A/N: Hey guys, this is my very first fanfiction ever, so to be honest, it might suck. I really hope that it doesn't, but I can't make any promises that it won't.
Please leave comments and suggestions for me and I'll take into account what you say. No flames, only constructive criticism. I warn you that there will be OOC characters in here and if you are an Everthorne shipper, this is not the story for you, if you like Gale at all, this is NOT the story for you.
Any and all mistakes are mine.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games or any of these characters, they all belong to Suzanne Collins.
"Katniss! Katniss! Wake up! C'mon, we're gonna be late!" Prim shouted as she bounced on my bed. Ouch. She landed on my foot, that's gonna bruise. "Kat, it's only the first day of school, we can't be late already."
I groaned as I lifted my head from the pillow.
"Alright, alright, I'm up." I grumble. I stretch my arms and rub my eyes to rid them of my sleep induced haze. I look to the clock at my right: 7:15. Okay, I've got forty-five minutes before school, starts. And I will use that time to wallow in my hole of despair known as...life.
I'm not looking forward to school, my family moved here three months ago when my mother found a job as a nurse in the small clinic in town. It's tiny, but it pays better than what she did before. She was a waitress at a local cafe until she got laid off.
Today is my first day of school here. Which, obviously, I am not all that excited about. At my old school, I was a loner and people tended not to like me. And that was the school I had gone to since kindergarten, imagine what will happen here.
Not that I cared all that much, I didn't have too much time for friends anyway, it just would be kind of nice if everyone didn't hate me.
Okay, what am I doing, I need to get ready for school.
I climbed out of bed and walked to the bathroom where I washed up and got ready. I braided my hair as I walked out of the bathroom to my dresser. I looked at all of my second-hand clothes and try to pick out a remotely normal looking outfit.
I settle on my black skinny jeans and forest green peasant style shirt with a brown belt around my waist. I run downstairs and grab an apple before slipping on my boots and grabbing my bag.
"Prim! Let's go!" I call up the stairs.
"'Kay! Coming!" She responds. I watch as she bounds down the steps and grabs a piece of toast. We step outside and start our walk towards school. I walk Prim to the middle school section of the campus and give her a kiss on the forehead.
"'Kay, so we'll meet at the center courtyard after school, right?" I ask.
"Yup. You know, Kat, I'm not two anymore, I'm in eighth grade, you don't need to protect me all the time." She says as she gives me a look.
"I know, but that doesn't mean I don't want to." I put my hand on her shoulder.
"You have to let me grow up sometime, Katniss." Prim says. I sigh because I know she's right, but I just want to protect her forever, I don't want to let her go yet. I've been taking care of my family for six years and I'm still in that mode now.
When I was eleven, my father was killed in a freak accident at work. He was a construction worker and an unstable structure collapsed on top of him, shattering over twenty of his bones and puncturing his left lung. The worst part was that he didn't die immediately, he suffered for a while before he drowned in his own blood.
After he died, my mother was never the same, she died inside too. She just stopped functioning, didn't gt out of bed, didn't cook, and couldn't even bother to see if her eleven and seven-year-old daughters were okay.
My mother didn't stop working, but that's all she did, she worked as much as she could and we were lucky if we saw her for an hour a day. If she wasn't working, she was sleeping. That's why I had to take up raising Prim. Our mother wasn't around and I had to make sure that Prim had a good head on her shoulders.
That was when I had just turned eleven. Now, I'm seventeen and it's the same thing, my mother works night and day while I raise my sister and resent her for essentially abandoning us. She barely speaks to at all, and I can see that even after six years, it still breaks Prim's heart every day.
I take a deep breath and exhale slowly. I look at Prim.
"You're right, Prim, I'm sorry, I just want to make sure that you're always okay."
"I will be, Katniss. I love you." She smiles at me.
"I love you too." I make my way towards the high school and head towards the main office. A woman sits at a computer typing away furiously. She doesn't even notice me until I clear my throat.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, my dear. I was quite distracted as you can see." She gestures to the computer and I nod. "I'm Effie Trinket." She holds out her perfectly manicured hand and as I shake it, I feel her long polished fingernails dig into my palm. I grimace.
"I'm Katniss Everdeen, I'm new here."
"Ah, yes!" She types away on the keypad and soon whirring sounds emit from the printer behind her. She pulls a slip of paper from it and hands it to me. "Here's your schedule, Dear."
"Thank you." I nod to her.
"Have a nice day!" She shoots me a smile.
I'm lost.
I sigh, I've been going in circles and I can't find my freakin' homeroom. Ugh, my day can't get any wors-
My inner thoughts are cut off when I crash into a body and am sent sprawling to the floor. All my books and supplies scatter in all directions and I flinch as my butt hits the floor with a thud. Ouch.
"Hey! Watch where you're going, Freak." A mean looking girl sneers down at me. "You're gonna mess up my clothes. Look, I don't know where you come from, but around here, it's considered rude to disrespect people who are better than you, in case you didn't know."
Her friends and she cackle at my expense as my cheeks burn in embarrassment and anger. I get up and stalk off in search of my class.
I finally find it at the very end of the hall. I open the door and step in, spotting kids scattered about the room, catching up with friends, messing with each other, and making out. Ew.
I take a seat in the back of the class and sit there awkwardly. Soon, kids are filing in and filling the seats, chattering about their summers with their friends or proclaiming how much they're dreading this year.
Soon, the bell rings and the talking ceases as everyone prepares for the horror to come.
Get ready everyone, here comes senior year.