Hey guys. You might know my fic called Not A Bad Thing, well I decided to write another one! I hope you guys enjoy it. I plan on just writing it in Prims POV but if you would like it in Cato's tell me in the comments! Please leave a review as to whether or not you think I should keep writing it.
I wake up in the morning, and I felt my innerself collapse.
Today was the first day of summer, the summer where I was eighteen. I knew there was no escaping it anymore. There was no way Rue was going to let me back out now.
I groaned and flipped over in my bed and looked at her, sleeping in her yoga poses again. I shook my head and smiled at her. Rue and I had been best friends ever since we were in diapers.
I hear my father open the door quietly and I turn my head to look at him. I smile as he silently laughs at Rue, he and her father were best friends at Panem High. He points to his watch and smiles at me. I slump and know that we have to get a move on. I nod my head and he smiles and exits. I smile as I get an idea, I slip out of the bed and walk over to my desk.
My room is a light blue with a white bed and canopy. I have a bubble chair hanging from the ceiling by my bookshelf, and the wooden floor is covered with a white rug. I have a little balcony with a chaise lounge on it; and my walls are covered with posters, pictures, and award certificates. My closet door opens up on the other side of my desk. I slide my white rolling desk chair off to the side, and open up my laptop, also white. I push a few buttons until I find what i'm looking for.
Rue has an obsession with a ton of bands, so a majority of the posters and pictures on the walls are from us going to concerts and of the band. I find a song of Rue's new favorite band, Summer Resistance, a boy band that had four members. The drummer was Finnick Odair, the bassist was Marvel Cassidy, the keyboardist Thresh Hood, and the lead singer and guitarist was Cato Hadley. I blared their new song 'Kiss Me Kiss Me' and I started dancing around.
Rue jumped out of her yoga pose the moment it came on and started dancing with me. I laughed as she plugged in the speakers to make it even louder. She screamed the words and I started to laugh, she would do anything for her boy bands.
My mom walked and started to dance with us and Rue and I started crying from how funny it was watching my mom dance. The song died down and we all wiped our eyes and sat on the bed.
"Alright girls. Lets get a move on." my mom said after we calmed down. She walked out of the room "Breakfast in ten!" she yelled behind her. I smiled as Rue scrambled around the room.
"I can't believe it's finally time Primmy!" she squealed as she stripped off her pajamas and into a dress that was white and lacey on the top with sleeves that went down to her elbows, and a black skirt that stopped just above her knees, the two colors were separated by a black belt that went around her stomach. I walked into my closet and pulled out a mini pencil skirt.
"What do you think of this?" I asked her. She looked up from buckling her belt and her eyes lit up.
"Damn girl, where'd you find that little thing?" she asked giggling.
"From Katniss' closet of course, where else?" I said rolling my eyes and throwing it on the bed. I went back into my closet as Rue babbled on and on about the shoes she packed.
"Do you think I'll need tennis shoes?" she asked as she looked questioningly at her cute blue nike runners and I nodded my head yes as I searched for a shirt.
"You never know." I mumbled. I decided on a floral zip up crop top, that had three inch thick straps. I figured my pencil skirt would be high enough to cover my midriff. I dug out a pair of black flats that had bows on them. Rue was messing around with her curls as I brushed my hair. We heard the door open downstairs and the dogs starting to bark. I heard the booming laugh that could only be Benny, Rue's dad. Rue groaned and I just grinned. I loved Benny and Momma Sam, they were my second parents.
"I can't believe they showed up." Rue said slouching.
"Hey now, we both know you secretly wanted them too. You love your parents almost more than they love you." I said jokingly. She let a smile creep up on her as she applied more curl enhancer to her already really curly black hair.
"Yeah I know." she said. I finished with my hair that was in slight waves, and I moved onto my makeup. I don't really like to use makeup, but Rue was basically born a cosmetologist, so I always put on a bit just to satisfy her. I slid on a bit of liquid concealer, a thin line of liquid eyeliner, and a bit of mascara. I decide I'll put on some lip gloss after I brush my teeth.
I wait for Rue to finish doing her make up, and then we walk downstairs where we find mine and Rue's parents sitting at our big eight seater table drinking coffee.
"Hello girls." Benny says smiling at us, his smile is so contagious it makes me grin like a little school girl.
"Hi Benny" I say as I hug him. I then hug Rue's mother as she hugs her dad.
"Hi Momma Sam." I say as she squeezes me.
"Hello my flower." she says smiling. I walk over to grab mine and Rue's breakfast as Rue talks to the parents about the plan.
"So we'll finish breakfast, brush our teeth, and then throw our bags in the back of Baby." Rue refers to the car my parents got me for graduating valedictorian out of our class of 2,000, with a full ride to Julliard School of Arts. It is a silver Mustang Convertible, brand new. I walk over with our plates of fruit and blueberry pancakes. "Then we'll drive to the airport and fly out to Alabama, and then have the best summer of our lives!" Rue exclaims as I roll my eyes. Our parents laugh at her excitement.
"Well it sounds like you girls are going to have a fun time." my dad says.
"Trust me Kenny, it's going to be the best." Rue says as she takes a big bite of her pancakes. He raises his eyebrows and smiles at my mother. We talk about plans of money and we promise to call at least once every two or three days. We finish eating and drag our suitcases down the stairs.
I have two filled with clothes, one of shoes, one for toiletries, and another with my comforter and pillows. Rue has the same as me, only three for her clothes. We say goodbye to our parents and we load up baby, who is planned on flying down with us. I slide into the drivers seat and put the top down.
"You ready?" I ask her as she plugs her phone into the stereo.
"For our first summer as adults on our own? For the last summer we'll have filled with freedom? Hell no. But lets do it anyway!" she screams. I start the car and she blares another Summer Resistance song and we make our way to the airport. When we arrive, we check in and get our bags on the plane. I have to make sure that Baby gets to where she's supposed to be, and then we make our way towards our flight. "Oh my gosh Primrose, I am so excited!" she says, her grey microsuede boots trembling in anticipation. I smile.
"Me too!" I say, even though I know this is not exactly the way I would have preferred to spend my summer.
"Well, they're taking boarders now, lets go." she says, and we make our way to Alabama.
The flight is about three hours, from New York. We make it there and it is around noon. We land nice and easy, which is good because I have a distinct fear of heights. We make our way to the baggage collection station where we wait for all eleven of our bags and suitcases. We then walk out to the car collection station where we find Baby waiting for us, not a scratch on her. We pile everything back into the convertible and I ask Rue how much time we have before we need to be there.
"About an hour I'd say, check in is at around two and it's like 12:30 now." she responds, checking her phone.
"Alright lets get something to eat." I say hopping in, and we drive around before we find a little restaurant called The Brick House. We walk in and are met with a smile from a man named Derek, and we are sat down outside. "I already love this state." Rue says as she watches Derek walk back inside. I laugh and we look at our menu's. "I'm gonna get some spaghetti and sweet tea." I say.
Rue laughs. "Same." she says and we both laugh. The waitress takes our order and we eat.
"Come on it's 1:30. We spent way too long in there." Rue says giggling as we race out and hop in Baby.
"Where am I going?" I screech as Rue pulls up the directions and frantically gives me the route we're supposed to take.
It takes us exactly a half an hour to make it there.
"Oh crap oh crap we are so so late!" Rue says as she hops out. She grabs all six of her bags as I turn off the engine. I am so glad I wore flats today, as we ran into the main building that has in bold aqua lettering above it 'Camp Willow'.
As we open the doors we see we are very late indeed, everyone is sitting down and turn to look at us, while a man that looks vaguely familiar squints his eyes at us.
"Ah, these must be our two missing New Yorkers." he says smirking at us.
"Yes sir." Rue says strongly, dropping her bags.
"Well, have Miss Effie hook you up." he says yanking his thumb in the direction where we find a check in table. We smile at him and walk over.
"Hello dears, how may I help you?" she asks us. She is a pale small lady, she has streaks of hot pink and gold glitter in her hair, with the most bizarre makeup. I could practically see Rue itching to fix it.
"I'm Rue Woods. And this is Primrose Everdeen." she says with a fake smile.
"Everdeen… Woods… Everdeen… Woods…" Effie says as she sorts through some files. Her eyes light up when she finds something "Oh you're our Juilliard Representatives." she says with a recognising smile. We nod our heads.
"Okay girls, you will be in dorm number twelve. Here are your keys, and your schedules." she says handing us our papers. We smile and stick our bags in the back of the room and sneak in the back of the rows of chairs to listen to the rest of the man that looks familiar rant. Rue gasps and elbows me.
"Thats Haymitch Abernathy! The manager for Summer Resistance!" she says. I feel myself relax, that's where I remember him from!
"Okay campers, now that the rules have been gone through in detail I am going to go over them one more time simply." he says. "Rule one, curfew at midnight. Rule two, no boys in the girls dormitories, or vice versa, after eleven. Rule three, keep the parties to a minimum noise level. And the last rule, keep your morals. We are humans, not wild animals. If you want to stay here, you must respect your fellow camp goers." Haymitch finishes.
"Now I have a little surprise of my own to give you guys." he says and the room becomes abuzz with excitement. "You know my band Summer Resistance right?" he says, and what happens next doesn't even seem real.
Cato, Finnick, Thresh and Marvel walk in the room and up on the stage. A ton of girls go crazy, and start running up to the stage.
"Please, calm down." Thresh says in a quiet voice.
"We aren't here to perform, we're here to be counselors." Finnick says. The screaming intensifies Rue grabs on to my arm and screams her head off.
"CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? ALL SUMMER!" she screams over the rest of them. I shake my head no and look back up to the stage where I lock eyes with Cato Hadley. He stands very still, but he seems to have a questioning look on his face as he keeps his eyes locked on mine. I feel my face burn, and look away, but even when I look back I still find him staring at me. It doesn't help that his black t-shirt is insanely tight and his jeans are low riding. His perfect blonde hair is ruffled up, and his blue eyes are as deep as the sea, not cold but warm. His white sneakers are perfectly clean and I can practically see him flexing from here. I see him grab the microphone.
"I hope to get to know some of you. Real soon, real good." he says with such a deep voice I feel myself vibrate from the sound of it. He hasn't let his eyes off of me and I feel Rue tugging on my arm again, this time to the back of the room. I pick up my bags and we make our way to our dorm.
It is fairly simple, it has purple walls and a bunk bed on either side, except the bottom part where the bed should be has been removed, and under one is a small couch and tv, and under the other one is a small table and chairs with a mini fridge. We both have a rod for our clothes and a dresser. We both drop our bags and claim sides of the room.
We put our stuff away and hear a knock on the door. I shrug when Rue looks at me questioningly, and I open the door. I am met with a girl with deep red hair.
"Hi! My name is Jackie and I'm your neighbor in dorm 11!" she says enthusiastically.
"Oh, hi." I say.
"I just wanted to let you know that there'll be a gathering later today, at like seven. You know to get to know some of the other campers." Jackie says with a look that lets me know what she really means. I laugh.
"Okay thanks, we'll be there." I say, gesturing towards Rue.
"Okay good!" Jackie says as she walks back to her dorm. I shut the door.
"Wow. Our first party." Rue says giggling a bit.
"Yeah yeah, what time is it?" I ask her.
"About four." she says.
"Okay, lets go check it out you know, so we're not completely lost on our first day." I say as I grab her. She groans but follows me.
"Okay so where are we going first?" she asks me. But before I can even answer her we look at eachother and automatically know where.
"Dance room." We giggle and hunt for the dance practice room. After hunting for a bit we finally find it. We open the door and flip on the light switch. I inhale at the breathtaking view. It was beautiful. The floors were hardwood and shining, and the mirrors were crystal clear. In the distance we could see mats and bars. We looked at each other and slipped off our shoes. We stretched for a bit, and I started to do my periwetts, to test out the floor.
I effortlessly was able to do a ten quick turn. I stopped myself and smiled as I thought about how many I would be able to complete with my ballet slippers and some effort. When out of the blue we heard someone clapping. We both turned our heads to find Finnick Odair walking into the room, clapping.
"That was beautiful love." he said with his lady killer smile. I smiled back.
"Thank you." I said with my head pointed high while Rue started to have a fangasm.
"Was that your best?" he asked me with a challenging smile.
"No." I said back "With a pair of ballet slippers and effort I can complete thirty turns." I retorted back.
"Beautiful. By the end of the summer you'll be able to complete fifty." he said with a genuine smile. He was gorgeous to no end, he had wavy bronze curls, and a tan that looked like he just walked off the beach. His blue green eyes and perfect smile made for a perfect face. There was also the fact that his white t-shirt clinged to his muscles and his dark jeans rode on his hips as well. I looked him up and down and he did the same with me. "Hello. My name is Finnick Odair, I am twenty three. You may know me as a drummer for Summer Resistance." he said with a voice that dripped with honey. Rue almost fainted and I just smiled.
"My name is Primrose Everdeen, I am eighteen. I was valedictorian and received a full ride to Juilliard." I shot back. He nodded his head.
"So Miss Rose, would you like to accompany me to the gathering tonight?" he asked me. My mind shot back to earlier today when Cato and I had the eye locking, and I realized this was my chance to get to know him better.
"I would love to, as long as Rue here can come as well." I said smiling at her. She looked at me like she had just won the lottery, and she smiled as big as she could at Finnick. He smiled at her.
"Why of course." he said.
"Our dorm is number twelve, you can meet us there at six forty five." I said promptly. He took my hands in his.
"I shall see you then." he said with a smile. He walked out the door and I turned to Rue who collapsed on the floor.
"Prim. Eight hours ago we were dancing to their songs. Now you've just been hit on by one of them." she said breathily.
"Well mom and dad were right about one thing." I said sitting down beside her.
"Hmm?" she said looking at me.
"Adulthood changes you." I said and we laughed. I checked the time and it was five thirty.
We headed back to our dorm and finished putting our stuff away until six when we went to the mess hall to grab something to eat before the gathering. We ate a quick supper of chicken salad and lemonade. We got back at six thirty when we brushed our teeth and fixed ourselves up a bit before Finnick would show up. I was brushing my hair when I heard a knock on the door. Rue who was finishing spritzing some perfume on herself went up and answered the door.
"Oh, hello." Rue said and gestured for the person to come in. I expected it to be Finnick, not the whole band.
"Uh hi." I said setting my brush down.
"Hello Love." Finnick said smiling at me. All the guys rolled their eyes.
"Love? Really? When are you going to stop using that?" Marvel asked him.
"Never Love." Finnick said smiling at Marvel. "Miss Rose, these are my friends Thresh, Marvie and Cato." Finnick said gesturing to them all.
"Hello." I said softly, locking my gaze with Cato's again. I realized up close he was very tall, he looked like he was 6'4. I was a very short one, 5'2 verging on 5'3. His eyes were such a warm blue, I could feel myself melt just from looking into them.
"Well, lets go then shall we?" Finnick asked me. I felt myself jolt back into reality.
"Uh, yeah." I said. I grabbed my phone and we walked out of the dorm. "What is the gathering about tonight anyway?" I asked.
"Oh trust me, you girls are gonna love this." Marvel said waggling his eyebrows. Rue giggled and I smiled at her, I knew that this was like a dream to her.
"I hope Jackie is there." I say to Rue.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure we'll find her." she said as we linked arms and kept going down to the main room. When we walked into the hall and we saw what it was I don't think Rue or I knew what was happening at first. It was a dance. All the lights were off and there were several multicolored strobe lights going off. The DJ was playing the top 100's which were of course mostly fast paced grinding songs.
"A dance?" Rue asked out of breath. We loved dances, it was always a good time.
"You like to dance?" Thresh asked Rue.
"Yeah." Rue said, her eyes practically bulging out of her head. Thresh was her favorite, and I could just tell that she was dying on the inside.
"Would you wanna maybe dance with me?" He asked her. Oh dear lord, I was dying on the inside and it wasn't even me he was asking. I guess that's a best friend trait.
"Uh… yeah. Sure." she said trembling.
"Just relax, this is what you do best." I whispered in her ear and slapped her butt as she went off with Thresh into the big circle where we could hear several screams and screeches. I felt a hand being placed on my lower back and I turned to see it was Finnick. He opened his mouth but before he could say anything Cato stepped forward.
"Rose, would you like to dance?" he asked quickly, sticking his hand out. Finnick shut his mouth and backed away from me, smirking. I wondered why he looked happy for Cato, I was after all his date. Oh well I thought, I turned my head back to Cato. I nodded my head and took his hand.
He led me into the circle where we found several people making way for us and several girls giving him a forlorn look. I thought to myself what was it? Was it because he was famous? I didn't need someone who was famous, I mean there are millions of boys out there. I recognized the song as 'Don't Tell 'Em'. Rue and I went to see that concert.
Cato took both of my hands in both of his and started moving his hips to the beat. So I started to move my body to the rhythm as well. Realizing how close everybody was made me remember Prom a few months ago. I went with the Vice President of our class, only because it was expected of me. As the President, and everyone knew that he and I were going to be King and Queen. He was okay, very intelligent and athletic. They all have their downfalls though, he was a partier as well. I don't know how he managed it but he still made it. I pushed those thoughts out of my head as I realized Cato was staring at me.
"What?" I asked him. He smiled.
"I don't get it." he said.
"Get what?" I asked him quizzically.
"Why you're not fawning all over me." he said. I stopped moving.
"Sorry?" I asked him. If he was that egotistical that he thought every girl should be screaming and crying for him then I did not want any part of this. He smiled and looked down.
"I find you so intriguing. I want to know you, but you don't seem to care." he said not stopping dancing. I started to pick up the rhythm again.
"Well what do you want to know?" I asked him.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
"Because this is the best Arts Camp in the country and I want as much training as possible before Juilliard this fall." I said.
"Oh I see, hmm. Why are you here here?" he asked. I scrunched up my eyebrows.
"What do you mean?" I asked him.
"Here with me now." he explained.
"Oh. Well you intrigue me. And when you were up on the stage…" I trailed off. He looked down at his shoes.
"You caught my eye. You were so beautiful and innocent." he said. I felt my breath hitch.
"Were?" I asked him scratchily.
"Well now you're just moving your hips and it's all I can see and you don't look so innocent anymore." he chuckled.
"Oh." I said.
"Where did you even learn to move like that? Good girls aren't supposed to know how to do that with their bodies." he said leaning back to look at my whole frame.
"Well good girls are bad girls that haven't been caught." I said back with a grin. He threw his head back in laughter.
"Is that so?" he asked me with a genuine grin showing all his teeth. I laughed.
"Yeah!" I said. He moved his hands to my hips.
"Well wherever you learned it from I approve." he said in a lower voice. I felt myself grow anxious. I knew that he threw the ball into my court and was waiting for my reaction. I decided what the hell. I might as well have as much fun this last summer as I can. I spun around and pressed my back against his stomach, grinding against his hips. He grabbed my hips and adjusted himself to my beat. He hung his head down in the crook of my neck and I leaned my head against his chest. We danced like that for the rest of the night, talking about everything and anything that could come to mind. At eleven the dance ended, Cato grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him.
"Listen, as a counselor I'm not supposed to be seen fraternizing with the campers. Thats why we gotta be careful." Cato said.
"Well I suppose." I said, trying to remain nonchalant. He gave me a weird look.
"Okay, so I was thinking, maybe we could sneak out after hours you know." he suggested. I nodded my head. This went against everything I knew, and I knew that this could potentially get me kicked out but at this point he was all that was on my mind.
"Okay." I'll see you in two hours?" I asked him for confirmation.
"Yeah, how about we meet in the parking lot?" he asked me.
"Okay." I said nodding.
"I'll see you then Miss Rose." he said whispering in my ear. I smiled and ran off to find Rue. We made our way back to the dorm and I decided to set my alarm and get some shut eye before I actually snuck out to meet a band member in a parking lot at one in the morning. I squeezed my eyes shut and squealed. I was changing in a matter of the hours I had been here.
And I hadn't even begun the real adventure yet.
Let me know what you think in the comments! Thanks Loves!
The Real