Hi there,
This is another ficlet I wrote for PromptsofPanem about how Peeta lost his wrestling match to his brother.
Thoughts would be wonderful, and I hope you enjoy!
Terri
It was the perfect plan.
It really was.
All they needed was a certain Everdeen girl and a certain Mellark boy in the same room at the same time. It was easier said than done, but Madge and Delly were determined to help their best friend out.
"It's really simple," Delly said when Madge told her how Peeta's recent attempt to talking to Katniss had gone. "We just need to have her see him."
"But how?" Madge asked, picking at a frayed ribbon. "You know Katniss, she's oblivious to a lot of things."
Delly giggled. "How can she not notice Peeta? Everyone loves him!" And that was true. Peeta was one of the popular boys in their grade and was one of the sweetest boys either girl knew. "We just have to open her blinders up."
"How?" Madge asked again.
"Wrestling," the shorthaired blonde smiled.
Madge looked confused. "Wrestling?" She started to laugh at how absurd that sounded. "Katniss doesn't seem like the school events type, Delly."
"I know that, but that's why we need to help him!" Delly ripped off a piece of paper from her notebook and titled the page OPERATION: WRESTLING. "It's obvious Peeta is as clueless with his tongue as Katniss is with human beings. So we need to be matchmakers."
The mayor's daughter didn't like the idea of interfering with her friend's personal life like this. It felt wrong.
"It's not wrong," Delly argued, scratching some thoughts down on the paper. "We're just pushing it along, Madge." She looked up at her friend and gave her winning smile. "Trust me, we'll have those two kids dating by the end of the match."
Madge peered over her friend's shoulder to see what she was writing. "And what plan do you have in mind?"
"It's simple," she said again and started to explain. Peeta was one of the strongest boys in school, and this Friday was the big match between the upper level wrestling class and the midlevel wrestling class. Delly was sure Peeta would win since Rye has been so busy hooking up with his girlfriend behind the Mellark's Family Bakery that he probably wasn't as strong as he used to be. Peeta would win, and Katniss will be so impressed by his ability to fight for himself that she was sure to run into his arms.
"Simple," Delly repeated when she was finished, pleased with her masterpiece plan.
"Wrong," Madge corrected, looking at the plan. "There are so many complications that could happen, Delly. Like Katniss not wanting to go, or Peeta losing, or the fact Katniss is rumored to be dating Gale Hawthorne."
The twinkle in Delly's eyes didn't diminish. "Ah, but she will be impressed, and once her and Peeta are together you can totally get together with Gale!" She should really run her own dating service.
Madge's face turned a bright red. "Let's focus on Peeta's love life, shall we?" she muttered embarrassingly.
"You just have to convince Katniss and everything will work out."
Katniss wasn't easy to convince.
Every day for the past three days Madge had tried to drop hints about Katniss joining her at the big wrestling match.
"I hear it's going to be a lot of fun," she said, pulling out strawberries Gale had delivered last Saturday. "Like a lot of fun."
Katniss nodded her head, distracted by something else, but didn't take the bite.
"And you know who the big match is going to be between? The Mellark brothers." That seemed to peak Katniss' interests.
"The Mellarks?" Katniss asked, always in her soft manner voice Madge learned to connect with the eldest Everdeen girl. She lifted her head to meet Madge's. "They're competing?"
Maybe Delly was right about Katniss falling into Peeta's arms after his winning match after all. She seemed interested! ""Mm-hmm," she smiled, taking another bite into a juicy red strawberry. "Between Peeta and Rye Mellark. You should really come, Katniss. It'll be a whole lot of fun to finally see a Freshmen beat out a Junior."
Her friend played with the edges of her braid. "I'll think about it," she said at last, and Madge smiled at the small victory.
"Is the plan set?" Delly asked, holding her clipboard in a professional manner, checking off each step to their plan.
"Yep!" Madge exclaimed, the excitement of finally seeing Katniss and Peeta get together becoming too much for her. "I told her to meet me in front of the gym at four o'clock. That way Peeta will have no time to see her beforehand."
"Right!" Delly encouraged, pointing her chewed up pencil at Madge. "That way he won't get more nervous than he actually is, and there's something about the thought of the two staring at each other's eyes from across the room that seems so wonderful." Her eyes glazed over at the romantic image in her head. Madge snapped her fingers to get her friend's attention again. "Right," Delly coughed, clearing her head of the silly images. "We need to get Peeta to win first."
"Right."
"Hey guys," Peeta waved, walking to them in his wrestling gear. "Excited for the match?"
"Are we ever!" the two girls exclaimed in union.
Peeta glanced over at where the wrestling coach and teammates were and he gave another wave, telling them he needed to go stretch and get ready. They wished him luck and Madge went off to find Katniss.
This plan was foolproof.
It turned out both Katniss and Peeta had to use the bathroom at the same time before Peeta's big wrestling match with his brother.
Delly could tell the boy had run into her the moment she saw his big blue eyes widen in fear as he scanned the audience. Oh no, she thought. He was going to choke. Again.
"Don't, Peeta," she muttered, squeezing her knees in dread. "Don't freak."
Tilly Madison, the announcer of the event, introduced the two Mellark brothers to the mats. "To the right we have Freshman Peeta Mellark, and to the left we have Junior Rye Mellark!" Tilly shouted into the plastic megaphone. The small crowd let out loud whoops and cheers for their favorite Mellark brother. A bell was rung and the two blond and broad-shouldered brothers started up, circling the mat to see if they could catch their opponent off track.
Peeta looked like a nervous wreck as Rye started in for his move, and Delly pulled Madge and whispered, "He's going to ruin it! He's going to ruin Operation: Wrestling, Madge!"
"Operation what?" Katniss asked, leaning forward on the other side of Madge.
Oh no. Katniss couldn't know what was going on. Delly had to lie, she had to save her plan. "Oh, it's a plan me and Delly made up to make sure Peeta wins his match," Madge smoothly lies. Delly was impressed at her friend's deceitfulness.
"Yeah," she joined, "Peeta's really nervous and we thought having at least three people cheering him on would be fantastic." The two blondes smiled sweetly at Katniss. "In fact," Delly purred, trying to sound more sweet than usual, "we should all cheer at the same time. You know, to cheer him up and make sure he wins his match."
Katniss suddenly looked uncomfortable, shifting around in her seat. "I'm not sure," she hesitated.
"It will mean a lot to Peeta," Madge encouraged, still smiling sweetly at the girl. "And he does so much for people. He deserves this win."
Their friend bit on gnawed on her lip again, considering her options before relenting into the cheering.
"On the count of three," Delly suggested, nudging Madge. If Peeta's already seen Katniss, maybe knowing she's cheering for him will give him the courage to win and her plan goes back to being foolproof again!
"One."
"Two..."
"Three!"
"Go Peeta!" Katniss shouted alone, standing up in her seat.
Peeta's head snapped toward the stands, eyes catching Katniss', and right as he turned his head, Rye got him in a headlock and won the match.
And that was how Peeta lost the big wrestling match