Welcome to my new story! We'll see how the first chapter goes. I have no idea if I'll even continue to the next chapter.

I don't own The Hunger Games.

Katniss's POV-

I pull my car into one of the last spots in the very small parking lot. The lot is full of some pretty old looking cars, but a few relatively new ones. I guess that's what I get for leaving my old school and coming to teach here at Panem Middle School. This place is one of, if not the most deprived and malnourished towns in the whole country, let alone Maine.

Most of the students here are either struggling to get by with their monetary situation in their families, or are on food stamps and living in a cramped 2 room apartment that has no heat or air-conditioning. Just because the school resides the more unfortunate students doesn't mean that the education isn't top notch. The main reason I resigned my position at another local school was because of the amazing things I had heard about Panem Middle School. The students here are some of the most humble, kind, and caring people you'll ever meet. They wear a smile every day no matter the situation, and help out the community on the days they aren't at school. I want to surround myself with the most optimistic people possible, so I won't feel so bad about my life. People here have been through everything, but they are still smiling and thriving and I think that is an amazing way to live. It doesn't matter what you have, it matters that you make the most out of what you have. Say I have $50 to spend at the grocery store next week. I'll spend every penny if I have to, even if that means that I won't have money for gas that week. It's the mindset that matters.

I grab my few boxes of belongings that were left from my previous classroom and start toward the rundown entrance of the school. I remember that I don't have my swipe key yet, so it will be a challenge to get in despite the fact that the school is full of teachers and administrators. I drop my stuff on the concrete and peer inside. It looks very run down and old. I hope the atmosphere of the school is what I expected. Kind staff, well behaved students, and impressive education and work ethic.

No one is around inside, so I must be late to the meeting that I'm supposed to be attending in 10 minutes. I start banging on the windows, and still, no one answers. Defeated, I consider calling the office and having someone let me in, but how hopeless would that be if someone had to let me in. I just continue to bang on the windows until a really handsome man scurries by, but backtracks to see me hopelessly banging on the windows. He offers a kind smile and I return it. He gives me a confused look, and opens the door.

"You know, you should just use your swipe key… Right?" Which I don't have… The last few weeks have been pretty hectic.

"Nice to meet you too," I peer at his ID around his neck. "Mr. Peeta Mellark." He offers a hand and I take it.

"And you are?"

"Katniss. Katniss Everdeen. I'm the new ELA teacher. 7 and 8." The middle school has an ELA teacher for grade 6, then 7 and 8 are combined.

"Well, I'm Peeta, as you just found out and I'm the new Social Studies teacher. I guess we'll be co-teacher a lot during the school year." Wow, he seems really kind and sincere. I hope he's not just trying to make a good impression. That's what the Social Studies teacher did at my previous school. His name was Gale and he got me to develop quite a crush on him. He humiliated me in front of the staff there because he said some really mean things about me when I wasn't there. Something about how I told the class to tell him to ask me on a date. Apparently the staff thought I was desperate and gave me a lot of shit about it. That's part of the reason why I left.

"It's nice to meet you. Am I late or something? Where is everyone? Isn't there a meeting in 10 minutes?"

"Don't worry, you're right on time! Most people are already at the meeting, so there isn't many around this part of the school right now. I can actually show you where to go if you need help." He is really nice, but I don't want to fall for someone again and have the same thing happen again.

"Oh, okay. I just need to put my stuff down first if that's okay…" My thought waivers off.

"Sure, Katniss. I was just going to ask if you need any help, actually."

"Ummm, yeah, that would be nice." I say shyly. He picks up one of the boxes and motions for me to follow him.

My new room is about 20 feet away from the entrance, which I hope is a good thing. I won't have to walk all the way down the school every morning just to get to my classroom. Peeta sets down the box and takes out his keys and unlocks the door for us. It takes a few tries, seeing that the lock is very old.

I walk in and set my stuff down. The place reeks of mold and garbage, but this is what I get. Anyways, it's not like I'm not used to this. All the way until college, I lived in this little ranch in Panem. It was old, and small, but it was what we had. There wasn't hot water, so we had to boil pots and pots just to take a bath. No showers. The floorboards were rotten and we rarely updated the house or painted. This middle school brings back so many memories of my teenage years, that it feels like home. Even if it's gross, smelly, and probably not up to code, it's where I want to be.

Peeta's POV-

"So this is it!" I say to Katniss as I set her box of things down on a table that almost collapses after bearing the weight. She looks deep in thought and replies.

"I know. I went to school here. This used to be my ELA teacher, Mrs. Smith's room. She just retired, right?"

"Yeah. She and another woman left. The other lady left to teach somewhere else, but Mrs. Smith retired. She was my ELA teacher too, by the way."

It's crazy how the we still call the teachers we used to have by their 'teacher' name, not their first name. We're adults and now teaching too, but the respect for them is still in our hearts.

"What year did you graduate? And, I'm sorry I haven't been here to help you set up our rooms, I have been having some family issues I have been dealing with these past few weeks."

"I graduated in 2009." I say, hoping she's not way older than me or something. "Seriously Katniss, there's only been 3 weeks of summer vacation already. We'll still have time to set up the cluster." I secretly hope she'll tell me all of her alleged, "issues" and I can talk them through with her. All I want to do right now is stay here and talk to her.

"I was in class of 2010. Anyways Peeta, I know, but I feel bad. I mean, we're both new here and I don't want to appear all laid-back and lazy. I should've been here, but I had things to deal with. I didn't realize that the room would already be set up." I secretly congratulate myself that she's not completely out of my league!

"It's no problem, seriously. I enjoy setting things like this up. I just happen to have a lot of free time on my hands." It's true. I don't really have any family to tend to.

"I just feel like shit, being new here and making you set all of this stuff up. I wanted to make a good impression here and come into this community well respected, and I just want to make sure, you know," She's rambling now. "That I do what's required of me and more and I want to be a good teacher and friend, but I don't know how to be that person if I'm going to be an emotional mess all of the time…" I drown out her rambling and cut her off.

"Katniss, we're co-teachers. I have to do some of the work, not all of it. You brought your stuff to be sorted through." I step close to her. "Plus, we'll be spending a lot of time together during the school year. I don't want to make you feel like you have to be here every day of the week getting work done. It's called summer for a reason!"

"Can I just hug you right now because that is literally the nicest thing I have heard in the last three weeks. I have so much going on, and you're already making me feel better!" She perked up after I told her that, which makes me feel really good inside. Before I can continue that thought, her arms are around my neck and she's hugging me.

It starts as a friendly hug, not an intimate one, but soon she melts into me, and her head fits right into my shoulder perfectly. I pull her tighter and I can feel her smile into my neck. With her breasts rubbing against my shirt tightly and stomach rubbing against my area, I start to feel a little blood flow right down to my crotch. I start to pull away, but she whispers into my ear, tickling the hairs, "Peeta Mellark, are you getting a boner!?"

I jump away, embarrassed, but I shoot back "It's not like I initiated the oddly intimate hug that just happened!" I try to think of something to get me to calm down, so I start thinking about the faculty meeting we are going to soon, but the image of Katniss pops into my head.

"Well, I guess you aren't the ugliest man I've ever met. I think you rank somewhere between Justin Bieber and Donald Trump," she teases.

"I think you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen. I'm not teasing, I'm dead serious." If I'm going to get a boner at the absolute worst time possible, at least let me embrace it.

Katniss blushes, and says "Today, I didn't expect to meet a really hot guy who I'm probably going to be teaching with for the next 40 years." I honestly don't know where my confidence is coming from, or hers. I haven't really had much time for girls in my life.

"I didn't expect to meet a girl that is impossibly beautiful. I also didn't expect to be getting a boner…" I look down at my tented gym shorts.

Katniss just laughs nervously, and starts playing with her hands. I didn't mean to make her nervous.

"You know, the only reason this thing between my legs is acting up is because you are really beautiful. I don't get excited over just any girl."

"Thanks, Peeta, but you don't need to say that. Once you really get to know me, you'll run away just like all of the other guys I've liked. I'm not who you think. I'm just a shy girl with stupid insecurities about herself." Okay, I talk back what I said about her being confident.

"I feel like your therapist right now! Be confident with yourself. Someone who openly admits they have insecurities or problems are 10 times stronger than the people who keep them inside. They other guys just don't know you right, then. Someone will come around." I hope the person that comes around is me, and I hope Katniss can infer that.

"I just feel like you are way to nice to be a friend of mine. You should see some of the friends I've had… There's Finnick who just wanted to use me for sex. Then there's Gale who showed me off just to impress other girls, then humiliated me in front of my teacher friends. Oh, and-" I cut her off, and press my lips to hers. I hope that wasn't a rookie mistake.

She's stiff at first, and it's really awkward. I nudge her on the back to try to get her to respond. She slowly warms up to my pace and starts to put her hands in my hair. She shoves her tongue into my mouth, but I'm not complaining. She tastes like vanilla and sugar and I start to moan. I can't believe that we just met. I snake my hands around her back and instinctively put them right above where the curve of her ass starts.

The feeling of her lips on mine is so warm and soft, and I can tell I'm going to have lipstick all over my face when I'm done kissing her. I start to pull away so I can breathe and she just starts kissing down my cheek into my neck. My boner is in full force, and I can't help but think that Katniss and I are going to be really good friends. Or more than friends. But first, the faculty meeting.

Did you make it through?! I know, it's pretty bad.

By no means am I a writer, so I have a lot of learning to do, so please don't make me feel that bad... I'm open to any suggestions (god help me) or comments, so PLEASE leave a review!

I have a general outline of how I want the story to go, but it'll depend on a lot of things. My school starts next week, so I won't have a lot of time to write from then on. It takes me a while to put the chapter into word form, if you know what I mean. I want the details to be perfect.

And, this is my first story ever so I have no idea what the response will be like... If at least a few people read it, I'll probably post another chapter. I have no idea how long this story will be, so just hang with me for a while! The next chapter could be up tomorrow, or in a month, or never. We'll just have to see.

Thanks!
Don't forget to smile! :)