9.

When I wake up the next day, I have one thought on my mind, Why the hell is my life so messed up? For most of my life I've just been Seam Scum, The lowest of the low but now I'm a cheating pregnant 15 year old that nobody likes. The only person that I can actually trust in that damn school anymore is Peeta. And maybe Madge, she wouldnt believe the rumour would she? She couldnt possibly, she already knows me better than that.

I hope its alright at school today. I cant stand the thought of everyone watching me for something that didnt even happen and something that isnt even true. Maybe I'll stick around Peeta all day, but if I did that then it would only rouse the suspiscion that I'm dating him, Wouldnt it? Or would it just make it look like I've broken up with him too and I want Gale back or something stupid like that?

I've been awake most of the night worrying about this. I think I got about an hour sleep, which wont be good for school. When I get tired, I get angry, very angry. Peeta doesnt know that about me yet and I doubt he is going to like it at all. Rye had told me thtat Peeta isnt that nice when he's tired either but I am alot worse, I made Prim cry once when I was really tired and thats something I would never be able to do when I'm not tired. Prim is always the one that makes sure I go to sleep at night just in case I scream at her again. I'm thankful thought because I dont really like being angry at anyone.

I glance over at Peeta in the bed next to me and he looks peaceful. I cant disturb him so I get out of bed as quickly as I can and walk to the bathroom, trying to hold in the tears. I'm not entirely sure what made me cry but I think I've hit the point where everything has just got on top of me and is finally leaving its mark. I knock quietly on the bathroom door but nobody answers so I walk in, wedging the towel rack in the door as it doesnt actually have a lock. Thats when I finally let myself go, leaning over the sink trying to look anywhere other than in the mirror.

Why is everything so damn hard. Why cant we just lead simple lives. I know I'm only 15 and hopefully have a lot more years ahead of me but for some reason, I have a feeling that our problems are only going to get worse and there is nothing we can do about it. I glance up at the Mirror quickly, hoping to see no tears and be able to walk straight out of thr bathroom like nothing happened but my face is all red and blotchy. I can feel my anger now, the tears slowly diminishing away and my blood beginning to boil so much that I can feel it in my head.

Gina enters my head, what she did to me a week ago. Somehow I think this rumour has something to do with her. I dont know how and I dont know why but she does have something to do with it. I bet she even started the rumour. Oh she makes me so angry that I could just punch something-

The glass from the mirror shatters around me, my hand pulsing with the pain from a couple cuts on my knuckles. My reflection is gone and I'm just staring at the bare wall as the Mirror frame drops into the sink, cutting the knuckles on my other hand. Oh great, this isnt good. Mrs Mellark is going to kill me. Maybe I should just let her, everything would be a lot simpler. Everything will just go away.

Suddenly, the door handle moves behind me and I turn around in fear that she has already come but then I realise that she is still next door at the Butchers, so it must be Peeta, Rye, Lev or Masan. My best guess is Peeta. I quickly try and kick the glass in the direction of the corner next to the toilet whilst trying to stop the little flow of blood from thr cut on my hand with one of the towels. "Katniss are you in there?" I hear Peeta ask, now knocking.

"No go away." I shout back, still trying to hide the glass.

"Katniss what was that crash, I heard it from my room?" He replies. I can hear the worry in his voice even with a door inbetween us.

"Nothing I just fell over that's all." I say, trying my best lie but he doesnt take it. Nobody ever does when I try to lie.

"Katniss open the door are you hurt?" The door handle moves again as he once again attempts to get through the door. It wont be long before he gets through it. The towel rack is now moving anyway.

"JUST GO AWAY!" I scream at him. Oh great, I'm crying agian. Brilliant.

"No katniss I'm not leaving this door until you open it!" He shouts back and he starts knocking again.

"Then you will be there for a while." I give up pushing the glass around when I realise that there is nowhere I can hide it and I sit down on the toilet, my head going faint.

"I don't care." He shouts back. He's not going to leave until I let him in. He is just about as stubborn as I am but what I've noticed is that he is only stubborn with me. If Rye was in this situation he would leave him alone.

"Fine I'll open the door but no one else comes in!" I shout back. I've probably got the attention of any of the other Mellarks and I dont want any of them in here. Only Peeta.

"Fine just let me in." He shouts back and I pull myself up, walking to the door and unwedging the towel rack so that he can open the door and I slide my back down the wall not far from the sink as the door opens slowly and Peeta hesitantly steps through. He shuts it behind him and looks over at me. A couple milliseconds later, he walks over and kneels beside me, cradling my arm. He's still in his underwear and shirt that he wore last night to bed. It doesnt really bother me when I sleep right next to him but right now I can feel my ears going slightly red. Peeta doesnt care though, he never has cared about nudity, Rye told me that much.

"What happened?" He asks me, looking down at my arm and assessing my injuries.

"I just got mad that's all. I didnt realise I did it." I admit. I dont care if he doesnt like me. Maybe all the rumours will stop if he stayed away from me.

"Well you need to get that hand looked at and you are gonna have to stay off school." He says. I cant stay off school again. I've been off school way too long this year.

"No we need to find out who did this." I reply and he nods, understanding what I mean.

"I can do that you need to stay here." He's looking at my face again and I feel the tears. A couple of months ago, Peeta was really popular in school, being a Townie. But now that he is hanging around with me, everyone hates him enough to start rumours and I cant believe I am doing this to him. He deserves better than me.

"No I'm coming to school and nothing you say will stop me. I just need some bandages." I ask him and he nods, standing up to get some from the cabinet across the room, my mother must have left them here just in case because I recognise them as the bandages that my mother buys with the little money that we have. I pull myself up and walk over to the shower. The sink has a frame in it so I guess I'm gonna have to use the shower to wash my wounds. The one on my Left hand has stopped bleeding but my right hand, the one I punched with, is quite far from that yet. Peeta walks over with Bandages and pads to put under them, I smile and attempt to dry my hand on a towel. With his help I am able to get the bandage on right and tidy the room so nothing is noticeable except from the fact that they no longer have a mirror other than the one in Peeta's room. I'm gonna have to find a way to pay them back.

Downstairs, Breakfast is already on the table so I slowly pour myself a small bown of cereal and a glass of water. Rye questions me on what happened but I just tell him that it was an accident and he seems to drop it.

On the way to school, Rye leaves us. I talked to Prim about walking up with Rory which means that its just me and Peeta. "I need to talk to you." I say to him and he turns to me with a small smile on his face. "I know that this problem is both of ours to deal with but after everything that has happened I think it would be better if we werent friends anymore." I say, looking away from him. His hand on my arm tells me to stop, which I do.

"What?" He asks.

"I'm just saying that it might be for the best. Before you where friends with me, you where a popular kid and now everyone seems to hate us both but I'm used to that, my only friend was Gale. I just think it would be better if we stayed away from eachother for a while. I've been spending too much time with you Peeta. Maybe if we didnt hang out as much then this rumour would go away and you could get your old friends back." I take this chance to look up at him and all he is doing is looking back down at me. "Peeta?" I ask as he just keeps staring.

"I see what your trying to say but no." He replies. His face is expressionless and he just keeps staring at me. "No, definitely not, I cant do that."

"Peeta..." I start but he stops me.

"Katniss, Whatever you're going to say isnt going to help at all. I cant do that. I'm incabable of staying away from you." His voice is very serious and his eyes have narrowed somewhat. I can feel my tears coming again and he just keeps staring at me. "I dont care about any of my old friends, they where idiots. The only one that I cared about was Delly but the rest of them would never leave us alone. You dont understand how glad I am that I met you." He has me by the arms now keeping me from getting away, not that I could anyway.

"I'm glad I met you too but thats the problem, I never should have met you. I was fine the way I was but now all this stuff has happened and I dont know how to deal with it anymore." I say to him, a tear escaping my eye.

"Thats why I'm here: to go through it with you." Then I feel his shirt against my face as his arms are around my shoulders.

We stand their for about 5 minutes before he finally starts to pull my along to school. His arm around my shoulders and mine around his waist. The school yard is almost empty which means everyone is already inside. I can feel my palms sweating and my heart beating fast and I pull myself away from Peeta as quickly as I can. He doesnt look hurt he just looks understanding. I'm not leaving him, I just dont think us walking into school like that would be a good idea. Either way, as soon as we walk through the doors, everyone is watching us and a couple are laughing. I grab Peeta's arm and pull him down the right corridor so that we can get to class. It will probably be the same in there but atleast when the teacher starts talking, the students cant. We drop by Peeta's locker first and strangely he wont let me look at the back of the door but I quickly let it go and we carry on to class.

We get to the door and Peeta glances at me. "You ready for this? Its pretty hard." He says and I nod. He's already been through this, and by himself. He pushes the door open slowly and walks in ahead of me. I can hear the laughter before I even get in the room. I quickly walk ahead of Peeta and drop into my seat by the window. I catch a few faces watching us with worry, like Delly, Madge and Peeta's friend River Cassus. Other than that, everyone is watching us.

"Right quiet down class." The teacher says as he walks through the door. Everybody shuts up and looks at him almost instantly and I let out the breathe I've been holding. I hear Peeta do the same and I open my work book that Peeta was carrying for me. He doesnt like the idea of me taking my stuff home every single day so he allowed to me to use his locker anytime I want. He told me that he is going to have to clear some stuff out first though, whatever that means but after that I can share his locker which wont help at all with this rumour. People who share lockers are dating.

Mr Hill carries on with the lesson and I start to feel the tiredness over taking me, so I lie my head down on the desk and I'm asleep in seconds.

"Everdeen! Why dont you come here? We have a surprise for you!" I hear Gina shouting from the open door of the Cafeteria. I'm standing at Peeta's locker and somehow I know that I'm waiting for him to show up. "Come on!" Her voice comes again and it sparks so much anger up in me that I want to go just so that I can punch her in the face. My legs start moving towards tbe Cafeteria and I push open the door to see Gina, Lavender and her other friend which I found out was called Amber. They are standing in the middle of the room, no tables are in sight.

"What do you want?" I ask them, getting a dirty look from Lavender but a smile from Gina.

"I just wanted to bring you a present." She says in reply.

"And what would that be?" I ask her.

"Oh just this." She pulls a tiny hankerchief from her pocket and begins to open it. I take a step closer to see what it is and in the middle is a tiny cutting of blonde hair. "I just thought you would like one last bit of Peeta as you'll never see him again."

"What did you do to him?" I ask, knocking the hankerchief out of her hand.

"You'll find out soon enough Everdeen until then I'll-

"Katniss? Wake up." I hear someone whisper to me and my eyes open. I still have my head on the desk. Peeta is looking down at me and I can hear Mr Hill talking to the class about District 12's coal or whatever. "Katniss you feel asleep." I pull my head up and try to reach my hand up to move my face but I cant feel it properly.

"I think I was lead on my hand." I whisper with a small laugh. I shouldnt be laughing but I do anyway. Peeta looks at me in surprise and River, who sits infront of me even turns around to see what I'm laughing at but Peeta just waves him off.

"Come on, I'll check it for you." He says pulling himself up out of his chair and turning to Mr Hill. "Sir, Is it alright If I just escort Katniss outside to check her hand? I think its bleeding again."

"Just make it quick. You both have missed enough of my lessons as it is." He says and Peeta nods, helping me up and leading me out the room but not before we get a comment from Gine. "Going to make more Mellark babies, Everdeen." A couple of people in the class laugh. If I dont say something back then I'll regret it.

"Well, atleast I have a better chance of being with a Mellark then you ever will." Her face drops and her eyes turn evil. Most of the class are laughing now but not at me, at her and I smile in happiness. Peeta pulls me out the classroom about to ask me what the hell I was doing or something like that but as soon as he see's my smile he just starts laughing.

"You are one mad person Katniss Everdeen. A mad person with a death wish." He carries on laughing, leading me down the hall into the nurses room. I'm not entirely sure why this school has a nurse. She's never going to be as good as my mother at this stuff. Infact, if anything is a little too bad then she sends them to my mother anyway.

She undresses the bandages and I find out that my wounds have opened again and are bleeding probably more than it was this morning. I feel my head spin and Peeta has to grab my arm to help me down onto the bed. The nurse re-dresses my arm after cleaning it and then leaves to get some kind of injury book that is in the school office.

"Do you think we could talk to someone about who started the rumour?" I ask Peeta as he sits on the bed next to where I've been instructed to lie.

"Yeh, who first though? Delly might know something?" He asks and I nod.

"Yeh, we should ask her at dinner." The bell rings and Peeta dissapears out the door to go and get my bag from the classroom.

An hour later, I am finally released from the nurses office but she told me that I have to go home and let me Mother look at it. Figures. Peeta's going to walk me home even though he isnt allowed to leave school but he said he doesnt care so why should I? First though we have to talk to Delly and its break time so she should be in the Cafeteria, I just hope she isnt with Gale. I'm still finding it hard to talk to him.

"Hey Delly I have a question to ask." Peeta asks her when we find her sitting alone in the Cafeteria, a couple table away from the Townies.

"Anything peeta what is it?" She asks, looking up from the book that she is readin.

"We need to know who started this rumour. Do you know anything?" Peeta replies. She starts to think about it before looking right at us again and nodding.

"I know who started it I think." She replies, leaning over to us. Obviously whoever started it is in the room right now. Probably very close. We both lean into hear her and she looks at us both.

"Well who is it?" I ask.

"It was Eric and Joe or so I've been told." She replies and I shoot back up, scaring Peeta.

"WHAT?" I shout, a little too loudly. I knew Joe when we where younger. He lives on my street, he would never do anything like that. He is one of Gale's best friends but apparently he spends time with Eric Stratser now.

"Katniss calm down people are staring at us." Peeta says and I pulls away from him as he tries to reach for me. Half the Townies are staring at us, a couple laughing.

"Peeta they have been staring at us all day for something that we didn't even do. I don't really care if they stare at us for over reacting about something that did actually happen." I shout at him. I turn around to find everyone even the lunch ladies staring at us "WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT NEVER SEEN A GIRL OVER REACT BEFORE?" I shout. I guess I'm not even over my anger from earlier. I thought that the sleep in class would have made atleast a little bit of difference.

"Katniss please-" Peeta starts.

"No peeta don't talk to me I thought you where on my side?" I ask him, turning away. I'm stopped as usual by Peeta's hand on my waist this time.

"I am on your side Katniss but can we please talk about this some other time?" He asks quieter than normal as if its going to make any difference right now.

"No we can not we can talk about it now. We just found out who caused this and you dont even care!" I shout at him and I can feel a lot of eyes on the back of my head. Delly is watching us with Sorrow on her face.

"Of course I care Katniss don't say I don't because I do!" His temper seems to be rising and I know I've done something bad but I can't stop shouting.

"But you don't care do you because if you did you would be doing something about it and don't touch me!" I say pulling my arm away from him. He steps forward and takes me by the arms just like he did this morning but this time I can feel his nails digging into my arms.

"Katniss stop shouting at me I'm trying to do something about it but I can't unless you stop shouting at me!" He shouts in my face.

"Your the one shouting at me!" I say, pulling away from him with all my strength and pushing him away from me.

"Yeh because your shouting at me, stop shouting at me and act your age, stop acting like a child!" I don't realise what I'm doing until I feel a tingling in my hand and I realise I just slapped him. Why did I just slap the only friend that I have left. Is that just what I do now? Drive people away?

"Just leave me alone!" I say and run off down the hall and out the doors, walking through all the people from the Seam to get to the gate, where I finally start walking back in the direction of the Seam to go home.

I can't believe I just did that I just lost the only friend I had left. I have no one now except from my little sister who is too young to understand everything that is going on. Peeta is never going to forgive me for this. I wouldnt forgive me.

By the time Prim comes home, I've cried so much that I even hugged my mum for the first time since dad died. She tries to help but I'm not sure she knew what she was doing. "Katniss? What happened?" She asks and I look at her. "Peeta told me you left earlier and he looked like he's been crying and I know you have. What happened between you two?" Peeta was crying? He never cries.

"Its alright, we just had an argument. I'm sure everything will be alright soon." I say but thats not true. It wont be right and I know that. Nothing is ever right in my life.