AN: Hey guys! Welcome to my High School AU! I was nervous about doing it, since I usually don't like High School AUs much [not that they're bad, they're just not my thing], and I didn't want to make this clichéd or anything. Eventually though, I couldn't shake this story idea, so here goes!

Katniss POV

"Jesus Katniss," says Joanna, swinging her bag round the back of the chair next to mine and collapsing inelegantly into her seat, "what time did you get here?"
"Seven," I answer, not looking up from my laptop.
I can practically hear her roll her eyes. "Do you hate sleep or something?" she asks, "seriously, that's unnatural."
"Hey," I retort, "I don't have to explain myself to the school narcoleptic."
She swears at me cheerfully and begins tipping her chair back as far as she can without falling. I go back to my essay. I finished it a week ago, of course, but it's a big assignment, and I want to make a few edits before I have to turn it in. The wifi at our house never works, so I arrived early to school to try finish it up.
"Hey guys!" I do glance up this time, and see our friends Madge and Annie arrive. Unlike Joanna, they don't tease me about my non-existent sleep schedule, though judging by Annie's dripping wet ponytail, she must have arrived at school for her 5:30 swim practice anyway.
Joanna, who is now draped over her desk with her legs hanging off one end and her head hanging off the other, raises a hand in greeting.
Annie glances at my laptop. "Are you still working on the essay?" I can hear the concern in her voice- she thinks I work too hard.
"Just a few more minutes, I promise."

True to my word, I hit save after another couple of edits. There, that should be a 95% at least. That is, of course, provided our History teacher bothers to grade this lot. He has a reputation for abandoning our assignments forever, and then assigning grades at random before reports are due.

The bell rings sharply, and most of the rest of our class file in now. Thresh, Gale, and Peeta take their usual seats behind us- I know for a fact that Peeta probably pulled an all-nighter on this essay too. I frown. Is he going to get a higher grade than me? He already beat me on the Maths test, but then again, my Chemistry quiz was definitely better than-"
"Oh my God, Catnip," my best friend Gale snaps his fingers in my face, "you've got your grades face on already, school hasn't even started yet!"
My "grades face" as he so aptly puts it, is the expression I wear when I start freaking out about… well, about my grades. I'm about to respond, when an unmistakable cacophony shatters the thrum of the room.

"Alas," cries Joanna faux-dramatically, "the neanderthals are here!"

Sure enough, Finnick, Cato, and Marvel come bounding into the room. I wonder at their energy, considering all of them wake up at the crack of dawn every day for various sports.
"I heard that, Mason," says Marvel as he practically leapfrogs across the desk, followed by Cato, to his seat. He ends with a dramatic flourish, landing on his desk, bowing, before toppling spectacularly to the floor because Joanna yanked his leg. Peeta and Gale almost fall off their chairs laughing, and even the inscrutable Thresh cracks a grin.
"Smooth, dude," wheezes Cato through his laughter, pulling a very red-faced Marvel to his feet.
"Joanna Mason," begins Marvel slowly after collecting myself, "you are the actual worst." He takes a seat, then looks around. "Where'd Aquaman go?"
"Miss me?" drawled Finnick as he sauntered- much more smoothly than the other two might I add- up the aisle. He beams at Anne as he ruffles her hair on the way past, splattering droplets of water everywhere. She scowls at him, and the rest of us stifle our laughs. Poor Annie. Inexplicably, she and Finnick have never liked each other very much, despite the fact that they've been in the same friend group- our friend group- since as long as we can remember. They're both on the swimming team too, so have to see each other even more than usual, much to their mutual irritation.

Finally, with only seconds before the final bell sounds, the last two members of our group hurry in. Glimmer and Clove, of course, stopped for their usual Starbucks on the way, despite already running ten minutes late.
"What'd we miss guys?" asks Glimmer.
"Joanna assaulted your boyfriend," supplies Madge, amused.
Glimmer turns grinning to Joanna. "Thank you," she says. Marvel yelps an indignant "hey!" but Glimmer just shoves him playfully.

Everyone chatters for a bit before Mr. Abernathy, late as usual, walks- or, more precisely, stumbles into class. There's a murmur as everyone gets their books or computers out. I already have mine on the desk of course.

"Alright people, has everyone finished their essays about the Cold War?" Mr. Abernathy calls from his desk.
"Yes Mr. Abernathy," we chorus.
"Okay, email them to me by three o'clock today or it's an F."

I double check my sent box to make sure he has my essay. Good. I can't afford any screw-ups.

"Everyone turn to page ninety in your textbooks Today we're going to be studying the Soviet-"

"Hello, hello, hello!" The unmistakable cadence of Ms. Trinket's voice wafts into the class room almost before she does. The entire class slumps in its seats a little. She is really bloody annoying. Clearly Mr. Abernathy thinks so too.
"What are you doing here, Effie?" he groans.
"It's Ms. Trinket actually," she reminds him through gritted teeth. Our history teacher's total indecorum has always irked her. "And I have an announcement to make!"
She clasps her hands together beatifically. "Children, children, children," she begins, surveying us as though we're a roomful of tiny ducklings, not a room of college-bound seniors.
"As you all know, senior retreat is coming up!"
"HELL YEAH!" shouts Finnick from the back, whooping and fist-bumping Cato. Annie shushes him, and he mimes being stabbed in the heart.
"Quiet please!" Ms. Trinket's voice gets shrill when she's angry, I wince slightly.

"I am delighted to announce that this year's Senior Retreat will be to Panem Glade!"
She pauses, probably expecting applause, but as nobody knows what 'Panem Glade' is, there is only silence. Her beam falters, but, like the lightbulb that flickers, she continues beaming nonetheless. "The excursion will be in one month exactly! You'll be pleased to hear that Mr. Abernathy and I will be chaperoning."
Mr. Abernathy splutters spectacularly. Peeta makes a strangled sort of noise. I catch his eye and have a hard time not responding to the mirth I see there. Abernathy and Trinket are certainly an odd combination.

"You will be sent packing lists and travel itineraries shortly. In the meantime, I have your sleeping arrangements! You will be sharing cabins of six. Single sex only!" She looks warningly at a few people around the class.

I tune out as she goes through the list, only sitting up when I hear:

"Cabin Twelve! Katniss Everdeen, Joanna Mason-" Joanna high-fives me under the desk- "Madge Undersee, Annie Cresta," both of them smile across the desks at us, "Glimmer Montgomery, and Clove Pepperman!" We all exhale in relief, glad to be put together. I won't admit it, but I'm just a teensy-bit excited now.

"Cabin Thirteen! Peeta Mellark, Gale Hawthorne, Thresh Ryerson, Cato Strong, Marvel Stoll, Finnick Odair!" The guys all high-five each other.
"You guys are living the dream," announces Finnick, "you get to watch me sleep."
"I'm ecstatic," replies Peeta, laughing, "is it okay if I take pictures?"
"Only if you send them to me," adds Cato.
"Yeah, we can make merchandise- posters, pillows, mugs, t-shirts, the whole shebang." Marvel nods faking earnestness.
"We can call the series: Aquaman Drooling," Thresh says, breaking his silence to join in the roast.
"Hey, Finnick Odair does not drool in his sleep!" protests Finnick.
"Gale Hawthorne thinks Finnick Odair should stop referring to himself in third person." Gale shoots him a pointed look.

"Never," says Finnick.

Everyone's talking about the retreat at lunch. We've clustered by our usual lunch spot, the cluster of picnic tables under a tree in the courtyard.
"It'll be fun," says Clove as she picks at a salad, "I mean, at least we're all together, right?"
Madge nods enthusiastically. "Definitely. I mean, it'll be nice to get away!"
"But what the hell is 'Panem Glade'?" asks Joanna skeptically from the lower boughs if the tree- her preferred seating place. "It's sounds awful."
I shrug. "It does sound kind of pointless, and they haven't told us what we're actually doing."
"Oh my god Katniss!" Marvel mimes scraping his face off in despair. "Just because it won't go on your College Apps doesn't mean it's pointless!"

"Hey just because I care about my future…."

"Not the speech, not the speech, not the speech!" beg Cato and Finnick, "anything but the speech!"
I roll my eyes at them. "The speech" is my usual explanation of why it's important for me to plan for my future.
"C'mon guys," says Peeta, attempting to silence his friends, "just because your post-high-school plan is a transatlantic Booze Cruise-" Cato and Finnick high-five- "doesn't mean other people aren't allowed to have ambitions."
"Whatever," says Finnick. He leans over to steal a french fry from Annie, who swats at his hand and turns sharply to the left. "The real question," he continues, "is how long before Trinket and Abernathy bang."

A collective howl of "ewwww!" ricochets around the circle.
"Finnick what the hell?" complains Gale, leaning away from him.
Finnick raises his hands in protest. "Hey, we were all thinking it!"
"I can assure you we weren't," says Glimmer, looking faintly sick.
"Besides," I counter, "they hate each other."

"Ah my sweet summer child," says Finnick adopting his most condescending voice, "that is what's known as repressed sexual tension."
I shudder. "Finnick Odair I swear to god if you don't stop with this depraved conversation I'm going to stab you. In the face. Repeatedly."
"Please do that," mutters Annie behind me. For someone so sweet and gentle, Annie certainly goes all-out in her Finnick aversion.

Thresh cuts in to change the subject, thankfully. "Hey Katniss, is Rue going over to yours tonight?"
His sister, Rue, and my sister Prim, are Freshman, and the best of friends. I nod. "Yeah, they're having a sleepover."
"Ooh can I come?" interjects Finnick. "We can paint our nails, braid each others hair, watch chick flicks… it'll be so much fun!"
"Finnick if you want to indulge in your Katherine Heigl obsession be man enough to do it without hiding behind fifteen-year-old girls," I say, rolling my eyes at him. I turn back to Thresh. "Are you going to pick up Rue?"
"Yeah, I'll come by your place after morning practice tomorrow if that's okay?"
I nod yes.
"Ew," says Joanna, "I can't believe you guys practice on Saturday. Don't you have better things to be doing?"

From there the banter continues, and finally, lunch ends.