The Rebel

Katara tapped her fingers nervously on the counter. The lady behind the admissions desk ignored her, furiously typing at the computer in front of her.

"Excuse me," Katara began.

"Take a number please," the admissions woman replied in a nasally voice, pointing to the ticket machine next to her.

Katara sighed, and pulled a numbered ticket from the machine. She looked at the wall. They were only on number 25. She was 35.

"There's no one else here," she tried again.

"We will alert you when it's your turn, miss. Please sit over there until we call you."

Katara sighed.

"Do you know how long this will take?"

"No less than an hour. We want to make sure that everyone is served equally and has enough time to ask all their questions."

"But there's no one even here...." Katara trailed off, looking around.

"But someone took those ten numbers, didn't they miss? Then, ten people are before you waiting to be helped, so if you could please step out of line."

Defeated, Katara fell into a nearby easy chair. This was turning into more trouble than she thought, and she flipped open in her phone. As she dialed Aang, a tall stranger wearing a Delta Gamma Chi sweatshirt sat down in the chair next to her.

"Hey," he said, smacking his gum.

Katara nodded a hello. Aang's cellphone went to voice mail.

"Hey, it's just me. I'm having some problems with admissions, so I'm stuck here in the main building for an hour. Gimme a call when you get this cause I'll probably be bored. Love you, bye."

"That your boyfriend?" the frat boy asked, motioning to the picture on the phone.

"Yeah, we took it this summer-"

"Go out with me." he said, cutting her off.

"Excuse me?" Katara asked, dropping her phone.

"Go out with me. Come on."

He smiled.

"I'm the most popular guy on campus."

"But I already have a boyfriend."

"And he can't even stay around to catch his girlfriend's calls." He made a "tut tut" sound with his lips. "If you were my girl, I'd cater to your every whim. And I'd always be home to get your calls."

"Number Thirty-five! You're up!" the woman behind the counter called.

"Look, just because Aang wasn't there to answer his phone doesn't mean anything. I know he loves me, and I love him, and I would never in a thousand years date you!"

She turned furiously on her heel and made her way towards the admissions counter.

"I need to drop a class." she replied calmly.

"Name please?"

"Katara Takubvik. I'm a first year transfer student from the North Pole."

"Class name please?"

"Advanced Earthbending with Professor Bei Fong."

"Yes?" the woman looked up blankly.

"I need to drop it. I'm not an earthbender." Katara replied calmly.

"Then why did you register for it?" the admissions clerk asked.

"I didn't. And I'm not going to take it. I'm a waterbender."

The woman behind the counter was silent for several moments, her fingers hitting the keys was the only noise.

"Well, it doesn't look like we can do anything right now. The only thing I can suggest is to go to the class and have the professor sign this form right here giving you permission to drop the class. Usually by the second day of class, more classes will open up."

She slid a piece of paper across the counter. It was stamped several times.

"All you have to do is fill out this form and have the professor sign it and bring it back to me the second day of school and I'll see what I can do."

"OK, thank you," Katara mumbled, shoving the piece of paper in her back pocket.

"Next!" the woman called. "Number 36!"

Katara collapsed on the bed, sighing a heavy sigh as her roommate came in.

"How was changing the class?" Meng asked, smiling, tossing her books on the bed.

"Ridiculous. They wouldn't let me drop that Earthbending class. I had the perfect class for it too."

"Oh really?" Meng asked, kicking off her shoes and hopping on her bed.

"Yeah, I was going to take 'The Essence of Bending'. This is my safety school and I thought I'd take all the history-based classes so that when a spot opens up in NWU I can go back there."

"400 for books and I still don't have all of them," Meng mentioned off-handedly.

"What are you taking that's so expensive?" Katara asked, sitting up.

"Some mysticism courses, and my generals, of course. I'm an assistant of a local fortune teller, and I'm interested in some of the techniques and signs she uses, but I want to actually know what they do and what they mean instead of just guessing... So when are you going to tell me just what I was interrupting with you and cutie two weeks ago?"

"I already told you," Katara said, blushing. "We were just saying our goodbyes."

"If that's how they say good bye at the North Pole, then I'm going to head up there for winter break."

Meng threw herself back on the bed, exasperated after Katara wouldn't answer.

"OK, fine so you won't tell me how far you and cutie had planned on going before I walked in. At least acknowledge that you were doing something."

"OK, we were doing something, but I don't know why it's a big deal."

"Just let me know the next time he's over, k?" Meng asked with a smile. "So what are you going to do about your class?"

"The only thing I can do is go to class and get the professor to sign some slip. They won't even let me drop it. Something about classes being full. It doesn't make any sense. Class hasn't even started yet, how are classes full?"

"That's Ba Sing Se University for you! You pay for the name, not the efficiency." Meng chuckled, sliding her bag of books under the bed. "But I'm hungry. Have you eaten yet? Let's go to the cafeteria and see what we can find."

Upon arriving to in the cafeteria, they were greeted with the most popular member of DGK. He introduced himself as Bae Tongbang, the oldest of the LiFong Tongbangs. His parents died several years ago when their plane crashed off the coast of Kyoshi Island. As a result, he was at Ba Sing Se University as a "trust fund" baby.

"But you can call me Jet," he replied, smirking like he did that day he met Aang in the hallway.

"Hello," Meng said lowly, returning his smile.

"Hiya," he smacked his gum. "What's your name sweet thing?"

"I'm Meng. Meng Tsao."

"A beautiful name for a beautiful flower," he said, bowing and kissing her hand.

"Oh give me a break." Katara said from behind them. "I can never be rid of you, can I?"

"Hey there," Jet said, still holding Meng's hand but partially turning around. He smiled at Katara. "That's ok ladies. I can have both of you."

"I already told you to leave me alone." Katara said, annoyed. "And that goes for my friends too."

"Why don't you let her decide?" he tried again.

"Come on Meng, we're leaving."

Katara grabbed the girl's hand and turned on her heel.

"Hey wait!" Meng protested.

"What room are you in?" Jet called as Katara pulled Meng towards the door.

"344. The third cloister. Closest to the main building."

And then she was gone, pulled behind the door in Katara's death grip.

Once upstairs, Meng questioned Katara about her actions.

"Why did you do that? He was cute."

"He's a creep." Katara said bitterly. "He was outside our door harassing Aang two weeks ago. He was waiting for us to come out. He was bothering me earlier when I was waiting on admissions."

"You can say what you want. I think he's cute...and dashing. And I told him to stop by later, and you can't do anything about it."

Katara sighed angrily.

"Fine. I'll just go get something to eat and try to call Aang again."

Several hours later, Katara sat in an overstuffed chair in the common room. Aang's phone had died, so she was waiting for him to transfer phones. Since the start of school was still a week away, the common room was pretty dead and she could talk as long as she wanted without disturbing anyone. Unfortunately, that also meant that anyone could come and go as they pleased.

"Hey there," Jet said, walking through the doors of the common room.

Katara looked up from the game she was playing on her phone. She sighed.

"The elevators are at the end of the hall." she said, as her phone rang.

"Oh hey, is that your boyfriend? I want to talk to him."

He walked past her and grabbed the phone out of her hands.

"Hey brah, what's up?" he said, flipping up the phone.

"Hello?" Aang asked on the other side of the phone. "Who is this?"

"This is Jet, brah."

"Who's Jet?"

"Bae Tongbang."

"OK, who is this and why do you have Katara's phone?"

"Oh, so her name's Katara. It's a beautiful name, just like she is."

Aang's annoyed silence on the other line seemed to egg him on.

"I just thought I'd say hi, since I'll be dating her soon. Later brah."

He closed the phone and handed it back to Katara.

"Cleared that up for you. Now, I have a beautiful flower to meet."

With that he was gone. In frustration Katara threw the pillows on the couch across the room before flopping angrily back onto the couch. She dialed Aang's number again. It was busy. Figured. It would be a while until she got a hold of him now, thanks to Jet's antics. She called his cell phone. She knew it was charging, but she could leave a message at least.

"Hey Aang, it's me. I'm sorry about that last phone call. He just took the phone right out of my hands. It's this creep who tried hitting on me earlier-he thinks he deserves me. I told him to stay away from my roommate, but he didn't listen and came over anyway. I'm really sorry. What he said meant nothing. I have no intention of dating him and I want nothing to do with him. Please call me back. I love you, bye."

She flipped her phone closed and held her head in her hands. This wasn't turning out anywhere near what she had expected. How was she going to make it all semester without Aang with this Jet guy always around? She sat by her phone, waiting for what seemed like hours, until Jet waved his good bye. Not once did Aang call. She tried again. Nothing. Frustrated, she threw the pillows on the chair across the room. Then she picked them back up. Defeated, she made her way back upstairs.

Meng was there to greet her, ecstatic.

"Jet and I are going out on Friday!"

Katara mumbled a congratulations and curled up in a ball on her bed, phone gripped tightly in her hand. She cried herself to sleep.

One week later, Katara walked in her Advanced Earthbending class. She slid into a seat towards the front and waited for the professor to arrive. She wanted to do this as quickly as possible, but with a missing professor, it would be hard. When the professor did show up, however, it was too late to go anywhere.

"You. In the front row," a small blind girl demanded of Katara before the door even closed behind her. "Can you tell me the similarities and differences between metalbending and earthbending?"

"Um....I can't. Not really. I'm sorry."

"Then how did you ever make it to my class?" the girl demanded again.

Katara could hardly believe her eyes. This was the professor? She couldn't be older than sixteen. And on top of it, she was blind. How did they expect someone who was far younger than the required teaching age to teach. And blind no less!

"It was a mistake," Katara said quietly, to 250 staring faces.

"What? You're going to have to speak up. It's a big class."

"It was a mistake," Katara said again. "I signed up for the Essence of Bending. I have a slip that you can sign..."

"I'll sign it after class. Boy!" she pointed to a boy in the row behind Katara.

"Me?" he asked,

"Yes, what's your name?"

"Dae Kwon-Sun ma'am."

"Get up here. Write this down."

He scurried up to the black board.

"My name is Toph Bei Fong. You can call me Professor Bei Fong. I will automatically fail anyone who calls me by my first name. This is Advanced Earthbending. Anyone who is taking Beginner Metalbending in addition to this class can register for a dual bending credit. Yes, I know it's the same element, but not everyone can bend metal. Any drops or transfers will be dealt with after class. I want everyone to turn in their text books to chapter one..."

While the tiny professor prattled on, Katara's mind wandered. First, she thought of Aang. That jerk must have really upset him, he hadn't called in a week. Secondly, she thought of how disastrous everything had been since she had gotten here. As Professor Bei Fong got further into her lecture, Katara sunk further into her chair. Winter break seemed so far off. Sighing, she flipped open her phone and sent Aang a text.

Later, during dinner he responded. I just needed some time to think. I hope what that guy said wasn't true. I'll call you tonight. I still love you. --Aang

Suddenly, she no longer felt hungry. She threw her food away and headed back to her dorm. Her door was locked. Instead of fighting she turned on her heel and went back downstairs. The common room was packed and she slid in next to a dressed in dark green brocade.

"Hi," the girl said, sliding over.

"Hi," Katara replied. "What's is this? Are there usually this many people here the first day of school?"

"Didn't you know? It's the annual 'Get to know your freshmen' day." the girl in the dark green brocade said. "I'm Meiling and I'm a junior."

"And I'm Xiao Hong." the tall girl next to Meiling replied. "I'm actually in your History of the Avatars class."

"I'm Katara, and I've been sexiled from my room...I think."

"Already?" Meiling asked. "It's only the first week of school."

"I know...is that unusual?"

"Not always," Xiao Hong replied. "But it usually doesn't happen until at least a month after classes have started."

"Yeah, I knew he was a bad idea," Katara said. "I warned her about him."

"Oh, who is it?" Meiling asked.

"Some creep named Jet."

Suddenly the common room fell silent.

"Jet?" a girl with blue streaks asked. "You mean Bae Tongbang?"

"Yeah. Him."

"He's a creeper that preys on freshmen. He takes your dignity, your self worth and your virginity. It's like a prize to him!"

"He doesn't usually work this quickly though," another girl in blue brocade spoke up. "And he doesn't go for easy girls."

"Meng is not easy!" Katara spoke up. "She may be a little naïve and boy crazy, but she is not easy!"

"OK, OK," the girl in blue spoke. "She's not easy."

Angrily, Katara stood up. She had to get away from these girls.

"I think I need some fresh air."

"Don't let the Joo Dees catch you!" Meiling called.. "You won't be allowed to leave your building for weeks if you do."

Frustrated and angry Katara stomped across the courtyard falling angrily next to a tree. The pond reflected the stars and for the first time she felt the pang of homesickness she had heard Meng speak of in the weeks before Jet. She sighed.

"Oh Aang I wish you would call me." she said to herself. "I am sorry."

She laid back on the cool grass and flipped open her phone. She had gotten a message.

He kissed me! I wasn't going to let him, but he told me I was beautiful and I did. We got a little carried away, sorry. Don't worry, we didn't do too much. ;D He's inviting me to his house on Friday for a party. He said he wants me to stay until Saturday too. I'm not sure. I have to talk to you about that.

She flipped it closed.

"Oh Meng..."

Her phone rang, interrupting her thought.

"Oh Aang I'm so glad you called..."