Senior Year

I was still smiling about my future date with Mako when I walked into my science class.  My mind continued to dream about what I should wear when Opal shouted my name.  I looked towards her direction, and she waved me over to her and the station she had picked out for us.  I smiled and walked over to her, setting my books down as I took the seat next to her.  So much smiling today, and it’s only the first day.  Hopefully the rest of the year goes just as well.

“I didn’t realize at lunch that we had yet to compare our schedules together.  How dumb of me to forget to check which classes I’d have with my best friend,” she said, pulling out her notebook.  By the glance of the cover, I could see it was the one that she would doodle and write about everything Bolin-related in it.

I shrugged. “We’ve had a class together for the past two years; why not a third, Miss Smarty-Pants?” I teased.

She rolled her eyes at me as she jotted down a note in her notebook.  I heard her phone vibrate for a text as I was pulling out my notebook and pencil.  When I looked back at her, she was staring at me with a smile that was on the verge of creepy.

“What?” I asked.  Seriously, Opal.  Stop with the creepy smile.  Kind of freaking me out right now to say the least.

“I just got a text from a reliable source that said you’re going out on a date with Mako.  That true, best friend?!” she asked a little too enthusiastically.

I narrowed my eyes. “And who is your reliable source?” There was only one person that I knew who would already be telling Opal this.

She gave me an innocent smile. “Just a friend,” she said.

That only confirmed my suspicion.  “It’s Zolt, isn’t it.”  Of course, “Lightning Bolt Zolt” would hear that Mako and I were going out on a date and tell Opal.  He just better be glad I don’t see him at all the rest of the day.

Opal gave me a fake surprised look. “Why no, Asami!  Why would I have anything to do with that lower level punk!”

I rolled my eyes and gently punched her in the arm. “I don’t know why you still talk to him.  He is drama personified in this school.  Both the starter and the spreader,” I said, leaning forward on my elbows.

She smiled. “Then how would I be able to get my dirt on Vee?” she asked.

I laughed. “You know, there are other ways to get dirt on your sister, Opal.”

She shrugged, continuing to smile. “But it’s too much fun to do it this way.  Plus, it’s free if I get it from him, and so much easier too.”

Had to give it to her.  Zolt was always willing to give Opal info whenever she asked for it from him. “Well, just be careful, or you might be the next target of his drama obsession.”

She hugged me close before the class began. “Come on, Asami.  You know me, always careful!”

Science flew by, mostly because we were going over safety procedures.  It gave Opal plenty of time to draw a new cartoon of Bolin in her notebook and myself time to think about what clothes to get for Mako to wear for our date.  I had an idea of the dress I wanted to wear, but to figure something out for Mako to wear was a very different ballpark.

“Hey Opal,” I whispered.

“Yeah?”

“Can you see if Bolin knows Mako’s shirt and pants sizes?”

A few clicks later and she had an answer. “Medium top, and pants are 32 by 34.  Also, he says good luck.”

I groaned softly. “He’s heard too?”

She smiled at me. “Asami, the whole school’s probably heard by now.”

I sighed, dropping my head into my hands.  Of course the entire school would hear.  At least my last class is with Bolin where I can beat him into keeping silent about it.  And here I was thinking that I could get by with a nice, normal date without being the gossip of the school for once.  That’s what I get for being Hiroshi Sato’s daughter, I guess.

As if reading my mind, the bell rang.  I quickly grabbed my books, bid goodbye to Opal, and practically ran to my next class.  I didn’t want to listen to the gossip in the hallways; I already knew it was going to be there.  I was only a few doors away from my next class when I felt a hand grasp my shoulder.  Instinctively pissed, I turned to see who it was, and the color and anger drained from my face.  It was Korra.

“Hey, you ok?  You look like you’re in a major hurry to get somewhere far away,” she said, worry starting to furrow her brow.

“Y-yeah.  I’m ok.  Sorry; just a lot on my mind,” I said softly.  Why do I keep feeling like this whenever I talk with her?

She smiled, gosh that smile, and patted my shoulder. “Hey, whatever it is, I’m sure you’ll work through it.  Where’s your next class?”

“Math,” I said, pointing to the door just a few feet away from us.

Korra adjusted her bag on her shoulder and smiled. “Sweet.  Means we have two classes together.  Come on, before we’re late.”

I nodded and followed her to the classroom.  What is wrong with me?  She’s just really nice.  But why do I always feel…so super weird around her?  The mental battle didn’t last long as Bolin shouted towards both of us as we entered the room.

“Asami!  Bring your friend and yourself over here!” he said, an enthusiasm that literally matched Opal’s radiating from his body.

I rolled my eyes and smiled at him.  I took the seat behind him while Korra took the seat to his left.  Bolin kept his eyes on Korra as she pulled her notebook out, that look of flirtiness playing on his face.  I reached forward and slapped the back of his head, causing him to shriek back in pain.

“What was that for?” he asked, holding his head and giving me a puppy dog pout.

“For staring, you goof,” I replied.  When really it’s to keep you from keeping ideas.

Korra tried her hardest to keep a laugh stifled, but it was slowly making its way out. “Is this how you guys are all the time?  It’s like everywhere I go, people you two are associated with are always doing something weird yet funny,” she said.

I smiled, a little embarrassed at the impression she had of us. “Not really.  I guess it’s just because it’s the first day, and we haven’t really seen each other this summer.”

“Well, Mako and I did invite you to come over more, but those schematics of yours always were taking priority,” Bolin teased, leaning against the wall by his seat.

“I was not always working on my schematics,” I countered.

“Oh, right.  Your dad had you the other times when you weren’t, Miss Heiress-of-Future-Industries.”

Korra looked at me in confusion. “Wait what?  Your dad’s Hiroshi Sato?”

I nodded, blushing a little. “I don’t usually say anything because of how much I get annoyed by idiot guys,” I said, elbowing Bolin in the arm. “But sometimes idiots like Bolin don’t know when to keep their mouths shut.”

Bolin threw me an apologetic smile, but that didn’t deter Korra. “That’s so cool!  Do you have your own Satomobile?” she asked, just as the teacher walked into the classroom.

I caught a glimpse of him, looks like we have a brand new teacher all together, before answering Korra, “Yeah, but it’s an older model.  I’ve drawn up my own schematics for my own personal Satomobile.”

“Wow, you’re like a genius or something,” she said, leaning back into her seat.

I smiled at her compliment before the teacher cleared his throat to get our attentions.  He was tall, and by the way of his complexion and the dress of his clothes, we could see that he was a member of the Water Tribe.  He had an all-mighty aura to him, which made me feel a bit uneasy.  Something doesn’t feel right with him. 

“Good morning, everyone.  My name is Mr. Tarrlok Arlin, and I will be your Statistics teacher for the school year,” he began, though the rest of his introduction didn’t really interest me past his name.  What was still bugging me was the feeling that something was very wrong with this guy, and I couldn’t put my finger on it.  Hopefully, it was just my jitters about having a new teacher.  Maybe that’s what it was.

The end of the period, along with the end of the day, felt as if it was sluggishly coming along.  While the class itself was an elective for me, both Bolin and Korra were required to take it.  That was the only real difference between the non-bender course path and the bender course path:  some classes were required for one side and not the other and vice versa.  It helped that math came very easily to me, one of the reasons why I was looking at attending Republic City University for their engineering program.  The University of Ba Sing Se and Republic City University featured the best engineering programs in the world, but I felt that Republic City University was going to be a better option for me in the long run.  Helped that they were willing to help pay for more of my tuition with scholarships and grants.

While Mr. Arlin, still a weird feeling no matter how much I spent of this period trying to convince myself that there wasn’t, finished up discussing the syllabus, I had finished drawing up what clothes I was going to order for tonight’s date with Mako.  I smiled as I looked at the list.  He’s going to love these clothes…I hope.  They weren’t usually his style, but he did seem hopeful when I said that I’d take care of it.  It was then that I noticed Korra had been staring at my list, the look on her face trying to decipher what I had written down.  I smiled and was about to answer in a soft voice when the bell rang to signal the end of the day.

Everyone quickly packed up their things and stood, eager to leave.  I had just pulled my bag over my shoulder, eager to answer Korra’s silent question, but Bolin managed to beat me to a conversation starter.

“So Korra, how’s your bending?” he asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.  She smiled, but it wasn’t like one of those cute smiles that she gave me.  Good; Bolin doesn’t need to get it in his head that Korra’s his when I’m still trying to help Opal get a date with him.

“Well, I am the Avatar, Bolin,” she said, shrugging. “I’ve been trained in earthbending, firebending, and waterbending profusely.”

Bolin smiled and started to drag her towards the classroom’s door.  I followed them, already knowing where this conversation was heading.

“Well, if you haven’t gotten a commitment for after school yet, why don’t you come watch a few of our bending practices!” he suggested.  He was already leading us to the practice arena, but Korra didn’t know that.

“You guys have a high school bending team?”  she asked, her eyes lighting up in excitement.  Man, that look was so adorable…ASAMI SNAP OUT OF IT AND QUIT DAY DREAMING ABOUT HER ALREADY!

Bolin smiled at her excitement. “Yupp.  I don’t mean to brag, but I’m on the team, so maybe we could get you a spot on a team.”

“Bolin, enough flirting with the new girl.  Go get ready with the rest of the junior varsity so that we can start practice,” I heard Kuvira say as she walked into the girls’ locker room, Bolin’s face turning a shade of red.

I chuckled at Bolin’s embarrassment and nodded towards the doors that led to the spectator seats. “Come on, we can watch them from here, Korra.”

Korra smiled and followed me out to the seats, where Opal was already sitting.  She waved to us as we climbed the stair to her.  It was then that Korra finally spoke up, asking her question that I was sure she was holding onto since the end of math.

“So Asami, what was that list for?” she asked, taking a seat beside me as I sat beside Opal.  Maybe not everyone had heard and Opal was just being her dramatic self. 

“Oh, that’s a list of clothes with sizes that she’s going to order for Mako for their date tonight,” Opal said, answering for me.  Damn it, Opal!  I glared at her; her response was to shrug and smile.

Korra’s face looked upset and…was that a hint of disappointment I seen?  The look, or looks, quickly disappeared as she changed attitude. “Hot guy?” she asked, leaning forward onto her elbows.

“You could say so.  He’s Bolin’s older brother, and they’re actually coming out onto the arena right now,” Opal said, pointing to the two brothers.  They came out first, followed slowly by Hasook.  Always the lazy one on the team.

Practice went on as it did every other day, the varsity kicking the junior varsity’s ass handily.  Korra watched with an intense concentration, softly speaking about what was working against the junior varsity’s favor, specifically Hasook.  When practice ended, she was the one the most agitated by the commitment of Hasook.

“I mean, come on.  Even a beginner could do better than what he was putting out there, and that was practice!” she exclaimed as we waited for Kuvira to finish changing.

I shrugged. “He’s always been the weakest link for the junior varsity, but no one else wanted to work with Bolin and Mako, so they had to pair him with them.”

“Why didn’t anyone want to work with them?” Korra asked, leaning against a nearby locker.

Opal huffed beside me. “Because, outside of the varsity team with Kuvira, they all see them as low lives because they grew up on the streets and got a scholarship to come here.”

I knew it was a sore spot for Opal because of her crush on Bolin.  She hated it whenever we heard someone criticize the brothers, and she was always the first to respond to the criticism with a well-thought-of retort.  That, and she was always one to stick up for the little guy.  It was just her nature to.  While Korra and Opal began to go back and forth in regards to their dislikes, my phone rang with a text from Dad.

Dad:  Going to be late getting home.  Important meeting.  Fix/order whatever you want. Love you.

I smiled.  And he said I was an overachiever.

Me:  Alright.  I was going to go out with someone tonight, but I’ll probably still beat you home.  Love you too.

I put my phone back in my pocket as Kuvira came out of the locker room.  She swung her gym bag over her shoulders, her hair still damp from the quick shower I was sure she had taken.  She was never one to smell of sweat after a workout.

“Ready to go, Ope?” she asked Opal.

Opal quickly grabbed her book bag. “Yupp.  Mom said that we needed to head home straight after practice.”

Kuvira rolled her eyes but nodded.  They waved their goodbyes as they left, leaving me alone with Korra.  It was almost four, and I still had to call ahead to make sure those clothes were ready for Mako for tonight.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said as I began to head out to my car.

Korra waved goodbye.  If I had been paying more attention than I was, I would have recognized that the wave had more disappointment registering in it.  But I had more important things to think about.  Like the date with Mako tonight.  I can’t wait!  I giggled at the thought and got into my grumpy old car to head home.  Tonight’s going to be awesome.