Chapter 2:
"Loosen up Princess! Come dance with me!" After feeling extremely embarrassed I made my way back to Toph who was grinding on the dancefloor like no one was watching. Sometimes I envied her blindness. She could dance so provocatively and not have to worry about the judgement stares that I see her getting. If I did the same I'd probably look like I was a flailing fish out of water.
She pulled me onto the dancefloor with pieces of her falling over her face and not a care in the world. I could barely think before she started grinding her backside against me and laughing. She couldn't have looked any free and alive than she did at this moment and I was as stiff as a board against her.
"Come on! Lighten up! You need to loosen up. Pretend I'm Zuko or something." Toph continued to move her hips to the bass of the song. Too bad Zuko was off with Mai and I was the same loser I was in high school. I sighed trying to move my body along with Toph but I felt like an idiot. An awkward, lame idiot.
Toph turned around to face me and put her small hands on my hips, "Move like this Katara." She said as she pushed my hips so they'd move from left to right with the music. By now other people had also flooded the dancefloor and I felt even more uncomfortable. I didn't want to gyrate around a dancefloor surrounded by people who I hadn't seen in ten years.
"I don't want to dance right now, Toph." I whispered. I got sight of Mai and Zuko who seemed to be dancing together too. The fire and jealousy came bubbling up from high school in that moment and I just wanted to go over and snatch him from her.
"You shouldn't be worried about what other people think. You're beautiful. Just let loose." Toph said just as Zuko put his hand on Mai's shoulder.
Fuck it! Who cares what they thought anyway? If he wasn't going to want me, I was going to make every man in the room damn sure want me. When I heard the music this time it was like liquid adrenaline was injected into my body. I started moving with Toph and letting my hips do all the talking that need to be done. I didn't take my eyes off Zuko for a second. My body moved in harmony with Toph's as she pushed back against me. Every bit of me wanted it to be Zuko dancing with me as a piece of hair fell in front of my face.
I began laughing and having more fun than I anticipated. Why did I ever care what these people thought of me? What did I have to prove anyway? Did I have to prove that I was a stuck up prude like Azula? Or that I wasn't as dimwitted as Ty Lee?
"I'm headed to the rest room. I'll be back in a second Kat." Toph yelled over the sound of the music. I nodded and kept dancing in response. Nothing was going to stop this moment for me. So when Toph walked off I continued to dance to whatever song the DJ choose to play.
Meanwhile…
Toph barged into the bathroom, only to see Azula with a large bag of white pills in a clear plastic bag sitting out on the counter.
"Well, that's an awful lot of pills you got there." Toph startled Azula. Azula smoother out her hair and quickly threw the bag into her purse.
"Don't you have something better to do than to be stalking other grown women in the bathroom? So the rumors about you were true in high school? Always knew there was a reason you dressed so…hmmm butch." Azula gave her signature smirk at Toph, who were noticeably unamused and unbothered by her statement.
Toph took a step forward so that Azula was just a foot away from her, "Cute. So who's your dealer Azula? You aren't dumb enough to get caught distributing that many drugs on your own."
"A woman never kisses and tells. Now if you excuse me I have to get back out there." Azula tried to shove passed Toph and head to the door but Toph only caught her shoulder and pushed her back.
"You aren't going anywhere until you tell me what I want to know. I don't care if I have to hold you hostage in this stale all night. Tell me what I want to know." Toph retorted. Azula didn't look like she was backing down in the slightest.
"Well looks like we'll be here all night then loser!" Azula snapped back at Toph who was getting noticeably irritated. "But of course you can't keep your little girl toy worried all night, now can you."
Back on the dance floor…
I was enjoying the music and the bar service when suddenly I felt a warm hand on my back. I jumped and immediately dropped my drink. I turned to see it was the face I wanted to see all night long.
"Um sorry." He scratched his head in an awkward attempt to save the situation. "I'll, um buy you another drink."
I immediately felt my confidence level shoot down to nothingness as my knees began to involuntarily shake. Gone was the seductress Katara who had just been on the dancefloor. What about him made me revert back to a teenage girl with no control of her body?
"Um, yea sure." And then the awkward stare set in. I couldn't will myself to move at all.
Zuko blinked a couple times and then said, "Do you want to sit down… at the bar?" He pulled the barstool out for me and I took my seat next to him.
Being so close to him was surreal. I remembered sitting next to him in chemistry class, too afraid to speak even a word to him. Now here he was in front of me and I was once again muted by my own insecurities.
"What were you drinking?" He asked as he gestured to the bartender.
"Rum and coke. No ice." I responded.
"Good choice. That's my favorite drink. 2 rum and cokes, no ice." Zuko order and then turned to face me in the chair. His knee was touching my knee and I could barely focus on what he was saying. "So you and Toph? I saw you two dancing out there."
"Me and Toph? What about us?"
"Well are you two um close? I mean you guys looked pretty comfortable dancing together out there." Zuko replied.
Wait a minute… did he think that Toph and I were…. TOGETHER?! If I had a drink I would've spit it out right then and there.
"Oh my God. No. Me and her are not and were never a thing. I don't like girls." Considering my pulse was beating a hundred miles per hour just by looking at him, I was very sure I only like men.
"I just had to ask. People thought you two were in high school because you were always together. It's a bad reason to make assumptions about sexuality but high school kids are idiots you know."
The bass was pounding in the background but all that mattered was him, "Yeaaaa. I had no idea that was even a rumor. Toph and I are just best friends. We stayed in touch even after I moved to New York. She's always been there for me."
"You did say you moved earlier. Why?"
"This small town got a little overwhelming. Everyone knew everyone and I wanted a fresh start. As you can already tell not much has changed here. The same cliques and all. I see you and Mai are still together."
He laughed, "Mai and I haven't seen each other in years. It was nice to catch up with her though. Listen did you want to go somewhere alone? It's hard to hear you with all this music."
I advised for us to go up to the roof, where there was a sitting area. No one would definitely bother us up there. The night sky was gorgeous. I hadn't seen this many stars in years. In New York the best you could see is maybe ten stars, but up here the sky was so clear I felt like I could see the entire galaxy.
"It's beautiful out." I said.
"Yea but so are you." He placed an arm around me. My face got hot. This was moving pretty quickly. Maybe I would actually get to hook up with him tonight after all these years. He thought I was beautiful. Was he just now noticing me?
He continued on, "I'm sorry for the way my sister treated you in high school. I always thought you were beautiful but was afraid of what everyone else would think if I confessed I had feelings for you. The fortunate thing is that high school doesn't last forever. I have always liked you and tonight I don't want you leaving with anyone else but me."
I couldn't believe this. He said he liked me and I had been pinning over this man for years. There was a god out there in heaven after all. Without any notice I felt his warm lips on mine. I forgot where I was and who I was with and everything. He pulled back and brushed the hair from my face.
"I'm sorry if that was too forward. I don't want you slipping away again."
"I, I, no it was fine Zuko but I don't want to move too fast. I like you but I don't know you. I barely knew you in high school. Forgive me if I just want to talk to you for a bit."
"Fair enough. What do you do now? You were great at chemistry so I hope you're some brilliant scientist."
"Ha, I wish. I'm just a journalist. I write for a small magazine back in New York. Nothing exciting but I do make a living."
"That's nice so what does Toph do? Does she still live here?"
"Umm yeah she lives here. She between jobs right now. You sure are interested in Toph."
"No, I'm sorry. Nothing like that. It's just haven't gotten to talk to her lately."
"Right, so what do you do?"
"I just help my dad out with the company. It's pretty much paperwork and more paperwork but um we should get back downstairs. I'll meet you later. I meant what I said about not letting you slip away."
With that the conversation was over. So much for having a moment alone with him. That extremely abrupt for him to just cut the conversation short like that. When we arrived downstairs it seemed like nothing had changed.
Everyone were still in their set groups and Zuko returned to Mai like usual. This was the worst. Just when he started making progress it felt like he put up a wall.
"Kat, you okay? You look a little sad" Aang said out of the blue. And where had Aang been this entire time?
"Yea I'm fine. Where'd you go? You went to the bathroom 20 minutes ago Aang."
"I did some exploring that's all. Tell me more about how things have been going for you. We need to catch up."
"Well-"
Before I could explain the light went off and everything was completely dark. I heard screams as the sounds of gunshots filled the air. Just my luck. On the night of my high school reunion someone got shot.
Author's Note: I apologize for the delay. School started and I've been busy. I also apologize if this update sucks. I've been working on it for a while. Who do you think was shot? And what do think will happen next? Until next time,
Brie
