Chapter Text
After those strange events in my first day, I came to Bumi’s house — my house, I need to get used — and he asked me how it was. I only talked to sentences and went to my room.
Here, I can think better about what happened. Like, I don’t think that I did something that makes Zuko’s reaction about me being acceptable. Today was my first, we never saw each other in our entire lives. He can’t have an opinion about my person with just look at my face!
I come to a decision: I’ll talk to him tomorrow. We’ll have a conversation about his strange reaction and burning rubber like he was running from the devil.
But, of course, he didn’t come the next day. And the other. And the other.
He took an entire week to show his face again at school, and I feel angry about that. How do you feel when one guy, in probably the smallest city in entire USA, acts like a creepy and hater about your presence?
I really wanted to talk with him about it, to know what I did to make him act strange like that, but I felt in my heart to forget about him and just study.
It’s again biology class, and I saw him at school today. Suki is talking about something that I don’t listen — making me feel the worst new friends that someone would have — and all I can do is look over my shoulder to see the half blind boy with his family.
When I look to him, I see that he was looking to me first. It almost made me look away, embarrassed, but I forced myself to still look for a few more seconds, what gave me the scene of Zuko throwing a carrot, grumbling.
I look again to Suki, that looks to me and to Zuko then.
— What is happening? — she asks, given a bit at her lunch.
— Nothing — I already answer, and that probably shows her that I’m lying.
— Aang, you’ve be looking at Zuko all day, and it just today, that he’s here. Last week, you were looking for him all the time, and I saw the deception in your face when you notice that he didn’t come.
— You are seeing things, Suki. — Is my only answer, listen to the bell ring, making lift us up to class.
— Just one day and you fell in love to him? Damn, the Cullen is killing all...
I roll my eyes and we say goodbye, going to our classes.
I’m not animated to be almost an hour by Zuko’s side, but when I need to go to biology class, I try to center my mind to do not care about anything that is related to this boy. If he doesn’t want to talk with me, I don't either.
I go to my chair, sitting in silence and taking my journal to write down what professor says.
— Hi. — I listen the boy in my left talk. At first, I thought he was talking to anyone but me. I thought that he was talking to himself, but didn’t believe that he could direct himself to me. — My name is Zuko Cullen. — My curious betrayed me, making my eyes look directly at his golden iris. — I’m sorry I haven’t introduced me last week. You are Aang, right? Bumi’s son?
I almost asked how he knows that, but I remembered that we live in a city with a little bit more than 3000 in population, so I said this:
— Yes, you’re right. — Kyoshi passed by all chairs, given us mitosis specimens to sight and catalogue. — You’ve disappeared last week. I’ve seen just your siblings.
— Okay, guys — Kyoshi says in front of whole class. — Don’t forget the information that I won’t repeat. You’ll need to be perfect if you want to win the golden onion, right? — She tokes a literally golden onion from her back and everyone grumbled, what she retorted threatening throw the onion on someone.
When she sited, Zuko returned talking:
— Yeah, uhm, I was at some cousin’s house, emergence trip.
I shook my head, taking the microscope slide to sight.
— Prophase — I say.
— Do you mind if I check? — He asks. I feel a little offended, but let him see with his own eye. — Prophase.
— Like I said. — I gave an inflated ego smile.
— So, is raining outside — he says putting another slide under the microscope and I laugh low, taking his attention to me.
— Are you really talking with me about climate?
His eyebrows wrinkle. He doesn’t get it.
— I think... — And look again through the microscope. — Anaphase.
— Do you mind? — I ask, only to disturb him.
Different from what I expected, he gave a low and short laugh, pushing gently to let me see.
Fuck, he’s right.
— Anaphase — I say,
— Like I said. — He has a disdainful smile. — You didn’t answer my question.
— Well — I cough —, is hard doesn’t rain in this city, from what I saw only this week. To be with my mental health okay, I’m trying to not care.
— You don’t like rain? — he asks, pulling the microscope again to him.
I just mumble in negative.
— You must feel in hell to be here. — And look through the microscope with the third and last slide. — Metaphase. Want check?
— I believe on you — I answer, writing on my journal the three we sight.
Our professor seemed a little bit chocked when we showed her and she saw that was right. But after see that was Zuko and I, her face tokes an expression like expected this.
— Hope you haven’t did this all alone trying to end faster, mister Cullen.
— Not even if I wanted — he says, smiling and then turning his eye to me. — My classmate is very rigorous and made a point to observe everything that I said.
— Oh, right. — Only now did my professor notice my existence. — Mister... Aang Swan, right?
— You’re correct — I say, counting minutes to end this torture. I hate talk with older people.
— Were you in a special class? — I confirmed in silence, just shacking head. — Well, you toke the information. — She gives us the onion. — Please, take this. My fiancée said to get rid of it.
Zuko and I laugh low and catch, even though we don’t want this. Kyoshi permit us to leave the class and passing the hallway, the boy turns to ask:
— And are you liking to live with your new father?
— Yeah, like — I adjust my backpack falling from my shoulder —, he’s trying his best, and we live together have only a week. With the same time, others adoptive parents acted a lot worse than him.
— You lived with other parents?
— I’m an orphan since my birth, so I have a lot of experience with this. — I laugh painfully.
— Sorry about those many questions — Zuko say, stopping in the middle of the hallway. — I’m just trying to understand you.
— Well, I think I have the right of one question. — He shrugs. — What about your iris? She has a different color than last week.
His face turns in red and he looks embarrassed, looking in directions other than mine.
— I-I-I don’t know, I’ve ne-never noticed that. Y-you-re the first... Hmm... I have to go, right? — With a disconcerted smile, he leaves me and disappears when the bell rings and everybody go to hallway.
When I came home, Bumi asked me to leave him to a restaurant and have a dinner with him at some different place because we’ve been together for a week and he wants to celebrate.
I don’t think that was necessary, but I did, we going to a little restaurant close to my school.
Actually, everything in this city is close to everything. When we came to there, I saw some classmates. They looked to us and turn back to talk low, probably talking about us.
I don’t care about what they say. Being an orphan made me strong about the looks and gossips. “Oh, little poor, he doesn't have a father or mother”, “he was so many times adopted and didn’t stop in some house”, they don’t even care that my “fathers” couldn’t lead with an adoptive child, that wasn’t my fault that they give me back to the houses, waiting for someone who really loved me and wanted me by their side.
Gyatso was the first one, and now that I’ve lost him...
— Aang? — Bumi call me, making me look at him. — Are you okay?
In silence, I shake my head, confirming.
— If you want, we can go back at home and eat there.
Are him regretting of his choice to adopt me?
— You want?
— I want my son’s tranquility. — He smiles and shake my hair, massing him up. — Here, at home or in any place that he wants.
I don’t know in reality what I want, but what I don’t want is being hided, by anyone or by myself.
— We can stay — I say.
Bumi smiles really big and go to a table, calling me with his hand to sit to.
We talk for some time when the waitress came to ask what do we want. Then we return to our conversation, knowing better each other.
We ate — I’ve loved the food — and came back to the house, where Bumi said goodnight to me and went directly to his room. I went to the bathroom, washed my tooth, changed my clothes and went to my room, where I lay down on my bed, expecting to sleep fast.
How wrong I was.
I’m right now thinking about today, especially the Zuko’s strange reactions toward me. Isn’t enough how he reacted last week in my first day, today, besides acting like he’s trying to be my friend, know me, the strange action when I questioned his eye color.
Zuko Cullen is a really weird boy.
— Go to sleepy, Aang, it doesn’t matter — I say to myself.
But I can’t convince myself, because even though I find him weird — like everyone and even I think about myself —, something inside me makes me want to remove his mask and understand who truly is Zuko Cullen.