A/NOK, this is my entry for Twilight Rose2's June contest
A/N OK, this is my entry for Twilight Rose2's June contest...
THEME-Finals are coming up, show us how how the Avatar characters deal with them (or don't it your opinion) study groups? Last minute cramming? Sleeping? Not worrying?
The rules are:
No lemon or sex scenes.
One shot or multichaptered
AU (Duh)
Katara must attempt at least once to start a study group. Whether one is started or not is up to you.
Zuko or Aang must break down in the middle of an exam and go completely nuts.
The results of the exams must be mentioned. Who did best? Who did worst
Disclaimer: I would, if I could, but I can't own ATLA.
Going Crazy
Wednesday: 12:30 PM. 43.5 hours till final exams.
When asked the question, "So, what are you guy's doin' to prepare for exams on Friday?" It can have many different responses. There is the oblivious "Are you kidding?" answer...
"Exams are on Friday?" Aang's eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding me! Exams can't be that soon!"
The "I don't really care" answer...
"Eh, I'm just gonna go with the flow." Zuko answered. "I probably don't need to study anyway. It's going to be so easy."
The "One night of study" answer...
"One word, cramming." Sokka said "I don't have time to study. I'll just get it all done late Thursday night."
The "study group" answer...
"Well," Katara said sheepishly "I'm gonna try to get together with some of my friends and maybe we can study some together. It'll be fun!"
And, of course, the "sleeping" answer…
"Who cares about exams? I'm going to go to sleep the night before and forget about it." Toph answered.
All different answers, yes, but who will come out on top?
&n&
Wednesday: 3:00 PM. 41 hours till final exams.
"Aang, will you join my study group?" It was the end of school and Katara, Sokka, and Aang were waiting at the bus stop to be taken home. Aang, who still couldn't believe that exams were less than two day away, nodded.
"Sure Katara. I'll come over tonight."
"What about you Sokka? The more the merrier!" Katara's optimistic grin usually worked on Aang (actually, it only worked on Aang) but didn't seem to have any effect on Sokka.
"Nope. I'll study on Thursday night. I have too much going on." The bus came just then and they piled on. Aang and Katara found a seat in the back, and Katara immediately started quizzing Aang on everything she could think of...
"What does presditigitation mean? Who was the twenty-fourth president of the United states? What is pi times the square root of 44 divided by 6? What's an onomatopoeia?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" The bus came to a schreeching stop, and the bus driver turned around glare at Aang. He smiled sheepishly, and nervously waved. The bus driver "Humphed" and moved on. Aang sighed with relief "Katara, let's wait for tonight to study, ok?"
Katara looked hurt, but stayed silent as she agreed.
&n&
Wednesday: 3:30 PM. 40.5 hours till final exams.
Toph sat in the back of her mom's corvette, listening to her ipod. She hummed along to her favorite song "Numb" by Linkin Park. She quietly sang along to it
"I've become so numb I can't feel you there / I've become so tired so much more aware / I've becoming this all I want to do / Is be more like me and be less like you"
"Toph," Her mother eyed her from the rearview mirror "I really wish you would listen to more…appropriate music for a girl. Not all that…yelling stuff."
This was a sensitive subject between Toph and her mom, but today Toph just ignored her and turned her music up louder. "I've become so numb…"
&n&
Wednesday 4: 45 PM. 39.25 hours till final exams.
Zuko was sitting on his couch at home, staring at the blank TV. His sister sat beside him. Zuko turned towards her "Aren't you going to study?"
"No." Azula rolled her eyes "It's going to be sooooo easy." Zuko was quiet. He didn't want Azula to know that he had said the exact same thing earlier that day.
&n&
Wednesday 8:30 PM. 36.5 hours till final exams.
Katara and Aang sat side by side on the couch in Katara's living room. Books were spread all around then. They had been studying for two and a half hours already, and they had one more subject to study for tonight.
"Alright then! All we have left is…math! I always have problems with math, don't you? It's my hardest subject and it's always my lowest grade. Is it hard for you Aang?"
"Katara, I'm tired and I just want to get this over with. I need to go home soon anyway. I'll ask the questions this time, OK? Katara nodded over exuberantly, and waited for Aang to ask her questions pertaining to math.
"What is the square root of 345.1592653378426795258…?
&n&
Thursday 12:00 midnight. 32 hours till final exams
Everyone had finally fallen asleep, except Sokka who crept into the house silently. He technically wasn't supposed to out of the house after eleven, but he had had some…trouble getting home. He tiptoed into the kitchen to find his father staring at him from the kitchen table "Oh crap muffins."
&n&
Thursday 8:00 AM. 24 hours!! till final exams.
Aang, Sokka, and Toph's lockers were all right next to each others, so they got the story first hand.
"So how, exactly did you get grounded Sokka?" Aang leaned against his locker, waiting for the infamous story.
"Well," he scratched his head. "I got back late last night past curfew…" Toph snorted, but motioned for Sokka to continue. "Yeah, anyway, I got back past my curfew, and my dad was there and was not very happy. So, there you go."
"Were you by any chance out with a certain someone called Suki?" Aang grinned as Sokka blushed, and nodded. "I knew it." The bell rang, and each person went to their designated classes.
&n&
Thursday 12:00 noon. 20 hours until final exams.
Lunch, the only time of day when the five friends could see each other for a measly forty-five minutes each day. Today was no different.. They all sat at their usual table, talking about last night.
"I don't think I've ever studied so much in my life!" Aang leaned back in his chair. "Katara and I studied everything!"
"Don't get too comfortable Aang. We have to study tonight too." Aang blanched, and stammered an excuse to miss tonight's study session
"Oh, um, sorry Katara, but I have to, um, help Gyatso after school. Yeah, that's it! I have to help him, uh…clean the house?"
Everyone (except Katara and Aang of course) let out a loud laugh at Aang's puny excue while Katara "humphed", and went back to eating her mystery meat spaghetti.
"I'm gonna sleep as soon as I get home." Toph said "Sleeping is good for the brain, ya know. All the stuff I learned this year will just seep back into my head and that will be that."
Zuko snorted "Yeah, whatever."
"Well you're one to talk." Toph frowned "You're not making an excuse at all."
"Yep." Toph sighed, but smiled at the lame remark.
Lunch was over then, and they all went back to boring lectures and useless (according to some) information about stuff they didn't (or couldn't) understand.
&n&
Thursday 3:00 PM. 17 hours till final exams.
Aang seemed to have mysteriously disappeared, so the Sokka and Katara rode home alone that day. Katara was silent…for about five and a half minutes before lashing out on her brother (Which she missed doing last night because she was asleep)
"You can't go running off to who knows where tonight, you do that Sokka. You have to study, study, study all night and…"
"Relax Katara. I'll study tonight don't worry." He smiled a reassuring smile, and Katara was silent again.
&n&
Thursday 4:30 PM. 15.5 hours till final exams.
Toph lay in her bed, asleep, and dreaming of evil plastic ninja bunnies and spy gear. "Take that, you bunnies…!"
&n&
Thursday 5:00 PM. 14 hours till final exams.
The TV in Zuko's living room was not silent this time. The sounds of an extremely violent video game were erupting from the surround sound system. Azula poked her head in the room. "Do you mind? I'm... busy."
"Busy what, studying?" Azula blushed, and raced back to the safety of her room, not trying to come up with an excuse. Zuko laughed, and turned back to his game "Aw man, someone killed me!"
&n&
Thursday 1:00 AM. 7 hours till final exams.
Sokka sat up in his bed, tapping away on his calculator. "So, pi times the square root of 44 divided by 6 is…" He threw the math-friendly device at his wall, and gave up "I give up. I've studied plenty." He fell back on his bed and instantly fell asleep.
Meanwhile, Katara, frantically was typing on her computer on AIM, still asking Aang questions to ensure she was getting a good grade. "Aang, what year was Columbus born and what was his grandmothers name?"
"Good night Katara." He signed off of chat.
&n&
Friday 8:00 AM. EXAMS!!
"OK, Katara, it's going to be fine, everything is going to be…"
"Perfect! I slept well last night, and I think I remembered everything about anything. This is going to be…"
"HORRIBLE! I went to sleep too late last night, and I feel awful. I am going…"
"To pass, because it is going to be so easy! I think…"
"I'm going to be sick. No, you won't Aang, you going to be fine. You studied, right? Right, so it's going to be fine."
&n&
Friday. 10:30 AM. Midway through exams.
The classroom was quiet except for the scratching of pencils and the every occasional sign. Zuko stared at his paper, sweat dripping off his face. The short essay he was supposed to be writing at the moment was still blank. Suddenly, as if controlled, Zuko's eyes became wide and he stood up. Ms. Wu looked at him "Do you need something?" All was silent before Zuko took a deep breath, and began shouting.
"I CAN'T DO THIS! I DIDN'T STUDY AND MY GRADES ARE GONNA FALL AND I'LL BE STUCK IN THE STUPID ELEVENTH GRADE FOREVER. MY FATHER IS GONNA KILL ME AND MY MOM WOULD BE DISSAPOINTED AND MY SISTER WOULD LAUGH BECAUSE SHE STUDIED THE NIGHT BEFORE EVEN THOUGH SHE SAID SHE WOULDN'T AND ANOTHER THING…"
Jin, Zuko's old girlfriend, stood up and clamped her hand over Zuko's mouth. He then passed out cold. Ms. Wu stood up. "Jin, could you and someone else please…drag Zuko to the nurse's office? I think we need to reschedule his testing time." Jin nodded and motioned for Hahn to help her. "Thank you. Both of you will get extra time on your test." Jin and Hahn nodded, and pulled the still-unconscious Zuko out the door.
&n&
Friday. 3:00 PM. End of exams.
"So, you just passed out?"
Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph were all seated around Zuko, who had an icepack on the side of his head. They were in the nurse's office, checking on Zuko. He nodded, answering Toph's question. "I think so. I only know that because my head hurts like…"
"Well, at least you're OK." Katara smiled. "I'm going to go see if our grades are back yet." She ran out of the nurse's office.
A few minutes later, she ran back in. "I got them! Mr. Zhao was strangly kind enough to give us our grades." The five friends looked at each other, and shrugged. They each took their grades, and opened them up.
"Aw man!" Sokka frowned "I got a 'D'. Dad is gonna kill me."
"I got a 'D-'" Toph shrugged "Oh well."
"Well, since I didn't finish at all, I got an 'F'" Zuko sighed "Good thing they're letting me retake it."
"YES!" Katara pumped a fist in the air "I got an 'A'!!"
"So did I!" Aang said as Katara hugged him. He blushed, and Katara pulled away.
"Well," Toph smiled. "all I got to say is that these were some very interesting end-of-year exams."
The end
B/N I love this. Good luck with the contest!