After placing his belongings into his locker, Peeta wanders around the cafeteria, searching for Katniss. She waves her hand in the air, letting him know that she was waiting for him at the table. He joins the group of three, taking a seat next to Katniss, observing the girls at the table.
"Hey everyone, I want you guys to meet Peeta. He's new. Peeta, this is Rue and Madge." Katniss points to each of the girls. They smile wide and welcome him to the table with a "hi," and "nice to meet you." Madge looks shy, but very friendly. Rue is tiny with dark brown eyes that sparkle with a cheerful smile. She's absolutely adorable.
Gale suddenly approaches the table, taking a seat next to Madge and across from Katniss, not really bothering to look up. "Dude, I do not get this shit. Trinket's assignments make no fuckin sense," he grumbles. He's startled when he looks up and notices Peeta at the table, a look of equal shock on his face.
"Gale, this is Peeta. He's new. I asked him to sit with us for lunch." Katniss introduces Peeta. Gale nods in his direction.
"Yeah, we kind of met this morning. Sorry. I swear I'm not always such a dick. It's just that class." Gale explains. Peeta nods in understanding. Guess he really did hate Ms. Trinket's voice that much.
"It's cool. I had a teacher I couldn't stand at my old school, so I understand," Peeta smiles. Actually, there were a number of teachers Peeta couldn't stand at his last school, but this was neither the time nor place to discuss it. Gale nods in contentment, suddenly staring at something beyond Katniss and Peeta. They both turn around, curious to see what caught Gale's attention so grossly. They spot her instantly- a girl with medium length brown hair with a single silver streak. It compliments her brown eyes and pale skin. She's talking to another student, dark in complexion and built with muscles like an ox. Katniss grins at him.
"Why don't you just talk to her?" she asks, breaking Gale away from his obvious gaze.
"What?" he asks confused.
"I said why don't you go talk to her? Thresh says she's single." The group looks back at the girl. There are two other girls at the table next to her. The one on her left has long red hair and a face like a fox. The other on her right has dark red hair; she's throwing something at Thresh. Finnick also soon joins the table, spotting Peeta sitting with Katniss and her group. He pouts in disappointment, obvious he was hoping that Peeta was going to be sitting with him and his friends at their table.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Katniss." Gale rolls his eyes and stabs his French fry into a puddle of ketchup.
"Whatever Gale," Katniss shakes her head. Then there's a loud thud and shouting in the center of the cafeteria. Everyone looks over to see what the commotion is about. Cato is standing above another boy with black hair and vivid green and yellow eyes, sitting on the cold tile floor. Cato had obviously shoved the guy to the ground.
"Watch where you're going, faggot!" Cato yells at him. He turns around laughing when the tall teenager suddenly tackles him to the ground, flipping his body around to lay him on his back, and throws skilled punches into Cato's face. They break out in a vicious, bloody fight. Soon Cato's friends have joined in, a group of five surrounding the two until Marvel decides to jump in. Cato is obviously losing the fight, and he felt it was his duty as a best friend to help change the odds. He grabs the student by the shoulders and yanks him away from Cato. He throws his fist back then swings forward when the boy catches it in his hand, twisting it backwards and landing a solid fist to his nose. There's a loud, sickening crack and Marvel falls to the ground, clutching his bleeding nose in his hands.
Cato and the student go back to brawling before security runs in and grabs the three students apart, pulling their hands behind their backs and escorting them out of the cafeteria. The school is in shock; someone just beat the shit out of their most well known and worshipped peers. No one has ever been able to win a fight against the star football captain and his right hand man. Gale watches the nameless face with interest as he is escorted out. Peeta notices the boy has also caught the attention of Finnick Odair.
"What… just happened?" Katniss asks, completely stunned. That was by far the craziest sight they'd ever seen.
"Who was that guy?" Peeta asks with curiosity. Everyone shrugs their shoulders.
"I've never seen him before." Rue says. "He must be a new student." That would explain why Finnick wasn't in fourth period. He was probably showing the new guy around the school as he had for Peeta. The thought makes him feel a pang of jealousy.
Cato, Marvel, and the new student are escorted into the main office where they're all seated in the maroon plastic chairs, waiting for the principal. They glare at each other, struggling not to jump out of their seats and fight again. Who the hell did this kid think he was, anyway? Didn't he know that Cato and Marvel were the star athletes and top guns of the school? They had a score to settle. He was going to pay for making them look like pansies in front of the whole school. Cato suddenly thinks of Peeta. He was probably laughing at him with his new group of friends. Didn't he tell him to stay away from Gale?
Mr. Snow walks into the room, shaking his head. "Myka Volkayne, you've been here for an hour and you're already in my office? I think you've just broken a record. Come with me, now." The tall, masculine boy follows the principal into his office, rolling his yellow-green eyes and twitching his fingers. He could really use a cigarette right about now.
Ms. Coin soon approaches Cato and Marvel with a look of annoyance on her face. "In my office, boys," she says. They follow her into a large room with beautifully stained wood walls. They take their seats in the chairs across from her polished oak desk. "What happened?"
"It was the new kid!" Cato spits. "That faggot started it." Ms. Coin rolls her eyes at the comment.
"Just because you are the superintendant's son does not mean you are going to keep getting away with this nonsense, Cato. The next time it happens, I will personally expel you from this school. The same goes for you, Marvel." The look on her face is stern, but Cato has heard this a thousand times before. The threats were always empty. Who would really expel the son of their boss? And not just their boss, but the boss' boss' boss' boss. Upsetting the superintendant meant losing your job. "Do not let me find you in my office again. Get back to class! And, Marvel, get to the nurses office, your nose looks terrible."
"You got it!" Cato snickers, grabbing his things and leaving the office without another word. Marvel follows him into the hall.
"You are so lucky you're the super's son. Coin looked so pissed!" Marvel laughs. Being the best friend of Cato definitely had its perks. They could get away with murder, if they'd wanted to.
"I know, right? That bitch really needs to mind her own fucking business." Cato agrees. "And speaking of business, it looks like we might have some unfinished business with the new kid, fucking fag. Listen, I've got to get to gym. I'll catch you later, Marv." He waves at his best friend when they get to the corridor division; he heads right, opposite from Marvel's direction.
"Alright man, later." Marvel waves back, walking over to the nurse's office.
Cato enters the boy's locker room, heading straight for his locker. He throws his belongings inside, pulling out his blue gym shorts and jersey. He carelessly tosses his shirt and jeans into the locker, slamming it shut before pulling his uniform over his very cut body. The class is probably already playing basketball. He jogs over to the stadium inside, searching for the coach. Instead, he finds a very odd man with long brown hair and round glasses standing in front of the class. He looks like a hippie.
"Hey man, sorry I'm late. I just got out of the V.P.'s office." Cato says.
The man gives him a careless look. "Oh, don't worry about it. I'm filling in for your coach today, he's out sick. So uh, feel free to do whatever, I guess." Perfect. Cato looks around to see what his classmates are up to when he notices Peeta talking to another girl, Delly, he thinks her name is. It looks like they've been talking for some time. He turns his attention around the stadium, hoping no one has noticed his staring. He finds Gloss, his good friend for a number of years, and heads towards him.
"Hey man! I was wondering if you were gonna make it today after that fight. Thought I might get stuck with the council twins today," Gloss laughs. They'd nicknamed Finnick and Thresh the council twins because they were both a part of the student council, and because they were always together. If Thresh wasn't so masculine, they'd think he and Finnick were gay for each other. They still suspect Finnick might be. His charm was absolutely annoying to them.
"I would never." Cato laughs.
Just then Gloss's twin sister, Cashmere, jumps in. "Gloss! I need to talk to you for a minute." Gloss and Cato roll their eyes. When Cashmere wants to talk to him about something, it's usually pretty stupid. The girl couldn't make a single decision of her own. But, truthfully, neither could Gloss, they really depended on one another.
Gloss mutters a "be right back, bro" when Cato notices that Peeta is talking with Gale and Delly is all alone. He takes advantage of the situation and approaches her. He'd eventually deal with Peeta talking to Gale later.
"Hey Delly," he coos. She looks at him in shock. Was he really talking to her? And he knew her name!
"Hi Cato!" she beams.
"I'm sorry to bug you, but I noticed you were talking to the new kid and I've been trying to get a wager on him. Think you can help me out?" he asks slyly.
She gasps. "Who? Peeta? Of course! What do you want to know?"
"Well, what do you know?" he inquires.
It doesn't take long for her to recall what they had talked about. "Oh! He's a really nice guy. He just moved here from Barkley County, but didn't say why. He lives above a bakery shop that his family owns just off of Walter Street. He says he makes the pastries. He also asked me if I knew anyone from Mr. Beetee's class because he wanted to find a study partner." Perfect. It was all the information he needed.
"Alright, cool. Hey, do me a favor and don't tell him what you just told me, okay? Thanks, Del. I owe you one, babe." Cato winks in satisfaction. Delly rapidly nods her head in agreement. This was all just too perfect.
Finnick, Thresh, and Johanna are standing in a small circle, arguing about a rival school team. "You guys are idiots. The Bulldogs could beat you guys no problem!" Johanna rolls her eyes at her friends as if they had the mental capacity of a five year old.
Finnick can't believe what she's saying. "What? You're crazy, Jo-jo! We'll crush them before they even get started! They've got nothing on the Wolverines!" The school had earned their mascot by the founder of the school; he had actually owned a wolf-dog mix, it just seemed perfectly appropriate.
"C'mon, you don't really think the Bulldog puppies can beat our team, do you?" Thresh laughs. Johanna scoffs at their confidence, still completely in disagreement. She continues to make a point when Finnick notices the new student with the dark hair and captivating eyes observe the classroom, he's looking at Cato and his friends, cautiously stepping back out of the auditorium before anyone can see him.
"…and furthermore, you cocky fucks don't even-" Johanna is cut off by Finnick excusing himself.
"Hey! I'll catch you guys later. I've got to go someplace for a while," he says before blatantly walking out of the auditorium. His behavior really isn't unexpected or new, so Thresh and Johanna shrug at his absence and continue their debate.
Looking around the corridor, Finnick spots Myka walking towards the exit. He calls out, "Hey Myka! Wait up!" making the new student freeze in his place worried that he has just been spotted trying to ditch. He looks over his shoulder to see his school guide walking towards him. "Where you going?" Finnick asks. Myka stands there awkwardly, not knowing whether or not to tell him. This guy was part of the student council after all. He was probably looking to snitch on him.
"Away from here," Myka answers. He expects a lecture or even a 'sorry, but I can't let you leave,' but Finnick says nothing of the sort, just nods.
"Mind if I tag along?" Finnick asks, biting on his bottom lip. The question shocks Myka. The guy seemed really friendly and all, but they barely knew each other. He's suspicious of Finnick's intentions, but hasn't given him a real reason to be.
"Uh… yeah, sure," he responds; brows furrowed with confusion. "I was probably gonna walk around and see what's around."
"You know," Finnick starts, "I know of a couple awesome spots. There's a private beach near a Mexican restaurant with food that will just blow your mind."
"Sounds good, I missed lunch and I can always eat," Myka smiles softly.
Finnick beams at this. "Awesome! My car is in the back parking lot. We can get there through the locker rooms, and I can grab my stuff before we go. You need to grab anything?"
Myka pulls his black backpack from around his right shoulder, showing Finnick that he had everything he needed. "Nope, lead the way."
Back in the auditorium, Peeta and Gale are trying to get to know one another a little better. It would be rude and awkward if they didn't at least try considering they shared three common classes and would probably be sitting together for lunch from now on. "So how long have you known Katniss?" Peeta asks shyly. Gale was still kind of intimidating, though he wasn't sure why there was any tension; he hadn't really done anything to Peeta. He guessed it was just a personality mismatch that would eventually come to an understanding.
"I've known Katniss for a long time. Our fathers used to work together and became good friends. They introduced our mothers and our moms eventually made play dates for us when we were little." Gale explains.
"Oh, so you've always been good friends. That's cool." Peeta smiles, it made sense, what with the two being so different and all.
Gale cocks his eyebrow in thought. "Not really," he admits. "I used to pick on her a lot. It wasn't until I got bullied by some kids at school and she came to defend me that we became friends. And even then, we weren't that close until middle school. I guess I was a little embarrassed that a girl had to come to my aid when we were younger. Anyway, I liked one of her friends a lot, and we dated for a little while. Katniss and I hung out a bit, and when her friend cheated on me, Katniss was the one to tell me about it. She's been my best friend since."
The news didn't surprise Peeta much. Katniss just had that personality, she was very sweet and he could tell she was someone who looked out for her friends. "Yeah, she's something special."
"Do you have a thing for Katniss or something?" Gale finally blurts out. It catches Peeta completely off guard.
"What? No! I mean, she's beautiful and very nice, but…" Peeta needs to think how to word this carefully. He doesn't know Gale well enough to admit that he's gay. For all he knows, Gale could make his life hell and things would be exactly like his last school, something he desperately wanted to avoid. "I guess she just isn't my type. I look at her and think she could be my best friend or my sister."
Gale nods in understanding, it was good news. He protected Katniss like a sister himself, and so he really didn't want to have to worry about Peeta's intentions with her. He could trust Peeta.
On the other side of the stadium, Gloss is curious as to what Cato has been talking to Delly about. "What was that about?" he asks Cato, signaling his head in Delly's direction. Cato scrunches his eyebrows, wondering why it was any of his damn business.
"It's nothing, man." Cato shakes his head. "Any idea what we're doing for Glimmer's birthday?" he tries to change the subject. Gloss doesn't think much of it, deciding it wasn't anything to be concerned about anyway.
Gloss thinks his question over. "Shit man, I forgot all about that. It's this weekend, right? What did Marvel say?"
"No idea." Cato shrugs. "I'll ask him later. She'll probably want a big party or something at her place. I think her parents are leaving town."
The bell in the auditorium rings, signaling it was time to head back into the lockers and change. Gloss and Cato walk towards the locker room together. "Alright man. Let me know," Gloss says.
The locker rooms are filled with students. Since they were on the football team, Gloss and Cato's lockers are in a separate section from the rest of the lockers, about twice the size near the showers. Finnick and Thresh, being on the basketball and swim team, also have lockers in this area, but since Finnick had decided to take off, Thresh was the only one there. He sees Cato and Gloss, nodding his head in acknowledgment to them and they nod back. The two groups weren't friends or anything, but they were always running into each other. There's a certain respect between the two different groups, not really having problems with one another.
The muscular ox of a man takes off his shirt, his powerfully built physique showcased. "Hey Thresh," Cato unexpectedly says, "Why don't you consider joining the football team? We could always use someone like you on our team. I can make it happen."
Thresh respectfully shakes his head. "Between basketball and teaching bass lessons, I don't really have the time right now. But thank you for the offer."
Cato is slightly disappointed. He'd always wanted Thresh to join his team. He'd seen him play a couple of times during P.E. and knew he'd be one of the best quarterbacks they could dream of having. "Well, if you change your mind, let me know." He says while changing into his white wife-beater.
"Sure thing," Thresh says before putting on his black t-shirt and jeans.
Gale and Peeta's lockers are on opposite sides, back to back from one another. Peeta is changing into his blue t-shirt when Gale approaches him, topless. 'Wow. Gale looks good.' He thinks to himself, observing Gale's collar bones and toned abdomen. Oh, how we would love to bite those collar bones.
"Hey Peeta, what are you doing after school?" he asks. Peeta tears his gaze away from the adolescent in front of him.
"Oh, um- I have to work at the shop for a bit. Why, what's up?" he looks straight at Gale's eyes, trying with all his might to avoid staring at his body anymore.
"Oh. Well, we usually hang at my place for a bit. Just wanted to invite you along," Gale explains.
Peeta smiles at him. "Thanks, Gale. I'm off tomorrow if you want to hangout for a bit then?"
The taller, brunette nods his head. "Sure. See you tomorrow, Peeta." Gale walks back to his locker, pulling his black tank on and grabbing his backpack. The bell rings, signaling fifth period was over. For the seniors and some of the juniors, it meant school was out for the day. Peeta is part of the exception, grabbing his things and walking out of the locker room. Gale has already left and isn't anywhere in sight. He walks down the corridor towards the front of the school and exits the building, heading home, the bakery wasn't very far.