The Boy with the Bread II
Peeta was savoring the unusual peace and quiet as his hands scrubbed baking supplies at the kitchen sink. He would enjoy this simple bliss for only a couple more moments because in three.. two.. one..
He heard the front door creak open, and slam heavily. Groaning and foot stomping followed it. Then a loud thump and a flop on the couch. Then incomprehensible groans and screams. Peeta sighed, and wiped his hand with a rag. He walked warily to the living room, and the sight of his fourteen-year-old daughter lying flat on her stomach on the couch, still wearing her school uniform, face buried on a pillow and screaming banished all the tiredness. His lips subconsciously smiled.
He knelt against the couch and started gently stroking his daughter's ebony hair. She didn't respond. She didn't even move, except for the rising and falling of her chest.
"Rose, don't suffocate yourself," Peet said teasingly. "Sit properly and we'll talk about it."
No response.
"Did I mention cheesecake was involved?"
Rose's head immediately tilted up, and she turned to face Peeta with a glint in her blue eyes. They always seem to catch Peeta off guard and surprise, making him question if his eyes really looked like that. "Okay," Rose replied, looking like a weight has been lifted from her.
She sat down hugging the pillow against her chest as Peeta sat beside her.
"So tell me what happened."
"Well, there's this boy at school-"
"Boy?" Peeta almost choked. He was definitely not expecting this. Rose was a lot like Katniss, independent, tough and definitely didn't spend time fussing about boys at fourteen. But times have changed. His children didn't have to worry about having a family to feed, not that he was complaining. They have more time to worry about looks and music and the opposite sex nowadays. How times have changed since his name was reaped for the 74th Hunger Games.
Besides, Rose was too young.
"It's not what you think, Dad," Rose rolled her eyes sighed. Then she thought for moment. "Maybe. I don't know, it's confusing."
Peeta shook his head for a moment and grinned. It was fun to tease Rose when she gets all flustered.
…
Rose had already spent forty minutes of the one hour lunch break kicking stones at the school ground. She had no more money left for lunch, because he lost to his brother to a bet – an unwise move on her part. He couldn't ask him for money, since he was at class. He couldn't ask anyone for money, because she didn't exactly have friends good enough to lend you half of their daily allowance. She had a piece of bread in her back pack, but when she brought it out, someone accidentally bumped into her, the impact making her drop it. Conveniently, she was in front of a trashcan, and she didn't feel like dumpster diving for an already bacteria infested loaf of bread. The one who bumped her was in such hurry, she just turned around and muttered sorry hastily, and took off. She was hungry.
The odds were not in her favor. Really? What were the odds of losing every possible way of having lunch that day?
"Rose,"
Rose heard a deep voice mutter her name. She had never heard this voice before, but the way her name was said made her shiver. Before she could kick the rock again, she turned around. "Uhmm.." was the sound the came out her lips as it slightly opened in shock. She felt heat rising up to her cheeks. It was the person she least expected. It was Clarence Grayson.
In broader detail, he was hailed the most beautiful male that walked the face of District 12. He was the one who stirred the dream of every female within his age range. He was the person the guys at school idolized, and could only dream to be just like him.
Bronze hair. Green eyes. A face that seemed to carved from marble by a master artist. He was beautiful.
Rose had never paid much attention to her. It was pointless, and she didn't want to be in line with all the other girls. It was ridiculous to even think of. She doubts he knows her name despite sharing class sometimes. And whenever he was with his pose, the rest of the world seemed non-existent to him anymore.
And there he was, holding out slices of raisin bread to her. He even said her name in a chilling, magnetic way. Impossible.
Still.. there is a possibility he knew of her existence. He does throw a glance at her once in a while, but just eyes their eyes meet, he averts his. His face would sometimes turn into a shade of baby pink.
"I haven't seen you eating," he started speaking nervously. "I was thinking, since I'm already full, you could have this." Rose stared at the pieces of bread. They looked good. He knew where he bought it, at her father's bakery.
"I know it's not much," Clarence broke the silence of her lack of response. "But at least there's something to digest. I don't have any money for-"
"Thanks," Rose blurted out. She took the loaves in her hands. "I appreciate it."
Clarence smiled, and she realized what the other girls found so great about him. But, she also found something new, a memory and a reason for her to cherish.
The next few days, they ate together during lunch. It was awkward and filled with so mostly silence at first. But eventually, a topic was brought up that lead to a conversation in which an hour is not sufficient. Eventually, they sat together at the classes they had together. She learned to like the coal classes. After about a month and a half, there came occasions when he had the gentlemanly urge to walk her home.
She would punch him and say it was cheesy and she wasn't a baby who needed it.
More months passed with the same routine.
Until one day came. Clarence and Rose stopped at the gate of her house. They both just gathered the breath they just lost from laughing. They just smiled into each other's eyes, until he reached for her wrist and grabbed it tightly. Rose didn't know what to make of this. Before she knew it he was leaning in. She felt like fainting. The color on her face drained, and so did the usual aura of toughness about her. Her protective fortress was crumbling.
Then she felt a spark of electricity from her cheek. She touched were Clarence' lips had touched. He had kissed her on her cheek.
"Uhmm, see you tomorrow," Clarence muttered almost inaudibly, refusing to meet Rose's eyes, and took off.
The next day, when had their first class together, they were seats apart. At lunch, she found her with his friends, talking and laughing. When classes were dismissed, he was nowhere to be found. She had to admit, her heart sank. But it was useless to dwell on heartbreak. It was shallow. At this age, her parents had been struggling to keep themselves alive with rats and stale bread.
She went home and started a fit of screaming against a pillow.
…
Peeta couldn't help but smile ever since Rose mentioned the raisin bread. When Rose finished her story, he managed a hearty chuckle. Rose glared at him. "Not funny."
"Sorry, honey," Peeta tried to compose himself, but slight chuckles still escaped his mouth despite the effort of zipping them. "But you know what, Primrose Rue Mellark?"
"What?" Rose replied warily.
"When a guy gives you bread, you're stuck with him. Fated to share forever. Grow gray hairs together. The giving of the bread symbolizes a start of a bond hat could never be severed-"
"DAD!" Rose screamed. She looked panicked. "Are you SERIOUS?"
Peeta laughed boisterously now. "Maybe not for everyone, but that's how it started for me and you mother."
The End.
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Love,
Legendaryhuntress.
Stand, Bow, Bye!
