The next morning, I wake up early and call Maddie.

"'Sup Mellark?"

"Not much, Hawthorne. Finn and I were just wondering if you and Jack wanted to meet for breakfast or something."

"Sure. The nanny is coming to look after David at 10, so want to meet at Cray's at 10:30?"

"Sounds good. I think Finn is going to call Jack so I'll text him the details. See you then, loser."

"See ya, faggot."

I laugh and cut off the call, texting Finn the details before jumping in the shower. I'm thankful for the last of the summer sun still being here, the cold never agrees with me; especially since there's hardly anything to hunt. I decide that being spontaneous today is a good idea and so I put on a pair of shorts, along with a camisole, another one of my shirts and my blue converse. I look over at my beanie drawer.

"Not today," I say to myself, frowning. I know that I'll just get too hot and the last thing I want is to faint from heat stroke. Even putting my hair in a braid would be too hot so I flip my hair and put it up in a messy bun. When I'm finally satisfied with how I look, I grab my bag and run down the stairs, almost crashing into someone on the way down.

"Slow down, Sparky," he says.

"Sorry, Cinna. I'm in a bit of a rush."

Cinna was one of my mother's closest friends when she was a teenager. He could always give her a job when money was tight and even had her modelling for him sometimes. Cinna is one of the friendliest people you'll ever meet. His dark skin and hazel brown eyes tell you he's probably originally from District 11, but he moved to the Capitol to pursue his dream of fashion. The difference between Cinna and the other stylists from the Capitol is that where their clothes are extravagant and over the top, the most Cinna ever wears is simple gold eyeliner.

He smiles, "No problem. Any idea where you mother is? We've got some things to discuss regarding some extra help in the shop."

"She's probably still asleep. She had late night yesterday and was pretty exhausted. Either that or she's at the bakery with Dad."

"Thank you. Have fun with that boy today."

"How do you know who I'm meeting?" I ask, confused.

He leans in closely and whispers, "Because he's been sat on your front porch for about ten minutes."

I laugh and wave goodbye. Just as Cinna said, Finn is sat on the steps of the front porch.

"You could have just come inside, you know." He turns his head and smiles at me. He's wearing a pale blue t-shirt and a cartoon surfboard on it, and cargo shorts. As much as I've been trying not to think things like this about him, I can't deny that he looks good. His eyes widen a little when he sees my bare legs and he gulps. I blush, thankful that I remembered to shave my legs this morning, and sit next to him.

"I know, it's a nice day is all. I thought I'd soak up the last of the sunshine."

"It's going to be a rough winter," I tell him. "Mum's probably going to end up cancelling Sunday Hunts when the weather gets too harsh, telling me she doesn't want me getting pneumonia or something. I'm going to be spending the majority of the holidays in the Bakery." I sigh.

"Do you not like working in the Bakery, then?" Finns asks.

"It's not that I don't love working in the Bakery, because I do, it's just that I'll miss the one on one time with Mum and I'll miss the thrill of releasing an arrow," I say. "I guess the extra money wouldn't hurt though. I've been saving up for this old red pickup since my 16th but I'm nowhere near my goal."

"I've been saving for a car too. My parent's offered to pay for it but I wanted it to be my responsibility, you know?" I nod.

"Yeah, mine too. I've had this truck on reserve for months. It's old and rusty and beat up, but it would be mine. Plus I've worked plenty of hours at my Grandpa Haymitch's garage and I can fix it up the way I need to."

"That sounds awesome. At least now I know where to go when my car breaks down and I need a discount," he smiles, nudging me.

I pull him up, telling him that we're going to be late. We race towards the town, laughing and joking, and all I can think is how nice it is to have my best friend back.

We see Jack and Maddie sitting by the fountain outside of Cray's Café and walk towards them.

"HOLY MOTHER OF REDVINE, ORION MELLARK IS WEARING SHORTS!" Maddie yells, rushing towards me. "And look! No hat or braid. Who are you and what have you done with Rye?!" I laugh and turn around. She jumps on my back in a piggyback and we walk back towards the fountain, where Jack and Finn are. "This day shall go down in history!" She throws both arms up in the air, causing me to wobble.

"Mad, it's not that amazing. I'm just wearing shorts."

"You look good though, Rye. And who'd have thought that we'd ever see the day that Orion Mellark went out without her beanie," says Jack.

"Alright, alright, enough. I get it, I'm dressed differently. Can we go eat now? I'm a baker, its 10:40 and I still haven't had breakfast. It feels like I haven't eaten in days."

As if on cue, my stomach growls loudly and they all laugh.

Cray's Café is a small joint in the centre of town that my parent's used to hang out in as kids. It was small back then, but now it's one of most popular places in town. The seats are red leather and there's always music playing overhead, though it's never the popular crap that's played on the radio, which is why it's my favourite place.

The waitress greets us with a smile and takes our orders, skipping over me and Maddie, as they always know what we're going to order.

We chat and laugh for a while, talking about school and playing 21 Questions. It feels like we've talked about almost everything by the time we've finished our plates. We order another refill of coffee and wait for our food to go down.

"So, Finn," Jack asks with a smirk. "You've been here for a week. Have you got a crush on anyone yet?"

Jack and Maddie's eyes flit over to me and they both smirk. My heart is in my ears. Of course he doesn't like me, but the insinuation that Jack and Maddie are making that he might, is making me incredibly nervous.

Finn laughs nervously and looks down at his coffee. "Uh- maybe, I don't know."

"Come on, tell us who it is!" Maddie urges.

"What does it matter, she'd never go out with me anyway," he shrugs.

"Oh I beg to differ," Maddie says, glancing at me again. I give her a quick glare, trying to get her to stop.

"I've only known her for a week!" he says. I look at Maddie as if to say I told you so. She frowns.

"Well, describe her then," says Jack.

"She's… flirty? She was a little full on at the beginning of the week but… I don't know, I'm starting to get to know her in class and she's actually really nice."

"Just tell us her name," I say teasingly, joining in so he doesn't catch on how I'm starting to feel about him.

"It's Marina."

Oh.

*Dodges food and sharp objects thrown*

hey guys...

sorry for not updating recently I've had a busy two weeks. Last weekend I had family up and wasn't allowed on the internet (hahahaha kill me) and this weekend I went to the Lincoln 2013 YouTube Gathering ((you can see my video for that on my other youtube channel JoshandBurry: that will be up tonight))

please review and not hate me and im really really sorry okay im sorry i love you