I'm alive! Sorry for the wait, I would have given you a warning but we left for a road trip to Alberta (It's in Canada and boy was it hot!) on Saturday and I had no idea we were leaving until the night before so I didn't have a chance to tell you guys.

But anyways, I'm back! I also wanted to tell you guys that I'll be writing longer chapters but updating every other week or maybe a bit less. Tell me what you guys think, if you would like it or rather me just keep it the same length and everything.

Oh, and most of you guys wanted Mrs. Mellark to be nice so she will be and thanks to Rexy-cola for the amazing idea.

Sorry again for the lateness but on to chapter 4…

Chapter 4

I was currently lying on my bed staring at my phone. It took mom a lot of convincing to get her to let me bring it along with me because Effie would have a landline inside the house and in my mother's head I wouldn't be going out without someone with me.

But the reason I was there on my bed, staring at my phone was because there was a picture of my orange Spinone Italiano, Eddie. I found him next to a tree in the forest a few months before dad died. His owner had probably abandoned him and to make matters worse he had a broken leg and a gash on his back. I knew it was a lot to ask of my parents but I just couldn't leave him there. He was dying and I knew he would be long dead before someone else found it.

While mom was hesitant about it, dad smiled and helped me take it to the animal hospital where they patched him up and got him ready for us to take him home.

I smiled at the memory but a sharp knock brought me out of my thoughts.

"Breakfast!" Effie's shrill voice said.

I made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen where I saw a buzzing Effie moving around the room and occasionally putting something on the plate. In two minutes I was sitting down with a plate full of bacon, eggs, and toast.

"How was your night?" Effie asked.

"Good."

She opened her mouth as if she was going to say something then closed it. A few seconds later she spoke. "Your mom called last night."

I instantly tensed. If mom called it couldn't be good. Did something happen to Eddie or Gale or Madge? "What did she say?" I finally said.

"Don't worry, nothing bad. She just wanted to know how your first day went. I told her you got off to a rocky start but you were good throughout."

I looked at her wide eyed. "Got off to a rocky start? She's going to think I wreaked havoc onto this place. Why couldn't you just say that I was the perfect girl all through?"

Effie frowned at me. "Because I will not lie to your mother about how you are doing here. I might be going on a little lenient but don't think that, that can't and won't change, understand?"

I nodded.

"Now I went through the liberty of unpacking your clothes and I noticed that all you had were T-shirts and jeans. No skirts or dresses. And it's summer, you know and if you're going to stay in this town you'll need to have them so if you don't mind I would like to take you to the mall and buy some."

I opened my mouth to say no but stopped at the look on her face. Effie didn't have a kid, I didn't know her well enough to know why but I could tell that she wanted one badly and I wasn't going to be the person that ruined her obviously good mood just because she wanted to buy me a few dresses. So instead I smiled and said, "Why not."

And that's how I ended up inside a forever 21 dressing room with piles of outfits next to me. I had just put on my fifteenth dress, a dark blue, thick strap dress with a thin brown belt and stepped out to show Effie.

"Where am I supposed to where this to?" I asked as I came out but stopped in my tracks when I realised that there was no one there.

"Well, beautiful, you could always wear it to the party my buddies throwing." A bronzed haired boy said to me as he was walking by.

"Um… do I know you?"

He stopped walking and turned to me. "Well obviously not."

"Is there a reason you're lurking around the changing rooms?"

"You ask a lot of questions, you know."

He moved closer to me and I took a step back trying to distance myself from him. I didn't know who he was and I didn't feel comfortable with him so close to me. "Is there a reason you're here?" I asked again.

"Well if you must know, I'm waiting for my girlfriend and I was just chatting it up with Effie before she left to the ladies."

I couldn't help but laugh at his words. "Your girlfriend you say. Well I wish I could believe that."

The moment I finished my sentence a girl with long brown hair and bright green eyes exited out of a changing stall. She looked around for a moment then her eyes brightened as she saw the boy standing not four inches away from me.

"Finnick, stop harassing the poor girl and tell me if this top looks good on me."

He made no attempt to move away from me but was looking at the girl now. "It looks perfect sweetheart and I wasn't harassing her I was just inviting her to Thresh's party tonight."

"Well then take a couple steps back and ask her." She turned to me and smiled. "I'm really sorry about him. He doesn't really get the term personal space. I'm Annie Cresta by the way and that's my boyfriend Finnick Odair." She said boyfriend as if she was marking her territory and I could get why. Finnick was good looking and probably had a ton of girls after him but lucky for Annie, I wasn't one of them.

"I'm Katniss Everdeen."

"Everdeen." Finnick said, "You're the girl Peeta has been-" He was cut off by the arrival of Effie.

"Oh Katniss, that dress looks just wonderful on you!"

"It looks great Effie-"

"Aunt Effie." She corrected.

"Aunt Effie but I just can't afford it and I'll have nowhere to wear it to."

But she wouldn't listen. She just waved me off and said. "Nonsense, you can where it anywhere you'd like and Finnick dear just told me that you were invited to a party tonight."

I nodded my head and went back into the changing room ready for another half hour of trying on clothes.

It was nearly 3:00 when I we entered the car and Effie suggested that we'd drive to the bakery.

We entered the store and I couldn't help but feel a slight flutter when I saw Peeta behind the counter but I ignored it. There was also a woman around Effie's age with straight blonde hair and blue eyes like Peeta's but darker. She had a warm smile on her face while talking to a customer. Then she looked up and gave a wave to Effie.

"Hi Effie, how are you."

"Oh I'm great, Sylvia."

Peeta looked up and grinned when he saw me. "Hey."

I sat down in front of him and turned to look at Effie and Sylvia. "Hello I'm Katniss, Effie's niece." I said with a stretched hand.

"Sylvia." She shook it and gave me a tight lipped smile. "Peeta told me that he met you yesterday."

I looked at Peeta and saw that his cheeks were tinged with a slight shade of pink.

"Yeah," I said, "He gave me a cheese bun to try and it was amazing."

"Well then I guess we'll have to get a dozen cheese buns." Effie said.

Effie and Sylvia started talking and I turned to Peeta. His back was to me, packing a bunch of cheese buns for me. "Do you know a Thresh?" I asked, trying to get his attention.

He turned around then said, "Yeah, He's having a party tonight actually. Do you want to come?"

"I was actually already invited. By a guy named Finnick." I added.

He gave a loud laugh. "So you've met Finnick?"

"Yeah. In Forever 21 with his girlfriend, Annie."

"Well would you like me to give you a ride?" He looked slightly nervous but I didn't know why. "If you have someone else to take you that's fine." He said quickly.

"No I don't. I would love for you to take me."

"Okay. It's a date. I mean not a date unless you want it to be but-"

"I'll see you later." I said, slightly laughing.

Effie was getting up and paying for the bread so I got up and gave him a quick wave.

"I'll see you later." He called out.

I entered the car and as we were driving home I spoke up. "I don't think Mrs. Mellark likes me too much."

"She's a truly kind person she just is quick to assumptions. Give her time, okay?"

I nodded and looked straight ahead, wondering what was to come to the party tonight.

Thanks for reading this chapter and tell me whether or not you liked it. Don't forget to tell me whether you would like longer chapters or me to keep it the same length.

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