The sounds coming up from the basement of Azula’s house were deafening and Katara hesitated at the top of the stairs. “What?” the golden-eyed girl asked, and Katara just shook her head.
“What is going on down there?” she said, eyes widening as shouts rose through the open door at the bottom of the staircase.
“Oh, it’s just my stupid brother and his lame friends being loud,” Azula said with a laugh. “I’ll introduce you.”
“Okay,” Katara muttered as she followed her new friend down. She’d met Azula in Literature class earlier that week on her first day at Vianic High School, and the other girl had invited her to come over after school on Friday. Since her brother had plans with his new friends that she hadn’t been included in, she agreed.
“Damn, Zuko, you really suck at this!”
“Sokka?”
The siblings stared at each other across the basement. “Katara! I told you, you weren’t invited!” her older brother whined. “Guys’ night! No girls allowed!”
“Er – she’s here with my sister, Sokka – I don’t think you can kick her out,” a taller boy with black hair hanging in his eyes said as he turned from a game to face her. She gasped. It was the boy with the scar she’d noticed at lunch a few days ago. Damn! He is really gorgeous! she thought.
“Besides,” another boy chimed in, “Ty Lee and Toph are here. They’re not boys.” Katara thought she recognized him as the freshman her brother had started hanging out with on their first day. Two girls sitting in a corner with game controllers called a hello, and Katara recognized one of them from her theatre class. She waved to them both and turned back to Azula.
“Is it always like this at your house?”
“Well, Zuzu typically has friends over on Friday nights, unless he has a date, which is rare,” she added with a smirk. “And Ty Lee and Mai are usually over, too, but Mai had to leave last week and I don’t know when she’s coming back – something about her father being ill. She had to travel overseas to be with him.”
“Oh,” Katara responded dumbly, wondering if she was supposed to know who Mai was. “So is this usually it then?”
“Nah,” the youngest boy cut it. “Suki and Haru should be here soon, and we’re still waiting on Hahn and Jet.”
“It’s usually a pretty big crowd, Sugar Queen,” called the girl Katara didn’t recognize.
“S-sugar Queen?” she stuttered.
“Yeah – it’s pretty easy to see you’re a lot nicer than the other girls Azula usually hangs out with,” she explained, to which Ty Lee made an indignant noise and punched her. “Oh, hush! Ty Lee, you know you’re not sweet – you just like to pretend you are because it gets you laid quicker!” Katara’s eyes widened slightly at such brash talk from someone obviously so young, but she pushed her surpise down.
“Whatever, Katara, I guess you can stay, since you’re here with Zuko’s sister – but don’t interrupt my guy time, okay?” Sokka said as he turned back to Zuko and challenged his friend to another game. It was then that Katara finally took a good look around the basement. Arcade games lined the room, and an air hockey table took up the center. Along one wall was a giant projection screen, and it was there that Ty Lee and Toph were playing what looked to be a version of Dead or Alive Katara was unfamiliar with. The younger boy was sitting on the seat for a ‘Cruisin’ USA’ game, but he wasn’t playing – instead, he was watching Sokka and Zuko as they climbed on a metal platform with arrows on it.
“Ooh, DDR!” she exclaimed. “I used to be really good at this game!”
“Katara! I said not to interrupt!” Sokka whined as he missed several steps to turn to look at her with a frown.
“Oh, shut up!” she snapped. She was busy watching the other boy. He wasn’t bad, exactly, but Sokka easily beat him, even with his numerous missteps.
“Wow! If Sokka can beat you, you really do suck!” she said before thinking.
“Oh yeah?” Zuko twirled and pointed at her. “Why don’t you come over here and beat me then?”
There was a loud chorus of ‘ooh’s from the peanut gallery, and Katara realized that the others must have arrived, for a small group of teens stood in the doorway.
“Fine!” she called and stalked across the room. She yanked Sokka off the platform and turned to face Zuko. “I get to choose the song, though.”
“Fine!” he said.
“Fine!” she smirked. She browsed through the selection before finding the song she wanted and turned to him. “Ready?”
“You’re on.”
So many men so little time, so many men for me and my.
“What the shit is this?” Zuko shouted as the song started and Katara began to follow the moves dictated by the screen. He shot her a hateful glare before turning his attention to the screen, scowling in disgust the entire time.
The level was only about a minute and fifteen seconds long, but it was clear in the first ten seconds who would win. When the final beat sounded, Katara was the clear victor and Zuko was mumbling about women who cheated at video games and friends of Azula’s. Katara just laughed.
“Wow, Katara – you’re incredible! You didn’t miss a single step!” The youngest boy was looking up at her in unadalterated adoration, and she let out a laugh at his worshipful expression.
“Not bad, Sugar Queen, not bad at all!” This was from Toph, who quickly hit the boy in the back of the head.
The newest arrival and Ty Lee rushed over to her. “You simply HAVE to join the dance squad, Katara!” Ty Lee gushed.
The other girl nodded. “I agree. Normally you’d have to wait for a tryout, but anyone who can do that perfectly is capable of doing our moves. I’m Suki, by the way, and I’m the captain.”
“And I’m Jet,” a tall boy with bushy brown hair added smoothly, slipping his arm across her shoulders and causing her to blush. “We’ll be going out next Friday, right Princess?” Azula laughed as Katara struggled to get out from under his arm.
Zuko slid an arm around her waist and pulled her away from him. “Sorry, buddy, but she’s busy next Friday. Right, Katara?” He looked down at her with something between a scowl and a smirk and she smiled.
“Yeah – sorry Jet, but I’m going out with Zuko next Friday.”
“WHAT!” Sokka shouted. “Zuko, you are not allowed to date my baby sister! It’s in the man code!”
This caused a general outburst of laughing before Zuko spoke up. “Then I suppose it wasn’t you with your tongue down my sister’s throat two days ago in the back of the gym?”
