Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters!
Enter: Avatar High
"I can't believe it! We're finally all gonna be back together again! This is so great! I've heard a bunch of great things about this school, we get to see all our friends again, and…it's a beautiful Monday!", Aang's excitement seemed to be overflowing for what was going to be his first day at Avatar High.
"Twinkle Toes, would you just shut up! It's the end of summer! This is the absolute worst day of the year!" Toph retorted entirely unhappy about her first day.
"But Toph! We get to be reunited with the rest of the gaang. You should be excited!"
"As wonderful as that sounds, I don't really feel like upgrading from one prison to two!"
"Oh, come on Toph. You're just being overdramatic. Just think of seeing everyone again!"
"Whatever, Airhead. You know you're just happy to be able to see Katara again."
"Haven't I told you already? Katara was just a silly middle school crush. I'm in high school now! No more silly little crushes for me!" Aang's chest puffed up a little trying to make himself feel empowered. Toph replied to his gesture with a quick smack to the gut. "Ow! Geez, Toph, why you do you have to do that all the time?" Aang pouted a little and folded his arms across his chest.
"Because, Twinkle Toes, we can't let you be feeling like a man. You're entirely too wimpy. Now, suck it up!" She gave me another quick thump on the chest.
Aang gave out a long sigh. They spent the rest of their walk to school in silence. Not an awkward silence, but one of those calm, relaxing ones. Soon enough, the enormous building loomed ahead casting a shadow on the people below. Both of them gasped out how large their new school was.
"Wow, I've never been this close before. This place is huge!" Aang exasperated.
"Great, just great. How am I ever gonna find anything in this place?" Toph's vision had been seriously impaired at birth in a car wreck. She was too young at the time to remember any of it now, but the crash still had taken its toll. Her vision got worse each year and she was now only able to see the blurry outlines and fuzzy colors of things and people. She didn't seem to mind to much though, what she lacked in vision, she made up for in her acute sense of hearing.
"Don't worry, Toph! I'll help you out!" A deep, masculine voice sounded from behind them.
"No way! Snoozles!" Toph hugged the older boy. He had been one of her best friends in middle school, next to Aang and Bee, and was the object of her affection for those years. They met when his sister, Katara, had introduced the two. He was two years older than either Aang or Toph and had begun to think of himself as the "leader" of their friends. Oh how wrong he was.
"Geez, Toph! I would've thought you would have grown but, guess I was wrong." That little remark earned him a hard punch to the arm. "Ow! Still as violent as ever though." He whimpered, rubbing the spot where Toph had hit him. "Hey, it's Aang! How ya been, little buddy?"
"Hey Sokka! It's great to see you again. Where's everyone else at?" Aang asked.
"Oh. Well, they're all in the cafeteria. It's where we hang out before school starts each morning. C'mon! Let's go see everyone else!" Sokka dashed off towards the cafeteria with Aang and Toph close behind him.
As they neared the table, Aang instantly recognized his old friends, Katara, Zuko, Bee, Ty Lee…there were even a few new faces among them.
"Hey everyone! Look at what the cat dragged in! Aang, Toph, I'm sure you already know our old friends but these new guys over here are Haru, Longshot, and Duke." Each of them waved as their name was said.
"Nice to meet you." Aang and Toph replied together. They took their place among their friends and spent the rest of their time before school starts catching up with each other. Haru was in the same grade as Katara, Zuko, and Sokka as they were all juniors. The rest of the gaang, including the rest of their newfound friends, were all freshmen.
The first bell rang and they were off to their first classes. Aang had English first with Toph and Duke, so they all walked together talking about their summers. Duke was a tiny little kid, even shorter than Toph. Aang could hardly believe that he was their age. But for being so short, he sure was a brash little guy. He almost resembled Toph, but in guy form.
They took their seats near the back of the room and spent most of the class period talking with each other. The rest of the day dragged and nothing much of merit happened except that Aang spilled his soup on Sokka's leg. Everyone laughed as they watched him run around screaming trying to dry off his pants and yelling something about why everything bad always happened to him.
Toph and Aang took the same way back home to their houses.
"So, Toph, how was your first day?"
"Pretty boring, all I heard from the teacher's mouths were something along the lines of 'Blah Blah Blah, be quiet Miss Bei Fong, blah blah, Toph shut up, blah blah blah.' One day in and I think I've already got a reputation as the trouble maker. You?"
"Oh, it was roughly the same except for the whole being a troublemaker part."
"Well, that's boring. We gotta get some excitement in your life, Twinkle Toes. I have an idea! I'll race you back to my house. But to make it interesting, let's make a bet. If I win, you have to do my homework for a whole week."
"And what if I win?" Aang asked.
"I dunno, you pick what you want me to do."
Aang thought for a good minute. Being the mischievous boy that he is, he figured that he would make this a bit interesting. "Alright, if I win, you have to kiss me."
"Fair enough, Twinkle Toes, too bad you won't be getting that kiss."
"Let your speed do the talking, Toph."
"Fine. On your mark, get set, GO!!" With that, the two were sprinting down the sidewalk. Aang was surprised at how quick Toph was for being so small. Every time he tried to go faster, she was right by his side. Aang could see the house ahead and ran as fast as he could go, but just like before, he couldn't lose her. They turned the corner towards Toph's huge mansion and sprinted towards the door. The finish point was right in front of them. They both reached out for the door and….their hands hit at the same time.
Aang couldn't believe it. They tied? Before anything could register, he felt something soft and wet against his lips. Toph was kissing him! Fireworks went off in his head and Aang lost all train of thought. He felt Toph pull away. His mind slowed back down to normal speed and he regained his composure when he heard Toph laughing at him.
"What are you laughing at?" He asked.
"Hahaha…your face…is priceless!" Toph said between laughs. Aang let her calm down a bit, then she opened her mouth to speak again. "Oh, and Twinkle Toes, I expect my homework by tomorrow morning before school starts." And with that, Toph walked inside her house and slammed the door shut.
Aang let out a long sigh, thinking back to the kiss. 'It was just a bet, Aang. Get a hold of yourself. She's your best friend! You couldn't possibly like her like that!' Aang walked the rest of the way home with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He reached his apartment and stopped in the doorway. He sighed again, "I thought I was done with silly little crushes."
But little did Aang know…this was not just another silly little crush.
(A/N): Yea so Sokka is a year younger, I wanted to keep him around a bit longer :D.