Katniss' POV

For weeks, all anyone had been talking about was senior prom. Who was wearing what, who was going to have the best after party, who was going to win prom king and queen.

In the few days leading up to the night, I had been feeling more and more anxious about what Cashmere would do if she didn't win her crown. Of course I wasn't going to win it- most of our year level still avoided me like the plague- but that didn't guarantee Cashmere the title.

It was hard to keep my worries to myself, when everyone around me was so happy. For the weeks that Finnick was in hospital, the rest of us could hardly think of a thing to say to each other at lunch time, and it just felt wrong to laugh or smile or have any fun at all. I was so relieved, when Annie called to let us know he was okay, and it felt like our group was whole again.

Of course, Peeta couldn't stop smiling like crazy when ever we were together, which didn't help at all considering we were still trying to act as though we had broken up. He desperately wanted to take me to prom, but I knew we couldn't be seen as a couple. So, we had agreed to just go 'as friends'. It was hard, I had to admit, acting like Peeta and I weren't back together, especially with Finnick making jokes about seeing us 'disappear into the broom cupboard' together in between classes. We did our best to avoid each other as much as possible, but lunch time was always the hardest.

With everything that had been going on with Finnick, Peeta, Cashmere and even Prim and her new friends, I had hardly put any thought into the actual prom itself. I had half heartedly bought a dress and agreed to let Annie do my hair, but other than that all I could really focus on was what would happen if Cashmere didn't win.

I was still worrying about it as I got ready with Johanna, Madge, Delly and Annie at Johanna's apartment on the evening of the prom.

"Katniss seriously, lighten up!" Johanna groaned as she finished her eyeliner. "I'm supposed to be the one bringing down the mood, not you."

I rolled my eyes and I tried my best to break myself out of my thoughts, but I was finding it hard to enjoy myself. The mood was pretty high though, and I just wished I could be excited as everyone else.

Delly turned up the music as Madge poured us champagne, giggly already. The two of them started to twirl around in their dresses, even pulling a reluctant Johanna up to join them, and I wondered how it would feel to be that carefree.

"Are you okay, Katniss?" Annie asked, as she braided my hair more intricately than I could have ever done myself.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Prom's just aren't exactly my thing." I tried to sound convincing.

"I know what you mean." Annie laughed. "But maybe you'll surprise yourself."

"We'll see." I said, trying to sound optimistic.

"You look amazing, for what it's worth." Annie said, as she finished the braid.

"Yeah Katniss, maybe you'll even win prom queen!" Madge added, looking dizzy as she finally stopped twirling.

Before Madge could see how utterly terrified I looked, Johanna replied. "Hey, maybe you'll win, missy."

"What, no?" Madge looked down. "I'd never win, no one would vote for me..."

Madge looked genuinely upset, but before anyone else could say anything, I heard the elevator doors open and Finnick call out: "Ladies, your princes have arrived!"

Finnick, Peeta, Gale and Thresh, Delly's date, appeared in the living room, dressed in perfect suits. Peeta looked utterly adorable, and was wrapping his arms around me in an instant.

"You look amazing." he whispered, as he dipped his head closer to kiss me.

I wasn't too keen on public displays of affection, but there was a sense of urgency in his kiss that made me realise how much it meant to him.

When he broke away he explained, "Because we'll have to ignore each other for the rest of the night."

That was true, and something I had to remember as we moved to opposite ends of the group for photographs. Johanna's mother was all too happy to take photographs of us, and I thought that she was just glad to be able to have that moment with her daughter, because it sure did take a lot of convincing to get Johanna to even buy a ticket to prom. She still insisted she wasn't going to take anyone though, and wore her Doc Martens underneath her simple black dress.

Eventually Johanna got irritated with all the fuss, and so we all headed down to the limousine waiting outside her apartment. As Johanna opened the door, I saw Annie take Finnick aside for what seemed like a serious discussion. A moment later, Finnick announced that he and Annie were going to walk to prom.

"Are you serious?" Johanna asked incredulously.

"Yes, it's just the next block!" Finnick tried to laugh off her comment. However, I could tell he was hoping she would just drop the subject.

"Whatever, I just never thought you'd pass up the opportunity to make an entrance."

"Oh, we made enough of an entrance at my prom!" Annie laughed too, coming to Finnick's rescue.

"Well okay. If you don't turn up in half an hour we'll just assume you've been murdered."

"Thanks for your support." Finnick rolled his eyes.

He took hold of Annie's hand, and the two of them set off down the side walk while the rest of us slid inside the limousine.

I was beginning to feel surprised by just how comfortable I was starting to feel, getting in and out of those things. The first time I went to Peeta's apartment in his limousine, I felt like I was inside some kind of alien spaceship or something. Now however, I didn't even think about it. I wasn't sure it was a good thing, but I figured that of all aspects of Upper East Side life I was used to, limousines weren't the worst things.

Gale, on the other hand, looked even more uncomfortable than when he was at Johanna's apartment. He sat stiffly against the leather seat, squinting in the dark cabin to make out my face. A prom wasn't Gale thing at all, and an Upper East Side prom was probably his definition of hell. Still, he had agreed to go, for Madge's sake, and had put a lot effort into finding the right suit. Still, he looked totally uncomfortable, just as I was sure I once had. So I tried to give him a reassuring smile, but I wasn't sure if it was any help.

The trip didn't take long, and soon we piled out of the limousine and walked towards the hall that once held the Christmas Ball. While the rest of my group walked ahead and talking happily, I took a breath as I realised that these next few hours could change my life forever.

As much as it pained me, I had to give the prom committee the credit they deserved. The hall looked amazing, completely over the top of course, with chocolate fountains and ice sculptures, but amazing none the less. However, I quickly realised just how much the whole 'prom queen' thing meant to all the girls in the room. As soon as we walked in, girls were looking us up and down, whispering to their friends as they immediately judged our dresses.

I wanted to find our table as quickly as possible to avoid the stares, but as we walked across the room, we were suddenly intercepted by Cashmere. She was wearing an extravagant platinum coloured dress made up of both sheer and sequined panels, with her hair swept on top of head and down over one shoulder. As she moved, the lights reflected off her dress making her impossible to miss.

"Katniss, so glad you could make it." she said, offering me a fake smile.

"Yeah, you too." I tried to walk away, but Cashmere continued.

"You look nice." She was so good at acting sweet that it scared me.

"So do you." I replied, not hiding my sarcasm.

"Well, good luck for the announcement!" She gave me another smile before walking away, almost blinding me with how reflective her dress was.

"Geez, who was that?" Gale asked, once she was out of ear shot.

"That was Cashmere." I replied coldly.

"Wait that was her?" Gale suddenly asked angrily. "Hang on, I've gotta go and give her a piece of my mind." He tried to push passed me but I sprung into action.

"Don't!" I exclaimed in a total panic. He looked at me confused, and I tried to regain my composure. "It's not worth it. Don't ruin things for Madge."

With that, Gale seemed to calm down a little, and returned to a very relieved looking Madge. Looking over my shoulder at Cashmere by the drinks table, I cautiously made my way over to our own table.

Surprisingly, the night went by fairly quickly. Since Peeta couldn't beg me to dance with him this time, I spent most of the night with Johanna, who sat scowling at the table and taking sips from her flask when the teachers weren't looking. Of course Finnick and Annie were the stars of the dance floor, but even Gale danced with Madge, although he was constantly checking to make sure no one was watching him.

Finally it was time for the prom king and queen to be crowned. The dance floor went silent, and I could literally feel the tension in the room. I looked over to see Cashmere on the other side of the floor, and when she met my eye I felt a cold shiver run down my spine.

"And the prom queen is…" I heard a voice on the stage announce. "Madge Undersee!"

Happiness for Madge and dread for myself swamped me all at once. Looking over at Cashmere again, she shook her head slowly at me, eyes murderous. I suddenly felt like I was about to pass out, and with the sound the prom king being announced in the distance I ran out the hall, desperate for fresh air.

At least it wasn't me, at least it wasn't me, at least it wasn't me. I kept repeating that to myself as I started to pace up and down in the courtyard in front of the hall. I heard the sound of the doors open, and heels clicking towards me, and turned to see Cashmere heading towards me.

I was totally caught by surprise when she grabbed me and slammed me against the wall of the hall, her eyes shining with hatred. For a second I actually thought she was going to kill me.

"Do you think this is game, Katniss?" she said in a metallic sounding voice.

"This isn't my fault, Cashmere. No one wanted to vote for you." I realised that probably wasn't the best thing to say when trying to calm her down.

"And I bet you just love that thought, don't you?"

"This might come as a shock, but I don't spend every minute of my day thinking about you."

"Well you're about to."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that it's time you got what's coming to you. Did you seriously think you could come to this school and take my place?" Her eyes narrowed on me and she started to back away.

"Cashmere…" I tried to say, but she was already gone.

My legs were shaking, and I leant against the wall of the hall to try and look calm before I walked back inside. I still didn't want to let Cashmere's threats get to me, but after what she did last time, I knew that she was serious. Just as I was about to walk back inside like nothing was wrong, I heard Peeta's voice call out.

"Katniss, are you okay?" he said once he found me.

"Sorry, I just needed some fresh air." I replied, trying to act normal.

"Are you sure?" Peeta moved to put his arms around me, when I moved away.

"Hey, it's okay. No one can see us here." He tried to reassure me.

That wasn't what I was worried about though. I knew I should let Peeta in on what had just happened, seeing how he reacted last time when I kept him in the dark, but he was just so happy as getting back together I didn't want to ruin things.

"It's not that..." I said, trailing off. I wasn't in the right state of mind to explain things anyway.

"Okay...Well we were thinking of heading off back to Johanna's place now." Peeta said, trying not to look hurt.

"Great." I said, relieved. All I wanted was to get out there.

I tried to shake Cashmere's comments from my mind as we (minus Finnick and Annie who insisted on walking again) piled into the limousine and travelled back to Johanna's. Honestly, the rest of the night was a blur of loud music, Madge waving like a queen on 'royal duties' and me trying to distract myself from what had happened with Cashmere. As much as I was happy for Madge, I couldn't help but wish that things had gone according to Cashmere's plans.