Disclaimer: I still don't own Avatar. And not only that, but I don't own John Coltrane or Linkin Park either.
Fred held her breath as she waited for the car to arrive. It was the dreaded... the hated... the first day of school. "Who needs school anyway?" she thought to herself. But it was to no avail.
She stood alone in the cool, bitter fall air, hoping the car that was supposed to pick her up would break down so she would have an excuse to be late and miss biology. But alas, a rusty old heap rounded the corner and stopped in front of her. The driver was the old man from open house and riding shotgun was the boy with the scar. Fred gave a long, heavy sigh. Everyone had to go sometime.
She opened the back door and the old man asked, "Your name is Tallulah Culvid?"
"Actually, everyone just calls me Fred," Fred replied as she got in and buckled her seatbelt.
"I am Mr. Hatake," the elderly man introduced himself, "But you may call me Uncle Hiro."
The teenage boy remained silent.
Fred could understand. He was most likely too tired to converse with anybody, much less some girl who was at least two years younger than him. She was fine with it. Relieved even, that he didn't give her any grief about her name. But Uncle Hiro decided to push it.
"Why don't you introduce yourself, my nephew," he didn't really ask as much as tell.
"My name's Daniel," the boy said as he continued to stare out the window. Fred could tell that he wasn't any happier than she was about this whole school thing.
"We have one more student to pick up," Uncle Hiro said, "His name is..." he fumbled with a piece of paper, "... Milo Dawson."
"Yes," Fred whispered to herself. She would have someone to talk to. An awkward silence pervaded the vehicle.
Uncle Hiro turned on the radio. Smooth jazz. Fred didn't mind it, but apparently, Daniel did. He quickly turned the dial to an alternative rock station. A radio war ensued. Soon the two began shouting.
"John Coltrane!"
"Linkin Park!"
"John Coltrane!"
"Linkin Park!"
Fred couldn't wait for Milo to show up.
After a compromise of no music had been reached, the car pulled up to Milo's corner. He grinned at Fred and got in the car. Then he saw Daniel and Uncle Hiro. He was suddenly flabbergasted.
"Y-y-y-you, y-y-you l-look like-" he pointed, open-mouthed.
"What?" Daniel asked, annoyed.
"Like-like-like," Milo began to senselessly babble.
Fred thought that Daniel and Uncle Hiro exchanged nervous glances, but it must have been her imagination. "What's with you?" she whispered to Milo.
"Them!" Milo whispered back frantically, "They-they're- they look like-"
"Like what?" Fred asked.
"Like-" Milo returned to his senseless babble, "Zu-Av-I-Fi-Pri-Unc-" and so on until they got to school.
Out of the car. Into the building. Up the stairs. Down the hall. Around the corner. Through the door. To the desk. In the chair. Only five minutes into freshman year and Fred felt like she had been in high school for all eternity. The bell rang and everyone was quiet, in their assigned seats. One-time deal, Fred thought, everyone's too tired to do anything right now, but they'll adjust. Her next thought echoed through out the minds of the entire class: Whose bright idea was it to start high school so early? But alas, they were up before the blessed sun and sitting under the harsh fluorescent lights of a classroom. Fred glanced at the paperwork on her desk and stuffed it into her backpack.
Later, she thought. She listened to Ms. Kowalski without really paying attention. Fred just absorbed the information. Homeroom would normally be after lunch. That made perfect sense. Make sure the kids are there and know what's going on after the day's half over.
Before Fred knew it, the bell rang again and it was time for first period. Fred didn't get a chance to ask about track. But it was time for science class.
"Who gives homework on the first day of school?" Fred asked herself incredulously as she stepped into Ms. Flauna's room. Mrs. Johansen and Mr. Smith apparently. She took a seat at a table by the door. She felt a breeze as the door flew open behind her. Daniel stormed in. Following him were two sophomore dancerettes and a junior cheerleader, giggling uncontrollably.
He sat at an empty table. One of the dancerettes sat next to him. Daniel moved. She moved. He moved again. She did too. Fred felt bad for him.
Daniel groaned and sat next to Fred.
"Hey, how's your first day?" Fred asked.
"Bad," Daniel grunted. An awkward silence... Any further conversation was smited as Ms. Flauna entered the room.
At the end of the whole day, Fred had learned that track try-outs were in two weeks. But one thing was really bugging her. Milo never explained his meltdown on the way to school. She couldn't see anything unusual about Daniel or Uncle Hiro... She was incredibly tired. She glanced at the clock. 9:14. As she drifted off into Dreamland, she could have sworn she saw bright lights right outside her window...
