Chapter One
I am so going to kill Rye! I thought, angrily. Why would he dare me this? Why couldn't he have given me another dare, like find a coin in the Seam, or sneak a loaf of bread out of the bakery and give it to someone, or climb a tree and stay there for an hour! Why did he dare me this dare?
I huffed angrily. Was I actually going to go along with this dare? I bit my lip. Was I actually going to embarrass myself in front of the one person I definitely did not want to embarrass myself in front of? I swallowed roughly. I was walking along the sidewalk heading towards the Seam. I was nearing it, the road was getting rougher and becoming dirt, and little shacks were popping up ahead of me left and right. I sighed to myself.
I could just turn around and walk away and tell Rye that I did the dumb dare and spare myself the humiliation! I suddenly realized. I stopped walking, the burden of the dare suddenly lifting itself from my chest. Yes, that is a much better thing to do. I should just head home.
I turned around to walk home when I saw a group of my friends, all of them were standing a few meters away from the Seam. They were watching me, their eyes watching my every move. I rolled my eyes at them. One of them stuck their tongue out at me teasingly. I sighed, I could definitely not get out of this dare no matter what I tried. I turned back towards the Seam grudgingly and continued to walk. I spotted my destination. The Hob. I sighed, defeated. If she was there, I would die of humiliation.
I attracted many stares as I was the opposite of usual customers at the Hob. With my blond hair and blue eyes I would attract stares anywhere in the Seam, since usual Seam folk had olive colored skin, grey eyes, and dark hair. I glanced around at the warehouse, feeling relief fill me up slowly. She isn't here... Thank the Gods!
I heard whispers follow me, but I kept my eyes on the center of the warehouse. Gods, I cannot believe I am actually doing this! I took a deep breath and willed myself not to run out of the warehouse instantly. I saw my friends in the entrance of the warehouse, their eyes on me. Some of them were chuckling and other were laughing their heads off. Everyone in the Hob though, were paying attention to me, as if expecting me to start a speech of some sort. I stared hard at the floor, but I could still feel everyone's eyes on me.
Gods! That was my last thought right before I pulled down my pants and boxers for the whole world to see.
There was silence in the Hob. Well, except for my friends roaring their heads off with laughter. I made a mental note to kill all of them as soon I regained my dignity. Without another look at them, I pulled my pants back up and sprinted out as fast as my legs could carry with me. I was sure my face was tomato red.
Gods, how could I ever look at anyone else in the eyes ever again? I wondered to myself as I sprinted back towards town. I was running so fast past the shacks and small houses of the Seam that I did not see what was walking in front of me.
"Ouch!"
"Shoot!"
I tripped over something- I mean, someone, and fell flat on my face. I could hear someone moaning behind me, I guessed they were lying down behind me. I lifted myself slowly from the dirt road. Hesitantly, I turned around slowly. Uh oh.
Primrose Everdeen.
And... a goat?
What? Sure enough, there was a goat standing over Primrose's body. I shook myself out of my thinking hastily.
"You alright?" My voice came out gruffer than expected. Primrose's eyes were closed, but she opened them at the sound of my voice.
"I'm fine." She mumbled weakly. She crawled up into a sitting position. I looked at her guiltily, even more so when I realized her arm was scraped. I bit my lip.
"No you aren't." I told her. Without another thought, I lifted the small girl into my arms, she didn't protest. "Where do you live?" I asked kindly. "I'll take you there."
"Also bring Lady..." Primrose mumbled.
I blinked. "Lady?" I repeated.
"The goat." Primrose clarified. I nodded slowly.
"Of course." I looked around the goat, who was gazing up at Primrose with wide eyes. There was rope hanging around his neck. I grabbed it hesitantly. "I got Lady. Your name is Primrose right?" I asked her.
She nodded. "Call me Prim, though."
"Okay, Prim. Where do you live? I'll take you there. I'm sure your mother will be able to patch you up." I gave her a smile.
Prim smiled back, dazed. She pointed to the shack a few houses down. I tugged Lady alongside me as I carried Prim in one arm. When we reached the shack, Prim told me to put Lady in the backyard, I did so, still carrying Prim. I walked back to the front door and knocked it hesitantly.
"I'm sorry about knocking you over." I told Prim. I felt incredibly guilty. "I should've watched where I was going."
Prim nodded slowly. "Its okay... Peeta? Is that your name?" She asked looking up at me. Her big blue eyes stared curiously into mine. I nodded. "Peeta, why were you running?" She asked.
Before I could answer the door opened.
My jaw dropped. Loudly.
Katniss Everdeen was standing in the doorway. And... Holy... Her hair was down! My fingers itched to touch it, to stroke it, to smell it. And her lips, Gods, they were so... red...
"Yes?"
That one word smashed into my daydream.
"Huh?" I asked bluntly. Smooth, Peeta, very smooth...
"What do you want?" Katniss asked sharply. Her eyes were darting between mine and Prim's. I realized that Prim was still in my arms, I gently set Prim down on the ground. I cleared my thought.
"I... uh, kind of ran into your little sister, and I wanted to make sure she got home safely..." I stammered. Gods, where was my natural talent for words? I bit my lip.
"You ran into Prim?" Katniss asked dryly. I swallowed.
"Uh... yeah..." I stammered. "Sorry." I mumbled hastily. C'mon, Peeta, speak to her like a man!
Katniss turned to Prim and stuck her hand out. Prim took it and walked over to her sister's side. They look so different from each other, I realized. They did, with Katniss's grey eyes and olive skin, and Prim's blue eyes and blonde hair they didn't look related at all.
Katniss looked at her sister. It was as if she hadn't even heard me. "You alright, Prim?" Katniss asked softly, she said it in such a sweet voice that I didn't even recognize her. Gods, I want her to speak in that same voice to me... always. I realized.
"I'm fine, Katniss." Prim replied, beaming up at me. Katniss sighed, slowly. She looked up at me.
"Alright, you can go now." She said in such a strict voice that startled me. I nodded.
"Right, sorry once again, Prim. Sorry, Katniss." I said to her. I bowed slowly, and started to walk off their porch, when I heard a door slam open.
"Katniss! You'll never believe at what happened while I was at the Hob!" I spun at the sound of the person's voice. I sighed inwardly. Great, its Gale Hawthorne. I bit my lip, I had no doubt he'd tell Katniss about my little episode. Gale was practically running up to Katniss's side, he was grinning widely. Then he saw me, and his face fell immediately. "Mellark..." He hissed.
I struggled to plaster a smile on my face. "Hello, Gale, is it?" I asked politely. Gale was now practically seething. He managed a tight nod.
"What are you doing here, Mellark?" Gale demanded fiercely. I swallowed my anger and tried to keep a straight face. I saw Katniss glancing back between us, her face was unreadable to me.
"My name's Peeta, and I was just leaving." I managed to mutter in a civil tone. I could feel Gale's eyes boring into the back of my head as I turned to walk away.
"Anyway, Katniss, you will never believed what happened at the Hob when I was there-"
I couldn't help it, I spun back around. "Hey, I did that because of a stupid dare!" I blurted out angrily. Gale's eyes flashed onto mine, they were dark, and dangerous. I stared back, defiantly.
"I don't care, Mellark, maybe you would care to listen to me recount your little... dramatic scene..." Gale drawled. I glared at him.
"Alright, Gale! That's enough from both of you!" Katniss snapped suddenly. "Peeta, you can go, and Gale, you can tell me your story later, but right now I've got to clean up Prim's arm." Katniss said strictly. I stared at her. She looks so beautiful when she is angry, I thought, dazed. Oh, yeah, Prim's still here, and so is Gale.
I looked at Gale. "I'll be going." I looked down at Prim, and forced a smile onto my face. "Sorry for the accident today, I'm really sorry." I told Prim sincerely. Prim beamed at me.
"Its okay, Peeta, it was actually fun." Prim giggled. I chuckled.
"Yeah, it was nice getting to know you better, I guess." I said. Then, I turned around and started to head home. I heard Gale mutter something to the Everdeens. I clenched my fists and sped up walking towards home.
When I was just outside the bakery, I saw a customer leaving the bakery with a large loaf of bread in his hands.
"Hope you enjoy it!" Rye called as the customer exited. He watched as I entered the bakery, I glared at him fiercely. Rye grinned joyfully.
"My little brother!" He beamed. "I heard you went along with the dare, huh? Now rumors are going to spread among the feminine population of District 12 about your very, very, firm butt, huh?" Rye snickered. I resisted the urge to punch him.
"Shut up, Rye." I snapped angrily. "Now, give me what you owe me." I demanded. Yes, I know, I'm being harsh, but I've never been so humiliated in my life, and it was partly Rye's fault, and partly mine.
Rye chuckled. "Okay, little bro." He reached into his apron pocket and retrieved a pocketknife. He tossed it to me. I caught it swiftly.
"Thanks." I muttered. Rye grinned.
"No problemo, little bro." Rye said. I turned to head up the stairs when Rye spoke up again. "I've got another dare for you, its risky, but it has an even better prize..." Rye trailed off. I glanced back at him.
"What's the prize, Rye?" I demanded. "I want to know what the prize is before I do something stupid and only get a silly little necklace as a reward." Rye grinned wildly.
"The prize is new cans of paint, canvases, and a couple new brushes." Rye answered. I stared at him in shock.
"How can you afford that? We can't spend that much money on stuff!" I demanded. Rye rolled his eyes.
"Please, little bro, I make my own money, I use it for my own benefits as well as give some of it to Mum and Dad." Rye snorted. Then he smirked. "So you in?"
I bit my lip. Then I sighed. "Fine, what do I have to do?" I asked. Rye grinned once more.
"This is Sunday, so next Sunday, I want you to head into the woods. One of my buddies sneaked into the woods and put the prizes somewhere in the woods, and I want you to find it." Rye snickered. I stared.
"Why?" Was all I managed to choke out. Rye rolled his eyes.
"I'm popular at school, and my reputation is being the guy whose brother does all the risky dares, and also being the guy who wins the wrestling competition." Rye said. "I like being popular, Peeta." Rye said dryly. Then, he softened. "Sorry, I don't want to look like a complete jerk, but there's this girl..."
Uh oh. I thought instantly. I forced myself to listen to Rye, instead of zone out.
"And she's really popular, and even though I'm popular, I'm not as popular as the other guys who want to date her. I mean, this girl, is gorgeous! She's funny, kind, sweet, and once again gorgeous!" Rye gushed. I tried not to roll my eyes. Rye was practically swooning.
"Fine, I'll do the stupid dare." I snapped. "But you've got to start doing stuff on your own to help your own reputation!"
Rye grinned once more. "Thanks, little bro! You won't regret doing this dare, you'll be getting tons of art stuff and you can waste it all on your useless paintings!" Rye said in glee. I bit my lip. My brother did not appreciate art at all.
As I walked up the stairs, I worried about next Sunday. Gods, I hope that I don't get eaten by a huge bear! I started to regret ever doing Rye's dare. But on the upside, if I completed the dare, I'd get new painting materials. I soon reached my room, I opened the door. I looked around my tiny room. I grinned when I saw my recent artwork on a new canvas.
I walked towards it, kicking the door shut with my foot. I felt giddy as I neared it, it was one of the best artworks I've ever made. It was a painting of a meadow, I'd never actually seen a meadow though, but I thought my painting of a meadow was accurate.
I sighed, and plopped onto my bed. I wondered if next Sunday I would find a meadow. If I managed to survive a minute in the woods. I remembered everything that had happened today. I remembered Katniss, looking beautiful, then Gale, his eyes boring into mine. Daring me to pick a fight with him. Then I remembered Katniss once more, her hair loose. Her grey eyes sparkling. I sighed contentedly. She was so beautiful... so perfect. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Author's Note: I'm not sure if I'll continue this, but I will continue it if you guys enjoy it. I know that for sure if you readers enjoy it there will be Peeta/Katniss in the next chapter. Let me know in the reviews or simply follow this story, because then I'll know whether to continue or not. Sorry for the typos if there are any, I'm not the best at editing. Also, I've seen in a lot of fanfics that one of Peeta's brothers are called 'Rye'. I'm not sure what Peeta's other brother is called, so I'll probably make up a name.