Ms. Van Haelin is a dour middle-aged woman who appears to be less interested in teaching chemistry than Ty Lee is in learning it. When her third-period class files in she's sitting at her desk, staring dully at her laptop. Ty Lee sets her things down and wonders if she's reading an article about how to create an interesting and engaging lesson plan for a change, then dismisses the idea as being too radical. Ms. Van Haelin snorts loudly and begins typing rapidly on her computer with an expression of disdain, and Ty Lee wonders if maybe she did read such an article and is now writing a furious and derisive reply.
The seat to Ty Lee's right is empty and she glares at it coldly. By the time the usual suspects walk into the classroom, five minutes after the tardy bell rang, Ms. Van Haelin is still typing rapidly. Ty Lee looks down at her notebook, which is filled with both chemistry notes and hand-drawn fantasy maps of her own creation and blows out air between her teeth. To her left her friend Suki is telling someone about the five-day camping trip she just got back from.
The door opens one more time and Ty Lee almost doesn't look up, though she feels rewarded when she does. At the front of the classroom is someone new, a girl with a hawklike gaze, blood-red lipstick, and a cool leather jacket that fits her so well it must have been custom made. She glances momentarily over the classroom while walking to Ms. Van Haelin's desk. Most of the class is too caught up in their own discussions to notice her, but Ty Lee is intrigued.
"Hello," New Girl says, handing a piece of orange paper to the teacher, who stares at it intensely. "I just transferred here." Ms. Van Haelin continues to stare at the paper, then signs loudly and hands it back.
"Alright. Well, um..." she looks over the body of students. "Just go sit there." She points to the empty seat next to Ty Lee. The girl starts walking towards it.
"Ms Van Haelin, this is where Mai sits," Ty Lee breaks in.
Her teacher stares at her. "Who?" The new girl stops next to the desk and looks back to the front of the room.
"Mai... the girl who sits here? She's sick today." She points to the seat and gestures with her arm. Ms. Van Haelin stares incredulously for five seconds, then shakes her head.
"Just go ahead and sit down, we'll figure something out when she gets back." She waves dismissively and gets back to her furious typing. The new girls sits down and sets her things on the ground. Ty Lee watches her. There's a weird grace about the things she does, like she's an anamatronic puppet that was struck by lightning and possessed by the ghost of a foreign queen.
She leans over. "Hi, I'm Ty Lee," she starts with a wave.
"Azula," the girl says back, setting a notebook on the desk and not turning towards her. Ty Lee swallows and keeps going.
"It's not that I didn't want you to sit next to me, but my friend Mai sits there and she's really sick today. I don't think you're gross or anything."
"It's okay, I'll just sit over here when she gets back." She points to the seat to her own right, which is also empty. Ty Lee nods. To her surprise, Ms. Van Haelin wheels her chair slightly away from her computer and addresses the class.
"Okay, so there's a lab today. Read the lab manuals I gave you last week, get into pairs, and get a lab station. Materials are at the back of the class. Don't set anything on fire." Just as quickly, she goes back to her computer. Ty Lee looks around the room as the students break up into pairs. Suki gets up with her own partner, and Ty Lee turns towards Azula.
"Mai was supposed to be my partner today. Do you want to be partners?" Azula shrugs.
"Okay. What's the lab?"
"Bunsen burner safety and principles." She stands up and takes some of her stuff with her. "Come on, lets get one of the good ones." Azula follows her.
Ty Lee brings the materials to the lab station to find Azula sitting in front of an already lit burner, idly pushing the flame around with one hand. She slides over to let Ty Lee sit as she starts setting down the materials.
"Wow," Ty Lee says, watching Azula bend the flame. "I've never met a Firebender before." Azula just shrugs.
Azula lets go of the fire, picks up the burner lighter, and sparks it a few times. "You won't need this." Ty Lee giggles.
"No, I guess not." She hands a pair of safety goggles to Azula and takes away the lighter, then starts setting up the equipment.
"So, what is the purpose of this assignment?" Azula asks, leaning forward to watch Ty Lee. Her goggles are on her forehead and Ty Lee looks at them in concern before explaining.
"Well, I think the idea is to just get used to the burners so we can use them in the future without hurting ourselves." As she speaks she waves a glass rod in the air as if conducting her own orchestra. "We'll start by melting this rod."
"Is that all," Azula mutters, taking the rod from Ty Lee. Ty Lee nods sharply and holds a pair of pliers to Azula, who ignores them as she plunges the rod into the blue cone of the burner with no apparent regard for her fingers.
Ty Lee watches as the rod begins to droop in the middle, where it's being held in the center of the cone. Azula turns it suddenly and the drooping part sticks out at a weird angle before sagging back downward.
"I don't think I've ever melted glass before. I've melted lots of other things though." She watches in fascination. So does Ty Lee.
"Isn't that hot?" Ty Lee asks. Azula shakes her head. "Must be cool. Being able to do that."
By now the rod is disfigured and deformed in various crazy angles. Azula sets it on the countertop and looks to Ty Lee. "Now what?" Ty Lee touches the glass sculpture with her pen.
"Cool," she mumbles, then sits up quickly. "Um, I think now we're supposed to set it up like this-" She shows Azula a diagram in the lab manual. "And try to figure out what this is." Taking back the manual, she gestures to a test tube filled with a clear gelatinous fluid. Azula reaches over to take the tube, grimaces at the fluid inside, then sets it back into the rack. Ty Lee pushes the rack and the tube in it towards Azula while she struggles with the clamp stand. "Why don't you start making some observations on that stuff. That's what it says."
Azula slides the rack in front of her and flips open her notebook. As she searches for a blank page Ty Lee glances over and is surprised to see what appears to be music notation written on apparently every other sheet. She finally finds one near the back of the book and picks up the test tube to look closely and its contents.
"So," Ty Lee says, trying to tighten a tube clamp at an appropriate height. "Where did you transfer from?" She lets go of the clamp and it falls down the clamp stand.
"Las Vegas." Azula finishes writing and rapidly taps the tube on the countertop, watching Ty Lee struggle.
"Oh, that's pretty cool. What did you think of it?"
"The city?"
"Yeah."
She shrugs. "I don't know, it's normal I guess." Ty Lee nods, and waits a few seconds to let her continue. She doesn't.
"I was born here. I've never been to Las Vegas, I heard it's nice though." The clamp stubbornly refuses to stay put despite her best efforts. "Why'd you move to Phoenix?"
Azula sighs, turns on the Bunsen burner, and inserts a free end of the glass sculpture into the hot part of the flame. "My dad works for the state."
"Oh, and he got transferred?" Azula suddenly sticks her arm between Ty Lee and the clamp stand, causing Ty Lee to lean away and withdraw her arms. Azula picks up the tube clamp, slides it to the appropriate position, and wedges the molten end of the rod into the clamp bracket, depositing a large blob of glass into the gap.
"You could say that."
Ty Lee stares at Azula's bodge job in mild awe. Azula lets go after a moment and the clamp stays in place.
"Um. Well, thanks. Whatever works, I guess." She pokes at the clamp a few times and it seems solid enough, so she takes the test tube from in front of Azula and inserts it into the clip, angling it so the Bunsen burner will fit under it. Azula positions the burner and lights it.
Within a few seconds the fluid in the tube becomes white and starts to harden. The girls remove the tube from the flame and examine the solid mass inside the tube. Neither of them say anything for a few seconds. Azula taps the top of the tube into the countertop until the contents fall out. It's solid, opaque, and slightly rubbery. She taps it with her pencil.
"Egg," She says suddenly, drawing Ty Lee's attention. "It's egg whites."
Ty Lee nods slowly. "Oh, okay. That makes sense." She takes Azula's notebook and records their observations as well as Azula's assessment. The girl to her right leans over to copy her notes. The next few experiments are boring. To Ty Lee's chagrin Azula doesn't talk a lot, though she does seem receptive to what Ty Lee says.
Once Ty Lee has put the lab equipment away they sit at their lab station conversing quietly. Most of the class is finished as well so the room is noisy with quiet conversation. Azula is looking back towards the front of the classroom.
"What do you think she's writing?" she asks suddenly, interrupting Ty Lee in the middle of a sentence discussing the characterization tropes used in Breaking Bad. Ty Lee stutters to a stop and looks over at Ms. Van Haelin. She's been typing throughout the entire period.
"War and Peace maybe?" Ty Lee shrugs and Azula turns with an eyebrow up. "What?"
Now Azula shrugs. "I just didn't imagine you as interested in classic lit, is all." Ty Lee rolls her eyes.
"I'm not, but I read about half of it last year. It was so boring, I don't even know why I kept going."
"Halfway through?" Azula mutters in surprise. "I couldn't make it past the first chapter. It was worse than Tale of Two Cities."
Ty Lee throws up a hand. "Hey now, I loved A Tale of Two Cities! A lot of people call it boring but it's actually a very clever meta-narrative highlighting the hypocrisy of Victorian-era social ideals by comparing them-" Azula cuts her off by tipping her head back and letting out an exaggerated snoring sound that draws the attention of several people nearby. Ty Lee pouts.
"I'm so sorry Ty Lee, my Ambien kicked in exactly as you started explaining the meta-narrative. Please, go on." She leans on the counter and manually holds her eyeballs open. "I'm listening. Something about ideals?"
"Well, excuse me Princess!" Ty Lee giggles, knocking Azula's elbow off the counter so her she tips forward. "Okay Azula, since my favorites are so boring what kinds of books do you like?"
Azula is laughing when she picks her backpack up off the floor. "Do you really want to know?" She asks, chortling. Ty Lee nods frantically.
"Yeah! Show me! I love seeing what other people are reading." Azula unzips her backpack and hands Ty Lee an old and weathered paperback book. On the cover is a portrait of a scantily-dressed woman holding a gun and a theater mask. Ty Lee turns it over and inspects the back.
"They're hard to read at school because of the covers. I know It's kind of dorky but I can't get enough. I probably have hundreds at home."
"Oh, is it a mystery?" She flips open to a random page and starts skimming through.
"Yes. I'm almost at the end, so don't spoil it for me." She turns away so she won't accidentally catch a glimpse of the inside, and Ty Lee glances up to her mischievously.
"Not even the part with the doctor?"
Without looking at her Azula snatches the book away and stuffs it back in her bag. Ty Lee retreats in surprise.
"Oh-"
"I said no spoilers."
Ty Lee rubs her arms as the air suddenly grows awkward. "Okay, sorry, jeez." Azula shrugs and shakes her head. "I guess you take spoilers seriously."
Azula nods.
"So, Azula, were you taking chemistry at your old school?" Ty Lee cautiously broaches the silence.
"No, I was supposed to take it next year." She doesn't face Ty Lee.
"Well, if you want I can give you my notes from the rest of the year so you can catch up on everything. I think there's supposed to be a test next week so you may want to study this unit."
Azula nods. "Okay. That would be helpful."
"I'll bring my binder tomorrow. Here-" She tears a scrap of paper off the lab manual and scrawls a number on it. "That's my phone. Let's get together and study for the test sometime. I heard it's pretty hard." Azula takes the scrap and examines it.
"I'm sure it won't be a problem." She carefully folds it up and twists around to put it in her jacket pocket. Ty Lee nods slowly, then quickly.
"Hey, what are your other classes like? Do you know where they all are?"
"I think so, most of my classes are in this building." She sets her bag on the counter and hands Ty Lee the orange paper from before. "I don't know where the 500 building is, I haven't had a chance to ask anyone.
Ty Lee inspects the paper. It's Azula's class schedule. "Oh, I have media productions next too!" She hands the paper back. "Don't worry, I'll show you where it is. It's across from the cafeteria." Azula nods and checks the time on her phone. The moment she sets it down the bell rings and two dozen students immediately make for the door.
"Come on, We're learning how to Photoshop pictures of ourselves onto other people," Ty Lee says, standing up and gesturing for Azula to follow.
A: Do you trust me?
T: not really
T: but thats part of the fun
A: Do you remember last week when we broke into the bowling alley?
T: yeah
T: i still have those shoes you stole
T: come take them before somebody finds them
A: I told you I don't want them. You can just get rid of them if you want.
T: should i take them back to the bowling alley?
T: or should i donate them
T: they dont fit me so idk
A: Have you ever been in trouble?
T: with the law?
T: or my parents?
A: With school.
T: when i was in sixth grade i got detention for punching my friend
A: Why did you punch your friend?
T: he was being a jerk
T: he said a lot of mean things about my other friend
A: He doesn't sound like a very good friend.
T: were cool now
T: they're dating now
T: did you meet my friend suki?
A: No. Can you get out of your house?
T: tonigth? its like 11
A: Yes, tonight. I need your lock picks.
T: uhhh i had gym practice until like 8 im exhausted
T: can this wait
A: I promise it'll be worth it. I just need your help.
T: ok well everybodys asleep
T: whats up
A: Meet me at the school. Wear dark clothing and bring your picks. I'll be by the south entrance.
T: wait are you trying to break into the school?
T: hello?
T: omw
At ten minutes after midnight Ty Lee isn't sure what she'll see when she gets to the school. Sure enough though, as she crosses the lane separating the school campus from the Mormon temple she spots a darkened figure squatting by the chain-link fence. She stuffs her headphones in her pocket and increases her speed towards the figure. The figure stands up and shoulders a backpack.
"Took you long enough."
Ty Lee shakes her head. "Were you waiting here the whole time?" Instead of answering Azula just shrugs, looks away, then quickly turns to look at Ty Lee's hoodie. The word MILWAUKEE is written on the front in large collegiate letters.
"Milwaukee?" She says suspiciously.
"It's the only dark clothing I have..." Ty Lee pouts, stretching the front of the garment away from her. Azula just raises an eyebrow. "My family and I went there over the summer."
Azula shrugs again, apparently satisfied. "Right. Did you bring your picks?" Azula begins walking along the fence. Ty Lee doesn't follow her right away.
"Hey- I don't know..." Azula stops and turns back to Ty Lee. "What if we get caught?"
"Don't worry about it." She shakes her head and starts walking again. "It won't be an issue. I have a plan."
Ty Lee lets out a sort laugh but otherwise doesn't move. "A plan? It's not 'run fast in the opposite direction' is it? That was your plan at the water park and that didn't go so well."
Azula turns quickly, apparently offended. "We both got out without being arrested didn't we?" Ty Lee throws her arms out in exasperation.
"The fact that they happened to hire Paul Blart: Mall Cop to watch their waterslides had nothing to do with it, right?"
"Ty Lee," Azula says, suddenly very calm, placing her hands on Ty Lee's shoulders. "Do you trust me or not?"
Ty Lee looks into Azula's eyes, a quarter of an inch shorter than her own, and bites her lip. Under the yellow light from the street light the color of her eyes don't stand out as much, but they're the same eyes nonetheless. Confident and assertive. She sighs. "A little bit. A tiny bit." She holds her fingers between their heads; fingers separated by 'a tiny bit'. Azula nods.
"Do you trust me enough to know that I wouldn't walk in there without a plan?" She lets go of Ty Lee, who nods. "Great. Then help me open this gate." As she speaks she steps back and taps a locking mechanism on the chain-link fence surrounding the campus. Ty Lee nods again and walks to the gate.
"Okay. Fine, Azula, I trust you." Her lock picks are in a slim leather case and she kneels to examine the lock.
"Do you need light?" Azula asks quietly, looking around for witnesses.
There's a low creak as the gate pops open and Ty Lee stands up. "Nope. Now, will you tell me your master plan?" She holds the gate open for Azula as she ducks inside.
"Well, it's not something I can just share with you." Ty Lee closes the gate partially and props it open with a small rock then catches up with Azula. "If we get caught, just go along with it and follow my lead."
"Just go along with it? Azula, I could get kicked off the team over this!" Azula spins to hush Ty Lee.
"Dammit, are you trying to get caught? Look, I'll tell you this: I have friends in high places, so to speak."
Ty Lee rolls her eyes, but continues following Azula.
They walk quietly up the service road that bisects the school, separating the academic buildings from the parking lots and sports fields. Azula holds a small hand lantern for light, and Ty Lee follows closely.
"It's so creepy at night," she says. Azula doesn't say anything, but Ty Lee gets the feeling that her lack of a response is her own form of agreement.
They stop facing the main entrance to the offices. From the distance they're standing they can barely make out the words on the archway but they both know what it says anyway so they keep walking.
"Two months ago, did you think you'd be here breaking into your own school?" Azula breaks the silence asking while turning right to walk the corridor between the offices and the lunchroom. Ty Lee shakes her head.
"I didn't think a lot of things before I met you."
"That's my curse," Azula says with a shrug, then motions towards a building across the quad. "Let's get in there."
Ty Lee is flipping her lock picks in her hand. "Right behind you."
They step into the hall of the 100 building and Ty Lee closes the door with a quiet click. The only lights in the hall come from Azula's hand and two light tiles in the ceiling. Azula walks to a locker and inspects the lock securing it.
"Can you open this?"
"I'm not breaking into someone's locker, Azula." Ty Lee walks up next to her. "But yes, this is just a 1525. I could pick it or shim it, or if I had enough time I could crack the passcode." She drops the lock and turns away. Azula passes her and sets off down the hallways.
"Let's check out my history classroom; it's down here." They turn into a short hallway, then into another hallway that runs parallel to the first. Azula stops in front of a classroom door and peers into the window.
"This one?" Ty Lee says from behind her.
"Yes. No one's inside."
Ty Lee gets down in front of the door and pops the lock open again. They open the door cautiously, ready to run if an alarm goes off. Fortunately, no such alarm triggers so they slip inside and close the door. Azula places the cardboard cover into the door window and flips on the lights.
It's a boring classroom, with the desks aligned in rows facing the front of the room. Ty Lee looks around, having never been inside before.
"Whose room is this, Mr. Heavin's?"
"No, Mr. Couch." She crosses the room to his podium and stands behind it. "Look, I'm a teacher."
Ty Lee is drawn to a large world map spread across the wall, and steps towards it wit disgust. "Ugh, I hate this projection," she spits at it, and Azula glances over in surprise. "Look, this projection always makes North Australia look twice as big as the Belgian Federation, even though Belgium is almost eight times larger than North Australia."
"I didn't know you had such passionate feelings about the Belgian Federation. Does it have to do with Swexit?"
"It's an ugly map projection and I hate it. Look how big and deformed it makes Alyaska look. It's terrible." Azula walks away and Ty Lee shuts herself up, ashamed of her outburst.
"Keep going, I'm listening," she says suddenly, from behind Mr. Couch's desk. Ty Lee stands unsure for a moment then decides to continue.
"Uh, lately a lot of people want schools to switch to a different projection, the Gall-Peters, but I think that's just as ugly."
"Mm-hm," Azula says, sifting through drawers.
"Hey, isn't that- like, against the law?"
Azula stops and shrugs. "We're already this far in. I'm not looking through confidential records or anything." Ty Lee nods slowly, but doesn't say anything. "Keep going, what kind of map do you like?"
"Uh, well... I don't know, I think the Winkel-Tripel is a good compromise between area, shape, and direction. That's what it's named after- Tripel is the Prussian word for Triple." Ty Lee turns to look at Azula just in time to see her eyes widen in surprise at something inside the drawer.
"I always knew something was up with him," Azula says with a mild laugh.
"What? Ty Lee asks urgently as Azula sets a large bottle of tequila on the desk. "Oh."
"I don't know if I believe it myself," Azula mumbles, picking up the bottle and reading the back. "Wow, this is the good stuff. I bet he paid a lot for it." She uncorks it and drinks a bit, then makes a positively disgusted face.
Ty Lee stands closer with her hands on her hips. "I thought you said it was good stuff?"
"What the hell do I know, I've never had tequila before." She offers the bottle to Ty Lee who turns it down.
"Should we be doing this? I mean what if he finds out?"
Azula just shakes her head and and puts the bottle away. "What's he going to do, tell the administrators we drank his illegal tequila? He's sure as hell not supposed to have this." She stands up. "Let's go somewhere else."
They return the classroom to its undisturbed state and set off down a different hallway. Azula dodges Ty Lee's questions about her backpack until they stop in front of a new classroom.
"Ms. Van Haelin's room?" Ty Lee asks. Azula just nods and Ty Lee gets the door open for them. The room feels different empty, like there's somehow more to do when it's just the two of them. Ty Lee wonders how much of that is thanks to Ms. Van Haelin.
Azula just stands at the front of the room and nods. "Yeah. This'll work."
"What'll work?"
Without answering Azula passes Ty Lee and walks to the center of the room, where she starts pushing desks around.
"What are you doing?"
"Help me clear the center," she says simply. Ty Lee reluctantly joins, shoving desks out of the way until there's a sizable hole in the classroom. Azula squats at the side of it and drops her backpack in front of her. "Spread this out here," she orders Ty Lee, handing her rolled-up blanket.
"Azula, what..." Ty Lee lets the blanket fall open in her hands, then looks back at Azula, who's setting other things on the ground around her, including a small jug of water and various plastic containers. Wheels begin to turn in Ty Lee's mind and she shakes the blanket out in front of her before laying it across the ground. Azula gets up and goes to the front of the room.
Ty Lee can't resist a confused smile as she looks through the things Azula brought. There are sandwiches, a small assortment of fruits and vegetables, crackers, and powdered fruit juice mix, as well as a black plastic ball covered with colored discs mounted to a heavy base. When Ty Lee flips the switch on the bottom the discs light up and the ball spins.
"Azula, I can't believe this-" She's cut off unexpectedly by a loud sound erupting from the overhead speakers. It's the opening to a song Ty Lee's never heard before, and it's synth-heavy and very nostalgic. Azula quickly turns the volume down until it's barely louder than a whisper, then turns the lights off. Ty Lee sets down the party ball and it casts rainbow light in all directions. The song plays softly in the background as Azula makes her way to the blanket and drops down across from Ty Lee.
"Okay, well, are you hungry?" she starts awkwardly. Ty Lee nods furiously.
"Starving. I haven't eaten since like six." She takes a portion of a sandwich from the container Azula is holding out to her. The bread looks like expensive designer health-food store bread, but the inside is peanut butter and jelly. Ty Lee giggles as she takes a bite. "Thanks Azula. This is really good, what kind of jelly is this?"
"It's called olallieberry. It grows in California."
"It's delicious," she says through a full mouth. Azula pours water into steel drinking cups for herself and Ty Lee.
She gestures to the plastic containers full of fruit. "Did you see all this?"
Ty Lee nods and chokes down some water. "Yeah. Everything looks great Azula. I can't believe you did all this."
Azula shrugs dismissively. "I thought you might enjoy this stuff. In a few weeks it'll be too hot to do anything fun outside, so we may as well get used to being inside." Ty Lee laughs and helps herself to some apple slices, humming along to the rhythm of the music.
"Oh, did you make this?" she asks suddenly, lowering the apple from her mouth. Azula stares.
"Make what?"
"This music. Is this your music?" Ty Lee suddenly feels dumb for asking, as Azula obviously doesn't have a clue why she's asking.
"No... This is on Pandora."
"Right," Ty Lee mumbles, nodding ashamedly. "I saw your music in your notebook and I just assumed..."
"Oh, that. I mean, I like to write music. When I learn how to play an instrument I'll start producing some." Ty Lee almost laughs out loud.
"You don't play any instruments?" Azula shakes her head. "I have a guitar and I can play a little bit. We should form a band together. Can you at least sing?"
"I'm sure I could, if I worked on it a little."
Thirty minutes later most of the snacks are gone and Ty Lee and Azula are sitting on either side of the party ball. The music still plays softly, though neither are really paying attention to it.
"I wanted to get some pictures with Tim and Shane but they were already packing up so they could go to their next concert, and I didn't really want to hold them so I took a quick selfie and they left. I think you'd like them a lot." Ty Lee passes her phone to Azula to show her the pictures. Azula nods and hands it back.
"What are they called?"
"Skeletons of Giants. It's a reference to how back when people started finding dinosaur bones they thought they were from giants who lived thousands of years ago."
"Do you know when they're coming back into town?"
"No, probably not until they drop their new album. Though they are just based in Albuquerque so maybe I can drive out and see them play again sometime."
"Albuquerque is... about a half a day out and a half a day back or so, right? Could be a fun road trip," Azula mused.
"Oh man, I love Road Trips. I remember when I was little my family drove us out to Santa Barbara. My dad kept saying 'We're almost there, we're almost there' but every time I looked out the window I swore we hadn't moved at all. It felt like it took us about four years to get there, and once we did, it was so boring I don't remember any of it." She pauses. "Come to think of it, I like road trips, just not with my dad. We went to some other cool places since then, but... I don't think I can forgive him for the way he disappointed me."
"How's Mai doing?" Azula asks suddenly.
"She's fine, I think. Ever since she started hanging out with your brother I thought you'd see more of her than I would."
Azula shakes her head. "I haven't seen much of Zuko either. You and my father are really the only people I see consistently outside of school."
"Oh, I can't believe I made your list." Ty Lee leans in." So... what do you think of Mai and Zuko?"
"What, as far as them dating?" Ty Lee nods. "Well, I don't know much about them together. When I do see them they appear to be happy. I can't imagine what Mai sees in my brother but if it works for them, I won't knock it."
"And... what about you?" Ty Lee ventures. Azula doesn't quite catch on, or at least she doesn't appear to.
"Me what?"
"Do you see yourself with anybody?"
"Oh," she replies, raising an eyebrow. "Romantically?"
"Sure, anything like that?" Ty Lee hopes Azula can't see her nervous sweat in the dim light.
Azula almost falters, coolly pushing hair from her face. "Well sure, I guess if I met someone I liked."
Ty Lee nods quickly. "Right. Well, that's a given. I don't know if I could start a relationship with someone I wasn't seriously into."
"Of course. Right. That's not really healthy is it?" Ty Lee shakes her head. They sit in silence for a moment.
"Thank you for all this Azula. I'm having a lot of fun."
"It's no big deal, really. Just some stuff I had laying around at my place. Like I said, I thought you'd enjoy it." She looks over at some of the empty plastic containers to her left.
"Well, it's a big deal to me," Ty Lee says, smiling slightly and leaning forward. Azula doesn't retreat and Ty Lee goes for it.
Her lips are two inches away when Azula shoves her hand over Ty Lee's mouth and says "Fuck" in a harsh voice. Ty Lee panics, running over a mental transcription of their conversation and trying to think of anything she may have misconstrued. Then she notices a bright light coming through the door window, and Azula pushes them apart as the door opens.
"Hey! You can't be here!" the security officer barks, barging into the room. Ty Lee looks at the things around her to try and come up with an escape plan. She doesn't even notice Azula standing up until she starts talking.
"Okay. You caught us. Sorry." Ty Lee looks up in shock.
"Is it just you two?" the officer says sternly, flicking his flashlight between Azula and Ty Lee's face.
"Yeah, just us two. All this is my stuff."
"Well get up, come on." He motions for Ty Lee to stand up and she looks to Azula for assurance.
"Come on. We're caught."
When Ty Lee stands up she's shivering. Years of gymnastics training appear to slip away in front of her as she anxiously follows the security officer to the administration building.
The clock in the office reads 1:46 and Ty Lee thinks about the phone call waking her parents. Despite this Azula appears calm and cooperative. Ty Lee wonders what her plan really is.
The officer points to three chairs inside a tiny room buried within the center of the administration building. "Sit," he instructs, and Azula causally takes a seat followed by Ty Lee nervously taking a seat.
He closes the door behind him and tucks his thumbs into his belt. "What are your names?"
"Azula Reyes," and Ty Lee looks over in surprise.
"You. Name?" the officer barks and Azula elbows Ty Lee's arm.
"Uh, Ty Lee Gau Na."
"Alright. I'm gonna make some phone calls. Do not move, understand?" Azula and Ty Lee nod in tandem and he leaves and locks the door.
For a moment they're both silent, until Azula says, "Gau Na, really?"
Ty Lee looks over in frustration. "My dad's Chinese." Azula shrugs, apparently satisfied.
"I can't believe we got caught," Ty Lee groans. "I could get kicked off the team for this Azula! I've been doing gymnastics my whole life!" Azula shakes her head.
"Try to contain yourself. I have a plan. All you have to do is follow along."
"Follow along? Were you going to tell me your plan at any point?"
Azula rolls her eyes. "To be perfectly honest Ty Lee, I didn't anticipate getting caught. But as long as things go the way they should, you won't have to worry about getting kicked off the team."
Ty Lee drops her head into her hands and runs her fingers through her hair. "Promise?"
"I promise, Ty Lee. Now just be cool."
Just then the door swings open and Ty Lee looks up slowly. It's a different guy, and his bleary expression suggests he's just been woken up. "Reyes?" he says quickly, and Azula raises a hand. "Gau Na?" Ty Lee waves slightly.
"Did you break anything?" he asks Azula.
"No."
"Did you steal anything?"
"No."
"Did you access any student records?"
"Nope."
The new guy sighs heavily and lets the door fall shut behind him. "Okay. How did you get in?"
"We picked the lock on the south gate, near the baseball fields. It's still unlocked, since we were going to leave there."
"Where else have you been into?" He leans his elbow against the wall and runs a hand through his hair.
"Just rooms 206 and 413. All my things are in 413."
"Alright, here's what's up," he says to both of them. "It's late and I don't want to deal with anyone's parents, least of all yours-" he says specifically to Azula. "If you swear that was all you did tonight- like, super pinkie-promise -I'll take you to get your things and then I'll let you leave. Make sense?"
Azula nods, but Ty Lee looks back and forth between them.
"I promise. Just those two places."
"Okay. Come on." When Azula stands up she winks at Ty Lee and holds her hand out.
"See?"
Ty Lee just squints.
"Okay," the security guy says, standing at the gate Azula and Ty Lee came in. "Did you walk here?"
"Yes, we can get ourselves home," Azula retorts.
The security guy pulls the gate open, and the girls walk through.
"Right," he says, once the gate is closed and they're on the other side from him. "I know it's fun but you can't be breaking into the school like that. You could have gotten hurt and had no one to sue over it since this sign says no trespassing." He taps a sign mounted on the fence that does indeed say NO TRESPASSING. "I don't care if your dad is the superintendent, that just means I'll have more paperwork to fill out when you fall off the auditorium and break your legs. Understand?" Azula and Ty Lee nod. "Okay kids, get out of here. I better not see you until Monday."
"Bye. Thanks again." They walk off while he grumbles and locks the gate.
"Holy shit," Ty Lee says, and that's the only thing either of them say for twenty minutes.
The wide straight streets of the neighborhoods adjacent to the school give way to narrow winding streets signaling the standard of living has just increased significantly. As the houses get wealthier Ty Lee begins to wonder why Azula never invited her over. Finally Azula stops in front of a relatively classy mansion set into the hillside. Ty Lee gawks for a second then tries to make it look like she isn't gawking.
"Nice place."
"Thanks. It's my father's."
They stand in silence and the wind whips at Ty Lee's clothing.
"Thank you for tonight, Azula," Ty Lee says quietly. "Sorry I doubted you."
"It's alright. Now you know not to do it in the future." She turns with a sly smile. Ty Lee smiles back. Azula puts her hand on Ty Lee's shoulder and pushes so they're facing each other. She leans in and kisses Ty Lee and takes an uncomfortable step back. Ty Lee's brain melts and she can't think of anything to say.
"I think that's what you were going for. Earlier. In Ms. Van Haelin's room." Ty Lee nods quickly. "Sorry we were interrupted. I thought we'd have more privacy." Azula wrings her hands.
Ty Lee just shakes her head. "Um, it's okay. I had a good time anyway." Her hands tangle into her braid and she makes eye contact with Azula's knees.
Azula pulls her phone out of her pocket and opens an app. "What's your address again?"
"It's 3261 west Angela drive. Why?"
"So I can call you an Uber."
"Oh, Azula you don't have to do that. I can walk from here."
"Are you sure?" Azula glances over her phone and Ty Lee nods.
"It's not that far. I can take care of myself."
"If you insist."
Ty Lee takes one more look at Azula's house before taking a small step back. "I'll text you when I get home." She takes her earbuds out of her pocket.
"Please do. Get some sleep okay Ty?"
"You too. Good night Azula. Talk to you tomorrow" Ty Lee turns and starts walking away from Azula's house with a spring in her step and a synthpop band in her ears.
"Ok Led Feynman, why don't you finish up that piece you've been working on for two months? You missed last Tyzula tuesday but if you start now you'll have it ready by the time it rolls around again."
"Aye, no problem, sure thing, understood, loud and clear, ich verstehe, you got it, consider it done."
"Hey Led Feynman, it's tuesday afternoon. Did you finish that story I told you to finish?"
"Oh, story? I thought you said play Fallout and eat junk food for a week."