I do not own Suzanna Collin's The Hunger Games character.

Chapter 22:

Johanna's POV

I am sitting at the table, scrolling through my phone and tuning everyone out when I see Glimmer walk towards me with a sour expression on her face. What does this vixen want? She stops a few feet away from me and starts yelling at me.

"I cannot believe you! You are such a jerk!" She spits a little as she says it.

"What are you on about?" I snap, setting my phone down on the table angrily.

She rolls her eyes so hard I think it must hurt.

"I'm talking about what you did to my brother," She snaps angrily.

I get to my feet now.

"He did that to himself," I shoot back as ferociously as I can.

"What? Because he actually cared about you?" She says it as though it is the most absurd thing in the world.

"Yes!" I yell. "That is exactly why!"

Glimmer opens her mouth as though she is about to respond, but then she just shoots me a glare and pushes past me.

"Ugh, can you believe her?" I say turning to everyone else. Clove, Cato, Finnick, and Annie all share an awkward glance.

"I hate to say this," Clove says mildly, "But I kind of agree with her."

My jaw drops in anger. When I look to the other for backup but I see that they aren't going to back me up. I huff angrily and turn and storm away. I can't believe that they are taking Glimmer's side over mine. I seriously can't believe them. I walk to the furthest corner of the room and make my way out into the courtyard. I see a few kids making out and I yell at to get out. The scatter quickly. I pick up a small rock and I throw in hard against a tree. I pick up another and then another, throwing them angrily. I hear someone come behind me and I turn to see who it is. It is Marvel. He steps back and holds his hands up in innocence and I realize that I still have the rock poised angrily in my hand.

"What do you want?" I gripe at him.

"Nothing," He snaps right back. "I didn't realize you were out here." He turns around to leave, but I hear myself calling out for him to stay before I realize what I am doing.

"Why?" He asks accusingly.

I shake my head, trying to straighten out the muddle of furious thoughts in my brain.

"I don't know. I just, don't go," I say.

Marvel rolls his eyes in annoyance, but he doesn't make to leave. We both stand rooted in our spots, not saying anything or moving at all. After a few minutes, Marvel runs his hand through his dirty blonde hair and sits down at one of the tables. After a few seconds, I walk over to the table and sit down a few inches away from him. I am still holding the rock and I turn it over again and again in my hand before throwing it into the trees.

"You attack dog went off on me," I say.

I hear Marvel let out an exasperated sigh.

"I'm not going to sit here just so you can insult my sister."

"Okay, okay. Sorry. She's just a bit much."

"Yeah, I get it. But I didn't tell her to yell at you. She did that all on her own," he says.

"Selfish Glimmer?" I regret the words when they leave my mouth, but Marvel talks around it.

"I'm her twin. No matter how selfish she can be, she never hesitates to protect me. When I was seven, a kid pushed me down on the playground. He and some of his friends were teasing me because I had a bow in my hair. My hair was longer back then and I had let Glimmer practice braiding on my hair. I got cut up pretty bad on the pavement and within seconds Glimmer was by my side. She yelled at them and scared them so much the one kid literally wet his pants. She has always been like that for me. If someone hurts me, she will go off on them. I know she has her issues, but everyone does. And she is my sister."

I am not sure how to respond to what he said.

"You're pretty infuriating yourself," Marvel says. I laugh at that and hit him on the head gently. He's probably not wrong.

Katniss's POV

I sit down in the chair, glad that I am finally able to stop dancing. Madge had dragged Gale, Peeta, and I to the dance floor and hadn't let us stop for almost an hour now. My feet are killing me. Peeta sits down next me and passes me a cup of punch. We sit and watch Madge, who is still dancing with Gale. She twirls in her dress and it catches the light everywhere and there isn't an ounce of fatigue on her face. Gale looks like he is starting to fade, but he is still smiling as he spins Madge around again.

"They look good together," Peeta says.

"Yeah," I say. I'm not good at small talk.

Cato and Clove are sitting a little further down the table, their head pressed together, whispering things to each other. Cato whispers something in Clove's ear and she lets out a laugh and a wide smile breaks on her face. Johanna has disappeared and as I glance around, I think I see her red-streaked hair in the crowd somewhere, but it vanishes to quickly for me to know for sure. As much a Johanna can be infuriating, I kind of wish that she was here right now because I can guarantee that she is probably having just as rough a time here as I am. While Clove had been looking rather miserable when we were getting ready, she now appeared to actually be having a good time, no doubt thanks to Cato.

"I thought that Madge would never let us stop dancing," Peeta says with a small laugh. I can tell that he is trying to make conversation. It is what Peeta does best; he hasn't seemed to realize that I don't really care that much for talking to people. It's not that I am trying to be rude or hostile, it is just that I hardly ever find it easy to just sit and talk to someone about anything idly.

"Me either," Is all I say. Peeta turns his head to me when I say it.

"Do you not like me?" He asks, genuine curiosity in his voice.

"I like you well enough," I say, continuing on quickly when I realize how bad that just sounded. "I'm just not good at small talk, even with people that I like." It doesn't help much, but Peeta doesn't seemed to be bothered.

"I know," He replies simply.

"You know?" I ask, my mouth agape.

"Yeah. It is pretty obvious. I mean, we have known each other for years. Not well, but we still have. And I barely know anything about you except that your sister got sick, you are really good with a bow and arrow, and that you like the buns from my families bakery."

I am a little taken aback when he mentions the bow and arrow. Hardly anyone knows that I shoot.

"How did you know I am good with a bow?" I ask.

"In eighth grade we went to that camp as a school trip and one of the things we did was archery. You were the only person who hit the bullseye every time. It's kind of hard to forget that." It is funny that he says that, because everyone else did.

"I like the color green," I say.

Peeta laughs lightly.

"I like orange. Soft orange, like a sunset," He replies. "And I decorate the cakes at the bakery." He adds the last detail like it is an afterthought, and I can't help but thinking that it is more like evening the score. He knows two things about me, I know two about him. Deep down, I know that that isn't why he said it, but my cynical brain can't help but think that way. Underneath all the cynicism, a little part of my enjoys the feeling of talking to Peeta. Something about me can't help but want to trust him. Maybe talking isn't so bad.

What did you guys think of this chapter? I am trying to develop Everlark more, because I am realizing I haven't done a very good job of doing that because they aren't really primary characters in this story. Also, I got my new laptop today so I finished writing this chapter on my new laptop and oh my gosh it is so nice! The screen on my new laptop is so much bigger than the one on my old one and it is so nice! School is beginning to kick up again, so I am really sad because I am finding it a lot harder to get time to write these which kind of sucks.

Anyways, hope you all have been doing good.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe,

-Jewel