The familiar beeping sound echoed through the room. 7am, Monday, first day of school; safe to Peeta wasn't in the best of moods. He got up and went to the bathroom, took off his underwear and stepped into the shower. The hot water rolls over his skin, along each contour of his body, running over his pecs and falling between his abs. The steam envelops him as he bathes himself. Stepping out of the shower he grabs a towel and dries his body. He then drops the towel to the floor and cleans his teeth and shaves naked before picking the towel back up and wrapping it around his waist. He walks back into his room and picks out an outfit, a pair of faded dark blue skinny jeans and a grey hoodie. He picks up his bag and leaves the room. He walks to school, it was only 20 minutes and Peeta enjoyed the fresh air. Walking up to the front of the school he sees his brother getting out of the car, his father gave him lift. He had offered Peeta one too only he turned it down. His brother was wearing grey skinny jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His hair dirty blonde hair was styled with a quiff in the front. A group of girls were staring at his brother, who noticed and aimed a wink in the girl's direction. They all made 'silent' screams after he had walked past and Peeta was starting to get worried as he didn't have that type of impression on people. He chose to put his brother out of his mind and convinced himself all would be fine.
After asking for directions from reception he made his way to the principal's office where he already found his brother sitting, waiting for his timetable and his greeting into the new school. For 10 minutes the principle discussed school rules, extracurricular activities etc. He handed us our timetables then in came a woman.
"Ah, Beatrice" He said. "Seen as he was first here, I would like you to take Lloyd Mellark to his lessons and be his guide for the rest of the day". Lloyd turned around to see the brunette standing in the doorway and when she say he him her face lit up.
"Sure thing Mr Snow" She said, not taking her eyes off Lloyd. "Come on, sweetie" she said and left the room, Lloyd then followed.
"As for you, Peeta" Snow said, "Finnick will be here shortly to take you." Just as he said this a boy walked in to the room, Peeta turned to see the gorgeous boy there. He had bronze hair and the most striking, sea-green eyes. He was wearing a pair of blue skinny fit jeans and a plain green long sleeve similar to that of that of which is brother was wearing. The shirt clung to his body revealing each curve from bulging muscles that lay underneath. "Ah, Finncik!" Mr Snow exclaimed. "Fresh meat is it, sir?" Finnick said, leaning against the doorway, smirking at Peeta.
"This is - " He was cut off by Peeta.
"Peeta" He said, standing up, extending his arm to invite Finnick into a hand shake of which Finnick obliged to.
"Well, Peeta. It is very nice to meet you" He said with a wink.
"Well, I have nothing else to say so Peeta, enjoy you day" Snow said with a warming smile. Finnick and Peeta both left the room and went out to the now empty hallway, the only sound was their footsteps. Until Finnick spoke.
"So, timetable" He said. Peeta handed the piece of paper over and Finnick's eyes scanned the page. "Damn, that's unfortunate. You got English first".
"I like English" Peeta said, sounding almost ashamed.
"Me too, Miss Trinket on the other hand" Finnick chuckled, looking straight ahead down the corridor.
"Why, what's she like?" Peeta said, looking up at the taller boy.
"She's a bit...uh...eccentric so to speak" He turned to face the blonde. "You like the colour pink, blondie?"
"Not particularly" Finnick laughed at this comment and stopped outside a door which had pink paper with the name 'Miss Trinket' written on it in a complex font. "Blondie?"
"Yeah, you're hair is like, a burning gold, kinda colour. So if we're friends you'll need a nickame of sort, and I like your hair so, voila, Blondie!" Finnick explained."Wait here for me so I can take you to next lesson". Peeta nodded. "Good Luck" he said before knocking and subsequently opening the door and nudging Peeta into the room.
"Yes?" Came the squeaky voice of the teacher dressed all in pink, even with pastel pink hair. "What do you want?"
"Uh, I'm Peeta" he said, his eyes searching the room, everyone was looking at him.
"Ah yes! Peeta!" She said, standing up to shake Peeta's hand. "Everyone, this is Peeta Mellark. Be kind to him, he's new to our school." She smilled and nodded her head looking quite shaky, almost uncertain of herself. "Have a seat next to Katniss there. Katniss darling, raise your hand so Peeta can find you" A girl with brown/black raised her hand and Peeta walked over to sit next to her.
"Hey, Katniss Everdeen" she said, introducing herself.
"Peeta Mellark" he said back, reaching into his back getting out his pencil case.
"I know, both you and her said it" Her voice was bitter when she said 'her'. Peeta's beginning to think that not many people do like her. The lesson was all about this year's syllabus and the work they'd be doing etc. She dismissed the class early and Katniss and Peeta stood outside talking.
"Well it was very nice to meet you Mr Mellark" She smiled.
"and you, Miss Everdeen" Peeta smiled back. His charm clearly aiding his first impressions.
"Do you want to have lunch with me, maybe?" Katniss asked, clutching onto her books.
"Yeah, sure" Peeta laughed. "thanks".
"Maybe I can show you to your next class"
"Thanks" Peeta replied "but I have a guide, sorry"
"Dont worry about it. It was an empty gesture" She joked back.
Shortly after Katniss had left Finnick appeared to take Peeta to his next class, which was art. They walked down the corridors, talking. Peeta immediately felt a connection with Finnick, he had a warmth about him, he felt trustworthy and kind. He was cheeky and charming, kind of like his brother. They spoke about the class and then about Katniss, they were standing outside the Art class for a few minutes just talking.
"This conversation isn't over okay?" Finnick said, leaning against the wall, looking down at Peeta. "Wait for me at break, okay?"
"Okay" Peeta replied.
"I like you, Blondie" Finnick laughed, already giving Peeta a nickname. He walked into the class in a good mood, Finnick made him feel happy, he had made a friend, his worst fears were over.
The art room was a large square room that had various, high tables with stool places around them. Everyone was sitting around them talking. Next to the door was a desk with a computer on it and behind it on a chair a man. He wore a simple black shirt and matching pants, he wore gold eye liner that brought out gold specks in his green eyes. Peeta walked over to him and introduced himself. Cinna was the teachers name, he was to call him sir or Mr anything, just Cinna. Peeta liked this guy, he had a free aura around him, today was feeling good.
"Sit where you like, I don't mind" Instructed Cinna. Peeta nodded in acknowledgment and begin walking and turning around in one movement. When he turned the 180 degrees he collided with something that felt like brick wall, only the wall had hands that caught him, kept him from falling. He looked up to see the blonde boy from the bakery a few days ago, smiling down at Peeta, recognising him.
"You alright there?" He said, still with his hands clutching onto Peeta.
"Yeah" Peeta said, looking up at the brute. "Sorry, about that"
"Don't worry" He said, finally letting go. "Peeta, right?" He asked.
"Yeah, how did you - " Peeta didn't finish the sentence.
"I remember it from your tag at the Bakery" He said. They're bodies were still close, just inches away, their breaths felt by the other. "I made sure to remember you" Peeta began to blush when the other boy stepped back and extended his hand out to shake. Peeta accepted and shook his hand. "Cato, Cato Hadley." The name played in Peeta's mind, so unusual yet so fitting.
"Peeta Mellark"
"Well, Peeta. You wanna sit by me?" He didn't answer immediately. "Marvel's ditching the first day that's all" 'That must be his friend' thought Peeta.
"Yeah, sure" Peeta said. They walked over to a table at the back. They chatted for a bit, talked about themselves. Peeta explained why he moved here, mentioned his family and a few things about himself. Then Cato started to speak. There wasn't much to know, he was a big sportsman, planned on becoming a professional football player. He lives with his parents, has one brother the same age as Peeta's eldest brother, Giles, and they go to the same college. The class was dismissed early, the same as English, only discussing the syllabus. Cato offered to stay with Peeta since they had P.E. together next but Peeta declined, telling him Finnick was mentoring him for the day on all things school. 5 minutes after Cato left, Peeta heard a cat whistle from behind him, he turned to see Finnick strutting down the hallway towards him.
"Hey, blondie"
"Hey" Peeta replied.
"So, let's go to your locker." Finnick said. They talked as they walked, learning more about each other. Finnick was on the swim team and was the best they had. He trains a lot, often in the pool or the gym to keep in shape. "gotta stay good looking see" He joked. Peeta told him about his brother after they walked past him, not speaking to one another. Lloyd was already with a few boys and a girl was already prying on him. "I don't blame her, that is a fine piece of man candy" Finnick said, and Peeta laughed, agreeing with him. "doesn't compare to you though, blondie" Peeta blushed at this comment. After going to the locker and dumping a few books they headed to the P.E. department.
"Coach Boggs?" Finnick said, striding into the room. The man was in his mid-forties with close cropped grey hair and blue eyes. "This beauty here is Peeta Mellark and he's new here"
"it's very nice to meet you, Peeta" They shared greetings and Peeta followed Finnick to a locker block. The room was a long and rectangular with 4 sets of lockers arrange into squares on the one wall and a shower room on the other wall. The lockers had benches in the middle and when Peeta reached one with Finnick, there was a boy sitting on them, wearing a red t shirt and a pair of black shorts.
"Gale!" Finnick exclaimed. The boy to face the two. He had dark hair, olive skin and grey eyes and was very good looking. Peeta could tell he was muscular too through the thin, tight fabric of his t shirt. "This is Peeta" Finnick introduced. Gale stood up, he was over six feet tall. He extended his hand out to shake Peeta's hand.
"Gale Hawthorne" He introduced, he had a strong grip.
"Peeta Mellark" Peeta replied.
"Well, I'll see you in there" He said and walked through a door next to the showers.
"C'mon then, blondie" Finnick said. Peeta returned his attention to the bronze haired Adonis who stood there shirtless, in a pair of very short , black shorts. Peeta stood there shocked by his body. The way everything curved, washboard abs, his broad shoulders, mountain of a bicep and protruding pecs that bounced and tensed as he moved, reaching a white t-shirt out of his bag. Peeta was staring in awe, never has he seen a body so magnificent this close. "Stop staring and start getting changed" He snapped back into his senses and started to blush. Finnick slapped on the back in a friendly way to encourage him to relax and headed into the room that Gale went prior. Only one other boy was there in the locker block with Peeta, he was skinny and had ginger hair, so Peeta confidently stripped out of his clothes, knowing Finnick wasn't around to be compared to made it easier, Peeta was like Finnick compared to this other boy. He wore a black shirtless t-shirt with a grey part on the shoulders and a pair of black shorts that fell to his knees. Peeta walked into the room, it was a large sports hall with different markings on the floor to represented the different pitches, soccer, basketball etc. Coach Boggs stood infront of all the boys, Peeta saw Finnick standing by Gale. He walked up to them and stood by Finnick.
They were playing basketball today and so the Coach selected two captains, Gale was the first and the second was Cato. Peeta watched the large blonde walk to the front by the coach wearing a yellow t-shirt and grey sweatpants, a small bulge formed at the front of the pants, Peeta was staring, again. Gale chose Finnick first, then Cato chose Gloss, another Jock, blonde, tall and muscular. Peeta couldn't deny he was good looking, he was large and muscular but he didn't captivated Peeta like Finnick or Cato could. Gale then proceeded to choose Thresh. A tall, muscular dark skinned man walked forward to join them. They were choosing the jocks, they all seemed to be the strongest, Peeta looked across the group. He saw one boy with black hair who seemed like the next choice, tall, muscular, good looking, Peeta assumed he would be picked towards the end so when Cato called his name he was shocked. He walked towards the brute who slapped him and welcomed him to the team. Finnick seemed as confused as Peeta, he leant over to speak to Gale and whispered 'looks like I have competition'.