Then: Twelve years ago. September 11th, 2001
"Peeta son, let's go or we'll be late to go see Katniss!" Dad calls from downstairs. My name is Peeta Mellark. I'm only eleven. My best friend, Katniss Everdeen, and her family are coming to New York City. Well, we already live here and so does she. She's only ten.
But she's coming with u, and he family, to see the concert today. We got a bus and everything.
We run outside and get in. My Uncle Jordan is a school bus driver. I'm bouncing, super excited to see Katniss.
"Are you excited, little bro?" My older brother Rye asks me. He's thirteen. My other brother, Graham, who is sixteen starts laughing.
"Little Peet's got the hots for Katniss!" He shouts.
"I do not!" I shout back.
"Boys, stop arguing! Peeta, it's not a bad thing to like Katniss. She's a lovely girl." Mama says. It's Tuesday and we're supposed to be in school but we're not going.
When we pull up in front of Katniss's house, she's standing on the curb. She's in a pretty little sundress. She runs back in the house to get her parents and little sister, and then they get on the bus. She walks right over to me and climbs over my lap. "I can have the window seat, right?" she asks, her gray eyes sparkling. Rye and Graham are snickering behind me.
"Of course." I smile and move to the edge of the seat. Katniss's Aunt and Uncle, Haymitch and Kari get on with their daughter Johanna, Katniss's cousin. Johanna moves to us and sits in the chair in front of us.
"Are you two together yet?" Johanna asks.
"Johanna Marie!" Katniss's Aunt Kari scolds.
"Sorry Mama! Just a valid question." Johanna sits down in front of us and plays on her father's phone.
When we get to Time's square, Katniss and Johanna take each other's hands. I'm forced to be with Rye and Graham. I lose sight of Katniss.
We all wander around. I'm stuck with my brothers and Katniss with her cousin.
Katniss and Johanna share the same birthday and they're both ten. They were born on the same day but they're not sisters. I think it's awesome. Katniss is forced to watch her six year old sister.
Suddenly, people begin screaming and running past us. I hear a deathly crash and people shouting. "Get Peeta! I'll find Mom and Dad!" Graham shouts. Rye picks me up and takes off running. I don't know what's going on, but I see smoke in the sky. The road is closed off. Another deathly crash hits my ears and then another stack of smoke. I can see in the distance that the twin towers are on fire.
Something flies at my arm and I black out.
….a….
Now: May 8th, 2013
I wake in a cold sweat. I didn't dream that. I'm twenty three years old and live with my best friend Finnick Odair. I haven't seen Katniss since we were ten and the terrorist attack happened. I don't know if she's alive, or what happened to her family. All I know is I woke in the hospital a week later, and my whole family was in my room. the TV was on to the news where is showed the burnt down twin towers. I demand to know what happened to Katniss. Nobody knew. From that day forward, I was upset. I was upset until ninth grade, when I was fourteen and I met Finnick. I told him all about Katniss. I remember the day we met.
Okay guys…it's September 11th! Time to go over the 9/11 footage!
I started crying when it began, because all I could think of was Katniss. The kid next to me with Bronze hair and sea green eyes elbowed me in the ribs and asked me what was wrong.
From that day forward, we were best friends. He said he had the same experience with a girl named Annie. He had the exact same experience, and it was on the same day at the same place.
Now I'm twenty three years old. I live in New York City with Finnick in a two bedroom apartment.
And today is my least favorite day of the year, because today is Katniss and Johanna's twenty third birthday. I turn twenty four on October 11th. Finnick turns 24 on August 23rd.
I drag myself out of bed and force myself to get up.
…..s…..
"Come on Peeta, I'm not going to let you sit around depressed all day!" Finnick punches my arm. "Let's go to a bar or something!"
"I really don't want to…"
"Well I don't give a rats ass what you want! You're going! Get dressed, we leave in fifteen."
He has his own ways to drown himself in his sorrows. He just melts himself in work and friends. Which is me, because…and I'm not being rude when I say this, but Finnick doesn't have any other friends. He won't deal with any female. He's still a virgin. We're like the same people with different appearances, different names and similar families.
I pull on jeans a tee shirt after taking my shower and spray on some axe. I tie on my Nikes, grab my keys and phone and go outside. Finnick is already waiting in his car, impatiently, if I may add. He drives us to a popular bar, that we go to all the time, that somehow rings a bell. It's called Jo Mason's drinks
I 'I' in 'drinks' is a beer bottle and the dot in the is the cap to the bottle.
Finn pulls into the parking lot and practically drags me out of the car.
"I fucking hate you, you know that?" I grumble.
"Oh suck it, Mellark. You love me and you damn well know it." He drags me inside the bar. I recognize most of the people here, but he's not having it when I try to stall. He punches my arm as hard as he can. "Stop being a pussy Mellark!" He says. Some glasses shatter.
"I really should be at work." I try again.
"Peeta, I swear to god, if you don't shut up, I'm going to tell your mother your still being a pussy and she's going to kick your ass."
"My mother is not going to kick my ass." Finnick completely ignores me and orders both of us a beer, sitting down on the bar stool. I don't drink it, I just hold it.
"Seriously Peeta? Your twenty three fucking years old! Stop being a little toddler and drink the fucking beer-"
That's when I see her. The beer slips from my hand and shatters on the floor.
Jo Mason stands for Johanna Marie Mason. They're at Johanna's bar and they're celebrating Johanna and Katniss's twenty third birthday.
"What bro?" Finnick turns around and does a double take, his beer falling too. "Annie. Peeta it's Annie!"
"It's Katniss, too." I whisper.
"Oh shit! I'm not good with the ladies! What do I do?"
I shrug and get up.
"Me either, but I don't care. I'm not letting her get away from me this time." I walk over to Katniss and tap her shoulder, stuffing my hands in my pockets. She turns around and her smile falls from her face and goes to a look of pure shock. Finn joins me, making the girl that I know is Annie get the same look at Katniss.
"Shit! Katniss, Annie, it's your soon-to-be husbands!" Johanna claps both of them on the back.
"Peeta?" Katniss whispers.
"Katniss." I say.
"Oh my god, oh my god! Oh shit! It's you! Your alive!' she wraps her tiny arms around me and hug me. I hug her back. She starts crying, hysterically. Annie is too, and she's hugging Finnick. "I'm s-s-so sorry! I'm t-t-trying n-not to cry!" Katniss chokes out. I laugh a little and pull her out of the bar.
"I'll bring your cousin back in a bit, Johanna." Johanna shrugs and walks off. I pull Katniss out of the bar and down the street. She doesn't let go of my hand.
"Peeta?" she asks after a while of silence, of my mind racing. I didn't even realize she's stopped crying. "What happened to you?"
"I don't really remember…I remember the towers getting hit by the planes. I remember Rye picking me up. I remember getting burned. Then I woke up in a hospital a week later and…that's it, really."
"And your family?" she whispers.
"They're alive. They're all alive." I say. "What about you? hm? What happened to you?"
"Did you stay in New York?" she whispers.
"No…we moved to California." I say.
"Well…with us…Prim, Johanna and I got abandoned. Our parents and family were forced to leave and we got take to an adoption center. We thought they all died. We stayed in the foster home till we were eighteen and then I took Prim in and we went to search our parents and found out our family lived in Kentucky. We went there and… they were there…Johanna, Annie and we were all foster children for the same reason and we found our families. We live in a three bedroom apartment and tomorrow Johanna and I are going to see our family with Annie." Katniss admits.
"A foster home?" I whisper. She shrugs.
"The lady who was in charge…Effie, she's like my second Mama. I still see her all the time…but Prim lives with Mama and Dad in Kentucky…Peeta…I thought you died."
"I thought you died, too." I whisper. "And Katniss? Happy Birthday." She smiles.
"I can't believe you remember my birthday." Her cheeks start to get red.
"Your twenty third birthday, to be exact. You and Johanna's." I lean against the wall and she stands in front of me.
"You know I used to have a really bad crush on you, right?" she whispers.
"You know I used to have a really, really bad crush on you, too, right?" I whisper. Used to is a lie. I still love this girl. She looks stunning in her skintight black dress.
"Used to?" she whispers. I stare at her. She takes a step closer. "I just lied to you, Peeta. I still have more than just a crush on you." she whispers.
"I lied to you, too." I whisper. I've never even kissed a girl. I've definitely never had sex. I've never wanted to kiss a girl. She stares at me and I stare at her. She moves two steps closer to me, so her chest is pressed against mine.
"Peeta," she whispers.
"Hm?" I whisper.
"Come with Me and Johanna and Annie to my parents. Annie's probably going to invite Finnick." She whispers.
"You want me to come with you?" I whisper.
"Desperately." She mumbles.
"Okay…I'll come." I whisper. "How long?"
"Till next Saturday," She walks off and I follow her, calling my boss as I check out her ass. I don't care if she catches me looking. I've been in love with this girl since I was five years old and I'm not about to let her out of my sight. I dial my boss and tell him I need some time off. He's a family friend. His name is Boggs. He agrees and hangs up. I rush forward and hold the door open for her. She walks in and I follow her. Finnick with Annie and when he sees me walk in, he waves me over. Katniss follows me to Finnick.
"Katniss, this is Finnick." Annie says.
"I've heard so much about you, Finnick." Katniss smiles, "Annie, this is Peeta."
"Hi Peeta," Annie shakes my hand.
"So…Did you invite Peeta?" Annie demands.
"Did you invite Finnick?" Katniss asks back with a gentle smile.
"I did." Annie looks at Finnick and Finnick looks at Annie. They're so in love.
"So…what do you do for a living?" I ask Katniss, ordering a soda, not a beer. She does the same, and leans against the counter.
"Well…I'm…you won't believe this, but I teach the eighth grade at Tompkins Square Middle School." She says. I raise my eyebrows. "I know, I know…you were probably expecting me to be a stripper or some whore. Well guess what, that's not me. Don't even bother thinking that." She says.
"Whoa, I did not think of you being a stripper. I was thinking of maybe…a business women in one of those skirts or something." I take her hand.
"Sorry…I've just heard the stripper thing too many times and it presses a button every time someone asks me what I do. What about you, though, Mr. Model, what do you do for a living?" I spit my soda on the floor and burst out laughing, causing her to smile.
"A Model? You think I'm a model!" I smile.
"Probably an underwear model, I'll bet they use you all the time." She holds my hand up straight in the air and measures the space with her hands. "What do you say Annie, do you think Peeta is an underwear model?" I laugh as Annie turns around. She starts to laugh, nodding her head.
"Yes! Not boxers though…boxer briefs maybe. No, they want the tight stuff." Finnick starts laugh.
"Well, if you must know, I am not a model. I'm a business guy."
"Oh, so you wear those sexy slacks and buttons ups? Or is it those short skirts?" She leans closer to me. She's in a skintight black dress that barely covers her chest and her ass. She doesn't have any makeup on but she still looks stunning.
"Maybe I wear both of them." I whisper. He lips are a hairline from mine, and I know she isn't drunk because her breath smells of mints and mints only.
Johanna is watching us with some guy, Finnick and Annie are watching us, too.
"Or maybe…you should wear nothing." She whispers. She backs up and smirks at me. I see Johanna roll her eyes and start making out with the guy she's with.
"Is that her fuck buddy?" I ask.
"That's her boyfriend of five years." Katniss replies. "He treats her like royalty and I have no problem with him."
"Oh…so are you going to tell me who your first boyfriend was?" I whisper. She rolls her eyes.
"I don't date. I'm still a virgin. And I've never kissed." She says. "What about you, Mr. Model. Who was your first everything?"
"I haven't had a first anything." I admit.
"Are you sure? Underwear models have most definitely had sex." She whispers. She pulls her phone out of Annie's purse and is silent for a moment. She slides it to me. It's open to a new contact and the name is Mr. Underwear Model. I type in my number and call my phone. Then I add her as "Sexy Business Women"
"Now smile for a camera or pose or something so I can set your picture."
"Well I have to fit my name." she says. I show her what I put her in as. She stands up and puts a really sexy look on her face and faces the fan. I take the picture and show it to her. She laughs and sets it.
"I would set someone in their underwear as your picture, but the last thing I need is for you to call me when I'm at work, so just smile like a good little boy." She takes a picture and I just smile. At the last second, she flicks me off, making me start laughing. She takes the picture and sets it. "There we go! Now give me Finn's number and I'll give you Annies." She says.
"Finn?" I repeat.
"Finnick!" she exclaims.
"What?" Finnick demands.
"I'm not talking to you." Katniss says. I roll my eyes and give Katniss's Finnick's number. She gives me Annie, and then we join Finnick and Annie's conversation.