Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from THG.
The spring scrimmage was a few hours away and Katniss was struggling with what to wear. She could not ask Peeta. He had been so busy with all the preparations for the game that she had not seen him since the night when Glimmer had walked in on them. Madge had not been much help either and had rolled her eyes at Katniss and said, "Duh, wear orange." Her closet contained very little orange except for Peeta's oversized t-shirts and Gale's worn out Vols hat. Neither item seemed appropriate. She threw her hands up in exasperation as a shrill ring erupted from her computer indicating that she was receiving a call on Skype. Katniss was pleased to see that her baby sister was calling. Out of everything and everyone in Oklahoma, Prim was who Katniss missed the most.
"Katniss!" Prim exclaimed when Katniss answered the call. "I have something BIG to talk to you about."
Katniss smiled at the way Prim gushed, "It's so good to see your face. Spill your big news, Little Duck. I can't talk long."
"I know Peeta's big game thingy is today and…" Prim trailed off; distracted by something she saw on the computer screen, "stand up. Let me look at what you're wearing." Katniss scowled at the computer screen and stood up to humor her sister.
"No. Not at all. You are not going to his game looking like that. What are you thinking, Katniss?" Prim admonished her sister. "You have to look put together but also like you didn't put a lot of effort into it. Geez, Katniss. Sweatpants?"
Staring directly into the camera eye, Katniss exaggeratedly rolled her eyes at her baby sister. "Apparently, I wasn't thinking. I plan on wearing jeans and something orange when I find it. When did you become such a fashionista? Now stop distracting me and tell me your big news. Is it about the dance you went to last night?"
"Somebody," Prim raised a thumb to her chest to indicate herself, "had their very first kiss last night and it was amazing."
"Primrose Everdeen! You are not old enough to be kissing anyone! I have half a mind to tell Momma not to let you go to any more school dances if that is what happens there." Katniss hollered at her very surprised sister through the computer.
"I am fifteen, Katniss! It was about time I had my first kiss. The only reason I waited this long was because it took Rory this long to figure out I liked him." Prim huffed loudly and then started in again, "Don't you get self righteous on me, Katniss. I know for a fact your stay with Peeta in his room."
Katniss' face flushed bright red. Prim had caught onto the secret she had been keeping from her parents. She decided to deflect and put the heat back onto Prim. "Rory? You stay away from the Hawthorne's! You hear me Prim? They are our friends not our boyfriends. Look what happened between me and Gale."
"You have Peeta and Gale has a new girlfriend too." Prim whined, "I don't see that anything bad happened between you guys at all. Both of you have moved on and now you can be best friends again. That's what Rory and I will do too. Just be happy for me Katniss?"
The news of Gale's new girlfriend surprised Katniss and she took a moment to answer Prim. "Okay, Little Duck. I'm happy for you. I just hate to think of my baby sister being old enough to have a boyfriend."
"Thanks, Katniss. I miss you and I love you."
"I love you too Prim. I'm still trying to talk Momma into letting your visit this summer."
"That would be the best!" Prim exclaimed, "Oh, and just wear your dark skinny jeans, that 3/4s length gray boat neck sweater with the little buttons on the sleeves and that orange scarf I got you for Christmas." Prim noticed Katniss' clueless expression, "You know the scarf is more of an accessory than something to keep you warm, right Katniss?"
"Thanks Prim. I'll talk to you soon. Let Rory know that I'll kick his ass if he hurts you in any way."
"I'm sure he already knows that." Prim giggled. "Love you! Please text me about how the game goes and be sure to tell Peeta good luck for me."
Before meeting Peeta, Katniss never had a reason to care for football. The frequent tackling and body contact between players seemed barbaric and the rules seemed excessive and made her head spin. If she had been in Oklahoma, her family and the Hawthorne's would be gathered at the lake fishing and cooking out. But, she was with Peeta now and this game was important to him so it was important to her.
Katniss and Madge had not been intending to sit with the Mellark family but when Mr. Mellark saw the girls looking for a place to sit he had insisted that they join him. "Peeta's own personal cheering section," he joked while leading the girls to their seats. "We have a bunch of seats on the fifty yard line. I know it's just a scrimmage but Peeta has worked so hard for this and after his knee injury I really wasn't sure this day would ever come." The older man paused and looked at the girls with emotion gleaming in his blue eyes before resting his hand on Katniss' shoulder, "There are a few people that are very excited to meet you! The entire Mellark clan is here plus some of mine and the Mrs. closest friends! My two older boys even made the trip to see Peeta play and my wife's parents came. Katniss, you'll finally get to meet the whole crew."
Katniss was stunned. Meeting Peeta's family was a complete surprise. 'Smile at him and when he turns around find the closest fucking exit.' Katniss loved spending time with Mr. Mellark but the idea of meeting Peeta's entire family terrified her. The few occasions she had spent time with Mrs. Mellark the woman had been polite but did not exude the warmth of Peeta and his father.
Madge, sensing the anxiety in her friend, looped her arm around Katniss' waist and whispered, "It'll be fine. You're here for Peeta. Just smile and engage in conversation and they will love you just like Peeta and I do."
Katniss turned and hissed into Madge's ear, "You know how I am at making friends. Most people don't like me or think I'm a bitch."
Madge squeezed Katniss to reassure her, "It's because you don't let them see how great you are. Follow my lead, you'll be fine. "
Mr. Mellark led them to a largest gathering of tow headed individuals that Katniss had ever seen and began introducing her to everyone. Mr. Mellark was still working through introductions when the players took the field in a blur of orange and white. Katniss' eyes searched for Peeta and found him staring back at her waving and smiling. She waved back and Peeta nodded his head and then took his position with the rest of the team.
A high pitched voice screeched, "Ohmigod, Delly! He was totally just searching the crowd for you." Both Katniss and Madge were suddenly aware of the three spray tanned blondes sitting in front of them with Mrs. Mellark.
"Of course he was looking for you. He was just devastated when you guys broke things off, Delly. It will mean so much to him that you're here. You have always been his biggest cheerleader!" Mrs. Mellark gushed at the girl directly beside her.
Katniss recognized the busty girl as the one she had seen Peeta with at the beginning of the year. Suddenly, the awareness of who the blonde girl talking about Peeta was clicked in Katniss' head. Jealously flooded through her body and caused a physiological response. Katniss' teeth clenched, body stiffened and stomach knotted. Not only was Peeta's high school girlfriend sitting in front of them but Mrs. Mellark was acting all buddy-buddy with her. In a two minute exchange, Mrs. Mellark had been exponentially friendlier to the irritating blonde than she had ever been with Katniss. Her fight or flight instinct was on overdrive and was rapidly pushing her towards fight.
In Katniss' purse, her phone buzzed with a text message. She chose to ignore it and continue mentally formulating her plan of confronting Delly. Madge grabbed the phone and pushed it into her hands. "Girl, I'm pretty sure you got a message. Better check it, could be important!" Katniss glared at Madge and took the phone but did not make a move to read the message. "Just look." Madge pleaded with her eyes.
Katniss opened her phone to read the message, but was immediately distracted. The girls in front of her were openly admiring Peeta's backside in his spandex football pants. They were tossing around words like, 'tight,' 'delicious,' and 'yummy' while Katniss was throwing around the words 'bitch,' 'slut,' and 'cunt' in her own mind. "Katniss, just check your texts. Please!" Madge pleaded with words now instead of eyes.
Katniss looked down at her inbox and saw that her best friend had flooded it with messages:
"Ignore them. Do not make a scene."
"Peeta loves you. Forget them just focus on why we are here."
"Mrs. Mellark is a fucking douche."
"Breathe."
"You're not breathing."
"Ok. You have to admit his ass does look really fine in those pants."
The phone in Katniss' hands vibrated as she received another message, "Don't say anything just text me back. We can leave if you want but think about Peeta."
Katniss looked at her friend and gave her a tight lipped smile as she typed a response to the last message. "We are staying. You BETTER stop looking at his ass."
A/N: I know. Short chapter but originally it was close to 4000 words so I made it into two chapters. I'll be posting the rest a bit later.
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