Happy 2013! Hey readers! I'm back from vacation. It was good for the most part. I hope you all had a great time. Whoa guys 494 reviews! So close to 500! :D Thank you guys.
Please go check out my friend's Panem High school story "Bully or Victim?" by Clone Roses . I read the first chapter as favor to her and this is really cute! I like it! I have a rule about reading other high school stories so when I am done with my school stories I plan on going back and reading all of hers. I actually like this story. Please just check it out. She didn't ask me to do this. I'm doing this because I want to. IT'S THAT GOOD.
Shout outs
HGROCKS: Oh she has secrets. Katniss should listen to you, should. Thanks for the welcome back.
S: Cashmere has her reasons. Remember the careers hate her too. Thank you happy new years and all too :)
Cccm: Does anyone really win in truth or dare? xD
Emz: That ened would have creeped me out. Peeniss new love song would have been E.T. Really? But i love them.
HG3: Me too! D: Stupid teens and drama. Some Gale and Annie soonish? Maybe chapter 15. By this rate there is going to be 25 chapters.
meow: Thank you and I'LL NEVER STOP!
Kmelly: New reader? thank you.
Chapter 12 "Testing"
Gloss' POV
"Please explain to me why the hell we're climbing down the fire escape instead of using the stairs?!"
"Shush!" Annie kicks me in my thigh.
"Ow!" I shout.
"Gloss, shut up! Someone is going to hear us."
"Fine."
I thought Annie was the normal one in our group of friends, but no. She's freaking crazy! Annie Cresta is insane. When I agreed to sneak out to the store with her I didn't think that would involve climbing down the fire escape for eleven floors! She just popped in from my window out of nowhere like a stalker and scared the hell out of me. Finnick was asleep when she came so he neither saw nor heard her, which is good. The last thing I need is to be explaining to Finnick why Annie's outside of our window waiting for me to take her to the , I don't even know why I am, and two, I don't need a jealous Finnick on my ass. So when Annie was pulling me out the window I didn't question it. I just went with it. Now I'm out in the cold with no jacket on, my legs are killing me, and I want some answers.
I stop climbing down and wait for Annie to reach me.
"Gloss, we're almost there. Stop complaining about your damn feet. If you haven't noticed, I'm wearing heels." She lifts her foot to my knee, and damn those heels are high! How is she still able to walk in those?
"Okay, two questions. Why are we going down the fire escape? Why do you want to go to the store? And how are your feet not swollen up? Seriously what the hell is up with that?"
She smiles. "That's about three questions, I believe."
"You know—"
I'm cut off by some kind of noise coming from inside. The light turns on and shines on us through the window. I get a glimpse of Ms. Trinket before Annie pushes me to go. I start climbing down quickly and Annie follows. I can hear the window open from the floor above us. Panicking like a fucking idiot I trip and Annie trips over me. Her heel goes right in my stomach, and holy shit it hurts. I try to ignore the pain and get back up. We climb down until we reach the ground.
"That was close." Annie looks down to her shoes. "I think I broke a heel."
"I think your heel broke me." I rub my stomach. It still hurts.
She frowns. "Sorry about that."
"It's alright."
"Well come on." She grabs my hand. "The store's only around the corner."
I don't know why, but we run and it's really fun. The cold wind feels nice and having Annie with me just makes it better. We're pushing past people and laughing like a couple of five year olds. I've missed doing crazy things with Annie. I remember when I convinced Annie to steal Finnick's clothes after their first swim meet, which was hilarious. It's a shame we can't do that again. Things are just too weird between them. Things have gotten weird for everyone. I don't get why everyone went crazy at lunch today. What the hell was that? And stupid bitch that threw food at me when I did nothing.
We slow down when we reach the store. Annie stops me in front of the door.
"We're here." I throw my hands but dramatically. "Yes!"
Annie pushes me to the side so she's in front of the door. "Okay, you wait here."
"What? No. What if Gloss wants to buy things?" I put in the third person for the hell of it.
Annie looks somewhat amused. "Gloss will just have to wait his turn."
I frown. "Gloss thinks this is unfair."
"Well Annie doesn't give a fuck."
"Rude."
She rolls her eyes with a smile. "Just wait here Gloss." She goes in.
Okay I can do that. I can wait. I start to hum.
Waiting outside.
Waiting for Annie.
Waiting, waiting, and wait—I'm bored!
Ah screw it. I'm going in.
I walk and since Annie told me to wait outside it's better not to go look for her. I should just explore. This stores boring, just regular stuff in here. I guess I'll go to the food section. I'm craving some chips. The stores so small it doesn't even take me a minute to find the chips. Now which chips should I get? And how many? Finnick's a fatty so if he's up then he'll want some. I better get—
"Gloss!"
I jump and knock over about a dozen bags chips. FML, I really don't want to pick those up.
I spin around to Annie, whose not amused by me right now. What gives?
"I told you to wait outside."
"I know, but I got bored and cold—"
"Told you to bring a coat."
"—Annie, you were taking to long—"
"I've been in here for two minutes!"
I ignore that. "You said five minutes."
She scrunches up her face. "I never said that."
"Well good 'cause that would have been a lie."
"Gloss, will you just—"
A sudden cough interrupts us. "Excuse me miss?"
I turn to the lady who's referring to Annie, obviously. She's holding a rectangular thin box, then she hands it to Annie.
"Best of luck." Her eyes flicker to me. "To you both."
"Thanks." Annie quickly grabs the box.
I smile at the lady until she walks away. Then I turn back to Annie who's staring at me uneasily. Why is she looking at me like that? What did I do?
I point to the pink box in her hand. "Aren't you going to pay for that?"
Annie just nods.
This is awkward.
"I'll just be waiting outside then." She nods again and I just go out.
I don't get why Annie was acting strange. So what if she was buying a pink rectangular box. That had the word test on it. And something with a "P". Damn, I don't remember. Pregnancy test! That's it! Annie was buying a pregnancy test. Big deal.
Aw.
My chips. I forgot about those.
All well.
I'm still cold. I should have brought my jack—Wait! Oh my God!
Annie was buying a what?!
Pregnancy test.
Holy.
Crap.
Breathing just got suddenly difficult. Annie got a—a—I can't even say it! What the hell is going on? What if Annie's pregnant? Oh God I'm going to have to get a job, support my child—Wait no! I'm not the father. We never did anything! God, I can't even think straight. Okay. I need to sit somewhere before I pass out from shock.
I look around but there's nowhere to sit. No bench, no chair, not even a big rock. You know this floor looks comfortable. I take a seat and end up lying on the ground.
A few people walk pass me (who give me dirty looks) before Annie comes out of the store with her brown paper bag. Annie sees me and looks like she's about to lose it. She talks to me but I don't listen, I can't. All my focus is on the paper bag she holds in her hand.
I feel Annie tug on my arms, like she's trying to pull me up. She can't though, of course. Annie's too small to carry my weight. I shake my head and try to crawl away from her (I must look drunk or something) but she keeps at it. That's when she falls back, hard and I jump to my feet to help her.
"Annie?" I hold her up. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry."
"I'm fine." She tries to push me away.
I just put a hand on her head and check for bumps. "Do you feel dizzy?"
She swaps my hand away. "No, Gloss."
"Come on," I take her hand and rush her down the block.
She needs to get checked out. I know she fell on her back but that can affect her baby, right? I don't know but I don't want to take a change.
"Gloss, slow down."
I stop. "Why? Are you dizzy?" I touch her forehead. "Light headed? Do you need a bucket?"
"What? No! Ugh, Gloss." She pushes my hand away. "I'm fine. Calm down!"
"Calm down?! Are you kidding me? You can't just buy a freaking pregnancy test and expect me to calm down," I nearly shout.
"Look, I don't want to talk about this. Can we just, not?"
As much as I want to talk about it, I don't want to talk about it. Yeah, that makes no sense. I'm just tired, and honestly shocked. Not my business I guess. Annie must being going though a lot right now. She needs her space.
I sigh and look down to the floor. I'm about to let it go. I really am until I look back up at Annie and she's messing with her necklace. It's the necklace with a little seashell on it that she got for her last birthday. That was from Finnick. Then it just hits me. They aren't together anymore. Finnick would never, I repeat, never just hook up with Annie and leave it at that. If there was any chance of Finnick being the father they would be together, but they're not.
"Who was it?" I ask.
Annie looks at me like she's about punch me. She's that insulted by the question. "Who was what?"
"Who'd you sleep with? 'Cause I know for sure it wasn't Finnick!" I shout the last part because now I'm mad.
For past…I don't even know how long! Since Finnick broke up with Annie all I've heard from her is Finnick this and Finnick that. That's all she ever talks about when she's with me. Now she just sleeps with some guy and she's still fucking talking about Finnick. And she doesn't even tell me? Oh hell no!
"So who was it Annie, huh?" I continue. "Thresh, Cato, Peeta, Gale—?"
"None of your business, Gloss."
"None of my business? That's funny. Then why am I here? If its none of my business!"
"Don't yell at me!" she shouts. "What the hell is your problem, Gloss? Why are you so mad? God, you're acting like I cheated or something."
"Why am I mad? What about Finnick?!" I ask like she's stupid, because right now Annie fucking is.
"He dumped me! Okay? I can do whatever the hell I want."
"More like whoever." I didn't mean to say it out loud. It just came out.
"Fuck you, Gloss!" she pushes me, and honestly, I'm glad she did cause that was just horrible. "You're just jealous."
Now that's just ridiculous.
"Ha!" I throw my head back in laughter. "Jealous of what Annie? That you opened your legs for some guy? Get over yourself."
"No." She shakes her head. "That you're alone. You always have been, and you always will be. You've never had a girlfriend and guess what? You never will 'cause you made up this 'perfect girl' in your head. She doesn't fucking exist! Why don't you get over yourself and date a girl who's real?"
Oh, oh. Now she wants to get personal. Bad move. I know when I get mad I get mad. I don't give a damn anymore.
Annie's the only person I've ever told about my perfect girl. I want a girl as crazy as me. A girl who's not afraid to take a risk, one that's not holding anything back. She'd get in front of people, make a complete fool of herself and not give a shit what anyone thinks. She'll do things 'cause she wants to not because she has to. I want a girl who's not only going to go along with my crazy ideas, but has a few of her own crazy ideas. Maybe there isn't a girl like that, but who the fuck is Annie Cresta to tell me that.
I smirk. "You know what Annie? Maybe you're right but I wouldn't want to waste my time with someone who means nothing. Like Finnick did."
Annie just starts at me, speechless. It looks like half of her wants to slap me and the other half just wants to cry.
"Annie," I go on. "I'm tired of your shit. If you really loved Finnick you wouldn't have had sex with some random guy. I'm just…done."
"Done with what?"
"What's happening to you, Annie? Whatever it is, I don't like it. I'm done with you."
"What?" Her voice cracks and it kills me.
"I just can't do this anymore. Sorry, Annie."
I walk away and I don't hear Annie's footsteps behind me.
…
Annie's POV
When I climb in my room through the window Cashmere's at our desk with a mirror bushing her hair. I startle her.
"Annie! What the—" She turns to me then her mood changes. "What happened? Why are you eyes watery?"
I throw my jacket and heels on my bed. Then I angrily throw the paper bag at Cashmere. She barely catches it. She looks at me confused, but goes on and opens it anyways. I take a seat on my bed and wipe away some of my tears with my sleeve.
When Cash pulls the test out of the bag her eyes widen in fear. She looks at me, scared.
"Why did you buy this?"
My jaw drops. How can she ask me that? "Why? Are you kidding me, Cash? You don't tell me you think you might be pregnant and expect me not to do anything."
"I didn't ask you to get or do anything," she snaps.
I run my fingers through my hair furiously. "I just put my neck out on the line for you and you're mad at me? God, I'm so fucking stupid." I can feel the tears start to build up. "I'm trying to help you here, Cash. I can't have you go another day thinking you're pregnant and not even know for sure. You're afraid, I know that. That's why I went to the test for you…with Gloss." Now I'm crying.
"Annie." Cash says my name nervously. "You didn't—you didn't tell—"
"He thought it was for me." I interrupt her. "And I didn't correct him."
When Cash told me she thought she might be pregnant, I lost my mind. I thought she was joking, trying to scare me or something, but she wasn't. One of the first questions I asked her was who the guy was. She wouldn't tell me and still won't. I told her she should tell him about this, but she said no. Cash said she'll tell him if there's something to tell. She made me swear not to tell Gloss. The thought of her brother knowing terrified her. Gloss puts his sister on this freaking pedestal. His sister is everything to him. Gloss looks up to her and looks out for her. Cash said if he knew, he'd be so disappointed in her. She already felt like she let him down.
I take a deep breath. "Now he hates me. The things he said to me…it hurt."
"Annie. Why did you do that for me?" She shakes her head at me sadly. "I didn't ask you to do any of this." Her voice sounds like she's about to cry.
I jump from my bed and step close to her. "Friends don't wait to act until they hear a cry for help. They try to help before the crying starts."
She looks at the test. "I'm scared, Annie."
I sit on the floor next to her chair. I take her hand and hold it tightly.
"Annie," She looks at me. "You must hate me right now but…I can't do this alone."
"Cash, you'll never be alone."
She smiles and a tear falls from her eye.
I'm sitting on my bed as Cashmere comes out of the bathroom with the test in her hand. My heart starts pounding faster than it was before. If Cash is pregnant, everything is going to change. She's only seventeen. She can't do this.
"How long does the test take?" I ask.
"Two minutes."
I nod.
Cash just stands in the doorway for a while staring into space. I can't imagine what's going on in her head right now. Is she thinking about Gloss? Her stepmom? Her dad? Her mom? Is she picturing now different her life would be? All the things she'll never get to do, all the people she'll never meet or places she'll never get to go. Is she thinking about the money, about her future? Maybe right now she's thinking about how cute her baby would be. Would it be a boy or girl? All the new things she'll experience. How much she'll love her baby. How much her baby would love her.
I hear a beep come from the bathroom.
Cashmere and I both look at each other for a moment.
She bites her lip and closes her eyes.
In a second her life can be changed forever.
She takes a deep breath before looking down.
"I'm not pregnant," she breathes out.
I think my heart just stopped.
We run into a hug with each other. Right now is the closest I've ever felt to Cashmere. I've always thought of Gloss as a brother but I'd never really seen Cashmere as a sister. Until now. I hug her tightly and don't plan on letting go anytime soon.
I bet I gave a bunch of you some heart attacks. You're welcome. So idk what to say now. Remember the careers don't like Cashmere so... why would she help? Think about it. I've left clues all over the place. Sorry there was no everlarkness. Next chapter, well kind of.
Please Review! Comments, smiles, frownies, BROWNIES! Hehehe. Death threats (always fun). Please just review!
