Oh, my gosh, I'm finally updating this story. O.O I'm so sorry for the wait - I was distracted by other stories and I was also away for a short time, therefore unable to write any proper chapters on my laptop. I'm not going to lie, either. I had something of a writer's block on this story until reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. (I recommend this book - every single FanFiction writer and fangirl can relate to this story. :))

Now, without further ado, enjoy!


Chapter Three.

The dining hall wasn't nearly as crowded as the auditorium when Aang, Toph, Sokka and Katara walked inside. Besides a few, anxious-looking students, the large room looked rather deserted, which, at the moment, Katara was grateful for. She wasn't ready to meet her fellow students just yet, especially after encountering Azula and her little group.

Well, Azula is Azula. She's the princess. Katara thought glumly to herself and slid into a seat. She tapped her fingers on the long, wooden table in front of her and looked up to see Aang and Toph seating themselves across from her. "Well…what was that all about?" Toph asked at last.

"What was what all about?" Sokka and Katara asked at the same time, though both of their voices held different tones. Sokka looked purely confused, whereas Katara was trying her best to avoid any questions regarding a certain topic. Toph blew out an exasperated breath and turned to Sokka. "Prince Zuko crashed into Katara – he was actually pretty decent about it, too, unlike his sister." She said promptly. "And Katara hasn't said a single word about it – I personally thought she would have activated her fan girl mode by now."

Katara blinked. "Fan girl mode?" She asked incredulously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Toph snorted and picked at a part of the table. "Oh, come on, Katara – it's obvious you like him. You're not very good at keeping secrets, you know."

Immediately, Sokka and Aang's heads whipped around to look at Katara, who had a delicate blush creeping up her cheeks. "What?" She squeaked. "I – I don't know what you're talking about!" Toph feigned a yawn and said, "You're not impressing anyone, sweetie."

Katara bristled and held her hands to her face. "Fine – I liked him when I was in middle school, but to my defense, everyone liked him!" She protested at Toph's smug grin.

"Toph didn't." Aang pointed out – it was the first thing he had said for that entire evening. Toph shrugged. "Maybe that's because I've never really seen him – ha, ha, get it? Since I'm blind?" She beamed, flapping her hand around her eyes. Aang cringed – he would, seeing that he never liked how Toph made jokes at her own expense.

"Anyways, it doesn't matter now." Katara quickly said before Aang could say anything. "I mean, let's be realistic – Zuko only just bumped into me – it's not like he even knows my name and all that. And besides, he might be a creep – just look at his sister!"

Sokka tapped his chin thoughtfully and shrugged. "Maybe craziness runs through the family." He concluded with a shrug, earning an eye-roll from Aang. "Well, we'll probably know what he's really like soon, right?" Toph asked. "You know, since Aang's his roommate and all." She turned expectantly to Aang, who frowned.

"What?" He asked and Toph groaned, shaking her head. "Boys can be so clueless." She muttered and turned back to Katara. "I guess you can say crushing on Zuko is unrealistic – but then again, we would have thought that having Zuko at Saint John University was unrealistic, too."

Katara shrugged. "I'm not interested in crushing on him anymore," she said, and that was partially true. "You know, we're in college and everything – we're supposed to keep our heads focused on studying and you know, getting ready for the real world. Not some sort of fantasy where Prince Charming sweeps the princess or the pauper off her feet." She giggled into her hand and gestured to herself. "Besides, do I seem like the kind of girl who would tolerate that?"

There was a small, unexpected silence. Katara groaned. "Guys! Come on, you don't really think I still like the guy, right? It was an irrational, illogical crush to have – I was eleven and I was delusional." She said.

"You've got that right." Sokka muttered. Katara frowned and punched him on the arm, causing him to yelp in surprise. "Hey!" He cried, rubbing his arm. "You deserved it." Katara said loftily and turned to Aang and Toph. "There won't be anything going on this year – I promise. It'll all be a big flop."

Toph shrugged. "Yeah, yeah, probably – now can we stop talking about this? I feel like a girl and ugh, it stinks. Katara, how can you stand acting like this all the time?"

xXx

Dinner actually wasn't that bad. Except, of course, the grand welcome that Prince Zuko and Princess Azula had. ("Prats," Toph muttered under her breath.) But after those certain announcements, students returned to eating dinner and that was that. Of course, there were a few, squealing fangirls that Zuko had to avoid, which was rather amusing for most of the boys to watch. And there were several, strong-looking boys who tried to get Azula and Ty-Lee and Mai's attention, but they weren't very successful. (Well, Ty-Lee was sweet enough, though it was obvious that she wasn't just quite about to agree to going out with any of them.)

And now, Katara was furtively scooting herself away from Sokka, who was, as usual, eating like a pig. She could have sworn that he was inhaling the food, not eating it. She turned to look at Sokka's girlfriend, Suki, to wonder if she was just as disgusted as Katara was, but the older girl simply rolled her eyes and grinned at Sokka.

Katara grimaced and returned to her food. It always struck Katara odd how her brother was always lucky with girls – she remembered how when she was a young girl, she would watch several girls in Sokka's grade just waiting to get his attention. Sokka, however, was always clueless to the girls until he was about sixteen years old, when he first began dating Yue, a pretty, white-haired (she dyed it,) girl in the local high school. However, she moved away, and the relationship couldn't really work with the long distance and everything. Still, there weren't any hard feelings and Yue sometimes came over to visit.

And then Sokka and Suki hit off when Sokka came to Saint John's. According to the couple, Suki first met Sokka when he was bragging that he was one of the best athletes in high school, which wasn't exactly a lie – he was fairly decent at sports. Suki, who turned out to be quite the athlete herself, immediately asked Sokka if it were a true and the rest of the story was a bit of a jumble. In the end, the two got into a fight about whether or not girls were stronger than boys and after Suki beat Sokka in a wrestling match, (Katara was glad that she didn't see it,) the two started dating. (That part always confused Katara – did Suki think that Sokka was cute after the match or something? Or did Sokka let her win on purpose? She always kept those thoughts to herself.)

"Yo, princess," Toph called, yanking Katara out of her thoughts. "Aren't you going to say something?"

Katara blinked and looked up to see that the group's eyes were all set on her. She blushed and asked, "What were you saying?"

Toph sighed, exasperated, and said empathetically, "I was asking what classes you had tomorrow. You know, if you were going to wake up early for some lecture or something. Aang already told us that he's got to high-tail to class at eight thirty tomorrow morning for some dumb talk about living environment and junk."

"It's not junk! It's – " Aang started to protest but was quickly quieted by a punch on the arm from Toph. "Well, Katara? Are you going to set your alarm to some God-awful Taylor Swift music to get up for your lecture or what?" She asked. Katara sighed and rolled her eyes. "First of all, Taylor Swift is not God-awful. She sings from the heart. Second of all, I'm taking Fiction-Writing first thing – at ten o'clock, actually."

"More like Taylor sings from the hair." Toph snorted, but added, "Fine. That works. I've got a lecture around that time, too, only I'm not taking something as girly as Fiction-Writing."

"Who said Fiction-Writing was girly?" Katara asked, wounded. Toph shrugged. "Writing," she replied simply, as though that was going to explain everything. Sokka sat back in his seat and said, "Well, you two are lucky. I have to get to a lecture at eight, and it's on physics."

"I thought you liked physics!" Suki said, staring at him with a bewildered expression. Sokka shrugged. "I do, but I don't like listening about it in a hot, stuffy room at eight in the morning." He groaned and slapped a hand over his forehead. "Seriously – some professors need to get their act together and know that no one should be alive at that hour."

"You were the one who signed up for physics." Katara pointed out loftily, pushing her now-empty tray of food away from her. Sokka gave her the evil eye, though it wasn't very serious. "Yada, yada, yada." He grumbled and swung an arm over Suki's shoulders, obviously wanting to end the discussion.

"What about you, Suki? Any interesting classes tomorrow morning?" Katara asked, turning to Sokka's girlfriend with a smile. "I've got physics with Sokka tomorrow." She replied with a wide grin. "Someone's got to keep him awake." Sokka stuck out his tongue. "Hey, I don't fall asleep!" Suki laughed and shook her head. "Fine, fine, Sokka. Keep telling yourself that." She said teasingly.

"Oogh, you two love birds can be so disgusting." Toph groaned, shaking her head. "Anyways, moving on from the Public Display of Affection – are we allowed to get up and explore the school some more or what?"

Sokka cringed. "Sorry, Toph – no can do. You might want to get a good night's sleep, anyways. There'll be lots to do tomorrow, after all." He stood up, his arm still wrapped around Suki. "Oh, and make sure to come down here for breakfast – the food here is always pretty good." With that, Sokka winked and waved his hand. "Goodnight!"

Katara watched Suki and Sokka walk out of the dining hall and sighed. "Well, Sokka's probably right," she said, standing up. "We should probably turn in now."

"Now? No way! Our lectures don't start 'till ten." Toph whined. "If anyone should go back to the dorm, it should be Aang. He's the one who has to wake up early!"

Aang frowned. "What's wrong with waking up early?" He asked, confused. Toph slapped a hand to her forehead but before the two could launch into a debate, Katara held up her hands and said, "We should just go back to the dorm and just talk – Aang, you can join us and everything!"

"What about the boys-not-allowed-in-girls'-dorms rule?" Aang asked, skeptical. Katara swiveled around to look at the ancient-looking clock on the wall. Sure enough, the clock read eight forty-five. She sighed. There was no way Aang would be able to make it to the girls' dormitories and talk at this time.

"Oh, well." Katara said sadly. However, she quickly brushed the feelings away with a bright smile and continued, "You can come visit us tomorrow when we're finished with our lectures. We might even be able to explore the grounds!"

Aang shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "That sounds alright," he said slowly. Giving the girls a smile, Aang waved and said, "I'll go back to my dorm – hopefully, Zuko won't be there already." He shuddered. "The last thing I want to do is have an awkward conversation with him. I'll text you two."

"Great!" Katara replied optimistically and with that, Aang turned on his heel and walked out of the dining room. Toph looked up at Katara. "Are we seriously going back to our dorm now?" She whined. Katara rolled her eyes. "Yes, Toph," she replied gently, tugging on her friend's arm. "You don't want to be tired for tomorrow."

Toph sighed but didn't argue for once. (Katara had the feeling that Toph knew that the older girl was right, even if she didn't want to admit it.) "Fine, Mom," she said grouchily. "But you better not put on some stupid Taylor Swift music as your alarm."

Katara smiled. "No promises." She replied airily and led Toph out of the dining room.

xXx

Listening to Toph scream at Katara for having The Lucky One as an alarm at eight in the morning was not how Katara would have liked to start her day, but she had to make do with it. Quickly slapping her alarm off, Katara sat up in her bed to be pummeled with a pillow from Toph. For being blind, that girl had freakishly accurate aim.

Grunting under the impact of a pillow, Katara slid off the bed. "Thank you very much for that, Toph. I needed that." Katara mumbled, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Toph simply stuck a thumb up from underneath a mound of blankets and said, "Wake me up when you're done taking a shower."

"Fine," Katara called over her shoulder and after grabbing a set of clothes from her dresser, she headed into the bathroom. She flicked on the lights and took a good look at herself in the mirror, hoping that she wouldn't look too excited to start the day. She always read that it was too easy for people to spot freshmen and frankly, it didn't always look impressive.

Katara turned on the faucet in the shower stall and after hopping around in cold water, she managed to get it warm enough to wash herself. She tried not to drift away from reality – back home; Katara had the oddest tendency to lose herself whenever she was in water. Whether it was in the pool or in a bathtub or even just standing in the rain, Katara would often find herself standing in the same position for the longest time. She couldn't help herself – water helped her think and relax.

Soaping up her body and shampooing her hair at the same time, Katara wondered what the day would be like – she wondered if she would make any new friends, like the professors, like the first lecture, et cetera. She was pondering on all of this even after she stepped out of the stall. She wrapped a towel around herself and immediately got to drying her hair. Her bathroom routine still hadn't changed since she was in the fifth grade, when she started to pay attention to how she presented herself.

Katara shuddered at what Toph would do – she'd probably take a two-minute shower (with soap suds still in her hair, probably,) only take a few seconds to dress and already try to get out the door. There was no way on earth that Katara would allow her friend to do that. She frowned to herself – in these ways, Katara sometimes felt like more of a mother than a friend of Toph's. But that didn't change her feelings for the younger girl – Toph was still nice to hang out with and talk to.

You're thinking too much. Katara thought to herself, placing her hairdryer at the sink and getting to changing into proper clothes. She had decided to dress simply today – just a plain, light blue shirt and a pair of jeans. There wasn't anything fancy about Katara's outfit, which she was grateful for. Again, she was hoping not to look too freshman-like.

Katara slipped out of the door and shook Toph lightly, who was still snoring in her bed. "Come on, I'm done." She said quietly. Toph moaned and stuffed her head underneath her pillow. "Just give me a few minutes, princess." She muttered sleepily.

"You'll be late…" Katara replied, yanking the blanket off of her friend. Toph yelped and sat up. "What was that for?" She asked grouchily. Katara placed her hands on her hips. "Take a shower – you don't want to get to the lecture looking like you just rolled out of bed."

"Ugh – speak for yourself." Toph muttered, but she made her way to the bathroom. The door slammed to a close and with a sigh, Katara marched for her bed to straighten it out. She was just fluffing her pillows when her phone beeped with a text message from Aang –

Waiting by the lecture doors. There's only a few students here. Help. Nervous.

Katara smiled sympathetically and tapped back a response –

Don't be. You're a little genius, remember? You'll do just fine.

In an instant, Aang texted –

There's some people giving me funny stares. I don't like the funny stares. I'm trying to be friendly, but ugh, what am I doing wrong?!

Katara winced. She was afraid that something like this would happen. She tried to reassure Aang through another message –

Ignore them. They're dumb for not thinking you're cool. Just focus on your lecture for now, k?

Aang didn't respond until a few minutes later. Katara was beginning to gather her books and then Aang replied with a single, solitary k. Satisfied by her friend's response, Katara started to stuff her books into her backpack and sat down at her desk, waiting patiently for Toph to come out.

Surprisingly, when Toph did come out, she didn't look that bad. A smug smile crept on Katara's face. "I guess you're more excited about college than you're letting on," she said teasingly as Toph started to collect her own books. "Oh, shut up, Miss Perfect." Toph retorted, but Katara noticed that the younger girl didn't totally deny the fact, either.

Katara smiled – she was glad Toph was happy about being in college. "You'll do great today." She said, swinging open the dorm room. Toph sighed. "Don't get all sappy on me, Katara." The girl grumbled, going through the door. Katara let out a small laugh and, closing the door, the two set off for the dining hall to eat breakfast.

xXx

Sokka was right. Breakfast in Saint John's dining hall was rather good. For the first few minutes, Toph and Katara actually didn't say much to each other – they were too busy eating. Katara never knew how hungry excitement and nervousness can make her. As she shoved another spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth, she looked up to look around the large room. There were many students gathered in the hall – it appeared that they, too, didn't sign up for any lectures that required for them to wake up early.

Suddenly, loud, gleeful shrieks ripped out of the mouths of multiple girls throughout the hall, followed by the rumble of seats being scraped back and feet storming for the doors. Surprised, Katara dropped her spoon and Toph immediately clapped her hands over her ears. "What the hell is going on – did someone unleash a banshee in here or something?" She shouted over the din.

Katara craned her neck over Toph and sighed, shaking her head. Coming through the doors was Zuko, who was accompanied by two, rough-looking, suited men. "Nope," Katara replied. "It's only Zuko."

Toph smirked. "Only Zuko?" She asked smarmily. "Oh, well, never mind then."

A girl standing nearby turned sharply to look at Toph incredulously. "Are you crazy?" She asked. "How can you talk about Zuzu like that?" Toph stuck out her tongue, grimacing. "Oh, please don't tell me – Zuko's fan base came up with a nickname? Ugh." She shook her head.

The girl frowned and placed her hands on her hips. "And what would you know?" She asked stiffly. "How would you know anything about Prince Zuko? Oh, wait you don't."

Katara should have stopped the argument right there. She should have pulled Toph away, plastered a fake smile over her face and say, "I'm sorry about that," to the girl and everything would have been fine. But no, she didn't say anything. She simply stared at the girl and Toph dropped the bomb.

"Hm…well, I do know he's rooming with one of my friends." Toph replied casually, bringing her glass of orange juice to her lips. "Aang Kim – you know him?"

And that was when the girl's eyes widened to the size of golf balls and she let out the longest, loudest shriek out of the entire group of girls hovering around Zuko.


A/N: Oh, Toph, what have you done?

Toph: Don't give me any of that - you were the one who wanted me to open my mouth!

Me: Good point. XD Do the review notice now, please.

Toph: *frowns*

Me: Now.

Toph: *sighs* Please review, give constructive criticism, but no flames, please. If you can smack that fave/follow button, you can spend two more seconds to tell the writer what the hell you think of this story.

Me: True that. Have a nice day/night/whatever-there-is-left-to-say-in-this-universe!