Hey guys! Okay, words cannot describe how sorry i am for taking so long to update. i have been so, so busy. and that is not a lie. i am currently on vacation, and i typed this entire chcapter on my iphone, but thats how much you guys mean to me. i didnt get many reviews on the last chapter, but Did you like the last chapter? Well, this one takes place a few days later. I hope you enjoy it! And I hope this extra long chapter makes up for the long wait! I'll get on the next one as soon as I can!

A FEW DAYS LATER

Katniss

I walk to my locker with a heavy messenger bag around my shoulder. You have no idea how much of a pain in the ass it is to try to carry stuff around while on crutches. I am almost to my locker when I hear a loud

"HEY!"

It startles me so much I drop all my books on the ground. I groan. I am about to attempt to pick up the stuff when I am met with crossed arms and a frown, his floppy blonde hair falling into his frustrated eyes. Oh fucking fabulous. This talk again.

"What did I tell you about carrying stuff on your own?"

"Peeta, shut up. I'm on crutches, I'm not disabled." I roll my eyes.

"Yes! On crutches! With a broken leg! You can lose your balance and fall if you are carrying things, and we will have to take you to the hospital all over again!" he whines. "Plus, the teachers said I could be the one that carries around your stuff, so we are allowed to be a few minutes late to class. Why did you rush? Why didn't you let me go to your class to help you!" he complains. I huff, feeling my temper starting to rise.

"You were taking too long." I snap, crossing my arms. "I didn't ask you to carry around my shit." I grumble.

"I take pleasure in carrying your shit." he says. I can't help but snort, and he grins. "Come on. The gang is waiting for us in the cafeteria." he puts my stuff in my locker and kisses my cheek. I raise an eyebrow.

"The gang? Who are you, Scooby Doo?" I smirk.

"Your sentence rhymed!" he says, and I roll my eyes. He grins before adding, "You're a poet and you didn't even know it."

"Shut up, Peeta."

"Why? Don't make me cry!"

"You're an idiot."

"Sorry to make you mad, I hope your lunch is...rad."

"Shut up!" I laugh, and playfully hit him on the head with a book. He laughs. "You're weird."

"But you love me."

"Yes I do." I stop and lean up to give him a chaste kiss, which he happily returns.

Ever since what happened a few days ago, Peeta and I have grown closer and closer. We have moments like we just had more often, being playful and fun. But also serious and romantic moments. We haven't done anything really intimate, and I'm thankful for Peeta not pressing. He's been so cute the past few days, not letting me carry any of my books and staring down all the boys that glance at me. Even though it can get irritating, I still think its sweet and adorable. Nobody has ever cared for me that much.

We get to the cafeteria and see a table with Finnick, Annie, Johanna, Gloss, and Cashmere, and they all wave us over. Peeta sits at my side and takes my hand. I can't help but smile a little.

"Guys, this is serious!" Annie shrieks.

"What is it?" Peeta asks.

"What is it? WHAT IS IT?!" Annie pounds her fist on the table and I jump, it reminding me of something Gale did. I squeeze my eyes shut. Keep it together, Katniss. Peeta must sense this because he squeezes my hand and kisses my cheek. I relax.

"The Ball! It's been POSTPONED!" She shrieks.

"My gosh, Annie. Its just a stupid ball." I roll my eyes.

"Just a stupid ball? Just a stupid ball?" She begins laughing, and I'm starting to think she is losing her mind.

"Annie, just relax and tell us what happened." Cashmere says. I'm surprised she isn't flipping out as well. Annie huffs and closes her eyes, trying to calm herself down.

"Alright. The principal decided that he would make it a tradition that there would be a CU ball King and Queen. So instead of the Ball being next week, its going to be next month. That way, people have time to campaign to be the king or queen." she huffs. "I think its ridiculous."

"Seriously Annie? I thought you would be one of the girls to run for queen!" I say. She looks at me as if I have just slapped her in the face.

"Of course I wouldn't, Katniss! I think kings and queens are a terrible idea for any event. Nobody does it for the good deeds the winners do. Nowadays its more like a beauty contest. Just breaking hearts and lowering people's self esteem." She sighs. "I don't want to be a part of that." I smile at her. I sort of forgot Annie had that sweet, caring side to her. Lately I have just been seeing the girly and high matinence side. "I'm still upset we will have to wait a whole month." she says.

"Hey, look at the bright side!" Peeta chimes in. "By then, Katniss will have that stupid leg cast off. And until then, you can continue looking for a dress for her." he turns to me and grins. I scowl.

"Fuck you, Peeta." I stab a peach on my plate. "This fork will go in you, next." He laughs and takes my fork away.

"Hey! I need that for my pears!" I complain.

"Eat it with your fingers."

"That's disgusting."

"No, that is disgusting." he points to Gloss shoving a hot dog in his mouth, and all eyes turn to him.

"What?" he says, his mouth full and cheeks turning pink. I snort and begin eating again.

"Boys." Cashmere shakes her head. "I think they're only instincts are to drink, eat, and play video games."

"And fuck." Finnick says. I scowl.

Lunch goes by fast, everything slowly returning back to normal. Prim is at Greasy Sae's again for daycare, and we got back from our spring break. The air is still a little tense from the events that happened a few days ago, but I think everyone is just trying to forget. What else can we do?

Before we know it, the bell rings and I have special weaponry next, otherwise known as gym. For some reason, this school is huge on weaponry, and its a required class. I don't know why. But, you see fighters and knife throwers all across the district itching to get into this school. Most of the kids here aren't here for the weapon training, but for the excellent academics. But really, special weaponry is the same thing as gym class you would see in a high school. All it is is practicing whatever special defense you are good at for the first 20 minutes, and then it turns to a basic P.E. class. Even though I think its pointless and a waste of time, I like it. It gives me a break from packing in all that stupid knowledge. And a chance to practice target shooting is always nice.

"Ready to go?" Peeta takes my hand and helps me up, while I position my crutches. I am lucky enough to have special weaponry with Peeta, Finnick, and Johanna. It makes the last hour of the class less excruciatingly boring. But today, after the first 20 minutes, I have to sit out because of this stupid broken leg.

We get to the gym, otherwise known as the 'Arena' some people gave it the nickname years ago. Finnick, Peeta, Johanna and I part separate ways to go to the boys and girls changing rooms.

"Check it out." Johanna cackles. "Brutus is here early."

"IN YOUR FACE!" Brutus screams as he punches a punching bag. I begin laughing.

"Ah, give him a break." I chuckle. "I think he's...emotionally unstable." We look over to see him apparently having a deep conversation with one of the dumb bells. Johanna and I slowly make our way to the locker room. "Why do they let him come to this school?" I murmur.

"He may be a wack job, but he's one of the best fighters there is." Johanna says. He then picks up a spear and vigorously stabs a mannequin over and over. Creeped out, I leave it at that.

Johanna and I quickly change, though I really think there is no point in me changing into gym clothes.

"Oh, great." Johanna huffs. "It's fucking running day. After training practice, its hurdles and pointless meter dashes for lucky fucking me. You otta' be happy you have to sit out." she scowls. I grin.

"Wipe that smile off your face, brainless. Annie wants to go dress shopping as soon as possible with you." my grin immediately drops and she smirks as she jogs towards the axe station. I scowl as I make my way towards the bows and arrows.

"You know, you're a lot prettier when you smile." a low whisper purrs in my ear. I turn around and am about to slap Finnick in the face when I back tread in surprise when I am met with blue eyes. Peeta laughs.

"Go to your weights, Peeta." I sigh. He frowns.

"What's wrong?" he asks softly.

"Nothing. Now go show Cato how to throw a 180 pound weight." I say, trying to sound optimistic. I fail miserably, and Peeta raises his eyebrows. "Peeta, I'm fine." I say and pick up an arrow. He eyes me suspiciously but doesn't press. He finally goes to his weights station. I sigh and pick up an arrow, using all my negative energy to hit the target. I release, and the arrow burrows itself deeply in the dead center of the target. I can't stop the small smile that comes to my face.

"Everdeen, you busy?" I hear the familiar voice of our instructor, Atala. I turn to her and shake my head. "Good. I haven't seen you shoot moving targets." she smiles, and I furrow my brow. What is she leading to?

She walks to the archery station and opens some kind of cabinet I never noticed before, and pulls out a large duffel bag.

"Get your arrow, ready." she says. She then reaches into the bag, pulls out some sort of fake bird, and tosses it into the air. I shoot it through the eye without question. She tosses another, and another, increasing speed. Eventually there are about 5 stuffed birds in the air at the same time, and I shoot them all through the eye. I am beginning to find this actually pretty fun. She reaches into the bag and I eagerly wait for the bird to be thrown up. She throws it and I shoot, and I notice its so quiet all you can hear is the thump as the bird hits the ground. I slowly lower my bow and look around.

Everyone is staring at me.

Finnick looks like his jaw is about to hit the ground, his trident falling from his hand with a clank. Johanna shakes her head with a small smile, her eyebrow raised as if to say, "Where did you learn that, brainless?" Peeta has his arms crossed with a huge smile on his face, and everyone else is staring with their eyes wide or their mouth agape. I find a blush creeping to my cheeks, and I shyly look over to Atala who flashes me a smile.

"I think that's enough for today, Everdeen. Great job." she pats my back, and I grab my crutches and make my way towards the bench to sit out for the rest of class. The noise returns to the room and Atala begins instructing everyone else on what to do. Finnick isn't listening.

"Where the hell did you learn that?" he mouths to me. A small smile creeps onto my face and I shrug. "Well that was amazing." he mouths again. I feel myself blushing and grinning, and I curse myself for it. I drop my gaze to the ground, but I can't drop the feeling of giddiness. I guess its because I'm not used to this. Nobody has ever really praised me for anything in a long, long time. It feels nice.

I spend the next 20 minutes watching the class and my friends. Peeta is so strong. I knew he was strong, but not this strong. He picks up the heaviest weight in front of him and hurls it 80 feet with ease. I feel myself smiling as he breathes heavily watching the weight fly. His gaze meets mine, and he must see my expression because he blushes. I laugh. He moves on to some camouflage station and I turn my gaze to Finnick.

He is so talented with that trident that it almost scares me. He handles it with ease, piercing every target right in the chest. Coming from district four, they handle tridents a lot. But on fish. I guess I didn't really think that it could be a deadly weapon for killing people, as well.

And Johanna. Shit, she's good. She's lethal with those axes.

Remind me not to be around her when she gets angry.

I sigh and fiddle with my phone for the rest of class, bored to tears. Eventually that dies, and I huff and reach into a small bag I have been carrying around. All I can find to entertain me is a pencil and a dull eraser. I find myself fixating on viciously stabbing the eraser.

"Having fun, there?" With a grunt I stab the eraser one last time before looking up. He holds out his hand and I take it, him pulling me up with ease. He pulls he in for a quick kiss and I play with his messy curls. "You know..." he says seductively. "I never knew how sexy stabbing a poor eraser could be." I immediately pull away and scowl, and he laughs.

"Go paint yourself some more, Peeta." I say.

"If you haven't noticed, class is over. I guess you were too busy stabbing a helpless eraser."

"I'll stab you next."

He laughs before kissing my cheek and jogging to the boy's locker room. I scowl at my crutches. Fuck this. I snatch them and position them under my arms before hobbling to the girl's locker room and changing.

"That was some real shooting out there, Everdeen." Johanna joins me, helping me pull my shirt over my head. Dammit, its so hard to keep balance with this stupid leg.

"Thanks. You about gave me a heart attack with those axes." I say. She cackles before pulling her own shirt on. A comfortable silence follows until she breaks it again.

"So what's the deal with you and Mellark? You seen his cock yet?"

I choke. On air.

"Wh-what?" I gulp, trying to regain my balance. What the fuck, Johanna?

"Shit, seriously? You haven't done anything? With those blue eyes, he's like the ultimate panty dropper. Surprised he hasn't dropped yours yet. His cock is huge." she smirks.

A mad blush takes over my cheeks, and then realization hits me, and my cheeks become red with anger. "How would you know that?!" I snap, crossing my arms. She snickers.

"Aww. Kitty is getting jealous. Anyway, once, when he was drunk, he got dared to go streaking through the town at like 4 in the morning. He was really drunk, so he did it. Next morning he about threw his phone at the wall from all the girls that were calling him. It was hilarious." she says.

"Stop. Stop talking." I say, putting my hands over my ears.

"Uhg, Katniss. You're so fucking pure."

"What? I'm not pure!" I blurt.

"Mmhmm, okay. You know, that boy could get whoever he wants. I wouldn't keep him waiting." she says. And she swiftly walks out, and I sit down, trying to process all the information she just gave me.

Is Peeta expecting this? Sex? Now? No. I can't do it. I'm not ready for this. I feel myself beginning to panic, timid Katniss beginning to come out, and I would probably run away if it weren't for these stupid crutches. I shake my head. Pull yourself together, Katniss. But is what Johanna said true? What if he gets bored with me, and just decides to go to other girls behind my back? Would he do that? Surely he wouldn't do that. Would he?

I don't realize till now that I have been walking and thinking at the same time, and almost scream when I see Peeta standing in front of me.

"Woah, Kat, what's wrong? You look like a deer in the headlights." he says.

"What? Nothings wrong. Who said anything about anything being wrong? I'm fine!" I say, and curse myself. Why can't I lie easily? He raises an eyebrow and opens his mouth to talk, but I cut him off.

"I gotta get to class. Better hurry, or I'll be late!" I scamper as quickly as I can to health class on these crutches. Peeta could easily catch up with me, but he stands dumbfounded in the middle of the hallway. Why am I such a fuck up?

I walk into health class in a pissy mood, and Finnick's pervert comments aren't making it any better.

"Fuck off, Finnick." I hiss, almost tripping on my crutches sitting down.

"Woah, take it easy, Kitty Kat! Don't want to wear yourself out." he smirks, and I hit him with one of my crutches.

"Ouch!" he says in his girly manner, and I can't help but snicker. I see Peeta walk into the class, and my face turns beet red and I can't meet his eye. Finnick gives me a funny look, and I point to Johanna. He immediately grins. "So Johanna gave you her talk, huh?" Finnick says, licking his lips. I groan and put my head on the desk. Suddenly I can't take it. I have to talk to someone about this.

"Finnick, what do I do?!" I beg, leaning close. "I can't do that. I'm not ready. And I'm a stupid fuck up who can't do anything right!" I cry, throwing my head in my hands. I hate thinking about sex. It reminds me of what Gale did to me, seeming so long ago now. I shake my head. This is a different time, and I have got to get my head out of the past. Panic rises in my chest. I don't want sex. I really don't want it. Not yet.

"Calm down, Kat." he rests his hand on my back. "Peeta isn't like that. He isn't going to force you into anything." he says, giving me a look that tells me he remembers what I told him about Gale. "And Peeta isn't exactly the type of guy that would want that this early in a relationship."

"Of course he does Finnick! You both are like the fucking sex gods of this school! He knows that he could get anyone, but he settled on the ugly, emotionally unstable bitch who is too terrified to do anything." I cry. I look to the ground, lost in what to do.

"Katniss." Finnick says in a hard, un Finnick voice that he doesn't use often. I slowly look up into his eyes. His expression is hard, and a little frusterated. "Katniss, don't you ever say anything like that about yourself again. I love you like a sister. But even if I loved you in the way Peeta does, then I sure as hell would wait forever to get some with you. You are beautiful, smart, witty, and strong, and Peeta knows it. He would wait a lifetime for you." he says. I sniff.

"Thanks, Finnick." I say, a small smile creeping on my face, even though I don't really believe what he said is true.

"Come here." he says, opening his arms. I gladly accept and give him a hug.

"What's wrong?" Peeta says, his blue eyes full of concern. I break away from Finnick and take his hand.

"Nothing's wrong. I...just, umm..."

"She just misses her family." Finnick says. I clear my throat and nod, and he takes me into his arms. I burrow my face in his chest, inhaling the scent of cinnamon and dill. And that reassures me that this boy would never push me into anything.

Before we know it class is starting, and Peeta gives me a small kiss before going to his seat in the front of the class. I take mine towards the middle.

"Ok class, today we are going to discuss the reproduction unit." the teacher blabs on. Great. Just what I need. A talk about sex when its the thing that is terrifying me the most right now. I tune out and almost fall asleep, until I hear my name being called.

"Katniss!"

"Huh?"

"Do you mind if I use your name in a demonstration?"

"I...uh, what?"

"Excellent! So class, lets say Katniss and Peeta wanted to have a baby. What would have to happen?"

My eyes go wide and Peeta turns red as a cherry as the class bursts into laughter. I cover my face with my hands. Why me? Why me and Peeta? The anxiety of the whole subject threatens to swallow me whole, and I have to take a deep breath to calm myself. I put my face in my hands as one of my classmates gets called on.

"Well, basically, they would have to have sex."

"Very good! That's a start, but theres much, much more to it. We are going to go through some of the more complex stuff today." the teacher says. I sigh, trying to control my anger and embarrassment. The feeling of anxiety and nervousness about sex rises in me again, and I can't focus. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to get a rather horrifying memory out of my head, but it won't budge.

"Get on the ground, Catnip."

"Wh-what?" I say, trying to cover my new black eye.

"I said get on the fucking GROUND!" I whimper and do as I'm told, and Gale forces some kind of pill into my mouth. My vision goes foggy and I can't think straight. I feel someone hover over me, and feel my pants being ripped from my body.

"Wh-what are you doing?" I slur, getting more frustrated that I can barely talk and that my limbs are becoming numb. I feel something being thrusted into my mouth, but now I can barely see. I have no idea what it is. All I am aware of is Gale's loud groan. I cough as the object goes deeper into my mouth, and I begin to gag. I try to take the object out of my mouth but find my arms are tied down. I turn to the side, trying to breathe.

"You filthy bitch. You are useless. Now I'm going to make this as painful as possible for you." I breathe heavily, trying to scream, as my panties are ripped from me as well. I then become aware of what his intentions are, even though my thoughts are hazy. He rips into me showing no mercy, and a scream of pain reaches my lips. It becomes worse as he rams into me, my body being crushed and beaten over and over again as he slams down on me. Eventually he groans and pulls out, and looks me dead in the eye and grins.

"You're a pretty good fuck. Now get out of my sight."

My head comes out of the clouds and I am aware I am panting heavily, my eyes wide. My hands are sweating and I feel like I am about to throw up.

"Miss Everdeen!"

"Wh-what?" I say, now after my panic mode. This is when the trembling settles in.

"Are you alright?" the teacher frowns at me, and I find I can't speak. Hell, I can barely breathe.

"Y-yes." I say. "I think I just need some fresh air." I lie.

"Alright. Why don't you step out for a few minutes?" I nod and hustle out. peeta gives me a worried expression and I walk out. I get to the bathroom and lock myself in a stall, currently a heaving mess, and sink to the ground.

What am I going to do?

and that's chapter 33! I hope you liked it! Next chapter is coming soon! PLEASE REVIEW! QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

Which Hunget Games death made you cry the most?