author stuff: I know, I know. I'm a week late :( But this week was really chock-full with volleyball stuff (I'm on a recreational team) so can't blame me!

I had to force myself to write this chapter, since i made you guys wait so long. But I made sure to do my best! Sometimes you just don't write that well without the motivation, though. So this chapter is a bit short, but not boring I promise :P

Korra was having a terrible day.

Her hair was in a mess, with her bangs deciding not to cooperate and instead stick in random directions. Her breakfast cereal had spilled all over her jeans that morning, but she didn't have enough time to change; and she was still late to school. On top of that, her stupid chemistry teacher decided to sign her up for student-on-student tutoring since her grade was at a mid-C and Korra's parents were making the biggest fuss about it.

Good thing that the day was almost over. Finally, the last bell of the day rang, leaving Korra for her freedom-

Almost.

Frowning as she unlocked her locker, the senior stuffed her books in the space and took out her chemistry binder. She was signed up for a 30-minute session that afternoon, taking up whatever time between the end of the school day and basketball practice that she had.

"This tutoring better fucking help," Korra muttered to herself as she made her way to the chemistry classroom.

When she got there, however, her tutor was definitely not who she expected.

Amber eyes looked at her with slight surprise, before Mako's expression settled into his usual closed-off look.

"You're supposed to be my tutor?!" Korra asked. Mako was about the last person that she thought would be a chemistry student-mentor. Not that she thought he was stupid; he just seemed too stoic and anti-social to want to teach anyone anything, really.

"I've got the credentials," Mako assured her sarcastically. When she didn't respond, he raised his eyebrows. "Pull up a chair?"

"Oh. Right." Korra felt slightly embarrassed by her hesitation as she settled herself down across from Mako.

"So I was told that you had problems with- well, everything, really." To Korra's surprise, the teenage boy pulled out a stack of tests- her stack of tests.

"Hey- where did you get that?! Those are private!" She tried to snatch the tests from Mako's hands, but the guy had quick instincts, avoiding her touch.

She crossed her arms and pouted. This was going to be a long 30 minutes.

She watched as Mako layed out her most recent test- a one that she had gotten a low 72% on. Taking out some scratch paper and a periodic table (what a nerd, she thought), the amber-eyed guy cleared his throat before meeting her eyes.

"So, your main problem is with understanding how the different bonds work with electrons. The first thing you're ignoring is the energy levels…"

She walked with him as they exited the classroom.

"…Thanks," Korra finally said. "You really helped me out." She seemed to be thanking him for almost everything, Korra noticed.

"You're welcome," Mako responded, stuffing his hands in his jean pockets. It was sort of attractive, how he did that whenever he-

Catching herself, Korra shook herself out of it. Since when was she finding Mako attractive at all?! If anything, he was decent at best. He was certainly good looking, she gave him that, but his personality soured it all up. For the most part.

Trying to distract herself, Korra tried to make conversation with the guy as they walked awkwardly down the halls. "You really understand chemistry, huh?" she asked.

"I'm good at it," Mako responded with a shoulder shrug. "It makes sense to me." He gave her a sideway look, with the ghost of a smirk. "I'm guessing it's a bit different for you."

Korra shook her head, smiling. "Don't even get me started. I drive Asami to the wall with my complaints about that shit."

Mako chuckled- he had a nice chuckle- and Korra found herself feeling…a nice feeling.

Without knowing it, Mako had made her day a little bit brighter.

"You here yet?"
"Hold your horses, lady; I'm turning the corner."

Korra grinned at the phone. "Great. I'll be right out."

It was a nice Saturday- and according to Asami, it was just the right weather to go race. The girl had told Korra about her infatuation with racecar driving, and apparently, there was some racetrack around town that she dominated at. Korra had made her friend promise her to show her the place.

She waved at Asami as her car- a sleek, red, absolutely expensive convertible of some type- pulled into her driveway. Getting in the car, the blue-eyed-girl said to Asami, "So I won't, like, pee my pants or anything, right?"

The heiress winked. "Can't promise anything."

About half an hour later, they had reached the famed area that Asami spent her free time in.

Of course, Asami left out the part about how the racetrack was a legit racetrack.

And how freaking awesome it all was.

Korra could only gape as she saw cars zip around the track, with fancy refs decorated in stopwatches in the sidelines. Asami put on her helmet, giving Korra one last look. "You ready for this?"

Korra patted her own helmet, trying to avoid her own nervousness. "Pshh, born ready," she muttered. "This is totally not going to kill me, right? No, it won't. It definitely won't. Right?"

Asami laughed, grabbing Korra's hand as she led the way (her hands were really soft, Korra noted). All too soon, they were at the starting line, and Asami was flooring the accelerator-

It took all of the blue-eyed-girl's willpower not to scream her guts out.

"I think I may have peed my pants," Korra said when the car finally came to a stop.

Asami grinned at her. "That was fun though, right?"
Korra nodded, grinning back. "Definitely."

She helped Korra get out of the car, walking with her as they exited the track. "Good. I'm glad you liked it," Asami said as she pulled out her keys from her gray skinny jean pocket.

"I like hanging out with you," Korra found herself saying. Her blue eyes met with Asami's warm green ones. "It's…interesting." She grinned.

The raven-haired girl smiled. "I really like being around you, too."

Most times, Korra appreciated Bolin's diplomacy and his friendliness. It made her feel comfortable and at ease.

But sometimes, his kindness would get in the way of her temper.

This was one of those times.

The girl was paired with Mako for chest-pass practicing that afternoon, and no matter how hard she passed, the annoying team Captain would claim that she wasn't throwing hard enough.

"Come on, guys," Bolin said as he nervously watched the two pass the ball with furiousity. "Try not to kill each other."

Ignoring him, Korra practically chucked the ball at Mako, smirking as he toppled backwards from the force.

"That hard enough for ya?" she said in victory.

The team captain stood up, glaring at her. Coach Tenzin blew his whistle before Mako could respond, however.

"Alright, guys," Coach said as the team gathered around. "We have our first game this Friday. It's against Clanberrie. Big game."

"That's one of our biggest rivals," Bolin whispered to Korra, filling her in. "Not as big as the Gallahander Bats, though. Those are our sworn enemies."

Tenzin continued, "Now I know they have some intimidating point guards. Their starters are not bad players, and I'm not going to pretend like this will be some easy win. But with our speed and teamwork, we make up for our size." Coach Tenzin put his hands behind his back, his calm voice making Korra feel more and more determined to pulverize the Clanberrie team every second. "As some of you know, this is also when various college recruiters will view our team. So play your absolute best." Nodding his head in finality, Tenzin checked his watch. "You all are dismissed."

Pulling her backpack across her shoulders, Korra frowned as Mako passed by her, tension completely ruling his body language.

"What's up with your brother?" she asked Bolin as they left the gym together.

the cheery junior shrugged. "He's just…nervous for Friday."

Korra pouted. "Well, he shouldn't be. We're all going to try our best and-"
"It's not that." Bolin's voice had a tone of seriousness to it, and it was so unlike him that Korra stopped to face him.

Sighing, Bolin said, "Mako's nervous about the college reps. That's probably why he was so hard on you today." He glanced away. "He really wants a scholarship for college, since we can't really afford anything beyond high school. It's one of his only reasons for working so hard at basketball."

Korra's mouth felt dry; but before she could respond, she heard a car horn and turned to see someone waving at Bolin.

"There's my ride," her green-eyed friend said, walking past her. "See you tomorrow!" He said, no hint of sadness in his voice anymore.

"Here is your Panini, and here's your chicken tenders," Korra said to the child as she handed her the plate. "Careful, it's a bit hot!" Giving the kid a grin, she turned to go back to the kitchen and pick up some more orders.

It was a pretty big swing at the café that evening, and the senior girl found herself on her feet the entire time. Even Iroh was pulling plates around, which reminded her how he wasn't the manager, officially.

Pulling out her notepad, Korra made her way to the next table that she was supposed to serve.

"Not so fast," Iroh suddenly said as he came up to her. "You need a break."

Pulling her with him into the employee room, Iroh took a seat as Korra sat across from him. "Thanks for that," she said, letting herself catch her breath.

Her boss pulled out a cigarette, causing Korra to raise her eyebrows. "You smoke?" She asked.

"Only when things are getting a bit stressful," Iroh responded, the cigarette moving with his lips. "College shit on top of this…it gets a bit rough at times."

"What are you majoring in, anyway?" she asked him.

"Business. But I plan on joining the army when I get done with the degree." He leaned back, putting his arms behind his back.

"That's pretty cool," Korra said in surprise. Now that he mentioned it, she could really see Iroh be some sort of officer or official position in the military.

Iroh nodded. "Hey, um…" he took the cigarette out of his mouth, casually standing up. "When did you say your 18th birthday was, again?"

Korra glanced up at him. "In about 4 months. Why?" she asked him in curiosity.

Her boss shrugged awkwardly, making her even more curious. "Just for business reasons, you know," he muttered, shuffling a hand through his hair. And almost causing Korra to drool.

That damn action.

"Well, we should probably get back," Korra said, standing up.

"Ah, shit." Iroh looked back at her, opening the door. "Ladies first," he said, smirking at her.

"Fuck you," she joked, walking through the door anyway as he laughed.

A jazzy tune played as Korra's phone lit up, warning her of an incoming call.

In the middle of her history homework, Korra pouted as she glanced at her cell. The number wasn't recognizable, but the area code was, so she picked it up anyway.

"Hello?" She said into the receiver, picking her pencil back up.

"Hello yourself," A velvety voice responded, almost causing Korra to groan.

"Dude, how the hell did you get my number?" Korra said in annoyance.

"I have my ways. And anyway, I'm calling to just wish you luck on tomorrow's game." When Korra didn't respond, she heard his voice ask, "is everything okay?"

Sighing, Korra replied, "There's…definitely a lot riding on this game."

"Don't worry about it," Tahno said. "If you can play as good as you can punch, Clanberrie will have to seriously watch theirselves tomorrow." She could practically hear his smirk as Tahno added, "I'll be there to cheer you on."

"Thanks," she said, surprised to find herself smiling. Tahno's words had actually calmed her down a bit. "I'll count on it."

And when she ended the call, she decided to add his number to her contacts just because.

Sooooo next chapter is gonna be a doozy.

Mako had the most amount of votes, so he got the most screentime.

Remember the rules of voting:

People can come back as love interests. So for example, if Amon got no votes last chapter but dominates the votes for this chapter, he will come back as a love interest.

It's not so much a 'vote' as it is a popular voice.

You can vote for anyone. Some more prominent interests are (but you can vote outside of this if you want):

Mako

Iroh

Tahno

Asami

Bolin

and heads up, next chapter you'll see some book 2 characters!

Please review and thanks for keeping up so far :)