Chapter One: On Top of the World
Rue isn't really thrilled to wake up at 6 that morning. After a summer of relaxing, the last thing she really wants to do is wake up so early and go to school of all places. She sits up, her curly black hair sticking up in all directions.
She knows there isn't much reason to be negative today. It's the first day of her senior year.
When Rue was a freshman, it seemed so far away. It seemed like high school would take forever. But, here she is, on the wake of her last year. She's grown up so much in that time and become so different. She knows that freshman Rue would've been amazed if she were ever to meet senior Rue. She wouldn't have changed a thing.
Well, maybe the shit that happened to her best friend when they were freshmen. Yeah, she would've changed that.
She gets out of bed and gets ready for her day. She's slightly nervous, but not nearly as nervous as she was as a freshman. She gets dressed in a cute sundress. Even though it's the beginning of September, the temperatures outside are still close to eighty. She gets a lanyard with her car keys on it and goes out to the kitchen to get a quick breakfast before she goes.
Rue eats a peanut butter sandwich before packing her lunchbox, bidding farewell to her parents, and going out to her car. She gets into her car, turns on a playlist and starts on her way to her boyfriend's house to pick him up. She pulls into the driveway and soon Skeeter Hoffsteader-Odair comes out of his house to meet her.
Rue knew Skeeter from the time they were small. They were next-door neighbors growing up, and were immediately best friends. They grew up together, and even when Skeeter moved after his parents divorced, the two were never separated. When things went wrong for one, the other was always there. They had started high school together, equally as anxious and afraid for their time in high school.
Freshman year brought some bad times for Skeeter, and it was later under those horrible conditions that the two of them got together. Rue couldn't be happier with their relationship and going through high school together, but wishes that freshman year could've been easier for him. He got a crappy lot, and he definitely didn't deserve it.
He looks so much happier than he did back then. His curly black hair is out of his eyes for once, his pretty blue eyes. He's wearing a nice button-down shirt and actually rolled up his sleeves for the first time in a while. He's smiling, the prettiest smile Rue's seen in her life. Skeeter's smiling was very comforting for her to see. It's pretty familiar from their adventures as children, getting into trouble and giggling about it later. They say that your partner should be your best friend, and for those two it's definitely true. Rue couldn't be happier about her first day as a senior.
"Hi," he says, his smile widening when Rue gives him a brief kiss good morning.
"Hey," she says.
"Are you ready for this?" he asks, bouncing his knee excitedly as he buckles up.
"Yeah." She pulls out of the driveway and starts on her way to school. "I can barely believe that we made it here."
"I can't believe it. I couldn't have made it without you," he says, leaning back comfortably and glancing out the window.
"Well I couldn't have made it without you."
"Then I guess we're even."
Rue laughs. "I guess so."
Skeeter turns up the stereo and soon the two of them are singing along to their favorite songs as they drive to school. Rue pulls into the school and finds a parking spot before the couple walks into school together for their first day of their senior year.
When they get into the cafeteria, they find their good friends Locke and Jason. Locke is in a higher spirit than he's ever been, glad to be a senior. He transferred into Panem High his sophomore year and is a saxophone leader in the school's marching band. Always positive and sunny in disposition, Locke will listen to anyone that has a problem. Skeeter met him and his friend Jason during their sophomore year history final, and they were pretty quick friends.
"Morning!" he says.
"Morning," Skeeter says, smiling. "Can you believe that we're seniors?"
"Nope. I just… It's crazy." Jason is the much less optimistic best friend of Locke. Like Rue and Skeeter, the pair of them are practically inseparable from the time they were just kids. Except for Locke and Jason aren't dating (as much as some people may be convinced that they are). In fact, Jason maybe kinda of slightly has a thing for a girl who already graduated. She's had a crush on him since she was senior and he was a sophomore, but he was horribly oblivious and now he honestly has no idea if she's still into him or not and just… It's a very weird situation. It probably wouldn't be as weird if Jason wasn't too afraid to try and casually bring up the topic of her current relationship status.
"We made it," Skeeter says.
"I'm just glad Ben's not stinking up this school anymore." Jason says, earning him a flick to the arm by Locke. Old grudges die hard, but luckily Jason's arch nemesis Ben is one year older than them and therefore not in school with them anymore. Hopefully this year will go smoothly now that he's gone.
"Same," Skeeter says, earning him a light smack on the shoulder from Rue.
"You guys are going to have to be mature someday," Locke informs them. "We're almost legal adults here."
"I am a legal adult!" Skeeter says. He turned 18 in June. "And I'm still not over it."
Rue and Locke sigh. "They're impossible," Rue says. Locke agrees.
The group sees a smiling girl with Italian complexion and bright brown eyes approach. Her dark hair is pulled back into a ponytail of dark cascading curls. "Hi!" she says.
"Uh, hey," Rue and Skeeter say.
"This is Abriella," Jason introduces, still slightly awkward with such a big group of people. "She's a drum major this year with me."
"Oh, that's great! Nice to meet you!" Rue shakes her hand.
"Nice to meet you too!"
The third and final drum major appears, with Turkish complexion and a nervous look on his face.
"Good morning Kuzey!" Abri says.
"Morning," he says, sounding slightly nervous.
"How are you?" He shrugs a bit.
"This is Kuzey," Jason says. "He's the third drum major." The other boy nods.
"Nice to meet you."
"These three have done a really good job," Locke says, looking proud.
"Thanks!" the other two say.
"We're looking forward to hearing you," Skeeter says.
"We like going to football games," Rue contributes.
Rue catches the eye of Primrose Everdeen, a fellow senior who has become a good friend, and waves. Prim smiles and waves back. Prim, like Rue, ended up falling for her best friend. His name is Rory Hawthorne. Rue and Skeeter don't know Rory really well, but they've heard good things about him (probably because he was hearing them from Prim). They also know Posy Hawthorne, Rory's little sister. She's best friends with a girl her age named Bonnie.
Posy and Bonnie are talking on the other side of the room. It's weird to think that both of them are juniors, and they'll be seniors next year… Both Bonnie and Posy have a crush on the same boy, who's close friends with them. His name is Kelley O'Callaghan, and he shows up next with his older brother, a senior named Edward. Kelley and Edward were both Irish exchange students. Their parents eventually moved to America to join them.
"Good morning!" says Kelley, with a smile that makes both Bonnie and Posy giggle.
"Hi," they both say, smiling.
"This year's going to be fun!" Kelley says, smiling.
"Yeah!" they agree. Kelley doesn't even notice their obvious crushes on him. It's probably better that way, at least for now. Soon, they're joined by Miranda Archer. Her older brother graduated last year, and it's pretty odd being at school without him. Her sister Rebecca is a sophomore and a tenor saxophone player.
The bell rings for the students to report to homeroom, and so starts the first day of school.
.
Last period is the one that is looked forward to the most. Last period is the period of the school's glee club meeting. Some of the students involved are singers, like Rue and Skeeter, and some bring their instruments to play for them, like Locke and Jason. The club's advisor is Mr. Everdeen, Prim's father. The students look up to him as a teacher and a person, which makes the class much better.
Rue and Skeeter were so lost their freshman year, and through the friendships they made with the seniors in glee club on the first day, they were able to find their way through. The seniors that were there their freshman year were… Eccentric. But still lovable.
Rue sits next to Skeeter and holds his hand, looking excited and ready for a good year as more instrumentalists and singers appear. Abri and Kuzey appear with instruments. Kelley, Bonnie, and Posy walk in together. Edward follows them in, Prim behind him. The sophomores, Ashley and Priscilla, walk in together still slightly shy with the others. Miranda and Rebecca Archer enter the room, too. This is their first year doing glee club.
The bell rings to start class and Mr. Everdeen takes attendance. There are a couple unfamiliar names on the list who nobody recognizes and aren't here, but soon unfamiliar faces appear.
The first is a short boy with messy dark hair that looks younger than fourteen. He has bright eyes and a cute smile and introduces himself as Gaylen Fowler. The next one has bright red bangs up out of his eyes and a big smile, introducing himself as Vardaman Dietz.
The club goes through the syllabus Mr. Everdeen prepared and gets the rest of the time together to talk amongst themselves.
The freshmen both look rigid and awkward in the new high school environment, so Rue and Skeeter decide to go talk to them with the time at the end of the period.
They're taken back to when they were the shy freshmen that sat in the back together. A pair of seniors reached out to Rue and Skeeter on their first day of freshman year, and it's a day that neither of them will forget. After talking to seniors they were a lot less afraid of what was to come. They want to help the new freshmen.
"Hi," she says. Both of the freshmen look up.
"Uh, hi…" Vardaman says.
"Hi," Gaylen says quietly.
"How do you guys like high school?" she asks.
"It's weird," Gaylen says, sitting on his hands awkwardly.
"It's nice," Vardaman says.
"You're going to like it a lot," Skeeter says with a nice smile. The two freshmen nod a little bit.
"Are you excited to sing?" Rue asks with a nice smile. Gaylen nods. Vardaman shrugs.
"The people in this room are great. They'll be your lifeline. You ever have a problem, find one of them. They'll help you. You'll practically grow up in this room," Skeeter says, glancing between them. "We don't abandon each other. We'll be here for you, I promise. Always."
It's definitely true. From the time they were just freshmen, the glee club was an outlet for them. It was a support group. It was everything. They want to give back to it as much as they can.
"Uh, thanks."
"You can come find us any time you have a question." Rue smiles kindly. "Got it?"
"Okay," they both say, shifting slightly. Gaylen smiles at them and Vardaman soon smiles too.
The bell rings for the students to go to their lockers and then their buses.
"You guys have a good night." Rue gives them a smile and pats on the shoulders.
"Thanks!" Gaylen says, and Vardaman nods as the other students file out of the room.
.
A/N: Yay, first chapter done! So, welcome to my Hunger Games High School universe, and if you've read any of the other stories, welcome back! This story is going to be heavy on the OCs and I would really want to post this on Fictionpress but Rue and Prim and Rory aren't mine so it still qualifies as FF. These updates will happen at LEAST once a month, maybe more if I have inspiration to do so. So, here is the September update! I hope you like it!
Oh, and another thing. Locke and Jason do not belong to me, they belong to the lovely Sinfonian Legend. So to see more of them read 72 Hours Remain and she has stuff for other fandoms for you to read too! So do it!
Also, Kuzey does not belong to me either. He belongs to the beautiful Wetstar, whose stories are from various fandoms and are all wonderful and you should check them out. Kuzey will appear eventually in my SYOT, Games 36: Once More Unto the Breach! He's the brother of the D8 tribute.
Favorites, follows, and reviews are appreciated!