Katniss pushed her hair back, absentmindedly braiding it while she waited for the bus. New year, new me, she thought sarcastically. She was surrounded by the same people she'd always known, stuck in the same town with the same sights and sounds, not much chance for reinventing herself there. She wanted something different, something better for her, and for her sister.
"Prim, tuck in your shirt," Katniss said as the bus pulled up. Prim rolled her eyes, but listened to her elder sister, tucking the flowing blouse into the waistband of her skinny jeans. Prim, as always, looked gorgeous, long blonde hair styled perfectly and an outfit at the peak of fashion.
Katniss, on the other hand, stuck with an old but comfortable green tee shirt and basic jeans with serviceable boots with her dull brown hair usually yanked back into a braid to keep it out of her face. The bus pulled up and Prim left her to go sit with some friends. Katniss sat down and at the next stop Gale sat across from her, knowing how Katniss liked her space.
"Hey, Kat. Sticking with the grunge look this year?" he teased. Katniss glared at him, popping in her earbuds and hitting play. Panic! At the Disco poured out against her ears, and she leaned her forehead against the sticky bus window, trying to blot out the world and act like she wasn't on her way to hell. Gale waited for her when the bus stopped, and walked her to her locker. Sometimes she thought Gale might be into her, but no matter how much she tried, she just wasn't interested in him. Gale tapped her shoulder, and she glanced up, pulling out one of her earbuds.
"Kat, check it out. New girl," Gale said, nodding down the hall. Katniss looks at her, looks away, and then looks back again. She's stunning, this girl, kind of edgy looking, dressed in snug leather pants and scarlet shirt with a plunging neckline. "She's not bad," Gale commented.
"I guess," Katniss said, slamming her locker shut and walking away. Suddenly she felt… displaced, and for no real reason. She stormed to her first period class, getting there early and claiming a seat in the back, tossing her backpack onto the chair next to her. Other students trickled in, and Katniss turned up the volume on her iPod.
Let's get these teen hearts beating faster, faster. So testosterone boys and harlequin girls, will you dance to this beat and hold a lover close? Her foot tapped out the rhythm and her lips mouthed the words as the classroom filled up.
Somebody yanked out her headphones. She sat up with a jerk. "Hey!" she exclaimed, looking into the new girl's face. "What's your damage?"
"Your bag is in the only free seat," the girl snapped, nudging Katniss's over-large bag with her foot. Katniss hauled it out of the way with a groan, cramming it under her desk.
"Thanks," the girl said sardonically, sitting down. Katniss rolled her eyes, stashing her iPod in her bag. Since she was stuck in reality, she might as well stick around long enough for role. Make a good impression.
The teacher droned through attendance, and Katniss actually paid attention. She wanted to know the new girl's name, but not enough to actually ask her.
"Clove," the teacher called, and the girl raised her hand. And Katniss tuned out again, only nodding vaguely when her own name was called. Clove. The name sort of fitted her. Weren't cloves a spice or something? This girl seemed spicy, for sure.
Katniss slid her earbuds back on in-between classes, acting like she didn't notice the girl was in each of her classes. During lunch, she went to sit with Gale, Madge and some others. Much to her annoyance, Gale waved Clove over when the girl hesitated, uncertain of where to sit.
"Hi, I'm Gale. This is Madge, Peeta is the blond, and the moody girl over there is Katniss," Gale said, gesturing around the table. Katniss gave a small jerk of her head, refusing to make eye contact.
Clove nodded to them all, and sat down. She whipped out a pocketknife and started to play with it, flipping it end over end in the air and catching it neatly by the handle after each toss. Katniss looked at her in annoyance.
"If Miss Frizzle over there sees you with that, we're all screwed," she said, mentioning the not-so-kind nickname for the vice principal. Clove only gave a large smirk, tossing the knife in the air one more time before closing it up and shoving it in her pocket.
"Yeah, Kat, because you're oh-so-concerned about Miss Frizzle," Madge said, pointing at her with a plastic spoon. Katniss shoved it away with a face.
"Oh shut it, I'm staying out of trouble this year!" Katniss protested, and that earned a big laugh from everyone. "Seriously! I don't want teachers screwing with Prim because they hate me."
Madge and Peeta both laughed, but Gale nodded his head like he understood. He had younger siblings too, even younger than Prim, and he was always watching out for them.
"That's a cool necklace. It got a story?" Clove asked abruptly, pointing at the charm hanging from Katniss's neck. Katniss glanced down. She hadn't realized the pendant had fallen out from her neckline, but since it was already out…
"Yeah, it does," she answered, but didn't elaborate. Instead she tucked back under her shirt. Gale shot her a glare, but Katniss kept silent.
"Kat, if she's gonna run with us, she might as well know." Gale turned to Clove. "My dad and Kat's, they were in an accident when we were in middle school. Her dad gave her the necklace," Gale explained, and Katniss shot him a loaded look.
To her credit, Clove didn't look the least bit embarrassed. "That bites," was all she said. Then she took a bite of her lunch like nothing had even happened, and conversation at the table quickly picked up. Every so often though, Katniss would catch Clove looking at her, and she would counter with a fierce look, telling the girl to back off.
After lunch, Katniss booked it out of the lunch room, rocketing towards her next class. She wasn't fast enough. Clove caught her by the shoulder, spinning her around.
"C'mon," she said, "we're ditching." Katniss stared at her for a moment, stunned. "Unless you're chicken."
That settled it. She wasn't going to let some scrawny girl come in, take her friends, and call her chicken. Her pride wouldn't allow it. "Let me ditch my stuff." She shoved everything into her locker, then led Clove down the back staircase and out the one door in the school that was in a camera blind spot. They hustled off school grounds and headed towards the nearest bus stop. Despite being seniors, neither of them had cars.
"So where is it the dregs of society hang out around here?" Clove asked, walking casually down the street. Katniss looked at her for a minute, taking in the smattering of freckles, the large brown eyes lined in black, the brown hair that somehow seemed much prettier than her own, before answering.
"Usually? My place. My mom doesn't even care, when she's home that is." Katniss shrugged. Maybe Gale was right; if she was with them, she might as well know everything.
"Cool. Got anything good over there, or should we make a snack run first?" Clove asked, not seeming to care about Katniss's… interesting home life.
"Probably make a snack run," Katniss replied. They stopped off at the local gas station, loading their arms with sodas and chips –Clove pulled out a debit card and paid- before walking to the cheaper side of town.
"So, exactly how rich are your parents?" Katniss demanded as she opened her front door. Clove looked startled. "People around here are either dirt poor or filthy rich. You've got a debit card- that puts you on the rich side."
Clove nodded. "I guess… my dad's some business guy, and when my mom left him, she took more than half his stuff. Now she's rolling in it, and dad keeps me well supplied with money to make sure I still love him."
Katniss raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything, paying Clove the same courtesy she'd paid Katniss. "Kat?" Clove asked, and Katniss looked up, startled by the quick use of her nickname. "Do your friends know you're gay?"
She was startled for a second, but what did it really matter? She'd guessed, so Katniss might as well come clean. "I think Gale suspects, but no. None of them really know. This town isn't exactly known for it's loving tolerance of all things different, you know."
"Well, I am too, if it helps. Gay, that is," Clove said. Katniss acknowledged her words with a small smile.
Somebody else like her… Katniss was surprised how much she liked the idea. She sat down on the couch, and patted the spot next to her for Clove to take. The girl did, and they turned on Netflix, flicking to some lame action movie. During the movie, Clove reached over casually and took Katniss's hand. When Katniss looked at her in surprise, Clove only grinned.
When the movie was done, Katniss looked over at Clove for a moment, and leaned in and kissed her square on the mouth. Clove froze in surprise for a moment, but gave in a moment later, taking control of the kiss and pushing her tongue Katniss's mouth, leaning her down on the couch.
Not that Katniss hadn't kissed girls before- there were always the slumber party dares, and the occasional girl at sleep-away camp but they hadn't really counted. Not when compared to kiss that made her bones melt and her heart pound loud in her ears until she couldn't think beyond the taste of strawberry lip gloss from the other girl's mouth.
Things were just starting to get interesting, Clove's fingers pushing under her shirt to trace over her hipbones where they stuck out above her jeans, when the door banged open.
"Well, that answers that. Peeta, you owe me twenty bucks," Gale laughed, watching as Katniss pushed Clove off and sat up to straighten her shirt. Peeta groaned, but Gale held out his hand while Madge giggled.
"Ugh. Once again, my inability to read people costs me money," Peeta complained, handing over the bill. "I blame you, Kat. If you weren't so stoic all the time, I wouldn't be out twenty dollars."
Katniss laughed, feeling unusually light. The group crowded onto her couch, shoving her right against Clove, whose face was bright and full of something Katniss didn't recognize but knew somehow.
Clove leaned in and whispered gently against Katniss's ear. "Friday night clear for you?" she asked. Katniss looked over at her and nodded. Clove grinned and took Katniss's hand in hers.
Maybe this year would go better than she'd expected.