Author's Note : Woo! About time that I've got chapter nine up and running. My next chapter should be up in the next day or two. Depending on my motivation or what's going on in my mind. x3 So yeah. Please, please, please read and review. I greatly appreciate it, so thank you very much.

Disclaimer : I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender nor any of it's characters. That belongs to Mike and Bryan. I only own the few characters I end up creating myself when I'm not lazy.


Everyday High School

-- They Aren't Real Friends --

"So, Katara. About that party tonight…"

"Wondering what my verdict is?"

"Um…yeah, pretty much." Zuko sounded nervous, his heart fluttered as he awaited an answer from his freshman crush. He had spoken with his uncle before he had called Katara, telling him about what Azula said. Iroh had basically concluded that all that Azula was trying to do was to make both his and Katara's lives miserable, and that by following her 'orders' it would only prove to his younger sister that she had control over him. So he had called her. Thank the spirits.

"Um. Hold on. Let me ask my dad about it, okay? It'll be a few minutes, probably. I'll call you back, okay?" She hid her nerves beneath a steady voice, but inside her stomach was doing flips and she was panting to catch up with her heart and mind.

"Right. Sounds good. Talk to you soon?"

"Yeah." With that, Katara brought the phone from her ear and looked down at the screen, waiting for the boy on the other line to hang up first. Yeah, it was a little OCD thing of hers that she couldn't hang up first. But that was just how she ticked. When the symbol on her phone showed that he had indeed hung up, she closed her phone. However, she didn't move from her place in her computer chair. She was nibbling the corner of her lip as she pulled her legs up to her chest. What to do, what to do.

She had told Sokka and Suki about Zuko's invitation over lunch earlier that day and they didn't really know what to do about it either. She sighed, wanting to go to the party with him, but, at the same time, she really didn't want to. Why? Because she didn't want to lose potential friends her age over a boy. Her eyes caught sight of her computer screen as it lit up and showed that she had a new instant message. She smiled as she found who it was from. It was from Ty Lee. She quickly opened it and read over it.

'Hey. What's up?

You going to Haru's party with Zuko?'

Katara blinked. Was she on her side or was she on Azula's side? Sighing, she placed her fingers on the keys and began typing up a reply.

'I don't know yet. I haven't asked my dad about it or anything like that.

Why do you ask?'

It didn't take long for Katara to get a reply from Ty Lee. From her supposed friend.

'Just wondering. Azula isn't happy with it, you know.'

'Yeah, I know. But why should Azula care? It isn't her life…and she doesn't even care about Zuko, does she?'

'Well believe it or not, she does. Thanks for caring about how a friend feels about a friend getting together with her boyfriend. That's some real friendship there.'

And with that, Ty Lee signed off of the messenger. Katara only sat there and blinked. She didn't know what to do or what to say or anything. She quickly blinked away the formations of tears as a knock came to her door. She turned her chair around as she saw her father poking his head through.

"Hey, Katara. Dinner's ready." But all Hakoda got was a nod from her. This concerned him as he slipped into his daughter's room and closed the door behind him. "What's wrong? Is it that sophomore boy, again? You know, if he keeps treating you like this, then -"

"Dad. It's not Zuko. It's Ty Lee, Azula, and Mai."

"Oh. Your friends?"

"Apparently not." Katara sniffed, making sure her sleeve covered her hand and wiped her nose upon said sleeve.

"What happened?"

"Azula is Zuko's little sister, Mai is Zuko's ex, and Ty Lee is their follower. Ty Lee wants to be friends with me, I know it…but Azula and Mai are stalking me whenever I'm around Zuko and they're keeping Ty Lee from really talking to me. Ty Lee agrees with them that I shouldn't go after Zuko, though. And he invited me to a party and I don't know what to do." Her voice came in a flurry of fast spoken words that really didn't make any sense to Hakoda. When she finished and took another deep and sniffling breath, he waited a few seconds to make sure she was done.

"Alright. Now tell me what happened again. A little more calm, if you would." He requested, smiling warmly and sympathetically at the only piece he had left of his wife. Katara nodded agreement and retold her story, speaking a tad more slowly and explaining in a little more depth as to what was going on. Her father listened quietly, nodding and smirking softly every few seconds or maybe throwing in a frown here and there. After she had finished, the man blinked and waited for Katara to calm down again before speaking.

"Well, it sounds to me like they aren't really your friends and never really were. But maybe that's just me. If you really like this boy, then go for it. They aren't your friends if they're not talking to you just because you like someone they all seem to be related to in one way or another. That's one thing you'll learn. They aren't real friends if they expect you to follow every single order of theirs. Sorry to say, but they're manipulating little bitches." That last statement made Katara chuckle and nod in agreement.

"Yeah, I guess they are." She wiped her cheeks and looked over at her father. "So what should I say to Zuko? He's expecting a call back and I don't have an answer from you yet."

"About what now?"

"About the party. If I could go or not." At this point, there was another knock on her door and Sokka poked his head in.

"Um…is anyone going to come eat? Katara…why are you -" The boy was cut short when he got a stern glare from both his father and sister. "Okay then. Anyway, is anyone coming? Dinner's getting cold."

"Yeah, we'll be down soon." Sokka nodded but slipped inside his sister's room, leaving the door open behind him.

"So, dad. About this party?" Katara asked again after she tore her eyes from her brother. This question brought back the older man into the conversation that they were previously having.

"Yeah. You can go. I'd prefer it if Sokka and Suki went with you as well. But you can go." That brought a grin of joy across the face of Katara as she moved from her seat and went over to hug her dad.

"You got invited to Haru's party tomorrow, didn't you, Sokka?"

"Hmm? Oh. Yeah, I did. Me and Suki were going to go anyway. So yeah. But can we please go eat? I'm really hungry and I don't want to eat cold meat."

--

Katara made her way back up to her room from the dining room. She felt bad for not calling Zuko before she went to eat dinner, but she was hungry and Sokka would have killed her if she didn't go join them in the dining room so that they could eat right that second. She had sighed and protested, but she had lost when her stomach growled at her to be fed. She plopped back down into her chair and picked up her phone, dialing up Zuko quickly before holding the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?" The voice of an elderly man answered her call after the ringing sounded a few times.

"Hi. Is Zuko there?" She asked, a little timid as to if she had the right number or not.

"Yes, hold on."

"Thank you." A few seconds later and Zuko's voice sounded on the other side of the line?

"Hello?"

"Hey, Zuko. It's me, Katara."

"Oh! Hey, Katara. Took you long enough to call back. I thought you were just being nice in turning me down by not calling back." He was smiling softly to himself as he thought of the girl.

"No. My dad and brother just dragged me down for dinner before I could call you back."

"So? What's the verdict?"

"I don't care how much Ty Lee, Mai, and Azula torture me for this, but yeah. I would love to go. And I can. So yeah." Her heart raced silently, as she awaited his response.

"Nice. So, the devious trio getting to you, too?"