Chapter Two
As though I didn't have enough to worry about. First it was the struggling to stay alive, the nightmares, living with Gale's arrogance, and now I had to worry about Peeta becoming the man I now loathed. Life after the Games was supposed to be the best. A life everyone envied and wanted. That was quickly showing up to be a lie. Life wasn't easy at the moment. Life seemed as though it was more difficult to bear than before.
I stared at the same page of the book I picked off the shelf in our mini library at home, my mind paying no attention to the words printed on the sheet, thoughts whirled around tempestuously. Teen angst seem to get the best of me now-a-days.
How dare Peeta call me Catnip? That wasn't his nickname to use. The name had a past. A name only Gale called me. That was Gale's name. Not Peeta's name to use freely. Hearing him call me that made me think of Gale, which was the last thing I needed on my mind.
I rubbed my feet back and forth on the rug below. Trying to take my mind off all this mess. That's what things were; a mess. A mess like this book. The words were suddenly mixed and matched, jumbled together. I couldn't even focus on one word, much less one letter. Great, I was going insane. The messy literature was getting at me. My eyes burned, my brain ached. No more. I ripped the page I've been staring at for the past hour out of its bindings. It felt good. One by one I ripped and tore the pages loose. Freely falling to the floor below. It felt good.
If only life was as simple. To tear the problem away and watch it fly off.
I needed to get away. To leave this house for a bit. Fresh air will do me good.
I slip out of the house unseen. Frankly, I didn't want anyone knowing that I had left. I hated the feeling of being monitored; everyone knowing where I am. I savored the time I had to myself, which was rarely these days.
The cool air brushed against my cheeks. It felt nice. Cold on warm.
I walked down the sidewalk, following it to the district plaza. The usual was about. I trudged straight through the plaza for it was not my mind set destination. My goal was the Seam. The Black Market.
I could see it. My lost home. The place where I was raised. The only place that really held who I really was. A fighter. A struggler. Someone with real morals. All that seemed to fade away lately.
I could smell the stuffy polluted air the Seam produced. The houses were one-by-one becoming more run down and dank.
Though I never reached my true home. I never laid foot on the sudden black brick ground. I was stopped. My view was disrupt fully blocked by two Peacekeepers. Most definitely the last thing I wanted on my mind, much less in my way.
I sighed. "Can I help you?"
They were both males. Ones I've never seen before. One was taller than the other one. The tallest had short flat hair that was much like the color of my mother's; a brown that looked as though it belonged in nature. His face was rugged and homed a bit of stubble. She shorter one had longer hair. Hair that fell just past his ears. It was blonde and looked as though it could belong to Peeta's hair. His face was more childlike. It was smooth looking and still had some baby fat. I heard rumors that the Capitol was forcing younger people to join the Peacekeepers. Why they would do this, I couldn't comprehend. Much like the other crap they put us through. Both of their eyes were a light gray color, mimicking the sky before it rains. The two looked at each other, sharing a smirk. It irked me.
"You need to come with us."
"Why?"
"Let's just say someone has some business to finalize with you." the shorter one giggle.
I was baffled. This was probably the one time I wanted the Capitol to be upfront with me. Why shy away from this detail. I wondered who it was. President Snow? He would most likely like to finalize my life. Get it over with. I seemed to cause him a lot of grief.
The taller one grabbed my arm, gripping it tight. I hushed the thought of arguing over this, not able to find the strength to rebel at the moment. I was tired of fighting. I went along with what was to come.
They escorted me to the Peacekeeper's headquarters. A tall cylindrical building. Bare of life around, bland of color, and stripped of happiness. I found the irony funny sometimes; how peace is suppose to be what everyone longs for, a joyful thing and yet the Capitol shred it of it's meaning, replacing it with crude thoughts about death and dullness.
We entered the building. The inside was very much like the out. Boring, plain, and none-the-less peaceful. There was no one else in the building except for a figure sitting alone in a wooden chair, directly in the middle of the foyer. It was a boy. Or a man. I couldn't tell from the back. Though, the back of his head seemed awfully familiar. Almost too familiar.
He spoke. And with his voice came chills.
"Hello Catnip." it was Gale. Hearing that name again bugged me. It now held too much.
What was he doing here? And why did he team up with the Peacekeepers? People we made fun of together in the woods, people we mocked and looked down at?
"Gale?"
"Yes, Katniss. It's me." I saw the two Peacekeepers leave from the corner of my eye.
Gale somehow made them leave. What was going on? What power did he suddenly have?
"You're probably wondering why you are here, and how I am here too, and why I somehow became above those two Peacekeepers." He understood me so well. Which scared me. He knew a little too much about me. Stuff that could easily get me killed. I doubted that Gale would give secrets away to hurt me. But suddenly, Gale was a different person.
"You got it," I responded.
"That's not important now. What's important is you. You and a certain someone."
Peeta.
"Peeta." I knew it. Gale just had something against my supposed lover. I could sort of understand his view point. Gale was literally the only guy in my life. That changed after the Games. Everything changed after the Games.
He moved closer. This didn't startle me. I was use to his closeness. Though, I wasn't use to the look in his eyes. The were somewhat formidable. They weren't welcoming at all. The way they used to be. Something was up.
"You spend a lot of time with him," he said.
"Well yeah. Didn't we already have this conversation?"
"No. You told me something and left. I had no word. That's technically not a conversation at all. So now, I'm going to tell you something. Or show you something."
My eyebrows were raised.
"How ever you want to look at it."
I hadn't realized that the whole time we were speaking he was walking forward, walking me into the wall. He pushed his body against mine. I could smell his breath. It smelt like nature. Nothing gross or unbearable, just a Gale smell. I could feel the heat radiating from his body. Then, I could feel his lips against mine.
What the hell? Gale kissing me. We were on grounds where we didn't have any romance happening at all between us. Then suddenly he brings it up with a kiss?
My eyes didn't shut for a while. His were closed, obviously really into this kiss.
I let my eyelids relax for a second. I breathed in the kiss. Absorbing every feeling into my bloodstream. I reopened my eyes and didn't see Gale. Well, it was Gale. Just not his face. The face I saw was Peeta. I didn't close my eyes after that, afraid of what might happen next.
The kiss was over and done with. I exhaled. Gale lingered for a moment, stared in my eyes, and must of saw something dreadful for he turned away and left. I was alone. My mind longed for Peeta. Which scared me even more than Gale had.