HOLY FINNICK! It's a new chapter! Huzzah! So some people liked my last disclaimer, huh? I AM GENIUS! BTW, Fred and George are the BEST, but GEORGE is MINE. Rawr. Anyways, soon there shall be the NEW STORY! AAHH, so EXCITED! Love it! We're above 20,000 freaking reviews. OMF. LOVE YA GUYS! KEEP REVIEWING! Okay, so we're starting to get into the story and sadly, Cato is MIA! But he'll be back soon! Very soon… MWAH HA HA!
Me: Are you guys still here?
George: What, want us to go?
Me: NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! I just thought you might have to go back to your own story!
Fred: Who's doing the disclaimer?
Me: Umm…
Johanna: I'll do it, to get these pretty boys away from me!
Drunken Assassin: I VOLUNTEER! I volunteer as disclaimer! Ceasar does not own THG, and let me do the disclaimer because I asked to do it!
Me: Okay, we have a disclaimer people! Also, all the dresses in this chapter will be linked on my PROFILE! No, you don't have to read the entire profile, just look for the blue underlining!
I toss and turn in my bed. I can't sleep properly, or the nightmares will come. I need a place to think, a place to let my walls come down and be myself. I haven't cried since I went to Cato's house. I suddenly sit up. Dad used to have an old motorbike. Maybe…? I leap out of bed and put my jacket on. Run downstairs as quietly as possible, and run out the back of my house. I poke around, and sure enough, there it is. A big, black Harley. I close my fingers around it and slowly lead it around to our front road. I swing my leg over the leather, and brush off a stray cobweb. Dad said I wasn't allowed to ride it till he- I rev up the engine and shoot off down the street. The speedometer doesn't drop past 75 mph.
I park and drop the stand. I slowly get off the bike and walk towards the water. It's reflecting the moon and the stars, all of them now that I'm far away from the fluorescent lights of the city.
I feel grass first and then soft sand underneath my feet. His hands go behind my head and undo the blindfold slowly. I open my eyes to find us at a lake, with a soft, white sandy beach around the edges. The water is crystal clear and I see small fish darting around inside it. It seems forever and a day ago since I've been to the lake where Cato and I shared our first kiss. The soft sand crunches under my bare feet; I forgot to put shoes on before I left the house. I softly fold my legs underneath myself and sit, staring out at the expanse of ink. I think this lake is the only thing that has stayed the same in my life when I look at it again. Everything I love disappears in the blink of an eye. I'm going to die without ever seeing my father again. I'm going to die without my little sister ever being the same again. I'm going to die without seeing my mother smile again. A tear rolls down my cheek, followed by another. Soon a flood is pouring down my cheeks and the peace blurs.
I hear someone crunching down the sand behind me in heavy boots. I don't turn to face them until they gently sit beside me. I turn and am shocked to find a familiar crop of blond hair and shocking blue eyes. Cato is sitting in the sand beside me, and I don't care.
He looks out at the water without a word. I suddenly realise how cold I am when I feel the warmth radiating from his every pore.
"Caitlyn and Daniel told me what happened," Cato says softly. I knew they would, they are too kind for their own good. I sniff and lean towards him, hoping I can catch some warmth. His strong arms circle around me and for once since I got the news, I can feel a reason to live. Tears still stream down my face, but they tell the misery of betrayal, loss and hatred. I'm done being angry at this boy. I sit up, and look in his crystal blue eyes. I recognise pity and I instantly don't want it there.
"Let's start over. I need you now. Please," I murmur softly. He sticks out his hand.
"Hi. I'm Cato. What's your name?" I giggle and take his hand, his enveloping mine with his huge fingers.
"Katniss. Fancy seeing you here! Not many people come to this lake at this time of night," he pulls me up with my outstretched hand and we walk back over. I see his truck gleaming in the moonlight, and he carefully lifts my Harley on the back. I climb in, and he sets off. We sit in comfortable silence all the way to my house. He parks in front of my house and gets out, plonking my bike on the floor. I grab the handles and wheel it back to my backyard.
"Bye, Cato," I whisper. He pushes a stray hair behind my ear.
"Bye Kat."
*TIME SKIPPY SKIPPY SKIPPY! To ze next morning!"
I hear a knock on the door and groan. The dumb, stupid doorbell is too damn loud! It rings again and I stumble to get it.
"Mornin' Catnip!" Gale says, a dumb smile plastered on his face. No one should be that happy in the mornings without being an alien. I always knew Gale was from another planet. Saturn, maybe Jupiter. Somewhere far enough away he doesn't ring my stupid doorbell at SIX IN THE MORNING.
"Too…early…Gale…" I moaned. He smirked evilly at me.
"Well, then you don't get to hear my life-changing news. Sucks to be you!" He says and starts walking away.
"WHAT'S THE LIFE-CHANGING NEWS?!" I scream at him.
"I thought you didn't want to hear it," he says.
"Tell me before you become the world-record holder for being the most flexible person on Earth for having your head shoved up your ass," (Original saying by moi! I'm hilarious…) I say.
"Alright, alright, no need for drastic measures. Mum decided we're moving here!" He says. I squeal and leap into a hug. He laughs at my reaction- I never ever squeal. "Now go get ready for school! NOW!" He yells playfully at me. I run upstairs and shove on some basketball shorts and a jersey.
"Reeeeady!" I yell. I grab my bag and we run all the way to school, giggling like madmen. Well, he claims he was chuckling, he was waay too many for giggling.
Gale had already gotten his new schedule so I showed him his locker. It was two corridors away from mine, and to my delight he shared first period with me.
"Hey Katniss, who's your friend?" Rue asks me, bouncing on the balls of her feet as if she was about to take off in flight.
"Rue, this is Gale, my friend from Cali. Gale, this is Rue, my friend here," I introduce them. "This is Thresh, Rue's boyfriend," I say, gesturing to the boy. Cato walks through the hallway, parting the crowd like Percy Jackson after he had defeated Annabeth in the lightning thief. (Huh? Huh?) "Cato, this is Gale. Gale, Cato." Cato only stood about an inch taller than Gale. That was strange, I don't remember him being that tall…
They shook hands, keeping eye contact. I have the feeling they aren't going to be the best of friends. The bell rang and we walked as a big group to our next class, Gale with his arm around me casually the whole way.
It was science, so we had to sit with our lab partners, Cato next to me, but Gale behind. He kept flicking small rolled up balls of paper at me, distracting me from the lesson and having me need to bite on my fist to stop myself from getting a huge case of the giggles. This continued on for the entire day, Cato getting angrier and angrier. Finally, DT came where I took my spot next to Peeta, while Gale had PE. I sat down, but he didn't even acknowledge my presence. He was staring at the table where Clove and Cato sat. More particularly, the former. I waved my hand in front of his face and he snapped out of it instantly.
"Wha- whe… huh?" He spluttered. I laughed.
"Soo, you like Clove, huh?" I ask.
"WHAT? No-I, um, I mean- uh-" He stutters. I laugh and give him a one-armed hug.
"It's cute. Plus I think she might like you too," I reassure him. He goes bright red and slides down in his seat a bit. Cinna walks in at that moment and Peeta breathes a sigh of relief.
"Alright class, what we are doing today is to…" I zone out and watch Cinna's jaw move up and down while his eyes flicker over the students. He stops on me and Peeta elbows me, hard. I yelp.
"What?" I hiss at him.
"You're meant to go and pick up the new student right now," he murmurs back. I stand up and grab my things, shoving them haphazardly into my bag. I walk out of the room with all eyes on me and run to the reception.
"Ah, here she is, the famous Girl on Fire," the receptionist says. I blush red and look at the girl in front of me, She could be a model, with blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes with clear skin and long legs. She's bloody tall, as Ron Weasley would say. I look up at her, to see wide Bambi eyes and that innocent glow.
"I didn't think people would remember that," I say to the receptionist.
"Honey, you were on fire. People remember that, they just don't call you that to your face. Something about you being intimidating," she says.
"Hi, I'm Katniss Everdeen. You must be Madge Impetus," I say.
"Hi, nice to meet you. Why do people call you the Girl on Fire?" She asks curiously.
"Uh, it's kind of hard to explain. You see, in DT, we had to split into pairs and make an outfit according to a topic we were given. My friend and I were given the topic 'fire' so our DT teacher, Cinna, lit us on fire," I say awkwardly. Her eyes widen.
"Wouldn't you be burned to a crisp?" She says.
"No, um…"
I showed her around the school, while trying to explain the outfit to her.
Flibbertigibbet.
"OH! I get it now!" She says. I sigh happily, exhausted. "Hey, do you want to go shopping with me after school for dresses for the dance?" She asks happily.
"I don't know, I'm not the kind of girl to wear dresses or go to dances…" I trail off. She looks scandalised.
"That's going to change TODAY. Bring a friend if you want," she says then skips down the completely wrong hallway.
LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!
I rub my temples as I listen to Rue and Madge bond over clothes and Finnick Odair. If they squeal one more time, I will punch them both in the face. I mean, I love them but we have a pack of dogs running after our car right now, thanks to them. Half of them still have leads on. We arrive at the shopping centre and they drag me into the first shop they see.
"OK, so what colour are we going for tonight? I think I might go white," she says with a finger on her chin.
"Maybe a blue-green colour, I don't know," Rue says.
"Black," I say with no emotion. I do not want to have to go through thousands of colours to see which one 'suits me' best. Black is easy, black is soul-crushing.
"Fine, ruin my fun," scowls Madge. We split up and go looking for a good dress. I go straight to a rack filled with black. I grab one randomly and Madge squeals.
"That would look so BRILLIANT on you!" She says. Rue looks over and together they complete their evil plan to render me deaf and burst my eardrums. I am shoved into a mirrored hell complete with a pink-ruffled ceiling and look at my dress. I bite back a moan when I see something that isn't black on it. I shuffle into it slowly and step out to find two girls animatedly talking with turtle-killers hanging on their arms.
"Oh. My. GOD!" They scream at the same time. Well, technically Rue screams Finnick but eh, they're one and the same. I reach for my hair to see if a bird is nested there or something, with them looking at me like that.
"You look PERFECT, you are so getting that, even if I have to buy it myself," Madge declares. I look at the price tag. It was $239!
"Madge this dress is too expensive, you can't buy this for me!" I exclaimed.
"You're forgetting my parents, you know, the world-famous basketball players? I can afford it!" I object the entire way to the cash register, then out of the shop.
"SHUT IT KATNISS! Now, shoes and accessories?" She asks. Rue giggles and they link arms with me and start skipping while dragging me along.
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsili covolcanoconiosis. It's the dance, alright?
Madge decided to go all-out for the dance. She even hired a limo to take us there! We step out and every eye is on us. I blush but Madge flips her perfectly curled hair and struts in, us on either side of her. Before you ask, she flipped her hair over Rue's head, so she didn't whack either of us in the face. I think it's time to describe our dresses. (Links in the profile.)
Madge's dress was pure white, with one shoulder and a natural waistline. Part of her left side was cut out and There were a cluster of diamantes on her shoulder and between the two cut out sections. It came to her mid-thigh and it was wrapped tightly around her.
Rue's dress was a turquoise colour, with a sweetheart neckline and an A-line skirt. It was an empire waistline and has sequin embellishments. It was made of chiffon and tulle and came a few inches above the knee.
My dress was a short, black sequin-embellished dress with a black wrap tied around the front. It came just above mid-thigh and the wrap reached to below my knee at the back. It had a natural waistline and a sweetheart neckline, with a thin strap on the side where the wrap was tied at the top of my ribcage. The wrap was black.
We walked in, our high heels clacking and Rue and Madge's diamante bracelets clinking as they shook. Everyone stepped out of our way and soon we made it to the tallest people there, the basketball team.
Annie was chatting with Finnick. She was wearing a short, one-sleeve dark blue dress with asymmetrical bands of sequinned lace. Her one sleeve was made out of the same lace and the back was open to around a quarter of the way down her spine. She had matching shimmering heels and bracelet and her hair was swept to one side, like mine. Finnick was wearing a black suit with a deep blue tie to match her dress. He started laughing and Rue was shaking us both.
Caitlyn and Johanna were immersed in an argument. Caitlyn had a red dress on with a pleated bodice with an empire waist. It floated down to a few inches above her knee in soft waves. It had a strapless sweetheart neckline and the skirt was mainly chiffon.
Johanna had a dark grey coloured dress on with a draped half sleeve on one shoulder. It had rhinestones around the neckline and a natural waistline. It was tight on her body but the sleeve floated down next to it. Johanna smirked, victorious in their little argument and Caitlyn turned from her to spot me. She smiled and waved, elbowing Johanna in the ribs, and tapping Annie. Finnick winked at me and I sent a smirk back at him. Annie leapt forward and hugged me, then made her way back to her boyfriend. I waved and Madge dragged me off to the bathroom to 'fix my hair'.
"Alright girls, it's time to split up. I have to go and meet my parents, so you guys have fun, and don't forget, no partying too hard without me there," she winks. I laugh but Rue's eyes are glazed over.
"Uh, Rue?" I ask gently.
"Finnick Odair's outside. Finnick Odair just winked at Katniss. Katniss must introduce me to Finnick Odair," Madge and I burst out laughing, looking at Rue's unemotional face.
"Come on stalker, I'll introduce you," I say, grabbing her arm and leading her out of the toilets. She squeals and starts jumping around.
"OI! FINNICK!" I yell. He smiles and slithers his way through the crowd.
"Yes, my darling Katniss?" He smiles.
"This is my friend Rue. Behave yourself or you'll find my foot implanted where the sun doesn't shine," I warn him.
"Oh my sweet Kitty-Kat, the sun shines everywhere on me. I'll show you sometime," he purrs. I roll my eyes and walk away. I go over to a table and grab some drink. I taste the bittersweet tang of alcohol and grimace. I shove my drink into someone's hand and make for a dark corner. I look out and see Clove dancing with Peeta.
She's wearing a short black dress with a long sheer sleeve that ends a few inches above mid-thigh. It has a natural waistline and a triangular shape of gold sequins on her waist. Peeta looks like he's enjoying that dress a little too much, if you know what I mean.
I don't see hide nor hair of Cato or Gale. Knowing them, Cato's probably practising basketball and Gale's in the woods. I smile and head out to the dance floor, spotting Madge.
You know the deal now.
I'm back in the limo with Rue and Madge, who are both giggling their heads off about Rue's encounter with Finnick. Nothing happened, as far as I can tell, though Rue seems pretty chuffed about figuring out his eyes were aqua and turquoise. We park outside my house and I hug them both before stumbling in my heels a few times to make it to the house over the uneven ground. I shut the door and rest on it.
I should go to dances more often.
I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!
I'm SO sorry it took so long, but I actually wrote this chapter three times and ALWAYS forgot to save. I STILL LOVE YOU GUYS, I'M NOT LEAVING THIS STORY EEEVVVVVVAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR! (Until it's finished). This chapter's 3,000 words long, my longest yet, I HOPE YOU LIKE IT!
Yes, this story will be Peeta/Clove and Madge/Gale, but right now Gale's in love with Katniss. So, yeah, LOVE TRIANGLE!
I'm going on a Lily/James rampage right now, so I'm getting a ton of oneshot ideas, BE WARNED!
Love you guys more than I love me right now for making all 145 of you wait so long! I HAVE 239 FINNICKING REVIEWS!
Pretty dresses to all who review!
LOVE,
CAESAR FLICKERMAN!