The Lost Avatar

Part 1 - Chapter 3

Kova's back; the Avatar's gone?

The Bus arrived in the morning in front of our street at 8:00 in the morning. Dev was yawning a lot due to the training he had. Can't blame him, though. I should have taken it a bit easy, but I was slightly irritated on the first day of training him. Teaching is not something I like; I don't know why. We entered the bus and sat down together on one of the front seats.

"I'm so sleepy, Asin." Dev groaned.

"Get used to it. We have to go every day for this. No excuses." I replied.

"Every day?!" he exclaimed, looking at me.

I gave a look back to him. A pause occurred. A thought did run through my head on whether I should take that complaint into consideration. Maybe starting with an alternate day thing? No, what am I thinking? He's the Avatar. If I'm not tough, then what's the use of me teaching him?

"Anyway, I just want you to remember two things when you're at school: You can't tell anybody that you're living in my house and you shouldn't keep any close friends. Okay?" I instructed, slowly.

"I have to keep a few friends. That's ridiculous." He said, puzzled.

"Hey, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that you shouldn't make close connections here." I warned.

"Are you thinking that I'll go around telling people about my bending?" he asked.

 "I'm sure you won't. We just don't know how long you'll be here, right? That's why." I said.

"Fine. I'll just hang around with you." He said.

"Fine." I replied, while looking out the window.

The bus reached the parking lot within half an hour and we got down and walked towards the school building. Just before reaching the classroom,

"Asin! Hey, Asin! Over here!" called out a girl from the classroom.

Oh no...not her again. Both of us turned around to see a short girl with a pretty face and light skinned. This girl was the daughter of a trustee of the school, so it was obvious how super popular she was. But she would never talk to me until it was the day of the final exam results. She flaunts her first rank constantly to me and another boy of our class. I usually come around third or fourth which is good enough for me.

"Don't tell me she's your friend." Whispered Dev, slowly towards me.

"Shivani. She's a Trustee's daughter." I whispered back.

"Asin! Hello!" – while coming in front of us – "I couldn't find you on Results' Day, girl! Did you do well-Oh!" – noticing Dev next to me – "Who's this? Introduce me!" she said, nudging me.

"Hehe..." I hesitated.

I wasn't ready with the explanation I was supposed to give. What do I say again?

"This is Dev. My..." I started but I couldn't say more.

"We're neighbours. Right opposite to each other." Dev immediately said while putting his arm around me and pulling me into the classroom.

"Okay. Yeah, perfect explanation." I said.

"You owe me." He said.

School went on quicker than usual and Dev surprisingly made a few friends already. I also had a few girlfriends whom I studied with. Sometimes Shivani would come over for a few questions to which we helped with. She's a non-bender. But one or two of my friends are benders out of the four. But neither did I let them know about me. I hope so. Firebending anywhere gives a huge red flag. But Airbending and Waterbending comparatively can be practiced easily. Waterbending can be done near the river in the outskirts of our city. Nobody will notice that much. I once noticed my friend Tina practicing with her parents there.