New chapter :) I'm also going to put the next one on :) Hope you like it and please leave me a review to let me know what you think about it :)
~S~
Chapter 3 - Once upon a dream pt 2
It is night time on the screen as we are all crowded into the square outside the bakery. I'm holding on pretty tight to Rye's arm and I can feel Gale's eyes on me as I watch the screen with tears falling down my face. Peeta is lying on the ground bleeding to death. The Male tribute from 4, Roman, is standing over him ready to stab him through the chest.
"Any last words Lover Boy?" He says to Peeta. He got this name because of his interview, where he told everyone that he was in love with me. Even though nobody knew that it was me. "Maybe you can blow your girlfriend one last kiss." He isnt touching Peeta at all to keep him on the ground and I knew full well that if he was able to get up then he would. This is it... He is going to die...
"I wouldnt give you that satisfaction." Peeta snarls at him. I'm pretty sure my grip on Rye's arm is starting to hurt but he doesnt show it. He's too caught up in his brother's final moments.
We where all surpsied that he had actually made it this far. Being from District 12 doesnt help when you are in the games. People treat you like you are nothing. The last Victor that we had was Uncle Haymitch and that was 23 years ago. Some of us still have hope that he might survive but it seams inevitable now.
"Well say Goodbye Mellark." The 16 year old says and raises his knife up over his head. I watch as Peeta closes his eyes and I feel my eyes close as I turn into Rye's chest with weird sobbing sounds coming from my throat. His arms circle around me as the square falls silent.
"Not until you say Goodbye!" I hear a voice say and I look back up to the screen to see the District 5 Male, Watt, springing from the darkness of the trees and stopping The knife as it gets closer to Peeta. My mouth hangs open as he pushes him away. "You killed her and now you will pay!" He shouts and lunges at Roman and and knocks the knife out of his hands. 2 days ago Roman and his district partner Coral had savagaly killed Watt's district partner, Dina. They had been best friends before they went into the games and agreed to stay away from eachother in the games, then the one day that they where together, he watched her get murdered. I really did feel sorry for him but after that he changed and started hunting people down but most of all, district 4.
"This is the Hunger Games dude, everyone gets killed!" Roman shouts, throwing his arms up and laughing. I feel so much hatred for that guy. "Haven't you noticed." He rounds on Watt again but Watt doesnt move from his spot. His spear is poised and ready to kill as Roman steps closer. "Go on KILL ME!" He screams, I can see the spit flying out of his mouth. "KILL ME!" Watt doesnt even wait for anything. He plunges the spear straight through Roman's chest.
"Now its your time 12. Only one can win this Game. I hope your girl is watching and maybe I will get to meet her on the Victory Tour. I'll say hi to her for you." He says, laughing and turning around to Peeta and my heart starts to beat faster again. "Goodbye." He pulls up his spear and is about to bring it down towards Peeta's heart but Peeta swings his good leg out and knocks Watt to the floor.
Watt holds his head for a second whilst he rolls over on the floor. Peeta rolls on top of him, using up most of his energy and holds Romans knife close to his neck. "Dont ever talk about her again. She has nothing to do with you." He spits out. I can see a few tears fall down Peeta's face but the anger is clearly visible. I can't seem to tear my eyes away now. Peeta closes his eyes and presses the knife into Watt's neck. The blood starts flowing out of the wound at top speed. He should be dead in seconds.
When Watt finally stops breating, I feel like I'm about to faint because of the amount of blood. Thats when Peeta starts crying as he rolls off Watt. I can't imagine what he is going through right now.
The light switched from dark to light as the cannon sounds. Lighting up Peeta's face. There is blood all over him. You can hardly see the normal colour of his face, just red. There is muck in his blonder hair, making him almost unrecgonisable. His eyes close and his breathing almost ceases. My eyes grow wide. He cant die now.
The hovercraft appears in the sky and a peackeeper shows up on a ladder to take him up. Thats when the signal goes out. What just happened? Is he even alive? I hear the applause start in the back and make its way forward towards the people who Peeta actually knows. The Mellarks start shouting and laughing in excitement but I cant seem to stop crying. We dont even know if he is alive and everyone is cheering.
Prim's small frame, slams into my side and holds onto me tightly. "He's alive! Katniss He's alive." I turn to her and smile slightly, but silently I'm waiting for the announcements.
"Well! What an exciting ending to an exciting year!" Caesar Flickerman's voice booms over the square. I look up but most people are still cheering. "Peeta Mellark, The Bakery from District 12 has won the 73rd Hunger Games. Something none of us expected..." His voice is drowned out when Rye finally comes over to me shouting and screaming. He picks me up and throws me over his shoulder, spinning around. I finally let myself be happy. He is coming home to us.
"Katniss?" I hear someone say in a faded kind of voice. The scene changed and I can feel the soft linen sheets underneath me. The covers are tangled around me legs and it feels a little familiar but not very.
I open my eyes to find that I'm in a room at Uncle Haymitch's. The light hurts my head. How much did I drink last night?
"Katniss?" The voice says again and I look towards the door to see Rye. "How Hungover are you?" He laughs slightly. He's used to this but I am not.
"I feel like someone pushed me off a cliff... twice..." I say, attempting to pull myself up. "Where's Prim?" I ask noticing the lack of her presence next to me. I look down at my hand to see the bandages all messed up from sleeping and i dont remember having any pain from my hand last night but I sure do now. Its almost like pins and needles except really painful.
"She's downstairs with everyone. Are you hungry?" He asks.
"Yeh, actually I'm really hungry." I reply, truthfully.
"Yeh, thats what drinking does to you. It makes you super hungry in the morning." He helps me out of bed and we walk downstairs. "You should see Peeta. He fell asleep on the floor just inside the door. It was really funny. He woke up not knowing where he was abut 15 minutes ago." He says, laughing.
"I dont know how you do it Rye, This is terrible." I say as we walk into the dining room.
"I guess it takes practice." He laughs.
"Ahhhh! Here she is. Hows the head sweatheart?" Uncle Haymitch asks and I laugh slightly.
"Horrible." I reply, taking a seat at the table. I look to my left to see the mess that is Peeta. The events of last night come flying back and my mouth hangs open. The hugs. The closeness. The talking. The drinking. Falling on him. The kiss...
All the feelings come back too and suddenly I'm reminded of my dream last night and the way I felt at the end of Peeta's games. The way I felt when I thought he had died. The way I felt when I found out that he was actually still alive. I feel so many feelings for this boy and I'm only just realising it now. What is wrong with me?
"Dont worry. I made something to help the headache Katniss. But you have to eat something first." My mother says and I pull my eyes away from a surprsied Peeta. Does he remember too. I hope he doesnt hate me for what I did. "Katniss?" She says again as I stare at her. I'm pretty sure I was just falling asleep.
Uncle Haymitch, Peeta, Rye, Holly, Mum and Prim are all staring at me. So technically everyone in the room. Delly would have gone to work and so would Leaven and Brooke. Gale would have gone home to see his family. "Yeh, I'm fine." I say and everyone falls into conversation as we all eat.
I need to talk to him about it. I need to apologize. I dont even know what came over me. I need to tell him not to let Rye find out. If Rye found out then he would break up with me and my head is messed up again, I'm not sure if I want to stay with him or not but I do know that I shouldnt break up with him now because I will regret it one I've done it. "Can I talk to you?" I whisper to Peeta, making him jump slightly. He nods though and follows me out of the room. "I need to talk to you about last night." I say to him, once we are far enough away from the dining room. Which just turns out to be the sitting room where our memorable event happened last night.
"I thought this would come up..." He whispers to himself. I catch it though, not sure that he was meant for me to hear this or if I wasnt supposed to hear this. "Look, you dont have to say anything about last night... we where both very drunk and it wasnt supposed to happen." He smiles slightly and pats me on the shoulder.
"Thank you..." I reply, mirroring his smile. "I dont know what came over me and you have to promise that Rye will never find out about this..."
"Believe me... I will definitely not be the one to tell him about this." Peeta says with a laugh.
"Good..." I say and he brings me in for a hug. I dont know why he does it. After last night, you'd think that he would be awkward around me, I know that I am awkward around him but he still hugs me.
"Maybe we should get back before they get suscipscious." He suggests and I nod. I follow him back to the dining room, noticing what he is wearing as he walks infront of me. He is wearing some Blue tartan pyjamam pants and a purple short sleeved top which doesnt match the pants at all. Neither of them are creased at all, so he clearly didnt wear any of them last night. He must have put them on this morning before he came over. Which means that last night he either slept in his clothes from last nights party or... or...in his underwear. My face grows red at the thought of him lying there with the sun beaming down through his open window and glowing onto his bare muscular chest. His arms up over his head of Blonde hair as he snores slightly, his chest rising up and down as he breathes.
"Where did you two just go?" Uncle Haymitch asks, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Oh, I just went to the toilet and I didnt realise that Katniss had left the room until I came back down and she was in the sitting room. She said she had a headache and had to leave the room for a second." Peeta says, without a fault in his voice. He always was a good liar, just not to me. Everyone nods and we sit down to eat.
After we have all eaten our food and we have had out headache relief, I stand up from the table. "Well, I'm going to get dressed and then I'm gonna get home and have more sleep to get rid of this hangover. Got to make a good impression at my first day of work tomorrow." I say with a small smile to Peeta. He is the only one at this table that knows that I am working at the bakery.
"I didnt know you had a job?" My mum asks.
"Yeah, as of tomorrow, I work at the Bakery with these two idiots." I reply, pointing to Rye and Peeta.
"You're working at the Bakery?" Rye asks.
"Yeh, Your dad asked me the other day. I am working at the register so that Peeta can work in the kitchen." I say, putting my chair back under the table.
"Ok well I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" Rye asks with a smile, getting up and coming over to me.
"Yeh you will." I say. He kisses me harder than he normally does and at first I'm surprised. "What gotten into you?" I ask once he has pulled away from me. He looks across the room and I take this opportunity to quickly look down at Peeta. He has his head resting on one of his hands and is looking at his soup that he is playing with. Oh great... What have I done? I've messed everything up between me and Peeta... I'm not even sure how I am going to deal with spending half an hour with him tomorrow morning.
"Just thought that I should show everyone here what a real kiss is.." He says with a smirk.
"Yes but I'd appreciate it if you didnt use my daughter to show us, thank you very much." My mother says and I cant even stop the laugh that comes out of my mouth.
I quickly slap Rye on the arm and turn to walk out the room, shouting a goodbye to everyone else as I go to get changed to go home. "The headache stuff in on the kitchen counter!" I hear my mother shout from the dining room.
"Thanks." I shout back, locating it next to the microwave. I grab a cup off the horrible looking green stuff and leave the room, listening to the sound of clanking metal as Peeta walks out of the dining room, presumeably to get some of the drink.
It takes me only 10 minutes to get ready and before I know it, I'm out the door and walking home. I just shouted through the house with a goodbye. I don't think I can stand walking into that room again whilst Peeta is sitting there. I don't know what has come over me recently, I never felt like this before. Well I don't think I have anyway. Peeta is my oldest friend. He is like a brother to me. I need to stop thinking like this.
All of a sudden my feelings towards Peeta have completely changed and there is no reason behind it. He has always been a friend to me until now. I've known him as long as I can remember and not once have I felt more than friendship towards him.
It's not like he has changed, he is the same Peeta Mellark he has always been. Nothing different about him. Just looking at him makes me picture him mostly naked, lying on his bed apparently, just like this morning. I must have seen him naked loads of times when we where children and he must have seen me naked as a child too and I never felt like that then.
Obviously now he is bigger and so am I. We have grown up and we are actually capable of feeling these things now. He has more muscles and is so much stronger than he used to be. He has them arms that you just want to curl up in forever and that hair that you just want to run your fingers through whilst he sleeps and the lips that my fingers will trace before I kiss him...
WHAT! Now I'm thinking about kissing him? What has gotten into me. I love Rye! No-one else just Rye.
But would it be so bad if I loved Peeta. I could just keep it quiet and not say anything to anyone. If I keep it to myself, maybe the feelings will slowly fade and we can go back on with life as it used to be without all this love and confusion and not knowing who to pick. Maybe if my head wasn't so messed up a lot of the time, I could think straight.
My head has never been messed up like this before though. Normally it is just when I think about Gale's or Peeta's games, that's when I start to cry for no reason and over think everything but I don't think I've ever thought about love like this before. It took me about 3 hours to realise I was in love with Rye and an addition 2 hours to tell him about it but with Peeta it's different. Even if I wasn't dating his older brother, I don't think I would be able to tell him.
Peeta used to be in love with me and now he promises me that he isn't anymore. What would he say if I told him that I was in love with him? He would just shoot me down and leave me to date Rye when he knew how I felt. And how would I tell Rye? He would be heartbroken.
Before I know it, I'm already at home. I was too lost in my own head to realise where I was. I dont even remember entering the seam, never mind walking onto my street. I open the door to the house to find it cold. We havent been home since yesterday and in my case I havent been home since before the party. It feels strange. The house is empty and its not right. There is always someone in here to make it feel homely but now that they are all at Uncle Haymitch's, it feels really strange. I'm not used to being here alone.
After I've shut the door and taken my boots off at the door, like mum always intructs, I start a fire to warm up the house with the wood that I collected in the woods not long ago. As the sparks light up the fire, all I can hear is the sound of the house creaking in the wind. It was always a kind of flimsy house. It is a really old house after all. Mum and Dad where assigned this house just after they got married and they have lived here ever since. I remember him buiding an extension on the house, that he worked really hard for, so that Me and Prim could have a seperate room to Mum and Dad. I also remember the fact that he had saved up for about a year to get enough money and in the end he still didnt have enough so Uncle Haymitch had to pay the rest of which he was hesitant about at first but eventually accepted the money and built the extension. Its only an extra floor though, its hardly a room. Very small but it means that me and Prim get out own space. Though its normally just me because Prim normally sleeps in with mum so I usually just get the room and bed to myself.
Its good having a room to myself sometimes, because I can just spread out and not care about making Prim feel uncomfortable but other times, I just want her to be lying next to me. She does sleep in there sometimes, but its quite rare now. Esepecially when mum is having a bad day, where all she can think about is dad. Prim will sleep in her bed for about 2 weeks to make sure that she is okay.
By 3, I'm asleep infront of the fire. Atleast its warm.
"PEETA! GET AWAY FROM THERE!" I hear myself shout. I dont feel myself saying them, infact, I'm pretty sure that my mouth is closed.
The scene I see infront of myself is much more important than wether or not I said those words though. Its Peeta, He's standing there in the middle of a field that looks remarkably like the meadow, not far from my house. He's standing next to a fire, a huge fire, looking back at me with his hand reached out towards the fire. Fear coarses through me and my heart stops when he leans closer towards it with a look on his face that shows he needs to do this. Thats when I feel my legs begin to move towards him and within seconds, I'm running.
I get there and grab his hand away from the fire. Thats when he starts laughing. "Did you really think I was going to do that?" He asks with a stupid grin on his face.
I smack him on the chest but he still carries on laughing. "You scared the hell out of me! What where you doing?" I ask, still hitting him.
He grabs my arm and holds on tight to stop me hitting him and smiles, lovingly. "I would walk through fire for you any day Katniss." He says, quietly, leaning in slightly closer towards me. "You're the love of my life." He leans in closer and I feel the heat rising in my face. I know I should stop him but I cant. I cant find the strength to. Its not the grip that he has on my arms, Its the grip he has on my heart. My heart feels like its melting in my chest.
I let out a sound that is something between a moan and a laugh. It wasnt meant to be though, I'm not quite sure what it was meant to be though. "You are the most important thing in my life Katniss... You're my baby girl..." He says with a smirk. 'baby girl' Thats what some Townies call their girlfriends. Us Seam folk think that it is an absolutely ridiculous saying though. "I love you with all my heart Kat... I'm never going to let you go again." He is now inches away from my face and I'm prett sure the heat is now visible on my face.
"Come here you..." He says and hooks his hand around the back of my neck, bringing me in and kissing me hard on the lips. WOW... Thats all my brain is able to think right now.
His lips are so soft and unlike what I had ever expected. Nothing like Rye's.
His lips seem to become more distant and I open my eyes to see whats going on...His face is getting more transparent as I focus on him. "I love you..." I hear him say one last time before I'm thrown off my feet and then dropped, for what feels like forever until I finally hit something cold that feels like wood.
I open my eyes to see the dying fire. Its dark outside and I'm still sleeping in the sitting room except this time, I'm lying on the sofa. Mum and Prim must have moved me before they went up to bed. I have one of the blankets from my bed, twisted around my legs. I can feel myself shivering. What time is it?
I pull myself off the sofa and look outside. I'd say, by the look of the sky, that its about 3am. That gives me about 4 hours to get some proper sleep in my bed upstairs.
15 minutes later, I'm lying in my bed with my pyjamas on, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about my dream.
I can still feel his lips on mine as he kissed me by the fire and the feel of his hand on the back of my neck as he pulled me in. His hand on my waste, shending shivers dancing up and down my spine. Then his hand in my hair as he kissed me. But most of all the swelling of my heart as he told me that he loved me. The same feeling I have right now as I think about it. It felt so real and I didnt even push him away or anything. I didnt even think about what Rye would think because the dream wasnt about him, It was about me and Peeta. It had nothing to do with Rye.
The next day, I have to do everything I can to stop myself from kissing Peeta. We are standing there in the front of the Bakery, whilst he teaches me about the job that I shall be doing from now on. Everytime he looks at me to see if I got it or am paying attention, I just want to pull him down for a kiss because all I can think about is my dream. I want to feel his lips on mine again but I know that if I did, everything would be ruined. Peeta would probably never talk to me again. He would probably tell Rye and my relationship with him would be ruined so I have to talk myself out of it everytime. I do that much talking to myself that I dont pay attention to most of the things that he has to say.
By 5 to 6, I've learnt hardly anything except how to open the till but luckily Peeta had wrote it all down last night for me incase I forget so I can just look at that. It shouldnt be too hard to find the food that a customer wants. Its all in the cases infront of me and if it isnt then I just have to shout back into the kitchen to get them to bring some through. The good thing is that I am actually allowed to leave the counter, as Peeta brought out a bell that the customer can ring but everytime I leave the counter, I have to lock the register which makes sense because here in district 12 some people are that pour that they can start to steal the money from the registers in town. I've heard about people doing that in town.
"Right, I'll just be in the back. If you have any problems just call me or Rye and we will come straight through." Peeta says for about the 3rd time.
"Yeh, I got it, I'll be fine." I say to him with a roll of my eyes to look annoyed with him but truthfully I just dont want to look at him. This feeling will pass right?
"Okay, I get it. I'll leave now. See you later. I'll come and check on you soon." He then leaves thankfully and I let out a shaky breathe as the clock strikes 6. I walk over to the door to unlock it and turn the sign to open, just as Peeta had instructed. He said that he would do it but I said that I would because I would have to learn to do it anyway, seen as it will be my job for a while now.
My first customer comes in just as I make it back to the counter. Who would want bread this early. It turns out to be Bailie Green, Brooke's little sister. She is a year younger than me and I've only ever talked to her when she has been with Peeta. Which is hardly ever actually. "Katniss? since when did you work here?" She asks, stopping in her tracks.
"Since about a minute ago." I say with a smile. "How can I help you?" I ask as instructed by Peeta.
"Can I get 4 cheese buns and 2 chocolate muffins?" She asks politely. I nod and reach down to grab them out of the display case. "Brooke craves Cheese Buns all the time now and it is really annoying and strange because according to my mum the cravings arent supposed to start until later on in the pregnancy but its fine. I'm really excited about it. I'm going to be an aunt."
"Yeh, it is really exciting." I say, not really listening to her. I always knew that she talked for ages and I wouldntbe surprised if most people just nodded along. She probably knows it too actually.
I place the cheese buns and the muffins into a bag for her and am about to ring up the price on the register but she just hands me some coins and stops my hands. "I come every morning for the same thing. I know how much it is." She smiles and leaves in a hurry. Just to make sure she wasnt lying. I ring it up on the register and she was right. She handed me the correct amount of money.
By 11m, I feel like I've been here for a week. Monday is apparently a really slow day for the Bakery because they dont get many customers. So far I've had about 13 customers and almost everyone of them has questioned why I work here now. I remember one that came in, she was an elderly woman, probably 50s. She looked at me with dead eyes and said. "Since when did they let seam scum work in town shops." I think she tried to whisper it because after that she tried to act nice but she didnt know that I had heard her.
I dont get why some townies think that we are scum. We never did anything to them. It isnt our fault that we where born into the seam. It isnt out fault that we are pour either. My family are only pour because of what happened to my dad, no other reason and that was only an accident.
"How's it going out here?" I hear someone say from behind me and I turn around to see Peeta standing in the doorway.
"Good, I suppose." I answer truthfully. "You know, some people aren't very nice. I've had so many strange looks today for sitting here and one woman called me scum." A sigh falls from my lips and Peeta laighs slightly.
"Who was it?" He asks.
I try to think about the womans face and if I'd ever seen her before but I dont think I have. I normally know people that I see here in the district but I didnt recognise her. "I dont know, she was old. She looked like she was in her 50s. Had a limp. Seemed to have a sour look on her face and had grey hair with a couple blonde parts." I say, re-calling the face of the woman.
"Yeh, thats Mrs Wiserman. She lives in the housing part of Town and isnt particularly nice to anyone so I wouldnt take it persnally. She told me once that I had a very square face and that my teeth where too white." He says leaning against the counter and laughing.
"Well thats not so bad. Atleast you wherent called scum." I say, scowling at him.
"Its fine Katniss, you get used to it. You eventually tune it out and ignore them." He says with a smile.
I'm about to reply when the bell dings again. I'm expecting another horrible customer but its Greasy Sae. "I'll leave you too it then." Peeta says and walks back through the door he just entered through.
"Katniss! I didnt know you worked here?" She says, placing her small bag onto the counter.
"Yeh, this is my first day." I say with a smile. I dont have to pretend to be polite with Greasy Sae because I actually like her.
"Good. Atleast you got a good job. I hope you dont get fired." She says with a smile.
"Hopefully not." I say with a laugh. "How may I help you?"
"Could I please have 2 loaves of the Rye bread, 2 croissants and 1 cheese Bun?" She asks, looking down at the display cases below me. I nod and look into them to get what she orders but find that there arent any cheese buns left so I have to shout for Peeta to get me one.
When he shows up again, I ring up the order and Greasy Sae is gone as quick as she showed up. I could really get used to this job. Its the only Bakery in the district so anyone that wants baked goods will come here which means that I will probably get to see quite a few of the people that I actually like.
"Katniss!" Peeta says from behind me again, this time along with the sound of stumbling as he attempts to get through the door with a tray of something. I have to quickly grab it before it falls out of his hands and hits the floor. "Thank you." He says after he has found his footing again. I tripped over the corner of the door." He laughs slightly and I nod. "Would you be able to put these in the display case at the window please?" He asks and I nod.
When I look down at the tray, I see the most delicious looking think ever. "What is it?" I ask him. He follows my gaze down the delicious looking snack and then looks back up at me.
"They are called Cruffins." He replies with a hint of excitement in his voice.
"They look amazing but why have I never heard of them before?" I ask him.
"Because Leaven invented them last week and me and Rye thought it would be a good idea to try to make them today as we had a lot of free time so this was our finished result. Do you want to try one?" He asks and I can feel my stomach screaming yes but my mind saying no. My stomach growls at the thought of eating one of them.
"I cant. They are for the window." I say. He looks at me funny I wonder for a second what I said wrong.
"No, they are in the back. These aren't real." He says with a small laugh. "Did you really think that we would waste food by putting it in the window?" He's still laughing. "No, these are made out of cardboard and painted. The real ones are back in the kitchen."
"Wait are you trying to tell me that all those cookies that Prim used to want to look at on the way hom from school, the ones that she would drag my over here to see, where always fake?" I ask, slightly annoyed.
"Yeh, of course. Did you really think that we would waste that much food?" He asks, smiling.
"I never actually thought about that. Normally I just wanted to go home instead of standing out in the cold." I say to him, getting slightly annoyed that he is laughing at me now.
"Well how about a Cruffin to say sorry?" He asks.
I cant say no. Not after almost drooling over a cardboard version of it. "Fine. Just make it quick I have to work remember." I say and he smiles slightly. That is a sentence that I have never said in my life.
As soon as the Cruffin enters my mouth, I know that I will have more of these in my life. Its like an explosion of taste in my mouth. Like I cant even think about anything else now other than this Cruffin. I praise Leaven for creating this. Something along the lines of a groan escapes my lips and I catch Peeta staring at me. "What?" I ask him, taking another bite out of the Cruffin.
"You're so beautiful..." He says, not taking his eyes off me. I raise my eyebrow slightly and he snaps out of whatever trance he was in. "Erm..." he mumbles, clearing his throat and running his fingers through his hair. "Sorry..." he says, looking at the floor.
I'm too shocked to even answer him, I just turn my attention to the Cruffin but my mind is racing. Did he mean to say that? "I'll just go back in there." He says quietly and leaves. I dont look at him whilst he walks out but as soon as he's gone, I collapse onto the chair at the counter and let out a shaky breathe. I cant believe he just said that to me.
Should I just tell him how I feel? Clearly he still has some feelings for me like before or was he just trying to be nice? From the look on his face it looked like there was something but he didnt know how to act on it. Is he just waiting for Me and Rye to be over or is he waiting for me to say something? Why are boys so confusing?
I'm brought back to the real world by a movement outside the front door. Prim is standing there looking at the display cases in the window like she always does. My mother is there too because she would have never let Prim come to town by herself. She catches my eye and waves. I motion for them to come in and Prim all but bounces through the door. "Hi!" She shouts as she enters the door. She is that loud that I can hardly hear the bell for the door.
"Hey Little Duck how are you?" I ask her.
"Good. Hows your first day?" She asks in reply, resting her arms on the counter and looking over at me.
"Boring. I get to sit here all day." I laugh and she smiles. "We havent had many customers today."
"Well how about I help?" My mother asks. " I'd like 4 dohnuts for your Uncle please."
I smile at her and look down into the display cabinet. I know that Uncle Haymitch prefers the jam dohnuts but there are any left here. "I'll be one second." I say and get up from my chair to shout into the back.
"Could you get Masan too? I'd like to talk to him." My mother says. I nod and open the door.
"Masan!" I shout and then hear footsteps but not the footsteps I expected. I know Peeta's footsteps when I hear them, he isnt quiet at all.
"Did you want anything?" He asks. I cant stop the heat that rises up in my face.
"Yeh, I wanted your dad but could you please get some more jam dohnuts and my mum wants to talk to your dad." I say to him, looking at the floor.
He looks over my head and notices my family standing there. "Hi Evelyn, Hey Prim." He says to them and Prim replies to him, I can almost see my mother nod though like she always does when someone says hi to her.
"Could you please do what I asked?" I ask him a little forcefully. He steps back slightly with a laugh playing on his lips.
"Oh okay. Look at you, taking control on your first day." He says with a smile and walks back into the kitchen.
Masan walks out a couple seconds later, wiping his hands on his apron. "Hello Evelyn." He says and my mother motions for him to follow her to somewhere where they can talk privately. I'm not sure what they are talking about though.
When Peeta comes back out he has to restock the dohnuts which are right at me knees and not wanting to get up was a really bad decision bceause as he puts the dohnuts in, his head keeps brushing against my leg which makes my face go redder and my toes curl. I've never actually felt this way around anyone before. He comes back up when he is done with a bag in his hand. "Here you go Primrose." Then he leans in close to her. "And there is a cookie in there for a special little lady. Shhh, dont tell anyone." Prim beams with delight and takes the bag off him. She hands the money to me and skips out of the Bakery to see my mother, who releases Masan as soon as Prim joins them and he walks back inside with a smile on his face. He nods at me and Peeta and walks back into the kitchen. "What do you suppose that was about?" Peeta asks me and I shrug my shoulders. I'll have to ask my mother later on. "Anyway, its lunch time, come on." He says and I shake my head.
"I dont have any lunch, I'll just stay out here." I say, focusing on the door.
"No, we make lunch for all of our employees and now that includes you so come on. Its not going to do any harm its just a sandwich." He pulls on my arm slightly like a little child trying to get to the playground as quick as possible. I'm about to protest but he pulls me up out of the chair. "Come on, lock the register and I'll meet you in there." He says and dissapears into the back.
I lock the register and pocket the key. Then I put the bell onto the side incase anyone comes and walk into the back, leaving the door open so I will be able to hear it better. Back in the kitchen, the Mellarks are all sitting around the table, even Holly. She smiles at me as I sit across from her and next to Rye.
The rest of the day is hectic. It turns out that everyone seems to come after lunch so that they can get food for dinner. For most of the time, there is a line to the door and Peeta has to come out to help me with it all. Its even worse when we run out of food and we have to explain to them that we have run out of food and we will make it as soon as we can and then deliver it to them. None of it is as bad as cleaning up hour though. Its actually more like 2 hours. Normally, Masan and Rye clean up the kitchen and Peeta cleans up out here, taking all the remainins food back into the kitchen and mopping the floor and stuff like that but now that I'm here, I have to help out Peeta which doesnt thrill me.
Its 7 pm by the time we are all tidy but Masan and Peeta are still needed in the kitche to fill in the orders so that Rye can take them out. I decide to lock the doors and walk into the back to sit with Rye but when I get there, all I find is Holly. "Where's Rye?" I ask, poking my head into the kitchen.
"I dont know, he dissapeared when I was tidying up." Masan says. I feel a few tears prickle in my eyes. Why does he leave all the time. He never tells anyone where he is going, he wont even tell me. "Why? is something wrong?" Peeta adds in.
"No, he - he... You know what? it doesnt matter, just tell him that I left." I say. Peeta looks at me funny. I probably look really annoyed right now because I am.
"Katniss are you alright?" Peeta asks. He always knows when something is wrong with me.
"No im not. Just tell him that I've gone home please. I'll see you tomorrow." I say and leave the room, saying goodbye to Holly who smiles at me but then goes back to playing with her teddy that she got for her 4th birthday off Peeta.
Part of me expects Peeta to run after me and offer to walk me home or something like that but the other part of my knows full well that if he came after me, I'd probably shout at him. Luckily he doesnt come after me though and before I know it, I'm wrapped up warm and walking home through the snow that seems to be everywhere at the moment.
By the time I make it home, its pitch black outside. Mum and Prim are snuggled up warm on the floor, watching the fire. "Hey." I say.
"Hi Katniss." Prim Beams.
"You're late. Didnt the Bakery close about 4 hours ago?" My mother asks.
"Yeh but we had to clean up." I say and start walking away.
"Whats wrong? you look depressed." Prim asks.
"Nothing, its just relationship problems little duck. I'll talk to you tomorrow, I'm going to bed." I leave them where they are and walk off up the 2 flights of stairs to my bedroom and collapse on the bed, falling asleep almost instantly.