A high pitched noise burst into life next to me. Outstretching my arm I fumbled around until I finally hit the alarm and the noise immediately stopped. I flung the duvet off the top of me and immediately regretted it as the cold air met my bare skin, before grudgingly walking towards the bathroom, and grabbing the pile of clothes I had folded the night before. I hated mornings. I showered quickly. My mother would most definitely be awake and if I weren't out the door before my father was, I would never hear the end of it. It's not that she cared - she just took every opportunity to have something to complain about. Five extra minutes in a hot shower was not worth the hassle of listening to her moaning and complaining for days on end.
My normal routine remained the same everyday of the week. Wake up, shower, get dressed and walk to the bakery to prepare before my parents arrived. The floors had to be swept, the cabinet had to be stocked with savories and cakes we prepared the night before and I had to light the fires which powered the ovens. It puzzled a lot of people that we didn't rely on electricity to power the dozens of ovens in the bakery, but my grandmother had insisted that real fire produces the best quality bread and even though she was dead, my father couldn't bare to defy her will.
He always arrived at the bakery shortly after my prerequisites were done and begun baking the bread for the morning influx. My job in the bakery was to clean and decorate. Hardly something I was proud of. "Hey, I'm Peeta and I sweep flour and then ice flowers on cakes!" Definitely not one of the popular crowd. Although I had almost finished school my childhood nickname had never gone away; 'Peeta bread' was dropped on a daily basis.
Once I had cleaned and prepared the bakery for business, I moved onto the register until the shop assistants arrived. Despite owning the 'best' bakery in Panem, my father wasn't prepared to pay a staff member for an extra hour when I could do it. I understood his point, but at 17 years of age? Doing the same thing everyday for the entirety of my life?
The bell above the door rung and I looked up. An old lady walked over and begun stuffing a brown paper bag with savory buns and cake, before walking over to the register. "Ooooohh, good morning dear!" she said, smiling at me. I forced a smile in return and told her how much it cost. The bell rung again as the old lady turned around and walked towards the door. "Hello Mrs S" I heard a soft but deep voice say, followed by the old lady repeating what she had said to me except this time replacing 'dear' with 'Finnick'. Well known in our district for his flirtatious behavior, but known to me due to the fact he was best friend.
Finnick came to the bakery every morning. Despite being popular, he didn't exploit it and spent most of his time with our small group of friends. Every morning we did the same. Finnick would walk to the bakery and we would grab as many delicious cakes and muffins as we could. My mother and I did not get along. She was cold hearted towards me, but when it came to my friends she didn't have an issue with us taking some of the stock. After leaving the bakery we walked to Katniss's house. She worked at the bakery in the afternoon and our families were quite close. She was an interesting girl, with black hair, pale skin and incredible wit.
"Oh my god, you guys have to hear this. There is this new guy at our school, family moved in just down the road from me, and he is so hot!". She practically screamed as we walked, all eating a piece of chocolate cake.
"Katniss, that's lovely news but don't you have enough crushes as it is?" Finnick bit back. "Besides, it's not like any of us are interested."
Katniss blushed. "I can have any many crushes as I want! It doesn't mean anything."
"Yeah it does, it means you're a slut." retorted Finnick.
I couldn't help but laugh, causing an evil glare from Katniss.
We went to The Panem Primary District High School. Panem was split into four districts, the Primary District where luxury and technology thrived, the Secondary District where power and transport was created, the Tertiary District where the mines and fields of crops were located and The Capitol. Prior to the rebellion, thirteen districts had existed, but after the Capitol and much of Panem were destroyed, out of the rubble came just four districts, all combinations of those which previously inhabited what was now wasteland.
My parents made the decision to relocate to the Primary District before my oldest brother was born. Despite the rebellion, the fact that the outer districts were always worse off remained the same. In twenty years they had progressed from a little bakery attached to a house, to one of the most commended bakeries in Panem, supplying goods to not only the District, but to the Capitol as well.
Katniss, Finnick and I split as soon as we got to school. We only shared a few classes together. I walked to my locker and pulled out the textbooks I need for the morning classes. My mother had an expectation that I was going to take over the bakery and cook bread for the rest of my life, but that was not going to happen anytime soon. Someone who is one of the top scholars is not going to cook bread, and my mother was a fool to expect me to.
I was walking to my first class when I felt a slight tap on my shoulder. I turned around, to see an unfamiliar face behind me. "Excuse me, where is the chemistry lab?" he enquired.
I looked at him, astounded. This was the person Katniss was talking about. Tall, blonde haired, blue eyes and astonishingly fit. "Ummm, I'm just about to go there, I can walk you there if you want?" I replied.
He just smiled and held out his hand. "Thanks. The names Cato. You?"
Life was about to get very interesting.