Enjoy!
"So, tell me why you're upset again?"
Madge clasped her lifeguard uniform into place, before gathering her shiny blonde hair into a low bun.
Katniss huffed, unsure of the response to present her friend.
In the last three days, she had consumed her time recollecting how she overreacted and still has yet to come up with an explanation. Peeta had called her a total of five times since that night, all of which she let go to voicemail. If Katniss couldn't describe to Madge why she reacted the way she did, how was she going to spell it out to Peeta?
Madge shuffled from her open locker to stand in front of the full-length mirror, examining her reflection. Katniss had yet to answer her question, giving Madge the impulse to resume talking.
"Have you ever toyed with the idea that you might hedge something deeper than friendship for Peeta?"
Katniss's head snapped up from adjusting her swimsuit, catching Madge's smirk in the reflection of the dirty mirror.
Her mouth hung open, face tinged pink. "I've never-…we're only friends."
Madge quirked a blonde brow at her, not taking her bait. Katniss glowered and returned her attention back to her red lifeguard suit, fumbling with the front as if her small breasts couldn't fit in the spandex.
Madge puffed. "You two are the only people blind to how you act around each other."
Disregarding Madge's stare, Katniss pulled on her wet strands, roping them together to form a sloppy braid over her shoulder.
"I think you neglect that he basically sees me as the annoying sister he never had. And don't forget that he told everyone last year that I was one of the guys."
It had been a lunch hour. Katniss and Peeta were walking to the table that his friends took over in the corner of the large school cafeteria. Cato, a jerk that Katniss didn't care for, was stating something unseemly about a girl in Katniss's calculus class.
Katniss faintly recalls her name being Delly Cartwright.
She was a sweet girl, and Katniss never imagined Delly would become entangled with the likes of Cato. Didn't Delly grasp that Cato was going to blabber their business to anyone that would listen?
"I swear she's never sucked dick before. She didn't even spit-" he stopped when he noticed Katniss and Peeta had walked up, his mouth clamping shut.
Katniss felt her grip on her tray tighten. It kept her from lurching forward and punching his disgusting face. Peeta had shrugged, leaving Katniss stunned that he wasn't bothered by how his friends expressed themselves about girls.
Cato had all but shouted to a quarter of Panem High's male population that a girl in their school was inept 'in the sack.'
"It's okay, man," Peeta thrust a thumb in Katniss's direction. "Katniss doesn't mind."
She remembers giving Peeta a wild look and regretfully sat down next to him while Cato finished his offensive story.
Delly left class early that day, blaming it on a stomach ache, but Katniss knew the real reason. And so did everyone else. Guilt wracked Katniss for the rest of that day. She should have prevented Cato from saying anything further, and maybe it would have saved Delly from some of the embarrassment.
Katniss still wished she would have punched Cato. She would have relished watching him squirm from a broken nose.
Madge uselessly tidied any fly-aways she may have missed, even though the heat will spring them out of place once they are outside. Then she picked up her stark white towel, snapping it to close her locker. She pushed her large-framed sunglasses up the bridge of her nose, before turning to Katniss.
"Whatever you say, all I'm saying is no guy friend of mine has ever gone out of his way for me."
Katniss rolled her eyes, knowing all too well that plenty of guys throw themselves at Madge. She's gorgeous, tall, and curvy with flawless skin, nothing compared to Katniss's standard features. Katniss even caught her best friend openly ogling Madge's butt during gym class once.
She closed her rusty grey employee locker and followed Madge out to the pool.
The sun was hot and relentless, bringing Katniss to grimace when she noticed the umbrella over her chair was closed. She threw her towel across the plastic seat, hoping it would save her from burning her back end. Then she climbed up the steps, her flip flops smacking against her heels until she claimed her seat on the lifeguard stand.
There was already a long line waiting along the fence of the pool, waiting for the gates to open in two minutes. Utilizing her minutes to spare, Katniss propped her umbrella open.
As she sat back down in her seat, she saw a blue truck pull into the parking lot. Three guys hopped out along with a blonde woman from the passenger door. The driver and the blonde walked together, while the other two walked ahead of them toward the curb.
Katniss's stomach flipped when the pair walked close enough for her to make out their faces. She realized the man walking with the woman was none other than the same person she was trying to avoid.
Katniss sank back into her seat when the gate opened, it was a pointless attempt considering she sat high enough for everyone to notice her. People steadily filed into the main pool area, each group or individual claiming one of the white plastic pool chairs.
She made an effort not to scan the faces for Peeta, but she couldn't help herself when he walked through the archway from the lockers.
His blond curls clung to his head, wet from the showers. Peeta wore a white t-shirt and red board shorts. He leaned against the wall until the woman he came to the pool with stepped out of the women's' locker seconds later.
Katniss grit her teeth when the woman turned out to be Glimmer, the memory of them together, falling into the forefront of her mind. She turned her gaze back to the pool and blew her whistle when Madge signaled that people could get in the water.
Fifteen minutes flew by, turning into thirty. Still, Peeta had yet to acknowledge Katniss, or maybe he had and chose to ignore her. She thought this was a good thing, unwilling to bash it out with him in public.
A loud splash came from the shallow end of the pool, catching Katniss's attention. She blew her whistle when the head of the person who performed the cannonball emerged from the water.
The man turned in her direction, a smile pulling at his mouth before he wadded in her direction.
"No jumping into the shallow end- oh!"
Darius leaned against the edge of the pool, his red hair a wet mess atop his head. Katniss groaned. She should have known Darius was one of the guys that came with Peeta.
"What's the problem, lifeguard?" He gave her a cheeky grin as he climbed out of the pool.
Katniss couldn't help herself from noticing the hard planes of his abdomen, light downy hair trailing down…she blushed and averted her eyes. Thankfully, Darius hadn't seen.
"No jumping off the shallow end. I didn't think I had to voice that to a near-adult."
Darius mussed up his hair to remove some of the water, ignoring her weak snub.
"Maybe I was just trying to catch your attention." He gave her a wink, and Katniss rolled her eyes.
She looked across the pool and noticed Peeta staring at her and Darius, Glimmer laying on her stomach next to him in her small black bikini. He made no move to wave, though, what else did Katniss expect him to do? She had been the one avoiding him; Peeta probably expected her to make the first move.
With as much courage she could muster, she raised her hand and gave him a feeble wave. Surprisingly, he waved back, lifting a small weight off her shoulders.
"…what do you say?"
Katniss had wholly forgotten about Darius, her attention focused on Peeta, that she missed all he had said to her.
"I'm sorry, what?"
He rubbed his neck and looked up at her through wet lashes, seeming sheepish compared to his usual bravado. "Uh…there's a bonfire tonight at the lake. I was wondering if you wanted to come…with me, that is."
She played with the loose end of her braid, now uncomfortable. "Like a date?"
Darius seemed to lighten up from this, offering a light chuckle. "That is what I was hinting at."
Katniss felt her cheeks warm from embarrassment. She moved her eyes away from Darius, taking another look across the pool. To her disappointment, Peeta was already preoccupied with Glimmer at his side, talking about who knows what.
With a small nod of her head, she glanced back down at Darius, a hopeful look resting on his features.
"Sure."
Katniss sat on the log next to Darius, tugging down the end of her shorts when he wasn't looking her way. Had she known her legs would be the subject of interest to many wandering eyes, she would have thrown on her last pair of jeans from her drawer. An ill-fitting and well-worn pair that had seen better times through her high school years. They'd more than likely keep the stares out of her direction.
Darius described to her in the car that it wasn't a party, just a group of the guys from the team getting together. Though, it was evident, more than just the hockey team surrounded the campfire.
There must have been at least fifty people scattered about the area, each formed small circles on the outskirts of the fire. A few Katniss recognized from Peeta's group of friends, and there were others that Katniss had never seen before. She wasn't sure if some of them had attended Panem High at all, though Katniss wasn't like Peeta, who knew almost everyone by their name. Katniss was lucky if she recognized faces; she didn't spend her time worrying about where she sat on the invisible 'popularity chain.'
There was no need. Four measly years with those you went to high school with, and then you'll more than likely never see them again.
That's why Katniss would much rather spend her time with a book, or enjoying the short summers in Panem.
Her eyes passed over the few faces she did recognize, surprised when Johanna Mason was among one of them. Like Katniss, Johanna didn't seem to enjoy the company of others. Or that's what she told everyone. Yet, she seemed perfectly comfortable talking to some guy Katniss couldn't remember the name of.
Katniss and Johanna have only exchanged a handful of words over the years. None of them an actual full-on conversation, but they both seemed to have a silent understanding that they'd instead not make pleasantries.
One person Katniss had anticipated being amongst the sea of faces, though, was nowhere to be found.
And even more surprising, Glimmer sat on the other side of the fire, batting her eyes flirtatiously at Cato. Katniss couldn't help the scowl that pulled at her mouth, she never understood how this social circle worked. All of them merely hopping from one person to the next, before any sort of real relationship could form.
This didn't stop Katniss from feeling defensive for Peeta as the girl he was with only hours ago sat in front of Katniss, ready to take on her next conquest.
In Katniss's heart, she knew Glimmer was wrong for Peeta, the evidence blatant for her to see, but she felt that she owed to inform him that Glimmer is a slag. Though she's sure, this wasn't news.
Katniss pulled her eyes away from the pair when hands began to wander, uninterested in a replay of a few nights ago.
She turned toward Darius, who was listening to Gale. They talked about sports, losing Katniss's attention entirely, but she remembered the question she wanted to ask.
"Is Peeta here?"
Darius turned to her, pausing whatever new conversation he was about to have with Gale. "No, I think he said he couldn't make it. Something about needing to go through his stuff for packing."
Katniss felt her stomach drop.
Amid her cowardice, she forgot that Peeta leaves in three weeks. She tried to keep from being upset, reminding herself that she was the one that chose to keep the silence between them.
In one of those phone calls, he probably would have told her about this bit of information. Perhaps she wouldn't be stuck sitting here next to Darius, even though she agreed.
"Oh," was all she said.
She felt the frown crease between her brows as hurt weighed on her mind.
Darius started to turn to her, noticing her change in demeanor. Still, Katniss tried to shake off her feelings and offered him a pathetic smile, hoping it would stop him from investigating further. She wasn't an excellent actor, but Katniss had Darius easily convinced, and he offered her a small smile in return. He gave her one last fleeting look before turning back toward Gale, returning to their conversation.
Katniss only sat there, hardly paying any mind to what they were saying, her mind elsewhere.
Darius dropped her off around ten, telling her he had an early shift in the morning.
"I had fun," Katniss had told him, lying through her teeth.
He laughed, already unconvinced. "Come on, I know you're not a people person. I noticed you ward off anyone that tried to make conversation."
Her cheeks flushed. While she thought Darius was clearly too busy talking with his friends, he was also keeping track of whether or not she was enjoying herself. She was the worst possible date.
"I'm sorry. As I said before, I don't like parties."
Darius nodded as though he remembered her saying those words.
"It wasn't supposed to be a party, I wasn't lying when I told you that, thinking you'd say no otherwise," he told her honestly. "But, I guess I should have foreseen the guys also inviting friends."
Katniss gave him a coy smile, anything to lighten the mood again.
"So we're friends? You're finally over your four-year crush?"
He snorted. "Four years is a little excessive, but I'd say we're friends." He scratched his chin in thought, sounding like sandpaper as his nails caught on the five o'clock shadow there. "I doubt Peeta would have let any of us date you anyway."
Katniss's eyes flicked to his face, her heartbeat now out of tandem.
"What?"
Darius shrugged, not as interested in the topic as she. "He is just a good friend."
Katniss peered out the windshield, slowly nodding her head.
"Yeah, he is."
She walked into the house. Now that Haymitch is back on his regular night-shift schedule, it made the house feel quiet and very empty.
Katniss went up to her room to change into her pajamas, an old band tee that she snatched from Peeta years ago and a pair of flannel pants. She went through the motions of brushing her teeth and combing her hair when she heard the doorbell resonate throughout the house.
It's only been thirty minutes since Darius dropped her off, and she half wondered if she forgot something in his car even though she hadn't brought much with her.
She huffs out an annoyed breath when the doorbell rings again, and she pulled the door open, ready to snap at Darius. But her mouth fell slack, her words dying on her tongue when it wasn't Darius on the other side of the door. It was Peeta.
He looked down at her, his favorite baseball cap casting a shadow over his face, making it hard to see his expression. She noticed that he carried a medium-sized shoebox in his hand, the tattered corners showing its age.
Peeta cleared his throat, breaking the silence between them.
"Can I come in?"
Katniss didn't answer, only pulling the door open wider for Peeta to step over the threshold. She closed the door behind him, gesturing toward the living room.
He toed off his sneakers before following Katniss into the next room. She sat Indian style on the couch, Peeta followed suit on the hardwood floor in front of her.
The shoebox sat nestled in his lap, and her eye caught a shiny object poking out of one of the holes. She glanced at Peeta to see him also looking down at the box with interest.
"What's in the box?"
Peeta turned his gaze up to Katniss, offering her a small smile, then he held the shoebox out for her.
"Why don't you look for yourself."
Katniss grabbed the box from him, almost dropping it when she didn't expect its weight. She settled it in her own lap, peering up at Peeta once, then her hands pulled the old lid off.
Inside resided all kinds of treasures. An old baseball, folded up pieces of paper yellowed with age, and a few smaller items scattered across the bottom of the box.
She was confused about why Peeta was showing her these things that clearly held some value to him, but she picked out one of the items from the box anyway. It was the shiny object that caught her eye earlier, a gold pendant, tacked in the old cardboard.
Pulling it free of its confinements, Katniss noticed a Mockingjay resting on top. Its wings were fanned out in such a way that it looked like the Mockingjay would fly from the circle it rested in.
The pendant felt familiar in her hand as she twirled it for further inspection.
"You don't remember?"
Katniss looked up at Peeta, who was watching her, apparent amusement on his face. She shook her head, placing the pin in his open palm.
"I believe it was around the time when we first met. You walked into the bakery with your dad, and I was playing with my brother up front. You were wearing a girl scout uniform, and your signature Katniss scowl, clearly upset. I can't remember how this ended up in your hand, but you threw it. I turned at the right moment, and it nicked me in the face." Peeta rubbed the bridge of his nose, where Katniss noticed a small pink scar.
Katniss remembered now; she was grounded for a month.
"And you kept it?!"
Peeta laughed at the face she gave him. "Yeah, well, there are a few things like that in the shoebox. I was going through my closet, and it was sitting under a pile of hockey gear, I'm surprised mom hadn't fallen over at the sight."
Katniss smiles, placing the pendant back in the box. "I don't blame her! I can only imagine the things she'd rather avoid in that room."
"I suppose you're right." His face turned red.
They fell silent, giving Katniss enough time to calculate her next words. You'd think four days to be plenty of time, but Katniss didn't do well with confrontation. Not without getting angry and frustrated. Peeta didn't say anything either, making the silence more deafening between them.
"I'm sorry."
These were hardly all of the words she wanted to say, but they were the only ones that she could adequately formulate. Her eyes were trained on the items in the box, so she couldn't see Peeta's reaction, but she imagined he was staring right at her.
For a while, he didn't say anything, the only sound from him was his steady breathing. Once a few minutes go by, Katniss started to wonder if she hadn't said anything at all, that she had imagined the words tumbling from her mouth.
"Me too," she heard him say, though she hadn't expected it. She stayed quiet, unsure how to continue, but Peeta beat her to the punch. "I shouldn't have left you like that last weekend. It was…a dick move. And I'm sorry."
Katniss shrugged, picking at a piece of cardboard. "Darius wasn't bad company."
Peeta cleared his throat. "Did he…did you…"
Katniss's eyes snapped up toward Peeta, understanding his insinuation before he could finish. She and Peeta never approached the topic of sex. It felt too intimate of a subject to discuss with each other, regardless of the fact that they shared everything else. Katniss didn't want to think so low of her best friend, but she knew he wasn't a virgin, though things heard through the grapevine were often muddled.
However... Katniss was a virgin.
"No," she said defensively.
His face seemed to relax slightly. "I just thought that was the reason you weren't returning my phone calls, that-"
"That I had slept with one of your friends on a whim," she finished furiously.
He gave an irritated sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. "God! No. That's not what I meant!"
"Well, that's what it sounds like to me!" Her next words tumbled out before she could stop them, too heated to care at the moment. "I didn't talk to you because I saw you and Glimmer that night! Not because I was too busy getting someone's dick wet!"
Peeta's face paled, his mouth gaped. Katniss crossed her arms over her chest defiantly, waiting for him to object to what she already knew to be true.
He pulled his cap off and ran a hand through his matted hair. "Fuck," he said under his breath. Then he brought his eyes up to meet hers. "I'm so sorry Katniss, you shouldn't have seen that." Peeta ran another hand through his hair, before dropping it in his lap. "I had a crush on her for some time. At the party I noticed her standing by herself, so I decided to make my move. To be honest, I didn't expect things to escalate so quickly. Though I couldn't give her anything more than, um…well what you saw. I asked her out, but I guess I learned quickly that she could have cared less about a date."
Katniss's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "But I saw you two today, at the pool. Things seemed to be cozy then."
He gave a small chuckle. "Glimmer's the only girl I've met that would get upset about wanting to take things slow. Glimmer threw a fit when I dropped her off at her house, hinting that she wanted me to go in with her since her parents weren't home. I said it didn't feel right." Peeta sighed. "Well, long story short, she called me a few names and stormed out of my truck. She also told me not to call her, though I figured that was implied."
Katniss bit her lip, trying to hold back a smile.
Peeta noticed and gave her one of his boyish smiles. "Go on, laugh. I probably deserve it anyhow."
She shook her head, feeling the goofy smile break across her face.
"So are things back to normal between us again," Peeta asked her. His voice sounding hopeful.
Katniss nodded. "As long as you don't try to grope a woman while I'm in the same room, then yes."
His eyes flickered for a moment, a distant look on his face, then it disappeared, and a mischevious grin replaced it.
"So, I heard you went on a date with Darius tonight."
Katniss groaned and threw a pillow at him, pretending to be upset, though she couldn't stop the squeal that erupted from her when Peeta bombarded her with throw pillows.
This was them, and Katniss locked this memory away with others of their time together.
The next three weeks flew by quickly, all of Katniss's days spent being with Peeta. Whether it be at his house, the lake, or whatever else they could find to do. They tried to utilize all of the free time they had left.
Peeta was hesitant, if not anxious, to hang out at her house. He said Haymitch probably hated his guts, but Katniss assured him that Haymitch hates everyone's guts. This didn't make him feel any better about the situation, yet he braved a few afternoons with her and Haymitch. Haymitch didn't take his eyes off Peeta the first day, grumbling things under his breath the entire time.
To Katniss, it was comical, watching the two silently communicate with each other across the living room. Peeta, a nervous wreck, and Haymitch, Katniss's overprotective uncle. She did feel anxious for Peeta when she would get up to use the bathroom, only imagining what words Haymitch would throw in Peeta's direction.
When Katniss would come back from the bathroom, the two were just as silent as to when she left, with the only difference being the change in facial color. Peeta's was white, Haymitch's face a bright red.
She started when Haymitch said he was going to go to the Mellark's to say goodbye to Peeta. "I should probably say goodbye to the boy. He's only been hanging around the house for nearly five years."
He didn't sound as thrilled when he said it, but Katniss knew that he would still miss seeing Peeta around just as much as she would.
Now everyone at the Mellark's residence huddled in their spacious front yard, helping Peeta load his truck with the last of his belongings. Effie was a sobbing mess the entire time, earning a few eye rolls from Haymitch.
"The boy is going to college, not off to war," Haymitch grunted at the end when Effie sent a steely glare his way.
Effie gathered Peeta in her arms when his truck was completely loaded. "My sweet nephew is taking his first steps into adulthood, and I'm the only one that's a mess over it." She sniffled and wiped a tissue at her eyes.
Peeta pats his aunt's back reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'll call you when I get there."
She nods, squeezing him one last time before standing next to Peeta's mom. Peeta made his round of goodbyes, starting with his parents. Each person he said goodbye to, Katniss felt the tight ache in her chest.
When he reached Haymitch, Peeta held out his hand awkwardly, but Haymitch surprisingly pulled him into a hug. It was quick and fleeting, and Katniss knew that it was Haymitch's way of expressing emotion.
Then Katniss was the only one left, standing awkwardly near the driver's side door.
Everyone seemed to be watching them, making Katniss feel uncomfortable until Effie clapped her hands together, likely noticing Katniss's hestiance.
"Come, Mary, and I didn't spend all this time making food for it to go to waste."
"I could use a beer," Haymitch said. Effie clucked her tongue, a quick comment meant. Still, Katniss couldn't hear it because Effie had already disappeared into the house.
The small crowd followed Effie, leaving Katniss and Peeta being the only two left on the front lawn.
This was it, where their two paths diverged.
Peeta's hands were stuffed in his front jean pockets, also not ready to be the first to say goodbye.
"Oh!" His long arm reached into the truck from the open driver's window, retrieving a small brown bag moments later. Then he held the bag out for me. "It's for you." He rubbed the back of his neck, a crease forming between his brows. "I'm not sure you'll like it since you're not the sentimental type, but…well, open it."
Katniss unfolded the lip of the bag, a peek of something white catching her eye inside. She grabbed it and pulled the item free of the sack. It was a hockey jersey. The red lettering of Mellark and the number twelve printed on the back. Katniss stared at the hockey jersey, words caught in her throat.
"I know it's not the best gift," Peeta started to say, sensing that she didn't like his gift. "But I figured I needed a few fans back home to cheer me on. I can keep it-"
She threw her arms around his waist, cutting off whatever else he was going to say. It took a second before she felt Peeta's strong arms wrap themselves about her shoulders. Katniss inhaled the redolence of cinnamon coming off of Peeta's grey cotton shirt, imprinting the scent into her memory.
They stood there for who knows how long, enjoying that moment between them. Katniss was the first to pull away, remembering she had a gift of her own for Peeta. Peeta's arms slowly fell to his sides, as Katniss reached into her sweater pocket for her gift.
It was something she had snatched out of the shoebox he brought to the house that day. Well, a few things. Katniss finished her little project two days ago, debating whether to give it to Peeta early or not. She had decided it only be fitting to give him his going-away present the day he left Panem.
She pulled out the small leather journal, the binding wrinkled from all the times she opened it.
Peeta's eyes bugged when Katniss placed the gift in his left hand. He stared down at the cover, his hand nearly as big as the journal itself.
"Well, open it," she mimicked his statement from before.
With his thumb and forefinger from his other hand, he turned open the journal, his eyes roaming the page filled with words.
"I wrote our story in there," Katniss explained while Peeta flipped to the next page that held one of his drawings. "Not all of it has words. There are a few of the notes we passed during class."
Peeta flipped through the journal until he landed on an empty page. He looked up at her then. "This one is blank."
Katniss nodded, already feeling the tears prick the corner of her eyes.
"The rest of the journal is blank…for your story. If that's something, you're into! Whatever you want to do with it."
Peeta pulled her into a tight hug, which she returned.
As Peeta climbed into his truck, he told her that he'd call her on the road. Katniss tried to make a feeble attempt at a joke, telling him he should probably call his aunt first. He honked his horn when he pulled away from the curb, and Katniss lifted her hand in a small wave.
Katniss had told Peeta how her days would go unchanging, but already, things felt different as she watched her best friend drive down the street and out of view.
