Whoo! Quick updates! I'll probably start posting at regular intervals soon ...

First off, thank you guys for the awesome reviews. So glad you like it! (Although, you can't really go wrong with horses and Kataang, can you? =p)

Note: In the last chapter "She knew Sokka could care less" should be "she knew Sokka couldn't care less". The latter is correct while the former implies Sokka actually cares. Which he does, he just didn't want to listen to her ramble.

Okay, grammar police mode off! ;p

Kataang, Avatar: the Last Airbender, and all characters in the show owned by the epic Mike & Bryan, and Nick. Everything else is mine :)

Please enjoy!

"So who are you taking to the dance?" Those were the first words Katara heard when she entered the stables the next Tuesday. She turned to find the speaker and was confronted with Jenna, a stuck-up rich girl who thought she was better than everyone because her dad owned the stables.

"Dance?" asked Katara, a little confused. "What dance?"

"Duh," she scoffed, flipping her auburn hair over her shoulder with a quick wrist flick. "Every year this place hosts an end-of-the-year dance. Some 'Spirit of the West' thing. Anyway, it's about two weeks from now, and since you're taking classes here, you have to ask someone. It's like, required."

"Don't the guys usually ask the girls?" Katara muttered, carrying the saddle over to Maya's stall.

"Um, yeah, if you want to be old-fashioned," laughed Jenna. Her green eyes narrowed and she scrutinized Katara's actions. "I can do that about a hundred times faster."

"Mm-hm," she mumbled, dusting off her jeans absently. 'Just nod and smile and she'll go away,' she thought.

"Anyway, this is the 21st century, sweetie. The girls ask the guys. So you have to ask someone. It's like, nonnegotiable."

"Yeah. I'll get right on that." The sarcasm in her voice didn't seem to bother Jenna.

"So who are you gonna ask?"

She groaned internally. "I don't know."

"I know who you can ask: the most popular guy here."

"And who would that be?"

"You're really slow today, Kat." Katara gritted her teeth at the unwelcome nickname. "Hello? Aang."

She almost dropped the bridle. "Aang?" She looked at the red-haired girl. "Why would I ask him?"

"Because he's the most popular guy, and everyone's after him." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Of course, he might say no. And that would be just awful, wouldn't it?"

"Aang's not going to say no, because I'm not asking him. We're friends."

"Really?" Jenna's voice had changed from patronizing to ecstatic in a matter of seconds. "So you don't mind if I ask him?"

She froze. So that's what she'd been up to! Katara turned to lock level eyes with her challenger. "Of course not."

"Cool! Well, I'll see you later, Kat!" She swung around, grinning. Jenna bounced out of the stables and almost collided with Aang, who happened to be passing by at that exact moment. He smiled and Jenna said something, twirling a strand of red hair as she spoke.

Of all the stupid, rotten luck!

"If witches were real, I'm telling you, Jenna would be one, wart and all."

Katara grinned at Sabbi's comment, looking back as her friend walked up to her. "Maybe the blemish in her perfect skin would take her ego down a peg or two. Can you believe she just tricked me into allowing her to ask Aang?"

"Allowing you?" Sabbi asked and then quickly moved on. "She's been hitting on him ever since she and her 'boyfriend'" — she paused to make air quotations — "had that fight."

"She asked Aang and she already has a boyfriend?" This brought her opinion of Jenna lower.

"Had. They broke up three weeks ago. But she's been after Aang since he started coming here." She shook her head. "As if he would choose her. She's a selfish snob. Nothing like you."

"Yeah, I — wait. What do you mean?"

"Um, it's completely obvious that Aang likes you. Hardly anyone gets invited to his house."

"Yeah, okay. But that doesn't mean he likes me."

"Uh huh. And you aren't crushing on him, either."

"Sabbi!" she exclaimed, motioning frantically. Her cheeks burned. "Not so loud."

"You don't want Aang to hear?" she asked. When Katara groaned, Sabbi gave her a soothing look. "I'm only kidding, you know."

"Yeah. I know," she replied, a little embarrassed. "But I shouldn't get my hopes up for any guys asking me to a dance, even Aang. Especially Aang. Considering that he's already going with Jenna." She cast a glare at the now empty doorway as she led Maya out of the stables.

"You don't know that," Sabbi comforted her.

Katara smiled, but Akash started the class, so she couldn't say anything else. She glanced at Aang. He caught her eye, smiled, and then turned to answer a question from Akash. Katara couldn't tell if he'd said yes to Jenna. She looked to the redhead and winced when she saw the smirk the girl was aiming at her.

'I'll ask Aang afterwards,' she thought, and put the matter out of her head for the remainder of class.

The walk home was a bit awkward, at least for Katara. As far as Aang knew, she didn't know about Jenna. So she spent a good five minutes before they left and another ten on their walk getting up the courage to talk about the dance. At last, she took a deep breath and, praying that her voice didn't betray her nerves, asked, "So, uh, you taking anyone to that dance coming up?" She dusted her lavender shirt in an effort to look nonchalant.

Aang looked over at her and shifted his backpack from his right shoulder to his left before answering. "Possibly."

"Is the girl still deciding if she wants to be seen with you?" she joked, bumping her shoulder against his playfully. Somehow, she wasn't nervous anymore. Maybe he was still deciding?

Aang grinned good-naturedly. "Yeah. I'm still waiting for that call from Halle Berry." Katara laughed and he continued, "No, actually, I might not even go."

"What? But it's being held at the center!" She jerked her head back in reference to the riding school.

"Well, yeah." Now Aang seemed nervous. "But I don't really want to go without a date. Everyone there will be dancing with dates."

"Since when do you care about something that trivial?" Somehow, she knew he was making excuses. He shrugged and she tilted her head to the side. "What about Jenna?"

He smiled. "Oh. Her." Katara cringed, preparing herself. "Did you hear what she was saying to me?"

'Please just make it quick, Aang,' she thought. "No. What?"

"She kept hinting at the fact that if I went with her, her 'daddy' would make me one of the main hands at the center." He laughed. "I told her I was perfectly happy taking lessons as a regular student and that's when she asked me to the dance." An eye roll. "I said no."

"So ... you don't like her?" She was surprised at how bold she was being.

"She's nice, I guess. But there's just something about her ... I guess she's just not my type." He snorted. "I sound like Zuko now."

"Who's Zuko?"

"The resident 'bad boy' of my school. That's what all the girls call him, at least." An eye roll.

"Funny. I would have thought you'd be the 'bad boy' of your school."

"Oh, really?" He sounded flattered. His eyes darted down and then quickly looked back to her face. A mischievous grin appeared on his face, half hidden from her. In one swift motion he reached over, grabbed a book from her bag, and darted behind her.

"Hey!" She spun around to grab it from him, but he was too quick. The spot she was facing was empty, and again he was behind her. "Aang!" She turned and faced Aang, who was holding the book over his head and grinning. She caught sight of the title of the book: The Smart Student's Guide to Chemistry. "C'mon!" She reached for it, but he held it higher, chuckling. "Aang, give it! I have a Chem final Thursday!"

His grey eyes sparkled. "If you want it, you'll have to take it." She grabbed for it again but he stepped back, spun around, and raced around the corner.

"Fine!" She took off after him.

It took her several minutes to catch up with him. They were now on her street. 'Guess we're hanging out at my house today,' she thought with a mental sigh. She raced down the street, closing the last bit of distance between them. Aang had reached her front lawn and had slowed, obviously thinking he'd outrun her. He glanced back, wondering where she was. There was a brief moment, in which she saw his surprised expression, before she tackled him into the grass in front of her house.

They both began laughing when they saw each other's faces. "Give it!" She reached across him for the textbook and he let her take it. Still giggling, she sat up.

Aang sat up and crossed his legs, smirking at her. "So how does that rate on the 'bad boy' scale?" He raised an eyebrow, causing her to snicker.

"Scale of 1 to 10 and the fact that you almost kept me from studying? A six."

Another grin. He knew she was being sarcastic. "Guess I can give Zuko a run for his money." They laughed again.

There was a brief silence and Katara glanced up at the front door. "Come on. I wanna show you my room."

During the time that they spent hanging out, Katara got the sense that Aang was trying to say something. He didn't actually say what he was thinking until he was leaving.

"Hey, Katara?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, you know that dance? Well, everyone's going ... " He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "And since I'm not going with Jenna, I sort of need a date."

Katara blinked. Was he really asking what she thought he was asking? She opened her mouth to say yes, but instead asked, "What?" Oh, that was brilliant.

"You don't have to say yes — "

"Wait, so you're asking me to go to the dance with you?"

"As friends, of course," he corrected quickly, avoiding eye contact.

"Of course," she agreed, wishing that her heart would stop beating so loud. Could he hear? "Aang, of course I'll go with you."

"You will?" His head came up quickly and he grinned. Clearing his throat, he swiftly revised, "I mean, uh, great!" A small, slightly awkward pause. "It starts at six, so how about I pick you up at 5:30?"

"You have a car?"

"Yeah. I've only got my permit, but Sabbi has her license and I'm picking her and her date up, so — " He stopped, noticing that he was rambling.

"5:30 sounds good." She smiled.

"Great! So I'll see you then, I guess."

"You'll see me before then, dum-dum. We've got class together for the next week-and-a-half before that, remember?"

"Oh. Right." He gave a short chuckle. "So I'll see you on Tuesday, then."

"Yes, you will." She smiled.

"Okay. See you soon!" He jogged down the driveway. At the sidewalk he turned and waved, a bright smile on his face.

Smiling as well, she waved back and watched until he was out of view. She then turned and opened the front door. She stood there for a moment after the door was closed, a dreamy sort of smile on her face. She gave a small, happy squeak and danced down the hallway.

It had been a good day.

Awkward Kataang FTW! =)

Note: I just chose Jenna because the name seemed to fit the picture I had in my head of her. Jenna in arabic means 'heaven'. That could be interpreted as irony or as an allusion to the perfect, pretty girl-type that she is. (Yes, it is a cliche, but I've met many girls like her. None of which, thankfully, I had to deal with on a regular basis.)

"Is She Really Going Out With Him?" by Joe Jackson