Sorry this chapter seems a bit short. I swear it was much longer on Microsoft Word.

Whatever, just enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!

Chapter 8

"My favorite car…?" I said to myself aloud as I turned my head to think. "Probably a 1978 El Camino…" I decided, remembering my father's ocean blue car that he bought for $900 at an auction in the downtown of the west village in the south.

"That's pretty cool." She stated as she strut beside me, seemingly absentmindedly. She just kept walking; keeping her head up, looking everyone who passed us in the eye with an expression of irrelevance. Not to judge, no, but to show everyone that she doesn't care what they think; that she knows she's strong enough to keep walking and pay no mind anyone around her. I envy that quality.

"Yeah, uh… I uh- I guess so…" I stuttered, a bit intimidated -once again- by her very posture; her strut, expensive clothing, perfect hair, nicely-done makeup, her spellbinding eyes… Just her poise in general.

I know I shouldn't be jealous, but it's rather difficult not to be. I feel so insignificant around her, like I don't deserve to even be in her presence. It's so conflicting. Then again, everything about my life is conflicting. Augh! I'm so confused right now. My mind is muddled with these different thoughts and feelings that cause me so much discomfort I can't take it. I just want to crawl in a dark, wet corner and die while crying out all my frustrations; to take out all the rage built up within me on a solid, stone wall with my fists. I don't want to feel like this, yet I can't run away from it. I've faced everything in my life with little to know confidence and I want that to change… But I'm too afraid of what the outcome might be if I try.

"Korra… Korra! KORRA!" Asami yelled, pulling me out of my own mind.

I snapped my head up from the ground and saw Asami holding the door to the building open. "Oh, uh… I, uh- I'm sorry…" I apologized nervously with a stammer.

"It's fine. Now we better get to class before the bell rings." She advised as I nodded my head and followed her inside.

"Alright, your class is there…" She pointed to a door that had the number 3 above it. "And this is my class…" She pointed to the door behind her with the number 4 above it. "Bolin and I will meet you and Mako out here in the hall when class is done; we'll walk to our classes together, alright?" She reassured me like she knew what I was thinking.

I nodded my head. "Yeah… Alright…" I simply said before she gave me a small smile then went to her class.

I walked through room three to see everyone wasn't staring at me, but were all minding their own shit for once. I saw Mako, but only because he was waving both his hands back and forth like a mental patient. A large grin on his face caused me to let a small smile creep onto the corners of my lips.

I walked to the back of the room (the back row, thank you very much), and as soon as I sat down next to him, the bell rang. I propped my bag up against the leg of the desk and turned my attention to the teacher, who began to state the rules of his class and the school.

"My name is Mr. Ryhu." He greeted every one. "As you all know there're rules here we need to follow, now," Mr. Ryhu was cut off by a couple of kids walking into the class, but I was too busy sketching in the back of my notebook to pay attention.

"Sorry we're late." A familiar, androgynous sounding voice said that made mine and Mako's heads snap up to see who exactly it was. "Here's a note." It was Tahno, Amy, Rick, and Eska, whose nose was in a bandage.

"How nice of you to join us, you four…" Mr. Ryhu's words trailed off as he gave them a confused stare. "Say, aren't you four in my cp algebra class?" He asked.

"We've been transferred." Rick said with a sly grin as he eyed Mako and I.

"I see our seats right over there…" Tahno pointed to the four, free seats on either side of us in the back row.

They unnecessarily strut their way, rather badly, down the aisle and sat next to us; Tahno and Eska to our right, and Amy and Rick to our left. They all gave us dirty looks before Mr. Ryhu began to speak once again.

"As I was saying…" He began, clasping his hands together. He then pulled down a large, white screen. "Um… You." Mr. Ryhu pointed to me, causing me to straighten my posture. "You must be new here, what is your name?" He asked.

I swallowed hard, making a loud noise as I did so. Everyone turned to look at me, getting the dirtiest looks from the four sitting beside Mako and I. 'Why am I so nervous? All he's asking me to do is state my name' I thought then swallowed once more, my breathing becoming a bit heavy. 'But what if he asks me to tell my whole life story? No, no! Stop it, Korra! Why the hell would he ask something so personal!? Just say your name! And DON'T say 24! I thought once again then swallowed my fear. "Korra Jin…" I said just loud enough for the teacher to hear.

"Alright, Korra." He said then pointed to the projector next to me. "Could you turn on the projector?"

I nodded then simply tapped the power button. The projector shined its light onto the screen on front of the classroom and a PowerPoint presentation instantly came up with a set of rules on it. Oh, how creative. The title is 'Rules.'

"First rule: No fighting or bullying in this classroom." He began to state the rules, emphasizing the first one to ensure everyone that there is a zero-tolerance for bullying rule… Well, at least when the faculty is actually paying attention.

"Second rule:" he continued, "Do not use pen. If you do you'll lose ten points (true story)." Literally everyone in the room groaned in frustration before leaning down to their bags, digging through them to replace their pens with pencils. I understand that rule. What if you make a mistake? You'll have to cross out instead of just erasing, which is an easier option in my opinion. Besides, this is a senior acp math class. Shouldn't everyone be used to the fact that they have to use a pencil in algebra?

"Hey! You're all seniors… You should know this by now." Mr. Ryhu said, reiterating my thoughts. "Third rule: no using profane language in my classroom; no using profane language on campus at all, even." I looked around the room and instantly saw the expressions that wanted to shout every cuss known to man at the top of their lungs, just because Mr. Ryhu told them not to.

"Fourth rule: no talking while I'm talking; no talking during tests, or during study time, etc…" Mr. Ryhu continued, receiving nothing from the class but a couple giggles here and there.

"And the fifth and final rule…" He clapped his hands together. "Do not be afraid to ask questions if you don't understand something, or come for help before or after school if you need tutoring or help from me personally." He finished. "Questions?" He glanced around the room before a boy sitting in the front row raised his hand. Mr. Ryhu sighed in irritation as if he knew this boy gave him a hard time. "Yes, Howl…?" He addressed, jogging my memory and making me realize that 'Howl' was the kid from P.E. the other day who asked Mr. T that stupid question.

"The fifth rule isn't quite a rule. It's more of a statement…" He said skeptically, though his tone of voice sounded as if he was smirking.

Mr. Ryhu sighed once more, getting more giggles and held-back laughs from the class. "Howl…" He began in an annoyed manner. "What you just said was a statement, therefore contradicting your rather sad attempt to brand me foolish." He said as if he was an English major in a court of law, successfully proving the defendant guilty.

Everyone laughed at Howl's expense. Even I let a small grin find its way to my lips. "Well… I just thought you'd like to know…" He concluded, undeniably embarrassed.

The bell rang 25 minutes later, and Mako and I walked to Spanish, which was just writing down notes then finishing homework in class. B period: study was just Mako, Bolin, Asami, and I trying to get work done, but we all ended up trying to draw each other. Mako, being the artist of the group, obviously drew the best portrait of me.

Lunch time wasn't all that interesting. All we talked about was how dreadfully mind-numbing classes were, about how decent the cafeteria was, and how much Bolin loves food, especially cookies and Dr. Pepper.

During Biology, all we did was just work on our projects. And by 'we', I don't mean the entire class, I mean Mako and I, who were literally the only two people gave two shits about our grade on it. Everyone else was just fucking around on their phones and having loud, personal conversations that seemed to get on no one else's nerves but mine and Mako's.

Music was terrible. All we did was listen to music and write down how we felt about it. I wouldn't mind if Miss JD played some classic alternative instead of ancient Latin music that no one has heard of. And as soon as that bell rang, I was the first one out the door, annoyed with the class for no reason whatsoever.

During period E: English, we copied down a few notes from a PowerPoint presentation about works of non-fiction that relates to the story the class is going to read next week, The Freedom Writers Diary. We also talked about how the book ties into The Diary of Anne Frank, the war that happened in Bosnia; wars that happened in general, such as the 'gang wars' that constantly take place in our own neighborhoods. I really couldn't wait to read the book. I'm antsy, I can't sit still; tapping my foot, shaking my leg, drumming my fingers on the desk- nothing can get this energy of sudden enthusiasm out of me. But the bell soon rang, and everyone was out the door, ready to go home.

I trudged up the stairs from the first floor to the third floor where my locker is located. I put away and grab textbooks, shoving them into my locker and into my shitty back-pack. I slung the sack over my shoulder then began to walk down the stairs, ready to leave.

But Bolin caught me on the stairs. He put his hand out to stop me. "Hey, Korra!" He greeted with enthusiasm that abruptly turned to mild skepticism. "Where ya goin'? We have DT, remember?" He reminded me, making me mentally face palm.

'Wow, this is embarrassing' I thought to myself, the enjoyment that found me during English had left my spirit as fast as it had come, replacing it with unnecessary anxiety. "Oh, yeah!" I exclaimed. "Augh, I- Ugh, I guess I just forgot." I groaned out, unhappy with my stammer.

But Bolin just let it roll off his shoulder. "It's alright." He assured me. "Everyone forgets." He gave me a smile that was just so goddamn contagious. I couldn't stop myself from letting an amused giggle escape my throat. He let out a short giggle as well before I turned around and walked with him to our homeroom in which the detention takes place.

Once we walked into the room, we saw Mako sitting in his seat. So we decided to follow his lead and sit in our assigned seats as well.

"Hey, guys!" Mako greeted with excitement as he twisted in his desk to face us. Thrill shimmered and gleamed like stars in his sun-like amber eyes whenever he looked to me, which made me feel kind of special judging by the soft smile he gave me, teeth barely showing through his pink lips.

"Why are you so excited, Mako?" Bolin asked with incredulity and suspicion laced in through his words, knitting a metaphorical sweater of uncertainty at his brother's motives for being so gleeful during such a dreadful hour and 15 minutes. "You hate office DT's! Hell, you hate DT in general!" He exclaimed, pointing out his brother's happiness while others in the room gave us dirty looks for being too loud.

Mako looked down at his sneakers, probably thinking up an excuse. "Well, I'm just in a good mood…" He said then looked to me. "And I don't want something as trivial as detention to ruin it." He finished as he flashed a smile at me Bolin didn't seem to notice. There it was again, though. 'That glimmer in his eye… What does that mean?' I thought as I brushed it off before principal Nathans walked into the room.

I looked to Mako, who stared with a grimace on his face directed toward him. That glistening twinkle in his sun-colored eyes, gone, exchanged with a burning fire of determination and ire. It was as if his entire demeanor had been replaced with an angry cynic who wants nothing more than to prove his worth to someone who doesn't deserve to be walking on the plane of those who're justified to; who need to.

Mako focused his gaze onto me, eyes softened as to indicate he's not mad at me. "Come, on." He said getting up and pulling on my arm for me to follow. "Let's go tell him what really happened."

Hope y'all enjoyed... :|

-TheClaudMaster