Hello, I have been toying with this idea for a while and I had a really bad day today and I needed to write to clear my head and this came out. My favourite Film is Grease and this story is based on it but in a modern day setting with Hunger Games characters. You don't need to have seen Grease to understand this but if you have you will get the little jokes and references. If you are interested this is how the characters compare:
Danny: Peeta
Sandy: katniss
Rizzo: Johanna
Kenickie: Gale
The T-Birds: Cato, Finnick and Marvel
The Pink Ladies: Annie, Clove and Delly
I hope you enjoy this :)
The Beginning
Chapter 1
Katniss' P.O.V.
It was the best summer of my life. For the first time I opened up to someone other than my sister. If I'd have known it would make my feel like this, maybe I wouldn't have. I know what you're thinking. You think now I'm going to drabble on about how he cheated or he became violent or it simply just didn't work. I'm not. He was the most amazing guy I have ever met, sweet, kind, caring. It all went wrong when I realised our time together was up and I had to go home. You see I'm originally from America, but when I was 6 my family moved to England. We were happy there, my dad had a great job and everything was perfect. That was until he died. I was 12 when it happened.
My dad worked for a company that produced medicines, he didn't work in the labs he worked in marketing however on that day his team were going on a tour of the labs when an experiment went wrong and the lab blew up. My dad died in the explosion. I came home from school that day and instinctively knew something was wrong. I could hear my mother's quiet sobs, and I will never forget the way I sobbed too when she told me. After that day she totally shut off, she fell into a deep depression and the only time she went out was to go to work. Her wages just about tided us over but I often did paper rounds and odd jobs to give us a little extra money.
My little sister Prim was 10 when my father died. She coped better than I did; she knew my father would have wanted her to carrying on living her life to the full. I was to grief stricken to think that way. In a way I did what my mother did, I closed up. I didn't fall into a deep depression like she did but I did close off my feelings. The only person I allowed myself to love was my little sister. Our life wasn't ideal but we got by.
A few weeks before our school was due to break up from the summer, we would get phone calls and my mother said never to answer them. At first I didn't think anything of it she was probably worried they were someone trying to sell her something. But then they became persistent every day at 6 in the evening. One day I forgot about my mother's warning and I picked up the phone. The woman on the other end asked if this was Katniss Everdeen. I was shocked, how did she know my name? When I asked her she told me she was my grandmother on my mother's side and has been trying to get in touch with us for years.
We talked for hours, she told me how she and my grandfather had never really approved of my father and so my mother cut all ties with her. When I was born they tried to get back in touch but my mother didn't want to know. They tried again when my dad died and they were trying again now. She explained that they still live in California where I was born and how they wanted us to come out there to spend the summer with them. We did end up going to spend the summer with them. My mum took some convincing, but I took out my secret weapon, Prim, mum could never say no to her. So she took us out of school a month early and as soon as my grandmother sent over the money for our plane tickets we hopped on a plane and came across the pond. At first I thought that California would feel alien to me but it didn't, it felt like home.
We settled in to my grandparents' house pretty quickly. It was right on the sea front, right by the pier. Prim never found making new friends hard and she soon befriended a sweet little girl next door called rue. I on the other hand spent the first half of the summer indoors, with my best friends otherwise known as books. That all changed however the day my grandmother asked me to go down to the bakery for her. When I walked into the bakery it was like the world around me stopped and all I could see was him. His crystal blue eyes, dirty blonde hair, his muscles. Everything about him was so perfect. I walked up to the counter and politely asked for two loaves of bread.
"Whoa, you're British, cool." He said as he handed me the bread.
"Well, not really, I was born here in California but I moved to London when I was 6." I replied. He smiled.
"Have you moved back here then?"
"No, I'm just here for the summer."
"Well what's your name? I'd like to get to know you even if it was just for the summer." He says smiling at me.
"Katniss, my name is Katniss Everdeen." I say extending my hand, He shakes it.
"Peeta, Peeta Mellark."
"Nice too meet you Peeta." I said backing away towards the door.
"Nice to meet you too, I hope this isn't our only meeting this summer." He says and I feel a blush rise in my cheeks. I smile and then head out the door.
The week following that I would always go to the bakery even, if we didn't need any bread, Peeta would joke with me about how much bread we were getting through, but secretly I think he liked our little exchanges. On the Friday he finally asked me out, he took me to this cute little diner and then we walked on the beach and talked for hours. At the end of the date he was a perfect gentleman and he walked me home. Before he left he gave me a gentle kiss on the mouth. It wasn't very long but it was long enough for me to know that this would not be our only date.
I was right, after that we went on lots of dates. We laughed, we talked we kissed and it never occurred to me that our days were numbered. At the end of the summer I would go back to England and he would be here and everyone knows long distance relationships don't work. It dawned on me one afternoon on the beach that it would be our last date.
"Peeta, I want you to know I've had the best summer of my life, and it just isn't fair that I have to leave in two days!" I exclaim.
"Please don't talk that way Katniss." He says moving closer to me.
"But, it's true! Tell me Peeta, is this the end?" I ask, my eyes brimming with tears.
"No, Katniss, It's only the begging."
And he was right in a way. The day before we were supposed to fly back, my grandmother gathered us all together saying she had good news. It turned out she had managed to get my mother a job at a local hospital and she had sorted us out with a car and a house. She really didn't want us to leave. Prim was overjoyed she loved it here, I could tell by the look in my mums eyes' that she was also happy not to be leaving, I don't think she realised how much she missed home. They all then expectantly looked at me. I couldn't say no to Prim and My Mother looked so happy so we ended up staying. The one thing I didn't do which was the biggest mistake I've ever made was, tell Peeta. I don't know why I didn't tell him. Partly because I didn't want to ruin what we had this summer, and partly because I was scared. I've always been scared to love, for fear of it being taken away. And this situation seemed too good to be true, if I'd have stayed with Peeta it would have gone wrong and I would have ended up in a worse shape than I am now. The chances are I'll never see him again anyway; the house is about 30 minutes away from here so we won't go to the same school. I'll never forget him though, he was my first summer love.
Peeta's P.O.V.
*First day back at school*
I can see Finnick, Cato and Marvel mucking about from across the courtyard. Out the corner of my eye I can just about see Gale leaning against the wall, looking effortlessly cool, his leather jacket screams don't approach me unless you want a good kicking. I'm standing here chatting to this girl who is perfectly nice but I can't keep my mind of Katniss. I see now that Finnick, Cato and Marvel have found Gale and so I politely excuse myself from the girl and make my way over to them.
"Hey, Peeta!" They all cheer as I walk up. They all slap me good heartedly on the back and we all laugh. They talk about their summers, It turns out gale was working all summer, saving up to buy a car and the others were hanging out at the beach in the hopes of finding some girls who would want them. Eventually the conversation turns to me and they all want to know what I did this summer. I was hoping they wouldn't ask, I'm still cut up about Katniss.
"It was fine, I spent some time at the beach, mostly I was at the bakery." I reply, trying to shrug it off. Finnick raises his eyebrows.
"Did you meet any girls whilst you were at the beach?" He asks.
"I did, um, meet this one girl, she was sorta cool." I reply, they all grin and waggle their eyebrows suggestively. I just ignore them and call over my shoulder for them to hurry up or we'll be late for class. This comes as a surprise to them as we don't usually take school that seriously. The only class we all enjoy consists of us fixing up cars. Normally we would skip class and lounge on the bleachers but I need to go to class to day I need to get my mind off Katniss.
Katniss' P.O.V.
I can't believe I'm doing this. I come from a small London suburb and now I'm going to high school in California. Rue's brother Thresh, introduced me to a really sweet girl called Annie, she has been helping me prepare for my senior year. We are walking to school together now. As we approach the court yard I begin to feel really self-conscious.
"Do I look okay Annie?" I ask, tugging at the hem of my top.
"Of course, you look great!" She says giving me a reassuring pat on the arm. Out of the corner of my eye I see 3 girls get out of a car, they all wear pink jackets much like the one Annie has on, and they look like they rule the school. I don't stare at them for too long though because Annie is dragging me into the building and towards the front office. I get signed up and head to a class called homeroom. Annie is there she is smiling and she saved me a seat. The rest of the morning drags and I still can't get used to the stares and the whispers about the new girl with the cool British accent. When the bell goes for lunch I am really relieved. Annie grabs me by the arm and drags me out to a table where the three girls I saw this morning are. Annie introduces them as Clove, Glimmer and Johanna. Clove and Glimmer seem nice enough but Johanna seems a little cold. The others start idle chit chat and I sit there rather awkwardly.
"Hey Delly, do you like my glasses? My mom made me get them for school; she said they'd make me seem smarter." Clove says, twirling her glasses around on her finger. Delly was about to reply when Johanna gets in there first.
"Nahh, 'cos you can still see those disturbing eyes of yours." Johanna says, Clove rolls her eyes like she's used to this sort of thing from Johanna and goes back to eating her pasta. We sit there in an awkward silence for a few minutes until Annie breaks it.
"Guys, did you know, Katniss just moved here from London, England." The others exchange glances and Clove says,
"Oh so you're the new British chick everyone is talking about?"
"Yeah, I was born here in California but moved to London when I was 6." I say, they all nod and think it's cool.
"So, what did you do this summer Katniss?" Delly asks me, and I feel my cheeks getting hot just thinking of Peeta. They all look at each other and giggle.
"You met a boy didn't you?" Clove asks and I nod.
"Tell us, come on tell us please." They all say in unison, except Johanna who couldn't look less interested. I quickly debate this and decide it would be okay to tell them.
"Well it was really romantic." I begin.
"Tell us more!" They say,
"Well it was my first summer love and it happened really fast."
I hope you liked that, please review they are what motivates me & they brighten up my day and make me smile :)xox
