I get home and take a shower. I clean the entire house and replace every single thing I destroyed at Peeta and Finnick's. I leave without a word to everyone there, ignoring all of their protests. I then clean my entire house and wash every article of clothing. I boot up my computer and check my school email.
I have one, two of them from students, asking what the homework was. I know there wasn't any homework last night. I email both of them back.
There wasn't any homework, but make sure to study for your test on Thursday.
The other one is from a parent. It's Olive's parent. Olive is struggling and she's frustrated because she's getting held back and she doesn't understand.
Hello Ms. Everdeen, I'm Olive Pother's mother, Julie Pother.
I was wondering if you could possibly meet with my daughter after school once a week sometime, to tutor her. Outside of school, possibly at a park?
As you know from our parent-teacher conference a couple months ago, she is failing and just doesn't understand. She comes home crying almost every day from frustration, and I don't know what to do. We've gotten many tutors for her but none of them help her. We could pay you, too.
I just don't know what to do anymore. I want to help Olive as much as I can.
If you need to contact me, you can call me at (212)324-2386 or email me at 3pak
Sincerely,
Julie Pother.
I sigh and sit back in my computer chair. I hear the front door open and close again.
"Katniss, you are you?" Annie demands. All of them walk into my bedroom.
"Fine…" I run a hand through my hair. I should not have missed work today. I seriously called off of work so I could recover from a hangover?
I really don't like talking on the phone with strangers, but I like Olive, she's one of my favorite students, and I want to help her as much as possible.
My friends and sister all watch me as I drum my fingers on my desk. I know I'm definitely going to tutor Olive, and I'm not going to accept money. I could teach and not get paid and be perfectly fine with it, because I love kids and I love teaching them.
I rise and shut the lid to my laptop, sliding it into my computer bag, which I hang over my shoulder.
"Where are you going? Would you stop running off?" Johanna snaps.
"It's not running off, Johanna. It's called working when you're not at work." I reply calmly. I grab my cell phone and car keys and a bottle of water and a sheet, my wallet and my purse backpack, and then I head for the door.
"Katniss, are you okay to drive?" Peeta asks. I know he means well, and I can't get mad at him even if I wanted to.
I'm honestly fine though, I feel normal. I got all the alcohol out of my system. "I'm good, Peeta, I promise." I smile as him and open the front door. I head down the stairs to my truck. I used to absolutely hate going to Central Park because of the thing with 9/11 but I don't mind so much anymore.
I park down the street and gather my things, stopping at Starbucks for a muffin because I'm hungry. I head down to the park, finishing my muffin on the way. I lay my sheet down under an oak tree and sit down, resting against it. I go back to my email, using my hotspot from my bag and use dial the number Olive's mother, Julie left on my email.
"Hello?" a lady asks. She sounds friendly enough, probably my Mama's age.
"Yes, hi, is this Julie Pother?" I ask.
"This is, may I ask who is speaking?" she asks.
"Katniss Everdeen, I'm Olive's math teacher." I say.
"Oh, yes, I do apologize, I forgot I emailed you earlier." she laughs easily and I smile. "So I understand that you're pretty young. Olive always says you're her favorite teacher, so I know it's not your fault she doesn't understand it. She was just diagnosed as ADHD and ADD, so we understand she probably was not paying attention to your lessons. She said all the others students are understand except for her, so I know it's not you. I understand that you can't help every single student, because I myself am a teacher at Regis High School." She says. "But you seem to be a very brilliant, young lady, and happy for you on that. Now, my husband and I were wondering if you would tutor Olive outside of school. We've hired tons of tutors from all over the country but nothing seems to be working. We'll pay you…maybe we can do this once or twice a week, on a set day, possibly at central park." She asks.
"I can tutor Olive, but I can't accept your money for it, Mrs. Pother." I say.
"May I ask why, Ms. Everdeen?" she asks.
"Well, it's quite simple, really. I teach because I love children. I could be a teacher and not get paid and have no problem with it. I can't accept your money because it doesn't make sense to me. I'd much rather do it for free." I say. She laughs easily again.
"Okay then, so what days are good for you? We could do it for an hour after school, maybe?" she asks.
"Of course…let's see, Tuesdays?" I ask.
"Okay, that's perfect for us." she says.
"And…" I have to think. Thursday's are test days, Wednesday's are the days I usually use to grade papers and get ready for test day, and by Friday, I'm drained and exhausted and just want to go home and sleep. "Monday and Tuesday?" I ask.
"Perfect! That's wonderful!" she exclaims.
"Okay…so…school let's out at Four Fifteen, so how about from…Five to Seven?" I ask.
"That's perfect. Where at?" she asks.
"Central Park?" I ask.
"I was thinking the same thing." She says. I can hear the smile in her voice.
"Okay…do you know the Hudson River, near the bridge in the park?" I ask.
"Yes," she says.
"And that large oak tree by the picnic tables?" I ask.
"Yes, I know exactly what you're talking about." She says.
"How about we meet there? Starting tomorrow?" I ask.
"Yes, wonderful, Ms. Everdeen, I really can't thank you enough for this." She says.
"No need to thank me." I smile.
"Well…goodbye, I will see you tomorrow." She hangs up. I see I have twenty one missed calls; three from Peeta, Finn, Ann, Jo, Prim, Alex and Blight. I exhale softly and decide that I have to call one of them back, because I don't want to worry them.
I know I don't feel like getting snapped at, so I dial Peeta.
"Thank god, Katniss, you need to come home." He says.
"Peeta, I'm working-"
"That girl that got a zero on her test? Yeah, she's standing in your living room, crying, demanding to talk to 'Ms. Everdeen'."
Olive is in my living room? What in the world?
"Are you lying or are you serious?" I ask, not believing him.
"Katniss, I'm dead serious." He sounds worried.
"Okay…I'll…be right there…what the fuck?" I hang up, having muttered 'what the fuck' more to myself than to him. I gather my things and head back to the apartment. When I walk in the door, I see that Peeta was indeed not lying, and he's currently trying to calm Olive down.
"Olive?" I ask, setting my stuff down by the door.
She turns to me, looking desperate. Peeta releases her and she walks right over to me and hugs me, almost as if she's my daughter and I'm her mother.
My friends look alarmed and Johanna mouths 'what the fuck happened?' to me, and I mouth 'I don't fucking know!'
It takes me nearly an hour to get her to calm down enough to speak, and I hand her a glass of water and sit down across from her.
"Olive honey, does your parents know you're here?" I ask. It's beginning to get dark out. She shakes her head. "Does anyone know you're here?" I ask. She shakes her head again, and I know I'm going to be in deep shit with the school board if something happens to her. "Olive, what's wrong?" My friends have migrated to Johanna's room, but I can hear them shushing one another and I know they're dying for answers.
"I don't have anyone else to talk to , Ms. Everdeen." She whispers.
"About what, Olive?" I whisper.
"I…I'm pregnant…" she stutters. I don't let myself react on the outside, but my insides are screaming.
This girl is at most fifteen years old! Prim is nineteen and I still am weary on her being a mother! This girl is like thirteen! She's pregnant?
"Olive-" I begin.
"Let me hide here? Please Ms. Everdeen? Please? I can't face my parents! They're going to be so ashamed of me! I'm only fourteen! I can't take care of a baby! I can't abort a baby and I don't want to get rid of my own child! Ms. Everdeen, you have to help me!" She starts crying again.
"Olive…you need to tell an adult-" I say.
"I just told you! You're an adult!" She says.
"But I'm not…" I sigh. I don't know how to react to this. All I know is I need to say out of this and get this girl home!
I do what I always do in situations like this. Haymitch, believe it or not, is the best person to bring your problems to. He always knows what to do. So I just think, what would Uncle Haymitch do?
I think for a long time that he would take this girl home and stay out of it. "Olive, I'm just your teacher…you need to tell someone you know you can trust. You need to tell…your Mama, or your Dad, or sister or brother and aunt and uncle or cousin…"
"Who would you go to? If you were my age, who would you go to?" she demands.
"My parents," I say. I'm serious, but I would have told Johanna and Annie first and dragged them to Effie with me. I couldn't go to my parents at her age, because I was in a foster home.
"Mom and Dad are going to be so ashamed of Me." she whispers.
"Olive, your parents love you, they're going to stick by you, I promise." I whisper. She sighs and stands up. "Here, let me drive you home." I whisper.
…..a…..
I pull up in front of Olive's house and take her to the door. There is a police officer outside. I want to hightail it home and stay out of this.
But that doesn't happen. I'm clutching my green 5c iPhone in my hand as Olive opens the front door and grabs my arm, pulling me into her living room. I recognize her mother from the parent teacher conference, and her eyes darken when she recognizes me.
"You!" she shouts.
"Stop Mom, Ms. Everdeen didn't do anything wrong. She's the one that made me go home. If she gets in a tiny ounce of trouble, I'll leave and never come back." She threatens. A girl that looks to be my age stands up. She must be Olive's older sister. A boy that looks to be nine is sent upstairs by his father. The cop starts to question me as if I did something wrong.
"Ms. Everdeen didn't do anything." Olive says.
"Well then what is she doing here?" Julie Pother demands.
"I'm not saying anything until that officer throws that report he just wrote about Ms. Everdeen in the fire and you all swear to leave her out of this, because she had nothing to do with this and I don't want her penalized." Olive says.
"I can't do that until I'm sure she's innocent, miss." The cop says. I respect him, because my father is a cop, and he deals with stuff like this all the time.
I'm not allowed to leave. I have to sit there and listen to the whole story. "And after I took the test, I knew you guys would hateb me forever so I went to Ms. Everdeen because I trust her."
"Oh Olive honey, we don't hate you." her mother whispers.
"And I tried to get her to let me move in with her and hide there but she convinced me it would be okay! She didn't do anything! Please don't get her in trouble because of me!" She told the much longer version of the story and it's three in the morning right now. I have to be awake in four hours for work. Olive continues her story until six, and I know that I'm not going to get a wink of sleep and I'll probably have to go right from here to work. She keeps rambling, and at six thirty, Mrs. Pother calls the school. When my hangs up my phone starts ringing and I look down to see it's my boss. My friends and everyone know better than to call me at a time like this.
"Hello?" I ask. This is the first time I've spoken since I spoke to the cop and I sound exhausted."
"Katniss, is everything that Olive Pother's mother said true?" my boss asks. His name is Carl.
"Yes," I say.
"Wow…and you haven't been home? You haven't slept?" he asks.
"Correct." I say.
"Okay…you get the day off…and tomorrow…goodness Christ, what has happened to society today?" he exhales. He told us, his employers that if we treat him like he's our boss we're fired.
"Yeah, I know." I sigh.
"Okay, well…I'll see you on Thursdays." He says. "I'm covering your classes for both days, so I need to know homework's…"
"Just tell them to study for their test on Thursday." I say.
"Alright," he hangs up.
Olive keeps rambling until ten in the morning, and then they finally let me go. I stumble to my car and get in. I know I can't drive because I'm about to pass out, and I also know none of my friends are at work, so I call Peeta.
"Katniss," he exhales. The stress is evident in his voice.
"I can't stay awake…you you come get us?" I mumble. My words aren't making sense.
"Yes…I need the address." He says. I just barely manage to get it out, and pull up the street so that everyone in the house can't see me, and then I hang up on Peeta and pass out in the driver's seat, slumped over the middle console.
PEETA'S POV
I flag down a taxi and tell the guy the address. She asked me to come and get "us" but I know she meant "me".
Katniss was hardly conscious when she called and I know she knows she wasn't making any sense.
That kid is pregnant and my girlfriend got dragged into it and got forced to stay there all night.
I see her truck down the street. The lights are on and I can see it's turned on. I pay the man and get out, jogging to her truck.
I pull open the driver's door to see her hair is taken out of her braid and is messy. She's unconscious because she passed out. She has blisters from the wedges she's been wearing. She's still in her dress. It pains me to see her like this, for some reason. I reach over her and open the passenger door, carefully lifting her into my arms with her legs limps at either side of my hips, her head limp on my shoulder, her arms fallen limp, just like her legs. I lay down the passenger seat and set her in, buckling her and taking off her wedges. I watch her legs and hands as I shut the door and move back to the driver's side. It's about to storm really bad, and there's tropical storm warning's all over the state. I keep a careful eye on her as I head to her apartment.
I pull into the parking lot just as it starts to pour. I'm going to have to soak both of us, but it's not me I'm worried about. I get her things and stuff them in my pockets and then get out and get her out. It's winding like crazy and pouring horribly. In a matter of seconds, her dress is see-through and she's drenched. I lock her truck and run up the stairs, into the apartment, where towels are immediately passed my way by the person that raised Katniss from age ten to eighteen. Everyone sits around as I take Katniss to her room and peel her dress off, leaving her in her bra and underwear as I tuck her into bed.