Johanna was mad at herself for the events that had unfolded on the running track. Although surprising Katniss with a kiss had seemed like a fun idea at the time, in retrospect, she really wished that she had resisted the temptation. If Johanna hadn't been constantly thinking about Katniss before the kiss, she definitely was now, and it was doing her head in. Her mind was a flurry of conflicting emotions. There was hatred, but also desire; fear, but also anticipation. She was normally so sure of herself, but now she couldn't make sense of her own thoughts.

She avoided Katniss for the rest of the week – to the best of her ability, anyway. Their school wasn't that large so it was inevitable they'd glimpse each other in the corridors every now and then. She made a point of avoiding the running track, though, and when they did end up passing each other indoors, she made sure never to meet the younger girl's eye.

If I keep ignoring her, Johanna thought, maybe she'll quit being such a regular visitor in my head.

But it didn't take long for her to realise that purposefully trying to forget about someone required you to think about them just as much, if not more.

Her friend Finnick quickly saw that something unusual was up with the brunette. They'd been friends for a few years now, the sort of friends that constantly got on each other's nerves but were there for each other when needed. Finnick came across as being as arrogant as Johanna, but unlike her, he was popular. He had a way with words, and he could win people over with just a smile. Johanna was nowhere near as likeable, and she had no desire to be.

"What's been up with you lately?" he questioned as they were sat at a table, having lunch a week or so after the running track incident. "You always have this distant look on your face. Not to mention your recent comebacks have been pretty awful."

Johanna rolled her eyes. "When it comes to you and your ramblings, I think it's perfectly allowed for me to look a little bored," she drawled, determined not to let Finnick continue thinking that something was bothering her.

He wasn't so easily deterred. "Something's on your mind. And I am going to find out what."

"Oh really?" she questioned.

"Don't doubt it."

"Well then," Johanna said, "I'll give you a little hint – it doesn't exist."

With that she got up and left the table, leaving her tray behind and not looking back. Finnick chuckled to himself. "Don't think you can hide anything from me, Johanna!" he called out.

The exclamation must have got Katniss' attention, because Johanna had barely made her way out of the dining hall when she heard footsteps coming up behind her. She turned and found herself face to face with the last person she wanted to be alone in a corridor with right now. Practically everyone was having lunch. The place was empty, save for them.

"What?" Johanna demanded, ensuring she made her impatience apparent.

But Katniss was as irritatingly immune to Johanna's harshness as ever. "We haven't talked since last Friday," she said simply. "I'd even go so far as to suggest that you've been avoiding me?"

Johanna shrugged. "Well, I mean, we're in different years. There aren't that many opportunities for us to talk."

"There are if you try."

"Yeah, so why are you trying to talk to me, exactly?"

Katniss frowned a little. "Well, after the events of last week, I thought that would have been pretty straightforward to figure out." She sounded a little unsure of herself.

Johanna shook her head, sensing a potential weakness. "No, not really," she said casually. "Care to enlighten me?"

She noticed Katniss swallow. "I – y – you know." The sight of the girl stuttering made Johanna smile a little wider.

"No, I don't, hence I asked you to tell me," Johanna stated with a smirk.

Katniss glared at her. "The kiss," she said irritably, hissing the word.

"Oh that?" Johanna said, feigning surprise. "That was just me proving to you that I was good at something, brainless." She cocked her head. "What – did you think it actually meant something?"

The younger girl was blushing now, and a part of Johanna felt a little guilty, but the rest of her was enjoying this.

"Don't tell me you've got a crush on me," she said disdainfully.

"I do not have a crush on you," Katniss huffed. "In fact, I find that I'm really not all that fond of you."

"The feeling's mutual," replied Johanna.

"All right then," Katniss said. "I guess we can agree to hate each other then."

"Sounds good to me."

"And ignore each other."

"Sure thing."

"But don't pretend that you didn't enjoy the kiss."

Johanna consciously narrowed her eyes to prevent Katniss from seeing any giveaway flickers of emotion in them. "All right, I won't," she said. "I admit - I enjoyed the kiss. But not as much as you clearly did; so much that you came chasing after me."

"Honestly, I don't know why I bothered," Katniss growled.

"Neither. Next time, save yourself the embarrassment."

"Oh for God's sake!" Katniss cried, having finally had enough of Johanna's antics. "Can you stop pretending like you're so above this? You practically leapt at the chance when I said that you could kiss me again, and I bet you'd probably do the same if I said it now!"

"Are you saying it now?" Johanna asked mockingly.

"I don't know. Perhaps I would be if you didn't insist on acting like a jerk."

"If this is your weird way of flirting-"

"All right, fine!" Katniss snapped. "I'm done with this. You win."

She stormed off even more dramatically than Johanna had with Finnick earlier, and the older girl caught herself wondering whether the two of them were more similar than either of them wanted to admit. They were both argumentative, stubborn…

As Johanna watched her turn the corner and disappear, she wished that she had the nerve to have handled that conversation a little better. It would have been easy to have just admitted that the kiss had actually meant something. The problem was that, before she could admit to anyone else, she was going to have to admit it to herself.

And that, if she could help it, wasn't going to happen any time soon.

"Pull yourself together, Johanna," she muttered to herself. But it didn't stop her from spending the rest of the day mulling over the fact that Katniss had seemed, well, interested in her. And neither did it stop her heart from skipping a little at the prospect.