LAST WINTER
It was a cold December morning, a brisk breeze running in through the open window causing the light curtains to blow in the wind and the body next to her to shiver and hold her tighter. Korra lay awake looking up at the ceiling, hands behind her head, one leg out from under the blanket, the other entangled with another pair of soft legs.
"You left the window open again." The person next to her grumbled.
"Sorry." She didn't know why but the cold never bothered her, it was almost comforting in a way, she loved how refreshing it felt.
The colon on the alarm clock on the dresser across the room blinked, separating the red 6 and 59 from each other on the display. Getting up this early wasn't Korra's thing, especially not on a Saturday, but here, in this bed, waking up before her alarm was something she found herself doing more and more. She slowly pulled the comforter off herself and made her way out of bed, the arm that was previously draped over her torso falling to the mattress. Her movements around the vaguely lit room were slow and calculated, feeling her way around the foot of the bed to where her clothes were strewn about the floor, careful not to wake the person still in bed. She slipped her RCHS sweats over her boxers and threw on her sweater before moving back around the bed to get her phone from the night stand.
"Have fun." The person half grumbled unenthusiastically.
"Thanks." Korra replied in a hushed tone.
"Don't forget that party tonight, I need you there."
"Yup," Korra replied as she made her way to the door, "I'll catch you later."
"Mhmm," the person replied before falling back down on the pillow and pulling the blanket tighter around herself.
She opened the door slowly, bright neon light pouring into the room through the slight crack. Korra pulled her hood on as she left the dorm and closed the door, an attempt at reducing the amount of light getting to her eyes. The hallways were all empty, no one in their right mind would choose to be awake at this ungodly hour, no one except for the hockey team that is. She never liked early morning practices, but at least she didn't have far to go today as the dorms were right next to the athletic complex. The carpet below her feet muffled whatever sound she made as she walked, allowing for her get down to the lobby to go unnoticed by the rest of the students still in bed. She let out a yawn as she walked into the dormitory coffee shop, needing caffeine if she was to function this early in the morning. The clerk handed her the steaming beverage which she quickly slid into a protective sleeve, letting the sweet smell fill her nose as she handed over the appropriate change.
She sipped her drink as she pushed the door to go go outside, crunching the snow under her feet as she walked across the parking lot towards the complex. Big fluffy flakes lazily falling to the ground, coating tree branches and the tops of cars in a thick white layer. Korra enjoyed this time of year, Christmas was just around the corner and everyone seemed to go about their business with a little more jump in their step, everyone except for Varrick that is, Korra didn't think it was possible for him to walk around with anymore jump in his step than he already had.
"Goooooood morninggggg Korra!" He greeted her as she walked through the main entrance.
She smiled at him as she swallowed a sip of her French Vanilla, "Morning."
"Got the ice all cleaned up for ya incase you want to get out early." He stated proudly, hands on his hips and a smile on his face.
"Thanks, after I drink this I think I will." she replied gesturing to her cup.
"Not much of a morning person are ya sport?"
"Not in the slightest." She groaned, taking another sip of her coffee. "See ya later Varrick."
After a quick warm up skate and getting her skates sharpened, she was back in the locker room getting fully dressed for their actual practice. The large double doors opened and her teammates poured in one after the other, Opal finding her place in the cubby right next to hers. Unlike Korra, this was Opal's first year on the team, she and her family moved to Republic City at the beginning of the school year when her parents got offered jobs at RCHS. She found her calling for hockey a little later in life, but her natural skill still earned her a spot on the first line alongside Korra and Jinora.
"How was your warm up skate?" Opal asked as she began pulling off her winter layers.
"Just what I needed to wake me up." Korra smiled back.
She pulled on her jill and took a seat, "Maybe I should try it one day then, it sucks having to wake up so early on a Saturday."
Korra bent at the waist and reached down to tie her newly sharpened skates, "works like a charm."
"Any plans for the weekend?" The girl asked.
"Apparently Ila's dragging me to some party." Korra replied with a lack of excitement.
"Oh right, Ila! You guys are super cute together!" Opal exclaimed as she strapped on one of her shin pads.
"Meh, we're not really together… it's more of a fling."
"You're not?" Opal asked confused, "I for sure thought you guys were dating."
Korra sat back up, "Not really, she likes to make it look that way at school but we don't really have much in common. It's more of a popularity thing for her, like being with me will make her look better or something."
"Well you are well on your way to being captain next year." Opal nudged her side.
"Still a long way to go before that decision is made." Korra said as she slipped her shoulder pads on.
"I'm sorry though Kor, I thought you guys were really together. Guess I just fell for her rouse."
"Don't worry about it, you're not the only one. I'm not a fan of commitment anyways, it's casual and the sex is good. It's just the popularity part that pisses me off more than anything." She paused as pulled her practice jersey over her head, "On another note, you should totally come to the party tonight."
Opal stood up as she pulled her pants over her shin pads, "Sounds like it could be fun, but I can't. My parents want my siblings and I to stay focused on our studies until we get settled, which means no parties for the first semester at least."
"You sure? My buddies Mako and Bolin are coming and you should totally meet them."
"Bolin?" Her cheeks reddened, "As in Bolin with the super dreamy green eyes and adorable little curl of hair that hangs down in the middle of his forehead?"
Dreamy? Korra laughed, "Sounds like him… except the dreamy part."
Opal coughed in attempt to regain her composure, "Uh… I think he's in one or two of my classes, I've caught him looking at me a couples times but I've never said anything to him."
She's just as bad as he is. "Then you should definitely come tonight! Would be perfect."
"Ughhh." She fell into her seat, "I reeeaalllyyyy want to, but my parents would kill me. Rain check?"
"Sure." Korra smiled.
Practice went by smoothly, they were about to go on break for Christmas so it was more of a fun practice anyways. Coach Lin had them play various little games along with some relay races and ended with a scrimmage just to finish on a fun note. She started to crash once she got into the locker room, her French Vanilla did it's job for practice but she was now running on fumes. She couldn't wait to get home and take a nap in her own bed after having to be up at the crack of dawn.
After a quick shower she was dressed and ready to leave, saying bye to her teammates as the door closed behind her. She felt her phone vibrate as soon as she got to the main entrance, pulling it out of her pocket to see a picture of Bolin grimacing filling the screen. She swiped her thumb across her screen and lifted the device to her ear. "Morning Bo,"... "yeah yeah I'm done practice,"... "Bo it's like 10:00 can't we discuss your outfit for tonight when it's actually night?"... "ughh, fine...I'll be right over." She touched the red hang up icon and slipped the phone back into her pocket. God I'll never understand morning people.
She got to his place quick enough, having worn just her running shoes to the complex she didn't want to take too long and risk getting her socks wet from the snow. She raised her hand and knocked on the door.
"Morning Kor!" He wrapped her in a tight hug.
"You better have a pot of coffee brewing." She grumbled.
"Of course I do! What kind of friend do you think I am?!" He motioned for her to come inside.
"One that makes me come over at the ass crack of dawn." She kicked off her shoes and followed him into the kitchen.
"Korra it's 10 am… wake up already." He said over his shoulder as he poured the hot liquid into a large mug followed by a couple healthy scoops of sugar.
She took the mug from him, "Nothing should ever been done before noon on a Saturday."
"Well today there will be!" He grabbed her other hand and pulled her towards his bedroom where he already had a few options laid out.
She stood and stared at the options. "Bo you realize I am the worst person to be helping you with this right?"
"Yeah well I figured two heads are better than one! Now what do you think?"
"Um…" she pointed to one of the options, "the green v neck with those dark jeans."
"Perfect! That's what I was going to pick anyways." He said as began to put the other options away. "So what are you wearing?"
"I haven't even thought about it yet. I don't even want to go in all honesty, I'm only going because Ila wants me there."
"And because I'll be there right?" He replied confidently with a grin on his face, pointing back at himself with his thumb.
"Of course bud." She ruffled his hair.
"Hey!" He swatted her away and ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to place it back as it should be. "How's it going with her anyways? You slept there last night eh?"
"Yeah. I'm kind of getting fed up to be honest Bo. The other day I was standing talking to some of the sophomores and she came and pulled me away saying that I shouldn't be seen with them because it might ruin our image." She explained making air quotes with her fingers.
"What?! That's so dumb!"
"I know!" She sighed and collapsed onto his bed. "Hopefully it goes better tonight."
"Yeah, I hope so for you too bud." He sat on the edge of the bed.
"We still carpooling?" She lifted her head to look over at him.
"Of course! Ila's driving herself?" He asked.
"Yeah, she's going earlier with her friends or something."
"Cool!" He smiled back at her, "We'll jam out in the car just the three of us on the way down then."
"Perfect."
A short nap and a few hours later it was time to leave for the party. Korra put on a white v neck t-shirt that contrasted nicely against her tanned skin and was just tight enough that you could vaguely see the definition in her core, over it she wore her favorite navy blue cardigan with dark grey trim that she left unbuttoned. To finish off the look she threw on her comfiest pair of skinny jeans worn just low enough that you could see the band of her boxers if ever her shirt was to come up. She gave herself one final look over in the mirror before she heard her Dad call for her from downstairs.
"Korra! Bolin and Mako are here!"
She made her way downstairs, walking past her Dad lying back in his lazy-boy watching tonight's NHL game, "See ya later!"
"Be safe."
"Always." She slipped on her black vans and grabbed her coat off the hook.
"Be careful sweetie! Call if you need a ride!" Her mother called from the office down the hall.
"Will do!" She yelled back as she walked out the door.
"Hey Kor." Mako greeted her as she opened the back door on the passenger side.
Ding
"Hey Mako! Where were ya earlier today?"
Ding
"I was at the library studying."
"On a Saturday?! In the morning?!" She asked in disbelief.
Ding
"Yeah," He paused to check the side view mirror while his brother backed out of the driveway, "I'm trying to get some extra credits in to take some stress off next semester."
Ding
"But it's Saturday…"
Ding
"I think someone's trying to get a hold of you Kor, your phone keeps going off." Bolin cut in.
She sighed, "It's just Ila, she's been on my ass for the last hour about how I'm late. She's the one who wanted to be there early!"
Mako pinched the bridge of his nose, "I can see this is going to be a fun night…"
By the time they got there the party was in full swing, music blaring, people hooking up, various drinking games going on in all the rooms. They flung their coats on a bench as they walked into the foyer as it seemed everyone else had done before going into the main part of the house. They had to carefully navigate themselves through the packed house, squeezing between people in conversation, dodging objects being thrown across rooms, and stepping around furniture as Korra stopped to reply to the various 'hey Kor!' or 'Korra! You made it!'. Through the chaos going on in the living room Korra spotted a table with clean red solo cups. She grabbed Bolin by the arm and dragged him towards it, anxious to get on the same level as everyone else.
She took two of the cups and began to pour some of the delicious golden liquid into it, topping it off with a splash of coke. "Here ya go bud," she said handing a cup to Bolin.
He hesitantly took the cup, "But I'm supposed to be DD… unless..." He looked back at his brother with puppy dog eyes.
Mako rolled his eyes, "Fine." He put his hand out, "Give me the keys."
"Yes! You're the best Mako!" The younger brother exclaimed as he placed the keys in his hand.
"Yeah yeah. You guys owe me though."
"Absolutely." Korra smiled before taking a large gulp of her drink. "Flip cup?"
"Yes!" The larger boy turned and waved for them to follow him, "I think there was a game about to start when we walked in."
The three made their way to what Korra assumed was the dining room of the house. There were no chairs, only a table in the middle of the room with a bunch of people lined on either side of it.
"Hey Kor! You in?!" One of their friends called from the other side of the table as the trio got closer.
"Hey! Yeah me and Bo have next."
They played a couple games, and after a one to one record needed to change strategies—apparently having Bolin as an anchor wasn't the best plan. They won their next two games with their new formation, the alcohol officially starting to hit Korra.
"Rematch?!" One of the boys asked.
"Aren't you guys sick of losing?" She laughed.
She pulled off her cardigan and slung it over her shoulder, only to feel it sliding off. She turned to see Ila slipping her arms through the sleeves and pulling it onto her shoulders, wrapping her arm around Korra's when she was done. "Yeah," she paused to peck Korra on the cheek, a grin on her lips as she pulled away, "there's no way you guys are beating my girlfriend." Her hand slipped down Korra's arm to interlock her fingers with tanned ones, "Come on babe, we've got people to see," she pulled Korra away from the table.
"Ila what the fuck?" Korra asked once they were out of earshot from the group.
"Calm down," she ran her fingers through Korra's hair, "I was saving you from those losers."
Korra pulled her hand from the girl's grip. "You mean my friends."
"Fine, friends, whatever. Now come with me, I want you to meet my friends from out of town." She grabbed Korra's hand once again and pulled her off to another crowded room of the house.
"Hey guys," She tugged Korra closer, snaking an arm around her waist while she rested her other hand on her abdomen, "this is my girlfriend Korra."
There was a group of them sitting on the couch, four girls who seemed to share Ila's style and what Korra thought to be their boyfriends sitting next to them.
One of the boys nodded towards her, "Sup?"
Sup? Really? Who says that… "Hey." She replied unenthusiastically.
"She's leading scorer of the school's hockey team." Ila boasted.
"Sick deal bro." The same boy continued as he nodded in approval.
"Uh… thanks."
A loud commotion stole everyone's attention from the room where Ila and Korra had just come. Those who were playing games before had now backed away from the table, alcohol dripping off the edge and onto the floor. Apparently someone nudged the table and caused everyone's drinks to spill. It took them a few minutes to clean everything up but the game was back on in no time.
"What noobs." A different boy spoke this time.
"Right?!" Ila laughed.
"Aren't they the people you were hanging with earlier?" A girl with a nasally voice asked as she half-chuckled.
"Yeah they are." Korra crossed her arms, "and they aren't—"
"Such a sweetheart isn't she? Sticking up for those nobodies." Ila interrupted her as she tucked a piece of hair behind Korra's ear.
Korra was getting angrier by the second, her fists balling tighter and tighter.
"You see that kid in the green v neck?" Ila pointed in the direction of the table, "what's his name again babe?"
She better watch what she says next. "Bolin." She let out through gritted teeth.
"Yeah Bolin," she turned back to her friends, "he's the worst one! The other day he—"
Korra pulled herself away from Ila, storming off before she got any more angry.
"Everything okay?" She heard that same nasally girl ask Ila as she walked away.
"Yeah, she's just really protective of those losers for some reason."
Korra stopped dead in her tracks. She fucking didn't. She turned around and headed straight for the blonde haired girl, hands in fists at her sides. "What the fuck did you just say?!"
Everyone around them stopped what they were doing, eyes all on Korra and Ila waiting to see what would happen next.
"Baby relax," she tried to grab Korra's arm but was unsuccessful, "I was just saying—"
"NO!" Korra cut her off, "I'm so done with your shit Ila!"
She felt a hand grab her forearm, "Kor you okay?" Mako's voice did nothing to calm her.
"Is that him?" A different girl from the couch asked Ila as she pointed at Bolin who was standing just behind his brother.
Ila turned to face the girl, trying to hide her smile behind her hand as she nodded in agreement.
"We are so fucking done Ila!"
"Don't worry guys, she's just joking." Ila assured her friends, playing the situation off.
What more do I have to fucking say?! "I am so fed up of your fake shit! I am done with you!" She felt Bolin's hand wrap tighter around her forearm.
Judging by Ila's now blank stare, it was finally starting to sink in. She felt a slight pang of guilt in her chest for handling this in front of everyone, but making fun of Bolin is something you just don't do around Korra.
Mako tugged on her arm, "Come on Kor, let's go."
She stared at Ila a while longer, her eyes still full of anger. She knew she'd better go before anything got worse, she gave in and turned to follow the boys to the door.
She could hear Ila talking to her friends as they left, "She's just having one of her pity parties. She'll be back."
Oh my fucking god! Korra tried to free herself from Mako and turn back, finding it hard to out-power the taller boy as he kept urging her towards the door, "Don't even think about it Kor."
She tried to compose herself, he was right, it would be better if they just left. She grabbed her coat from the couch and made her way into the foyer, fucking Ila thinking she is better than everyone else. We're so done. The inner material of her coat felt cold on her arm as she slipped on the sleeve. Shit, she poked her head back into the main part of the house, "and I want my sweater back!" Mako pulled her the rest of the way out of the house after the words escaped her mouth.
"Fun night indeed… " Mako sighed as they walked out into the snow.
"I'll get your s-s-sweater for you tomorrow buddy!" Bolin said as he hung his arm around her shoulders.
"It's my favorite cardigan!"
"I snow!… I mean know… hic…" Bolin was clearly more drunk than she was. He looked at her with a moment of clarity from his drunken buzz, "thanks Kor."
She gave him a soft punch on the arm, "Don't worry about it buddy," she smiled, "nobody makes fun of you except for me."
"Damn s-straight!" He shouted back, his stutter returning. "Well y-you're not… but you k-know."
Korra couldn't help but laugh, "I'll let you have that one bud."
The ride home was spent enduring drunk Bolin attempt to match key with the songs that came on the radio, at which he failed miserably but at least it was entertaining. Even Mako was laughing, always serious, brooding Mako, Korra couldn't believe it.
Bolin passed out just before they pulled into Korra's driveway, the alcohol had won and he was officially done for the night. After all the times he's carried her out of the bar when she was piss drunk, she couldn't really say anything, but she did settle for ruffling his hair again as she got out.
"You sure you're okay Kor?" Mako asked before she closed the door.
She looked back into the car, "Very okay, I actually feel so much lighter. It was a long time coming."
"Not gonna lie, I'm happy you're rid of her."
She smiled at him, "thanks Mako."
He backed out of the driveway and headed down the road, Bolin still passed out in the passenger seat. Ila couldn't be more wrong, she had the best friends in the entire world and she couldn't be more happy.
Korra slept well that night, waking up the next morning fully rested and hangover free. Maybe I should have broken up with her a long time ago. If you can really call it a break up… can you break-up with someone who you weren't really dating? It was just a fling afterall. She snuggled into her pillow, not wanting to lose a single minute of time in her comfy bed, especially after having to wake up so early yesterday. There was no way she was moving, today was going to be a 'stay in bed all day' kind of day. She breathed in deep as the cold air came in through the window, circling around in her lungs and coming back out her nose as she closed her eyes, definitely not getting up.
Ding
Her eyes opened, staring at the device on her nightstand, debating whether or not she wanted to reach over for it. I haven't checked in with the boys yet… She stuck her arm out from under the comforter and picked up the device, squinting at the light coming from the screen. Ila? What the fuck does she want. She slid her thumb across the screen;
Ila: I left you sweater outside.
Outside? What the hell? She locked her phone and set it back down, not caring enough to do anything about the message.
"Korra!" She could hear her parents walking around downstairs. In fact the more she listened the more she it sounded like they were running, frantic footsteps moving about the house.
"Mhmmm…" she groaned, "What?"
"Do you have anything to do with what going on outside?!"
Again with the outside… ughhh. Reluctantly she got up, slowly edging the sheet off herself and she forced herself up to a sitting position, letting her feet touch the floor. She looked towards her window, seeing nothing but flakes falling, meaning she'd actually have to fully get up in order to actually see what was happening. She finished her yawn and grabbed her phone before moving, dragging her feet across the floor as she made her way to the window, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. When they finally focused she couldn't believe what she was seeing, her eyes couldn't have opened any wider, and her jaw couldn't have dropped any lower. WHAT THE FUCK?! There, in the middle of her front yard, was a bucket shoved in the snow with flames spouting out of it. Her father ran out second later, fire extinguisher in hand, spraying the flames with the white powder. When the smoke cleared, the fire was out, nothing but a black mess left in the bucket. Her father reached down to retrieve something from it, holding it up as Korra watched on. What he held in his hand was the remnants of a charred, one sleeved navy and gray cardigan, a hole burnt right through the center of it.
Holy fuck. She lifted her phone and thumbed to her message with Bolin…
Korra: You are never going to believe this…
