CHAPTER ONE – OUT OF THIS TOWN
It's hot. Very hot. And although I love summer, even I have to admit that I can't take this heat wave anymore. It's not doing any good to my body and soul. And it's not like I have a good soul, after all.
I lick my lips on a fail attempt to satisfy my thirst. I fan myself with a magazine, because of course Aunt Marla's car's AC is broken on the middle of freaking summer. I roll down the window, but there's no breeze whatsoever. Nothing seems to fix my situation.
I turn my head to the side to look at Peeta and send him a death stare. I hate him. Most of all, I hate that this heat doesn't affect him at all. He's just sitting there, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel and humming according to the song that comes out of the radio, not a drop of sweat on his body, handsome as always. At my glance, he smiles, not caring a bit that I wish he were dead right now. Maybe if he went to hell, he would sweat, just a little bit. This fucker, I swear.
I roll my eyes and then focus them on the ceiling, sighing frustrated.
"Remind me again why we didn't take your car."
Your car with a perfect functioning air conditioner, I want to add.
"Rye needed it," he says simply.
"So? It's your car. Why do you have to give up on it?"
"He asked and I didn't have a problem with it, okay? Look, if you're so damn troubled by it, feel free to catch a ride with Finnick."
I frown and cross my arms. He knows I won't do that. First, because I have some manners and wouldn't leave him after agreeing to go with him, thank you very much. Second, because Finnick is a terrible driver and I don't want to die.
I send Peeta another death glare, but don't comment on it anymore. Instead, I pour my frustration on someone else.
"God, what is taking Jo so long?" I exclaim.
Like on cue, Jo shows up on my window, startling both of us.
"Stop whining so much, Brainless. You waited five minutes."
I narrow my eyes at her. "More like ten."
Peeta laughs at us and gets out of the car to help her with her luggage.
As soon as everything is in the trunk, they come back, Peeta on the driver's seat and Jo on the backseat behind him. She buckles her seat belt and looks at me through the middle rearview mirror when Peeta cracks the engine on and takes off.
"So, are you gonna grunt the whole way to the beach or will I be able to take a nap?"
I sit on my side on the passenger seat to look at her. "Feel free to catch a ride with Finnick, if you are so bothered by it," I bite back.
She squints her eyes at me and I see the little smirk on Peeta's lip, looking somehow proud that I stole his reply.
"No, thanks, I like to live," she says and then catches something by her feet before throwing it to me. It's a Heineken. "I brought that, though, to lighten your mood."
I pop the longneck open with my hand and clink my bottle with the one she has in her hands now. I take a gulp, and the delicious cold liquid slides through my throat.
"I think I'm in love with you right now," I tell her.
"See?" She chuckles, bringing her beer to her lips. "Already lighter."
We offer beer to Peeta, but careful driver as always, he declines. I feel guilty drinking beside him, so I decide that this is the only one I take.
Peeta honks to Finnick when we come by his house, and he, Annie and Tresh are already in the car, so he just takes off in front of us and we go behind, following him given that none of us know the way to his beach house.
On the beginning of spring, Finnick's parents bought a new and glowing beach house that his family came over practically every weekend, when it was warm enough to enjoy. So, when summer entered, he offered us the house to have some time with our friends before almost everyone takes a new beginning in life. Since Jo and I are going to college soon, like Annie and Finnick, we agreed to have this one last hurrah before everything starts getting serious. And Peeta and Tresh, although they already are in college, were invited to come in, since we've all been friends for so long. And that's where we're headed now.
With ten minutes in the road, Jo is already drifting on a nap, and Peeta and I don't talk. The front windows are open, so I take pleasure into feeling the breeze the car speed creates, not caring a bit about how many strands of my braid get loose along the way. When I start to sing to a pop song that comes on the radio, Peeta joins me, but his voice is so terrible that I start to laugh at him. A second later, he's laughing, too.
"Okay, okay," he says, a chuckle dying in his throat. "I'm sorry if I don't sing as well as you do."
"Well, some people might say that you don't sing at all."
His hand comes to my side to tickle me so quickly that I don't even notice before I'm yelping in surprise. I look at him in indignation and he just displays an apologizing smile at me.
"Fine, it's not so bad. You're just out of tune. And off key."
He glares at me for a second and now his smile becomes threatening. "Katniss Everdeen, do you want me to pull over this car right now? Because that will start a tickle fight that you know you're going to lose."
A thrill runs down my spine thinking of Peeta's fingers on me. I remember really well how our tickle fights went down when we were kids and I don't want to revive it at all.
I hold my hands out in surrender for him, but I'm still on joking mode. "Look, I'm sorry. I can't be tortured for speaking the truth."
"You little minion," he hisses, grabbing the Heineken from my hand and giving it a good chug before I can even protest.
"I thought you weren't supposed to drink and drive," I tease when he gives me back the bottle.
He shrugs and wipes his mouth with the back of his right hand. "I was thirsty." And then he smiles at me, boyish and playful.
He looks so handsome with the wind blowing on his messy curls and the blue of his eyes enhanced by the sunlight that a rush of warm energy rushes through me unannounced. I move my eyes to the window, self-conscious that I looked at him for a second too long, and a bell rings loudly in my mind, reminding me once again that I can't think of Peeta like that.
Almost an hour later, I'm shaking Johanna awake because we arrived. She grunts at me, but eventually wakes up to gape at the house like Peeta and I have been doing for the last five minutes.
We go out of the car at the same time Finnick finishes unloading his trunk, a white-teethed smile plastered on his mouth and a (probably overpriced) sunglass on his face, two suitcases still in his hand. He drops them down and comes to us, giving Peeta a pat in the back and greeting Jo and me with kisses on our cheeks. He passes his arms through both of our shoulders, hugging us and facing the house.
"What do you say?" He beams at us, pride all over his voice. "Pretty great, huh?"
"Finn, this is awesome!" I shriek in excitement.
"Yeah, it's fantastic, dude," Peeta agrees.
"What about you, Jo? Liked it?" Finn asks.
"Sure, it's nice." She shrugs like it's no big deal, but Finnick elbows her on her stomach and gets a smile out of her.
The house is white, grey, and enormous. There's a deck right on the side, with a big pool and a barbecue area. It has a second floor, and the rooms that are facing the beach have large balconies. It really is beautiful, but I still have to peek inside to have the full experience.
The three of us greet Tresh and Annie before discharging our own trunk. Finnick welcomes us inside, and we live our baggage on the hall to take a look at the house. It has a living room, a multimedia room with all sorts of videogames, movies, and Netflix, if we ever want to watch it, a large kitchen with an island and a lot of supplies and electronics, and a laundry room that goes out to backyard where we're supposed to hang our clothes to dry, besides the deck and a bathroom. On the second floor, it has two master bedrooms with a bathroom for each one, three other small bedrooms – two with a single queen sized bed and another one, slightly larger, with two bunks – and two bathrooms to share between the guests.
I claim ownership of one of the bedrooms with the queen sized bed – the only other one beside the master bedrooms that faces the beach, thus have a balcony, I'm lucky to say - , and Jo takes the other. Peeta and Tresh end up in the remaining room, and each of them take one bunk. Finnick and Annie, obviously, take one master bedroom. Finnick says that anyone can have the other master bedroom, if they'd like, but we are all too shy and polite and decline it.
After all the bedrooms are assigned, we go downstairs to plan what will do today. Since we still have a couple of hours to kill until sunset, we decide to go to the beach and relax a little before doing a bonfire, where will grill marshmallows. Finn promises to make a barbecue also, and he and Annie head off to a near small market to buy steaks and more beer.
As everyone goes about their business, I fly upstairs to unpack my luggage and get a fresh change of clothes. A soft knock lies on my threshold when I'm looking through my bathing suit options, and I turn on my heels to see Peeta's blue eyes.
"Hey. There's a volleyball net up on the beach and me and Tresh wanted to play. You game?"
I bite on the inside of my cheek, afraid I might disappoint him. "Actually, I was planning on just relax and tan."
Peeta smiles, anyway. "That's okay." And then he eyes the string bikini on my hand and points at it. "Are you going to be wearing that?"
"I was thinking about it," I say, suddenly worried about his wide-eyed expression.
He blows a low whistle and a little smile play on the corner of his lips.
"What?"
"Nothing, Everdeen. I'm just thinking that you wearing something like that- Well, I'm sure you will be the only one relaxing."
And then he's gone, out of my sight as quickly as he was in, leaving me alone to translate the meaning of his last words.