Winds:
Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino. I do not own any of this; this is purely fan fiction and is made for entertainment only.
Chapter 2:
The second day of school started out much like the first.
Secretly, Aang had been hoping to see Sokka's truck driving to school, but no such luck. He had even "forgotten" his skateboard at home, hoping it would change his timing for the better. So here he was, sitting outside of the school, hoping his new friends would drive up at any minute. Sadly, he was disappointed.
Suddenly, a mechanical roar filled Aang's ears, driving out all thoughts. Aang whipped his head around to see two people riding a bike into school. It appeared to be a regular bicycle, with a small motor attached. Wires threaded through the entire thing, most likely contolling the motor. The two riders seemed panicked; the front one frantically pulled on what was seemed to be the break. The second rider, a girl, clutched the first for dear life.
The bike did not slow down, and quickly overran the curb, throwing its riders into a bush. Half concerned, half amused, Aang ran over to investigate the crash.
"Are you guys okay?" Aang asked with concern, offering a hand to one of the riders. A small, pale hand took it and pulled herself up. Standing in front of Aang was a girl, most likely Aang's age, with shoulder length hair with some put up in a bun. Dark bangs hid her light green eyes from sight. Her clothes were disheveled, but that only added to her skater-chick appearance. Which surprised Aang further, as the first rider rose up from the bush.
He looked more disheveled than the girl. His hair stood up in every direction and his riding goggles were skewed on his forehead. Small grease stains and leaves covered his rather formal attire. An expensive sweater over a crisp dress shirt, khakis, and leather shoes contrasted the whole messy situation.
"Dammit Teo. Yeah, we're good," the girl moaned, stretching out her back. "I'm Toph, and this idiot is Teo." She gave him an affection, yet hard, punch.
Teo sighed, rubbing his arm. "I thought that would fix the breaks," he mumbled over the remains of the bike. "Oh well," he smiled to Aang, "Thank you for your help."
"No problem," Aang shrugged. He looked at the bike remains. "Did you build that?"
"Yeah," Teo grinned. "Well, the bike no, and the motor no, but I wired them together. It's like a motor bike, but I don't need a license."
"Seems like a good idea," Aang nodded.
"Hey ladies," Toph interrupted, "Are we going to clean this up, or were you planning on picnic-ing out here all day?"
Teo and Aang chuckled slightly. All three of them picked up a section of the bike and lifted it up. They began walking around the side of the school, Aang mostly following. Once they arrived at the dumpster, the bike remains were hoisted and thrown away.
"So, we aren't going to get in trouble for doing this?" Aang asked cautiously.
"For dumping the bike? Nah," Teo assured him. "This is around the seventh time we've had to throw away one of my inventions at school."
"Teo's inventions aren't always the most reliable," Toph teased, "Or the safest."
"Hey, I only have a fifteen percent failure rate!" Teo tried to defend himself.
"More like fifty," Toph retorted. Teo snorted in response.
Aang held open the school doors and let the other two walk in first.
"So, you new here?" Toph asked him.
"Yeah, I moved here two weeks ago," Aang answered.
"I'm sorry," Teo sympathized. Aang looked at her quizzically; most peoples' responses are positive.
"I've moved before, and it sucks," Teo elaborated. "You lose everything you once had." Aang nodded in understanding, not asking him to elaborate further.
His eyes flicked back and forth between the two friends. "So, are you guys…you know…dating?"
Both Toph and Teo looked shocked and quickly denied it.
"Business partners." Toph answered as if it had been rehearsed. "This idiot here is building me a motor-powered bike." She glared at Aang before decidedly punching him in the arm.
"Ah, I'm sorry," Aang apologized. Toph's punch actually hurt a bit. Luckily, the homeroom bell rang, sparing Aang future pain.
Aang waved goodbye to his new friends, as they walked into the classroom next to his.
- A -
"Aang!" someone called.
Aang whipped his head around, recognizing the voice. "Hey Katara," Aang smiled. "Where are you going?" He stood still until Katara caught up to him in the hallway.
"Room C308; Spanish," Katara answered "You?"
Aang broke out into a grin "Same." This made Aang happy for a number of reasons. One, he now knew someone in his class. Two, it was third hour, so Aang would know someone in his lunch. He had really been dreading sitting alone again. But most importantly, that person was Katara.
As they arrived at the correct room, Aang stepped aside and motioned for Katara to walk in first.
"Aren't you the gentleman," Katara teased.
Aang couldn't help but blush some, but tried to cover it. "You never know, the door could've been a trap and I needed a guinea pig to make sure it was safe," he teased in response. The pair sat down at a two-person table in the back of the carpeted room.
"So I'm just a guinea pig now? I see how it is." Katara stuck her tongue out at Aang.
Aang stuck his tongue out back, before directing his attention to the teacher. He glanced back for one last glimpse of Katara, only to be pleasantly amused to finding her doing the same to him.
As class continued, Aang began to feel rather snugly. The carpet on the floor and the non-oppressive yellow walls made the room seem small. Coupled with the warm temperature, Aang felt himself drift off into a gentle daze.
A sharp nudge to the side woke him up. He peered out one eye at Katara. "What?" he grumbled, slightly amused.
Katara gestured to the teacher with her head. Aang sat up in his chair and rubbed his eyes, now at attention.
"So for the first half of the semester, you and one partner will be working on a project together," the teacher, Mr. Pakku droned. "Please pick someone you can work with, and that will do their part of the work."
Aang hesitantly made eye-contact with Katara. He wanted to be her partner, but maybe she knew someone else in the class, or -
"Want to work together?" Katara asked, interrupting Aang's thoughts.
He grinned. "Sure," Aang agreed. Katara wrote their names on a paper and Aang got up and handed it to Pakku. He sat back down as Pakku began to drone in Spanish, leaving the students for dead.
When the lunch bell finally rang, Aang couldn't help but sigh in relief. All the Spanish made his head hurt. Honestly, the thought of having lunch with Katara was the only thing that helped him survive the class.
Aang groaned to Katara as soon as they were out of the door. "My head hurts," he complained half-heartily.
"Oh, what a baby," Katara teased.
"Hey now, I act at least five; six if I'm on my best behavior," he corrected.
Katara laughed. "Four, maybe," she negotiated.
"Fi-ine," Aang whined.
"Oh quit whining." Katara gave him a playful slap on the shoulder. They continued the banter down two flights of stairs to Katara's locker. Aang happily noted that his locker was in the hallway running perpendicular to her locker's. After Katara grabbed her lunch, they headed to the cafeteria.
Aang stood by passively as Katara searched the rather large eatery for familiar faces. Recognizing some, Katara grabbed Aang's hand and pulled him over. Aang tried not to blush as much as possible.
"Hey guys," Katara greeted her friends. Aang raised his hand up in a meek greeting as he searched for faces among them. Aang recognized Sokka, who was sitting next to the guy in sunglasses. That must be Zuko, he reasoned. Aang also recognized Toph and Teo, although they were not as disheveled as this morning. However, he did not recognize the other two girls at the table.
They sat on a side together, whispering back and forth. The one on the right had shoulder-length auburn hair, which was a stark contrast from the left girl. Her hair was bleach blonde to the point it looked white, and it came down only a few inches above her waist.
"The one on the right is Suki, and the one on the left is Yue," Katara introduced.
"Nice to meet you," Aang smiled. Both girls said hello.
Aang looked around the rest of the table as he and Katara sat down. Toph flicked her head in acknowledgement of Aang, then Teo smiled as well. Sokka was deep in conversation with the guy in sunglasses, making hand motions that suggested they were talking about football.
"Who's next to Sokka?" Aang whispered to Katara.
"That's Zuko," Katara explained, "Don't you know him? He's the starting quarterback for varsity."
Aang felt rather stupid. "I know him, yeah, but I've never talked to him off of the field. I don't really talk much during practice." He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a bit shy. He glanced at Zuko again. It appeared that the upper part of his left cheek was sunburnt. Maybe that's why he wore the sunglasses.
Katara nodded in acceptance. "The sunglasses probably make it harder to recognize him as well," she reasoned.
"Why does he wear them?" Aang asked.
"Ask him yourself," Katara teased.
"But Katara . . ." Aang whined, smiling all the same. Aang stood back up to go buy his lunch. Only a few minutes in, and this lunch had already been a hundred times better than his first.
- A -
"So Katara . . ." Suki chimed. "Who was that at lunch?"
"Yeah, what was his name?" Yue added.
"Aangie-poo," Toph teased.
"Quit it guys!" Katara groaned as her friends continued teasing her. The four continued walking back towards the school, albeit slowly, as they were exhausted from a rather difficult soccer practice.
"Come on Katara, you already have half the guys in the school chasing you around," Suki pointed out.
"Do you really need another boy-toy?" Toph grinned, watching Katara's face turn red. It was true, boys flocked to Katara constantly. And she was too nice to shoo them away, so the majority of the time, so she seemed like a flirt.
"Stop it." Katara's face was bright red now. It was true, Aang was sort of attractive. He had dark fuzz covering the top of his head and stunning grey eyes that Katara couldn't say no to. Football had given him a decent bit of muscle, which Katara had felt when she playfully slapped his shoulder in the hall earlier. However, Aang was more wiry than built, and barely taller than Katara.
"She didn't deny the boy-toy part," Toph pointed out.
"I don't have 'boy-toys' Toph," Katara stated firmly. "I just don't know if I want another relationship right now."
"Haru?" Suki asked in understanding. Katara nodded.
It was true. Katara and Haru's relationship had fallen apart over the summer. They agreed to be friends after the matter, but Katara was done dealing with relationships for awhile. She had enough on her plate, between soccer, school, and home.
Katara didn't know what her feelings were for Aang. But there was something special about him; she knew it. They had only known each other for a day, but she felt as if she had known him for her whole life. She wouldn't let any stupid "feelings" mess up that friendship.
This one was also edited very little; mostly spelling errors and some things. The next two are different however. Enjoy
- Dapper