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I walk out of class and see him. My body freezes, and it's like someone has punched me in the stomach. He locks eyes with me and sneers, giving me an evil smile and winking as he gives me a sarcastic wave. My face flushes and I feel my wrists burn as I remember our last encounter yesterday evening. I spin around and walk in the other direction.

I hear Scott call after me. "Where are you going, Katniss? What's wrong?" I turn my head and see he and his friends laughing. "Come back! We don't bite."

Tears well up in my eyes as I keep walking. He may not bite, but close enough. I don't know what it is about Scott but for the first time in my life I am literally terrified of a person. After getting cornered last night, I no longer feel like myself. Usually I feel strong and in control, but right now I feel weak and unstable. This is so unlike me and it's all because of him, all because of what he did yesterday. I take deep breaths to steady my breathing. I begin walking faster so that I can get home to Prim and my Mom and get away from this school.

"Katniss! Wait up!" I stop and see Peeta coming towards me. He touches my shoulder. "Did you get home alright yesterday? I was worried all night." His eyes are concentrated on my face.

My face falls slightly before I realize it. Don't cry, Katniss. Don't cry. My chest rises and falls as Peeta still waits for an answer. His eyebrows knit together as his gaze darkens. "What happened?" He steps closer to me and whispers, "Are you okay?" He brings his fingertips up to rest on my cheek. "Katniss?"

"Nothing, nothing happened. Everything is fine. Everything was fine." I'm babbling. Why can't I look him in the eyes and lie? Concentrate, Katniss. I swallow hard and I look directly at Peeta. He raises an eyebrow and frowns. Why does he have to care so much? Why can't he be a typical guy and run away at the first sign of emotion from a girl?

"You don't look like it. You look like you're ready to fall apart at any second." He takes my hand and leads me to a bench. We both sit down. I sit and stare straight ahead willing myself to feel nothing while he turns so his entire body is facing me. He has so much concern in his eyes that if I even look at him I get tears in my eyes. I want to tell him everything but I don't want to drag him into anything. Besides, I barely know him to begin with.

"I'm fine, Peeta." My voice cracks as I say his name. I shake my head and clear my throat. "Really."

"No, you're not. I can tell when you're lying. What happened?"

I barely know this boy but he can read me like a book, which slightly annoys me. "What do you mean you can tell when I'm lying? I'm not lying. You hardly know me, Peeta. I'm fine. I'm great. Peachy."

God, I suck at lying.

"You suck at lying."

Yepp.

"If I say I'm fine, I'm fine. Leave it alone." My voice is cold. I don't want to do this. I can't do this. I just want to go home and get away. Why does he keep trying to get involved? I know he's just trying to help, but I'm trying to protect him. The last thing that I want is for Scott to set his eyes on Peeta and me both.

"I'm just trying to help. If you need to talk, I don't want you feeling like there's no one there to listen. I'm here, Katniss. I'm right here."

"Honestly, I don't want to talk about it. I'll see you later." I get up to leave. Peeta grabs my forearm, the same one Scott grabbed yesterday. It's still tender, and I cry out in pain. Peeta immediately retracts his arm as if it's on fire.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... Wait. What is that? Katniss, what's on your arm?" His eyes are focused on a spot on my wrist.

I look down and see the bruise on my right wrist exposed. To my dismay, I woke up this morning with angry marks on both of my wrists leftover from my meeting with Scott the night before. I had to dig through my closet to find a shirt with long enough sleeves to cover both arms. The only problem is, if my shirt sleeve rides up even a little, they show. By now my wrists are a shade of blue. His eyebrows furrow in concern.

I pull my sleeve down. "It's nothing." I refuse to make eye contact with him as I pull the fabric over my fingers. I don't want them to get exposed again. "Just a little bruise from a bump I took on my bed last night."

"A bump from your bed."

"Yeah."

He sighs and gently takes my hands. "You can trust me, Katniss. Let me see." His blue eyes soften as they lock eyes with mine as I look up. "Please?" I bite my lip. His thumbs run over mine in a coaxing manner. I relax my hands while he turns my wrists over and slowly pulls up my sleeves.

My wrist tingles as Peeta delicately touches the bruise. He runs his fingertips over the finger print marks Scott left. He takes my other hand in his and inspects the other wrist as well. His hands slowly return down to hold mine as he gives them a squeeze. Normally this much contact freaks me out, but Peeta's touch calms me. He takes a deep breath and sighs, but he's not letting go of my hands. "I knew I should have walked you home. I shouldn't have let you leave." He lets out a loud sigh. "I'm so sorry, Katniss. I'm so stupid. This is all my fault."

I don't answer. I'm in a trance as I stare at our hands, still entwined. It's funny how one person's hands bruise, while another's hands soothes.

"Katniss?"

"It's not your fault."

Peeta rolls his eyes. "Katniss, come on."

"It's not. You couldn't have stopped it. I couldn't even stop it. I did everything right and I tried not to make him angry."

"What did he do?"

"He threatened me."

Peeta blue eyes darken, and he doesn't say anything for a long time. His jaw tenses and his lips purse together.

"We have a problem."