I got this idea from a reader that asked me to write a story based on the song Innocent by Taylor Swift.
*Past Tense*
I still remember that day as if it were yesterday. That day that I was in the gym and I got a phone call from my best friend's mother. My life was over. I was convinced it was. My best friend of fourteen years was bleeding to death in the hospital because he cut his wrist so deep that he cut his vein. I flipped out, and I was very, very angry with Peeta Mellark. Hell, I knew he'd felt low, I just didn't know he would take it so far.
I got off the phone, and I went into the locker room. I got all of my stuff and I went home.
"You aren't supposed to be home until nine." Dad had said.
I looked at him and I sucked in a deep breath.
I wasn't going to cry. Mama, my eight year old sister, Prim, and my older brother, Sage all grew alarmed.
Even though I didn't want to cry, tear started falling.
"What's wrong?" Sage, who is twenty one asked.
I mumbled out everything, and then went upstairs and locked myself in the room, refusing to come out for the rest of the night.
That was three months ago.
I miss him.
*Present Tense*
I got that phone call in March. Now it's June.
My eighteenth birthday has come and passed. High school graduation has come and passed.
I'm in the gym again. I'm a gymnast. I'm here almost all the time. They healed Peeta and sent him to rehab and he's been there since.
I'm not allowed to visit because I'm not immediate family. Peeta's brother says he's lost so much weight that he looks sickly and he's very pale. His doctor says that even though he's skinny, he needs to work out to gain more strength.
And no offense to the Mellark's, but I'm the most in shape person that they know.
Since it's summer and we've graduated high school, I'm gonna see if Mrs. Mellark will be okay with me helping him work out.
Anyways, I just got a phone call from Peeta's Mom and they're on the way home with him now.
I rush to the locker room and I pull my socks on and my Nikes. I'm wearing a sky blue sports bra and white spandex.
Mom dropped me off today, and I really don't want to wait for her to get here. It's ten miles away and I can run there. It'll take me about an hour and forty minutes to get there and it takes them an hour and forty five or so minutes to get there.
I pace myself and jog out of the gym and down the street.
Mrs. Mellark already told me to come over. She said that Peeta is so impatient and he wants me there right away or he's going to drive to my house and not go inside. She wants me on her porch. He doesn't know I'm coming. He's still excited.
I'm excited too.
I miss him.
See, he cut himself because he was being bullied. It didn't make sense because I was the most popular, but nobody listened to me when I told the bitch, Glimmer, that was bullying him to knock it off. Peeta completed school in rehab and when I found out, I went to school the next day and I fought the girl.
Needless to say, she's still in a cast and I got suspended for a week.
Stupid bitch.
I stop once and go into a convenience store and I get a bottle of water. Other than that, I run it the whole way through.
I get to his house at 4:29.
I got that phone call at 3:09. That means that they should be at home at exactly five.
I put my phone in the waist band of my spandex shorts and hold my water, pacing around the porch, watching the roads.
I look at the digital clock through the window. It's 5:01.
I start pacing again, and one minute later, their Jeep comes down the street.
I grab my phone and water and dive into a bush. I shoot out a text to Peeta and I's friends, Johanna, Annie, and Finnick and let them know the gist of everything.
I hear doors shut.
"I'm not going in the house." He mumbles. I peek though the bush to get a good look at him. He's skinny, and scrawny. His voice is different. The sparkle has left his eye.
This is not my Peeta. This is a mask of him.
"Peeta honey, let just go inside." Mrs. Mellark says. "You can go upstairs and unpack. I changed your sheets. Your room is clean. How about we have Tater Tot Casserole for dinner and I call Katniss and invite her?"
He studies her to see if she's fibbing, and then he gives in and trudges in the house.
"She better come!" he shouts, and I hear his door slam.
They're in the house, so I pop out of the bushes and signal for them to be quiet.
"He thinks I'm not here. Can you just act like I never was so I can go dress and get my car?"
"Want a ride?" Rye asks.
"He'll suspect. I just jogged ten miles here. I can handle seven more."
"Alright." Mr. Mellark agrees, and I jog off.
It takes me an hour and I get a text from Mrs. Mellark.
Mrs. Mellark: Honey not to be pushy but you've been gone an hour and Peeta's starting to freak.
Me: Tell him I'll be there in a half hour.
Mrs. Mellark: Okay…
I rush into the house and sprint upstairs to my bathroom. I take a fast shower and put my hair up in a messy bun after brushing it, and then I pull on a beige bra, a white tight tank top and shorts. I put my black flats on and I pack a bag full of a ton of clothes for the night. I grab my wallet, phone, keys and roll on deodorant, put on my sunglasses and walk out of my room and jog downstairs.
"Don't expect me home for a few days."
"Why?" Mom asks.
Even though I'm eighteen, I still have to tell her where I'm going because I live in her house.
"Peeta's back." I say. I don't have to add anything else. She nods and I rush outside and get in my white Jeep Wrangler. I toss everything in the passenger seat and start it up.
I go to the gas station and fill the tank.
I work at the gym now and I get pain twelve dollars an hour for teaching the kids. I get four days of teaching the kids a week and the rest is for me to use the gym if I want.
I decide to be the nice friend and get Peeta a Gatorade (yellow because that's his favorite) and I get him pizza combos, and then the lemon heads that are more than just yellow.
I pay and then I go to the car and put that bag in the passenger seat.
If Peeta's still Peeta he's going to kill me when I get there because I said I'd be there in a half hour an hour ago.
It's still light out. It's only seven.
I speed to Peeta's and pull into the driveway.
I shut off the car and grab the bag of his snacks. I get out and slam the door to announce my arrival and stroll my way to the house. I don't have to knock anymore, so I just walk in and shut the door silently. I peek into the living room. Everyone is in there but him.
I step all the way in and raise my eyebrows.
"He won't come downstairs." Rye shrugs.
I walk to the door and slam it.
"Peeta! Get your ass down here!" I shout.
I hear a loud crash, profuse cursing, and then loud footsteps on the stairs. I'm standing in front of the coffee table again.
He stops at the bottom to stare at me.
I'm not hugging him just yet.
I cross my arms and arch m eyebrows.
One thing about me is Peeta's afraid of me. It'll take a few words out of my mouth to make him feel like a punished child.
While his mother could yell at him all day and he'll try not to laugh. That goes for anyone.
But me.
That's why, when Mrs. Mellark needs him to do something and he refuses, I yell at him and he does it.
But it's not rude. It's just our thing.
I seriously didn't think I was going to cry. I really didn't.
He doesn't smirk at the stern look on my face; he just looks down at the floor and whispers, "I'm sorry."
So I blurt, "I got suspended." I blurt.
He looks at me, because that's shocking. I may have been the most popular, but I was the highest grade point average in the school. I've been getting straight A's and I've never gotten detention except for when my Mom was getting surgery and I was texting Dad in class to see how she was. I may have been the most popular, but I was the highest grade point average in the school. I've been getting straight A's and I've never gotten detention except for when my Mom was getting surgery and I was texting Dad in class to see how she was.
"You what?" he asks, his jaw slack.
"I uh…I got suspended."
"I thought school was out." He starts backing towards the stairs.
"It is."
"How long did you get suspended for?" he asks skeptically. "An hour doesn't count." He teases, and that makes me smile because he's still in there.
"A week." I mutter.
Mrs. Mellark starts choking on her coffee.
"What'd you do?" he exclaims, clearly shocked.
"Well…the day after…you…shit hit the fan…I went to school and…I was Glimmer and well…needless to say, she still has a cast."
He stares at me, clearly not believing me.
"You're lying." He says.
"I swear." I say. "Her nose is crooked because I broke it. She has double black eyes and I broke her leg."
"Why?" he asks.
"Why?" I repeat. "Because of what she did." I hiss. "She should be grateful her heart is still beating."
"Let's go upstairs." He says.
"Okay." I say.
"Leave the door open!" Mrs. Mellark shouts, and we both shout no.
He shuts the door, and turns to me. He opens his arms and I walk into them, burying my face in his chest.
"I've missed you."
"I've missed you too." He whispers.
He doesn't let go of me for a very long time.
"You smell like hospital." I whisper.
"I'll take a shower later."
"Yeah. Pack a bag. After dinner we're going out of town."
"I'm not allowed."
"How old are you?" I ask.
"Eighteen."
"Okay. Would you rather spend three days with your parents and brother or with me?"
"You." He says.
"Okay then. Pack a bag." I smile.
