DISCLAIMER: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
CHAPTER 2: Second Impressions
I can't believe I actually thought this jerk was cute.
She pushes the remnants of her dinner around her plate, inwardly cursing herself for agreeing to go out on a blind date. She traces the round stone at the base of her throat. It comforts her, but she still feels anxious.
This is really not her scene. She doesn't know what to do in situations like these.
She already felt awkward when she arrived at the restaurant and couldn't immediately identify who her date was. All Toph said was he had a scar on his face but that she shouldn't ask anything about it. ("I know you need to know everything about everyone, Sweetness- y'know what? That's probably why you're still single.") She wondered if this was Toph's idea of a practical joke. Maybe she was on a blind date with The Joker.
When she finally located him, she was pleased to see that his scar wasn't so bad. The skin on a quarter of his face was red, bumpy, and shiny in some places, but overall… Overall, in fact, he was easy on the eyes. Very, very easy on the eyes.
Then he turns out to be a jerk who judges her based on how much she earns.
They barely talked during dinner, except when he complained his steak was closer to rare than medium rare. Frankly, after that, she lost her appetite. Who the hell cares about how the steak is cooked as long as you have good food?
He probably judges people based on their haircuts, too.
"Sorry?"
She jolted in her seat, looking up at her date, who was looking at her blankly. "What?"
"I don't judge people based on their haircuts."
Her hands fly to her mouth in horror. Oh my god, I just said that out loud!
His unreadable expression slowly transitions to amusement. "You said that out loud, too."
She groans in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry! I just- I talk to myself sometimes, I didn't mean-"
He waves her off. "It's alright. It's kinda cute. But you have to be careful, you know. Thinking out loud like that."
She looks at him in bewilderment. He thinks it's cute.
Wait, did I say that out loud, too?
He was calling for the check, so if she did, he probably didn't hear her.
She pulls out her purse as their waiter hands the check to her date. He raises his eyebrows at her.
"I've got this," he says.
"No, come on, we both ate-"
"Look, I'd rather not do the whole charade you women do, so just let me pay, okay?"
"Excuse me?"
He seems confused. "Really, I don't mind."
She raises an eyebrow at him. "What charade, exactly?"
He stammers over her tone, but he keeps explaining anyway. "You know— the whole fighting over the check thing before letting us men pay for dinner anyway?"
She fixes a stony glare at him. "Not all girls do that."
"It doesn't matter!" he pinches the bridge of his nose. "A lot of girls do it, so I assumed—"
"So you're just gonna keep on making assumptions about me even though we've just met?"
"That's not—"
"Here's an assumption for you: since you're 'in between jobs,' I'm gonna assume that my low-paying career as a teacher still earns more than being a freeloader."
He bristles at this. "Look I didn't mean anything by-"
This is the worst date ever.
She know she says the words out loud, but she was beyond caring. She throws a couple of bills on the table and stalks out of the restaurant.
A/N: This was supposed to be a series of drabbles until I decided I needed to get out of my comfort zone ahaha. Please leave a review and tell me how you like it so far! :)