First Fight

Coach Kuruk blew his whistle as loudly as he could.

"Everyone fall in!" He yelled and each track runner on the freshman team obediently gathered around him. "Okay, that's it for today. We won't have practice tomorrow. You all need to rest for the meet on Sunday. I want all of you to get a good night's sleep and eat well. No goofing off, no getting into trouble…if any of you have girlfriends then don't mess around until after Sunday. Do your stretches, but only jog if it's less than a mile a day and no sprinting. Do I make myself clear?"

Every one nodded, a few kids said "Yes coach." Aang was one of them.

"Good. No get out of here and enjoy the weekend." The coach went back to his clipboard and the swarm of teenagers scattered like bees from a flower.

Aang walked up the stone stairs away from the track field, still sweating from the vigorous exercise. He stretched and wiped the salty water off his forehead.

"Tehehe."

Aang looked behind him, thinking he heard someone giggling.

"Oh no." Aang sighed.

Over by the belchers, hidden behind a few of her friends, was the younger girl who had been following Aang around for a few weeks. She was always watching him when he went to track practice and spied on him during lunch, although Aang didn't notice until just recently. He didn't know how long she had been watching him. He didn't know what her problem was, but she was starting to make Aang uncomfortable.

"Oh crap. She's coming over here." Aang said to himself when he saw her break away from her little clique of curly haired young girl. "Stay calm. Be nice."

"Hi." She said, stopping a few feet away from him.

"Um…hello." Aang smiled. She smiled back. Aang noticed that her hair was extremely thick. Her ponytails were up, but they weren't gelled or clipped. They stayed up by their own natural firmness.

"My name is Meng." She said and held out her hand.

"Hi. I'm Aang." Aang shook it and he felt her skin grow warmer.

"Yeah. Nice to meet you." She looked flustered, like it was hot out, even though it was early spring. "Um…I just wanted…to say…hi." She sounded nervous.

"Okay. Hi?" Aang didn't know what else to say.

"Hi!" She smiled very widely, revealing her braces. Aang didn't really care, but Meng covered her mouth and then began to blush out of embarrassment. Then, without saying anything else, she ran away.

"That was weird." Aang thought, but brushed it off and kept on walking.

On the opposite side of the field, Toph had been watching the two like a hungry vulture. She had seen Meng following Aang for a while and she didn't like it. When the young girl ran away, Toph saw her opportunity and bolted towards Aang

Aang didn't make it far before Toph caught up with him.

"What do you think you were doing!" Toph yelled at him while his back was turned. Aang jumped.

"AH! What? What happened?" Aang was immediately scared, not knowing what Toph was blowing up about this time.

"That girl! What are you doing with her?" Toph kept yelling. Thankfully no one was around to see her.

"Who? That Mang girl? Or was it Meng?" Aang forgot her name already.

"Yeah, her. What's the deal twinkle toes?" Toph shoved him, but not in a friendly way.

"What? She came up to me and wanted to say 'hi'. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is…" Toph paused. "…she's younger than you! Like by a whole year!"

"So?" Aang

"SO?" Toph waved her arms in the air. "What is wrong with you!"

"What?"

"I've seen the kid around here. She's been stalking you for a while Aang. And…"

"Wait, wait. Back up. She's been stalking me?"

"How stupid can you be? She has a crush on you airhead!"

"…really?" Aang smiled. Toph pushed him again.

"Don't smile! That's sick!" Toph didn't say anything for a moment. "Wait…you said 'really'. Like…you didn't know she had a crush on you?"

"No. Not a clue." Aang told the truth.

"Oh…" Toph blushed. She suddenly felt like a major idiot.

"Why do you care?" Aang asked.

"NO REASON!" Toph yelled by accident.

"Calm down! You're getting worked up over nothing." Aang tried to put his hands on her shoulders.

"Nothing! NOTHING!" Toph screamed again and pushed his hands away. "I'm not stupid twinkle toes! You just want me to think that it's nothing! Playing dumb is something you are just soooo good at."

"What is your problem?" Aang began to get angry with Toph. "You've been really, really…temperamental lately. I mean, one minute you're angry and the next you want me to leave you alone. It's like you're jealous or something."

Toph opened her mouth, ready to yell, but stopped herself. A loud ticking went off in her head, like a clock counting down to a great revelation.

"Forget it!" Toph yelled again. "If she wants you, then she can have your sorry ass. Go get her Casanova, see if I care!"

"Fine! Wait, no. You're putting words in my mouth AGAIN!" Aang yelled at Toph as she walked away. "What has been up with her lately?" Aang asked himself, completely clueless.