Four Elements High school

Chapter 24: The Track Meet

"All track students, please report to the front of the courtyard. Your bus will be here soon," a voice that most likely belonged to June blared on the loudspeaker. Mai was sitting with Ty Lee in the middle of math, their last class of the day. 

"So what school are you competing against?" Mai asked disinterestedly.

"Ba Sing Se High School," Ty Lee shivered as she grabbed her books  "It's this super elite private boarding school. I've met their coach before. Her name's Joo Dee and she always has this creepy smile on her face."

"Reminds me of someone I know," Mai said, looking her friend, who had been smiling all afternoon. Ty Lee laughed and left. Mai sighed, stared across the room, and saw Azula staring back at her. Mai quickly averted her eyes, but she could still feel Azula's gaze on her. Mai and Azula had never had a close friendship. Their families and Ty Lee's family were business partners, so naturally the three of them would often be stuck together during parties and other events. It wasn't that they didn't have fun. They would play hide and seek in their parents' huge houses, and when they got a little older they would pull pranks on Zuko and some of the housekeepers, but Mai had always kept Azula at arm's length. She had never felt the need to have close relationships with other people, (Zuko was the only exception) and it was better to be a loner than to get hurt. People like Ty Lee, who blindly put their faith and trust in everyone, were going to get hurt. There was no doubt about that, and though Mai put on a tough face, the one thing she didn't like to feel was pain. 

                                                                                  ~~~

A few minutes after the final bell rang, Zuko, Katara, Aang, Toph and Mai were crammed in Zuko's car, and heading down the highway towards Ba Sing Se High School to see their friends' track meet. 

"They'd better win," Toph grumbled, "I was planning on soaking my feet in mud for three hours today." 

"Aw, come on Toph," said Katara, "have an open mind."

"Here we are," Zuko said, pulling up to the parking lot of the school. Four Elements was a pretty large, distinguished high school, but Ba Sing Se High completely blew it out of the water. It was huge, with probably around 10 buildings, botanical gardens, and an open area dedicated to sports. The students all wore the same pressed green uniforms, and the vibe of the place just screamed 'I'm better than you and I know it.'

"Is that..." Aang turned and saw a familiar face moving through the parking lot, but before he realized who it was, she was gone. 

"Come on," Zuko said, leading them to the front of the school. Aang saw a group of girls practicing haiku and some earthbenders, but mostly just a lot of silent, uniformed students staring at them in a condescending way. They made their way through the gardens, which seemed to be the center of the campus, before going to a football field with a track surrounding it, and sitting in the front row of the bleachers.

"Well this isn't creepy at all," Katara said nervously as the condescending stares of the students turned to outright hostility. They seemed to be the only people from Four Elements High School. The first event was the 3200 meter relay, which the Ba Sing Se kids won, much to the disdain of Aang and his friends. 

"I could use earthbending to make them trip," Toph said, more to herself than to anyone else. 

"That's... probably not a good idea," Aang said.

"Fine," Toph replied, although during the 110 meter hurdles, Aang did see Toph discreetly move her hand, before two people tripped over the hurdles and ended up finishing last, giving Four Elements a win. Aang was cheering loudly when he saw that Katara was being... oddly quiet.

"Is everything alright?" He asked. 

"I'm fine," Katara said reservedly, "It's just kind of embarrassing, being the only people cheering and all." Aang touched her hand.

"If you don't want to cheer for them that's fine," he said, "but you don't even know these people. You shouldn't care what they think. Just have fun." Katara smiled at him. Of course, It would be impossible not to cheer when the 100 meter hurdles came around. Ty Lee completely blew everyone out of the water. She was like a trained gymnast, leaping over the hurdles with grace and agility, and true to form, did a celebratory cartwheel after her victory. Aang and the rest of them whooped and hollered, Mai louder than any of them, but this time, Aang noticed that they weren't the only ones cheering. He glanced around for a moment before seeing someone with black hair, wearing a red crop top and a black denim skirt, sitting far away from everyone else because she was surrounded by... blue fire?

Azula. And she was cheering, screaming at the top of her lungs for Ty Lee. It didn't seem like the Azula Aang knew, but then again, maybe he didn't know Azula that well at all. 

Next was the 100 meter dash. Suki ended up finishing second, but it didn't stop them from cheering any louder. 

"Just shut up already!" a few of the Ba Sing Se kids complained, but all it took was an intimidating glare from Mai and a puff of fire from Zuko for them to shut up. Ty Lee did her solo pole vault, soaring so elegantly over the bar that the whole audience erupted into cheers, and Sokka got third in the 3200 meter run. The final event was the co-ed relay. 

"Toph, don't cheat with earthbending for this one," Katara said firmly. Toph sighed, but most likely because it was Suki and Sokka that were competing, she listened.

"Whatever you say, Sugar Queen."

"SUGAR QUEEN?!!" Katara's face turned red.

"Just roll with it," Aang said, "I'm twinkle toes." They were interrupted by a loud POP as the race started. There were four people from each school doing the relay. The first two from Four Elements High School were pretty slow, and the Ba Sing Se kids were in the lead by the time Sokka got the baton. 

"Whoa," Aang said as Sokka quickly regained the lead, "Katara, I never knew your brother was this fast." Katara was too busy screaming and cheering Sokka's name. So much for being embarrassed. Sokka handed the baton off to Suki, and even though he was 20 feet away from them, Aang could see all the love and admiration in Sokka's eyes. Suki effortlessly dashed across the finish line, giving Four Elements a final win. She and Sokka went over to Aang and the rest of them, who were losing their minds.

"That. Was. Amazing!" Katara said. 

"Thanks," Suki and Sokka said at the same time, Sokka was bashful, but Suki just looked excited and proud. 

"Hey, where's Ty Lee?" Mai asked. Aang looked around the field for a moment before seeing her standing next to Azula. He couldn't tell what their conversation was, but after a minute, Ty Lee walked over to them. Aang was tempted to ask what they were talking about, but it wasn't his business, so he let it go. 

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Important Announcements: 

- First of All: we have have over 10k reads!!!! 🥳 Thank you all SO. MUCH. I never thought I would get to this point. 

-Shout outs to- blackdemon319 for your positive feedback, CrossisBig for your hilarious comments, and Drogada_de_blakwood for being one of the first people to read my story and sticking with it til the end. (more shout outs in the next chapter)

- Next: there are only two chapters left in Four Elements High School😔 I think that the story has run its natural course, and we're almost at the end of the school year anyways. HOWEVER: I do think that there are still more stories to tell, characters to see, and relationships to explore. So, I am considering a sequel that will take place during Aang's junior year. 

As always, thanks for reading!