A/N: Hi everyone, sorry for the delay in this chapter, I just finished up my first university exams which weren't very fun haha. I probably should have said this earlier but this is actually the last chapter of Scandal's Alight! Thanks so much for everyone who read and reviewed it, and I really hope you enjoy this final chapter. Thanks again for being so supportive, you are all amazing!
Katniss' POV
When I woke up, it only took a second I remember that today was the day. The day I would find out whether I was accepted into Yale or not. It felt like I was waking up to the day that would change my life forever.
I was just one name in thousands. Thousands and thousands of students who were all trying to get a place at Yale just like me. The odds of me getting accepted, especially after Cashmere told everyone about my past, was next to nothing. However, I tried to remind myself that I had gotten into the Capitol School, so maybe thing would work okay. Or, as Miss Trinkett said on our last day of classes, that the odds would be in my favour.
I was way too scared to check the mailbox, even though Haymitch had already been over to ask it I had gotten in yet. I was trying not to think about college placements at all when Peeta sent me a text telling me his letter arrived in the mail. Oh God, I thought. It was now or never. Either there was a envelope from Yale in my mailbox or there wasn't.
"Katniss, can you please go down and check?" Prim whined as she lay on the sofa reading. "You're driving me crazy pacing around here."
I stopped suddenly and realised that I had in fact been pacing back and forth around the dinning table.
"Sorry. I'll just sit." I said, flopping next to her on the sofa.
"Just go down and look!" Prim urged. "You're going to have to eventually."
"I know, I know!" I admitted. "I'm just…delaying the inevitable."
Prim rolled her eyes and went back to the book she was reading, while my heart continued to race way too fast.
There was a knock at the door, but before I could get up, Gale was already letting himself in.
"Hey, Catnip." he said casually. "I, ah…have a envelope you may be interested in opening."
My head snapped up, my eyes widening as Gale waved a crisp white envelope in front on him.
"It's from…some place called Yale?" he said, pretending to squint at the logo printed on the front. "Never heard of it. Have you, Katniss?"
I rolled my eyes as Gale tried to hold back his grin, and jumped up from the sofa. Gale held out the envelope to me, but just as I was about to grab it he whisked it away high above his head. Being so much taller than me, there was no way I could reach it, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to try.
Chasing him around the dinning table, while Prim watched on amused, I finally caught Gale and jumped on his back to reach the letter. I looked at it with disbelief for a moment, everything silent, until Prim spoke up.
"So, are you going to open it or what?" she demanded.
I scrunched up my face. "We agreed to all open them together, tonight."
"Oh come on Katniss, you have to open it." Prim begged.
I was tempted, I wasn't going to lie. I was literally holding my future in my hands, and it was killing me not to read what was inside.
Prim sighed. "Ughh, give it here. I'll open it."
I supposed that was a way to get around it. Hesitantly, I handed the envelope over to Prim and held my breath as she carefully opened it up.
There was silence as she read through the letter, her eyes quickly darting left to right as she read what was printed on it. With wide eyes she looked at me and I nearly fainted.
"Katnisss…I'm really sorry." she said in a mournful tone.
And just like that, the future I had all planned out disappeared, and I felt so dizzy I stumbled backwards until I bumped into Gale. I could feel his strong hands squeeze my shoulders, but I was barely aware of anything other than the fact that I hadn't been accepted into Yale.
I'm not sure how long I was quiet for, it could have been years, but suddenly Prim's eyes lit up and she flashed me a huge smile.
"God Katniss, I'm kidding!" she exclaimed. "You got in!"
"What?" I stammered, trying hard to process everything.
"Dear Katniss Everdeen…" Prim started to read in a very fancy accent. "We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Yale University on a full scholarship due to your outstanding grades and…"
I could barely hear the rest of what Prim was reading out. All that mattered was that I had been accepted into the college of my dreams, but I still honestly couldn't believe it. Prim couldn't finish reading it either, because she was so excited and started to jump up and down.
"You're really going to Yale, Katniss!" she squealed with excitement, hugging me over and over.
I still couldn't really process it all, but let her jump up and down and squeal all the same.
"Congratulations, Katniss." Gale said earnestly, pulling me in for a hug. "Your father would be so proud."
Gale's words made me choke up, but I blinked back tears. My father had always told me that if I worked hard I could get out of this place and have a better life, and it was all he ever wanted for both Prim and myself. I knew that it would mean so much to him if he were still alive. And, after surviving nearly two years at The Capitol School, I was so happy that everything had payed off.
Once I had calmed down enough, Gale and I got ready to go the Upper Easy Side, were I would find out where all of my friends were headed next year. It was to be our last night together as high school students, before graduation in the morning, and while I was glad that my Capitol School days were nearly over, the night had a bittersweet feeling to it.
We were the last to arrive, and found Johanna, Madge, Delly, Peeta, Finnick and Annie sitting around in a circle on Johanna's bed room floor, anxiously clutching their own envelopes.
I went to sit beside Peeta, and he pulled me into his arms and kissed my neck softly.
"Nervous?" he whispered in my ear.
I smile guiltily. "About that…" I began, "Prim may have opened the letter for me…and read out what it said."
"I thought we had a deal!" Peeta pretended to look hurt, but I knew he was waiting for me to tell him if I got in. "So…?" he pressed with anticipation.
I shrugged. "I'm going to Yale, but you know, whatever."
"Oh yeah, whatever." Peeta continued the joke, "No big deal."
"What are you two whispering about?" Johanna interrupted, "What's no big deal?"
I let Peeta speak, because I was smiling too much to reply.
"Oh you know, Katniss just got into Yale." he said casually.
"Really?" Delly and Madge said in unison.
"Congrats, Katniss." Finnick smiled, "I always knew you could do it."
"Alright, alright, we all know that Katniss is a genius." Johanna laughed, "How about the rest of us open the letters then?"
I looked around at everyone in the circle, but no one seemed game enough to be the first to open their envelope.
"Seriously?" Johanna sighed with exasperation, as still no one made the first move.
"Well, seeing as you are the host of this little party, Johanna, how about you do us the honours?" Finnick suggested cheekily.
Johanna rolled her eyes. "Fine. May the odds be ever in my favour." she sighed, ripping the envelope open with little ceremony. We watched her silently as she read through the letter, before looking at us with an unreadable expression on her face. "Fine arts at NYU." she announced, before breaking into a smile. "My parents are going to be so pissed!"
Peeta laughed. "That's the most important thing, right?"
Johanna grinned. "Well, let's if you're following in my footsteps then, baker boy."
Carefully, Peeta peeled open the envelope, but even before he announced that he was accepted into culinary school, I knew that he was going to be. I think everyone knew but Peeta, because how could he not be accepted when his baking was so amazing?
"Congratulations." I said, kissing him gently.
"And congratulations to you too." he replied.
However, our exchange of congratulations was done with heavy hearts, and we were now facing the reality of going to different colleges very far away from each other. I promised myself I wouldn't think about it until it happened, but I supposed that now I really did have to consider what that meant for us. I decided it could wait until after graduation though, and in the meantime I enjoyed being in his arms as Annie opened her letter.
"NYU!" Annie exclaimed, looking to Finnick. "I actually got in."
Finnick kissed her, "Of course you did, just don't you psychoanalysing me now, okay?" Annie rolled her eyes and Finnick laughed. "Hey, you and Johanna can totally share a dorm room!"
Johanna narrowed her eyes on Finnick. "Fine, but we're having a strict 'No Finnick' policy."
"Awww you're no fun!" Finnick stuck his tongue out.
"Whatever, open your letter." Johanna rolled her eyes.
"Nah, I think I'll go last." Finnick replied, suddenly looking nervous.
"Are you scared, Odair?" Johanna smirked, but I actually felt kind of bad for Finnick.
He hadn't exactly taken school seriously from what I had gathered, until he met Annie, that is. I knew how devastated he would be not to get into the same college as her.
"No." Finnick said, trying to sound confident. "I'll open it."
He tore the paper open and scanned the letter quickly, before grinning and holding the letter high the air. "NYU, baby!" he shouted triumphantly.
Johanna groaned, realising what it would mean to go to the same college as Finnick and Annie, however, in a second Annie had leapt at Finnick, both of them kissing as if we weren't even there.
Annie suddenly realised, dragging herself away from Finnick with cheeks turning pink.
"Can you believe it? We're really going to the same college!" Annie said, her voice nearly squeaky with excitment.
"And I'll be able to see you all day." Finnick said joyously, kissing her again.
"You are going to be so distracting!" Annie laughed, resting her head on her chest.
"Okay, okay, that's enough from you two." Johanna said grumpily.
"Just a little of what you have to look forward to for the next four years, Johanna." Finnick said with a wink, hugging Annie close.
"Kill me now." Johanna muttered.
In the end, we all were accepted into the colleges of our choice, and even though it meant the group I had grown to love so much was going to split up next year, I couldn't help but feel happy.
We woke up the next morning so late we nearly missed our own graduation. No one had bothered to set up beds, and most of us were sprawled out on the floor surrounded by blankets, clothes and empty bottles from the night before.
Groaning groggily, I slowly untangled myself from Peeta's arms. Yawning, I turned to check the time and yelped when I realised that graduation was literally only an hour away.
Shaking Peeta awake, I rushed to find my bag that contained my graduation outfit, and ended up stepping on Finnick in the process.
"What was that for?" Finnick asked sleepily.
"You need to get up or we'll miss graduation!" I said loud enough to wake the rest of my sleeping friends.
"Wait, what?" Annie said, suddenly sitting upright. "Oh my god I'm going to be so late, my aunt and uncle are going to kill me." She scanned the room frantically, looking for her own bag. "Finnick, you're going to have to let go of my hand." she said.
"But I don't want to!" Finnick pouted.
"Finnick!" Annie laughed, trying to unclasp her hand from his. "I need to get ready."
"Fine." Finnick groaned. "But after today I'm never letting go of your hand again."
They moved closer to kiss, when a pillow suddenly flew from the left, hitting Finnick.
"Will you two shut up, I'm trying to sleep." Johanna complained from under several layers of blankets.
"Hey, you've gotta get up, Johanna!" I laughed, pulling the blankets off of her as she started to protest.
Somehow we all managed to get ready and leave Johanna's apartment within the hour, to arrive at The Capitol School only minutes before the graduation ceremony began.
Honestly, the whole event was kind of a blur, and the only thing I can really remember was Prim, Gale, Haymitch and even my mother, all standing and cheering as I walked across the stage once my name was called. By the end of ceremony, I almost couldn't believe that I had made it.
As I posed for a photograph with Peeta, Finnick, Johanna, Delly and Madge, all in our robes and caps, I couldn't help but laugh at the mismatched friendship group I had managed to form. Two years ago, I never would have considered that I would be dating Peeta Mellark and friends with Finnick Odair, but I supposed that if I had learned anything from my time on the Upper East Side, it was to never judge a book by it's cover.
"And now!" Finnick announced, his cap sitting lopsided on his head, "We party."
Making sure Peeta's parents were out of sight, I grabbed hold of Peeta's hand and together six of us walked out of The Capitol School for the very last time.
The after party was held at the same apartment I had gone to with Peeta on what I guessed was our first 'date'. This time, however, I didn't feel quite so self conscious, and while I still hated most of the people in the room, it really matter to me that much anymore. Annie and Gale had joined us, and the eight of us stuck together in the corner, keeping a running commentary of all the happenings going on in front of us. While it seemed like not much had changed from that first Upper East Side party I went to, I had to remind myself that really, everything changed, but for once it had changed for the better.
Finnick kept true to his word about never letting go of Annie's hand, and the two of them were inseparable for the rest of the night. It was really something to see Finnick's transformation from the charismatic but broken guy I had spoken to the last time I was at that apartment to the radiant and totally in love person beside me. It looked like the two of them really were going to have their happy ending after all.
Gale too, was allowing himself to smile, even though he assured me that he was still one hundred percent opposed to the Upper East Side lifestyle. Well, except for that part that had Madge in it, I supposed.
As I scanned the room, looking at my classmates for the last time, I noticed Cashmere meet my eye. She motioned towards the hall and I understood what she meant.
"Care to dance?" Peeta asked, interrupting my thoughts.
"In a minute?" I replied, "There is something I need to do first."
I slipped away into the dark hall where Cashmere was waiting.
"So, you survived The Capitol School after all." Cashmere remarked, an eyebrow raised. "You have guts, I'll give you that. Anyone else would have gone running months ago."
"Are you actually complimenting me, Cashmere?" I joked.
"Yeah, one time only offer though." she said, an actual real smile on her face. "Congratulations on getting into Yale, too."
I had no idea how she knew that, but I supposed that no secret was safe around the Upper East Side. "Thanks, where are you going next year?"
"Oh, didn't you hear?" Cashmere said in her high-pitched tone. "Daddy pulled a few strings- I'm going to Yale too."
Oh no.
"Wow, I guess I'll being seeing you around." I forced a smile, but inside my brain was screaming.
"Oh, I look forward to it." Cashmere smirked, and with that she left to return to the party.
So Cashmere and I were going to the same college. I should have known that something like that was going to happen, but all I could hope for was that she would leave all that stupid high school drama at The Capitol School so everyone could move on.
Sighing, I returned to Peeta and reached for his hand.
"Everything okay?" he asked, looking concerned.
"Can we go somewhere a little more quiet?" I suggested.
Nodding, Peeta lead me through the apartment out onto the rooftop, where the view of New York City nearly took my breath away.
We were silent for a moment, both knowing that we had to talk about our future at some point. I opened my mouth to speak, but just as I did Peeta began to speak too.
Laughing, we stopped, but Peeta looked at me to continue.
"Look, what I wanted to say was…a couple of hundred miles doesn't make that much difference, does it?" I was being hopeful, I knew that, but I wanted to make it work.
"And it's not like we'll never see each other, right?" Peeta continued, also being as hopeful as I was. "There's the weekends, and the semester breaks…and Skype. And I can always send you cupcakes in the mail."
It was a sad prospect, but I was willing to try. "There is no way were breaking up, just so you know." I told him.
"I love how stubborn you are." Peeta laughed. "It'll be hard, but we'll make it work. I promise."
"Can you just stay here with me, for a little while?" I asked, sitting down on the concrete.
Peeta smiled that same genuine smile that made me fall in love with him in the first place. "Always."
As we looked out at the New York City skyline, I almost couldn't believe how much my life had changed in just two short years. My aim all along was to get good grades at The Capitol School and get into Yale, and while I definitely achieved that, it somehow didn't seem as important anymore compared to the friendships and love I had found in a place I was once so determined to hate.
I knew that Yale was going to be The Capitol School all over again, but I figured if I could survive those last two years, I could survive anything, and that was exactly what I was going to do.