Sleeping Spark

Chapter Two

Gale sauntered into this first Political Science class 5 minutes late. He tried his best to look as inconspicuous as possible as he snuck though the seats filled with students to the empty desks in the back.

"Well. Well. Well. I'm glad you could join us Mr.?"

Gale whipped around as he got tangled in the mess of desks. "Hawthorne. Gale Hawthorne." Gale managed to say and he found a seat.

"Okay, Mr. Hawthorne. Would you like to enlighten the class with your thoughts on the political repercussions of the Districts Peace talks?" removing his glasses from his nose and leaning against the front of his desk.

Panic quickly rose into Gale's throat. It was the first day of class. How could there be reading already assigned? Gale scanned the classroom and saw that all the other students even had their books and looked to be very informed on the subject matter.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know there was an assignment" Gale said as she sunk lower into his desk.

"The good looking, mysterious guy who comes in late, didn't know there was an assignment. It looks like you don't have your books either. What a surprise." Professor Williams said as he turned and gestured to a student that had their hand up. Humiliated, Gale could not believe his luck. This first class of his political science major and he was already dubbed as the handsome idiot. A wad of paper landing on his desk brought him back to reality. He opened the crumbled piece if paper and it read: Party at my place. Wanna come?Gale lifted his head searching for the source of the note and found it in a beautiful blonde smiling face.

"Hey" The girl whispered leaning closer to him. "Don't worry about Professor Williams. I've had him before and he doesn't like slackers. Not that you are one but he just doesn't like people showing up for class unprepared."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind" Gale said scrunching his eyebrows.

"So the party. This friday night. Meet after class and I give you my address."

"Is it ok for me to bring my friends?"

"Sure but no girlfriends" She said with a wink

"Don't worry, no one in the life meets that definition."

"UGH UMMMM" Professor Williams cleared his throat, quickly ended their conversation. Gale tried his best after that to pay attention.

"For those of you that are not yet aware, taking Art as a major is a very brave endeavor. Not many other majors will guarantee a lower pay and less job opportunities after graduation. But you will have the satisfaction that you followed your heart and your passion, which is more than most of the other majors can say"

Peeta tried to take in this interesting person that stood in front of the class. Her hair was done up in many tiny braids and she was wearing round glasses and had a far of look in her eye. He instantly liked her strange personality and her zest to live life by her own rules. He felt like he could learn a lot stepping out of his comfort zone from her.

"Before you can understand why and who you are, you must first understand your surroundings. Now, please turn to the person on your left and this will be your partner for the first part of the semester. Through art, you will see things through this person's eyes, therefore you will be exposed to a completely new world. So get comfortable with them."

Peeta turned to his left to see a beautiful girl who gave him a shrug and a shy smile. She had blonde hair to match his and piercing blue eyes.

"For your first assignment, you will be doing portraits of each other, with one object added to the portrait that you think describes the subject. And no peeking, your partner cannot know the object you are adding or see the finished product until the project is complete and showcased in class. Now let's start by getting to know each other a little better"

"Hey partner, I guess you're with me. I'm Kara." She said making the first move as she slid off her art stool and took Peeta's hand in hers.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Peeta" He said trying to ignore the chill that raced down his back as they shook hands. Kara was the first girl he had really noticed since he laid eyes on Katniss. Peeta silently scolded himself for somehow being unfaithful to the idea of him and Katniss.

"She's quite a trip isn't she?" Kara said nodding her head to the Art teacher that was now busy inspecting a purple crystal while the partners all got aquatinted.

"You could say that again, there is no one like her where I'm from" Peeta said honestly.

"And where is that?" Kara said sounding suddenly very interested.

"District 12. We don't have very many free spirits there." Peeta said feeling unimpressive.

"Well, you're here now. It's a great opportunity to meet all kinds of new people. I, on the other hand being from District 8, was ecstatic to have a change of scenery. Most people just get pigeoned holed into whatever life their District provides, I know how lucky I am to have a chance for something better"

Peeta felt exactly the same way about leaving District 12 but he was never able to articulate it like that.

"I know exactly what you mean" Peeta said with an understanding half smile. He was becoming more intrigued by his new friend every the minute.

Kara smiled widely at him and blushed as a thought crossed her mind.

"Do you maybe want to meet for coffee sometime, maybe non class related?" She said fumbling over her words.

This was much too real for Peeta. She was asking him out. Him. Peeta had lived with blinders on since Katniss walked into that fist class over four years ago and he wasn't sure he was entirely ready to give up that dream.

"I ummm... I probably shouldn't" He said avoiding her gaze while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Do you have a girlfriend or something?" She said in a slightly higher tone of voice.

"No, not technically, I have a someone. She's not my girlfriend."

"Ahh, ok I get it, you just want her to be. There really is no competing with those situations" Kara said cursing herself for ever opening her mouth.

"I'm sorry. Look, I'm really excited to be working with you."

"Thank you. Me too." Kara said with a genuine smile, thankful the mood had been lifted slightly.

"Ok everyone! That's all the time we have for today! Fly free birds into the light!" The extroverted teacher exclaimed raising her hands over her head.

Katniss was so enthralled by her Intro to Botany text book she didn't even notice the rest of the students filing in through the door. She had arrived to class 30 minutes early and was passing the extra time by getting a jump on the reading that was due next week. As she surveyed the other students that had begun to gather around her, she felt like she was finally in a like minded place. Katniss, Gale and Peeta had always felt like outsiders in District 12, but here she felt like everyone was looking to belong and therefore, they all belonged together. She never would have imagined that so many students would had been interested in Botany, but she was elated in their shared interest.

"Ok class, welcome to Intro to Botany. Today we will be discussing the basics of plant structure, which you should all already know since the reading was due for this class."

Katniss saw a few students advert their eyes from the teacher giving away their obvious lack of reading. She was proud of the fact that not only had she done the reading but that she was ahead. Katniss's heart soared as she felt she had taken her place in the world and everything was within her reach.

She picked Botany as her major because of her love of the earth and nature. With as much time as she spent in it, it only made her want to understand it completely and put that knowledge to good use. As much has she hated to admit it, her mother's passion for healing others had rubbed off on her. So much of nature was undiscovered and used to it's full potential, but that was something Katniss wanted to change.

That first day in class, Katniss was involved and enlightened in a way she had never been before. She truly felt like this was the first day of her future.