"Kai, can you put this on for me?"

Kai looks up from the magazine he's flipping through—Martial Arts Monthly—and is met by the milky expanse of Jinora's shoulders and nape. Her back is turned to him; one of her hands holds her hair out of the way, while the other one pinches the two ends of the necklace together as she waits for him to take the clasp.

Kai tosses the magazine aside and stands up. The silver chain is tiny, but he's had plenty of practice over the years—Jinora jokes that she brings him jewelry shopping just so she can have someone help her try on necklaces.

"Done," he declares. The scent of apples and jasmine tickles his nose as Jinora drops her hand, her brown hair swinging back into place.

"Thanks, Kai." Beaming, she turns around, and Kai sits down on her bed again, the springs squeaking under his weight. He has half a mind to pick up Martial Arts (he'd been reading a really interesting article about Northern Shaolin kung fu), but the other half of him is…distracted.

It's not like he's never seen Jinora in a dress. She's always decked out at piano recitals, and he paid attention in eighth grade biology, okay, he knows what happens—is happening—to their bodies. He just needs some time adjusting, is all.

"Have you seen my lip gloss?" Jinora is busy saying, fluttering around the room. Kai tracks her movements before something shiny, peeking out from the fluffiness of Jinora's pillow, catches his eye.

"Is this it?"

"Aha," exclaims Jinora, snatching it from his fingers. She applies it in one smooth motion, lips sparkling pink, and Kai's chest twists a little because there's another thing that's different—Jinora's always worn plain cherry chapstick, before. He knows because he's been guilty of using her tube on more than one occasion, especially during the winter.

(His lips get dry too, okay? It's not that weird.)

But now they're in ninth grade and Jinora is wearing a floaty purple dress and her eyes are shining and he doesn't know what to say except—

"You look nice."

"You're okay," teases Jinora, stepping forward and taking the loose ends of his tie between her fingers. "Do you need me to tie this for you?"

"It's okay, your mom said she'd do it," says Kai, tugging at his collar, which has started getting itchy again.

"I can do it," Jinora insists. "I watched a bunch of videos last night because I was bored. Do you want me to try a Trinity or a Windsor?"

"Jin, I have no idea what either of those looks like."

"Windsor it is, then," says Jinora, sticking her tongue out at him.

Kai holds himself as still as he can as Jinora works, her brow furrowed in concentration. His palms are oddly sweaty; he rubs them against the top of his slacks, swallowing.

"There." Jinora pats the completed knot, pleased. Kai has to tilt his head back to see her face, what with her standing and him sitting, and he's suddenly aware of the fact that his knees are on either side of her hips, that if he stood up right now their chests would probably brush but he'd be taller and it'd be just like when they'd danced on her balcony this past summer, except different, somehow, he doesn't—

"Jinora," he says, snagging her hand when she gets ready to pull away.

Jinora freezes, blinking at him. "Yes?" she hesitates.

Kai wets his lips, starts over. "Jinora, I—"

"Ready, kids?" Pema pokes her head in, bringing her hand to her mouth when she sees them. "Oh. You two both look amazing!"

"Thanks, Mom," grins Jinora, stepping away from Kai to twirl, the skirt of her dress flaring out around her.

"Thanks," Kai acknowledges as well, standing up. He runs a hand down his new silk tie, admiring its texture, and catches a glimpse of himself in Jinora's mirror. With his shirt finally done up properly, stark white against his belted black slacks, his red tie snug and neat against his throat, he looks—good. He straightens.

"Hurry up and come downstairs so I can take pictures!" urges Pema.

"All right, all right," says Jinora, eyes swinging around the room. "Just let me get my—"

"Purse?" offers Kai, the strap already wrapped around his fingers.

"This is why you're my best friend," she says, breezing past him; Kai just waggles his eyebrows and grins.

Downstairs, Pema has them pose against the banister. Jinora fits snugly against his side, but after the first few nice photos, they quickly occupy themselves with thinking of more creative poses. They're halfway through a staged shot where Jinora is pretending to choke him with his own tie when the doorbell rings.

"He's here!" Jinora lights up, cheeks flushing pink as she rushes to the door.

Kai hangs back, hovering by Pema, who has raised the camera to her eye to capture the image of her daughter and her date.

"Hey, Kai," greets Haku with a friendly wave.

Kai shoves his hands in his pockets, raising his chin in acknowledgement and smiling. "Hi."

Turning to Pema, Haku says, "My mom's in the car, if you wanted to talk to her before we leave."

"Oh, of course, I'll walk out with you two," says Pema, already slipping on her shoes.

Jinora plays with the strap of her purse, and Kai can tell she's unsure about how close to stand to Haku, whether it'd be okay to loop her arm through his (she wouldn't think twice, if it were me). He glances away quickly when Jinora looks over at him, but not fast enough.

"See you at the dance, Kai," says Jinora, and then Haku is whisking her away and the front door is closing beside all of them and it's just Kai.

He sits down on the steps, running his hands over the carpet. His own date will be here, soon. She wonders if she'll think it's weird that he got ready at Jinora's house. Probably not, though—Kyla's an understanding person, with her snub nose and wide green eyes. That's why I like you, Kai. I don't know if it's because your best friend is a girl, but you don't talk down to me the way the other guys sometimes do, you actually listen. She listens to the same music he does and makes him laugh, and if everything goes well during this spring formal, then maybe next year, maybe…

Maybe he'll have a girlfriend, and then he won't have to worry about this weirdness that's been creeping in between him and Jinora, anymore.

Maybe.