KATNISS

The next day at school, I see Peeta in the hallway as I make my way to my locker. He doesn't notice me at first.

"Are you coming to the party?" One of his friends asks.

"Actually… I'm not. I'm busy." Peeta replies.

I pause for moment and continue walking.

"Really? Are you going out with a girl or something?" his friend teases.

His friends laugh.

"Maybe I am," Peeta says. Something begins to burn inside of me. Who is this girl? I turn around to get to my first period, English, and find that he's watching me.

"How you scored a girl with that bruise on your face, I dunno. Your brothers must be really good at wrestling," another friend says.

I flinch at the lie and Peeta looks away.

As I walk away, Peeta says, "Yeah… we should get to class."

I sit down in my seat once I enter the class. I'm about to let out an exhale of relief when I see Peeta walking into the room. Crap. I forgot he had English with me.

Peeta usually sits in the back of the class with his friends, so I don't have to worry about seeing that bruise.

I take my water bottle out and take a drink. I'm about to swallow, but something feels off. I look around for a moment. To the left was the wall, in front of me was the board, and behind me was a girl that no one really likes talking to because she always corrects you, and then to my right was Peeta, and—

What the hell. Peeta? Why was he sitting here?

My eyes widen and I almost spit out the water that's in my mouth. He's sitting in the seat like he was made for it.

"Do you have something to say, Katniss?" Peeta asks me with a raised eyebrow. One of his friends snickers.

I swallow the water. I'm about to say something rude, but my eyes find the bruise, and I can't help but think, He got that because of me, because I came to the bakery.

I look at his blue eyes. "You should put some ice on that bruise."

The teacher starts the lesson and I stare at the board for the rest of class.

I let out a frustrated sigh when I realize that I'm going to be late for math. My English teacher had wanted to talk to me about an assignment, and he took longer than I had expected. I'm grabbing my math binder from my locker when someone covers my eyes.

Instinct kicks in and soon enough I've pinned the person to the lockers.

"What the hell do you think— Peeta?"

"Jeez, Katniss, you freaked me out!" He exclaims.

"I freaked you out, seriously? You're the one who covered my eyes!"

"I wanted to surprise you!"

"Well, mission accomplished." I say tiredly.

Peeta sighs. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." I glance at his bruise and then wince. "I didn't hurt you, did I? I'd hate to be responsible for another bruise."

To my surprise, he smiles, but it disappears quickly. "No, I just wanted to tell you to stop looking at my bruise like… that. This isn't the first time I've gotten a bruise, you know."

I frown. "Like what?"

"Like… like that. Like… you care," he mumbles. "I've gotten plenty of bruises before from wrestling and you didn't look at me like this."

"Um…" I try to figure out what to say. Was I supposed to shrug and say, Maybe I do care! or was I just supposed to be like, Whaaaat noooo!

"It's just that this bruise is my fault. You got all those other bruises because of your stupidity," I finally reply.

He looks away for a moment, as though he was hoping for another answer. "Oh. Well, we should get to class. I told the teacher I needed to go to the restroom," he says with a shrug.

"Right. But you go in first. People might think things if we go in together."

"Do you care if people 'think things', Katniss?" He asks.

I find myself drowning in his eyes. I don't give two craps if people think things. "Can you just go in first?"

Peeta grins and walks to the classroom's closed door. I roll my eyes when he winks at me before he opens the door and walks inside.

After school ends, I go to the school's library. There are a lot of books on the history of our country, Panem, that are actually somewhat interesting.

However, I'm not here for the books. I'm here to tutor students who need help in, well, almost all subjects. I tutor for about and hour or two, depending on my schedule and how many people need help. Any method of payment is acceptable as long as it can help my family; money, food, medicines— I'll take it.

Once I settle down in the library, a sixth grader named Collin comes up to me and asks me to help him in math.

"Sure, what do you need help on?" I ask. He shows me his problem and it takes me about an hour to help him understand it.

"You're supposed to subtract x from both sides and—"

"That guy is watching you." Collin says.

I frown. "Who is?"

"Over there, the one with blond hair." He points to the library's entrance, and sure enough, Peeta's looking at me expectantly with a math textbook in his hand.

I roll my eyes. "Ignore him. He's not important, this is."

Fifteen minutes later, Collin gives me something in a paper bag— I guess whatever's in the plastic bag is his way of paying me— and a hug. "Thanks, Katniss."

I smile. "No problem, kiddo."

I wait for a minute and see if anyone else needs help. When no one comes forward, I walk over to Peeta. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard you tutor. You see, we have a math test this Friday, and—"

"You better not be asking me for help in math, Peeta."

He's caught off-guard. "Um, why not?"

"You got, like, a 98 on your last math test. And you got A's on all your other tests too. People should be coming to you for tutoring," I say.

Peeta's lips quirk. "How'd you know that?"

"I— I pay attention to things," I stutter.

He looks at me with… an expression I can't put a name on. It looks somewhat like longing. Sort of… wistful.

I clear my throat. "Anyway, I have to get home. So… bye."

"Wait! Can I walk you home?" He sounds surprised at his own words.

"Uh, sure…"

We step outside of the library and Peeta immediately starts asking questions.

"So, where's your sister? Does she walk home alone?"

"I walk home with her when I don't have anything after school. And I think she can walk alone without getting hurt. I mean, who would deliberately hurt Prim, you know? She's so sweet."

Peeta smiles. "Yeah, I don't think I could ever say no to her."

I laugh. "Believe me, it's really hard for me to say no too. A few years back, she found this hideous cat with muddy-yellow eyes, and guess what she named him."

"What?"

"Buttercup."

We start to crack up.

After we finish laughing Peeta says, "She finds a way to make the ugly things beautiful. That's a gift that many people don't have."

"I know. And when she found that cat, I knew she was going to ask me if we could keep it. I said no at first, but once she cried, I had to say yes."

Peeta studies me. "She's lucky to have a sister like you."

I blush. "I, uh, thanks."

Awkward silence.

Then, "What's in the bag?"

"Hmm?"

"The bag the boy gave you."

"Oh, I don't know. I'm guessing it's food," I reply.

"Food?"

"Yeah. If the students I tutor can't pay me by money, they pay me buy food or medicine, even. And as long as it helps my family, I'll take it."

"That's amazing. You're amazing," he says after a moment.

"Thanks," I hope I'm not blushing. "Sometimes I feel selfish though, because I'm still taking something from them for my family."

"That's not selfish. It's called survival."

I sigh.

"Are you gonna check what's in the bag later or can I start the drum roll?" He asks.

I laugh. "You can start the drum roll."

"Okay, drum roll!" Since he doesn't have anything to use as drum, he makes drum sounds that end immediately once he sees what's in my hand.

It's a loaf of bread. Collin gave me a loaf of bread.

Peeta gave me a loaf of bread too, a long time ago.

I speak up. "I never got to say thank you that day." He'd given me food that had saved my family. And now that I remember it, his mom had slapped him in front of me too. Great, I was responsible for another one of Peeta's bruises.

"You don't have to. I'd do it again."

"No, I do," my voice cracks. "You saved my family. You saved our lives." I whisper.

Peeta doesn't say another word. He pulls me to him and I wrap my arms around him. He holds me like that for some time, and for the first time since my father's death, I feel safe.

I pull away from his embrace. "I'll walk home by myself from here. Go home, Peeta."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He turns around to walk home.

"Wait," I say.

I walk over to him and kiss him on his cheek, right on the bruise.

"Thank you."

Yayyyy, I hope y'all are happy with this chapter.

Goin' to sleep now, cuz it's 12:30 AM and I am hella tired yo.

Buenas noches, mis amigos.