She first notices him on a warm spring day, dandelions in bloom. It's his eyes that captivate her; so blue and clear, like the cloudless sky that hangs above their crowded school bus. Their eyes meet and he smiles softly at her, but her gaze quickly flits away, a blush creeping up her olive cheeks.
Normally she and Madge uphold a mutual silence, but the question escapes her without thought. "Who is he?"
"The new boy?" The reserved blonde questions tentatively, continuing when she receives no response. "Well, he's the baker's son. Their family moved in from a few towns over."
She nods, acting indifferent.
For some reason she finds her gaze drifting to him for the rest of their ride to school. Watching how he talks with his new friends. How his body shakes with laughter and his blonde curls bounce at the movement.
She's never seen someone so beautiful.
She learns his name is Peeta, on a blistering summer's day…and wonders why he bears a dark purple bruise on his jaw. But when he smiles bashfully at her, she's flustered and forgets the bruise, all coherent thoughts gone.
He's quieter today and she misses his cheerfulness. He sits stiffly with his friends, and when he laughs, it doesn't sound the same.
She's never seen someone so beautiful.
Autumn leaves begin to fall when she sees the largest change; when he smiles at her now, it no longer reaches his eyes. What is wrong?
"Family issues, I think," Madge whispers, answering her unspoken thoughts. She looks over at her friend in embarrassment and misses the way he limps ever so slightly to his seat. But she does see that when he's with his friends now, he doesn't laugh at all.
She's never seen someone so beautiful.
Frost lines the windows of their crowded school bus when she hears of what happened. How the boy with the blue eyes was found by his father, surrounded by a pool of blood and a rolling pin left abandoned on the ice-cold tiles. The mother nowhere to be seen.
She hasn't cried since her father's death, but she can't help the tears that escape her empty grey eyes. She wishes she hadn't forgotten that damn bruise on his jaw.
Days, weeks, months pass. She misses him.
It's not until a warm spring day, dandelions in bloom, when she's given the note.
Finnick, who she recognizes as one of his friends, hands it to her on their crowded school bus. "He had begged me to give this to you…before–" he pauses, choosing his words with care. "You have no idea the effect you had," he says with a simple shake of his head, and with that, he is gone.
She slowly unfolds the small piece of paper and reads the simple words, written to the girl with the braid at the back of the bus.
I have never seen someone so beautiful.
~ fin ~