Katniss sighed as she tried once again to fit all her books into her bag. It was hopeless though. She had History after lunch, and although it was one of her favourite subjects, the amount of books she needed was ridiculous. She slammed her locker closed as the lunch bell rang, pulled her bag over her shoulder and turned around only to collide with a boy, his free hand reaching out to stop Katniss from falling as she attempted to catch the books she held in her arm. They fell to the floor with a light thud. Simultaneously the two bent down to collect the books, their eyes meeting for only a brief moment. He handed Katniss her books and gave a weary smile.
"Uh I'm so sorry, that was my fault. Wasn't watching where I was going." The boy said, the same smile plastered on his face. His hand moved up to push his ashen blonde hair from his eyes, which were a stunning shade of blue; one that reminded Katniss of the ocean. She didn't know his name, nor had she seen or met him before. He must be new she thought to herself.
"It's fine, really." She smiled "Can I help you with anything?" She asked motioning to the school map in the boy's hand. If anything, that confirmed her suspicions. She wasn't normally one for small talk, but he seemed nice enough and she felt bad for him – New schools weren't exactly the easiest transition, especially this late in the year.
"Uhh, maybe. Well, yeah, probably. I'm looking for room 14?" he asked with a slight dip in his eyebrows, biting his bottom lip intently.
"Oh, well at least you're headed in the right direction." Katniss smiled "It's just at the end of the corridor, on the left."
"Thankyou." The boy smiled in friendly way "And sorry, again, about before."
"No problem, and really, don't worry about it. It was an accident." She said before giving the boy a slight wave and turning to head to cafeteria.
Katniss spent the next few minutes wondering about the boy - who was he? He seemed much nicer than the majority of those in her year, even if they only spoke for a minute. Maybe it was because he was new, or maybe he was just a nice guy. Either way, it was refreshing to see a nice guy at her school. Her small town had a fair population for its size, but failed to have many kids her age that weren't all about getting smashed and going to parties every weekend, or materialistic things that would never even cross Katniss' mind. She had a good group of friends who she'd met over her years in high school, and who thankfully all got along with each other. They spent most of their free time together and although they'd occasionally attend the odd party, it wasn't something that fussed them as much as it did the others in their year.
She made her way into the cafeteria and spotted her friends seated at their usual table. When she reached them, she dropped her books onto the table and pulled her bag off her shoulder with a sigh.
'Hey, Catnip." Gale smiled as she takes a seat next to them. Katniss hated him calling her that; he was her oldest friend, they were practically family but when his used this nickname in front of others, it sometimes bugged her.
"Stop calling me that" she laughed in a serious tone, elbowing him in the ribs.
"Whoa, someone's had a bad day?" Gale asked raising an eyebrow at her.
"No, someone doesn't want to run the risk of being referred to as 'Catnip' by the rest of the school for the next year." She told him. Katniss looked at Gale who was sharing an amused look with Finnick.
"Oh, C'mon, Catnip, it's not too bad!" Finnick chimed in from opposite her. She shot him a look while he and Gale shared a laugh. Annie, who was sitting next to Finnick, let out a small giggle. Johanna, however just rolled her eyes at them. Katniss looked around the table; Finnick, who was tall and had golden hair, was sitting opposite her with Annie by his side. Annie, whose tangle of dark hair fell down her shoulder, was a shy girl and had transferred here at the beginning of the year. She was only new, but managed to fit in well with the others, even if she didn't have much to contribute during conversations and often sat there with a blank look on her face. Next to Annie sat Johanna, who seemed to have a smug look on her face 24/7. Katniss and Johanna shared a 'love-hate relationship'; as much as Katniss liked having such a strong minded friend, they often had conflicting views and only managed to share opinions on a few topics. But nonetheless, Johanna was certainly a fun person. Next to Johanna sat Thom, a dark hair boy who lived around the corner from Katniss. Next was Gale, Katniss' oldest friend. He was tall and shared the same olive skin and dark hair as Katniss, forming some sort of basis that resulted in everyone thinking they were related. Madge, a quite blonde haired girl, sat next to her. Katniss enjoyed spending time with Madge, maybe more so than she did with the others. They both shared a few classes and found that they didn't need to fill their time by talking, or gossiping, like most girls their age did. Neither of them minded silence. Katniss noticed they were one member down.
"Where's Delly?" Katniss asked a little surprised. Delly was never late for lunch; she often joked that it was the only reason she bothered coming to school, but Katniss suspected that there was more truth to that then she cared to share.
"She said she would be a little late, had to go meet a friend apparently." Madge tells Katniss quietly as the others begin talking about their previous lessons.
"Must be an important friend if she's willing to be late for lunch" Katniss joked.
Katniss took her lunch from the bag and tried to immerse herself in conversation with the others. They were all looking forward to summer vacation, and there were only three weeks left until school broke off from the semester. Gale and Finnick were planning a camping trip for the summer, and managed to convince everyone to come. They were headed a little upstate to a lake Gale used to go to when he was younger; The Lake was about a day's drive but they were all up for it. It was home to a small caravan park but had room for guests to bring their own camping gear, so they'd decided to alternate: two weeks in the cabins, and one camping. Katniss had already managed to get her little sister, Prim, into the summer camp she'd been eyeing for months, so, without having to worry about her sister, Katniss could hardly wait. It would be fun – nearly a month without school, or studying or the drama of her classmates. However Dellys arrival brought her out of her own thoughts.
"Guys!" Delly said announced standing at the end of their table.
"Guys! Shut up for a minute would you!" She was growing impatient as she waited for her friends to stop talking. Katniss couldn't help but smile as she looked up a Delly, who arms were rested on her hips in an authorial manor. Delly returned Katniss' smile and sighed as the group finally began to quieten down. Katniss' eyes wandered around at her friends, and back up toward Delly, only to meet those same blues from earlier. Next to Delly stood the same boy she had literally run into earlier. His arms were crossed awkwardly over his chest, and he wore the same weary smile as before.
"Guys, this is Peeta Mellark. His family moved here a couple of weeks ago, so today's his first day. We used to go to school together, so be nice." Delly announced happily, motioning for Peeta to take a seat.
"Uh, hey" Peeta smiled giving a slight wave to the group. He took a seat on the end of the table next to Katniss, opposite Delly.
"Ok, so, this is Thom, Johanna, Annie, Finnick, Madge, Gale and Katniss" Delly tells Peeta as she motions around the table to each of them.
"It's nice to meet you all" he smiles, seemingly a little more at ease now.
"It's Katniss, right?" Peeta asks quietly once the others begin talking again. Katniss smiles and nods at him, unable to take her eyes away from his.
"Well, again, I'm sorry for before. New school, lots of people, too many classrooms." He smiles.
"Really Peeta, don't worry about it. It's totally fine" Katniss insists.
"What? You two have met?" Delly interjects, somewhat shocked
Katniss and Peeta both laughed a little. "Uh, well we ran into each other earlier." Katniss tells her
"Literally" Peeta adds.
The bell rings, signalling the end of their lunch period and Katniss re-packs her stuff with a sigh.
"What do you have next?" Delly asks Peeta with her usual bright smile.
He pulls a small slip of paper from the pocket in his jeans, smooths it out and reads it.
"Uhh, History, room 32" Peeta says, biting his lip again.
"Oh! You're with Katniss! She'll show you the way." Delly says before turning and heading to her own class.
Katniss gives a small smile to Peeta, pulls her bag over her shoulder and stuffs the remaining books inside.
"Lead the way" Peeta say with a smile.
'Peeta' Katniss thinks with a smile, finally being able to put a name to the face she hasn't been able to get out of her head all day.
Hey guys! So, i've been reading too many AU fanfics and they made me want to write my own. I've had a bit of an idea in my head, so i finally got a bit of it down. I'm considering changing it to Katniss/Peetas/whoevers POV and writing it in first person - im so used to writing in first person, it felt really weird not to, so that could change. If people like/review/follow/whatever this chapter enough i might update it soon, otherwise it might have to wait until after i finish my other fic. So please review and let my know what you think, or any ideas, i'd love to hear them! - Brooke