I realize something. I'm lying in bed and its four thirty in the morning and sleep isn't coming to me.
And I realize that Peeta and I are just like Romeo and Juliet, with the forbidden romance.
And what did they plan to do?
They planned to run away together.
I get up and get a backpack, and I shove anything with meaning into it, and I pack all the stuff I need. Then I get out my phone and look at it for a while, and then I text Johanna, Annie and even Finn.
Me: look, I know you guys are sleeping, and I know you know what happened, and I'm running away, with or without Peeta.
I get a piece of paper and write a note.
Dad, listen, I get your trying to 'protect me' but you're just making my depression worse by taking Peeta away from me. I'm not the same kid from first grade anymore. This time, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get what I want, and what I want is Peeta. I love him, and since you won't accept us, I'm running away. Don't bother looking for me. If you get me back I will just leave again.
Bye,
Katniss
I leave my phone unlocked on my bed and I climb out the window. I sneak over to Peeta's window on the first floor, and after checking to make sure the coast was clear, I knock. He's awake, and he looks at me, and then he jumps up and opens the window. He has the only room in the house that doesn't have a screen. "Do you realize how much trouble we are going to get in if any one of my parents or your Dad sees you?" he whispers.
"I don't care. I'm running away. Are you coming, or are you staying?"
He stares at me for a long time, and then he grabs a bag and starts packing. He hands me his car keys. "Go get in the car. Be quiet or we'll get caught."
"Okay." I whisper.
"Wait." He says. I look up at him and he leans out of the window and kisses me. "I love you."
"I love you too." I whisper. I scurry off to get in his car.
My knee taps nervously for ten minutes before Peeta slips out the back door and gets in the car.
"What took so long?" I ask.
"I wrote a note." He starts the car and backs out. "Put your seatbelt on."
"Okay." I put it on. "We need to switch the license plates." I say.
"What?" he asks.
"The first thing the cops do when they're looking for people who have a car is search the license plate. We need to switch them with someone aside from our parents."
"Okay. I know where to go." He says. He drives off, and then we're pulling into Johanna's neighborhood. He hurriedly switches the license plates. "She won't even notice a difference." We go to the bank and I take out my 10,234 dollars, and he gets out his twenty thousand something.
"Where are we going to go?" I ask as we sit in the parking lot.
"I don't know." He runs his hands through his hair. "Anyone who is in our family will rat us out. We are underage so we can't get an apartment. Winter is coming so we can't get a tent or something or we'll probably die of frostbite."
"We could um…" I bite my lip. "We could file for emancipation."
"What's that?"
"You can move out before age eighteen if you have a good reason and you can show them you can support yourself."
He thinks really hard for a long time and then shakes his head. "No." he says. "I don't think that's a good idea."
We think in silence for a little while.
"I know this place." He decides. "It's in Iowa. My Aunt used to live there. It's this hotel. There's an outlet on the back wall and right behind it is just forest. We could get another shed thing and get the stuff from yours."
"Or we could stay the night in the forest and wait till tomorrow night to go and take mine."
He nods. "And we'll just…live in the forest until we turn eighteen? Then we come home, right? We come home and we will be able to stay together?"
"What if someone sees the cord?" I ask.
"I painted it hon, remember?"
"Right." I nod. "We need to hide. The sun is starting to come up and right when Dad notices we're gone, he's going to call the station. He always comes in to check on Finn and I before he goes to work. When he sees we aren't there he'll get the cops involved. Dad's probably checking on me now."
He nods and starts the car, and we drive down the street and deep into the forest under a ton of trees.
I put my seat back and he puts his back and we fall asleep.
...8...
Months pass, and we stay in the forest in Iowa. We are very happy together, and we're always kissing and smiling and laughing and we don't argue.
But one day, in late March, Peeta gets a phone call.
Only this time, through the fifty calls we've gotten, it's Peeta's parents. We always listen to the voicemail. Peeta puts it on speaker and we listen.
"Alright," Mr. Mellark says. "We fucked up."
Peeta and I lock eyes.
"You two...you guys are just...come home." Mrs. Mellark says.
"If you come home..." Dad takes a deep breath. "You guys can see each other."
I look at Peeta again. "You guys can be together. Katniss, Miranda came home." That's my step mom. "She misses you. Finnick is suffering. I've caught him crying, and he doesn't cry. Don't you miss gymnastics?"
Yes. I do. I miss everyone, but I'll miss Peeta more.
If we can be together, why can't we go home, right?
Right?
Peeta hangs up and looks at me. I look back at him. "Peeta..." I trail off. He stands up. "Let's hit the road."
I might be putting this story on pause but I'm not sure yet.