For all the lemon lovers out there, what you are looking for I believe is in chapter 7 :}
I sigh, looking around at the blank baby blue walls that will now serve as the holster of my boy band posters. Everything is so foreign to me, right down to the two floor-to-ceiling windows by the bathroom door.
"Katniss!" My mother yells from downstairs, obviously needing me to help with something.
"Yeah." I yell back. It wasn't a question, just a statement that barely showed how depressed I am about this situation. I wander out of my room, thinking for a moment: Which way are the stairs, dammit!? I walk to the left then, feeling a fool, rush back to the right and stomp down the stairs.
My mother holds two small boxes in her hand as Prim, my little sister, runs past me. "Yes?" She asks mom, smiling at the presents in her grasp. "What's that?" She points a small finger to the cubes.
"They're surprises. I thought they'd make the whole 'new home' thing easier." Mother says, smiling, she hands us our gifts.
"It's a house mom, not a home." I mumble, snatching it from her hand. Prim opens her, squealing as she unveils a charm bracelet, her name on one charm, and Prim's favorite place on the others, places like New York City and Hawaii. Costly for a woman that could barely afford this house, I inwardly snap.
"What's yours Katniss?" Prim asks, a smile stuck on her petite pale face.
I open the box slowly, and I'm ashamed to say I was stupid enough to think I'd get something like a gold necklace or maybe, just maybe, car keys. Ah hell, that'll never happen. But what I see, I can honestly say, did surprise me. "Wow," I say flatly, "A… Pin." I lift it up to the light, its dull color grasping not one ray of it. It's in the form of a circle, a bird on the inside of it, carrying an arrow in its beak.
"Do you know what it is?" Mother asks, stroking Prim's hair, looking at me.
"A pin." I repeat.
"It's a pin of a Mockingjay. It's a bird that isn't supposed to exist, defying all odds. Kind of like your five-pound-eight-week-early self sixteen years ago." My mother says. "It's the symbol of a rebel, which I know you're not but you sure do act like one sometimes." I sigh. She got it because it resembles me, because it reminded her of my self-centered ignorant self. My description is a bit different than hers, though.
"Thanks mom." I mutter, pulling her into a hug. She kisses my cheek when I pull away and immediately I feel the hormonal angry Katniss returning. I stare down at the pin, still not seeing any beauty. Anywhere. Prim gets mother to help her put on her bracelet as I walk upstairs, my eyes not leaving my newest piece of property to be lost in my new room.
Mom forces me to take Prim for a walk on the beach which, just so you know, is our fucking backyard. Not complaining, though I'm not saying I like it either. Think about it, all winter it will just be there, mocking you since you can't go for a stroll on it.
Prim lollygags behind me, kicking the sand and picking up a shell. "Look Katniss." She says, showing me.
"Oh cool." I lie, nodding. She examines it, turning it this way and that in her hand to extract all of the sand. She walks to the water, dipping it in and taking it back out. I watch her closely. So closely I don't realize how far we've wandered from the house. I look back, and realize something else: I don't know which one is our house. Shit.
"… isn't it, Kat?" Prim is asking me a question, but I didn't catch most of it.
"W-what?" I stutter, looking back to her.
"I said this place is really pretty, isn't it?" She repeats, raising an eyebrow. No it's hideous, what am I supposed to say?
"Oh yeah, it is." I continue walking, glancing from the ocean to the houses lining it. They're tall and skinny, many of the resembling a stretched out cabin. A dock reaches out to the sea like a desperate hand, a three young figures sitting in its palm. Prim has stopped walking once again, but I keep my eyes on the pier. I scream comes from one of the people on the end, its young and piercing, making me wince as there's a splash. A head pops back up to the surface, screaming "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU FUCKER!" The head starts to approach the shore, seeing me last minute.
"Oh my GOD!" She squeals again in anger. "I hate her, stupid fuck…" She notices Prim and stops herself. She laughs awkwardly, dripping on to the untouched sand. "Hi."
"Hi." I mutter, observing her. "You're a little wet." I say making her smile.
"That's what my boyfriend said to me last night." She jokes, and we both giggle.
"What?" Prim asks quietly.
"Johanna." The girl announces, offering me her hand, and I take it.
"Katniss. This is my sister Prim." I tell her and she nods. "What was all that about?" I ask.
"My brother's stupid-ass girlfriend shoved me into the water." She growls, glancing over her shoulder. My mother doesn't like cursing and if she met Johanna she'd surely flip her lid.
"Prim, you can walk back alone, can't you?" I ask her and she nods warily. "Bye." I say, egging her on with my eyes. She turns and wanders off, her small frame becoming smaller than usual. I look back to Johanna, her straight smile mischievous. Her blonde hair is flat against her head, her extravagant curves emphasized by her soaked clothes.
"Let me introduce you to my brother." She says with a grin, grabbing my wrist and pulling me to the dock dragging me to the end where a tall brown hair boy and a short blonde haired girl sit close together. "Gale," Johanna snaps, and the boy turns around, revealing his handsome face and gray eyes. "I want you to meet someone. Katniss, this is my brother Gale."
"Hi there." He smiles, that too is dashing. I look to the girl by his side and observe her quickly. She has a small body with beautiful features, and soft perfected hair.
"This is, uh, Madge." Johanna says, very unfriendly. I nod at both of them, as Madge stands and shakes hands with me.
"You just move in that house down the road?" She asks.
"Yeah." I mutter, my shy demeanor taking over. Well, more like secluded and unwilling rather than shy. "I can't say I'm liking it so far, but I am a teenager." I add, my pathetic crack at a joke.
Madge laughs, nodding. "I know how you feel. Sometimes I feel like living in a shell, sometimes I feel like being the center of attention." She says, her adorable smile making me feel a little shameful of mine.
"Any who, Katniss is coming out, so don't drag in any diseases, Madge, okay?" Johanna snaps, smiling sarcastically as Madge rolls her eyes. Johanna takes my hand again, stomping off to the house adjacent of the dock, sliding open the back door with force. I study the façade of the building, noticing its pale color and multiple plants decorating the small patio we stand on momentarily. Johanna tugs me in the house.
"I hate that chick." She mutters, pulling a phone out of her back pocket and planting it on the counter.
"Why?" I ask in a slightly unfamiliar voice that doesn't necessarily match mine. I shake my head, but she has her back turned.
"She thinks she's so high and mighty 'cause she's dating Gale. Like, what the fuck? What makes you so great?" She rambles. Usually I would fantasize about ripping girls like Johanna's heads off, but somehow she's different, and I like her.
"Wow." I grumble, and she turns to me as if to say 'Right?!'and I laugh at her expression. She walks over to the large double door fridge, opening it and pulling out two cherry cokes.
"Any who," she says for a second time, "How old're you?"
"Sixteen." I tell her, "From Washington, moved down to California because my mother's boyfriend broke up with her and she was embarrassed out of her wits to even show her face." I offer the information quickly, knowing the question was coming.
"Wow, and I thought Madge was sad." She leans against the counter, her hair still dripping.
"Maybe you should go change, you know, because…" My voice trails off, my point obvious.
"Not allowed. They're installing carpet upstairs in the hallway to my room, and if I go up there like this my ass is dead." She smiles, and I nod.
"You could come to my place, borrow some clothes." I offer, opening the can of soda, leaning on the marble counter with my elbow.
"Won't there be like, moving guys everywhere?" She asks, raising an eyebrow. She brings the soda to her plump lips and takes a sip. I rub some of the condensation off of my can and nod. "Thanks." It sounds like she's a little surprised I'm actually being friendly.
"That fit?" I ask through the bathroom door of my bare bedroom, leaning against a wall that isn't blocked my boxes.
"Yup, it's a little snug but it's fine." She opens the door and I see something that makes me angry. It's a shirt I usually would wear on a lazy Sunday, lounging around. But on her, it looks like something you would wear to a bonfire in which you hope to catch a few wandering eyes. I offered her a pair of blue jeans which ride low on her hips, while they're usually most unflattering on me.
"Yeah, you look great." I cover, smiling at her. My mom had done her mom thing, making me introduce Johanna to her and Prim before we ran upstairs, giggling at a mover who we'd decided was cute. I check my phone, reading the time. 5:57, good god, I thought it'd be earlier. I announce to her how late it is.
"Oh shit." She mutters, "I've got to be home in a half an hour." She checks her own phone, checking for something. "I want to show you someone." She smile devilishly once again, walking to me and showing me a picture of a blonde boy with eyes bluer than the ocean out back. His sweet smile it heartwarming, dashes of what looks like paint smudged into his hair. "His names Peeta. Oh god, I absolutely adore him, though we're not a thing. But I hope that changes soon."
Once again, Johanna has made me feel inferior. She could get this gorgeous boy as easily as she wanted, she just makes me feel better about myself by saying that there's a chance it won't happen. Her perfect body and gorgeous features make me feel like a loser, which next to her, I guess I am. "He is handsome." I say honestly.
Johanna leaves and I skip dinner, not feeling too hot. By the time its seven, I get bored with unpacking boxes and just lie down where I am on the floor. I close my eyes and the picture of "Peeta" flows through my mind. I smile and drift off to sleep.
