Bread Over Flowers
Chapter 1: Welcome to Capitol Preparatory High School
Summary: Welcome to Capitol Prep, where the sons and daughters of the rich and powerful are educated. Katniss Everdeen is a poor Seam girl who happens to be a student in this exclusive school. Peeta Mellark is the one and only heir to the Mellark Group of Companies. This school is his kingdom. What happens when he encounters this fiery young woman who bravely chose to stand up to him. (Hana Yori Dango inspired fic)
Disclaimer: I have to put two disclaimers on this one. I do not own the Hunger Games series nor do I own Hana Yori Dango, the Japanese series I based this on.
Why. Just, why?
Why did these snotty teenagers have the incredible luck of being born into fabulously rich families while the rest of the world starved? What am I even doing in an elite School like this, I don't belong here but it's the only way I can save my family.
I thought to myself while these three girls in class rave about how their Christmas vacation went.
"Oh. My. God! Glimmer! We totally could've seen each other! I was in Tokyo too! I so love their clothes there. I like, bought a whole week's wardrobe from Shibuya. They have ALL the latest there, only the best!" Clove half shouted with her unnaturally piercing voice that just got under my skin every time she spoke.
Clove was the one and only daughter of one of the biggest gold mining companies in Panem. While the two other girls with her, Glimmer and her cousin Cashmere, their family owns the entire diamond district. They mine, processes and cut the most prized diamond jewels of the country. The school refers to them as "The three Jewels" considering the nature of their family's businesses.
"I know right!" Glimmer chimes in with her equally annoying voice "See Cashmere, you should've gone there with me! Ugh, you go to Paris every damn year, the city isn't going anywhere you know…"
Cashmere was a bit quieter than her two air-head companions but she has that aura of elegance and superiority that anyone beneath her rank would think twice before initiating conversation or to even look at her up close.
"I don't know about you two," says Cashmere with her elegant airy voice while taking out a lavish diamond studded compact to examine her perfect face "but I happen to love being the star of the winter runway every season. " Cashmere smiles at her reflection, obviously being pleased that her perfect face is still as beautiful as she remembers.
Why do I even bother, I say that to myself every year. This is Capitol Prep, the most prestigious school in all of Panem and top five in the world. Sons and daughters of the rich and powerful are educated here and are prepared to become the future world leaders, international businessmen and so on. So what am I, a common Seam girl doing here? Three years ago, my father died in a coal mining accident, there was a blast within the deep parts of the mines where my father worked. He and three other colleagues burned to death, as they couldn't get out and there were no emergency exits. This caused a major uproar regarding the safety conditions of the workers in the mines. The Mellark Group of Companies, the company that owned the mine offered to cover the education of the eldest child of all of those who died in the accident to appease the anger of the media and the families.
There were once three of us here: me, Johanna Mason and Madge Undersee. "The three charity cases", as the students spitefully called us. Madge dropped out three weeks upon entering the school; the amount of bullying and discrimination was too much for her. She's now finishing school at the High School down the road. Johanna, on the other hand, was a lot tougher than Madge. She and I stayed; we kept to ourselves and ignored all of the insults thrown to us by the snotty Capitol students. Sadly, Johanna graduated a year ago so it's just me here, alone and fending for myself.
The bell rings and everybody settles down on their seats. All the 15 seats in the class were filled, except for the four beside me. As usual. These rich kids don't need education anyway. The professor does roll call as always, leaving out the four boys that belonged to the seat next to me. Even the professors let them do anything...
A sudden noise filled the peaceful hallways.
"IT'S A RED CARD!" a male student ran shouting through the halls. The class abruptly stops as the sudden announcement got their undivided attention.
"IT'S THRESH! THRESH FROM CLASS SEVEN! HE GOT A RED CARD!" The male student continued to shout ensuring that the whole school heard his announcement. The students begin to leave their seats and head out of the classroom.
"U-uhh..I…" the professor scampered for his things as he prepared to dismiss the class. "Y-you are all free to go… uhh… i… class dismissed!" he ran out as fast as he could to avoid the sea of students who are suddenly filling the hallway.-
"Please! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do anything!" the student laid on the flour covered marble floor of the main entrance. He has obviously taken a beating and he was covered head to toe with eggs, flour and dirt. The hall was now filled with students laughing and cheering, this was the first red card of the new term, it was definitely an exciting scene to welcome the students back from winter break.
"You're sorry?! Do you honestly think that does anything?" Thresh was a strongly built man but he had no chance against Brutus. He was huge. Brutus continued to beat him up as the crowd cheered louder and louder.
"KICK HIM! MAKE HIM PAY!" The crowd shouted.
Glimmer glanced at the entrance hall and spotted the four guests of honor entering the premises. "THEY'RE HERE!" Glimmer screeched like a lovesick teenager. Soon after, all three girls were shouting and jumping in unison. "Oh my GOD! They're so hot! Look here! Peeta! Cato!"
The cheering got louder when four elegantly dressed boys entered the hall. "The Gamemakers", as the students called them. If Capitol prep is full of people belonging to influential families, these four boys would be the cream of the crop.
Cato Jaeger, the illegitimate son of a European king. His wealth is beyond measure and he sure knows how to put it in people's faces. Finnick Odair, his father leads the most powerful mafia in Panem. They rule all underground operations, drugs, prostitution and murder. Rumor has it, their most generous benefactor is none other than President Snow himself. Gale Hawthorne is unlike the other two, he's a lot quieter and less violent than his friends. He belongs to one of the oldest and most powerful political families in Panem. Both his parents died when he was young leaving him under the care of his grandfather who works directly for President Snow himself. And then there's Peeta Mellark….
He isn't royalty, mafia, nor is his family in politics. His mother runs the Mellark Group of Companies, an international group that basically controls the distribution of wealth among nations. It is a group of the biggest and most powerful companies in the world and Peeta Mellark is the only heir.
"STOP." Peeta declares with authority. The whole room falls into silence.
"Mr. Mellark, we hunted him down and brought him here for you." Brutus bragged.
"So you have. So tell me, uhh Thresh, was it? Is all of this worth it?" Peeta peered down at the man on the floor.
"No Mr. Mellark, I'm sorry I didn't mean to…" Thresh begged
"Well, you should've thought of that before you decided to wet me from head to toe yesterday…"
"Peet! Come on, just get this over with I'm starving!" Cato interrupted. He was standing in the corner looking as handsome as ever, they all were. Finnick was busy teasing and flirting with a group of girls at the back, always the playboy.
I strolled through the empty hallways as I heard the students cheering and laughing from afar. All the students rushed out of their classrooms as soon as the announcement was made, it was just me and this new girl who stayed behind. Her name was Annie, she looked really childlike and innocent, with her thick red hair flowing down below her shoulders. She had a pretty, pale face with a few freckles around her nose.
I felt a hand reach for my shoulder. I turn around to see that it was Annie.
"Umm..excuse me," she finally caught up with me "would you happen to know what's going on? Should we be umm…outside of class?" Poor new girl, she has no idea what she's getting into.
"It's just another Red Card from The Gamemakers"
"A…red card?" Annie asked innocently. She seems so innocent and genuine; I hope staying at this school doesn't ruin her…
"It's like getting a hit on you, the Gamemakers are the four most powerful students in this school, their parents paid a hefty sum to ensure their children get treated like kings. They can practically do whatever they want." I hear the anger in my voice as I talk about those idiotic monkeys. "When you upset one of them, they give you a red card. Which basically means the whole school will come after you and bully you until you go nuts.."
"Oh.." I see the confusion and fear in Annie's eyes. "I feel sorry I asked"
We reach the main hall just in time for Annie to have her first glimpse of the atrocities the go on in this school.
Peeta turned Thresh into a punching bag while Brutus held his hands behind his back.
"I've had enough of this..." Peeta brushed his fingers up his perfect blonde hair. His strong jaw and defined muscles were complimented by his simple but elegant white polo and dress pants. His polo was folded up to his elbows which exposed his strong arm. I would actually consider him good looking if I didn't know the kind of person he is. Annie was beside me watching in horror as Brutus and the other students carried Thresh outside.
"Gale, any ideas on where we can take Cato over here so he can eat?" Peeta smiled at his close friend Gale.
"Hey! I'm right here? Why don't you ask me?" Cato complained.
Gale and Peeta chuckled "Because you have the worst taste in food." Answered Gale in his usual calm tone.
"Come on, let's get out of here. Go fetch Finnick over there before he makes a girl pregnant with his eyes." Peeta and the three boys walked out of the entrance while I stared at them with anger. How could they just do that?! Someone has to stand up to them..
I peered at Annie who was staring at Finnick Odair. Finnick caught her look and flashed her as smile which made Annie forget about the horrible things she saw earlier and turned red. Well, can't blame her, he is hot as hell but he's friends with that monster Mellark.
Oh well, it's just another day. Welcome back to school.
Please bear with me; this is my first fic for the Hunger Games (and the first fic I'm inspired enough to be sure I can finish it!) Please tell me what you think! Hoping to hear from you