Hello there! It has been a hot minute since I've written on here, and it feels great to get back into the swing of things. So on the bus the other day I got a spur of inspiration for this story and I decided to just run with the idea. To be honest, I'm absolutely elated for what this story has in store for you guys; lots of twists and turns (possibly :)). I hope to be able to keep up with this and post a chapter at least once a week, but I do have exams coming up in two weeks and I will heavily be studying for that, so just a heads up.
Anyway, to cut to the chase, I hope you guys like reading this as much as I loved writing it, so enjoy! All constructive criticism is welcome, and R&R is appreciated :)
P.S - You know the drill; I own nothing at all; no rights, no characters, etc. There, done, end of story, fini! If I did, I most certainly would not be sitting behind this computer writing this fanfiction.
*Italic font indicates either flashbacks / previous memories*
xXx
Beep... beep... beep... beep...
A scream came from the room down the white empty hallway.
"Katniss? Katniss... KATNISS!" someone called out. Johanna Mason ran down the hallway of her apartment to her spare bedroom, which was currently being inhabited by Katniss Everdeen. She whipped open the door in a panicked state, only to find her temporary roommate lying on a small air mattress groaning into a pillow, aimlessly moving her hand around trying to find the blaring alarm clock. Johanna ripped off the sheets on Katniss before she could fall back asleep.
"Hey, brainless, when you're done being dramatic, we have stuff to do you know. Oh, but not that it's a key part of our life or anything. Only like university, that's all, nothing super important," Jo said icily. Katniss rolled over onto her back, glaring at Johanna. If looks could kill, Katniss's best friend would be dead.
"Fine, but don't expect me to come quietly," Katniss growled while rolling lazily off the air mattress. Jo rolled her eyes and walked back out the door and into the hallway.
"By the way! I have chosen that you are being evicted! If you don't find an apartment by tonight, I'm throwing you and your shit out the window!" Johanna yelled back at Katniss, who just walked into the kitchen. She had dark circles under her eyes, disheveled hair with a scowl plastered on her face.
"Fine," she said.
"Fine," Jo replied, mimicking her tone. "We can ask around to see if anyone is looking for a roommate, and if that doesn't work, we'll go apartment hunting."
"That is the last thing I want to do today," Kat grumbled.
"Then hurry up and get some proper clothes on, we have class in 40 minutes, and if we get there early, we can ask around about how to solve your issue of homelessness," Jo snorts.
"Whatever," she snapped back, trudging down the carpeted hall.
xXx
"Katniss!" a girl called loudly. Madge Undersee had spotted me walking across the field of Panem University to my morning class when she began to jog over. Her blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and slim body attracted many guys, which, naturally, created a mixed company and more often than not, horny males. Now, of course, Madge has always been rather reserved and quiet, being the mayor's daughter, but she tends to loosen up around Jo and me.
"Hey Madgie, what's up?" I say laughing while watching her try to catch her breath. She obviously isn't a runner.
"Well, not much, but I heard you're looking for a place after.. you know.." she trails off. A few months ago, I was living with my ex-boyfriend, Cato, who was abusive and hurt me both mentally and physically. It was not unusual for me to show up to my classes with bruises and other marks littering my body. My friends often made comments about it, but I tended to skirt around the questions. It wasn't until 3 months ago that I packed my bags and left at 2 in the morning. I was previously living in Chicago with him until I moved out to New York to attend Panem University. When I had nowhere to go after leaving Cato's, I called Johanna, my old high school friend, who willingly let me stay at her apartment until I could get back on my feet.
"Hey, I'm home," I called out, setting my bags down on the floor, slipping off my shoes. I walk into the apartment further and peek my head into our room. I see Cato laying on our bed, his face red with anger. My body automatically tenses. This is not an unfamiliar situation; me getting home late, Cato lashing out. I know that this would be a good time to leave, so I call out to him as I quietly slip on my shoes.
"Hey, Cato, I'm going out with a few friends tonight, I'll see you later okay?" I say gently.
"Like hell you are," he says roughly, storming out of the room. I brace myself for the blow, but instead, he stops directly in front of me. Poised anger; very unusual for him, which scares me even more. "Where have you been?" he asks me none too gently.
"I was studying in the library..." I reply tentatively.
"Why didn't you study here?"
"I- I don't know,"
"Fine. Okay." he finally says after a pause. I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding in. Just as I do, he turns around and slaps me. White-hot heat races across my cheek, but I don't dare let a tear slip out.
"Don't. Ever. Be late again." he says in a dangerously low voice. I nod silently. "Good. I'm glad we understand each other," he says. I turn to leave, but he grabs my wrist, and I immediately know it'll be bruised tomorrow.
"WHAT DID I JUST SAY?" he yells at me.
"Cato, the neighbours.. they could hear," I say almost inaudibly, tears pooling in my eyes.
"I don't give a shit!" he spits. "I've been putting up with your bullshit for long enough, and I'm done with it!" he says, aggressively shoving me against the wall. My back hits an exposed nailhead, and I wince but instantly regret it. "Oh, so you're strong enough to not need my help, but you can't take a shove?" he says, and then my vision starts to spot. He grabs me by the shoulders, but not before his fist catches my jaw and throws me on the ground. I shield my face before his fist can connect with it.
"I don't want to see your face for the rest of the night," he growls and slams the door on his way back to the room. I lay on the floor shaking, willing myself not to cry out in pain.
That was the night I left.
"Katniss...?" Madge says gently, shaking me out of my daze.
"Yeah, sorry, I'm here. What were you saying?" I ask her while she still carries a concerned look on her face. It quickly vanishes after she sees me looking at her.
"Right!" she smiles mischievously, "Gale told me that someone from one of his classes is looking for a roommate. He told me to give you their email so you could talk about details and all that," she says, waving her hand around airily after handing me a slip of paper. I let out a laugh and thank her before I run to class before I'm late.
Once I got back to Johanna's apartment, I open my laptop and key in the email; p . mellark 33 gmail . com and I begin to type.
Hello,
I'm emailing you in regard to your apartment availability. I would like to express my interest
and would like to know a few details regarding rent, location, and proximity to PU. I am a clean, organized person, and I typically keep to myself, so I won't be in your way.
Thank you for your consideration.
I read over my short email. Sweet and quick to the point. No BS or fluff. I was never good with words, so I decided to send off the email and wait for a response. Within two minutes I get a reply.
Hi,
Thank you for your email. There are currently no other applicants, so you can move in at your leisure, the latest being three days from now. As for rent, it will be 300 per month. The apartment is 5 minutes away from PU, and it is located at 623 W 41st Street.
Thank you for your inquiry,
I hope to see you soon.
I get excited as I read their response and fire off a quick email, letting them know that I will be there tomorrow at 9 am since it is a Saturday. I close my computer with a smile, excited to be able to go and be independent to some degree without having to rely on Jo. I start to fold my clothes, leaving out only a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a hoodie for tomorrow. I start to put away my meagre possessions into a few cardboard boxes as Johanna comes into the apartment and bounds into my room.
"You up for a party?" she says excitedly. I groan, looking down at my sweatpants and hoodie. Jo laughs and pulls me up, but stopping halfway realizing the boxes that are littering the room. "You're moving out?!" she asks me.
"Yeah... I'm sorry... Gale's classmate was looking for a roommate and I emailed them. I'm moving in tomorrow," I tell her, afraid that she'll be mad. She pulls me up off the floor and hugs me. I tense up, but accept it after a few seconds.
"No, don't be sorry, that's so great! This calls for a celebration!" she exclaims, and drags me to her room. "Speaking of Gale, his hot friend is throwing the first party of the semester, and we are going, I don't care what you say. You don't get out enough and you know it," she says with an air of finality and I know that no matter how much I protest she won't relent, so I keep my mouth shut.
"But I already packed all my clothes away," I tell her. She grins mischievously at me, which makes me nervous. "What?" I snap with no venom behind my word.
"I have the perfect dress for you," she says while pulling me into her closet. She rummages around for a few seconds before emerging out of her mess of clothes. "This! This is perfect," she tells me, clearly proud of her choice. I look at the red crimson-coloured dress. I reluctantly take it and change into it in the bathroom. Once I pull the dress over my body, it fits like a glove, hugging each curve. Despite my slim body, there is a slight bend in my waist, which bends out to the curve of my hips. I'm not exactly curvy, but I'm also not shaped like a door. I hold most of my weight in my thighs, hips, and butt, although there isn't much to carry since I weigh in at 125 pounds at the age of 19. I am what would be referred to as a 'pear shape'. I turn in around in the dress, which only goes down to mid-thigh, even if I tug it down. The dress is strapless and has a thin layer of lace over the bottom layer of the material. I frown at myself in the mirror, realizing that if I bend over, it is likely that my ass would make an appearance. I sigh in exasperation.
"Johanna Mason, what the hell is this!" I yell from the bathroom and hear her laugh.
"Lemme see it!" she shouts back. I turn the doorknob and walk out to find her gawking at me.
"Katniss!" she says a little startled, "I think I'm gonna have competition for the boys tonight," she says and waggles her eyebrows while I roll my eyes. "Seriously, you look stunning already and I haven't even done anything yet! You've clearly been holding back in your baggy sweatpants and hoodies," Jo says.
"Now, for a bit of fine-tuning."
"What do you mean?" I ask her.
"Don't get so wound up brainless, it's nothing dramatic," she assures me. "I'm just gonna take your hair out of your braid, brush it, and maybe add a bit of mascara." I open my mouth to refuse but decide against it.
"Fine,"
"Great!" she says excitedly while taking my hand and guiding me to the bathroom. After 15 minutes, I have to admit that I do look considerably better. My naturally dark wavy hair flows down my back, ending a little above my waist, and my already long eyelashes are "plump" as Jo called them, and they compliment my grey silvery eyes due to the intensity of the black mascara.
"Now, I'm going to go and find you a pair of black heels, and by the time I come back, you better be waiting for me by the door," she warns and I laugh.
"Alright, consider it done," I tell her before going to grab a small purse and my phone. I check the time and see it's already 9 pm and realize I'm starving. "Jo, hurry up! I'm hungry and I want to end this pain as soon as possible!" I yell. Right as the last word leaves my mouth, she comes out of her room looking like a million bucks.
"You look great," I reassure her as she twirls around in a scandalously revealing teal dress, and I grab her hand while pulling her out of the apartment. As soon as we start the engine of her car, we're already zooming out of the parking lot and down the highway. Within minutes we pull into an already overcrowded driveway. The house is basically shaking with the number of people in it and music that is so loud you could practically hear from the end of the street. As I exit the car, Jo is already by my side and dragging me up the driveway then stairs, and entering the rowdy crowd of university students.
"Great, isn't it?" she shouts at me over the loud music. I nod, despite being able to feel my whole body vibrating from the bass coming from the speakers. I look around through the mass of people, hoping to find a table of food when I see someone leaving from the left side of the room with a slice of pizza. I backtrack his path and find all sorts of food, and happily help myself to a slice. I walk over to a table filled with drinks, which by the smell of them, are very alcoholic. I shrug and pour myself a drink of punch, and take a sip, feeling the cold liquid going down my throat, but burning in my chest like flames. As I go to turn around, I bump into someone's chest, and my drink spills all over their shirt.
"Oh my gods I'm so sorry, I-" I begin to say, stumbling over my words until I look up at the punch victims face.
"Woah," I breathe out. Two startlingly piercing blue eyes gaze back at my steely grey ones, and mine roam over his face. He has a straight, nice nose, with full, soft-looking lips and absolutely flawless skin. He has curly golden blonde hair that catches the lights of the party. Despite all of his amazing features, I can't seem to look away from his eyes. They're azure blue with small flecks of lighter patches of blue around the center of his iris. His blonde eyelashes are definitely longer than mine, which makes me wonder how they don't get tangled together when he blinks. My eyes then wander down his face, and I notice his sharp jawline, but as my eyes travel down, the view gets better and better. His upper body is well toned and defined, with a layer of muscle basically everywhere. You can see his toned abs through his black shirt, which makes me shiver a little just at the view of them. He's wearing dark blue jeans, which fits him well.
"Uh, hi," he finally says, laughing at my comment. He smiles. Oh, gods. His smile. He has brilliantly white and straight teeth. Even though I just got punch all down his front and he could easily take a swing at me for it, he instead smiles down at me.
"Hey," I reply breathlessly, although I'm not sure why. "I am so sorry for spilling that on you, I can buy you a new shirt, I promise-" I begin, but he cuts me off with his laugh. It rings clearly through the crowd and holds a beautiful note of joy.
"It's okay, it's fine, really," he says smiling. "I like your dress," he says looking down at me. I turn red and he automatically notices this. "Wait, no, th-that's not what I meant, I'm so sorry," he stutters, but it's my turn to laugh.
"It's okay, I get what you mean," I say, having to shout over the loud music. The redness in his cheeks leave and he seems to loosen up.
"Wanna dance?" he asks after a second or two. I tense you a little, which he seems to notice. "Or you don't have to," he says seeming a little embarrassed. I look around and suddenly notice the swarm of girls that's formed around us. They're all ogling at him with a dreamy look in their eyes.
"Uh, I think there's already a line waiting for you," I say to him, pointing to the group of girls batting their eyelashes in his direction. He looks around but doesn't seem to care, and shrugs. Is this a normal thing? Are people as visually interested in him as I am? They must be.
"Well I asked you, not them," he tells me non-nonchalantly.
"Okay, sure I guess," he envelopes my cold hand into his warm one gently and gives me a reassuring smile. The house is dark, with the exception of coloured strobe lights. We move into a huge yet crowded living room where everyone is dancing. To be honest, I really don't know how to dance, and quite frankly, I have little to no time for it. I'm trying to find a way out of it when I come up with an excuse. Between the loud music and people singing and shouting, I find myself having to raise my voice considerably.
"I don't even know you're name, or if you even go to PU!" I shout at him. He smiles and laughs... I think... I'm not completely sure since I can't really hear him.
"I'm Peeta!" he shouts back. "And yes, of course I go to PU! Why do you think I would be at this party?"
"Well, I don't know, some people will do anything just to get a little wasted on a Friday night," I tell him, and he nods.
"What about you? What's your name?" he asks me.
"Katniss,"
"Katniss," he says as if he is mulling over the word, and to be quite honest, I love how he says it. "That's a really pretty name. Unique, but pretty," I blush and thank him. Just as he opens his mouth to say something, Johanna comes over, clearly very drunk and very horny.
"Hey love, how you doin'? I just met this SUPER hot guy, very manly, super nice muscles, the whole works. Unlikely I will be coming home tonight," she pauses and winks, "so you can take the car back to the apartment..." she begins to tell me, but then sees Peeta. She looks him up and down, and visibly stops to gaze at his mid-section for a few seconds longer than necessary.
"What's cooking good lookin?" Johanna says flirtatiously.
"Johanna!" I hiss. Despite her very forward comment, I can't disagree with her. Peeta is certainly one of the best looking boys I've ever seen.
"See you later," she says winking at him and struts off.
"I'm so sorry about her, she's just naturally like that, and the alcohol doesn't help of course-" I ramble.
"It's fine," he says laughing. "Well, I gotta go and find out if my ride is blackout drunk or not, so I'll be back in a few minutes?" he askes me, wondering if I'll stick around.
"Uh, yeah, sure," I say, although I am quite the opposite of sure at the moment. He leaves and weaves his way through the crowd expertly, barely touching anyone despite the crowded room. The fact that he is at so much ease here makes me wonder how often he is at parties, or if he's just naturally an expert at life or whatever. After 10 minutes of waiting and 4 slices of pizza, I decide that he probably went to hook up with one of the girls that were hanging around us earlier. I don't know why, but I get a little mad, despite the fact that he really had no obligation to come back and doesn't even know me. I start to look around for the exit and find the doorway, uttering many 'excuse me's' and 'sorry's'. I take Johanna's keys out of my purse and unlock the car, starting the engine. After a few minutes of driving, I park the car and make my way up to her apartment and unlock the door.
15 minutes later, I'm back in my sweatpants and hoodie, ready to curl up on the couch as I braid my hair back. I grab a bag of chips and wrap a blanket around me while flicking on the TV. Before I know it, I'm fast asleep.
The next morning...
I wake up to an awful wretching noise coming from the bathroom. I pull myself up from the couch and my muscles groan from the stiffness. I take a moment to stretch out then make my way off the couch. While walking over to the bathroom to see the noise, I find a trail of clothes littering the floor. I open the door and find Johanna, stark naked, leaning over the toilet. The smell of vomit and alcohol meets my nose and I almost upchuck myself. Before I let myself think twice, I go over to Jo and hold her hair back as he disposes of the liquor in her system into the porcelain bowl. After 5 minutes of this, she leans back on the wall and her skin is drained of colour.
"Overdid it on the vodka again, didn't you?" I say. She nods, then speaks up.
"Why are you still here?" she asks me, and I give her a puzzled look. She rolls her eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be over at your new roommate's apartment by 9?"
"Oh my gods, I totally forgot, shit, ugh," I say, angry at myself for forgetting. "Well, I have a bit of time," I say to no one in particular, but Johanna laughs.
"It's 10:30 brainless," she says, and my eyes almost bulge out of my head. I haven't packed anything with the exception of my clothes! Without saying another word to Johanna, I sprint down the hall to the spare room where my things are, and throw them in boxes, not particularly caring about the organization at the moment. Within 2 minutes, I have everything packed and at the door when Johanna appears behind me. I give her a hug and thank her for everything.
"So what's their name?" she asks.
"Uhh, to be honest, I don't know," I tell her. "I never actually got their first name, only their last. Well, I assume it's their last name; their email said p . mellark . I guess I'll know soon though" I shrug and she nods.
"Well, the least I can do is drive you there," she says, picking up two boxes and grabbing the keys. I give her a grateful smile and pick up the other three boxes; one under my left arm and two under my right. It's a struggle, but once we get in the car and have the boxes packed away in the trunk, it's rather smooth sailing from there. I pull up the address on my phone and give Jo directions. Within 10 minutes, we pull into the parking lot and get out of the car. The apartment building overlooks the Hudson River and the state line where New Jersey begins; it's honestly a beautiful view. I thank Johanna again and take my boxes under my arms and I walk into the building. As I'm taking the elevator, I realize how embarrassing it is that I don't even know my roommate's name, so I grasp onto the only information I have; P. Mellark... P. Mellark. I get out of the elevator on the 8th floor and approach the right room number they gave me; 54. I place my boxes on the ground and take a deep breath before knocking. I rap on the door and wait a few seconds before I hear footfalls approaching. The door swings open to reveal a golden blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy. I gasp in recognition. It all makes sense now; P. Mellark.
The boy standing before me is none other than Peeta Mellark.