Puberty drove somewhat of a wedge between Johanna and Katniss. In retrospect, Jo knew it was mostly her fault, but at the time it seemed inevitable. Her interests changed as she started to notice boys (and girls, though she didn't talk about that). Her body changed too, and suddenly the height gap that had been shrinking grew again. Not by much, as Jo stopped growing at 5'4, but it was enough to annoy Katniss because it made her feel like a little kid again. Jo didn't help with that, to be fair.

Though she had a couple flings and the odd kiss in her early teens, Johanna only got her first real boyfriend in grade ten. They met at the skatepark the week before school started, when Jo finally got the nerve to go after receiving a board for her fifteenth birthday a couple weeks earlier. She'd been practicing on the street but didn't want to make a fool out of herself and get made fun of by the boys. Blight was there that day, and far from making fun of her, he offered to teach her some new tricks.

Jo's attraction to him was instantaneous. He carried himself with confidence and had beautiful eyes, and despite being sixteen he already had muscles and a beard. Jo was a fan of that, and of him. Katniss was not, though. To be fair, she didn't really like most people, but she especially had it in for Blight. She only saw the guy twice, but had nothing but scowls for him. Not that Jo could blame her, given the circumstances.

The first time Katniss saw him was when Johanna took her and Prim to a park a little farther away than the one they'd usually go to. Jo claimed she was taking them there because it had an astroturf field, but it was also the one with the skatepark. Needless to say, she had ulterior motives. Prim had followed in Katniss's footsteps and was playing soccer that fall as well, so once Jo got the sisters to start passing around she moseyed over to the skatepark. Blight skated over when he saw her leaning against the side of the halfpipe, hopping off his board with a brilliant smile that set off butterflies in Jo's stomach.

"Not skating today?" he asked, seeing she was lacking her board.

"Nah, I'm working. Babysitting my mom's coworker's kids."

"That's a shame," remarked Blight. "Tomorrow, maybe?"

Johanna cocked an eyebrow. "Is that an invitation?"

His eyes sparkled. "Not that you need one. But yeah, I'd like it if you came."

"Maybe I will," Jo tossed back, willing herself not to blush. Feeling heat starting to creep up her neck despite her best efforts, she nodded at the field and told him, "I should get back. Don't wanna get fired for slacking off, now." Before turning away, she fired off a wink.

Just as Jo was coming up on the sisters, Katniss booted a hard pass off course. While Prim turned to chase the ball down and retrieve it, Jo opened her mouth to tease Katniss for missing her target so badly. Before she got the chance, Katniss wheeled to face her, eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Who was that boy?"

"What?" Johanna blinked hard, thrown by the question and the venom behind it. "Just a guy I know."

Unsatisfied, Katniss grilled her further. "Your boyfriend?"

Deciding to turn the tables and make Katniss the uncomfortable one, Jo pulled on a sly smile and winked. "Not yet."

That earned Johanna the harshest glower she'd ever seen from Katniss. Before she could comment on it or ask what was wrong, the ball came flying over and hit Katniss in the thigh. Glancing over to a grinning Prim as she trotted back their way, Jo settled on, "At least one of you can aim."

Barely looking her way, Katniss huffed, "Shut up, Johanna."

That was the first time it occurred to Johanna that maybe Katniss had a crush on her. But maybe not. She could be jealous of the time and attention Blight was bound to get from Jo, the same way Jo was still jealous of Prim sometimes. It didn't have to mean that. But the thought stayed in the back of Jo's mind after that and reared its head every once in a while.

Like the second time Katniss saw Blight, for instance. Though in her defense, she had much more of a right to be upset that time.

A month or so into their relationship, things were starting to progress between Johanna and Blight. And she wanted them to progress faster. When the schoolbell ended their lunchtime makeout session one Thursday, she was especially riled up and frustrated. She couldn't bring him to her house, she'd get grounded if they got caught kissing there. And the skatepark was no more private than the school. But there was one place…

"Hey, you wanna come over this afternoon and hang out?"

Blight's eyebrows arched. "Your parents won't mind?"

"They won't be there," she assured him. Of course, she neglected to tell him that it wasn't her house.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen were working late that day. Jo's instructions were to cook dinner and make sure the girls did their homework. Upon joining the kids at the house, she started with the latter, sending them up to their rooms. She said they could holler if they needed any help, but sincerely hoped they wouldn't.

Blight knocked at the front door about ten minutes later, and Jo dragged him inside and into a kiss by the front of his hoodie. Walking backward, she guided him down the hall and into the living room at the back of the house. Before she had a chance to pull him down onto the couch, he scooped her up and placed her on the cushions, covering her with his body. Even better.

Things got heated quickly. Within minutes, their shirts were off and Blight was lacing kisses across the tops of Johanna's breasts. She could tell he was teasing her on purpose, and had half a mind to rip her own bra off. Before she had the chance, though, they heard a door open upstairs, followed by footsteps. As they rushed to pull the discarded shirts back on, Katniss's voice echoed down the stairs. "Jo, I'm done!" she called, eager feet quick on the stairs. "Wanna play Sonic and get your butt kicked?"

When Katniss bounded into the living room, she stopped short, face draining of color. Johanna and Blight were fully dressed again, but still rather cozy on the couch and looking frazzled and guilty. And Katniss was naive, sure, but not a total idiot. That much was clear from her reaction. Mouth hanging open, some cocktail of emotions was welling up in her eyes.

Overcome by embarrassment, Jo demanded, "Don't you know it's rude to stare? Get the hell outta here!" When the girl didn't move, she pointed to the front door and insisted, "Are you deaf, brainless? Outside. Go climb a tree or something."

Finally, an emotion she could readily recognize crossed Katniss's face. Hurt. Her mouth moved like she wanted to speak, but no words came out. She settled for shooting Johanna a scathing glare and walking away.

"Who was that? Your sister?" Blight asked as Katniss stormed down the hall.

"Forget it," she said, waving him off. "Just one of the kids I babysit."

Blight's eyes grew wide as he put the pieces together. "And this is their house? You're supposed to be babysitting?" Jo nodded and he chuckled in disbelief. "Someone's a bad girl. That's hot."

"How hot?" she asked, sliding his hand back under her shirt. She heard the door slam a moment later, but was too preoccupied to care.

Prim didn't finish her homework for another half an hour, and that was enough time for… things. Not everything, but some things. A few minutes before she came downstairs, Jo saw Blight off with another kiss and fondle of his chest at the door. When Prim appeared and asked where Katniss was, Jo remembered what she had done and felt a faint pang of guilt. A faint pang was all she could register at the time, thanks to the high she was still riding. But that didn't stop her from worrying, so she suggested she and Prim go ride bikes and look for Katniss outside. Well, Jo didn't have her bike with her, but she had her skateboard.

Turns out Katniss had taken Jo's orders quite literally, perched in a tall tree in the park a few blocks away. Prim spotted her first and peeled off that way, biking across the grass. Jo hopped off her board and chased after her on foot. "Katniss!" called Prim when she got to the base of the tree. "Katniss, come down and play with me! I brought the ball!" she added, plucking the soccer ball proudly from the basket on the front of her bike.

Katniss barely bothered to look down. "I don't wanna play soccer, Prim."

"You always wanna play," countered Prim. Confusion clouded her face as she turned to Jo. "What's wrong with her?"

"I dunno," murmured Jo. It wasn't exactly a lie. She wasn't entirely sure what about the situation had set Katniss off or how she was feeling. Only that she was hurt over something. She didn't get a chance to ask until she had to take the kids home and start making dinner. Even once Prim coaxed her down from the tree, Katniss avoided speaking to or even looking at Jo the whole time they were at the park. Prim noticed too, Jo could tell, but she opted not to get involved, trying to cheer her sister up in other ways. It didn't work.

When they made it back to the house, Johanna held Katniss up at the front stoop as Prim climbed the few steps to the porch. Prim looked back long enough to see what was happening, then smartly disappeared inside. Once the door closed behind her, Jo tried once more to make eye contact with Katniss.

"What's wrong?" Still Katniss refused to acknowledge her, glaring sullenly at the ground. Johanna sighed. "Look, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings when I yelled at you."

"What do you care?" growled Katniss. Finally she lifted her head, eyes blazing. "I'm just the kid you babysit." Planting her hands on her hips, she steamed, "You're too cool for me now?"

Forcing a grin onto her lips, Johanna threw the sass right back at her. "I've always been too cool for you, Katniss." Katniss scoffed in disbelief and started to stomp up the stairs, but Jo held her back once more. "Hey! Come on, I'm just teasing."

"It's not fucking funny!" Clearly agitated, Katniss had a hard time forcing those words out. It worked out for Johanna, who needed a second to blink away her shock at the profanity. It was not at all something she was used to hearing from Katniss. There was no question, she was pissed. Gathering her wits, Katniss pressed on. "I thought we were friends."

"We are," Johanna assured her calmly, hoping it would rub off on her. It didn't work.

"Really?" snapped Katniss. "I don't humiliate my friends to make myself look better." She cocked her head, eyes narrowing. "You wouldn't want to look dumb in front of your boyfriend, would you? Being friends with a middle schooler."

Johanna waved her off. "You'll understand when you're older."

"No," stated Katniss. "I don't think I will." Then she turned and stormed inside, once again slamming the door behind her.

Once the hormones and embarrassment had time to wear off, Jo actually started feeling really bad about this. It bothered her all evening and all day Friday, distracting her from school and from Blight. The guilt was bad enough that she decided she had to fix this as soon as possible. So that afternoon after school she grabbed a couple spoons from her house, swung by the corner store, then skated over to the Everdeens' house again.

Katniss answered the door, as Jo had been hoping for. The younger girl gave her a few seconds of side eye before starting to close the door in her face, but Jo stuck her hand out to block it. Opening her backpack, she pulled out two pint-sized cartons of ice cream. "Peanut butter chocolate, your favourite." When Katniss continued to silently glare at her, she tipped her head and implored, "Please, let me make this up to you."

The girl's voice came out stilted and sharp as she finally spoke. "You think you can buy me off with ice cream?"

"No," Johanna answered quietly. Pausing a beat, she flashed Katniss a charming, disarming smile. "I know I can." She nodded outside as Katniss narrowed her eyes, trying to fight off a smile of her own. Finally Katniss shook her head and sighed, joining her on the porch. She willingly sat beside Jo and took the carton and spoon offered to her, but refused to make eye contact. So Jo stared into her pint of moose tracks as she said, "I'm sorry about yesterday. That was a real douchey thing to do."

Despite her efforts to look away, Katniss's eyes flicked over inquisitively. "What's 'douchey' mean?"

Johanna took a second to rephrase. "It was not a very nice thing to do. I wasn't thinking with my head."

"What were you thinking with?"

"Not my head," she repeated pointedly.

Picking at one of her bitten-off nails, Katniss murmured, "Your heart?"

That led to another awkward pause. "No. Not really." Wanting badly to get off that topic, Johanna quickly continued, "I won't bring him around again, okay? And I won't fuck off to the skate park. When we're hanging out, it'll just be us."

Katniss snorted. "You mean when you're babysitting me?"

"You're eleven, you don't need a babysitter anymore. I'm just taking the money because they keep offering it. If I can get paid to hang out with you, that's a bonus." Johanna had a feeling the Everdeens kept paying her to babysit because Katniss had so few friends and they wanted her to socialize, but obviously she didn't bring that up.

Unconvinced, Katniss squinted her way. "It's not because you have to?"

"Of course not," Johanna declared, playfully knocking knees with her.

This seemed to satisfy Katniss, at least for the moment, and they ate in silence for a bit. Katniss was halfway through her carton when she suddenly asked, "What's it like, having a boyfriend?"

Johanna almost choked on her ice cream. "What?"

"I mean, how does it make you feel?" clarified Katniss. Eyes on her carton again, she confessed, "There's a boy in my class who likes me, but he doesn't make me feel anything."

Johanna shrugged and pointed out, "You're kinda young, still."

"I guess." Katniss said nothing for several moments, apparently lost in thought. "Do you ever think…"

When she failed to continue, Jo prompted her, "Think what?"

Giving her head a little shake, Katniss mumbled, "Never mind."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Given her previous suspicions and the content of their conversation, Jo couldn't help but wonder if Katniss was trying to ask her about girls. Laying a comforting hand on Katniss's knee, she assured her, "You know, you can talk to me about anything." Katniss twitched her mouth but didn't accept the invitation, parting her lips only to shovel ice cream inside.

Johanna shrugged. "Okay. Your loss, kiddo." Katniss shot her another glare, and Johanna remembered. That was no term of endearment to her.