Katniss Everdeen knocked softly on her little sister's door.
"Wakey, wakey, Prim!"
There was no answer. Katniss opened the door a fraction and peeped in to see Prim fast asleep, her long blonde hair spilling over her pillow, some of it in her mouth.
Entering the room, Katniss sat down on her sister's pink polka-dotted bedspread, and started stroking her hair.
It wasn't long before Prim opened her eyes, spitting out the hair from her mouth.
"Katniss?" she mumbled groggily. "What time is it?"
"Seven o'clock, Little Duck. And good morning to you, too."
Prim scowled and threw a fluffy purple cushion at her sister, missing by several centimetres. "Stop calling me 'Little Duck'. I'm fourteen years old."
"Sorry Prim, old habits die hard," Katniss responded. "Come on, you gotta get up, we've got to be at school by nine."
"What day is it?"
"Friday."
"I wish it was Saturday. Then I could sleep in as long as I wanted and no-one would care."
"So do I, Prim, but unfortunately, we can't," said Katniss brusquely. "Now get up."
"Katniiiiiiiss – " protested Prim.
"That isn't going to work, and you know it. "
Prim suddenly sat up in bed, struck by an idea. "I'll get up, Katniss, on one condition."
Katniss raised a suspicious eyebrow. "And what might that be?"
"You have to give me a hug if I do it."
"You're fourteen years old, Prim," Katniss remarked sardonically. "Aren't you too old for hugs?"
"No-one's ever too old for a hug, Katniss – didn't anyone ever tell you that? And besides, you're the best hugger I've ever met. You could hug for the Olympics if –"
"Oh, alright, alright, I'll give you a hug," Katniss sighed exasperatedly, but she was smiling. She did love hugs, and practically the only person who had ever hugged her – aside from her mother and her best friend Gale – was her sister. "Come here, then."
Prim edged closer to her sister, and Katniss wrapped her arms tightly around the fourteen year old, holding her close and running her fingers through Prim's straight but knotty blonde hair, so different from her own long mane of dark brown, almost black hair, which she usually wore in a single braid down her back.
"I love you, Katniss," murmured Prim from her sister's chest.
"Love you too, Little Duck."
Katniss pulled out of the hug, and ran a thumb down her sister's cheek. She shook her head once, as if to clear it, and then said, "Right – the hug is done. Up you get."
The bell rang for roll call. Ten minutes before classes officially started, it was a time for teachers to check attendance and read any announcements regarding what was going on in the school that day.
Katniss usually found roll call fairly boring, and would spend the ten minutes fiddling with the strands of hair at the end of her braid, only speaking to answer to her name being called.
Today, Tuesday, would be different – only she didn't know it yet.
After the roll had been marked, the teacher, Mrs Williams, announced, "Before I read out today's announcements, I have an announcement of my own for this class. Are you listening, Clove Matthews?" she said, raising her voice to the back of the class, where Clove was gossiping with her best friend, Glimmer.
Clove shut her mouth.
"Thank you. Now, we have a new student joining us today. Peeta Mellark has just moved to the area from the Blue Mountains. Peeta," she said, nodding at a boy in the second row of seats, "would you like to come up the front and introduce yourself?"
"Sure," the boy replied.
Katniss looked up from toying with her braid and watched as Peeta Mellark rose from his seat and sauntered up to the front of the class. He was of medium height and was stockily built, and had a shock of messy, dark blond hair.
"Hi, I'm Peeta. That's spelled P-E-E-T-A. Think of the bread," he said, smiling slightly, and the class chuckled. Katniss laughed too. "I moved to Balmain about a week ago with my dad and my older brother. I used to live in Leura, Mum and Dad owned a bakery slash cafe there. It was doing so well that they decided to open another one here in Sydney, give Adriano Zumbo a run for his money."
The class laughed again. Katniss was struck by Peeta's confidence and by the fact that he seemed to charm everybody without even trying. And his smile – his eyes just lit up, and they were the most beautiful shade of blue...
"Thank you for that introduction, Peeta," said Mrs Williams, snapping Katniss out of her momentary daydream. "I'm sure all of us will enjoy getting to know you better."
Glimmer and Clove snickered quietly, undoubtedly already plotting the ways in which they could "get to know" Peeta better.
"You may sit down now, Mr Mellark," said Mrs Williams.
Peeta smiled at Katniss on his way back to his seat, and she found herself blushing, and barely noticed Mrs Williams reading the rest of the day's notices. God, she thought, did he actually notice me staring? And since when did I get all gooey over a guy I haven't even spoken to?