He quite likes his new town.
To be completely honest, Panem isn't the exactly the thriving metropolis Peeta originally thought the Teach for America people would place him in. After attending the first info session, he fell in love with the organization and its mission. He spent countless nights dreaming of teaching in a cosmopolitan city, at a downtrodden high school full of bright, yet underserved, students. Helping to eliminate the educational inequality of the city by developing the burgeoning minds of the untapped youth. Or something like that.
The reality is rather different. Panem sits on the outskirts of a steadily shrinking city, waning in population as the remaining vestiges of its world-famous coal mining industry withers away.
The bright, underserved students are a constant, however. Even though he didn't expect for them to be first graders.
Even so, he knows it'll be worth it. Panem might not be New York, Chicago, San Francisco, or even Dallas, but he knows nothing will compare to actually being in the classroom, actually being able to make a difference.
But school doesn't start for two and a half more months. And he's so fucking bored.
—-
He bakes. Runs the winding trail through the woods behind his apartment complex. Binge watches all of Friday Night Lights, Six Feet Under, and The Wire. He even caves and braves the four hour drive to spend a weekend with his brothers, but there's nothing he can do to quell the all-encompassing boredom. And it's only been three weeks since he's moved.
Peeta sighs, lying on his unmade bed. He knows can't go on like this the entire summer, whining and grumbling about having nothing to do. He has to get out there, meet people and make friends, see the sights of the town. Because he knows he can't spend the next two years like this.
—-
He gets dressed in something other than a pair of basketball shorts and a ratty t-shirt. He shaves. He even puts cologne on. And before he knows it, Peeta's found himself in one of the two bars in Panem. Abernathy's is a quaint, he supposes, situated on the town's main street and next door to the florist and shoe-repair shop. It's not big; the interior is scattered with a few booths and a pool table that's seen better days, and there aren't a lot of people there. The occupants include a few of men his father's age, a pair of ginger twins, an older woman whose fallen asleep over her margarita, and the bartender, who seems to double as a waitress.
Maybe this'll be harder than he anticipated.
He gingerly sits at the bar. How is he supposed to live in this town for the next two years? Better yet, how is he supposed to get through this summer before going crazy?
A pair of fingers snapping in front of his face breaks him out of his reverie, and he meets the exasperated looking grey eyes of the bartender.
She's quite striking. She looks a few years older than him, her skin a dusky, olive color, an incredible contrast with her steel grey eyes. Her dark hair is pulled into a braid laying on her shoulder, and she's slight, but her gentle curves help fill out her Abernathy's t-shirt.
"Sorry?" he asks and flushes a bit. Hopefully she didn't catch him staring.
"I asked if I could help you." Her voice is lower than he thought it would be, the raspy tones sounding almost melodic.
"Um," he hesitates, and shuffles through the menu in his hands. "Um, can I just get whatever you have on tap and a plate of sliders?"
"You want everything on the sliders?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
She nods, before shouting the order out to the line cook and preparing his drink. She slides it to him, and he slides her a couple of bills before going back to his phone. He really should've brought a book or something.
"You're not from here, are you?" she asks, a little smirk playing at her lips.
He chuckles nervously, before nodding. "Is it that obvious?"
She just smiles before going down the bar to refill someone else's drink.
—-
Peeta goes to Abernathy's everyday. Literally, every single day.
He ends up meeting a lot of interesting people. There's Darius, the funny redheaded cop, Finnick and Annie, a young married couple who run the rec center, and Johanna, a kind of scary woman who looks like she could break him in half if she wanted to.
And then there's Katniss. The bartender.
It takes a little bit of coaxing on his end, but he wears her down after his daily visits to get to know more about her. He learns how old she is ("29,"), how she ended up essentially single handedly running Abernathy's ("My uncle's the owner but he's kind of useless, so I do it for him,"), how long she's been living in Panem ("My entire life,"), and he learns that she has a young son ("He's six. He's spending the summer with my ex and his wife at her family's beach house,").
He tells her about himself, how old he is ("23,"), what he's doing here ("Teach for America placed me. I'm teaching first grade,"), his college major ("Studio art and communications,"), and where his family's from ("DC, but I grew up in the suburbs,").
His daily jaunts to Abernathy's are the highlight of his days. He's met so many interesting people, and made some good friends. But he knows deep down the real reason he goes there every day is to see her.
And with the smile Katniss gives him when he approaches the bar, he can't find it in himself to care.
—-
"You ready for your first day, Mr. Mellark?" Katniss teases, prodding him awake. Peeta mumbles sleepily before tightening his grip on her waist.
It wasn't unusual for her to spend the night at his place anymore. He thought he was discreet in his crush on her. Their daily hangouts at Abernathy (or rather, his hangouts while she worked) turned into movie nights, hiking trips, and eventually she planted one on him while he taught her how to bake muffins.
Peeta was shocked for a moment, he honestly didn't think she felt the same way. Katniss pulled back, mortification all over her face. She opened her mouth, presumably to apologize, but he cut her off
"Cougar," he jibed with a sly smile. She punched him (hard, it actually hurt for a little) and pulled him back in for another kiss.
They fell into bed soon after.
And here they were, on the first day of school. Katniss had plainly stated to him that she was interested them, and seeing where they could go together, so he knew they weren't just a summer thing.
"What time is it?" he garbles, voice thick with sleep.
"7:45."
Peeta's eyes fly open and he bolts out of bed, hauling his naked ass into the bathroom to wash up. How could he have overslept on the first day?! He was expected to be in the classroom 20 minutes ago, and some kids might already be there!
Katniss's cackling carries from his bedroom to the bathroom, and he pauses his frantic movements from brushing his teeth. He calmly walks back into the room, Katniss laughing in the middle of the bed, and picks up his phone from where it charges on his nightstand to look at the time.
6:03.
"I am going to kill you."
"You would never," she hiccups, wiping tears from her eyes. "You should've seen the look on your face, you—"
He launches himself at her and pins her to the mattress, maintaining an iron grip on her wrists.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she pants, laughter still coloring her voice.
"You better be," he fake-growls, before kissing her soundly.
They stay like that, the room silent except for their little gasps of delight, before he breaks away.
"I really should get ready," he laments. "I have to be in the classroom by 7:25."
"That's fine," she says, getting up and pulling her clothes back on. "I have to get the house ready for the little guy. My ex is dropping him off at school and he's coming back home tonight."
Katniss kisses him once more, tells him she'll text him later, and strides out of his room and out of the apartment.
Peeta's smile doesn't fade as he shuffles back into the bathroom to shower. He never expected to meet someone like her during his time here. He didn't think he'd be celibate for two years or anything, but she's a curveball, and he really hopes things continue to go well with them. Maybe she'll even introduce her son to him, if he doesn't meet him at school first. Peeta didn't see any children with the Everdeen surname on his roster, so he knew Katniss's son wasn't in his class, but he probably would meet him sooner or later.
It's probably for the best that Katniss's kid isn't in his class, really. It wouldn't exactly be appropriate.
He shuts the shower off, tying a towel around his waist and makes his way to the sink to brush his teeth properly.
He spits into the sink, before looking at himself in the mirror.
Time for the first day of school.
—-
The day goes almost too well.
Peeta arrived in the classroom at 7:25 on the dot with his briefcase, his travel mug, and a container of muffins to share with the rest of the first grade teachers. His classroom was perfect, cheerily adorned with handmade "welcome to first grade" decorations he hung with the help of Delly Cartwright, a kindergarten teacher he had met at Abernathy's.
The children were wonderful, too. All 18 of them had been sweet and seemingly excited to learn. They were a little rambunctious, but nothing he couldn't handle, and he was almost sad the school day was over.
Good thing they were coming back with their parents for meet the teacher night, annually held at Panem Primary on the evening of the first day.
After a quick, casual dinner with Delly and a couple other teachers, he's back in his classroom and ready for the kids and their parents to come. The meeting is supposed to begin at 7, and parents begin trickling in at 6:45. Several of them seem to be shocked when they realize how young he is, and he notices more than one mom looking at him in way that he was positive isn't appropriate for an elementary school setting, but he ignores it.
It's 7:03, and he can see every kid and parent accounted for in his little classroom.
Every kid except for Heath Hawthorne.
Peeta knows he isn't supposed to play favorites with his students, especially since it's only been a day, but Heath is a little firecracker. A rowdy boy, he's also exceedingly intelligent, and Peeta knows Heath will definitely keep him on his toes.
Peeta's been looking forward to meeting Heath's mom and dad, but he knows he can't keep the rest of the kids and their parents waiting.
He claps his hands and plasters a smile on his face, welcoming the parents to his classroom. He's in the middle of telling the parents about himself when he hears the thump of little feet outside in the hallway.
"MOM! I told you we'd be late!"
He smiles, and continues to talk to the parents. Seems like Heath and his mom finally made it.
The classroom slams open, causing many parents and children to jump.
"Hi Mr. Mellark!" Heath says excitedly before walking over to his desk. "Sorry we're late. My mom was taking too long! She knew we had to be here at 7!"
Peeta laughs. "It's okay, Heath," he says before turning to the classroom door.
"Mrs. Hawthorne, I was just telling the other parents about my…back…ground," he trails off, and his eyes bug out of his head.
How could he have been so stupid? The same grey eyes, the same dusky skin, the same messy dark hair. And Heath's last name would be different, since his parents had divorced.
"Fuck," Katniss breathes, so quietly, but several heads still whip around in her direction. Some parents look scandalized at her language, and a couple kids giggle at the swear.
She shakily walks to Heath's desk, sinking herself down in the adult sized chair placed next to her son's desk.
Peeta swallows roughly and rubs his sweaty palms against his slacks.
Fuck, indeed.