CHRISTTTMASSSSSSSSS erhmegerd i'm so excited 3

Thank you to all you lovely narwhals for supporting me throughout the story so far!


Peeta's POV


Four and Six stood behind us and Six asked,

"Alright, who's going first?"

"ME!" squealed Isabelle. Typical of her.

Clove shot a death glare in my direction, as if to say 'It's all your fault I'm in this mess'. I was so concentrated on what had happened in the dorms earlier on, I didn't even notice my name being called.

"Peeta! PEETA!"

Alec elbowed me in the ribs, bringing me back to reality.

"Oh um- what? Dare." I replied.

Alec tells me in a hushed voice, "You're supposed to say Dauntless for Dare and Candor for Truth by the way."

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about something. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks."

Isabelle leaned over to Katniss and they had a small whispered conversation before Isabelle turned to me to announce my fate.

"I dare you to do the cinnamon challenge!" she grinned.

Pfft. Cinnamon challenge. Easy. Well, easy if your brothers have forced you to do it many times in your childhood.

I winced at the thought of my mean brothers, and said confidently,

"Challenge accepted."

As Four ran to the cafeteria to grab some cinnamon, I caught Katniss staring at me. She blushed and looked away, and I noticed how beautiful she looked with her hair down, those lovely brunette waves perfectly framing her face.

And then it hits me.

She is my childhood crush.


~Flashback to Peeta's first day of school~

My father and mother hug me tight before I step out of the house. Today will be my first of school, the first day I get to see people from other factions.

It may seem rude, but I have a habit of noticing and remembering the little details of people I meet. For example, I have noticed that Ambriel, one of my older brothers, has a hint of chestnut brown in his hair, even though he is naturally blonde.

This is why I'm so curious to get out and see people that aren't always wearing plain black and white, the Candor faction colours.

My mother sobs and tells me things like 'Have a good day, honey' and 'I love you!' while my father says, 'Be strong, champ!' and 'First day is always the hardest without family' (honestly, I'm not weak, it's just that I'm the youngest)

The public bus pulls up at our driveway and I nervously step onto the vehicle that will take me to one of the most important places in my life.

Everyone in my year on the bus laughs at the pale, blonde boy who's brothers are making stupid faces in the window of our house. I hurriedly make my way to the back in the hopes that school will get better in the next few days.

That's when I notice her.

Her is a pretty young girl in a bright yellow Amity dress. She is thin and not very tall, but her eyes tell me she is strong-willed. The girl then turns to me and says in her cute little voice,

"Hi, I'm Katniss. Is it your first day of school too?"

"I'm Peeta. I'm in Form One."

Katniss giggles and asks me,

"Peeta. Like Pita bread?"

I too giggle with her at the joke. It's nice to laugh with someone and not have them laugh at me for a change. I take a liking to her instantly.

We sit next to each other on the bus, making jokes and small talk, enjoying the company of the other.

When the bus pulls up at a dull grey building which I assume is school, Katniss and I happily jump out of our seats, say our goodbyes, and go our separate ways.

As she leaves to join her group of Amity friends, I take notice of her adorable braided hair bouncing on her shoulders.

That's when I realize,

She's very pretty. I like her. I like like her.


~Back to Reality~


Four comes back with a jar of cinnamon and a teaspoon in his hand.

"Well then Peeta, good luck." he says as he sets the jar and teaspoon next to me, probably expecting me to gag on the cinnamon.

I confidently spoon some cinnamon out of the jar, gather as much saliva as possible in my mouth, and swallow it as fast as I can. Finnick raises his eyebrows and says,

"Dude, I didn't know that was physically possible."

I smirk slightly as everyone claps slowly in awe of my achievement.

"Annie, Candor or Dauntless?" I announce, remembering Alec's advice.

She grins excitedly and replies,

"Dauntless! I'm not a scaredy cat!"

Alec and me have a small conversation on what we should dare her to do.

"Make her drink toothpaste and orange juice mixed?" Alec suggested.

I shudder at the thought of how toothpaste and orange juice would taste.

"No! I'm not that mean." I answer.

"Fine, fine. She can add 'in my pants' to the end of every sentence."

I consider this dare for a moment. It's not too mean, just slightly funny.

Annie looks at me expectantly, like all the other initiates.

I gulp and say,

"Annie, I dare you to... add 'in my pants' to the end of sentence you speak until the end of the game'."

As if this was something she did every day, she replies with a cheerful,

"Okie dokie - in my pants. So, Clove, I see that you're being a little quiet in my pants. I dare you to pantomime taking a shit-"

"Language!" interrupts Four sternly

"Okay, okay in my pants! My dear Clove, I dare you to pantomime 'dumping' on the floor in my pants!"

Clove's eyes widen fearfully, probably already imagining the outcome: embarrassment, humiliation.

She stands up and takes a deep breath, muttering under her breath, "Don't worry Clove. It's not too bad. You're Dauntless now."

Clove squats uncomfortably in her pink ballet costume, and screws up her face in pretend agony.

Everyone squeals in laughter, even Clove bursts into laughter, her laughter light and bubbly. I never thought someone who seemed so tough and cruel on the outside could actually be good-hearted.

"You know, maybe Clove isn't so bad. Maybe she's getting nicer now that tutu is teaching her a lesson." Alec says to me, smiling.

He's right, even mean people can change, especially Clove. Maybe Cato needs some work on his attitude, but we'll leave that for later.


Thank you for reading! I think I have a new name for my fans: Narwhals! I mean, come on. They're the closest we'll probably ever get to unicorns, so let's call them the unicorns of the sea! I'll be Queen Narwhal. Yay ^_^

I hope you liked this chapter! Happy Holidays!

-Queen Narwhal