Track

Click!

Coach Kuruk eyes nearly popped out of his skull when he read Aang's time. The thin boy had shown up on the track field praying that he did not make a fool of himself. Instead, he ended up amazing a seasoned coach, who as luck would have it was looking for a star runner for the freshman team.

"How…did I…do?" Aang asked the coach, panting, his hands on his knees.

Kuruk looked at Aang, then looked back at his stopwatch, then back at Aang again, still blown away.

"Kid, you're a natural. You are the kind of guy we need on this team."

"Does…that mean…I…made…it…"

"Yeah kid! You made it."

"Great!" Aang smiled.

Coach Kuruk wrote something on his clipboard. "Come here." The coach's finger wagged towards Aang as he reached down into a cardboard box beside him. Aang took three steps and the next thing he knew he had a track team uniform flying at his face. "Here kid. Congrats."

Aang, clumsily, caught the jersey.

"I'll send you all the info for meets and stuff in the mail. Just be here Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after school. And don't be late."

"Yes sir!" Aang said proudly. Coach Kuruk smiled and walked away, blowing his whistle at his other players.

Aang held out his jersey and admired it. The white shirt with the red trim, the big 22 on the back, and Aang's sense of accomplishment made the old uniform look like a flag rather than a tattered hand-me-down. Aang didn't have a lot of pride, but he could not help but feel confident.

Aang walked off the school's sports field, still staring at the shirt, not seeing his tomboyish best friend standing behind him with one hand propped on her side waiting for him to notice her. Aang walked past her before realizing Toph was there.

"Oh. Hey Toph." Aang smiled and held up his new jersey. "Look! See! I'm on the track team! Coach says I'm really fast."

Toph just glared at Aang. She juggled her tongue between her teeth, like she was judging him.

"Toph? Are you listening?"

"Yep. 'Twinkle toes' is perfect for you." Toph grinned.

"Are you still thinking about that nickname thing?" Aang's shoulders slouched.

"You run like you've got wings on your feet. Your name is twinkle toes." Toph pointed to him, permanently branding the label on his forehead.

"Fine rich girl." Aang said. "Hey! I thought of a nickname for you!"

Toph shoved him.

"It's a good thing you're on the track team. Cause I swear if you keep calling me rich girl, you're going to need to run fast." Toph threatened.

"Rich girl it is!" Aang declared. Then Toph punched his arm.