Chapter 1: Resolutions
The first day of school was always the hardest and today would be no different. Having switched schools in the middle of the semester to Panem High, the most luxurious school in town, I was sure that I was in for a rough semester. Besides the fact that my parents started working overtime at the bakery to afford the cost of tuition, there was also the unfortunate problem of having to make friends. I was never good at making new friends, I recalled. Luckily for me, my best friend since I was young had enrolled at this school at the start of the year and eagerly tried to have me switched over. After what felt like months of trying to convince my parents, they decided that the best way to calm my constant bickering was to give in to my desires.
My alarm woke me up at seven o'clock sharp, before my mother began shouting at me from the pantry downstairs. The sheets that currently enveloped me were warm to the touch, and having wrapped themselves around me throughout the night, threatened to keep me confined. I was never a morning person, but the best way to fix that was having a warm cup of brewed coffee on my way to school.
As I pulled myself from my bed, tossing the sheets aside, I was first captivated by the morning sunrise outside my bedroom window. It was mid-February here, but that never meant snow since we lived down south. The grass was greener than ever and the hourly sprinklers were currently hosing the yard down. I peered through the blinds to see a couple of teenagers racing down the street on their bikes, another neighbor walking onto his porch to retrieve the morning newspaper, and a couple of birds bathing themselves in the fountain in front of my house.
Another call from my mom took me from my thoughts and I raced to start the shower before she would come up to wake me physically. It typically involved cold water or the smashing of pots and pans, I remembered. As I pulled myself into the shower, I was struck with how cold the water was. I would have to remind my mom to fix the taps again before I left for school. I made sure to wash up quickly before running back to my room to pick out a nice outfit. I decided on a slim v-neck and a pair of dark wash jeans, which went nicely with my sneakers, before pulling out a thin sweater - just in case I got cold in class.
I managed to race downstairs before the next call from my mother, who was currently covered in a plum of dust as she cleaned behind the cabinet. "Peeta, this is the last time I'm going to call your—" she began before I chimed in.
"Didn't you hear the shower going? Which reminds me: the taps are broken again" I started, "anyways, I'm ready to go now. I thought I'd just take the car today…" My mother's face contorted into one of disappointment as she pulled the car keys from the hanger and told me that she'd drive me in for my first day. I didn't even have time to protest, before she threw her jacket on and was brushing off her pant legs fiercely.
I quickly grabbed a muffin from the kitchen counter and walked past my mother without passing a second glance. We weren't that close, my mother and I, but we did care about each other nonetheless. She closed the door behind me as it clicked into place, and then proceeded to lock it with the distinct sound of a small thud erupting from the side. She smiled as she walked beside me toward the car. Our car was nothing fancy. It was a nice blue color and it got us from point A to point B, but other than that it was pretty much garbage. I slammed the door beside me as I pulled myself into the front seat and a low growl of rust echoed into the car. I shook my head as my mother did the same. She knew how I felt about the car, but she constantly persisted that she would drive me whenever she had a day off. My dad would be running the bakery today, and I would take over his shift most nights after school. I'd have a couple of days here and there to catch up on homework and hang out with Katniss and Gale, but otherwise I'd be trying me best hand at new recipes.
"Are you excited for your first day, honey?" my mom called out as she put the car in reverse and began pulling out of the driveway, passing her head from side to side behind her shoulders to look for oncoming traffic.
"I mean, I'm sure it's going to be a little hectic at first. You've seen it – it's massive – so I'm sure I'll get lost on my way," I said, my mind racing back to the first time I laid eyes on Panem High. It was a large two-story building on the outskirts of the city, with countless rows of trees sheltering it from the plumes of smoke from nearby mills. It really was a different sight to behold. The richest of the richest lived on the other side of Panem High, and my mother made note to avoid it as much as possible. It reminded her of her past life, when she was first a little girl and her parents had all the luxuries they could offer her. But they couldn't offer her the one thing she needed most: love and acceptance. When she met my father, they evicted her and left her on the streets. They were ashamed of her decision to pursue a relationship with someone who wasn't in their close circle of friends.
The ride to school wasn't too long and while my mother babbled on about how proud she was to be able to send her son to such a lovely school, I looked out the window hoping to avoid any more discussions that involved me as the primary focus. My parents had been very cautious of me lately because they were afraid that I was holding in too much – never having anyone to confess my feelings too. This resulted in never ending discussions about my inability to be open with anyone, and blah blah blah. They wished I could be more like Katniss and Gale, who took any chance they could to make an impression on strangers. Unfortunately my busy schedule between school and work didn't really allow me to have much fun nowadays.
I took a glance at all the students filing into the school as my mother pulled into the school parking lot. You could tell exactly whom the jocks, nerds, and socialites were just by the cliques that grouped together. I noticed several girls bounding over one another, screaming in enthusiasm, and watched as they pulled several sets of pompoms from a pink car's trunk. Cheerleaders, I guessed. Next, I noticed a couple of guys gather together after one particular blonde threw a football toward another built brunette, who quickly managed to catch the toss.
"Are we just going to sit here, or are you going to get out and start making some friends before class?" my mother asked inquisitively as a smile rested itself on her face. I nodded as I left the car, slamming the door as she wished me the best of luck. I walked slowly over the grass toward the glass entrance of the school, noticing several white pillars that led up to the second level, where before my eyes stood a large raven. The school mascot, I reminded myself as I walked up the sets of stairs toward the door.
As I pulled open the first set of glass doors that led to another, a slender girl that had long blonde hair and gorgeous eyes tapped me on the shoulder. "You must be the new kid," she started as she watched me glare back at her curiously. "I'm Cashmere, but everyone here calls me Cash. I'm sort-of the tour guide around these halls for new students, and I'm pretty sure I've never seen your cute face around here," she said, as she gave me a smile that revealed an impressive row of brightly whitened teeth.
"Uhm, yeah, the names Peeta," I said as I offered her my hand. Instead of shaking it she immediately pulled me in for a hug and began to squeal.
"You're going to love it here!" she began, before apologizing and revealing that she was a hugger. "The classes are great, the faculty is super interesting, and the students are so cool," she said, glimmering those teeth once again. She sure was something else.
"Yeah, I was told that my schedule would be at the main office?" I asked, hoping for any excuse that could allow me to excuse myself from this conversation. Don't get me wrong, the girl was gorgeous and all, but definitely not my type and she was bordering on crazy, I mumbled to myself.
"Actually, I made it my mission to pick it up myself before class. Here you go," she said as she handed me a small white paper with a couple black scribbles on it. "I drew you a map on the back in case you get lose, oh and I listed off a couple names of people in the class that I know who would love to meet someone as cute as yourself," she said excitedly.
"Uhm…thanks. Who is," I started, eyes flickering over the paper until I found an interesting name, "Clove?"
"Oh, you'll absolutely love her! She and Glimmer," she started and pointed to another name on the paper before continuing, "are best friends. They practically do everything together – and I mean everything. From filing each other's nails to applying each other's make up, and even to liking the same guys," but before I could ask she waved her hand and finished. "Don't even get me started on that, because God knows how long that'd take."
"Alright then. If you don't mind me asking, is Mrs. Everdeen Katniss' mother?" I asked beckoning to my first class in room 204.
"That's right! How did you know that? Oh, never mind answering that. She teaches English and she is absolutely fantastic. Fantastic!" she repeated, as if I had not already heard her the first time. "Room 204 is upstairs in the fourth wing, so I'll bring you there myself. I have class right next door to it. How great is that!" she exclaimed, but the look on my face didn't exactly mimicked her excitement.
We made our way through the halls rather quickly, and I made reference to where the main office, the cafeteria and the gym were, before Cashmere was able to point out staircase A, which let up to the second floor. It was a rather long flight of stairs before we reached the top, where students were rushing from their lockers to class when the warning bell went off.
"You'll get used to the rushing around here. You do not want to be late for class, but it's really not a big deal when it's your first day," she said calmly, before passing a glance back to where I was panting at the top of the stairs. "You'll get used to those too," she laughed.
The upstairs hallways were just as beautiful as the ones downstairs, which were lined with an impressive row of black and blue lockers and several glass window frames that held trophies for various sports and competitions. Most were first place trophies, I could tell, from their size and the gold plating that lined each one. The floors were also quite remarkable compared to my last school. They were cleanly swept and decorated with square patterns. Cashmere led me to a door that had a gold plate on top with the number '204' engraved into it.
"Here we are!" Cashmere exclaimed. Her excitement was both thrilling and annoying at the same time, but if she were going to stick around him for a while, then he'd have to get used to it eventually. "I don't want to be late for class, so I'll see you in an hour and a half, okay?" she said before trailing off across the hall in a couple of bounds.
I watched as she opened the door across the hall and shut the door slowly, before I had the nerve to turn around and do the same. As the door opened, it unfortunately let out a small creak that alerted the students and the teacher to my presence. Before I knew it Mrs. Everdeen made her way over and gave me a reassuring hand over my shoulder as she guided me to the front of the class.
"Attention everyone. This is Peeta Mellark," she said loudly, as all the students looked up from their papers to adjust their eyes on me. "This is his first day at Panem High, so everyone be sure to give him a warm welcome." Most of the people in the class smiled at me before turning their heads back toward their work and Mrs. Everdeen pulled me aside closer to her desk. "How are things so far, Peeta? Katniss was so excited this morning when she remembered that it was your first day. Have you met up with her yet?" she asked. She gave me a slight turn of the head and her blue eyes met mine with caressing warmth. I spent countless days at Katniss' house after my work at the bakery, and she was like a second mother to me.
"Uhm, I haven't seen her yet," I said before she turned to meet my gaze once more.
"Oh, well I'm sure you will honey. Why don't you take an empty seat anywhere you like? We're just working on our journal entries for the day. The task is simple: all you have to do is write a paragraph about the chosen topic. Today's topic is "Resolutions"" she whispered. She had a way with her students, I inspected, as she gave me a small brush of the cheek before I went to sit at the back of the class.
The desks here were a lot larger than the ones at my old school. They sat two people were made of wood and black metal: more like tables than anything. I took a seat beside another boy, who was quickly kicked out of his seat by a slender boy with spiked hair and dashing looks. He had an impressive jawline that suited itself under his rosy cheeks as a smile trimmed the side of his lips. He wore a white cotton sweater and tight jeans that fit to his figure very nicely.
"Hey! I'm Finnick. Finnick O'Dair. Nice to meet you," he said as he gestured for me to return his handshake. I quickly patted the sweat from my palms over my pant leg before returning his hand, but was surprised when he kissed the top of it. "Sorry," he started when he seen my startled expression, "it's a habit of mine. Gets them every time," he continued with a wink.
"It's alright. I don't mind," I said as my eyes trailed over a strong-looking blonde who was staring at me. He may have been looking in my general direction, but he definitely had his sights locked onto mine. I felt my cheeks begin to blush and tried to avert my eyes, but I kept looking back at him. He was absolutely stunning. He had on a dark grey t-shirt that clung to his strong arms and straight-leg blue jeans. But it wasn't his keen choice in style that impressed me, but rather his blue eyes that seemed to mesmerize me the longer I stared into them. They weren't the blue you'd find when you'd pick out a color from a set of Crayola crayons, but more like the ocean: they had a tinge of green to them and all the while they were rocking back and forth against the cool blue of his irises.
I realized I had been staring back for quite a while before Finnick's speech pulled me from my enchantment, and I averted my gaze.
"…and you'll see that we've won practically ever competition to date," he grinned as his eyes met mine. He watched me for a while before asking if I had understood anything he had been saying for the last couple of minutes.
"Yeah, for sure. This is soccer, we're talking about, right?" I asked, as I clenched my teeth together hoping by some dramatic turn of events I had actually caught on to the sport he was talking about.
"Wake up pretty-boy! I was talking about swimming…" he trailed off into speech again. I didn't listen to much more of his speech as I watched the golden-haired boy with the amazing eyes turn back to a petite dark-haired girl with an unimpressive taste in style. Why was he so interested in me? I thought as I put my pen to my paper and began writing my journal entry.
It was a short paragraph despite the amount of things I could have written down for the given subject. I decided I would list my resolutions out in point-form for the new semester: Make new friends. Be more outgoing. Get involved. Work harder. All the normal things people put down when they think of resolutions for a new year or a new term at school. But I jotted down one quickly before Mrs. Everdeen came to collect our papers. In a quick scribbling of black ink and a variety of misspelt words I wrote: "Find out who mystery student is."
Finnick gave me a quick nod as he pulled himself from his chair. The school bell rang shortly thereafter, as I managed to lug the set of books I had been given from my desk and to inspect where my next class was. Room 200; Mrs. Wiress.
I walked out of Mrs. Everdeen's class after giving her a short smile, to be reunited with my favorite new friend: Cashmere. I tried to take her from her rambling as to where my next class was. I caught the simple things like "how the professor was known as the lunatic of the bunch" and that "psychology was the perfect class for her madness," before I had to shout to ask her a question.
"Hey!" I shouted, which immediately caused a look of terror in her face as I stopped in the hallway to meet her gaze head-on. "I wanted to ask you about something…well, about someone to be exact," I began. I watched as her emotions flickered from fear to curiosity in a single moments time. "There was this guy…in my class. He was tall, blonde, incredibly blue eyes," and before I had time to finish my description, Cashmere had tuned in to exactly whom I was talking about.
"You must be talking about Cato. He's the school's number one bad boy. Not many people know too much about him, because he likes to keep to himself and the football team. Did I mention he's the quarterback for the football team? He's also one of the school's leading swimmers, alongside the school charmer, Finnick O'Dair." For once I appreciated the girls ability to list off a million unnecessary things. "Anyways! You came to the right girl, Peeta. Luckily, I'm one of his best friends. Sit with us at lunch after class, okay?" she said, but I was already starting to feel the anxiety set in.
The next class went by rather quickly, and just as Cash had mentioned: Mrs. Wiress was crazy. Not only was she babbling on about dreams and their ability to predict the future, but she also assigned an essay due by the end of the week. So far, I was not impressed with her. I made my way down the hall with Cashmere, who had met up with me after class, as we made our way to the cafeteria.
It wasn't the largest of food courts that I had ever seen, but the food looked delicious and the tables were made of mahogany, which was a step up from his last school that was for sure. In the cafeteria hung many banners of the school mascot, the names of those who graduated in the past couple of years, and the names of more elite athletes who had won championships.
I followed closely behind Cashmere so that I wouldn't lose her between the crowds of students that were either filing in or already sitting down to enjoy a nice meal. While we made our way into the cafeteria, I was led by Cashmere over to a small section, that she had mentioned was reserved for the school's elite, and found myself in a troubling position. Because as Cash beckoned for me to sit down, placing her tray onto the table and proceeding to talk with the girl beside her, I was left sitting face-to-face with the mysterious boy from my English class; my newfound crush: Cato.