Dragging the swamp made me sore, so I skip the morning jog. I'll get plenty of exercise without it. Bright and early and without enough coffee, I pull into the clearing to meet Gale. I'm surprised when I find that he is not alone. I climb out of my car in a huff. I even slam the door for extra emphasis. "What the hell are you doing here?" I ask the two men standing before me.

Peeta turns from the map and smirks at me. He simply says, "Gale asked me to help out with the search."

My eyes flicker to Gale. As they do, his proudness shrinks a bit. He falters and stumbles. "I-I thought we could use the extra help."

I'm about to scream profanities when I remember what we are searching for. The families of the victims need answers, and we need all the help we can get. It would be foolish to turn Peeta away. "Fine," I say through gritted teeth. Peeta and Gale give me looks of pure shock. They weren't expecting this to be an easy battle. "He can help, but only because we owe it to the families."

Without looking back, I wade out into the water.

By lunch time, we've barely searched a third of the swap. It's slow and tedious work. It's even more annoying when Peeta and Gale constantly chatter away. Sports, their friend group, the newest binge-worthy television show, and more sports. I'm delighted and relieved by the sight of Haymitch bringing us lunch.

Haymitch brings us sandwiches from Mellark's, and they taste like heaven. Haymitch also reports that the mines were a bust. No bodies or other pieces of evidence were found within twenty yards of the old mine entrances. Both ways. Haymitch looks like he's aged five years since I saw him yesterday. I can't imagine the pain searching the mines brought to him mentally, physically, and emotionally.

The search of Pearl River was also a bust. Our neighboring city found nothing on the banks or the floor of the river. I'm feeling depressed since two of our hot spots turn up ice cold. The swamp is looking the same way.

When lunch is over and Haymitch leaves, we head back out. The temperature of the water has already begun to drop. Daylight will get the best of us soon. Gale takes the lead and keeps a good distance between him and Peeta and I. I instantly know that it is on purpose. I've been set up, and there's no where for me to run.

"Katniss," Peeta calls out to me in a low voice.

His voice saying my name makes me shiver. Yet, I pretend to find it annoying. "What?" I huff out as I push a log out of my way.

"Can we talk?"

I knew this was a trap the second I saw him here at the swamp. Of course we can talk when we're in the middle of a swamp. We could talk for hours and hour if he wanted to. There's no escaping it. "There's nothing to talk about," I mumble under my breath.

"That's not true," he says. I look in Gales direction hoping he's not listening. Peeta reads my mind and says, "He's not listening."

I let out a long sigh and force myself to look at Peeta. His blue eyes find mine. "Talk" is all I say.

Peeta grins like a child and returns his eyes to the water before him. "I think about my behavior those last few weeks a lot, and I can't apologize enough. I was a brat. I was pissed at the legal system and at life. College was your ticket out of Panem, and I thought you were being robbed of it. That doesn't excuse my actions though. I was mortified when I learned that you left town. I think I read your letter a million times. But I thought we were close enough that you would at least say goodbye to me," he pauses for me to reply.

I don't know what to say. After several moments of silence, I tell him, "We were barely speaking, and I thought it would be easier if we didn't say goodbye." It sounds stupid now that I say it out loud.

"But what about me and what I wanted?" He asks with hurt in his voice. "You were my best friend for almost two decades."

My eyes close as I try to prevent tears from falling from my eyes. I count to five and take several deep breaths. I grit my teeth and say, "So much happened to me that year. I've had a pretty shitty life, Peeta. I'm sorry that I didn't react the way you wanted me to."

"I don't disagree with that."

"And when I called to tell you that my scholarship had been reinstated, you were drunk off your ass."

Peeta stops in his tracks. His voice is full of disbelief as he says, "Your what?"

I freeze. I never told him the good news that night because I hung up on him. In a quiet voice, I tell him, "The university reinstated me and my full ride. I was going to join you in the fall until I heard how you really felt about me."

Silence spreads through the air as Peeta processes what I just told him.

~Age Seventeen~

Prom is one of the most magical times in a girl's life. She dreams of the perfect proposal, finding the right dress, and dancing the night away. I was never one of those girls.

By the time February rolled around, the endless sea of proposals began. Stuffed animals with cute t shirts, questions on pizza, posters at basketball games, and even flash mobs during lunch. It was cheesy, but the girls always said yes.

There were the no brainers when it came to some couples. There were the couples that had been together for years and the ones that had just begun dating. There were the "merchant" kids that hung around in the same circle, and there were friends from every clique that went to every dance together.

Peeta hadn't asked Delly to be his girlfriend yet, and I had a feeling I was the reason why. Perhaps he thought that this would be the first dance I wanted to go to, and the gentleman in him would have no choice but the escort me- his best friend since birth.

Its a few days after Valentine's Day when he finally asks me. We're watch Grey's Anatomy on my couch when the topic comes up. Even if I did want to go, I couldn't afford a dress. All the money I was making was going straight to my mother for my hospital bill. Besides, I was still majorly grounded. I didn't think she would let me out if her sight on a night notorious for underage drinking, drugs, and sex.

Like always, I turned him down.

The next day, Peeta asked Delly to be his date and his girlfriend. He gave her a stuffed bear with a t shirt that asked her both questions. Of course, she said yes.

This year was the first year Cato Ludwig, star quarterback and the most wanted jock, was single. He had broken it off with his long term girlfriend in December. Still, he wouldn't be caught dead skipping prom. To my surprise, he set his sights on me this year.

Cato was a merchant kid, and he was one that teased Peeta endlessly about not dating me. So it put everyone into shock when he plopped down beside me at lunch and asked me to be his prom date. I just sat there scowling at him. I didn't know what to say, so I settled for "I'm grounded."

Cato just laughed. He told me to think about it and to ask my mother. I thought Peeta was going to drop kick him in the middle of the cafeteria. Peeta was furious the rest of the day and said things like "You're not seriously thinking of going with him," and I wasn't.

I was actually joking when I told my mother about it that night at dinner. Something in my mother lit up. A spark ignited that I hadn't seen in her in a long time. "You can't miss your senior prom, Katniss!" Then, she launched into planning all of the details. I was bewildered by her reaction.

The next day, I agreed to be Cato's prom date.

That was the beginning of the end of my friendship with Peeta.

"You could have told me," he says quietly, but it's loud enough to draw me from my thoughts.

"No," I shake my head and keep my eyes down. "I couldn't have."

"I'm sorry I made you feel that way," he says in way that makes my heart break.

So I say, "I'm sorry too."

When the sun begins to set, we call it a night. Who knows what lurks around in this swamp at night. Or who. Peeta and Gale have been talking about their boys night for hours. I have learned that it is the one night a week reserved to their friend group, a sports bar, and all the alcohol they can drink. Gale invites me out as I'm about to leave.

I glare at him but play along. Innocently, I cock my head to one side and bat my eyelashes. "You're asking me out to boys night?"

Gale laughs and gives me a nonchalant shrug. "I'm sure you'd fit right in."

Annoyed, I send him a death glare and shoot back at him. "More manly that you." Then I reenact his earlier reaction to a water snake. It involved jumping and screaming in suprise. Gale screams like a twelve year old when he is frightened.

"Shut it, Catpiss."

I roll my eyes and laugh. "I don't drink anyways." It's a lie. A big one.

The words gain me a curious look from Peeta, who was quiet for most of the afternoon. He politely tells me, "Have a good night off then."

I can't help the scoff that escapes me. "Night off? I'm going to pack up the old FBI office." I don't think I know what a night off is anymore.

"Need any help?" He asks while Gale finishes loading the last of the equipment into his car. Gale punches him in the shoulder and gives him a confused look.

"And be the reason you miss boys night?" I ask while raising an eyebrow. "I'll be fine. You boys have fun." With that, I climb into my car and shut the door behind me. I don't breathe again until I'm out of their sight.

An FBI satellite office was placed in Panem because it is far enough away from the city to deploy agents if a problem should arise in the tristate area. In theory, this would cut down travel time caused by city traffic. The last official case to be worked on in the office happened over twenty years ago. Agents have come and gone ever since, but they never stay for long. The office should have been packed up years ago.

The office is small and located downtown. The Sheriff's office is a few buildings down the street, and the Justice Building is within walking distance. I find a thick layer of dust on everything.

Its too much work for one night, but I begin by packing up old case files. They'll be sent to headquarters. They are so old, they probably haven't been scanned into the main database. I wipe down the blinds and old filing cabinets, and I clear enough space on the desk for me to be able to work on. The evidence board is still up and looking "crazy" as Haymitch would put it.

It's a case that involved a man named Cornelius Snow, the local superintendent of District Twelve High School almost twenty years ago. He was fresh out of college when he came into power, wise for being able to keep it, and he was being investigated for embezzlement and fraud almost ten years later. I don't remember him. He doesn't even look remotely familiar. I make a mental note to ask my mother about him.

I skim over his file. Smart, well educated, and charming to the public eye. One of the FBI agents investigating him made a note that he was a conniving snake. It was even suspected that he was poisoning people. The oddest part to me is the fact that the FBI never made a case against him. They had big suspicions but little evidence. Snow's last known address is one town over, where he is living in peace on his farm. The main crop- roses.

It's late when I finally manage to crawl out of the rabbit hole that I managed to fall into. Snow's case is so interesting. If I had the time, I'd dig into it further, but I've got fourteen families that need justice... and I need sleep.

~Age Seventeen~

Peeta wasn't happy with my choice of a prom date, and he let me know it every chance he could. I don't know why it mattered to him. He had a girlfriend who was growing more and more agitated with our close friendship. Peeta didn't seem to notice... or maybe he did.

My mother fished out her old prom dress. It was so old that it had come back in style. A sleek, black dress with a slit up the right tight. It had beautiful trumpet sleeves that turned white the closer you got to the wrist. It reminded me of the Mockingjays that sing in the trees in the woods beside out house and the forest where my father took me hunting. Mostly, it reminded me of my father, and I knew that I had to wear it.

My mother fitted it to my body and got tears in her eyes when she saw me in it. "The night I wore this was the night your father fell in love with me," she told me.

Madge had a similar reaction. She clapped her hands together and jumped up and down with more glee than I had ever seen her with. I began to wonder if she actually wanted to go deep down. She never said anything about it though and was agitated when I asked, so I dropped it.

I never showed Peeta the dress despite his constant wondering and asking. All he knew was that it was black. I wanted it to be a surprise. That and anytime I brought up my prom date, he became grouchy and unbearable. I avoided the topic of Cato completely around him. Meanwhile, I enjoyed texting Cato all day and night. He was more than a brainless jock. He was kind and funny. I wasn't dreading the idea of going to prom with him.

Peeta told me that Delly's prom dress was light blue. She wanted Peeta to wear a black tux with matching accents. Peeta didn't care, and I got the impression that Peeta wasn't all that into Delly.

By the time prom approached, Peeta couldn't wait to break up with her. He said she was annoying and constantly picking fights with him. I told Peeta to dump her and go to prom with Cato and I or ask Madge. But Peeta was too much of a gentleman to do something so cruel.

Cato had arranged all of the plans for our evening. He's pick me up at my house and drive me to meet up with a group of his friends. We'd take pictures together and eat dinner at a restaurant. Then, we'd go to the dance and enjoy the night. I took his word for it because I have never gone to a dance before.

After the dance, Cato insisted that we go to a party at Finnick Odair's house. He told me that we could enjoy some of the party and still make it back before my curfew. Honestly, I was okay with this. I knew of Finnick since he was friends with Peeta. He had a way of making you feel important and sleazy at the same time.

Finnick was a notorious playboy until a few months ago when he met his current girlfriend Annie. I met her at Peeta's eighteenth birthday party. She was quiet, a red head, smart, and completely normal. She was almost the exact opposite of Finnick. I guess that's why they work so well together.

Only when Peeta told me that he and Delly would also be going to the party did I agree. I needed reassurance that I would know someone since I was bound to be out of place. I was not a merchant kid, and it was pretty obvious.

As the days until prom became less and less, I became more and more excited. I also became more and more in love with Peeta. When he wasn't pissing me off or with Delly, Peeta was my Peeta. After wrestling ended and he secured a full ride his first pick university, Peeta became carefree. He joked more and spent most of his free time with me, much to Delly's annoyance.

I was valedictorian of our high school, and I knew that I had my choice of any college or university. But when I got the acceptance letter to go to the same university as Peeta, I knew that's where I belonged. There was no second choice. Peeta and I were going to take on college and adulthood together.