model since elementary school. Aang hasn't seen Jet since the man graduated a couple months ago and jumped right into a university across the country with an athletic scholarship, thanks to football.
"Aang." Jet raised an amused eyebrow and gave Aang a good once-over. "Working those pants bro," he joked with an approving nod.
Aang glanced down at his feet and flushed a bright pink. He looked back up, his gray eyes sparkling with excitement. "What are you doing here?" he asked quietly. He was almost afraid that this was all a dream, and that if he spoke too loud, Jet would disappear.
Jet didn't answer. He barged straight into the living room, pushing Aang aside, and kicked the door shut with his foot.
"Uncle G told me about your dilemma," Jet said, ignoring the shocked look on Aang's face, and sitting on the brown, dried and pee-stained couch, courtesy of Appa, Aang's dog, that Gyatso kept for 'sentimental reasons'. But like seriously, who the hell keeps pee stains for sentimental reasons? Jet shakes his head and decides not to go there this morning.
Meanwhile Aang watches Jet curiously with crossed arms as he leans his body against the closed front door. "What dilemma?" he asked suspiciously.
"You got a crush on some chick at Borders, and I'm here to help you get her attention while I'm on my break."
"Oh really?" Aang snorted and narrowed his eyes. "And how are you going to do that?"
Jet put a finger up to his chin and made a thoughtful expression. Aang hummed impatiently. He didn't like where this was going. Not one bit.
"Get dressed," Jet ordered with a sly smirk. "We're going out."
Borders smelled like coffee and waffles when Aang and Jet waltzed in later that morning. It wasn't at all crowded like the rest of the mall was, filled with summer crazed teens and annoyed adults, so Jet could easily understand why Aang preferred to come in at this time during the summer.
Jet mindlessly ran his thumb over the backbones of some history books as they walked down the history aisle.
"—so she should be arriving any minute now."
Jet snapped his head up to look at his buddy with a raised eyebrow. "What in the world are you talking about?"
Aang stopped walking and looked up from his notepad. "You haven't been listening to one word I've been saying, have you?"
Jet prefers to be straightforward and honest. "No, I haven't."
"This," Aang shoved the notepad into Jet's idle hands, "is Katara's work schedule. She should be arriving soon."
"Who's Katara?" Jet asked while staring down at the notepad.
"The new employee that I like," Aang explained.
"Wait." Jet paused before looking at Aang with furrowed eyebrows. "You know her work schedule but haven't even talked to her yet?"
Aang's blush was very telling.
Jet had to laugh. "That's creepy man." He gave Aang the notepad back and continued browsing through the history section. "Lesson number one, don't be a stalker. Girls don't like that."
Aang made a mental note.
XXXX
It was ten o'clock when Katara came breezing into Borders, her ponytail positioned high on her head and a smile lighting up her face. By the time she came to the café area and took her position behind the cash-register, Jet had his jaw dropped to the burgundy carpet floor beneath them.
Aang folded his arms and watched his friend seated across from him in the café with an amused smile.
"Is that her?" Jet questioned, his eyebrows kissing each other on his forehead beneath his shaggy brown hair.
"Yup."
"Oh wow," Jet scoffed and shook his head. Aang sure knew how to pick them. He glanced at the girl as she rung up a customer and shook his head again. "Dude she's probably in college." The unspoken 'why would she look twice at a high schooler?' did not go ignored.
Aang slumped in his chair and looked away from Jet. It was true, and he knew it, but hearing the words that echoed constantly in his head vocalized made it just that more realistic. Katara was so far out of his league.
"So are you going to help me or not?" Aang asked bluntly.
Jet paused and looked at his friend. "A promise is a promise," he replied.
Aang furrowed his brows out of confusion as he watched Jet stand up and leave their table. Jet began walking up to the register but turned around and jerked his head for Aang to follow when he noticed the young man wasn't with him.
Aang stumbled up to his feet and jogged up to Jet.
Katara grinned at the two young men as they approached her. "Good afternoon," she greeted pleasantly. "What can I get you guys today?"
Katara was even more beautiful up close, Jet noticed. Her eyes were a bright blue with flecks of green, contrasting wonderfully with her tan skin and mocha black hair. Her smile was warm and kind, and sent shivers through his body. She looked like an exotic beauty and someone who belonged on the runway opposed to a bookstore.
Jet smiled, flashing his pearly whites charmingly, and put out his hand. "Hi, my name's Jet."
Katara hesitated, confused, and her smile faltered, but she shook the young man's hand nonetheless. "Hello Jet," she said slowly.
"And this," Jet continued, waving his hand in Aang's direction, "is my friend Aang."
Katara's smile softened as she looked at a nervous Aang. "Hello Aang."
"H-hi," Aang squeaked.
Jet snorted and decided not to pick on his friend at this moment. He directed his attention back to Katara and slapped his charm face back on. "I don't come here very often, and my bud here has weird taste, so I was wondering if you can recommend me any good reads."
Katara's eyes lit up, and Aang felt slightly envious that he would never be able to cause that reaction. "Sure!" she said. "I don't know what genre you like but I like horror I—"
"Oh wow, really?" Jet exclaimed with wide eyes. "So does Aang!"
Katara looked at Aang with barely hidden amusement. "You do?"
Aang panicked. He glanced quickly at Jet, as if the young man would be able to help him. "Um I-I… yeah." His cheeks flushed a bright pink. "I like horror... I like it a lot."
"Excuse my friend," Jet chuckled and gave Aang a sympathetic pat on the back, "he's nervous. It's not every day that we run across beautiful woman like yourself."
Katara gets rather annoyed when guys bring up her physical appearance, but she's good at hiding it. "Thank you."
Jet winked. "Anytime."
"That's what you call helping me out?" was the first thing Aang said when they hopped into Jet's blue rental car and hit the highway. "By embarrassing me?"
"Hey! At least she knows you exist now."
"Yeah, thanks to your flirting," Aang grumbled.
"Dude, it's not like she's gonna see me again," Jet pointed out. "I'm gonna visit my mom tomorrow, out of state you know, and then I'll be hitting the gym in preparation for football training next week. I don't see why you're getting all worked up about this."
"I'm not getting worked up Jet!" he exclaimed. "I just… never mind."
Jet slowed to a stop as they approached a red light at a major intersection, and looked at the side of Aang's head. Aang has the self-confidence of a turtle. What he sees in the mirror tends to be a failed reality. He's actually a very good-looking guy with sharp features, high cheekbones, and striking gray eyes. He just doesn't see it, because he's too busy letting Neanderthals at school make him feel unimportant.
Review please :)