"Katniss, you have to go," Madge says. "We haven't done anything fun in weeks."
"Watching TV and eating is fun," I argue.
"It's a party at Tiler Marks' house!" Madge says. "We've been invited to a party thrown my Tiler Marks! We have to go."
"We don't have to do anything," I say.
"You're the reason we got invited," she says.
"How do you figure?"
"Tiler's best friend has the biggest crush on you!" Madge argues. "Peeta, the gorgeous baker boy?"
I scoff. "Nobody who looks like him will ever have a crush on me."
She slaps my arm. "Don't insult yourself. You're gorgeous."
AEAEAEAEAEAE
Later that night, we walk into Tiler Marks' house. "I hate you, you know," I say. "I really, really hate you."
"And I love you!" Madge cries. I rarely go to parties with her. "I really, really love you!"
I chuckle. "You came!" Tiler says. "So nice of you to be here, we were just about to start a game."
"What game?" Madge asks.
"Seven Minutes in Heaven," Tiler says.
"Seven Minutes in Heaven?" I whisper to Madge.
"You go in the closet with a boy for seven minutes and do whatever you like with them," Madge says.
"Okay, I'm out of here," I say. "That sounds disgusting."
Madge grabs my wrist and pulls me into the living room. "Damn you," I whisper. She laughs and we sit on the side with all the girls. The boys are on the other side. I see Peeta Mellark, the extremely gorgeous baker, eye me.
"We're going to play this with some variations," Tiler says. "The boy will pick out of the first hat, which will have the minimum requirement of what you have to, you know, do in the closet. It'll also have the amount of time. Then they'll pick out of the second hat, which will be the girl they have to do it with."
"Madge, this is an idiotic game," I whisper. "We need to leave."
"Oh, c'mon, Katniss, seven minutes in heaven with baker boy ought to do you some good," she whispers back.
"I could end up in the closet with Ricky Peters!" I whisper. "I am not, under any circumstances, kissing Ricky fucking Peters!"
Madge laughs. "Just relax."
"Ricky, you're up," Tiler says. Ricky smiles widely. He takes a sheet of paper out of the first hat.
"Hand job, fifteen minutes," Ricky says. He takes a sheet out of the second hat. "Glimmer Evans." Ricky's face lights up but Glimmer looks less than thrilled. Ricky says that they can in the hallway to the coat closet for that. "We expect a detailed description of this when you're done!" someone shouts after them.
"Madge, really," I say. "Let's go."
She shakes her head at me. "We have another open closet," Tiler says. "Mellark, you're up." Madge elbows me. Peeta picks a sheet of paper out of the first hat. "The nasty, fifty minutes," he reads. "Are you serious, dude?"
Tiler laughs. "And whose loins will you be soiling tonight?"
Peeta takes a second sheet of paper. "Katniss Everdeen."
Madge elbows me again, hard, in the arm. No, I think. No fucking way.
"Go," Madge whispers. "Go!"
I numbly stand. Tiler says something to Peeta but I miss it. I follow Peeta through the kitchen and into the laundry room. He closes the door and turns on the flashlight. "Katniss, we don't have to," he says immediately. "We don't have to do anything, really. We could just sit in here for fifty minutes."
"But they want a detailed description," I say numbly.
He shrugs. "I could make something up."
"But that's cheating."
"Look, I'm trying to buy you an out here," Peeta says. "If you don't want one, fine. Let's do it, then."
"Fine," I say. Why is the idea of sleeping with me so unbearable to Peeta Mellark? I mean, I thought I'd have to push him off me. There's no way Peeta Mellark could be a gentleman, not when his best friend was Tiler Marks.
He raises his eyebrows. "You're kidding."
"I'm not," I snap.
"Seriously, Katniss, don't feel pressured."
"I don't."
"You're lying."
"Jesus, Peeta!" I say. "There's a girl here, willing to let you fuck her, and all you're trying to do is talk her out of it."
He gives me a half smile. "Have you ever done anything like this before?"
I shake my head. "We're only sixteen, Peeta."
He nods. "I've never done it before, either."
"You won't hurt me?" I ask softly.
He shakes his head. "Never."
I nod. He closes the space between us and plants his lips on mine softly. Strangely, I don't feel repulsed. I feel okay with it, actually. There's a warmth in my chest that's spreading throughout my whole body and it terrifies me. I don't know how long we kiss, but it's a good amount of time. He fumbles with the hem of my shirt but eventually pulls it over my head and tosses it to the floor. I grab the his shirt and throw it to the floor, as well. He grabs my waist and lifts me onto the washing machine and returns his lips to mine.
"How much time do we have left?" I ask. He checks his watch.
"Forty minutes."
He pulls my belt off and subsequently unbuttons my pants and yanks them off. He does the same with his.
I unbutton my bra and let it fall to the floor. Peeta's eyes grow to the size of saucers and he grins. He brings his hands to my breasts and I surprise myself when I let out a breathy moan at his touch. He runs his hands down my stomach and sticks one hand into my panties. At his touch, the warmth between my legs becomes almost unbearable.
"Just do it," I whimper. The ache between my legs was becoming almost too much to bear. Peeta nods. He pulls off his boxers (I'm introduced to a very hard, very long sight) and pulls my panties all the way down. I lay down on the laundry machine and he lines himself up with my entrance.
"If at any point, you want to stop," he says. "Just tell me."
I nod. He slowly slides himself in. We both gasp, his more from pleasure and mine from pain. "Are you okay?" he asks.
"Give me a sec."
He nods. I get used to the feeling of a foreign part inside me and instruct him to continue. He slides in and out slowly, at first, but picks up the pace as he gets closer and closer to his end. "Oh, fuck, Katniss . . ." he groans, his hands gripping my waist. "Fuuuck."
I moan his name in response, surprising myself once again. As he picks up the pace and he get closer and closer, our moans get louder and it seems that we'd forgotten the twenty or so people just fifteen feet away.
"Shiiit," Peeta cries as he finishes. I finish a second later. He slowly slides out. "Oh, Katniss, I'm so sorry." I look down and find that I'm covered in blood.
"It's okay," I say breathlessly.
As we get redressed, Peeta says, "Maybe I could take you on a proper date sometime?"
I shrug. "Maybe."
When we're both dressed, I open the door to find Tiler Marks, Ricky Peters, and several other assholes standing outside the door. "That sounded hot!" Ricky laughs.
"Hey, Katniss, I have a hard-on," Tiler says. "You're obviously really easy and desperate. Want to do something about it?"
"Maybe she'll do two at once," some guy I've never met before says. I'm instantly so embarrassed. I run out the door into the pouring rain.
"You're an asshole," I hear Peeta say. I hear the deafening crunch of what I imagine was Peeta's fist against Tiler's nose and then I hear Peeta coming after me.
"Katniss, Katniss, c'mon!" he shouts, grabbing my waist and holding me back. "Don't listen to them, that's not true. If one of the two of us is easy and desperate, it's me."
"Just leave me alone!" I scream. "This is all your fault!"
He doesn't let go of me. "I'm sorry," he says softly. A hand lands on Peeta's shoulder.
"She needs time," says Madge. "Talk to her at school on Monday."
He sighs and grudgingly lets go of me. "Bye, Katniss," he says softly.
I run away again. This time, it's Madge who grabs me and pulls me to her car.
AEAEAEAEAEAE
As you can imagine, that misguided fifty minutes with Peeta in Tiler's laundry room basically ruined my reputation. Although, Peeta had moved from his lunch table with all his friends and had started eating with Madge and I. Madge thought it was because Peeta really liked me and now that he'd slept with me, he wanted to be my 'boyfriend.' I thought it was because he felt sorry for me.
A few weeks after the incident, I got violently sick during lunch. Madge held my hair back and Peeta stood outside the girl's bathroom. I blamed it on some bad squirrel. It continually happened, though. Everyday for at least two weeks, I puked every morning when I woke up. The biggest sign, however, was when I missed my period. It was then, and then only, that I realized Peeta hadn't worn any protection.
Fuck.