Chapter One: Another Year
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
Primrose Everdeen flops over in bed and groans. She knew that she'd have to get up early, but her sleep schedule was messed up so bad already she wasn't asleep till late. Waking up is just as bad she told herself it would be.
Suddenly, Prim sits up straight in bed. It's the first day of school!
Her older sister Katniss is away at college, they moved her in the week before… Yes, it's school time again. And school means fall. Fall means nice sweatshirt and jeans weather.
Prim, who likes to dress nicely, yawns as she crawls out of bed and goes to the bathroom to wash her face. She puts on a pretty dress and a pair of flats that give her blisters on the back of her heels but are too cute to part with. For the first day of school she puts her blonde hair up in a ponytail and then gets to doing her makeup.
Prim is a junior at Panem High School and today is the first day. She grabs some breakfast and then brushes her teeth, having to run to get out the door.
Prim's father is a teacher at Panem High; he's the choral director and the director of the school's glee club. Prim joined the club towards the end of her freshman year, but plays violin in the pit more than she really sings. He had already left to go to the school, but since Prim refused to get up at 5:00 in the morning, she just decided she'd rather ride the bus.
She walks out to her bus stop in the chilly morning. A breeze felt cold against the girl's skin, but she knows it would get exponentially hotter as the day goes on. At the bus stop, she meets her best friend and boyfriend Rory Hawthorne, a fellow junior, who is wearing a jacket and T-shirt with jeans. Along with him is his younger sister Posy, who is a sophomore.
"Good morning," Prim says, smiling and giving him a peck on the lips.
"Hey," he smiles, taking her hand, "How was your morning?"
"Alright. Mom was still sleeping," Prim giggles a little bit.
"Of course."
"How about you?"
"Let's just say I could get used to mornings without Vick hogging the shower and wasting all our hot water."
Prim laughs, and Rory notices how her blue eyes light up when she does so. He loves that about her.
"Gross," Posy remarks, leaning against a lamppost. She's single and fine with the fact, though she does have a small crush on a boy she knows…
"Sorry Pos," Prim says. "How are you feeling?"
Posy yawns in response with a long blink. "Tired," she remarks.
At seeing the younger girl yawn, Prim yawns herself and then says, "Yeah, I know the feeling. I'd probably have fallen back asleep if it wasn't the first day of school."
"I did fall back asleep," Posy says, "But Rory got me up again."
"You're welcome!" he says, though she didn't thank him. "You had all your time to primp for the Irish kid."
Posy scowls embarrassedly, "Shut up, it wasn't for him! I just like to feel pretty!" Prim suddenly realizes that Posy is dressed in skinnier jeans than usual and wears a nice shirt and camisole duo, her hair pulled up in a tight ponytail with a bow tied around it.
"You look nice, Posy!" Prim says as they hear the bus coming to pick them up.
"She just hopes Kelley agrees!"
"Thanks," Posy offers a smile to Prim, sticking her tongue out at her brother as the doors open and the three get on the bus.
Posy sees her best friend Bonnie, a fellow sophomore, and plops down next to her in the seat.
Bonnie, a naturally happy girl with curly brown hair and the brightest brown eyes Posy's ever known, grins and greets her cheerily, "Good morning Posy!"
"Hey," the Hawthorne girl mumbles tiredly, putting her knees against the seat in front of her and suppressing another yawn.
"Your outfit is so cute! You should wear your hair like that more often!"
"Thanks." Posy doesn't dress nicely or put her hair up very often. She doesn't feel like herself in these clothes, but doesn't mind the compliments so she tolerates it. The bus gets moving again, on it's way to pick up other students.
"Aren't you excited, Posy!?" Bonnie asks. She's wearing a bright dress like Prim and nice sandals, continuing to smile broadly at her friend.
"Yeah, whatever. It's only our sophomore year, it's not really significant."
"Sure it is!"
Posy shrugs and tries a small smile.
Prim and Rory sit in the back with the rest of their older friends. The group is small considering the others are still waiting to be picked up, but that's fine for Prim and Rory because they get to pick which seat they want for themselves.
The stop after that picks up a beaming senior named Poppy Schward, who takes a seat closer to the back than usual, putting her backpack beside her to save the spot for her boyfriend. It also picks up a beaming senior named Crawley Archer, a drum major for the school band. He takes a seat in the very back seat, beaming and greeting his friends happily.
"Good morning!"
"Hi Crawley," Prim says, smiling. "How are you?"
"I'm excited! I can't believe it, I can't believe I'm a senior! It's insane! Time needs to stop!" Poppy laughs a little (they just had the same conversation while waiting for the bus), and nods. "I agree. Next year we'll be at college!"
"Oh God, don't go there…" Crawley sighs. He's still not sure what he wants to do.
The bus keeps driving on, stopping again soon to pick up a senior named Marvel and the two Irish boys that recently moved with their family into a house diagonal from Marvel's.
The older of the two Irish boys, Edward O'Callaghan, walks to the back and takes an empty seat for himself. He listens to the conversation more than he talks, smiling and greeting his friends with a wave. Edward's a junior now, Prim and Rory's age.
Edward's brother Kelley, a sophomore, sits on the seat beside where Bonnie and Posy sit.
"Good morning Kelley!" Bonnie says, smiling at him. Her eyes are even brighter, if possible, and though it's hard for Posy and Kelley to see, her cheeks begin to blush light pink.
"Morning Bonnie!" he says, his voice laced with an Irish accent. "Morning Posy!"
"M-Morning Kelley." Posy hates the fact that she stutters when he's around. He's just so cute, his shaggy brown hair, his bright green eyes. He wears a green T-shirt and jeans with a pair of green converse on his feet, as usual.
"You both look really nice!" he comments, smiling. Both girls smile, Bonnie giggles a bit.
"Thanks," they both say. Posy is flustered at the compliment, but Bonnie looks like her whole day has been made.
"Are you ready for school!?" he asks enthusiastically.
"No," Posy says bluntly. "I don't want to go back."
"I guess I'm ready enough," Bonnie shrugs.
"I'm excited! I can't wait to play French horn and sing and have a great year!" he says loudly, causing the surrounding people to look over.
"Only you, Kelley," Posy says, though she's smiling. Bonnie nods and says, "Only you."
But his optimism and sense of humor is one thing both girls love about him.
Marvel follows Edward to the back, and Poppy picks up her backpack for him to sit next to her.
"Hey guys," he says with a smile, as Poppy pecks him on the cheek.
"How are you this wonderful morning?" she asks as he puts an arm around her.
"A little tired, but mostly excited and shocked. It seemed like just yesterday Glimmer, Cato, Clove and I were driving to school in Gloss's truck instead of taking the bus…" Sophomore year really changed him.
"I know. Those were the good ol' days, I guess."
"Or not so good," Marvel says, a little quieter.
"But, hey, those are the days of the past now!" Crawley interjects optimistically. "We don't have to worry about them anymore, we're seniors!"
"Yeah," Poppy adds, "So smile again! This year is going to be great!"
Marvel just shrugs, eventually putting a smile back on as the bus stops to collect Tanner Tyson Cooper, a senior who has blue eyes and dark hair. He sits next to Edward and greets everyone with a smile.
"Hey guys! Excited?!"
"Yeah, yeah, blah blah, what the hell happened with you and Ben!?" Crawley asks, excited to finally hear from the source.
"Well, uh…" Tanner laughs a little, blushing and scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, "Uh, I still don't know. I kissed him and ran, and haven't seen him since."
"Good luck telling Jason that," Edward remarks, smiling a little.
Ben Hoffsteader is a senior and the school bully. He is despised by everyone except for Tanner, who somehow managed to fall in love with him. Tanner's friends, in particular Ben's cousin Skeeter and his friend Jason, thought he was crazy, but Tanner still stands by his belief that Ben is mean because he's vulnerable and can be changed.
Unfortunately for Tanner, not only is he Ben's biggest target, but over the summer he lost control, kissed his bully, and ran away. He's been stressing about this day ever since then.
"Don't worry, you'll be okay. Hoffsteader won't lay a finger on you in school, especially not the first day, and especially not with Hollow around."
As if they'd summoned him, Jason Hollow and his best friend Locke Gedeckt are picked up just then and sit together in a seat. "Someone call?" Jason asks, hearing his last name used in conversation.
"Ha, yeah! We were just talking about Tanner's deal with Hoffsteader," Rory says.
"Oh." Jason's expression darkens to almost pure evil. "Tell me about that, Tanner. Then I'll break every bone in his body."
"Don't hurt him!" Tanner protests, and Locke nods in stern agreement.
"Tell me!" Jason is not in the mood for games. He absolutely despises Ben with everything in him. In fact, he's threatened the senior's life on multiple occasions.
"I kissed him and ran away, and I haven't seen him since. He hasn't hurt me, don't hurt him."
"Oh God," Locke mumbles. He is about to add on, "You're dead meat," but decides against it to save Tanner's hopes.
"Yeah. I've been stressing out."
"Don't worry about it. Hoffsteader knows not to mess with me."
"For God's sake Jason, don't hurt him!"
"I never said I would! Just distributing some ruthless threats and warnings!"
Locke and Jason roll their eyes. Everyone else on the bus laughs a little bit as the bus pulls up to the school.
Meanwhile, Skeeter Hoffsteader-Odair and his girlfriend Rue are carpooling together in Rue's mom's car to the school. The two have been best friends since they were too young to remember, and got together toward the end of their freshman year.
Skeeter is nervous for the day and has been for a while; Ben is his cousin (who hates him) and Tanner is his friend… He already talked with Tanner about the events between Tanner and Ben, and Skeeter's a little concerned for his friend's safety.
Rue keeps telling him that Tanner will be fine, and presenting the possibility that Ben changed. She is one of the few people that believes in Tanner's theory that Ben is good deep inside, just broken. Skeeter doesn't believe it for a single second. He is probably part of the reason for Jason's flaming hatred for Ben.
Rue and Locke support Tanner in his attempts to get to Ben's heart, as long as he doesn't get himself hurt, while Skeeter and Jason are absolutely opposed to it. They don't understand how the hell Tanner could've possible fallen in love with someone who's inflicted so much pain on him.
The car parks at the school and the couple gets out, grabbing their backpacks and walking in together.
The morning of assemblies seems to fly by, and soon it's lunch time.
A girl with a single red ribbon in her hair sits by herself at a table, reading a book. She eats as she reads, though it is inefficient. Suddenly, a strong arm wraps around her shoulders as a smiling boy takes a seat next her with a loud greeting, "Hey Byna!"
Crawley puts his tray down and pats her back before he starts to eat, "Hope you don't mind my sitting here. You just looked a little lonely!" Crawley's younger sisters, a freshman named Rebecca and a sophomore named Miranda, soon sit by them along with Kelley, Posy, Locke, Jason, Tanner and Rue.
"Oh yeah, and I hope you don't mind my inviting some friends."
The girl is a little shell-shocked, but shrugs it off and puts a mark in her book, putting the book in her backpack. It is not proper to read while talking to people. One of the many pristine rules she learned from her intolerably old-fashioned parents.
"T-That's fine." She's a little overwhelmed still, but keeps eating as the group launches into excited chatter. She was always so okay with eating by herself, and this loud, friendly boy kept bringing laughter and friendship right to her.
"Great!" He smiled at Rue and Tanner, who aren't in the band, and introduced her, "Guys, these are my sisters, Rebecca and Miranda," he gestured to each of them, who waved a little, "And this is Anita, but we call her Aerobyna based off her favorite book character and her initials! Ha, that's super cool, ain't it?! She's a drum major and she's playing in pit for glee club! Anyways, Byn, this is Rue and Tanner. They both sing."
"Nice to meet you!" Rue says happily. Tanner keeps glancing around for Ben, but sees nothing of him.
Aerobyna just gives them a nod, smiling a little. "You too," she says quietly. "I play the clarinet and the organ."
"Cool!"
The group explodes into excited chatter, eating and laughing and sharing time together.
Seventh period comes faster than anyone thought it would.
When the kids walk into the room, they hear someone playing the piano in the front corner of the room. Though quiet, it's precise and masterful.
Aerobyna and Crawley walk in together, and when she hears the piano music she stops and looks over to the man behind the piano.
"I recognize that guy," she whispers as she and Crawley take a seat. "Yeah… He's my organ teacher's son! Fellington…"
Crawley looks over as the bell rings and the club's attention is brought to the front.
"Good morning!" Mr. Everdeen says, smiling at his glee club.
"Morning!" the students say enthusiastically. The club's singers include Tanner and Marvel, Rue, Skeeter, Prim, and Edward, Posy, Bonnie, and Kelley, Rebecca, and two other freshmen that nobody recognizes.
The pit includes Crawley, Aerobyna, Locke, Jason, and an assortment of other students with instruments.
"Welcome, one and all, to your glee club!" he smiles broadly. The students cheer happily.
"So, let's start with introductions. I am Mr. Everdeen, your glee club teacher." He waves over the young man that was sitting at the piano.
"This is your student teacher, Mr. Fellington." He smiled at the young man with black hair and green eyes. "Want to add anything?"
The college kid just shakes his head.
"So, let's start in the back with introductions. Go for it."
Prim is first. "Hi, I'm Prim, I'm a junior."
The introductions snake around the room, from Prim to Bonnie to Posy and Kelley to Rue and Skeeter and Edward to the pit and finally to the freshmen. The three freshmen are Rebecca, Crawley's sister, a girl with dark hair named Ashley, and another girl with dirty blonde hair named Priscilla.
"And finally, your seniors and leaders, Marvel and Tanner!" Both boys wave. Neither is confident in their ability to run a glee club, but they're going to try.
"And there we are… We have a great club this year and it's going to be amazing! We'll start singing first thing tomorrow, so be ready. But, for today, we'll have a free period considering we don't have a lot of time left anyways." He dissolves into talking to the student teacher, and the students soon dissolve into their own individual conversations.
Before the students know it, the bell rings. And with that, the first day of school is over.
The year is going to be a blast.
~.~.
A/N: Hello, and welcome to the third installment of the Hunger Games High School stories! If you're just joining, welcome, and if you're returning, I'm glad you're back! This year has already proven to be insane and I'm not even 10 days into school, so I'll say this: there will be at least one update every month. For this story I think I'll try to do a longer update and also a shorter update each month to not pile work on myself but also give you something to read. Alright, time for disclaimers.
I do not own the Hunger Games or any of its characters.
I also don't own Jason, Locke, or Aerobyna. They belong to my friend Sinfonian Legend. You should TOTALLY check her out!
There will be more disclaimers to come, I'm sure. Anyways, thanks for reading!