New Student (Zukka fic)

Part Nine

"Of course I am! Aang and Toph are waiting in the parking lot for me; I was just going to ask for a map at the front office."

Zuko suddenly piped up, looking incredibly flustered and confused. "I'm sorry, I hate to interject, but what in the name of Agni is happening here?"

In all the excitement, Sokka had completely forgotten that Zuko was still here. "Sorry about that. Zuko, this is my sister, Katara. Katara, this is my roommate, Zuko."

"Oh, yes, Zuko! Sorry I embarassed you a little bit, I just can't help but poke a little fun at Sokka." She extended her hand for him to shake, and he returned the gesture.

"It's alright, it's a pleasure to meet you. Sokka's told me a lot abou-" Sokka quickly motioned for Zuko to stop talking, and luckily he got the message. If Katara found out about all the things he told his roommate about her, she'd throw a fit.

"He's told me a lot about his friends and family, so it's nice to meet you in person," Zuko amended with surprising ease.

"I would say the same about you, but Sokka hasn't called me in the last three months," Katara snipped with a deadly glare at her brother, "so I suppose we'll have to get to know each other in the next three weeks." Katara grabbed Zuko's arm and started dragging him along. "Come on, I can't wait for you to meet Aang and Toph!"

Sokka rolled his eyes, but snickered at the thought of Toph coming up with a new nickname for Zuko, and hurried off to meet his friends.

.........................

Sokka's sister had been dragging Zuko across campus for fifteen minutes, like he didn't know how to navigate his own university. He had tried to wrench out of her grasp several times, but she had an iron grip.

At last, they reached the west parking lot, where Katara waved frantically at two figures in the distance. "Aang, Toph, meet Sokka's roommate!" she hollered.

They ran closer to the two figures, and they became easier to see. The first was a boy, who looked to be about eighteen. His messy brown hair was mostly hidden by a beige beanie, that was decorated with a bright blue beanie. His gray eyes were wide and expressive, and a smile brightened his pale features. He donned a mustard yellow sweatshirt, faded blue leggings, and a pair of untied gray high-tops.

The second figure was considerably smaller, so it was difficult to determine her age. She had jet black hair tied up into two messy spacebuns. Her skin was even paler than the boy's, and her seafoam green eyes were glazed over and unfocused. A pale green t-shirt laid beneath an overall romper, with one sleeve of the romper undone. Her brown hiking boots were muddy and tracking dirt everywhere, much to Katara's distaste.

Behind them was a car that looked similar to Zuko's, but only in the fact that it was a Beetle. While Zuko kept his car meticulously spotless, this one looked like it hadn't been washed in about ten years. it was beige, and it was sputtering gasoline on the pavement.

"Hey, I'm Aang! I hope Sokka hasn't been bothering you too much," the boy chuckled, grabbing Zuko's hand and shaking it excitedly. 

Zuko and Sokka both laughed nervously. "No, he's been...he's been great," Zuko assured them.

"That's good, because otherwise I would've had to shove Sokka's head in a toilet. And that would've been way too fun, right Sugar Queen?" the girl mentioned casually, not making eye contact with anyone.

"Your anger has reached new levels of subtlety, Toph," Katara said icily, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, I don't think I need to tell you that Katara is rolling her eyes," Aang laughed. Does this guy ever stop smiling? Zuko wondered.