Korra sat in chemistry, trying to focus on the VSEPR theory as the kids around her stared and whispered. Her hand was wrapped in a ball of linen, the side of which was tainted pink. She bitterly wondered whether they had ever seen a real injury before. The teacher, a middle aged woman named Mrs. Ana, turned and made eye contact with the girl. Korra felt a thrill of adrenaline race through her system, acting as a prelude to the question she was going to have to answer.
"Korra, what does VSEPR stand for?"
"Valence um… shell electron pair revulsion?" she tried, giving the teacher a sheepish grin.
"Close," Ana allowed, returning the smile. "Does anyone know what the last word in the mnemonic is?" A girl in the back of the class offered her hand. "Yes, Jaimee?"
"Repulsion, not revulsion," she said confidently, aiming a haughty glance at Korra. The older girl made a rude gesture under the cover of her desk. Jaimee's face turned red and Korra smiled to herself.
"Correct," the teacher said. She gave Korra a pointed glance but didn't comment. A little later, the bell rang, signifying the start of lunch.
Korra wandered into the cafeteria, trying to figure out where Asami and Mako had hid themselves. She really didn't want to eat lunch alone, but she also didn't want to appear clingy… Who was she kidding? Asami was her only friend in this city, and the green eyed girl knew it. If Korra couldn't find her, it was probably for a reason. The tanned girl heaved a sigh and wandered over to a square based pillar, sitting dejectedly with her lunch in her lap. She looked up as a couple scrawny boys ogled her on their way to a table packed with equally tiny friends. Figuring she might as well make some backup friends in case her current two fell through, Korra let a small smile grace her lips. The boy closer to her turned red and craned his head to keep staring, completely unaware of his surroundings. Korra winced as he rammed into a tall, athletic senior donning a letterman jacket.
"What the hell?" he said angrily.
"S-sorry," the smaller boy stammered, eyes flicking from the irritated boy to Korra, then back again.
"Got your eyes on a senior girl, huh? They don't want nothing to do with little faggoty wimps like you," he said, fist closing over the younger boy's shirt. Korra felt her blood boil, and stood up, ready to lock horns with the asshole.
"Hey!" she called, striding toward them. "I'm a junior, not a senior, and where the hell do you get off talking to anyone that way?"
"Doll, if I wanted you to open your mouth I would've made it clear,' he said dismissively. Face heating up, Korra effortlessly pushed the senior back and slammed him into the wall, effectively separating him from the other boy.
"If I wanted you to open your mouth, I would've let you know," she parroted. Holding him against the wall for another second, she relaxed and turned away, walking towards the hallway. She felt a breeze tickle the back of her head and whirled, eyes widening at the scene. Asami Sato stood before her, one hand closed around the senior guy's fist. Following the trajectory of the foiled attack, Korra realized he had been aiming for her head.
"Hitting a girl while her back is turned?" Asami smirked. "That's low, even for you."
The guy started to say something, but Asami interrupted him.
"If I wanted you to open your mouth I would've made it explicitly clear," she said icily. "Now, fuck off. You can't win this." Asami pushed him away and turned towards Korra, face becoming reassuringly friendly. "Come on Korra," she chirped, one arm around the shorter girl's neck. "Let's go have lunch."
Korra couldn't help but stare at Asami as they walked to the student council room. Her eyes were intense, electric, like she was still buzzed for a fight. And there was something else, something that kept her looking. Asami glanced down and met Korra's eyes, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. Instantly, Korra averted her gaze, hoping the older girl hadn't found her creepy.
"You seemed like you knew what you were doing in the cafeteria," Asami said, amused. Korra glanced up and smiled. Fighting was something she was good at; she wouldn't embarrass herself talking about it.
"So did you," she replied.
"I've taken some self-defense lessons."
"Me too. I used to compete in my town's annual wrestling festival. Champion for the last… well, since I started fighting when I was ten."
"We should spar sometime," Asami murmured, narrowing her eyes at the shorter girl.
Korra looked at her, taking in the girl's slender, feminine build and almost laughed. "You find a place and just let me know when." Then feeling cocky, she added, "I'll go easy on you."
Asami did laugh then, voice ringing through the hallways. Pink faced, she covered her mouth and composed herself. "Tell you what, I'll go easy on you."
Korra grinned and shook her head. "No handicaps then."
"It's a date."
I held the door open for Korra as we entered the student council room. She shot me a surly look that seemed to point out the redundancy of opening a door she was clearly capable of handling. I smiled sweetly, and motioned for her to enter. Mako looked up and made a face when he saw us. Scrunching my nose, I stuck my tongue out at him and a smile crept up. Jinora barely glanced at us and I felt my good mood drain away.
"How you doing?" I asked, sliding into the seat adjacent.
She glanced at me, looking tired.
"I brought you a cookie," I tried, hoping for a smile. One side of the girl's mouth twitched upward. I could work with that. "It's a snickerdoodle." I pulled the somewhat deformed disc out onto the desk.
Jinora allowed a small smile to grace her features before saying, "Thanks Sami."
"So where's my cookie?" Korra asked, face quizzical.
"You haven't earned one," I replied. "I think you actually owe me, seeing as I just saved your ass."
Korra frowned, dark eyebrows leaning over her intense blue irises, and said, "I could've handled myself. Like I said, I'm good at fighting."
"I blocked that punch for you. The least you could do is offer a favor in return." I raised an eyebrow and smirked, not seriously expecting her to offer anything.
"When the time comes, I'll take a hit for you then," Korra decided. "I wouldn't want your pretty little face to get banged up." Now she was smirking, eyes locked on mine. This was a challenge. I accepted it.
"Ladies, lets save the sparring for Asami's private gym," Mako interjected.
"You have a private gym?" Korra asked incredulously.
"Mako!" I growled. "What the hell?" I hated it when anyone talked about my financial advantages, especially in front of friends. It usually led to fake relationships, hurt feelings, and a bad reputation. I'd managed to keep it quiet in high school, after a taxing verbal debate with my father about wanting a normal life. Hoping to salvage the situation, I turned to Korra and murmured, "I'm really good friends with the manager of this upper class gym. Mako and I get to work out there for free."
'Oh," she said, looking confused. "So maybe we could go there and I could beat your ass?"
I really wanted to do this now, but I stifled my competitive urges with an impressive show of self-control. Jinora giggled and I looked at her, feeling instantly guilty for getting distracted and ignoring her.
"You guys are really funny to watch," she said, smiling at me. "I want to see this fight." Huh.
"Watching me butt heads with an overconfident hobbit is funny to you?" I asked, cutting my eyes towards the noticeably shorter girl to gauge her reaction. Korra abruptly stood up and stalked toward me. I rose as well, looking down my nose at her. "You cannot deny you are short."
"I formally challenge you, Asami Sato," Korra huffed. "You have insulted my fighting expertise, my honor, and most importantly-" she paused, a smile playing at the corners of her lips- "My stature. When are we doing this?"
"Friday, after school, at my friend's gym," I said. "There's a hand-to-hand tournament we can enter. If you're as good as you say, we'll battle for the championship. I made a mental note to hire fighters before Friday. Today was Tuesday, I still had some time.