A/N: I'm back!! (Incase you didn't read it in my profile.) Here's the next chapter. It's much longer than most of my other chapters, but it is mainly because I added a lot of unimportant parts because I felt like it. I feel like the beginning is good, but the rest goes down hill, but anyway, read it and tell me what you think!

Almost everyday Katara would come into the Jasmine Dragon and sit near Zuko until Jet arrived. Gradually, Katara stopped inquiring about when Jet was coming and started to enjoy Zuko's company- much to his pleasure. He now felt more comfortable around her, and he started to think that maybe his crush on her would vanish sometime in the near future.

Katara watched as Zuko cleaned up the counter and got ready for his uncle. Zuko would occasionally sneak a peek at her and see as she stared at him intently. Every time, a faint blush would spread on Zuko's cheeks as he tried to settle the fluttery feeling in his stomach.

"Are you going to the homecoming dance?" Katara asked Zuko one day in mid September.

"To your homecoming dance?" Zuko replied confused.

Katara giggled. "No, silly! Mine already came and went. I was talking about yours."

Zuko shook his head. "Nope."

Katara pouted, making a shiver go down Zuko's spine. "Awww! Why not?" She whined.

"Well I don't have a date, for one," Zuko murmured but Katara caught it anyway.

"Don't you have someone you can ask?" Katara asked, wiggling her eyebrows mischievously.

"No…" Yeah, but she's already taken, he thought.

"Well find someone! You have to come." Katara reasoned.

"But I don't really want to."

"But you should anyway!"

They argued back and forth until Jet sauntered over to Katara and Zuko stopped responding.

"Hey babe," Jet pecked Katara's cheek respectively- that was definitely a first. "What are you guys arguing about?"

Katara huffed. "I'm trying to get Zuko to go to Homecoming. Who could he bring?"

Jet shrugged, as Katara continued her rant. "Sheesh, don't you know any girls?!"

"I know one but I would never…" Suddenly Jet choked on his laughter.

Zuko's cheeks burned knowing that Jet picked up what he was talking about and knew what was coming next. Damn it!

Katara patted Jet's back hard. "You okay?"

Jet chuckled as his smile grew. "I'm fine. Just thinking about one person Zuko could take…"

Katara lightened up. "Really, who?"

"Mai," Jet laughed again while Zuko wished that he could disappear. "Wow, that would be rich, eh Zuko?" Jet reached over and slapped Zuko's arm as he smirked.

"Mai's a pretty name…" Katara started off.

"Not until you see her in person." Jet interrupted as Zuko glowered at him.

Jet continued. "When we were in seventh grade, Mai told Zuko she had a crush non him. And how did he respond? He tried to get into her pants!"

Katara frowned as Jet laughed harder. "Oh man, it was so funny!"

Zuko stared at the counter. His cheeks burned as he tightened his fist more. He couldn't believe Jet told that story and he told it wrong too! But Zuko didn't have the courage to speak out, so he stood there waiting for Katara's friends to come and put him out of his misery.

Zuko looked up slightly to see Jet start to speak again. "I bet she would love to go out with you now." And he laughed some more.

"Stop that Jet," Katara stated firmly. Zuko looked at her face; she looked pissed. "It's not that funny."

Just then, a bunch of people bustled in through the door. Zuko's relief party was here. Katara watched while they settled into their regular booth before speaking.

"Are you going to be our waiter Zuko?" she asked trying to ease some of the tension between him and Jet.

"I'm not sure." Zuko sputtered out.

"Okay, well I guess I'll talk to you later then." Katara slightly smiled at him as she turned around and headed towards the booth with Jet right on her heels. He turned around and smirked at Zuko while he draped his arm over her shoulders. Fortunately, Katara shrugged him off, leaving Jet with a scowl and Zuko with a triumphant grin.

BREAK

Zuko stared at the board and tried to take notes. Usually he would be doodling in his notebook, but right now he was trying to slow time down, believe it or not.

Jet came up to him this morning and said he and Katara were buying tickets for homecoming after school today. He was letting Zuko know so that he would be able to decide on his date by then. How thoughtful was Jet?

So now, Zuko didn't want time to quickly go by because he was still unsure about homecoming. He had no idea who he was going to bring. He knew he wasn't bringing Mai and he knew he wasn't going alone. There would be way too much of a distraction if he did that…

His thoughts wondered to yesterday at the café. His fingers balled into a fist as he thought about it. Zuko couldn't believe that Jet would pull that kind of trick. Now Katara probably thought he was a total douche bag. To top it all off, that wasn't even how it went! The only reason he acted that way was because Jet had told him that was the proper way to handle it. This was back when Zuko's self esteem was crushed, but he thought he was lucky enough to have a friend that was good at talking to girls and for having a friend at all. This was one of the first things that made Zuko rethink his supposed friendship with Jet.

A loud slam on Zuko's des made him jump out of his thoughts, causing a few classmates to laugh.

"I'm sorry for interrupting Mr. Fuego, but could you tell me what the tangent to this curve's term would be?"

Zuko stuttered trying to find a reasonable answer.

"That would be the derivative, Mr. Fuego. Thanks anyways for your intelligent answer." More students giggled at Zuko's expense.

Zuko sighed. This might turn into being an even longer day than Zuko wanted.

BREAK

Zuko quickly walked down the hallways of the school. He just wanted to get out of the building as soon as possible. Unfortunately, a female voice called his name causing him to stop.

It was Katara. She was standing with Jet in the line for the homecoming tickets. Zuko slowly walked over to the couple.

"Hey."

"So have you decided about the dance? Who are you bringing?" Katara asked urgently, throwing Zuko off. He was having a difficult time trying to understand why she cared so much.

"I don't have a date, so I'm not going."

"Come on! You had all day to ask someone."

"Sorry it sort of slipped my mind."

Katara frowned as the line towards the tickets moved forward.

Zuko glanced over to Jet and saw the smile on his face, staring at something behind Zuko.

Zuko snapped his head around like lightning. Mai was walking past them towards the exit.

"That's Mai over there." Jet nudged Katara.

"Really?" Katara looked around Zuko to get a better look. "Zuko, go and ask her to the dance!"

"No way!" Zuko stated.

"Fine," Katara said and took a breath. "MAI!" She shouted.

Zuko froze; he couldn't believe this.

Mai turned around confused.

Zuko slowly turned to face Mai. He was speechless. He hadn't even rehearsed anything!

"Zuko's sort of afraid to tell you this, but he has a crush on you and wants to know if you would go to the homecoming dance with him."

Mai squinted at Zuko. "Are you serious?" She asked skeptically.

Zuko didn't have an answer, so he just nodded.

"Fine I'll go with you." She answered.

"Zuko will buy the tickets today." Katara continued.

"Do you have my number?" Mai asked Zuko quietly, while her cheeks got red.

"I can get it from Azula." Zuko replied. Mai was friends with Azula so he thought he could do it that way. Besides, he didn't want to make himself look more like a fool than he did already.

"Okay well I'll see you around." Mai slightly smiled and turned back around to leave.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Katara cheerfully asked as Mai disappeared.

BREAK

Zuko stood on the familiar doorstep looking at the familiar door. He knew he would be able to do this by himself, but his uncle drove him here anyway. The car was now parked behind Zuko, here for moral support, he thought.

Zuko knocked twice on the door and it swung open almost immediately. It was Azula, both fortunately and unfortunately.

Azula was wearing her uniform skirt with a red collared shirt on. Her shoes were black high heels and her dark hair was pulled back into a bun, with two strands framing her face.

"What are you doing here?" She spat.

"Is dad in there?" Zuko asked cautiously. He didn't want his father to know that he came back here for something.

"Why does it matter? It's not like he's going to let you back here with open arms."

"That's not why I'm here though. I was wondering if you have Mai's number."

"What do you need it for?" Azula asked.

"I asked her to the homecoming dance at our school and I need to call her."

"Wow, that's pathetic," Azula chuckled remember the situation as she got out her phone. "Didn't have anyone else to ask?"

"What does it matter?" Zuko replied bitterly.

"You harass her and then ask her to a dance. I'm surprised she said yes."

Zuko didn't say anything, so Azula gave him the number.

"Thanks Azula." Zuko replied and started towards the car.

"You're welcome, Zuzu. I'll be sure to let dad know you came by." And she slammed the door.

BREAK

Zuko came in to the barely occupied gymnasium where the dance was being held. Zuko looked at his watch; it was just about eight. He picked Mai up in his uncle's car and around 7:3 and here they were. The dance started at eight and Zuko was wondering why no one was here.

Zuko turned to his date. "Do you want some punch?"

Mai shook her head. "No thanks." She sighed.

"Okay. Well I'm going to go get some. I'll be back."

When Zuko came back, Mai was sitting at one of the tables near the other side of the room. He had no choice but to sit there next to her. Zuko sat there awkwardly for a couple of minutes. Then Katara came in with Jet.

She definitely put thought into what she was wearing. She had on a short blue dress with sequins. It was strapless and it sort of cut low. Zuko remembered what Jet had said about it. Apparently he wanted her to show some skin in that area, "so that he wouldn't get bored."

Katara spotted the two and immediately headed over, dragging Jet along.

"You look great!" Katara exclaimed to Zuko.

Zuko looked down at his outfit. It wasn't much. He was wearing black pants and a white button down shirt. His outfit was nothing compared to Jet's, who went the classier route with a light blue tux, matching Katara's outfit.

Katara sat down and stretched her hand towards Mai.

"We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Katara."

"Hi." Mai replied back, not bothering to return the handshake. Instead she turned her attention towards the dance floor. The music was getting better and some people were dancing. Katara turned towards Jet.

"You want to dance?"

"No thanks. Let's wait a little while."

Zuko watched the two as Katara laced her fingers with Jet and silently started talking to him. Zuko looked over Katara's outfit once more.

Katara was also wearing a silver necklace with a blue gem on the end of it. She was wearing her hair out too; her brown hair was curled and was placed over one of her shoulders.

"You look beautiful tonight." Jet whispered softly in Katara's ear though Zuko caught it anyway.

"Thanks," she answered. Their faces were so close it was only a matter of time before they closed the gap…

Zuko looked away and chose to direct his attention towards Mai. He felt guilty that ye had been staring at someone else's date for most of the time. Mai wore a long black dress with red sewn into a design. She had a black chocker around her neck and her hair was in two buns and parts of her hair covered over her shoulders.

More silence between the two followed. Jet asked Katara to dance and she accepted. Zuko tried the same thing with Mai.

"Do you want to dance?"

"No I don't like this song," she replied and the continued to sit in silence.

Many songs passed as Zuko and Mai continued to sit there. Duke and Pipsqueak passed through with their dates but left to go "show them around the school."

The dance was almost over when Mai decided to go to the bathroom. Zuko didn't notice she was gone until a few minutes after she had left. He was too busy staring at the couple dancing in the center of his line of vision. Jet had his arms slung around her waist. Occasionally he would glance up at Zuko to see him looking at them, and then continued to dance.

Zuko glanced down at the table. He was getting more bored by the second. He was pretty sure he was going to fall asleep. Just then, a hand flashed in front of his eyes. Katara was sitting next to him and Jet on the other side of her.

"You seem a little bored." She commented.

Zuko scoffed. "A little?"

"Well more like a lot. How about you ask Mai to dance?"

"I already asked her and she said no."

"Ask during a slow song. Besides those are a little more romantic." Katara grinned.

And on cue, Mai came out of the bathroom and the song's tempo got slower. Zuko waited for a while before he asked Mai to dance. She hesitated and finally obliged. Zuko led them to the dance floor, where he stiffly put his arms around her waist and hers around his neck. Zuko tried to concentrate on Mai's eyes or her face, but kept getting distracted. When Mai leaned in and laid her head on his chest, Zuko's eyes wondered. He gazed as Jet wrapped his arms around Katara and they leaned their foreheads together. Jet smiled at Katara, who was smiling aback.

Zuko felt puzzled. Surely Jet hadn't seen Zuko looking at them, so why was he acting like this? It could be true that Jet could really like Katara, but Zuko had thought that Jet only pretended to like her because of Zuko. This could only mean one thing - things were going to get a lot more serious between the two.

So that's it for this chapter. I'll try to post up another chapter before September/ when school starts. If any of you are reading my other story High School Sweetheart, I'm sorry I haven't updated lately, but I'll try to get on that too. I know it's been a while but I'll be really thankful if you review for this chapter!