Disclaimer; I don't own avatar. OO! And if anyone has any info on when avatar season 3 will start then please contact me!!!
So sorry for the wait!!!! But here ya go.
Chapter 7; Save Me
My head throbs as I try desperately to sit up. My entire body aches and I feel as if I am going to throw up. I'm in my room and Sokka is by my side.
"What… what happened?" I grab my forehead trying to stop the pounding.
"Good. You're up. Drink this." Sokka hands me a cup filled with tea, his face filled with concern. I gulp it down and lay back onto my bed.
"Why do I feel like crap…"
"You got drunk Katara. Remember the party? Does the word grinding like a stripper ring a bell?"
"Excuse me?"
"Last night at the party! Someone spiked your drink. I came home and found you tucked in bed. Jet must've taken you home. Seriously Katara you could've gotten hurt."
"I don't remember Jet taking me home. Actually, I don't remember coming home at all…"
"Could've been because you were so drunk. Look, just rest up and I'll get you some more tea." Sokka took the cup from my hands and left my room. I'm confused… I don't remember anything. The party I remember but how did I get home? The last thing I remember was dancing with Jet and then Zuko… wait. Zuko! Oh no. I swing my legs around and try to get up off the bed. My legs wobble as I hang onto the bedpost for support. I remember now. Zuko… the dancing… the drinks… Jet… I begin to tear and they pour out of my eyes. I collapse on the ground and hug my knees, rocking back and forth. It's pathetic. I truly am pathetic.
The door opens and Sokka walks in. He hears me sobbing and rushes to my aid.
"Katara!! Katara! What's the matter?! What happened?!" He stroked my back and lifted my head up.
"It was… He… I remember…" My head dropped once more and I just rocked back and forth sobbing.
"Who?! What happened? Did someone do something to you?!"
"Zuko… he sav-" Sokka cut me off short.
"Zuko!?!? What did that bastard do to you?!"
"He…"
"He what?! What happened?!"
"He… saved me…" I drifted back to sleep, the hangover once again taking affect.
---
"Katara… Katara… Katara!" I open my eyes once again, Sokka shaking me senseless to wake up. I remember my previous episode of delusion. Oh great. Well at least my head stopped throbbing.
"Katara, it's three in the afternoon. You fell asleep again. I need to talk to you."
"What do you want? I have nothing to say to you." I pull the covers over my head and hope he will leave me in peace.
"Katara, I need to know what happened last night. I'm your big brother. I need to protect you but how can I do that if you won't give me the facts?!" By then I had pulled the covers back.
"Protect me? Protect me?! Where were you when I needed you?! Where were you when he got me drunk?! Where were you when he took me into that bedroom?! Where were you when he tried to rape me?! Where was the protecting then?! Huh!? Huh?!" I screamed into his face as more tears fell. I seem to be doing that a lot lately.
"Katara, I… I didn't know…Who tried to rape you Katara?!"
"Why does it matter? Not like you can help anyway. The only one who actually came to save me was Zuko okay?! Just leave… I won't… I can't deal with this." I put my face in my hands and curled up into a ball. Sokka left the room leaving me to my sorrows.
---
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! I slam my hand down onto the snooze button and hope to god I was still dreaming.
5 minutes later…
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! No. I wasn't dreaming. I sigh and lift myself up out of bed. I can't believe I have to face… him. He's going to be there, at school. I can't. But I have to. But… I know who can protect me. Zuko will protect me. I'll be okay.
---
"Don't look at him… Don't look at him… Don't look at him…" I mumble to myself as I rush towards my locker, ignoring Jet's staring as I make my way through. I got through half of the day so far. The bell rings and I rush to go to gym, where Zuko was. I held back all of my tears, all of my rage, and all of my insecurities the entire day. Still, my friends as well as everyone else noticed my sudden change of mood and worried. I couldn't tell Suki or the others. If I said a word it would spark the tears. I change in the locker room, ignoring Azula's whining about being manager of the talent show dance.
I make my way to the gym floor and wait for the teacher to come out. Yue comes out of the locker room and puts on a worried face.
"Hey. You okay?" She mouths as the teacher blows her whistle signaling for all of us to walk out to the track. I find Zuko walking alone behind me. I catch him staring at me, but he turns away and once again puts on that cold stare that I know all too well. Why isn't he talking to me? I need to talk to him. I could feel my eyes start to tear up and I tried to hold back.
"Katara… Katara? Katara!"
"Huh? What?" Yue shook me and pushed me along.
"You stopped walking in the middle of the track! It looks like you're going to cry. What's the matter with you? What were you staring at?"
"Nothing… nothing…"
---
"Thank you." I whispered, my head down, staring at the white dough I've been squeezing in my hands the past ten minutes.
"For what…" Zuko stayed indifferent. He didn't even look up. Why isn't he caring?
"For everything… I can't… I can't thank you enough." I fidgeted with the dough as I struggled for the right words. I felt my eyes grow wet and I tried to stay calm.
"No problem…" He continued to prepare the food and never even looked at me.
"I don't know what I would've done… without you there. I was… so scared…"
"It'll be okay… There's nothing to worry about." I put the dough down.
"I just… Well… I was wondering… I… I really need someone to talk to… I know you might not want to but I was wondering if…"
"Can't…" My hopes dropped. I really needed to talk. I need him. He finally looks up from the food. "I… I can't… I'm really sorry."
"Oh… that's… that's okay… I mean… I was busy anyway so…" I tried to keep the tears in… It was just so hard. One tear rolled down my face and I lowered my head to quickly wipe it away.
"But!... but… I might be able to talk… on the phone that is… only if you need it…" I lifted my head.
"Really? Oh… well… I think I'll do that." I smiled for a moment and sighed in relief.
"Oh wait…" I looked up at him. His face… it didn't have the usual cold stare… his eyes… it almost looked… concerning. I'm just glad he cares… "Katara... you just can't call before 5 or after 7. I have wrestling. And… yeah…"
"Oh okay." We both went back to our jobs.
"Thanks…" We looked at each other. He looked relieved… satisfied? No… he just… was…
"Your welcome…"
---
I avoid all the glances, all the romours of things between me and Jet, between tension with me and azula.. and all the in between's. I rush home and stare at the clock, waiting for the hands to reach the anticipated number.
---
Finally. I grabbed the phone and bit my lip. Should I wait? I don't want to seem to desperate. 5:08… It's time. I sigh and dial his number. I hear it start to ring and my heart starts to pound.
"Hello?"
"Hey." I looked up and thanked god for letting him answer.
"How are you feeling?"
"I... well I'm… doing.. okay…" I didn't know how to start.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah… Well thanks for agreeing to talk to me… I mean… well I just really need someone there you know?"
"It's no big deal. Look, Jet's a jerk. He's a pervert who only wants to get into bed with you. I don't trust him."
"Me neither… Not after that… I can't believe I fell for him! He just… he was so nice and I… never knew what it was like… It just was going so fast…"
"I know… Forget him… He's going to move on. You should too. It's not worth your time."
"I know that… It's just… Everyone's talking about it… I hate seeing everyone looking down on me now. Jet's saying that I broke his heart and all that crap! I know. I can hear people whispering even though they refuse to believe it. Everyone's saying 'Poor Jet'… I hate him."
"You should. He had no right. He's just playing you. Never mind him. He doesn't deserve you anyway." Katara was… well she didn't know what she was. What words could describe her feelings? Nothing… How was Zuko so confident? His opinions… how were it that he knew everything he was going to say before saying it? It was like he knew everything and didn't hesitate at all… It was… new to me.
"The thought of it… I keep replaying that night over and over in my mind… Him bringing me into that room… the way… he touched me…" Tears started to stream down my face. I couldn't control them.
"It's not your fault."
"Yes it is!! I should have known better! I should have done something. I should seen through him…"
"Stop beating yourself up over this! It's not your fault. It's his fault for being such a perverted bastard. There was nothing you could have done."
"I knew he couldn't like me… He was pretending all along just to get me into bed… how could I have been so stupid…" I laid my head down and hugged my knees as I awaited his response.
"It's not that he didn't like you. He was probably too blinded by your looks to realize how good of a thing he had. Stop worrying over this. You deserve better than that."
"I guess…"
"Don't guess. I know this. You've got everything going for you and you just happened to meet the wrong guy. The right one will show up someday. You just need to give it some time." I stopped my sobbing. How does he always know the right thing to say?
"Whatever happened to us? We used to be such good friends… and then it was like we never talked anymore." There was a pause… Did I say something wrong?
"Sorry… Things came up…"
"Oh…"
"I… I don't want talk about it…"
"Oh… That's okay. I understand. I just wish we didn't drift apart… You know… I missed you. You left when I needed you the most…"
"I'm sorry… that I couldn't be there for you… I know your mom passed away… I didn't know how to talk to you again… I always thought I'd make it worse." Tears again started to trickle down my face.
"It was hard… I was a little withdrawn from the world… It's no surprise you didn't know how to talk to me. No one really knew how to talk to me… I know I can't be mad at you for that… I just wish we were still friends you know?"
"I know… I'm sorry…"
"Don't be… It's in the past…" A few moments of silence past. I hate awkward silences. "So… I saw you at the wrestling match the other day."
"Really?"
"Yeah. My friends and I go to a lot of the school's sports games and stuff… nothing really else to do. You were really good."
"Thanks. Well that guy was really bothering me the other day. He was just screwing with me so I thought I'd teach him a lesson." We laughed. After a while we actually started talking and laughing and joking around. It was like old times again and I finally felt comfortable with someone since… yeah…
"Really?! Haha! How can a 5 year old hospitalized kid talk you into playing Polly Pocket for five hours?!"
"Look at her cute little face and she'll make you do anything."
"Haha like my sister to my dad? Except she's only cute to him, to the rest of the world she's a monster."
"Azula? Really? She seems nice. And Sammy's not like that. She's sweet really, but you don't know how long five hours is until you've been playing with a plastic body that refuses to let you put clothes on it. Seriously it won't go on!!" He started to crack up laughing.
"Don't laugh! I had a plastic smell on my fingers for days!" We laughed. Then, I heard a noise on the other line.
"Oh shit… Sorry Katara but I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll see y-" click "-ou tomorrow… Bye…" I sighed and the corners of my mouth slowly made it's way into a smile. For the first time, I actually comfortably talked with someone… without any akwardness… I felt like I belonged. It was nice.
OMG THE LONGEST WAIT EVER!!! SOOO SORRY!!!! Been really busy.. Well anyway, it's about to get really intresting so stay on the edge of your seat!!! REVIEW PLEASEE!!!! THEY KEEP ME GOING AND REMIND ME I'M SUPPOSED TO UPDATE.. eheh I'm a very forgetful person… So REVIEW!