Katara walked into the music room. She was immediately greeted by Mrs. Glades, who was intent on finding out as much as she could about Katara in the next five minutes. Katara escaped with most of her dignity intact and took her seat. She was the second person in the room, which explained Mrs. Glades' interest. The quiet was unnerving, so Katara pulled out her notebook and started working on a song she had started.
I am undecided
I'm border lining
And I'm starting to lose heart
'Cause I hate being
Undecided
I'm on the edge
Of insanity and truth
I'm on the edges
Of insanity and y--
Katara's writing was interrupted by a shrill giggling from the door. She didn't even need to look to know it was Aiza, most likely dragging Zuko with her. Katara tried not to look, for fear of causing a scene. She ended up turning around anyway.
Aiza was clamped onto Zuko's arm as Katara had suspected. One girl made the mistake of smiling at Zuko's dilemma. The glare Zuko shot at the girl made her retreat into a booklet of music.
Class went normally, except for the fact that Katara was on the edge of killing. Aiza kept giggling until Mrs. Glades bent a side room out of earth and sent Aiza to spend the rest of class there. Aiza's leaving statement was, "Bye, Zuzu, I'll miss you!" Some guy laughed out loud and Mrs. Glades threatened to give him his own separate room to stay in. And no, she did not care that he was one of the only two tenors present.
Zuko looked relieved but sullen for the rest of class.
English grated on Katara's nerves. Maddie ignored her for most of the class. This was because Mr. Bustle was teaching about Ray Bradbury. And not doing it well. He was once again trying out the you-will-obey-me-without-my-telling-you-to approach. Katara became irritated when she was able to prove quite a few of his points incorrect. The thought of her coming revenge was the only thing that kept Katara from voicing her opinions.
Katara just couldn't wait for waterbending class. Now, there was a good place to vent some impatience.
At break, Katara was abducted by Amber and Maddie. Surprisingly, Toph didn't act like it was a big deal that her friend was kidnapped by two other girls. She just sat reading a book.
In waterbending they went through basic bending exercises and took a break from dancing. Ms. Kenyon turned out to be only a very basic waterbender. So she chose five volunteers based on their performances in the warm-ups. Katara was one of them.
It was awkward teaching, but it calmed Katara's nerves. She discovered that teaching a class how to waterbend helped her to understand the moves better.
Katara was also the only person brave enough to help Amber understand the waterbending enough to convert it into firebending. She asked Amber why she was in a waterbending class when she was a firebender. Katara found out that Iroh had suggested Amber take a class in another form of bending. Apparently Iroh was very into balance between nations. Amber had already taken an earthbending class last semester.
"Katara!" Ms. Kenyon called after class. "You are a very talented bender," Katara was told when she went to see Ms. Kenyon. "You're on your way to becoming a master in maybe a year or two. You have the potential to move up to the next class by next semester." Needless to say, Katara left class happier than she'd been all day.
Amber and Katara worked on the fire nation's landforms in Mr. Lassal's class. Katara found out that there were quite a few volcanoes on the fire nation lands. Very little space was actually habitable.
"You see," Amber explained. "That's one of the reasons the fire nation started to take over other lands. I don't approve of throwing our power around to take people's land," she said defensively. "But it has made it easier to find a place to live."
Mr. Lassal interrupted to say they'd be studying the war later and to focus on their project.
--
Katara walked out of the lunch line with Toph. They found a table near the middle of the room. Not long after they started eating, Aang sat beside them, and soon after, Maddie and Amber took a seat as well.
Maddie and Toph were having a conversation about an art class Maddie had taken earlier that Toph was now attending, when Aiza walked up. Katara hesitated, and then twirled one finger in a circular motion as Amber stood up in front of Aiza.
Aiza's drink went splashing down the front of her shirt. She stopped suddenly in response and the girls behind her spilled what was on their trays (mostly drinks, less calories).
"Oh my gods!" Amber said, hastily backing away from Aiza, who was looking outraged.
"You little…ugh! Look what you did!" Aiza pointed to her soaked t-shirt. By now most the cafeteria was staring at the unfolding scene. Katara used the distraction to freeze the liquid that had been spilled on the floor.
Amber continued to apologize profusely until Aiza looked soothed. She then apologized once more and sat down.
As Aiza walked away, Maddie stuck out a foot. Aiza tripped and was sent careening across the frozen path on the floor. As she slid, the door to the kitchen door opened to reveal a man holding a large bowl of coleslaw. Aiza slammed into the man's legs, making him drop his bowl and fall over.
Aiza was drawing breath to scream when the coleslaw hit her in the face.
The room was silent for a moment, then burst out laughing. Aiza started wiping the green mess from her face as the man screamed, "My coleslaw!"
Katara looked around the room for Zuko. She saw him standing near the door, open mouthed and looking very pleased. She laughed and turned her gaze back to Aiza, who shrieked and stomped out of the cafeteria.
When the laughing finally stopped, Toph shook her head and said, "You guys have way too much time on your hands."
Katara, Maddie, and Amber put on innocent faces. "What are you talking about?" Katara asked.
"Yeah," said Maddie. "We had nothing to do with that. It was an accident."
Toph held up a piece of paper. "You left this lying around."
The two other girls turned to glare at Katara. "Why does she have your plans?" Amber asked.
Katara smiled guiltily. "Sorry."
Zuko walked up, smiling widely. "You guys rock," he said to the three girls.
"How do you-" Katara started to ask. Zuko pulled out a piece of paper and said, "You left this in class. With your name on it. I figured out the rest."
Amber and Maddie glare at Katara again. "This is the last time we put you in charge of blueprints," Amber said, irate.
--
Katara knew this wouldn't be the end of Aiza. She first had to get rid of Azula's blackmail.
Katara walked into her room. Azula was the only one there. Katara had known she would be.
"So," Azula said, examining her fingernails. "It's come to this." She stood. "So what do you want, waterbender. Make me listen."
Katara took a deep breath. "You're going to let Zuko get away from Aiza."
Azula chuckled. "And why would I do that?" she asked.
"You'll do it," Katara said. "Or the school will hear about you making out with Cory Andrews." Katara had named on of the most disgusting boys in school.
"That never happened," Azula said. Her voice was steady, but had an edge of alarm in it.
"Nobody knows that but you, me, and Cory," Katara said. "And I don't think he'll deny it."
Azula was silent for a moment or two. "As much as it pains me to say it," Azula started. "I respect you, water peasant." She smirked in a less than comforting way. "Not too many people would be able to stand up to me. So, torture me as it does, I'm forced to respect you."
Azula turned to walk out and Katara started to ask about Zuko. Azula stopped and turned back around.
"My brother's off the hook," She said flatly. "Good luck with him. You'll probably need it."
Katara sighed and slumped into a chair when Azula left the room. She sat for a while, then smiled to herself, stood, and went to do her homework.
---
A/N:
Jade- Sorry it's shortish, but no more cliffie! Next chap I'm gonna write about what Azula was using for blackmail. Also, my parents just got back from Paris. Otherwise, I'd have updated sooner. Please R&R!
Lily- Well, I've had to visit my grandma in the hospital for the past week. Hospitals can be especially boring if you have nothing to do. I didn't really want to write drabbles. So I tried my hand at drawing. I was trying to draw something for Academy. When I failed miserably, my middle school art teacher's words rang through my head. "You are not fit to hold a crayon." So I stopped. That's pretty much my week in a nutshell... yeah.
Jade&Lily- Please review!