Tales of Ba Sing Se High Chp 9

Chapter 9: Deals

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Zuko's POV


Our faces were inches apart and I looked straight into her big blue eyes. She was enchanting. I examined her eyes, her hair, her lips...her perfectly shaped lips...

I moved closer and to my surprise, she didn't move away. She stared at me with half-lidded eyes as she moved closer too.

Our lips were closing in on each other.

We were 4 inches apart...

3 inches...

2...

1...

"Hello, Zuzu... Am I interrupting something?"

Our lips were literally 1 inch apart when my bitch of a sister decided to cut in.

Katara and I immediately pulled away from each other. I glared at Azula.

"What are you doing here!" I snarled, standing up from my seat.

I felt my anger rise up and I had to try so hard to stop myself from hitting my sister.

Then, I felt Katara's hand on my arm. I looked into her eyes and I softened right away.

"Zuko, calm down." she said.

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration and focused my attention on Azula.

"What do you want?" I said, sitting back down.

"Just coming to check up on you and your...tutor." she said. She turned to Katara and held out her hand. "I'm Azula, Zuko's younger sister. And you are?"

Katara shook her hand, almost unwillingly.

"I'm Katara," she said. "Zuko's tutor and friend."

It warmed my heart when she said she was my friend.

"Ahh...friend? I could have sworn it was more than that."

Uh-oh...She better not interrogate Katara...

"Well...I...uhh..." Katara muttered, avoiding her gaze.

"Can you just tell me what you want and go away?" I snapped at my sister

"Chill, brother. I only went here so that you could see Ty Lee and Mai again."

Azula turned away from us and called out to her friends. Ty Lee and Mai entered the same area. They looked the same as when I last saw them. Ty Lee still had that perky smile and cheerful attitude. Even if she was Azula's friend, I know she's not evil. Mai was still gloomy and indifferent. She was very different from Katara...

"Hey Zuko!" Ty Lee said, pulling me up from my seat and giving me a friendly hug. "Long time no see! Can you believe it? It's only my first day here and I already made captain of the cheerleading squad! I'm so excited! All I had to do was cartwheel on the field and do a couple of dance moves and stunts! It was a piece of cake..."

She suddenly stepped away, cartwheeled and ended in a split with her hands in a V position.

"Go Ba Sing Se Platypus-Bears!" she cheered

"Uhh...Ty Lee?" Mai said, in her throaty uncaring voice, "It's Ba Sing Se Bears."

"Huh? Don't you mean platypus bears? Or skunk bears? Or armadillo bears? Or goph-"

"Nope. Just bears."

"That's weird... Anyway..."

Ty Lee walked back to us, pulled Katara up and shook her hand.

"I'm Ty Lee, Zuko's friend." She said, smiling

"Hey, I'm Katara, Zuko's friend and tutor."

"Really? Glad to know someone's helping Zuko out here."

She pulled Katara into a hug and Katara returned it.

"We're going to be best friends forever!" Ty Lee said excitedly

"Sure..." Katara said, smiling awkwardly

I know how she felt. Ty Lee's cheerfulness can be really creepy but most of the time, I appreciate it.

"Careful, Ty Lee. You might get infected with this peasant's disease..." Azula said, smirking at Katara.

Katara looked away, embarrassed. I felt my blood boil again.

"Shut up, Azula! I've seen Mai and Ty Lee, now go!"

"Zuko..." Mai said, holding my hand. "Aren't you even going to give me kiss?"

"Why would I?"

"Surely that's no way to treat your girlfriend, is it?"

I looked at Katara. She had unshed tears in her eyes.

"Zuko, I think I should go..." she said sadly

She started to walk away but I let go of Mai's hand and held hers.

"No, don't." I whispered so only she could hear. "I'll get rid of them..."

She only nodded sadly and I smiled at her reassuringly. I walked back to Azula and her friends.

"Azula, just go already. Haven't you already made your point?"

"Oh believe me, Zuzu..." Azula said, still smirking at Katara. "I'm just getting started..."

"It was nice seeing you again, Zuko." said Ty Lee, walking away with Azula

I waved back and smiled at her genuinely. The truth is, the only person I was really glad to see again was Ty Lee. I hated my sister and Mai's slowly turning into a bitch herself.

"It was nice to see you, Ty Lee." I said.

~~

Katara's POV


Zuko walked back to me. I avoided his gaze. I felt so humiliated. His sister just embarrassed me in front of him. What am I going to say now?

"Hey..." he said, holding my hand again. "You okay?"

I nodded even if I felt the exact opposite of okay. I was trying to hold back tears. Was it really that bad if I, a "lowly peasant," talked to him, a prince?

"Don't worry about what my sister said. She can just be an asshole sometimes. I'm sorry she hurt you though..."

"Th-That's okay... It wasn't your fault. She's probably right anyway. Maybe I shouldn't be talking to you..."

"No! Don't listen to her. Don't ever listen to what she says. Nothing's wrong if you talk to me just because I'm a prince. I'm just like you, you know."

"Are you really sure it's okay?"

"You have my word."

I nodded and gave a small smile. We sat back down, still holding hands.

"Umm...Zuko?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"That Mai girl...Is she really your girlfriend?"

I pulled my hand away from his and rested it on the table. I looked away, fearing his answer.

"No." he said with all seriousness.

"Then how come she said she was?"

"I don't know with her...I mean I used to like her..."

I pouted and huffed slightly. Apparently, he noticed because he held my chin with his fingers and turned my head to his direction. I saw him smile slightly. My heartbeat sped up when I realized how much we looked like a couple.

"Used to, Katara. Used to."

I had to smile a little. He was really cute when he smiled.

"Okay...Can I ask you another question?"

"Fire away..."

"Were you really going to kiss me a while ago?"

He blushed and he was speechless.

"Well...I-I guess so." he stammered, "I mean...well...I would have wanted to if my sister didn't interrupt. I hope you don't take that the wrong way..."

He looked away, trying to hide the redness in his face.

"Don't worry, Zuko. I would have wanted to kiss you too..." I said, hoping I didn't look very stupid saying that.

He just looked back up and grinned at me.

"So...if I may ask, if you don't like her anymore, then who do you like now?" I said

He brought his hand to mine on the table and held it again.

"I can't tell you right now." He said, looking straight at me. "I might freak her out and it would break my heart to see her run away from me."

"Well, what if she likes you too?" I said, not breaking away from his gaze

"Well, I can't tell unless we spend more time together..."

"Then why don't you ask her out?"

"She might say no..."

"Why would she? I mean, you're smart, funny, nice..." I muttered the last part out. "And you're also...you know...cute..."

I saw him smirking at me. I blushed and cleared my throat to break the awkward moment.

"Anyway...do I know this girl?"

"Yeah, you do actually. She's about your height, your weight. She has dark wavy brown hair like yours and the most amazing blue eyes..."

I blushed at what he said. Did he really think I have nice eyes?

"Well...I can send a message to her if you want..." I said shyly

"Really? Well...do you think she'll say yes if I ask her out?"

"Maybe she'd like to make a deal..."

"What kind of deal?"

"She's a not the type of girl who just says yes to anyone so you're going to have to prove you're the real deal..." I said smirking mischievously.

"Oh yeah?" he grinned playfully. "How will I do that?"

I moved my head closer to his until our faces were inches apart like a while ago.

"Tell you what, Zuko..." I said, smiling coyly at him, "I'll go out with you if you pass your upcoming Literature test..."

"Who said it was you I wanted to go out with?"

I felt my heart wrench a little at his statement but I was reassured when he smiled jokingly.

"You didn't have to tell me. It was pretty obvious, you know..."

"I guess Mr. Pakku did choose a great tutor for me. You're smart..."

"And I have amazing blue eyes too, right?"

"Right..."

We slowly closed the distance from each other. Our lips were about to crash when the bell rang, signalling the end of free period. I abruptly stood up and smirked at him. He looked so bewildered that I actually giggled at him.

"What just happened?" he said, laughing a bit

"The bell just rang. That's the end of our session for today, Mr. Agni."

I walked closer to him again. I patted his head and whispered in his ear.

"Maybe next time, sweetie..."