A/N: So, I meant to do a chapter last week but had NO time. So here's Friday AND Saturday of Homecoming week… One week late. Yay for the late end of rejection week, right? Also, now is a good time to mention that this story is somewhat of a sequel to my story called Hunger Games High School, so some of the alumni coming back are the seniors from that story.

Chapter 8: Alumni

Prim wakes up to Katniss hanging over her bed.

"Primmy!" Katniss giggles, just glad to be in an actual room as opposed to a college dorm.

"Katniss!" Prim squeals, sitting up and hugging her sister, "You're back!"

"Yeah I am!" she says with a smile.

Prim grins, "I missed you Katniss."

"I missed you, too," the college freshman whispers with a kiss on her cheek.

"Having fun at college?" Prim asks.

Katniss grins, "Sure am. But I have to admit that I do miss my little duck."

"Your little duck missed you back," Prim says with a slight giggle.

"Katniss! You and Prim want some breakfast!?" Mrs. Everdeen calls.

"YES!" the hungry college student jumps out of bed and runs to the kitchen.

Mr. Everdeen laughs, "Hold it Speed Racer. Did you wake up Prim?"

"Yes Daddy!" Katniss says, hungrily eyeing a biscuit.

He laughs, "Eat as much as you want," Mrs. Everdeen says. Katniss's mouth is already full.

Prim walks down to the kitchen and grabs an apple, amused at her sister's hungry stuffing of the mouth.

"You would think you haven't been fed in months," she remarks.

"Yeah, yeah," Katniss says, not caring what her sister thinks.

Prim smiles, eating her food.

"You're coming to the game tonight, right?" Prim asks, just to be sure.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. Gale's coming, too."

"What ever happened there? With you and Peeta?"

"We, um…" Katniss looks around and says quietly, "Called it quits… For college…"

"Oh," Prim says with a nod, "Same happened to Cato and Clove. And Athena and Theo, too."

"I like both of those couples," she confesses.

"But you also know how hard college is. Especially trying to date."

"Know it too well," Katniss whispers.

"Well that sucks," Prim says, and gives her sister the opportunity to change the subject.

"Well I think that I'm the favorite of the roomates," Katniss says.

"You think?" her Dad asks.

Katniss nods, "I mean, we all get along, but I think Willow prefers me to Pit and Pit prefers me to Willow. So I'm the favorite."

"That's good," Prim says, "You always were a pretty good roommate."

"You should know," Katniss teases.

Prim smiles.


Cato is nervous about talking to Clove. He isn't sure what he wants to say or do… It's a little hard to resist those pretty eyes of hers, or her beautiful smile, or her punch that hurts like the son of a bitch but still makes him laugh every time.

But the two have decided to go back to being best friends. And for this to work, neither one can fall for the other.

Cato shows up to Clove's house that night in a hoody and jeans. When Clove sees him there, she thinks he looks even cuter than when he left for college.

"Hi," Cato says quietly.

"Hey," Clove says, "How is it?"

"It's alright," Cato says, "I've made some new friends while I was there."

"That's good!" Athena appears behind her step-sister with pain on her cheeks.

"Hi Athena," Cato says, glad to see a friend there.

"Hi Pretty Boy," Athena teases.

"Ready to go?" Clove asks.

"Sure!" Athena says enthusiastically.

They all get into Cato's dad's old pickup truck to drive to the stadium.


The band hustles and bustles about, trying to tend to the needs of 50 alumni that came back to play with them for the pregame.

Mason strolls into the auditorium with his saxophone case and grins. He loves it here.

He walks casually to his old section, the tenor saxophones, blending in because he wore his band shirt.

Soon all of the underclassmen hug their alumni. Last year he didn't talk to them a lot because he was a drum major, but he loves to relive his junior year. But there's one adopted child of his that Mason doesn't see.

"Where's Elijah?" he asks, looking around, just as the blue-eyed boy blows a whistle.

"Warmups!" he says, directing the students' attention to the back of the room where an instructor is waiting for them.

Mason grins as his old freshman walks back down the aisle and catches him by the arm.

Elijah is startled but looks relieved to see his old friend there.

Elijah wraps his arms around Mason and laughs, "Mase!"

"Lijah! You never told me you were a drum major!"

Elijah laughs, "Shoulda mentioned…" he says with a grin.

"I am so proud of you!"

"I would've never tried out had it not been for you! Seriously."

Mason smiles, "Congrats. Good luck, buddy!" before running off to join the other alumni.

Elijah grins proudly, "See ya later."


Mason's girlfriend Nathalia, also Theo's twin sister, cheers in the stands as the band marches around. She sees Mason and squeals louder.

Rue hears the screaming and immediately recognizes it, running to her old senior friend and throwing her arms around her.

Nathalia grins, "RUE!" she squeezes the air out of her old freshman in a tight hug.

Theo smiles as Skeeter soon comes hopping down the steps with her, greeting his freshman with a hug.

"I missed you, Theo!"

"I missed you, too," Theo says with a smile.

"Glee club isn't the same without you!"

"I'm sure it's not," Theo teases.

Skeeter laughs.

Theo gets serious suddenly, "How's Athena? I still really feel bad about leaving her, but…"

"She's doing alright. She'll live."

Theo breathes a sigh of relief, "Good."

Then they pay attention to the announcements of returning alumni.


Katniss, Rory, Gale and Madge sit in the stands together and cheer. Katniss is so happy to be back with her friends and Madge especially is glad to have her best friend back.

Posy sits with Kelley and Edward again, like last week. Theo and Nathalia are anxious to talk to them, as well.

Katniss is the first to spot Prim marching in the block, Rory soon after, then Madge, but the girls and boyfriend have to point her out to Gale.

Then the football game starts and everyone cheers.

Marvel and Vick are both equally determined to play well, and the Panem Mutts easily overpower their opponents once again with a score of 58 to 3.


Saturday marks the homecoming dance.

Ben and Daphne meet up at the orphanage and go out to the park instead of to the dance.

Rue takes Skeeter and invites Tanner but the junior stays behind, declining their offer to spend time with his cousin Francesca before she goes back to college.

Katniss went back that morning, so Prim and Rory go together, bringing along Madge and Vick as friends.

Linus and Arrow go as friends with some of the other orphans. Arrow still hasn't made his feelings vocal but doesn't want to after seeing how longingly his friend looks over at Elijah.

He and Nate hang out together as if nothing had happened between them, confusing Linus as to how the turnout was.

Jason and Locke blow off the dance, and Santana sits at home alone and sulks.

Suddenly, she gets a text from the man himself: Jason.

Hey…Are you Ok?

She looks at the words. He cares…. HE CARES! She smiles as she texts back in a casual-sounding manner, Yeah. Fine. But thanks. : )

She doesn't get a response after that.

Eventually Elijah wanders from the dance floor to the band storage room, where the drum majors had started a project of carrying boxes to transfer them to the band room. The teacher is up managing the sound systems for the dance but Elijah convinced him to leave the room open if he wanted to go and help. Linus sees him wander and takes off to follow him. He catches the brunette as he's setting up his iPod and muttering about how he wishes his sister didn't make him come to dance at all.

"Hi…" Linus greets as a quiet waltz plays in the background.

Elijah stands up and turns around to face him. "Hey," he greets.

They both quiet and Elijah closes his eyes, listening to the music. "Ah, ¾ time," he says dreamily, "Doesn't it just make you wanna dance?"

"Um…" he thinks, "Sure, maybe…"

Elijah holds out a hand to his friend. "C'mon. I'll teach you how to waltz," he whispers, a slight smile on his face.

"Really!?" Linus asks, heart leaping.

"Unless it's too weird…" Elijah says, "But I need a partner and you're the only one here."

"Ok, sure," he tries not to sound enthusiastic.

"I'll lead," Elijah whispers. His friend nods.

Elijah and Linus dance around for a little while without a word, and he feeling of his crush so close to him makes Linus's heart beat so fast he almost has trouble breathing.

Finally, he gathers up the courage and asks a question.

"How'd it go with Nate?" Linus isn't exactly sure what he wants the answer to be.

"It didn't," Elijah says quietly.

"Oh…" Linus says, suddenly feeling bad at seeing his friend so upset, "I'm really sorry to hear that."

"Eh, don't be," Elijah says numbly, "I guess I'm a little over it now."

"But I am, anyways," Linus insists.

"But you shouldn't be…"

"But I am!"

Elijah sighs, "Fine. Now follow me."

The two partners do a spin, Elijah herding Linus around by holding him slightly closer.

"So…" Linus starts, gathering more courage, "What are you thinking your sexuality is now? Gay… Straight… Bi…?"

"Right now? I'm feeling… I'm just not in love with anyone. I'm like… No-sexual."

This news hurts Linus, but he doesn't give up. "Oh… But, what would you say if…" he trails off.

"If…?" the brunette asks.

The blonde swallows hard, "If a boy were to say he had feelings for you."

Humiliated, he focuses more on his feet than on the reaction of his partner.

"I mean… I wouldn't say no off the bat, I guess, but… Uh…" Elijah, frustrated because of not knowing these things for himself, sighs, "I guess it depends on who. But in case you haven't noticed, not a lot of people openly express their liking of me. Where would I even think to look for a nice guy who wouldn't be afraid of being… With me… That isn't a freak or a creep?"

Linus, after a pause, swallows his pride and makes himself look into those blue eyes that he wishes could be his to look at as long as he wanted to.

"You wouldn't have to look far," he whispers weakly, looking back down at his feet.

"Because there's one right in front of your face."


There's a pause. A long pause.

A long and quiet pause.

Linus looks up and the look of shock on Elijah's face is evident.

He blinks tears out of his eyes and retreats. As he's running out the door he adds, "Elijah, I'm so sorry!"

Elijah stands there, frozen. He has no idea what to make of this. He runs back to the cafeteria and practically tackles his best friend.

"Nate!"

Upon being tackled, Nate groans before flashing his best friend a bright smile, "There you are!"

"Nate…" Elijah says, taking his best friend by the shoulders and shaking him, "Linus just told me he loves me!"

Nate's eyes light up and his grin widens, "That's great!" then his smile fades into a slight frown, "D…Do you love Linus back?"

Elijah, who's mind is swirling with thoughts and questions, thinks about this.

"Y…Yeah…. I think… I think that I do…"

Nate goes back to grinning again, "Elijah! This is great!"

"Nate, I don't know if I can do it!"

"Do what?" he asks, looking concerned.

"I've been wrestling with my sexuality for a while… But… I haven't actually told anyone but you. What's my Dad gonna do? What are my friends gonna say? I'm going to have to deal with so much crap from everyone, and… I don't think I can take it, Nate! I'll let them all get to me! Plus… Linus has known he's liked guys for… I guess for a while. I'm just figuring it out now! What if I'm not good enough!? What if I can't keep up!? What if-"

Nate smacks him across the face, "Lijah!"

His friend's eyes refocus and he snaps back into it, "What!?"

"Where do I begin!?" Nate asks. "First of all, you think we would leave you? We talk to Jessie all the time, and you're just as special as she is. We're your best friends! You think your dad's going to be one of those awful excuses for a parent that kicks you out? Your dad? He loves you too much for that. He's proud of you for you. And, even if everyone else leaves, which they won't, you will ALWAYS have me. I mean, come on. We've been best friends since either of us could talk, probably even before! And I was never your friend solely because you liked girls or guys… I never cared about that, and I never will. But you know what I do care about?"

Elijah asks quietly, "What do you care about?"

Nate takes Elijah by the shoulders now, "I care that there's a great guy in the hall who loves you, and you love him back! And you're going to break his heart because you're scared? That doesn't sound like the Elijah Crowly I know! He's fearless… You're fearless!"

Elijah starts to smile, "I am scared of heights. But, yeah, I suppose I am kind of fearless."

"Exactly! So stop talking to me and go get your man!" Nate gives him a shove towards the door and Elijah stumbles. He mouths a quick, "Thanks," before running out the doors and down the hall to where Linus is sitting against the wall with his head buried in his knees.

"Hey…" the brunette greets quietly, sitting by his blonde friend.

Linus looks up, choking on tears. His stomach flops upon seeing the blue eyes to greet him.

"Elijah, please don't be mad… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. I made it weird and I put you on the spot… I'm so sorry."

"Don't be."

"But I am!"

"But you shouldn't be!"

"But I AM!" he says, "Why the hell shouldn't I be!? I made it and totally awkward, and that was wrong of me to do."

"Because somehow I don't think you'll have a lot of trouble finding your dream guy."

Linus makes a slight snorting noise, "Yeah, sure. Where am I going to find that someone? Where out there is a guy who's cute, funny, athletic, smart, musical, popular, friendly, kind, gay, and willing to be seen with some abandoned orphan kid who doesn't even remember his parents!?"

"I don't think you'll have to look far," Elijah says, leaning against the wall across from his friend. Linus looks up. Elijah smiles, looking into the brown eyes that he's come to find indescribable comfort in, "Because… There's one right in front of your face."

Linus looks up and sees the genuinely nervous expression on Elijah's face. Then he jumps up and presses his lips to Elijah's for just a second before hugging him tightly. And Elijah hugs his new boyfriend tightly and can't wipe the grin off his face.