Chapter 1: Public Displays of Affection
I tug my hunting jacket closer to me as I approach the mansion in the Victor's Village. I have to make quicker time than usual this morning, due to the fact that today is technically a holiday in District 12. Reaping Day for the Hunger Games.
Thankfully, my customer is waiting outside on his front stoop, so I won't have to knock. Peeta Mellark, the Victor of the 74th Hunger Games just three years ago, was once a classmate of mine in school, though we never spoke at all. However, I have for years felt myself to be in Peeta's debt, as he once threw burned bread to me when my family and I were starving.
Upon peering up at me through the lashes of golden hair tumbling into his face, Peeta's face brightens into a beam. "Ah, Katniss! Come on in!"
I smile shyly as I follow him into his huge house. Peeta is only the third Victor from our District, and only one of two still alive. The Victor of the 2nd Hunger Games, Lyndon Sunslayer, passed away long ago. And the other is, well... a drunk.
As I follow Peeta into his dining room to begin my trade, I hear banging and other activity coming from the kitchen just off to the side.
"Is your father working here?" I ask. I have often traded with the Baker squirrels for fresh bread at the Mellark Bakery in town.
Peeta grimaces almost apologetically. "I wish," he says slowly. "My oven here is quite bigger than the ones at the bakery, so I let my mother use mine sometimes."
Huh. I had never given much thought to the amenities of a Victor's mansion, first of all that District 12 has had so few of them. Of course, Peeta would view a large oven as practically heaven-sent, but what would his mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, do with an oven? Not much, probably. The old drunk and Victor of the 50th Hunger Games would sooner burn his own mansion down than cook a halfway decent meal for himself.
Meanwhile, I present my trades to Peeta and he smiles at the pelt and meat. "Let me just get you some cash." But he has quite a time rummaging around for some coin, digging through the pockets of several trousers lying around before moving on to some dressers. "You'll have to forgive me," he grimaces. "The place isn't usually like this. I don't want you to think I live in a pigsty like Haymitch. But... the Reaping..."
I nod sympathetically. "I know."
We lapse into a small silence. Peeta turns back to me in his search. "I, uh... saw you from a distance trading in the Hob the other day," he tosses over his shoulder. "That Peacekeeper fellow, Darius. Did I really overhear him offer you a kiss in exchange for your game?"
I actually throw back my head and laugh. "Oh, he always does. It's an inside joke."
Peeta smirks conspiratorially. "You should just grab him and suck his face off, for the hell of it. Would that be a big surprise."
I shift a little, looking down at my feet as I ponder the subject matter. "Well, I've never been eager to kiss anybody, never mind out of the blue. Besides, I'd be bad at it."
"Being good or bad at it is irrelevant. What should matter is the quality of your partner."
I peer at him, with something between a frown and an amused smirk. "Darius is a Peacekeeper."
"... And the only decent one in this whole District, besides Purnia," Peeta points out.
I think back to the red haired, attractive woman who often is making the rounds with Darius. "Yeah... I'm not kissing Purnia."
Peeta guffaws. "Well, whoever said you would?" He throws down a pair of jeans in frustration when both pockets turn up empty. "Damn it, where is there some cash around here?"
I try to be understanding. "You can always trade with bread."
"Oh, I would, if Mother wasn't here. She hates bread going to waste." And he actually sounds a little intimidated. Scared, even. I have a good idea why. Mrs. Mellark is rumored to be a witch of a woman who possibly even beats her own sons.
Indeed, just then, I hear a pronounced creak in the floorboards. Peeta's eyes dart to the kitchen door. "Crap! She might be coming out. And if she sees me trading with you..." He need not explain. I have arrived at the Bakery before, only to find the Witch, and not the Baker, waiting for me. She hates anyone Seam like me. Peeta's search for coins turns more desperate.
But I hear the witch coming closer, and I know she will appear in the dining room at any moment. No coin, and Peeta can't get bread for me at the moment. I find myself thinking back to Darius's flirtations from the other day, and I get a crazy idea. I face Peeta, my expression in a grim line and no-nonsense.
"Kiss me," I order.
"What?" Peeta gapes.
"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable."
"Yes, they do..."
The door is opening. I grab Peeta and slam my lips into his, in a clumsy kiss. I make a show of wrapping my arms about him, and a stunned Peeta awkwardly encircles his hands about my waist and tries to kiss me back. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the Witch blink in astonishment, and expect her to pull us apart in a rage, furious that her Victor son would dare to lock lips with a Seam woman. But, instead, she shakes her head and stomps out of the mansion, muttering, "Seam brats... daft, every one of them..."
When the door bangs shut, I pull away from Peeta, breaking the hasty kiss. Peeta is staring at me as if he has never seen me before, until he gives an awkward grin.
"I thought she was going to scream at us."
I bite back an embarrassed grin of my own. "So did I."
We stand there in an incredibly awkward tableau, our faces flushing.
"Umm... what do I still owe you? For the trade?"
I shrug. "I think we're even. Some game for a kiss."
Peeta looks confused. "But you gave me both. You kissed me first."
I actually chuckle. "You kissed me back. That's payment enough." I shoulder my empty game bag, already thinking of how I will have to run home to change into some nice clothes. "See you at the Reaping."
And I hustle home, my mind dwelling on the kiss - my first kiss! - far more than I would like it to.
