Chapter 3
Toph and Aang seemed to have become fast friends, Katara thought bitterly. The two had been inseparable since they'd met. 'Why am I jealous? I only just met him a few days ago?' She was sitting a few tables away from Toph and Aang, unconsciously tearing apart her napkin. For three days now, Katara had been eating lunch by herself. Her temper had been rising steadily ever since. She looked past some people to see the two friends, laughing at a joke Toph was telling. She cupped her hand around the napkin and was squeezing it to death. Her glare moved when she felt someone bump into her. "Hey!" she yelled, her anger now slipping. Standing up, she looked at the brown-haired boy with amber colored eyes. "Zuko." She mumbled with surprise written all over her face. He turned toward her, the red scar over his left eye. "What do you want?" he asked, annoyed. She crossed her arms. "You bumped into me so I want an apology." He raised an eyebrow. He could tell she was mad, but not at him. "Listen here, peasant, just because your boyfriend's ignoring you for someone else doesn't mean you can take out your petty frustrations on me ." His voice was rough and sharp. She moved closer to him, hands clenched. " You're lucky I don't make you eat your words here and now, Zuko. You pompous ass." To her surprise, he laughed. " I know what you are, Katara." he growled, leaning closer to her. " You think you're being sneaky, believing that no one will find out. But. I. Know." He puncuated the last few words. Katara fought the wave of panic that threatened to over take her. " I don't have any idea what you're talking about." she threw back,hoping her voice didn't betray the dread she felt. His mouth next to her ear, Zuko breathed the words that nearly knocked the air out of her lungs. " You're a water-bender." 'He's guessing. He has to be. There's no other way he can know. I've been too careful.' " Pretty words, Zuko. I'm surprised that someone like you could even form a coherent sentence, let alone come up with a crazy accusation like that." Zuko reached up, maybe to grab her out of anger, Katara didn't know and didn't wait to find out. She grabbed ahold of his hand and used all her strength to flip him over, slamming him to the ground. She placed her foot on his chest, bending and resting her arms on her knee as she stared down on him. " I'd keep your hands to yourself next time, if I were you." she told him, smiling. " I'm not quite as helpless as you first thought." With that said, she left the stunned Zuko and joined Toph and Aang at their table. Aang was staring at her with his mouth agape. " Wow, Katara. That was awesome." Katara blushed and laughed with the others, but her mind was in turmoil. ' Did Zuko really know that she was a water-bender? And if he does, will he tell someone?'
Though her jealousy had been temporarily forgotten during her fight with Zuko, walking with Toph and Aang after school the same day, it came back to her. " So, twinkle toes, you should come over to my house sometime and I'll totally kick your butt at DDR." Aang scoffed. " Bring it on. I've got moves." He brushed off his shoulder. Katara couldn't help but laugh. ' Get over yourself, Katara. Aang isn't your boyfriend. Let him like whoever he wants to like.' Trying to put aside her feelings, Katara joined her friends in the conversation, bragging about her Dance Dance Revolution skills as well. " Hey, Katara, what was that whole thing with Zuko about anyways?" Toph asked. " Oh, I don't know. He was just being a jerk." she replied, biting her lip. Toph raised her eyebrow but didn't say anything. They walked with Aang to his temple, oohhing and aahhhing over his cool home. Then they waved him off and Katara and Toph headed to Katara's house. " Just being a jerk, huh?" Toph asked, breaking the silence that had followed them through most of their trip back to Katara's. Katara shrugged, remembered Toph couldn't see it and sighed. " He said he knows that I'm a...you know...a bender." she whispered the last word. " How could he know, though?" Toph asked, echoing the same question she had been asking herself. " I'm hoping he was just grasping for something to rag on me about." she replied, hope sounding in her voice. " Yeah, but that's a pretty scary accurate guess." ' Thanks, Toph. There went that little spark of hope I had.' " Where would he have figured out you were a water-bender?" Toph pondered. " Shhhh. Keep your voice down." Katara looked around the empty road. " You don't want anyone to over hear you. Especially not anyone from the Fire Nation." Toph laughed. "I'm not an idiot, Katara. If someone was around, I'd know and if they were, I wouldn't say anything." Katara sighed. "Thanks, Toph. I forgot about that."
Aang walked inside and put his backpack and shoes inside the door. "I'm home!" he yelled. His voice seemed to echo in the temple. "Welcome home, Aang. Did you talk to your friend?" Gyatso asked, walking in the room holding a broom. "Yeah, and she told me a bunch of stuff about Katara." He began naming off certain things. "Her favorite color is blue, she hates papaya, she is very strong willed, and.." His voice fell low and he looked to the ground. "And she likes this guy, Jet." Gyatso patted the couch next to him where he sat down. "Aang slumped in the seat and rested his head in his hand. "Gyatso, this guy is a jerk, from what I heard around school. He's even in some gang called the 'Freedom Fighters'. He stood up, stretched and told his mentor he was going to take a nap. He walked in his room and plopped onto his bed. 'Katara. Why do you like this Jet guy? I wish I could tell you I like you.'