Awa'altu High: ATWOW highschool au!!

Ao'nung

"So, what did you guys do?" he asked, not looking over at her. "Besides dragging him out of his car window to kiss him." Tsireya elbowed his shoulder. "Shut up," she muttered. "What?" he asked, smiling innocently. "I'm curious. What was it like waiting sixteen years to have your first kiss?" She elbowed him again, harder. "Pull over," she hissed. "I'll walk." Ao'nung rolled his eyes. "Shut up," he sighed, shaking his head slowly. "What's that?" he asked, poking what looked like a rock filled t-shirt. "Shells," she said bluntly. Ao'nung scoffed. "Yeah, okay," he said, side-eyeing her. She was turned to face the window, with her knees drawn up to her chest. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, suddenly worried he went too far. "Don't ask me what's wrong. I should have had Rotxo come pick me up," she whispered, still turned away. "What? Why?" he asked, blinking in confusion. "He wouldn't have made a stupid deal out of it," she huffed, pulling her knees tighter to her chest. "First of all, he definitely would have," Ao'nung began. "Yeah, but not in front of him!" she shouted, whipping around to face him. "Watch the fucking road, Ao'nung," she shouted, gesturing in front of them with both hands. Ao'nung didn't want to admit her words stung. Sure, he could have acted more calm. Looking back, he didn't care that his sister was kissing someone. But, in that moment, he felt like all he could see was Lo'ak's flaws. Neteyam mentioned he used to get into fights. Ao'nung didn't know what kind of temper he had, and he didn't think Reya did either. He knew it wasn't fair to treat him that way. He liked Lo'ak. He thought he was funny. But, in all honesty, he didn't expect Tsireya to be offended by any of it. It wasn't like he was even that serious - if anything, he was encouraged by how Neteyam shouted at him to shut up while unable to keep himself from laughing. He was silent the rest of the way home, trying not to think about how much his sister saying she wished she had called Rotxo hurt his feelings.

He watched Reya's mood change the second she saw their mother, instantly switching from tense and bitter to bubbly and excited. He went up to his room without saying hi to his parents and locked the door behind him.

He distracted himself by packing his swim bag for practice. He realized that all of his swim trunks were black. He questioned if he was a boring person as he got his phone out.

Teyam:

(ao) hi
(ao) wyd

(tey) Hey
(tey) Watching Lo'ak run laps around the living room while trying to tell my dad what happened lol

(ao) sweet

(tey) I bet Tsireya's even more excited

(ao) i guess yeah
(ao) would you maybe want to facetime while i get stuff ready for tryouts?
(ao) i'll make a list of everything you should bring

Ao'nung threw his phone down on his bed and began pacing his bedroom. He sat down at his desk and got out a sticky note. He soon realized he didn't have any writing utensils. Ao'nung checked to make sure he could still hear Reya's voice downstairs before hurrying to her room, grabbing the first pen he could find. He sat down at his desk and began writing

Swim trunks
High-protein snack
Swim cap
Goggles
Hair tie
Comfortable clothes for afterwards
Shower shoes
Water bottle

He couldn't think of anything else at the moment. He picked up his phone, seeing several messages from Neteyam.

Teyam:
(tey) Oh, sure
(tey) Let me see if I can get away from my family real quick

(ao) okay, if not i'll still send you the list

Ao'nung didn't want to pack his bag. He wanted to wait for Neteyam to be on the phone with him so they could do it together. He realized how stupid this thought was the moment he finished conceiving it. Ao'nung made sure he had locked his door, just in case his dad decided to come in.