There is a precious bit of wisdom hidden in this chapter for all of you ladies out there.

What He Does

"Please finish that chapter tonight. We will discuss it tomorrow…and if no one raises their hand, you can be sure that I will call on you." Mr. Pakku threatened.

The class groaned, Toph the loudest.

When Toph finished her freshman year, she was sure that she would never have to see Mr. Pakku again except when passing him in the hallway. But someone (God, fate, karma or Mr. Pakku himself) thought it would be funny to put her in his class again! She wouldn't be surprised if she would be stuck with him for the rest of her high school career.

Her only safety net was knowing that Aang was in Pakku's class too. Not the exact same class as her. He was with the old fart, but at a different time, getting the same homework assignments and taking the same tests. Whoever was looking out for her (God, Pakku, Etc) was laughing at her at the same time.

So instead of messing around with him (like she would if she knew she was only going to see him for one year), Toph decided that it couldn't hurt to at least listen to what he had to say. Since then, her grades improved slightly and she actually learned some things…although Pakku still thought she was a delinquent.

"Are there any questions?" Pakku asked, hoping to wrap up class early.

Daringly, Toph raised her hand.

"Oh. Ms. Bei Fong. Ending our class with another satirical, half-assed joke again? That certainly is a surprise." Mr. Pakku was the only person Toph knew who used sarcasm more than she did.

"Um…I have a question about Cory and that girl he meet." Toph referred to the book Boys' Life that the class was reading together. It was a novel about a young child growing up in rural Alabama. The chapter they just finished was one where Cory sees a beautiful older girl and gets a sever case of puppy love.

Mr. Pakku's eyebrow's shot up and his eyes widened when he heard Toph's question.

"Ms. Bei Fong…" He paused, even though he had a witty comment ready. He was interested in hearing what she had to say. "…please. Continue."

"Well…Cory falls in love with this girl. And even though he's just a kid, the author writes like he's really in love."

"Yes. That shows the talent of the author. As we all know, Cory is not really in love. He is just infatuated with her. She's older and beautiful and he is growing into a young man."

"But…it's not fair to say something like that. I mean, yeah, he's young…but you could you use age to argue that love doesn't even exist. If you can say that someone isn't in love because of their age, how can teenagers or young adults or even old people know when they love someone?"

"Ms. Bei Fong, are you actually participating in my class? And here I left my camera at home." He smiled and the class chuckled. "But that is a very good point. It's definitively food for thought." He put his hand on his neck tie, a habit.

"So you don't know?" Toph asked.

"Don't know what?"

"How to really define love beyond age."

"I didn't say that." Mr. Pakku said. He paused. He did not want to say 'you sound very interested in this' and put the spotlight back on her, knowing that she'd get embarrassed and never speak up in class again. So he thought carefully, choosing his words with precision.

"So…are you gonna say anything?" Toph asked, impatiently.

Mr. Pakku looked at this audience. The girls were on the edges of their seat. The boys slouched, ready to leave class.

"Alright…" He stepped out from behind his desk and addressed the attentive females. "…here's a bit of advice for all of you young ladies." He paused again for suspense. Toph began to get annoyed with him. "If you want to know how a guy really feels about you, whether you are dating or not…ignore everything he says to you…and focus only on what he does for you."

The girls smiled, some looked at their boyfriends. The boys looked a bit uncomfortable, like Mr. Pakku had just revealed a big secret that was supposed to stay hidden in male culture.

Mr. Pakku looked at the clock on the wall. 2:37.

"Okay. You can leave early." He said and, impulsively, the class ran out the door. Mr. Pakku sat down at his desk and began reading over a few essays the class had handed in.

Toph took her time to leave, thinking about what her told had told her.

Just before she left his room, she turned around and said "Thank you."

"Of course Ms. Bei Fong. I'm glad you brought it up." Mr. Pakku said without looking up from his desk.

"This is a hard one." Aang said. "What do you think?" He asked Toph as he pushed the textbook towards her.

"Huh?" She gently glanced at the problem. "Uh…I don't know."

"Are you okay?" Aang asked, concerned.

"Yeah. Just…thinking."

"About what?" Aang tilted his head, angling his eyes so he could see past her bangs. Toph looked back at him and huffed, lifting her bangs into the air.

"Um…" Not looking at Aang, Toph reached into her pocket and pulled out ten dollars. "Here." She said and handed it towards him, hoping to change the subject.

"What's this?" He asked.

"The lunch money I borrowed. From yesterday?"

"Oh! Forget about it." Aang waved his hand and pushed the money towards at Toph.

"Just take it." She handed it to him again.

"Toph, look at this beautiful mansion I live in." Aang looked up at the ceiling, twoards the chipped paint and the burnt out light bulbs in his ceiling fan. "I have enough money. Just keep it."

Toph hesitated, but put the money back in her pocket.

Aang may have refused to take the money because he didn't want Toph's pity or because he really didn't care…

…but, despite what he said, he still paid for her lunch.

"Ya know…I can leave and do my homework at my house." Toph suggested, feeling slightly guilty for taking advantage of him.

"Yeah right! And hear you moan about your inevitable C minus grades all week? No thanks. I don't need any more headaches." He said as he wrote down the answers in her notebook.

Despite complaining about doing all of her work for her, he did it anyway. With a smile on too.

"Oh. Hang on a sec." Aang pulled out his cell phone and pressed a few buttons.

"What is it?" Toph leaned towards him, curious.

"Gyatso wanted me to go to this…charity…thing with him tonight. I told him that you were coming over and couldn't make it. I gotta give him a call."

"What? You didn't have to do that. I could have…"

"Don't worry about it. Gyatso's meetings are really boring. You saved me from that." Aang pressed send on his cell phone and called his surrogate father.

Despite what he said, he chose to stay with her.

Just then, a horrible, ugly thought came into Toph's head. Something that she never, ever, ever, ever would have believed back when she was a freshman.

"Maybe Mr. Pakku was right…"