A/N: new chapter. enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the show!

Katara yawned as she got up from her bed. Wow! Only 6:30?, she thought as she gazed at her alarm clock. Usually she liked to sleep in but today, for some weird reason, she couldn't go back to sleep. Shrugging, she walked out of her room and towards the bathroom.

Passing Sokka's room, she paused and listened to him sleep talking.

"Suki, that you? Must… eat…. Muffins!" she could barely restrain from laughing as she heard her brother make munching sounds. That boy only thinks about two things; Suki and food! She thought shaking her head. The braid at her back bounced up and down as she did so. She would usually sleep with her hair down, but today was the first day of school and she wanted her hair to look nice. After all, it was her junior year, making her feel excited about prom. And if she managed to get a date… she smiled at the thought of Jet or Haru leading her onto the dance floor.

When she got to the tiled bathroom, she quickly plugged in a curling iron and let her hair loose. Looking in the mirror, she grinned. Instead of its usual ruffled up look, he hair was slightly wavy and manageable. After washing her face, and adding a touch of eyeliner and lip gloss, she took the iron and slowly began to do her hair. Ughh! How stupid am I! I should have changed before fixing my hair!, she thought angrily. Quickly, she ran down the hall and was about to pull on the cute outfit she had laid out the previous night, when her cell phone rang!

"Hello?" she asked wearily.

"Um, hi Katara," came the shy response on the other line, "you told me to call you at 7 o' clock sharp, remember?"

"Oh! Yes, thank you Aang!" she said sheepishly. "SO are you ready for your first day of high school?"

"Yeah, I'm kinda nervous though." She smiled, poor Aang had always been quiet and shy, but he was a sweet and fun kid.

"It's perfectly normal to be nervous Aang!" she said reasuringlly.

"Stop babying him!" said a voice in the background. Katara frowned, Toph?

"Oh, Toph's over at my house right now, she's gonna give me a lift to the school." Katara nodded in understanding. Aang lived on the outskirts of the city, in a small monastery. So it made sense that Toph was giving him a ride to school; although she had noticed that the two friends had grown closer over the past couple years.

"Oh. Hi Toph! And I am NOT babying Aang!" she heard a hello and a snort at her protest.

"So, can you meet Toph and me at the entrance to the school?" Katara had actually been planning to go straight to the library with Suki and Yue, but she couldn't say no to Aang.

"Sure! I'll see you later then!"

"Thanks! Bye!" After getting dressed, she quickly ran down the stairs and almost bumped into Sokka, who was lazily pulling on his shoes.

"Why are you so happy today?" he said, noticing her extra perky mood.

"Well, its the first day of school!" she said, as though stating the obvious. Her brother rolled his eyes and quickly walked to the kitchen for breakfast. Sokka was a senior and his dream career was to be in the military! Not 'high expectations' in most people's opinions. Of course their dad was okay with it, he was a war hero!

When she sat down, her father was drinking coffee and reading a newspaper.

"Hey Kat, did you know that another theft happened last night?" her father asked her.

"No", she responded. Lately a thief called 'The Blue Spirit' was committing a series of crimes. Just as she was picking up an apple the bus pulled up outside! Katara jumped up, said good bye to her father, and ran outside for the school bus. She couldn't wait to get to school!

In Zuko's case, he could wait to go to school. Groaning he looked up as his alarm went off. His eyes widened when he saw it was already 7:48! He knew he had set it to 5:00, so the only likely reason was Azula! And sure enough, he found a note on top of the bedside table that read:

Good morning Zuzu!,

I knew that you were planning to play hooky today, BUT we don't want to disappoint father, now do we? See ya downstairs!

Love,

Your baby sister, Azula

p.s. don't forget, dad's taking us to school today

He let out a cry of frustration and ripped the note in half. He ran to his dresser; pulling on some black jeans and a black t-shirt with some red letters on the front. He had taken up black as his 'favorite' color to annoy the hell out of his father. Ozai was a rich investor/senator, and had to maintain an image. His favorite had and always would be Azula; she had good grades, was obedient, and knew that in politics, you sometimes had to play dirty, Zuko sighed as he picked up his black backpack, it contained his mp3 player, some stolen money, and a change of clothes; he would NOT go to school today. He crossed the oversized room to the oversized window and opened it. Below were a series of balconies and window ledges, perfect for aiding his escape.

He secured the straps of the backpack and jumped gracefully and silently to the balcony below. After scaling a wide window ledge, he finally jumped to the lawn. Smirking, he turned on his heel and ran towards the big gate that separated him from freedom!

"Hey Katara!" Katara waved at Yue and Suki as they ran towards her. She had just gotten off her bus and her best friends had been waiting for her. She smiled at them and admired their outfits; Yue had a beautiful, new blue dress on which her father had probably bought her and Suki had a cute green blouse, with brown capris. Yue's father was the mayor of the city and was an important and busy man. But Yue said he tried to make up his absence with clothes for her and her little sister.

"So, are we still going to the library?" Suki asked as they walked towards the entrance.

"Actually, it's Aang's first day and I'm supposed to meet him here. Sorry."

"That's alright! Can we hang out with you guys?" Yue asked. Katara gratefully agreed. As they continued to walk, she looked at all the old and new faces. There was Ty Lee and Mai; they were always together with Azula, where was she anyways? There was Haru, with Teo and Jin, looking at their new schedules. Then she saw who she had been looking for; Jet! He was leaning on a tree with his crew, leisurely chatting.

"Umm, guys? I'll be right back", Katara said. She wanted to say hi to Jet; they had been spending a lot of time together that summer, since all of their friends had been traveling or at camp. As soon as Jet saw her, he muttered something to his friends and walked towards her. Blushing, Katara stopped and waited for him.

"Hey, Kat", he greeted, giving her a crooked smile. "What's up?"

"Nothing, have you gotten your new schedule?"

"Yes. You?" She nodded and pulled it out.

"What's your first class?" she asked eagerly. She had Mr. Jee for physical education first.

"Uh, Mrs. Wu."

"Oh." she said, disappointed.

"Hey Kat, can I talk to you over there?" She nodded, confused.

"Look, I know you probably want to hang out, but that was only for summer." Katara glared at him; she felt anger and disappointment. He went on, "And I'm going with Smellerbee to homecoming. Sorry."

"That's fine." It was most definitely NOT fine! He was being rude and inconsiderate, but she had dignity. He nodded and walked back to his friends. Sighing she slowly walked back to hers. Aang and Toph were already there and were talking to Yue and Suki.

"You okay, Katara?" Yue asked, concerned. The bell rang and Aang, Toph, and Suki said goodbye and left.

"Yeah, I just need some time alone. I'll be late to class." Yue bit her lip, but consented and resentfully walked to class. Katara sat down at a bench and hung her head. She was NOT going to cry. After a couple of minutes she felt a little bit calmer and was about to go to class, when she heard a car pull up. Looking up she saw that it was a shiny black Mercedes. Mr. Ozai stepped out of the driver's seat and walked around to the back door, he looked mad. She saw Azula climb out of the passenger's seat and kiss her dad on the cheek, before walking towards class.

"Get out now!" Ozai hissed, holding the back door open. Grudgingly, Zuko obeyed and got out of the car. Katara blushed when she saw him; he was the hottest guy in the school! Luckily, they couldn't see her because of a bush.

"I'm NOT going to class!" Zuko snarled. His father had been waiting outside of the gate and had forced him into the car. But only because he was at school, he wasn't going to go to class.

" Zuko, you are wearing my patience down!" Ozai warned in a dangerous tone. Zuko snorted and didn't budge. Ozai grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the office. Katara had to bite her lip from gasping as she caught a closer glimpse at Zuko's face; it had a few cuts and his lip was bleeding.

Zuko defiantly pulled himself free and walked the rest of the way himself, but not before Ozai yelled for him to clean himself up first.

Katara guessed that Zuko's father didn't even care that his son was hurt. No wonder Zuko acted like he did, his dad was a monster. She shook her head; she needed to get to class! She ran through the halls and towards the gym. At least Mr. Jee was nice when she got there late!

Author's Notes: ohh, evil Ozai! poor katara, no date to homecoming! please review!