...And I'd like to mention that thanks to Disclaimer Bot 57-0A63, I can't be sued for copyright infringement or anything similar to that. Why would people care that I'm using their characters for a fanfiction? I should've just bought a PS3 instead...they're cheaper...
Not Another…
Avatar Highschool AU (part deux)
"A cat…it's not? Uh, then a jackal?! It's a jackal, right?" The laughter of the classroom proved too much for the chalk wielder, and he finally slammed the small white black board utensil onto the metal chalk grooves.
"Time's up Sokka." Katara pointed at the small sand filled hour glass. "Please tell me that wasn't supposed to be…you know?"
"What? C'mon guys...what has four legs?!" the mohawked teen yelled frustrated.
"That seriously doesn't help at all man." One student looked up from his poker game.
"Stay out of this Ping…" Sokka groaned back, "And stop staring at my sister!" Shooting off a wise-ass grin, the poker player returned to his game. "It's supposed to be Appa…"
"That does not look like a St. Bernard!" Katara said in scoffing disbelief. The bell rang through Sokka's "witty" remark, and everyone went to fix the desks and chairs back to position.
"All right class, I guess that's it for today." The bald teacher stood up from his desk up front. Hen looked out the large open windows, and cracked a smile at the effect that the bright sun had on the landscape. "Have a great weekend, and don't forget that your take-home tests are due on Tuesday, not Monday." Aang himself jumped to his feet, happy that he had "survived" his first week as a Teacher's Aid. "Wow Sokka…nice jackal!"
Those left in the class laughed once again, while Sokka felt even worse if Aang couldn't recognize his own dog. In the busy hallways, the GAang sans Toph swiftly moved towards their destinations until a well manicured hand came in front of the boys.
"Oh, hey 'Ms. Haiku'!" Sokka nervously yelped. "You know that whole…thing during your poetry class; embarrassing you in front of the girls…you knew I was joking around, right?" He chuckled awkwardly at the chance meeting and slowly slid behind the bald health teacher.
"Hey there Ms. Ling, how's your aunt?" Aang smiled at the tall English teacher.
"My Aunt Wu is fine, Aang. And Sokka…
I have no qualms boy,
Embarrassment? There was none…
…you want detention?
"Right," Sokka chuckled again. "See you, Aang!" going as fast as he could without running, Sokka rushed off to his next class, and as far away from the English teacher as possible.
"Anyways, Aang…" Ms. Ling lightly laughed to herself, "speaking of detention, I have a favor to ask of you." She paused just before the period bell rang, and the two 'teachers' continued their way down the now quickly emptying hall. "You remember yesterday's 'food fight', right?"
Aang nodded in agreement. So much dessert…wasted… his inner monologue whined.
"Well, with some investigation, and intuition…" she started. Stopping in front of a classroom door known to most as "detention inn", she opened the door and urged the young Aang to look in. "He claims that he had no accomplices, and without any further proof, he's the only one we have." A wild haired boy was found sleeping on a group of desks bunched together, and his snoring could easily be heard.
"What'd he do that got him an in school suspension, and after school detention?"
Yesterday…Cafeteria…
"C'mon, the lunch supervisor is coming close…just get out of here!"
"M-MY…CABAGGES!?!"
"…you'll have to look after him in your classroom after school however; we need this room for prospective teacher's interviews."
"Uh, alright." Aang said. The door was closed once again, and Aang found that he'd be grading papers at school again, rather than at home with his dog Appa. "Guess I'll be late to Sokka's sleepover…"
"So, what plans do you have for tonight, sis?"
"For the last time Sokka, I don't know who Toph invited to her sleep-over. Stop asking." Classes had more or less passed like clockwork, and the end of school had already arrived. "I'll see you Saturday, Sokka." Katara closed her locker. With a second backpack in tow, she waved goodbye to her brother and cheerfully left to her first 'girly' night out since the spa incident.
Still shuffling through his locker, Sokka sifted through what books he would leave at school, but was most excited by being able to leave his jersey at school as well. "Well Zuko, the part-ay is still on." He chirped.
"Yeah." the amber eyed boy responded. "Are you sure that you can get the cheerleaders over? I could've sworn that they were out of town for a martial arts competition…"
"Don't worry about, Tony…the tiger…" Sokka smoothly added, "Trust your good ol' friend Sokka, huh?"
"That's one thing I'd never, ever do…" Zuko joked. Receiving a full palm slap on his back, Zuko pushed Sokka down the hallway, nearly toppling over a girl.
"Whoops, sorry!" he held onto her shoulders for balance.
"N-no problem?" she stuttered out. Casually brushing off the wrinkles from her blouse, Sokka turned back towards Zuko and chased him all the way outside the school building.
"Ooh, that cute lacrosse player copped a feel, huh Huan?"
"What? Sh-shut up Lian!"
"You look different Toph…" The large mattress 'foofed' as the girl shifted her weight. "Why the change?" For the past few minutes, the blue eyed teen had been toying around with the wide-rimmed black glasses, unsure to look through the lenses for fear of potential blindness.
"What are you talking about?" the smaller green eyed girl responded. "I don't need a reason to change how I look…" she returned to her computer screen, using the wireless mouse like a pen for the online game she was currently playing.
"Yeah, but the Toph that I know wouldn't need to change at all!" Katara's voice was a lot closer now, more specifically hovering over the small girl's shoulder. "How did that guy think that that was a bison? That looked more like a peanut!" she commented on the drawing abilities of the previous player. "So what's the deal Toph?"
"Nothing…" she again responded. "It's your turn Katara." Moving out of the comfy computer chair, the tanned teen took her place and instantly began drawing with the mouse. The raven haired preteen returned to her friend's previous spot and instantly jumped onto the bed. Looking up towards the ceiling, Toph had always wondered about her parent's choice for mirrors.
Every time she would wake up, she would be instantly greeted by her own reflection staring back down. Wearing a yellow and green garment the same as hers, the reflection sported mussed raven black hair that when not squished into a bun, would be her entire height. She wasn't anything to really 'write home to mom about', other than the fact that she was filthy stinking rich! Her small and petite frame encompassed the look of a child, and her big eyes did nothing to change that fact. Of course, the color of those eyes was nice; green so pale, that at some lights could look a mysterious blue.
Of course, they were nothing as astonishing as Katara's. Hers were the type of blue similar to a romantic pool on a summer's night, endlessly reflecting the moon's light…
Geez…I've been reading too many manga… Toph scoffed at herself.
Still, compared to her small and childish body, Katara was quite a looker. She was much taller, with chestnut brown hair that was just long enough to reach her backside. Her dark skin complexion also gave Katara bonus 'exotic' points with a lot of the guys, even at her private school!
Whatever… A second Toph interrupted, Pity parties are for wusses…I don't need to look like some Sugar Queen! I still have him…
"…Hey Toph!?"
"What?"
"I asked you 'how are your contacts?' Didn't you say that you had a burning sensation before?"
"Yeah," Toph sat up on her bed. "But that was before. It doesn't hurt anymore, and dad said that it would be like that at first. Is it my turn already?" she walked back over to the computer and careful steps.
"Hey, who's that?" Katara and Toph's shared pseudonym, Seras007, seemed to have attracted a player's interests.
"I think that's 'peanut' guy…what does A.S.L. mean?" Katara queried.
"Give me that." Toph quickly grabbed the wireless keyboard. "He's trying to hit on you via internet…don't you know…" she halted herself when she remembered who she was talking to. "…never mind." Typing as fast as anyone her age was expected to; the small girl played the wireless keyboard with a musical array of clicks and clacks before her turn."
"Aww Toph, that's just unnecessary…" Katara groaned at her friend's choice of words.
"What? This girl's sleepover just started, and you know what they say: 'girls just wanna have fun!' Isn't that right, Smeller?"
"I already told you what my name was, Toph…" a third girl brooded while watching TV.
"Hel-lo-o-o…and who's this?" Toph said with excitement in her voice. Another name had privately messaged Seras007…Artymis728.
"Wow man…seriously, that does not look like a bison at all."
"Aw, give me a break 'bandana kid'...besides, I got a B+ on my last art test!" the blue eyed boy shot back.
"Yeah, out of pity!" The bandana wearing teen gave off a series of guffaws, making even the stone faced Zuko laugh because of its obscene nature.
"Yeah, yeah…why don't I get us some more grub and you do some drawing Mr. Artiste!" Getting up from the black computer chair, Sokka placed as many empty soda cans into the popcorn bowl and made his way back upstairs.
"Hey, c'mon." the green eyed teen jumped to take the host's spot and speedily began to type.
"A.S.L.? You're not serious, are you Haru?" Zuko complained. What the longhaired boy was doing was immature and annoying at best, but really not enough to intervene.
"Hold on, I just got a response." Haru interjected. Opening the response with a loud ping, both boys read with sheer astonishment, what Seras007 dared to send back. The squeal of wood from the stairs alerted them to someone's approach, and for the oddest reason, Zuko chose that time to panic.
"C'mon, close the window!" he urged the other boy.
"Are you kidding? When's the next time that we'll get a chance like this?" Haru quickly jotted down the note with increasing pressure to Zuko, until he finally closed the private message.
"Hey guys, what'd I miss?" Sokka's voice muffled. In his hands was the large popcorn bowl with cans of soda cradled in his arms, as well as three bags of chips in the grip of his teeth.
"Nothing at all, Soak…Pass me a beer!" As inconspicuous as possible, Haru passed the ripped piece of paper to Zuko, who in turn shoved it into his pants pocket.
"Here's a root for you" Sokka tossed a can, "and here's a coke for you." he tossed to Zuko. "So, is it 'MyNam3I5L33's' turn, yet?"
"Nah, game's over for now…"
"There's a ten minute break…" Zuko finished. "So we've got some time to kill." He tried to take a sip of his coke, but was nudged by Haru's arm.
"Show him, Zuko!" he urged.
"Why should I show him?" the amber eyed teen shot back
"Show me what?" Sokka asked with a mouthful of popcorn.
"Nothing...nothing at all!" Zuko nervously laughed.
"Yeah right, Scarface…spill it!"
"You did not, dirt boy!" No one knew who threw the first punch, but like at Lexington and Concord, it sparked a fist fight like no other. Wrestling each other onto the ground, Zuko and Haru rolled all over, bumping into tables and walls while grappling each other for dominance to strangle the other's neck.
Having enough of the childish display, Sokka began to rapidly shake up his can of coke. Aiming carefully, the mohawked teen shot out the burst of foamy coke at the feuding teens which much effectiveness.
"Alright kids, enough of that!" It was pure luck that the two had rolled onto the tiled portion of the floor, because it would've been hell to clean a coke stained carpet. "Man Longshot, you couldn't call me or anything?" Sokka asked the long faced boy who sat reading a book on the far side of the room. "Geez, guys...take it down a notch…" He finally took a sip from his coke while the other two coughed from foam inhalation. "You guys just met each other a week ago, and people would think that you two were a married couple or something." Sokka grumbled as he retook his seat.
"I think we had a bit too much 'internet fun' for one night." In a swift motion, Sokka closed the 'PaintChain' Spark-powered game window, and turned off his computer as well. The now calmed down and embarrassed Zuko and Haru returned with towels on their heads just as the final noises from the computer died down.
"As for you, 'Silent Bob'…" he said again towards the quiet boy, "you owe me one word for inviting you here. At least one word."
Finishing off his drink with one last sip, Sokka managed a huge belch that lasted three seconds. "So...how did you get that scar, anyways?"
"Why are we doing this again?" a young voice sighed out. "I should really get back to grading these papers…"
"C'mon Aang, don't be a spoilsport." A ping noise caught the two boys' attention. "See, they said something back!" The wild haired boy's smile pushed his toothpick to the side. "Ooh, it looks like they're interested in 'your' proposal…Artymis…"
"No, you come on…one week into school and you already get yourself stuck in detention. You're supposed to be sitting at your desk right now and as your teacher-"
"Can it teach…or, don't you know that this is Katara?" Intrigued by the turn of events, Aang's boyish personality couldn't help but be curious.
"K…no. Jet, you're in detention for a reason, and you have to go back to your seat!"
Ignoring the young teacher, the wise guy, Jet took out his cell phone instead. After inputting some text, his phone beeped with response just seconds later. Without even looking at it himself, he showed Aang the screen and what it said:
From: Smellerbee
Toph and Katara jus sent nother message to u…dun think its real…
"Well what do you know; they did send me another message…" Jet said with a smile. Just barely hesitating, Aang managed to keep control over his growing curiosity.
"No…Jet…go back to your seat, or else I'll call an administrator!" Planning ahead, Jet opened up his backpack and took out a pie tin. He peeled off the aluminum foil to reveal a yellowish tart.
"There's more than one reason why I sacked the cafeteria kitchen…" he smugly said.
"I-is that…egg custard in that tart?" the young teacher's will was slowly breaking against his will.
"It might be…" coaxing the almost drooling Aang away from the computer, Jet was close to his goal.
"Oh, no you don't!" A large hand gripped onto the wise guy's shoulder. "Hey Pathik, hurry up with that gunk…the kid's not going to make it for long. Keeping both of his hands on the boy's shirt sleeves, the large southern man waited impatiently for the elder math teacher to arrive.
"It is not 'gunk', Hue…" The Pakistani man advised. "It's Onions and Bananas…it's healthy for you!"
"Whatever Guru, just…shove the gunk into the kid's mouth already." The southern economy teacher sat Jet into a student's seat, and then hurriedly rushed Aang towards the other teacher to be spoon fed.
"I just told you…it's-"
"…Onions and bananas…" Aang said. "…but strangely, something else. Pickles?" Both teachers looked towards Pathik for an answer, and all he did was shrug his shoulders.
"Hey, is this PaintChain?" Hue heartily laughed. "Yeah, kids today…I know a game just like this…it's called Image-ary! Anyways, the computer's all yours, Aang-kun…" The two other teachers walking around suddenly stopped in their tracks. "Well I'll be…guess I've been reading too many confiscated manga."
"You're lucky we came by to see you just before we left, Aang." Pathik said in all his wisdom. "I'll leave this for you just in case." He handed the young Teacher's Aid his bowl before he and Hue left the room.
"Wow…that was close…" Aang sighed out. Just as he sat in the teacher's chair, a new message from Seras007 popped up.
"Hey, if that's Seras…just to tell you; that's Katara's SN." Jet smugly informed.
Oh no! Aang panicked. He moved the mouse as fast as he could to close the window, and breathed a sigh of relief when the spreadsheet with the grades was the only thing on the screen. Looking around the near empty classroom, Aang's gray eyes quickly zoned in on the pie tin.
I don't think a little taste would hurt…
"So…can I leave yet?" Jet tried to ask sweetly.
"Hmmm, no…" Aang replied. He considered his response was even sweeter…since his was full of egg custard. "Delicious." He mumbled in sugary happiness.
"And that's why I wear this bandana day in, and day out…" the long haired teen finished his story.
"Alright…I don't mean to be rude," Zuko did his best to stay polite, "but….what did that have to do with anything?" He looked nervously between the green eyed and blue eyed boys back and forth. He even took a glance at the quiet long faced boy still reading his book, 'All quiet on the western front'.
"We're just trying to make you less nervous, Tony." Sokka explained. "Your scar is obviously a touchy subject for you, which is why we've decided to tell our sob stories first.
"Yeah…don't bother…" Zuko began to say. A hand grabbed onto his wrist and pulled him back down.
"C'mon Zuko, its Longshot's turn over there; he even said he doesn't mind if we told you…well, he nodded in agreement anyway." The scarred teen retook his seat on the carpet, but not before looking towards the quiet teen again.
"Why does everyone call him 'Longshot'?"
"Are you kidding me Zuko? You seriously need to brush up on your sports if you don't want to be made fun of." Haru informed. "He's our football team's secret weapon."
"Coach Bumi's known for a lot of unconventional plays for our sports teams." Sokka added. "Now that I think of it, isn't he the lacrosse and basketball team coach as well?"
"And I think he advises for the sports clubs too…"
"Weird." Sokka leaned in his comfy computer chair. Haru moved towards the boy in question and plopped into a nearby bean bag chair. "Anyways, thank's to Silent Bob over there, we just barely managed to be township champions from last year's game. 30 – 27. That was one crazy game."
"Since he has some vow of silence, or something," Longshot subtly glanced up from his reading material to watch Haru speak, "Coach Bumi came up with a special team consisting of mainly Jet, the Duke, Pipsqueak, and other big guys I don't know." Longshot returned his brown eyes to his book, but jumped just slightly when he felt his pants vibrate.
"So…your turn." Haru directed towards Zuko.
"You're going already, Longshot?" Sokka muffled through a mouthful of popcorn. The boy nodded in answer, and returned the book to the dusty shelf. "Alright, I'll see you at next week's game then?" The boy nodded again, and then gave a similar gesture to the other two boys. As the creaks of the stairs faded, Zuko dearly hoped that they had forgotten all about his scar.
"So?" Then again, Zuko wished he could sometimes.
"Didn't you say that you'd go after 'Longshot', Sokka?" Zuko barely managed to fumble from his lips. He could only help but to smile when a look of aggravation appeared on Sokka's face, and grabbed a handful of popcorn to eat. "Well?" He asked before shoving the handful into his mouth.
"Yeah, yeah…" Sokka gave up. "Just let me get another coke, alright?" As he left the room tohead upstairs, Zuko jumped at the sudden feeling of a hand in his pants pocket.
"Hey man, dinner and a movie first!"
"Funny." Haru responded while he handled the piece of paper. He walked over to the computer desk and picked up the house phone. The beeps of the phone concerned Zuko, knowing fully well what his friend was doing. "Now, let's see if 'Seras' was messing with us or not…".
"Gah…" a long haired girl yawned out. "How long do we have to be here?"
"No worries Mai…Azula said that she'd pick us up here, remember?" A perky voice answered.
"That's not what I asked, Ty Lee…" she sighed.
"Oh, I hope Azula doesn't mind that I had some of her 'Energizing Tea', but I'm already so excited about tonight. Speaking of which, it'll be so fun at tonight's party! I hope that there's going to be people that I know, or at least, people that are nice to meet! Maybe that cute lacrosse attack player will be there, or maybe that quiet quarterback! You know, I picked out this cute shirt that shows my midriff, but it's still nice and not smutty at all! Along with these cute pair of jeans that's really form fitting—you would look really hot in it instead of your grouchy long skirt—try to guess what color the shirt is? It's…"
Groaning under her breath, Mai slouched just a bit more on the bus stop bench. She rested her pointy chin in the palm of her well manicured hands and moped as her 'friend' continued her excited rant without interruption.
Why do I even bother?… She sighed again.
"C'mon Toph, spill it already." Katara continued to prod her younger friend. "Losing the glasses, the sudden use of makeup…who are you trying to impress?"
It was no short of a miracle that she and Katara were the only ones in the room, since Smellerbee—or Summer as was her birth name—had left just minutes earlier. Of course, not before she spilled her background against the heckling onslaught that was Katara.
Apparently Smellerbee…or Summer as she was previously known, had lived in downtown Bay City with her parents in a small apartment like Katara's when she was younger. 'Jet', 'Longshot', and the rest of the gang simply known as the 'Freedom Fighters' all lived in the same building along with her. Unlike most of the gang, she could vividly remember her parents; the way they looked, acted, and even how they made corny jokes.
Unfortunately as well, she could vividly remember the origins for such a nickname such as Smellerbee. (On one Halloween night, her parents had dressed her as a stinkfly…but the thorax was yellow and had black rings…) An even worse use for such a good memory though, was knowing exactly what happened nearly five years ago…
"I remember the intense heat…" she recalled, "it happened so fast, and before I knew it, the only ones I could see around me were Jet and the others. The fire department arrived minutes later…but the flames had already exacted its toll on the building, and it was too unstable for anyone to go in…" a slight tear began to gather in her eye, but she did a great job at hiding it well.
"The police said it couldn't have been anything but a freak accident…and if there was any crime involved, it would've been a prank gone wrong. Since then, we've been sent from foster home to foster home until-"
Her cell phone went off before she could say anymore, but what she shared with Toph and Katara was the most that they've ever learned about "Smellerbee"…or anything about the Freedom Fighters in general. I've got to go…I'll see you guys on Monday."
"Well Toph? If Sme…I mean if Summer has enough guts to spill about herself, why don't you?" Katara was well aware of her younger friend's qualms about "guts", and with her latest prodding; she knew that something in the green eyed girl began to click.
"Alright," Toph said daringly, "You know my latest online buddy?"
"Oh no Toph, you didn't invite another shady person to meet you again, did you?" Katara's voice strained with worry.
"What? No! That's just plain stupid…I sent him my picture!" She announced confidently. Katara, for a split second seeing a small, female version of her brother, took great pains in restraining herself from smacking the poor girl. Instead, she took it on herself by leaving a red hand mark on her tanned forehead.
"Doy…"
"This is nice and all, Sokka, but how does going through the yearbook count as your turn?" For the past few minutes, Zuko had been flipping though the BCHS yearbook from the previous year. In it, were quite a large number of pictures form loads of events, and of which many depicted several familiar faces.
"C'mon, why won't you pick up, 'Seras'?" Haru talked to himself on the far off beanbag chair.
"Doesn't Haru need to hear this too?"
"No, he already knows all about it…" Zuko returned to the yearbook and continued flipping the pages and looking at the pictures.
"Hey, there's my history teacher!"
Geez…you know I'm still jealous that you have Ms. Jun for a teacher… "Just turn to page five-oh-six." Sokka said out loud in between sips. The fluttering of papers created a small breeze to his face until Zuko's hand stopped it at the desired page. I wonder if she still has that TV. show.
"Wow, a full two page ad spread from Ms. Jun's old TV show!" Zuko looked at the page with great interest. "Nice."
Geez louise… "No," Sokka stuttered out, "I meant the next one!"
"Hello? Is this 'Seras'?"
"The ad even has some screenshots from her bounty hunter show! Oh" He remarked from Sokka's newest instruction "…alright." He turned the page over the page (but marked the three digit page number in his head) to see an "In Memory of" page.
"Oh, there's no one of that name? May I know who I'm speaking to then, please?"
"In memory of those who've been taken from the Bay City High family…" he read from the top line of the page. Scrolling down, Zuko's eyes immediately honed in on one snapshot of Sokka resting against a tree with a girl wrapped in his arms. They both had their eyes closed, so the picture was most likely taken while they slept.
At first thinking it was Katara, Zuko nearly slammed himself for thinking that when he took a closer look. The girl definitely had a similar hairstyle at first glance, but it was a lot more elaborate. Her hair, unlike Katara's chestnut brown color, was such bright yellow—most likely bleached—that it looked white from a distance. This made quite an interesting contrast to her darker skin, which was much lighter than Sokka's. The well shaped eyebrows were also whitish blonde like her hair, of which exuded the peaceful aura of the picture.
"Who is-"
"Just keep reading, Tony."
"…And last but not least," Zuko read the picture's caption, "In memory of Yue, we will miss you…" Next to the picture, was a stat sheet that one would find on the back of a baseball card, except that the list concerned school activities, club affiliations, as well as the basic information such as age, date of birth, etc.
"So was she…"
"My girlfriend? I don't know..." Sokka interjected. "We first met when my family used to live in Nunavut. We were the best of friends, but she moved away and I all but forgot about her. When my mom passed away, and my dad and sister and I moved over to this house, I bumped into her when I was trying to carry a huge suitcase inside." He paused at the fond memory, and took the yearbook to look at the picture.
"She had a boyfriend already, but I find out about it until I tried asking her out to last year's winter ball. Heck, I didn't even remember that we knew each other from before, but Yue didn't seem to take it too harshly. I ended up going alone, but something happened between her and her boyfriend, and we ended up talking just outside the gymnasium, where the dance was being held.
"It turns out that she was named the school's 'Snow Princess', but she wasn't anywhere to be found when they wanted to plant the crown. And uh, I wasn't anywhere to be found either…" Sokka nervously scratched his scalp, almost embarrassed as he said it. "Hahn still won't forgive me over it…"
"You mean?"
"Who? Oh…my name's Haru…"
"Well, what happened to her?" Zuko's eager questioning was close to snapping something inside Sokka, but because of much practice—and a promise that he made to his sister—he stayed calm, and only let out a huge sigh.
"A month later, we were taking a moonlit walk in the park just behind the school. Yue wanted to stop and watch the moon at the edge of the lake…when we were attacked." He took a slight pause, and swallowed hard before he continued. "I tired fighting back, but I was overpowered, and knocked out. When I came to…I had blood streaming down my face…but Yue…she was floating face down in the water…"
Zuko could only sit in silence. Anything he thought he could say would help would only make things worse. Instead, he sat patiently waiting for Sokka to continue his story at his own pace…his scar was definitely lower on his list of harrowing moments now.
"Her dad was high on the political spectrum…high enough to be a risk to the mayor himself…"
My dad?
"The District Attorney himself said that it was only a random mugging…that it had nothing to do with politics…sometimes I wonder how in the world Zhao was elected to that office…" Sokka's hand slowly crushed the soda can in his hand with obvious results.
"Your name's Jin? No…nothing comes to mind…"
A loud alarm began to klaxon, rivaling a school's fire alarm clanging right in front of your face. "Hey, hey! The cheerleaders are here!" Sokka's mood polarized to that of excitement. "Hey Haru…be a pal and get that?"
"Yeah, sure!" The popularly acclaimed 'Bandana Kid' stood up from the bean bag chair and ascended the steps. "
So…what do you look like?"
The surprisingly different Sokka shrieked as a drop of coke spilled onto the carpet, and rushed off to fetch the "Scream" carpet cleaner. He furiously mumbled under his breath as he scrubbed at the stain with extreme force, and comically moaned when his fingers started to become numb.
"It was an explosion…" Zuko suddenly said.
"What?"
"The scar…it was from an explosion." Sokka, giving up on the stain plopped down to listen to Zuko's story. "My sister and I were playing around inside an abandoned building, and we had wandered into the kitchen. We didn't think anything would be working because of the plain look of the building, but apparently they did. I didn't know that the gas line was open when we turned the knob…but we did when I set off that match…
"I killed my mom that day…I heard her calling for me and Azula when we ran outside, but she never came out…the only people I saw around were other kids, and the fire department didn't get there until a few minutes later…but the building was deemed too hazardous to enter. I tried rushing in, but a flaming painter's scaffolding fell on top of me before I could even get inside…"
"Whoa, wait Tony…your dad just divorced, didn't he?"
"He married within two months of the funeral service…and a week after that was when he was inaugurated as mayor…"
"Hey guys, I don't think that these are the cheerleaders!" Haru rushed downstairs. On the final step, he slipped on an empty bag of popcorn and rolled all the way towards the boys. After fumbling around to stand up from the human bowling game, more footsteps descended the steps.
"Wow Azula…I think that we're a little early for the party, don't you think?" Ty Lee's perky voice echoed.
When the three girls spread out along the basement wall, the three boys had just managed to stand up from their crumpled bunch on the floor.
"Azula!?" Zuko screamed and pointed.
"Z-Zuko!?" Mai quietly chirped in surprise.
"Sokka!" Ty Lee happily squealed.
"Do...I know you?" Sokka yelped out as he tried to pry the rabid fan girl off of him.
"What's the meaning of this Zu-Zu?" Azula placed her hand on her hip and put weight towards her right leg. "Why would you send me an email about some 'awesome party'?"
"What? I never did such a thing!"
"I'll show you that there was no email about an awesome party." Sokka sat down at his computer and began to log on. "…not to you, anyways." After logging on to the Gee-mail, he whistled at the huge amount of mail that had built up in his inbox. "I should probably check this more than once a week…"
Before clicking the 'sent' mailbox, Sokka was immediately drawn in by one email in particular from GreenEyedBandit. "'Urgent', huh?" He clicked on the link, and skimmed through the well written message.
"…really missed you…something to confess…" Scrolling down passed the typed WARNING, Sokka's eyes bulged beyond normal human width, and his jaw dropped instantly.
"Uh, Sokka?" Haru and Zuko were worried by his sudden stillness. Zuko tried shaking Sokka out of it, while Haru attempted to wave his hand to test his friend's eyesight, and wondered if the picture currently on the screen had something to do with it.
"I think he's broken…"
Just outside the Bay City High School, a wild haired boy crawled though a window and landed quietly on his feet. Looking left and right, the boy stood up and made a proud march towards the street, and away from the school. He quickly typed into his cell phone and looking left and right again, started his way across the crosswalk.
To: Smellerbee; Longshot
Meet me in the usual spot. Bring the goods.
A small hand grabbed onto the back of his shirt, and Jet was halted from his near escape. "What are you doing, Aang?"
"Jet, I need you to come back to the room. You still have to finish up your detention!" The small teacher-to-be stood strong.
"C'mon, there was only fifteen minutes left…just give it a break, will you?" Angry at the small boy's attempt toward authority, Jet pushed Aang and continued his way across the street. Having enough of being pushed around—both figuratively and literally—Aang strutted over and pushed Jet back, causing him to nearly lose his balance.
"Is that what you really want, squirt?" Jet turned back around. With enough force to power a punch, Jet returned the favor ten-fold, shoving Aang nearly halfway across the street and towards the grassy mound of the curb.
Still airborne, the squeal of tires screamed down the road. Not being able to do anything, Aang watched helplessly as he fell towards the ground; the wind knocked out of his lungs. A thump of metal and the body of the problematic teenager rolled onto the ground with no twitching afterwards.
"JET!!" screamed Summer, a.k.a. Smellerbee, ran towards the fallen boy in panic. Longshot, walking towards the same street from an opposite direction, heard the familiar shriek from his female friend and dashed towards the source. A car zoomed by him. It was way over the speed limit, maybe thirty or forty miles faster than legally acceptable in a school zone. Four men sat inside the car, but the tint of the windows made their faces indistinguishable.
Only one window was slightly cracked open; the passenger side back seat. The blurry form of the man's face provided the image of a three part beard, and a shaved head with the exception of a ponytail-like tuft of hair tied at the top in a red small red sash. What glistened on the man's earlobe was what Longshot guessed would be an earring.
"Excuse me, nine-one-one?"
"Oh my god, Jet! Please be okay!" Smellerbee sniffled by her friend's side. Panting hard, Longshot arrived at the scene and quickly made a motion towards the young teacher still on the phone. Agreeing silently, the two carefully picked up Jet and carried him slowly towards the grassy curb while Smellerbee took care of the weight of the torso.
"Yes, right in front of the Bay City High School!" Aang tried to say as calm as he could.
"I-I'm sorry Aang…" Jet weakly groaned out, and so soft that Aang never would have heard if the operator hadn't put him on hold.
"Don't be." He instantly sat at his side. "You're going to be ok…the ambulance will be here soon. Alright?" Aang squeezed Jet's hand in a vice-like hold. Showing a weak version of his trade mark smile, Jet's hand attempted to squeeze back, but instantly slackened.
"Jet!" Smellerbee worried at his sudden blackout. In the distance, the wail of sirens approached, and the sun began to slowly set, laying an orange glow on everything.
Author's notes:
Ahem... why does every saga I write get so damn angsty!?
Anywho, bunch of cameos here and there, if you recognize them; sweet. If you don't; you haven't been reading any good fanfiction, have ya?
cough ...Piezo-and-Musical Maiden-and-Artemis Rae-and-JoJoDancer-and-Jesus.Lives-and-Ultra-Geek-and-Avatarwolf-to-name-a-few... un-cough
Wow...sorry about such a long coughing spree...I'm looking foward to my upcoming Sokka-centric fic...not angsty at all...