BEST FRENEMIES: chapter one (In Which Partners Are Assigned)
The late bell rings and Katniss groans in response. The empty stares students send her through the windows of their classrooms make her feel even more self-conscious than she already is and she turned the corner. Katniss rushed into Mr. Nates, her social studies teacher's classroom and walked abruptly to her seat by the window. Before she got there, however, she felt her foot catch on something and the next thing she knew she was falling, and then crashing into the cold, unforgiving floor and landed at the shoes of none other than Peeta Mellark.
I should've known. Katniss thought. His red converses tap annoyingly in her face and he said, "I know you adore me Everdeen, but really? Are you desperate enough to fall at my feet?" He laughs at his own joke along with his jerk friends and Katniss pushes herself off the ground. Her lips tighten into a line and she heaved her bag over her shoulder. Her eyes flickered to Mr. Nates and she bit her tongue, holding back the nasty remarks she would've used to defend herself if he wasn't standing there, his eyes boring into the back of her head.
"Thank you, Mr. Mellark. Miss Everdeen, I hope you don't need me to show you to your seat." Mr. Nates looked at the pair of them through his spectacles, eyebrows raised and then turned around to the chalkboard. He continued, "Now that we've got that settled, I have come to the conclusion that you will be able to partner up with a fellow classmate for your final project-" he was interrupted by the class who broke into groups of whispering and hoots at the mention of partnership.
"-that I, and I alone, will chose." He ended with a satisfying smirk and the class immediately let out a few moans and exasperated sighs. Katniss hated partnering up with people because, one, she hated people, and two, people hated her. There was no nice way to put it. So, dreading the moment the teacher would call her name, she put her cheek on her desk and stared out the window. She did this often when Mr. Nates would get off topic and start talking about his family matters and children. He was what she would call an autobiography teacher, a teacher who teaches for about five minutes before turning the classroom into a time to share the results of his son's soccer game or wife's job reassignment. Then, she would look at her exam paper the next day and all she would think about was Mr. Nates' family problems.
"Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark" Both Peeta and Katniss looked up and they both started to speak at the same time, "Mr. Nates, I refuse to work with that thing." and "I don't think that's a good idea, Mr. Nates."
Mr. Nates responded, "Silence, both of you! I know you aren't the best of friends, but you're going to have to get along. It is getting to be a disturbance in the classroom. I think it might be best if both of you…bond?" Katniss rolled her eyes and Peeta dropped his forehead onto his desk and the class giggled.
The bell rings, signalizing the end of first period and everyone shuffles to their feet as Mr. Nates gives a final wave and announces, "Don't forget your partner everyone! The project is due next Friday!"
Katniss picks up her ratty knapsack and headed toward Peeta so she could schedule some timing for when to work on the project. Better now than never, she thought. Peeta, on the other hand, had no intent of talking to Katniss about…anything really, so when she came up to him, he walked away as if she was invisible. Katniss grimaced and fought to keep up. They both had English together anyways, how she knew that she didn't have a clue.
"Mellark." He ignored her and strode away.
"Peeta!" he stopped moving and waited for her to catch up, realizing she wasn't going to leave him alone.
"I-I just w-wanted to know i-if we were gonna, you know, like, work at my house or yours? O-or maybe you'd prefer the meadow-no wait, no computer in the meadow. I'm stupid. Umm." Katniss always had a crush on Peeta. Though she never admitted it to herself, she knew she did. Even with him bullying her and ignoring her, she still seemed attracted to him, and it bugged the hell out of her.
The corners of Peeta's lips curled up the slightest but then quickly formed into a scowl. "Look, Everdeen. I have no intention of letting you into my house and I would never enter that place that you call your home. So, I don't think we can make this work, alright?" he started to walk away again, but Katniss roughly grabbed him by the sleeve of his hoodie and pulled him back.
"Look Mellark." She mocked him, "we can make this work. And I am going to make this work because, I, unlike you am not ready to give up my scholarship yet, alright? So, let's try again; my house or yours?" Peeta's nostrils flared but his shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Mine."
"What time?"
"I'll meet you at your locker at the end of last period and drive us both to the bakery." And the conversation was over. Peeta turned around, at Katniss stared at his back as he left.
She was about to head to her own class but she froze and yelled "Peeta!"
He looked over his shoulder expectantly, eyebrows raised, frozen in place.
"You know my locker number?" Peeta simply smirked and replied, "I have my ways, Everdeen."
Just as Katniss made her way through the double doors, Peeta called out, "Hey, Everdeen!"
Katniss' hand halted on the banister and she gulped.
"What now?" he looked at her with an amused expression.
"What?" she repeated; irritated at his intimidating blue-eyed stare.
"Where are you going? English is this way." Katniss' eyes widened and she was sure her cheeks were turning ten shades of red.
She ducked her head and caught up with Peeta while he rolled his eyes and muttered something about women.
The rest of Katniss' classes went by like a breeze and she found Peeta leaning against her locker, just like he said he would. There was only one problem; his "friends" were with him.
Without a word to Peeta, she squeezed past him and opened her locker, shifting some books around and taking what was essential.
"Hey, Neverclean. Well, at least you look presentable today…sort of." Cato, the wrestling team captain greeted her.
Katniss didn't respond, she shut her locker…hard and glanced at Peeta, who was suppressing a smile at. It angered Katniss. What was happening? One minutes he's about to smile at her and walk her to English and the next he was insulting her along with Cato? Katniss walked away and saw Peeta jogging beside her in the corner of her eye.
"Hey, sorry about Cato. He shouldn't have said that stuff to you-" Katniss cut him off and said, "Well, you didn't exactly do anything to help the situation at all, did you?" Peeta's face turned to stone and said, "We're going to be late, let's just go and get this over with." The rest of their walk home was silent and awkward until they stopped outside the bakery. Mrs. Mellark stood, hand on her hips, her chest heaving, brows furrowed, and she grabbed Peeta by the collar.
"You worthless piece of junk!" she slapped him hard across the face. Peeta shut his eyes and Katniss brought hers to the floor, "You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago! Just because you've got a friend over does not give the excuse to be late, you understand me?"
Peeta cowered under her and let out a small, "Yes."
"Yes, what?" she practically growled in his ear.
"Yes, sir, I mean mom, I mean mother, I mean-" another slap to the cheek silenced Peeta.
"Peeta, how many times have I told you, you were no good?" her face shifted to one of fake kindness.
"Many, ma'am." Peeta hung his head which was only to be brought up by his mother gripping his hair and saying, "I was right about that, wasn't I?" her lips curled into a vicious sneer and gave Peeta a shake by grip she had on his downy curls.
"Yes, ma'am." She released her grip and pushed him to the floor.
"Another thing Peeta, you are not allowed to bring that trash in the house! We do not associate with garbage from the Seam." She looked pointedly at Katniss and continued, "Work in the back, by the pigs pen, if you have to."
Katniss was not bothered by Mrs. Mellark comments. Instead she bent down to Peeta and held out her hand. He stared at it for a second, pushed himself off the ground and dusted the dirt off his faded blue jeans without her help. She frowned at him and said, "Peeta?"
"What?" he was expecting her to say something about his mother, ask why she was so abusive, maybe offer help that he would refuse, something along those line but instead she said, "Wanna go to my place?"
He just nodded. Peeta received prying glances from people all over the Seam, the welt on his cheek drawing attention while Katniss just waved like she knew every single one of them. They were on the street Katniss lived on and she finally decided to break the silence.
"Peeta, she didn't have the right to treat you like that and I really am sorry-" Katniss apologized not only for his mother but also for how she treated him, how she ignored him all these years, how she was too much of a coward to admit her feelings for him, how he should deserve better…even for him.
"Well, you didn't exactly do anything to help the situation, did you?" he replied the same way she had to him when Cato had teased her. He saw the shocked and hurt face that she displayed and said, "Whatever, Katniss. Just-whatever."
She led him into the house, or hut, and called to him, "Peeta!"
He held his hands in surrender and took a step back, "Geez, I'm right here! I'm not gonna get lost walking into the house, no need to scream!"
"Peeta!" her excitement didn't die down just yet.
"Yeeeeessss…" he exaggerated the word.
"You called me Katniss!"
END OF CHAPTER ONE: In Which Partners Are Given