"All right, guys." The Avatar people were lined up in front of me the next morning, and I was pacing back and forth like an army general. Mom and Dad had already left for work, taking my little brother, littler sister, and older sister with them to drop them off at school.Darrin had spent the night so he could help us. Now we had to get ready for school."The learning process is far more advanced here. In other words, blend. Be chameleons." I looked them over sternly. "Sokka, Zuko, Aang, and Jet, Darrin's got some clothes for you guys to wear. Katara's sharing mine." Here Darrin tapped me on the shoulder.
"Um, Syd? Could I talk to you in private?"
"Ok. Stay there, people, I'll be back." I followed Darrin into the living room. "And?" He sighed. "Well, it's about the boys. You don't see people walking around with ponytails very often - guys at least."
He had a point. Two teenage boys walking around school with ponytails might turn some heads.
"Then we'll have to find some hats. Got any? If not, I can get some of Greg's." My little brother liked sports hats. Big ones. It could work.He nodded."Okay, let's go. It's almost 7:00." Darrin let out his breath slowly and followed me back to the basement. "Katara, come with me," I said. "Boys, stay down here with Dar." I glared at Zuko. "And there had better not be ANY sparks flying."
In my room, I handed Katara a stack of folded clothes. "Here, go in the closet and put these on." She shrugged and obeyed. When she came out, she wore green camo jeans (flared!) a brown sweater, and a green camo hoodie on over it. "You look great!" I exclaimed. She frowned. "It feels kind of...weird." "But you look cool." I was wearing black low-rise cargojeans, a black pullover, and a black halter top over it. "We still have to do something about the hair, though..." I walked over to Katara and helped her put her hair into a simple ponytail. "Now, go see how you look while I get my stuff."
We met the boys at the front door about 15 minutes later. "Nice job, Darrin," I said, observing Zuko and Sokka's hat. "Thanks. Now as long as nobody asks about the scar and the gold eyes, we're fine," Darrin replied, shifting his skateboard to the other arm. I made a thumbs up sign. "Ok, now what's our cover?" Darrin took out an index card. "They're all exchange students from...Canada, Aang just got over leukemia, so he has to wear a hat to cover his baldness..."
So in the end, here's what we came up with:
Zuko: Jock, scar came from house fire
Sokka: Drama club
Katara: Science club
Jet: Part of our skateboarding group
Aang: Chess club, leukimia.
Odd, huh? Well, it's not like Attilla the Hun got sent through the computer. Things would have been a whole lot easier.
Darrin and I skateboarded to the bus stop, where our friends Kayla, Andy, Jon, and Robb waited. "Hey, guys!" I called. Then I turned around to the Avatar people. "Come ON." Jet was doing quite well on the skateboard Darrin had gotten from home, but the others didn't seem like walking was the best way of transport. "Ugh...walking stinks." Aang trudged along behind Katara, looking gloomy. Kayla gave me a high-five. "'Sup, Syd? Who's your new friends?"She craned her neck to peer over my shoulder."Hi!" Zuko shuffled away from the rest of us and stood there like an angry rock. Aang grinned and skipped over. "Hi! My name's A-" "His name's Adam. Darrin saved us just in time. "They're all exchange students from Canada." Kayla nodded and then craned her neck to see Sokka. "Oooh." I frowned.
"What?"
"He's cute."
"Oh, please." I was thankful that the bus came then. The Avatar people seemed fine until the bus doors swung open.
Katara screamed.
Zuko leaped back and almost fell into a cactus bush.
Sokka fainted.
Aang hid under his backpack.
Only Jet seemed okay with all this. I figured he was used to it, what with all that Fire Nation activity he got himself into. "Chill, dudes, it's just the bus." Jon climbed on. "Yeah, chill, before you blow our cover," Darrin agreed. They reluctantly got on the bus. Me and Darrin got on last so we could talk. "Well, that could have been worse," I remarked.
"Yeah, once we're on the bus, it's 30 minutes of silence."
"Good. But I can NOT understand why Jet always looks at me like that."
"Maybe he liiiiikes you..."
I punched his arm. "Don't even go there."
Sorry for the long wait, but I'm swamped.