Chapter Ten
The rest of the night was fairly uneventful in Johanna's mind. Finnick disappeared upstairs with the blonde girl to no ones surprise, the rest sat around continuing to drink and make ridiculous conversation, in fact she was currently amusing herself by observing a conversation where a boy apologized for stealing a Singing Kettle video 13 years ago… to a plant. She hated to admit how amused she was by the conversation.
"Why are you watching Marvel talk to a plant?" Peeta asked her and she snapped out of the daze she was in.
"Why aren't you watching Marvel talk to a plant?" she shot back.
"Because you'd be amazed how often it happens," he shrugged and leaned against the back of the couch. "So where are you actually from?"
"Ireland," she answered simply, watching the Marvel boy as he hugged the tree in an apologetic manner. "Who does he think he's talking to?"
"No one knows and every time he snaps out of it he has no idea either. It's one of life's greatest mysteries," he answered mysteriously.
"I mean I didn't even give you my Action Man that you wanted so badly!" Marvel continued and Johanna turned to Peeta with a questioning look on her face.
"Again, it happens a lot," Peeta explained with a bored tone.
"Is it always Action Man? Cause part of me thinks he really means Barbie," Johanna puzzled as Marvel continued to hug the plant.
"Really? I had him pegged for a Cindy guy myself. Anyway why'd you come over here?" he questioned, changing the conversation back to the thing Johanna didn't want to talk about.
"Because I had to. And nah Cindy is too delicate for him, look at the way he's just throwing himself all over that plant. He'd have broken a Cindy in no time," she pointed out casually before taking a sip of her coke.
"Why'd you have to?"
"Why'd you want to know?"
"I was just curious."
"Curiosity killed the cat."
"Curious cats kill more rats."
"Are you saying you're going to kill me?"
"No it's just what my mother used to say…"
"Peeta what the hell are you doing! Didn't you see her kick Cato's ass earlier!" Gale interrupted them and Johanna felt herself relax a little, she hadn't meant to get so worked up. She noted to work on her self-control.
"Yeah was pretty damn impressive actually," he answered.
"Someone was looking for you by the way dude," Gale added as an almost after thought, completely ignoring what Peeta said.
"Gee 'someone' narrows it down nicely," Johanna answered for Peeta.
"If it's important they'll come find me," Peeta shrugged.
"It was Katniss, I think she was throwing up," Gale added and Johanna had never seen someone who wasn't either trained by her father or who was her father move so fast as Peeta did then. "That worked," Gale smiled evilly.
"What worked?" Johanna asked.
"Getting rid of him. Like I'd ever leave Katniss if she was throwing up," he shook his head in disbelief as he spoke and Johanna stared at him blankly.
"We were talking you know," she informed him, incase in his state he had missed the obvious fact.
"No, he was setting himself up to go the same way that Cato did by the looks of it. Plus I need to talk to you."
"What bet did you make this time? Cause I have been drunk too before you ask," she rolled her eyes.
"Well everyone knew that silly. I want to know about this trouble you avoided so easily before," he leaned towards her as he spoke and she swallowed sharply but held his gaze sternly, forcing herself not to look away because that would be a sign of-
"What do you mean 'she's upstairs with Finnick'?!" someone yelled from the hallway causing both Johanna and Gale to turn their attention their.
"I mean she's upstairs with Finnick. Don't look at me like it's my fault she's more than capable of making her own drunk decisions," a much calmer female voice answered.
"Gale we have a problem, I checked all the bathrooms, garden, bedrooms, for the record no one go in Finnick's room and even the start of the forest and I can't find her she must have wandered off somewhere," Peeta reappeared looking out of breath and red faced.
"Who's not in any of those places?" Katniss asked, stepping out of the dining room and into the living room.
"Katniss!" Peeta exclaimed loudly and hugged her tightly, much to Katniss surprise. "I was so worried. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I mean I guess some more dip for the chips would be good-"
"Whatever you need," he gushed and ran out of the room.
"Gloss where are you going? Didn't you hear Peeta? Don't go into Finnick's room," Cato taunted the other boy from the bottom of the staircase.
"Cato leave him be, what's the worst he's actually going to do?" a short brunette girl smirked up after him, seeming to know exactly what effect her words would have on Gloss.
"FINNICK!" Gloss shouted as his footsteps stormed down the hallway.
"Yeah?" Finnick answered calmly, clearly in the hallway. Then there was the sound of someone hitting the wall.
"Fuck!" the now even angrier voice of Gloss called out.
"Gloss what the hell!" a very high-pitched voice asked and, unless somehow Finnick had been hit in a very special part of his anatomy, Johanna suspected it was the girl that all this fuss was over.
"Dude what was that going to be for?" Finnick asked, still sounding completely out of everything.
"What the fuck do you think?" Gloss demanded.
"Is anyone going to do anything about the fact he probably just punched a wall?" Johanna asked Gale.
"Meh, happens more often than you'd think. Best just leave them to it really," he shrugged and walked off, leaving Gloss, Finnick and the girl upstairs shouting over things that Johanna decided she didn't really care about.
"Look who stuck around after all," Cato greeted her by blocking her way into the kitchen after Katniss and Peeta.
"You say it like I had some other kind of choice," Johanna answered, debating if it was really polite to deck him twice in one day.
"My offer still stands," he whispered and Johanna caught sight of the short brunette girl form earlier giving her strange looks.
"As does my answer. Excuse me-"
"So this is the girl everyone's talking about?" the brunette asked without really asking.
"Actually I think she's still upstairs with your friend Gloss," Johanna answered. The girl had a pair of brown eyes that looked like they held one too many secret that you really didn't want them to know and angular cheekbones that added to the deathly glare she was giving.
"Who Cashmere? Yeah cause it's always surprising when a cheerleader fucks a football player," she rolled her eyes in a way Johanna was all too familiar with because it was the exact same way that she did it.
"Not as interesting as when a football player fucks the mysterious new girl," Cato added in unnecessarily.
"Shut up Cato," Johanna answered, still trying to work out the girl who was standing in front of her. Something was unsettling in a way she had only felt once before in her life, the very second she thought it was about to end. "And why is it that you've decided to take an interest in me?"
"The same reason everyone else is. You raise a lot of questions that you don't seem to want to answer and it bugs me. You can't just show up in people's lives and expect them not to care what they're getting into," she answered sharply and Johanna got the feeling she'd been waiting to say this for a while.
"I know what I'd like to get into-"
"Shut up Cato!" both the girls shouted this time and Johanna looked at the other girl with clear confusion on her face.
"Johanna want some chip and dip?" Katniss shouted through to her and shot her a weird look when she realized who she was talking to.
"Yeah," Johanna mumbled before moving around the strange pair in front of her.
"It's Clove by the way. In case you ever decide to answer any of those questions," the girl shouted after her, and Johanna felt a severe chill run up her spine.
Author's Note: HAPPY CANADA DAY EVERYONE! Normally I don't know these things but hey I'm in Canada so it's pretty awesome today! So I thought I'd give you all this chapter to celebrate with :) I hope all is going well with you guys and just another note to say your reviews are amazing! Genuinely never fail to make me smile and laugh and your ideas are brilliant so please please please keep them coming! Until next time dudes :)
-R