All character belong to the amazing Suzanne Collins. All mistakes are mine. :)
See bottom for Authors Note.
Chapter 1: First Day
I was never on the dance team in middle school. Sure I had been doing dance with Prim since we were six and two, but it was more of a hobby. I was never competitive. I performed once and fell on my face. Freshman drill and song team tryouts came towards the end of the eighth grade. Madge told me I just had to try out. I made it and was a back up cheerleader at all the football games. I never performed. I sat on the bleachers with pom poms and a uniform watching the game. Several of the girls left the team after sophomore year. That gave me a spot on the team. A real performing spot. Junior year was going to be my year.
There was one major problem. Peeta Mellark made the football team. My junior high self was sure I was going to marry him one day. I gave up on it freshman year after I realized he was too out of my league. He played soccer and baseball. The only reason he wasn't on the football team was his older brothers. Freshman year, Rye was a junior and Graham was a senior. They both played football and rumor had it Peeta didn't want to compete with them.
Worst of all Peeta had a girlfriend in freshman year. They broke up toward the end of the year, but I was still so jealous. Peeta Mellark and I were not friends. We live next door to each other and used to have play dates as toddlers. We were in the same class every year in elementary school, but weren't friends. I hoped this year would change everything, I really wanted it to.
I grab my schedule off the kitchen counter with my backpack and head out the door. Prim yells bye through a mouth full of cereal. I head toward the bus stop and arrive just as the bus rounds the corner.
I slip into my usual seat next to Madge who raises one eyebrow. Madge has always been great at doing makeup while I look like a clown with anything besides mascara and lip gloss. She managed to get straight A's all through high school so far and she did so many extracurricular activities. I don't know how she didn't lose track of them. She gave me a smile and shoved her phone in my face. "Katniss, your boyfriend tweeted you!"
I can feel my face turn red. Madge couldn't possibly know. Freshman year she told me that Peeta and I would look cute together. She told me that we would look better than Peeta and "that bitch" Clove. I had just shrugged it off and said that having a boyfriend was a waste of time.
"What do you mean?" I ask Madge. Madge rolled her bright blue eyes and shoved the phone into my hand. "Read it. Now." She said forcefully and it was my turn to roll my eyes.
katnisseverdeen: school starts tomorrow, ugh I'm not ready for cheer :/
5:13 PM August 24
peetamellark: katnisseverdeen I'm not ready either, football is already throwing me off. 8:57 PM August 24
I don't say anything for a moment. I stare at the screen. I didn't check any social media last night because I was really tired from staying up late the night before. Peeta had been following me on Twitter for a while but he'd never once talked to me. "Why didn't you text me, Madge!" I slam my head back into the seat.
"I was with Annie last night taking care of her nephew. I wasn't on my phone much." Madge gives a sigh. I pull out my phone to reply.
katnisseverdeen: peetamellark well I guess we'll be seeing a lot more each other this year :) 7:01 AM August 25
"You like him. Everyone knows, idiot." Madge says nonchalantly. She leans back in her seat with a cherry Dum Dum in her mouth. Madge has always had a thing for Dum Dums.
"I do not like him!" I say as Madge tosses me a green apple Dum Dum. Madge gives me a sly smile. "What?"
"You know Katniss, I may or may not have said a few words to Peeta. You might as well fess up."
"Are you serious? I don't like him, I barely know him." A thousand thoughts go through my head, what did Madge tell him? My phone alerts me that Peeta replied just as Madge opens her mouth.
peetamellark: katnisseverdeen looking forward to it ;)
"What did he say? Oh my God, Katniss." Madge aggressively looks over my shoulder and I let out a light laugh. "A winky face? Damn, that boy is desperate." She shakes her head. "One reason why me and Gale didn't work out."
I just shake my head. For the rest of the bus ride I try to figure out what I'll say when I first see Peeta. Will I ignore him? Or smile? Or wave? Or what? I enter the school and head to my locker. Madge makes her way up the stairs to her locker. When I reach my locker, I place my History and English textbooks in it.
"Hey, locker neighbor." Peeta opens the locker next to mine and slips his backpack inside. I forgot that Peeta and my lockers were next to each other. "I have first period PE because football. You have first period because of cheer, right?"
I clear my throat and nod. What is he getting at? I think. "Want to walk together?" he says. My eyes grow wide and I nod again. I feel incapable to speak. He laughs. I stare at my locker. How awkward.
As we make our way to the PE numbers Peeta asks what my schedule is. I find out that we both have A lunch and have journalism and geometry together. I meet the other girls at the numbers just in time for Shelby Odair, Finnick Odairs' older sister who coaches the drill team, to arrive. She goes over the rules, how the first football game is Friday, how we've been practicing all summer for this.
The rest of the day goes decently. Peeta and I don't talk in the classes we have together, but he sits directly behind me in journalism. After school I take the bus home and sit with Madge, as usual. Madge rants on how it was just her luck to have her language class with Gale. I lose myself in thought. When Madge leaves the bus at her stop I'm thankful for the alone time. I take the long way home by going through the green belt behind my street. I hop the fence into my backyard and head through the backdoor into my house.
Junior year was going to be a long year.
AN:
Hi all! Im Alyssa! This is my first fic that I have ever written...I know what you're probably thinking. Katniss and Peeta seem very OOC. I know that, and I promise the next chapter will be longer and go more into detail. I really wanted to write a typical high school AU with cheerleader!Katniss and footballplayer!Peeta because I love them to death. (and i wanted to put my own twist to one) Lets see how this goes! All reviews and favorites are very much appreciated. Thanks for reading! :)
- A