Katniss arose the next day to the harsh sunlight beaming through her un-curtained windows on either side of her bed. She grumbled swear words at the inconvenient solar intruder. Folding her body over she reached down to touch her toes and gripped them through the thin sheet. Her eyes moved around the room slowly, taking in the architecture of her room. They had finished moving in her furniture the night before after a dinner of pizza eaten on the floor, but she hadn't gotten around to putting any of her things away.
Filled cardboard boxes lay on the floor as nagging reminders of her obligation to remove their contents. While the room was slightly smaller than her room back home, she liked the exposed wooden beams that lined the inside of her ceiling. She stretched to her side to retrieve her cell phone from its resting place next to her pillow to squint at the time. 8:37AM. Gross. Any time before eleven am was disgusting to Katniss. The only time getting up early was remotely acceptable was when she would go hunting in the woods with Gale during the summer. With regret she whipped off her sheets and placed both bare feet flat on the hardwood floors.
After quickly checking her Facebook and Twitter Katniss hopped out of bed to brush her teeth in the bathroom she would share with her sister. It felt a little Brady Bunch-esque considering in her old house she had her own bathroom to make a mess of. Now she would be forced to clean up after herself because Prim was such a little neat freak.
She ditched her toothbrush on the counter haphazardly and entered her room again, rummaging through boxes to try and find clean clothes. With a sigh she settled on clean underwear and a clean bra, the same jeans from yesterday and an old tank top. The brunette pulled her hair back into a ponytail and gazed around the room with a sour look on her face. This was her life now. Unpacking her things and making a new home.
Halfway across town, Johanna Mason was already up and awake, scarfing down a bowl of cereal at the breakfast counter in her kitchen. Music blared from a set of speakers above them, blasting Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland; the only proper way to greet the morning as Johanna saw it. It was twenty-five minutes of pure American string and horn goodness that always motivated her to start her day.
Her mother Polly tolerated this because it was much easier to listen to than some of Johanna's other musical interests. Johanna was sometimes a tough nut to crack in terms of her mood, but she almost always put on an album or song that reflected her inner dialogue. If she went upstairs and heard some unintelligible screaming, she knew Johanna had a bad day at school. If Johanna listened to Tchaikovsky or Hans Zimmer's The Dark Knight soundtrack, Polly knew her daughter was sad. It was an easy way for a single parent of an enigmatic child to connect to her. Music has a way of opening doors that are otherwise locked.
"Johanna, I almost forgot. I'm going to the Diamant's house to help Mr. Diamant with his new deck. You'll have to open the store for me today. Is that cool?" Polly Mason leaned on the counter in front of her daughter, dangling the keys to the general store in front of her.
"Sure thing." Johanna snatched the keys from her mother and shoved them in her back pocket. "I hate that you help them. Their daughters are absolute fucking nightmares at school. The brother is literally like a half a chromosome away from actually being a potato."
Polly sighed, petting her daughter on the head. Johanna scowled at the childish show of affection which only served to make her mother grin even more. "Glimmer and Cashmere are lovely girls. They are nothing but polite when I've met them. Gloss is kind of a meat head, I will agree with you there."
"Yes, and like all other Disney villains they turn into green-tinged monsters when their parents backs are turned." Johanna pointed her spoon across the counter at her mother, dripping milk all over the granite. "Did you know that last year they kicked a girl off the cheerleading squad for wearing the wrong socks?" The teenager leaned over her bowl. "The wrong socks. What kind of sick fuck even looks at socks, never mind gives enough of a shit to call another person out on it?"
Polly let out a hearty laugh at her daughter's story as she pulled her hair back into a tight bun. She retrieved her tool belt from the kitchen table and fastened it around her waist. As she passed her daughter she kissed the top of her head. "Don't get into any trouble. And keep the music to a reasonable level, will you? I'll be home late tonight; we're having our first PTA meeting of the school year."
Johanna grinned with a mouth full of Lucky Charms cereal. "I certainly wouldn't want to hinder the PTA meeting. How would Panem possibly operate without you?" Polly rolled her eyes and walked out the door, leaving Johanna to enjoy the rest of Appalachian Spring and the soggy marshmallows she had saved for last.
Sometimes in the morning I am petrified and can't move; awake but cannot open my eyes.
Johanna swept the floor of her mother's store as the music played around her, humming the familiar tune to herself. She hadn't been particularly busy that day so she invited her best (and essentially only) friend Finnick to come and keep her company. The sandy-haired, athletic boy sat on the register's counter, popping Sweet-tarts in his mouth as his heels kicked the wooden front of the counter.
"So you met the new girl already? Spill the beans, Jo, because I won't wait until the first day of school like a peasant." Finnick glared at his friend as he popped another one of the sweet and sour candies in his mouth.
Johanna leaned her chin on the tip of the broom, gazing into the wall as she reimagined Katniss in her brain. It wasn't a difficult endeavor as she had thought about her practically non-stop since the second she walked out the door. Johanna's hair was tied back in its usual ponytail, her aviators tucked into her fitted and partially ripped Smiths t-shirt which hung loosely over her torn black jeans. She scuffed her Converse sneaker against the floor, biting the inside of her cheek. "Her name is Katniss Everdeen. And she -"
"Katniss?" Finnick repeated, raising a pale eyebrow. "What the fuck is a Katniss?"
Johanna glared at the green-eyed boy and smacked him with the end of the broom. "I don't know. It's just a name. What the fuck is a Finnick?" Finnick shrugged in a "point taken" way and motioned for her to continue. "She said her father died a few years ago so she and her family moved to Twelfth Street. I think she mentioned being Gale Hawthorne's cousin?"
This bit of information piqued the gossipy teen's interest. His verdigris eyes enlarging like a microscope lens. "Ooh, is she a hottie? Gale's not a bad looking dude, no homo."
Johanna rolled her brown eyes in ire. "Saying 'no homo' doesn't mean anything. Appreciating Gale's attractiveness doesn't make you gay. Sucking his dick makes you gay. And not even then. Just shut up." Johanna took in a deep breath before trying to attempt the rest of her description. "But yes, to answer your question, she is super hot. Like scalding. Like she might actually burn to the touch. The girl is on fire."
Finnick wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at his friend. "Were there sparks? Shall I call for the U-Haul?"
Finnick's lesbian jokes typically flew over Johanna's head; everyone in school knew she was gay and it didn't bother her. She took some flack for it from the stereotypically homophobic popular girls in her school but for the most part, everyone left her alone. Her abrasive attitude was a wonderful set of spiked armor that deflected the hurtful comments some of her peers had thrown at her.
"I don't know if she's gay."
"Johanna Mason has that ever stopped you before?" Finnick asked rhetorically. They both knew fully well that Johanna's favorite pastime other than her music was seducing self-described "straight" girls. It was a gift, what could she say? Some of those same self-described homophobes who teased her at school definitely had found their way into Johanna's sheets at least once.
Her tongue ran along the fronts of her pearly whites in an effort to mask a smile. "Shut your dumb mouth." Finnick grinned, his cheeks dimpling deeply as he did so. Finnick was an interesting person to have as a friend; he was extremely popular and well-liked through the school's social hierarchy. He was one of the few kids who actually had friends from all over town. He was the captain of the swim team and the president of the drama club. His stunning physique and light-hearted good humor made him extremely desirable, especially to the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girls from First Street. Unfortunately for them, Finnick had been in love with the girl next door - Annie Cresta - since they were toddlers. No one else had even come close to touching the deep, intense bond between the two.
Annie was nice enough, Johanna thought, if a little distracted. Her face was always buried in a sketchbook, her red hair frizzing in all directions as she mumbled her thoughts out loud and then drew them. However, Finnick was in love. As his oldest and closest friend, Johanna grew to kind of care about Annie by proxy. Their constant doting on one another bordered on revolting about eighty percent of the time but Johanna tolerated it for the friendship.
The climax of the song came on and Johanna stopped sweeping to use the broom as a microphone. "And sometimes when you're on, you're really fuckin' on! And your friends they sing along and they love you." Johanna dramatically sidled up next to Finnick. "But the lows are so extreme that the good seems fuckin' cheap. And it teases you for weeks in its absence." She took a step back, grasping the broom/microphone with both hands. "But you'll fight and you'll make it through. You'll fake it if you have to. And you'll show up to work with a smile. You'll be better and you'll be stronger, more grown up and a better daughter... or son and a real good friend."
As Johanna whirled around with her broom in a dramatic sweep, she came face to face with a certain brunette who was standing in the doorway. Johanna dropped the broom on the floor like it was burning her flesh, her brown eyes wider than the moon as she took in the entertained sight of Katniss.
"Katniss!" Johanna squeaked in a voice that sounded more like an old staircase than a human. The other girl was dressed in tight jeans she had tucked into the same boots from the day before, but a ruby button-down blouse replaced her Beatles t-shirt. Her hair was different as well. To Johanna's untrained eye it looked as if Katniss had actually taken the time to curl it, leaving the shimmering brown locks to fall over her shoulders. Her face was free of sweat with just a hint of a smoky eyeshadow and faint lip gloss. In short, if the mind-numbing embarrassment of having been caught singing into a broom wasn't enough to shake her, Katniss's beauty had done the job nicely.
Johanna snatched up the broom and placed it against the wall, stuffing her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. She didn't dare look over at Finnick because she knew his humungous grin would be a distraction. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I-If you're busy I can come back another time."
"Busy?" Johanna replied shrilly. Irked at her own squealing voice she cleared her throat. "No, I'm not busy. What's up?" That's right, that sounds good. That sounds casual. Johanna mentally high-fived herself for potentially not fucking up her second encounter with this girl after being caught doing broom karaoke with a bit too much flair.
Katniss's mouth moved into a tiny smile. "I'm supposed to go to the high school and sign up for classes. I have a meeting with the counselor there." Her gray eyes moved awkwardly around the room, avoiding Johanna's penetrating gaze. She had no idea who this boy was on the counter; her immediate assumption was that it must be Johanna's boyfriend. That would explain, sort of, the flare of jealousy rising in her belly. He was Adonis-like attractive with his coiffed blond hair and cheekbones that looked like they were carved out of marble. Like seriously what was he, an ancient Greek statue come to life?
When her attention finally rested back on Johanna she realized she had (embarrassingly) forgotten to finish her sentence. "I um... I was hoping you could help me find the school? A-and her office? Take you up on your offer from yesterday?" The hopefulness in her voice had escaped without her consent. Way to sound like a pathetic creep, Everdeen. Great job.
Johanna was so thoroughly engrossed in watching Katniss's lips move her mind hadn't understood a single word she said. The tone of her voice was low but feminine; a spine-tingling (and other-places-tingling) rasp that sent Johanna to the moon. Luckily for her Finnick wasn't so entranced, so he hopped off the counter and intervened. "She would love to... Katniss, was it?" The tiny smile on Katniss's lips fell slowly into a straight line as she shook the hand of this boy she was mentally preparing as her nemesis. "Finnick Odair. Nice to meet you. Johanna's told me so much about you."
The onyx-haired girl's jaw was still open to the point where she was close to catching flies. Of course now Finnick had made her look even more foolish. Anticipating Johanna's mood, Finnick grabbed the broom from its stance against the wall and looked between the two of them. "Sweet-tart?" he offered to Katniss, holding out the small plastic container of candy in his palm. When she shook her head he popped another in his mouth instead. "Your loss. Nobody lives forever so when you see something sweet, you have to grab it quick."
The Greek-statue-looking-boy wet his lips as he talked, sending a wave of revulsion through Katniss that reminded her of her creepy Principal Cray from back home. Lecherous old man who she believed only held his position so he could stare at the asses of teenaged girls all day. "I'll watch the store, Jo," Finnick said finally after the world's most awkward three seconds went by.
"Yeah my mother will be crazy about that idea."
Finnick pretended to look greatly offended, his formerly smirking mouth contorting into an 'O' shape. "For your information, Polly Mason loves me. She has said, on more than one occasion, that she wishes I were her son." He dropped his forehead to drive his point home. "Her own son. It's a great honor when a woman says she wishes she painfully pushed you out of her vagina. Don't act like it's not."
Johanna balked and slapped Finnick on his arm. "You do have a big head."
His features softened as he draped his arm over Johanna's shoulder. "I got this. Go help Katniss get to the school. What if she gets jumped by some hooligans on the way there? Do you want that on your conscience? I certainly don't." Not needing permission Finnick strode behind the counter and propped himself up on the wooden stool where Johanna usually sat.
Johanna breathed in another deep breath as her chestnut gaze jumped from Finnick to Katniss. Her blouse was form-fitting and Johanna was easily distracted by the soft curve of her sides as the shirt flared out over her hips. Her mind buzzed forward in time to wonder if Katniss would be the type to be ticklish on her sides. The kind of ticklish that turns into arousal when the light touch of fingertips roughens into a scrape.
Talk about putting the cart before the horse. "It looks like I'm all yours." The impassive look on Katniss's face transformed into a gentle happiness. Looks like I'm all yours. Why don't you just ask her to marry you already? Johanna berated herself internally, but externally managed to puppeteer a friendly and not at all creepy (she hoped) smile on her lips.
Katniss turned around to leave and Johanna looked over to Finnick. 'Super hot!' he mouthed to her, pretending to fan himself like a Southern belle in Georgia heat. With an eye-roll Johanna followed the other girl out of the store and they began their walk down the main street toward the high school.
The day wasn't nearly as excruciatingly hot as the one before. A gentle breeze blew through the tall maple trees that lined Capitol Boulevard, rustling the few leaves that had vacated their trees just a bit too early. Johanna crossed her arms over her chest as the walked, trying to stare at Katniss without getting caught.
"Have you been to Main Street before? Besides yesterday?" Johanna asked, suddenly unable to bear the silence between them any longer.
Katniss nodded her head, picking her gaze up from the ground to stare at the store fronts. "I used to come here some summers when I was little. Gale and I didn't spend much time down here specifically. We liked to go in the woods mostly. Hunting sometimes."
"And what, like, kill people? I don't know anyone who hangs out in the woods except maybe serial killers."
Katniss laughed a husky laugh that turned the corners of Johanna's mouth upward. "How many serial killers do you know?"
They crossed the large lawn that spread out before Panem High School. The Greek revival architecture building was an imposing two-story brick edifice that was just on the edge of town. Johanna always thought it looked more like a town hall than a school. "None personally, but you never know. A girl moves to a new town, immediately needs a hammer, likes to go in the woods. I mean, it's got kind of a serial killer vibe to it, just sayin'."
Johanna held the door for Katniss as the brunette let loose another long laugh. She tucked her loose curls behind her ear as she walked passed the other girl. She stopped in the middle of the doorway, directly in front of Johanna. For a moment she was sure she had imagined the most imperceptible intake of breath that was not her own. "Do I have a serial killer vibe to you, Johanna?"
Johanna was positive the marching band thumping of her heart was loud enough to bounce down the hallways. Katniss smirked at her with a confidence that Johanna had yet to see from her. Not that they knew each other all that well, but it was enough to surprise the hell out of her. "N-no," she uncharacteristically stuttered, watching Katniss walk in the doorway. Her eyes zeroed in to Katniss's behind like a fighter jet to a land target until Katniss peered at her over her shoulder.
Her eyes went back up so fast she was almost dizzy. "But it's always the ones you least expect," Johanna added, her mouth moving back into its typical smirk.
"Ah, Miss Everdeen! Do come in!" the bubbly counselor, Ms. Effie Trinket, greeted the newest Panem High School alum. Katniss was sure that in all her life, she had never seen someone who looked so unintentionally like Ronald McDonald more than Effie Trinket. Her red hair was miles above her head in tight curls, her pancake make-up making her skin a sickly alabaster white. Her dress was frilly and short, polka-dotted with red dots the size of quarters all over the fabric.
She sat herself on the opulent armchair that was placed directly in front of the large wooden desk Miss Trinket set herself in front of. Katniss roamed her eyes over the intricate carving work, admiring the knots and curves of the dark wood. "This is mahogany."
Katniss put on the closet to "interested" she could muster on her face. "It's beautiful." That seemed like the kind of response she was looking for.
Ms. Trinket beamed, stretching her painted mouth in such a wide smile she almost resembled the Joker. "Thank you." Her manicured nails (also polka dot red) tapped away at her laptop situated next to a few picture frames and a bizarrely large bouquet of flowers. "All right well let's see. Here at Panem High School we have a few core classes that are not optional. We call them 'mandatories,'" Ms. Trinket explained, pursing her Red Queen lips together. "A mathematics, a physical education, a science, and a course in English. Looks here like you tested well back at your old school. Very well in fact."
A rosy tinge came on Katniss's cheeks as Ms. Trinket pored over her school records. She had always tested well; the state-wide exams they had every year, she had scored an eleven out of twelve her first year, and a twelve out of twelve the second year. Her actual grades had suffered, though, as the almost comically clown-like frown drooped on her face.
"Okay, well, here at PHS we believe in a fresh start for everyone," Ms. Trinket said exuberantly. "I will assume your abilities in all your areas of studies did not actually decline with your grades." Her face became serious, but in the way that Prim's face would grow serious when Katniss would talk disparagingly about some teen band she loved. "Losing a loved one is incredibly hard for someone so young to bear. To lose a father that young, well..." Katniss hated how that sentence always trailed. What were people going to say? Were they surprised she survived it? That she didn't just lose herself in a veritable maelstrom of girlish emotion?
Ms. Trinket annihilated the sour look on her face for one that looked like it should have been painted into the side of a carousel: frighteningly happy. "Anyhow, let's get down to business, shall we? You will need to choose three elective courses. I have a list here of some that will fit into your schedule." Over the desk she handed Katniss a small folder with the names and descriptions of the classes.
Katniss mulled over the list disinterestedly, her eyes scoping out things like "pottery" and "study hall." Ms. Trinket watched her expectantly, her eyes lighting up as she watched Katniss read the descriptions. "Well, um, I guess I'll take the study hall, the pottery class, and the music appreciation class?"
"Splendid!" Ms. Trinket exclaimed, snatching the folder back from Katniss and typing away at her keyboard once more. The printer behind her hummed loudly and ejected a lone sheet of paper. The red-haired woman slipped it from the tray and handed it over to Katniss. "Here is your schedule. Classes begin this Monday - approximately three days from today. Your locker number is on there as well. If you have any concerns about your schedule or anything else, you can always come to me."
"Thank you," Katniss replied, standing up from her chair. She nodded gracelessly and made her way out the door, her eyes watching the large painted sign above the threshold that read: REMEMBER - CHINS UP, SMILES ON.
Johanna was sitting against the row of lockers directly outside Effie Trinket's office, staring into the trophy cabinet across from her. Panem didn't have a particularly championship-studded past, but every so often another gold ornament would go into the case. Principal Snow would make an embarrassingly large deal about it even if it was just a chess trophy or the math league. He was a sucker for pomp and circumstance.
Her face lit up as she watched Katniss emerge from the office of Trinket, pushing herself off the ground and crossing the hallway toward her. She snatched the paper from Katniss and skimmed down her schedule. "All right, not bad." Johanna's head bobbed as she read Katniss's schedule. It looked innocent enough, but Johanna was secretly committing the rundown in her memory.
"Do we have any classes together?" Katniss asked as innocuously as possible, raising her eyebrows as she awaited a response. The way Johanna's mouth stretched into a brief smirk before she took her bottom lip with her teeth, Katniss could feel the heat rising in her chest and threatening to spill upward on to her neck.
"We do, you lucky dog. We have the same study hall and I'm taking Astronomy with Wiress. And I've already taken Abernathy's music appreciation class. I'm taking pottery but not the same period as you are." Johanna handed Katniss's schedule back to her, satisfied. "Not a bad schedule, though." The two girls walked down the hallway and back toward the front door. "English Honors, huh? Are you a brain, Everdeen?"
Katniss laughed at the old-timey expression Johanna used, shaking her head as they walked back into the open air. "Hardly. I'm good in English."
"You do well in English," Johanna corrected, poking the brunette in the shoulder with her pointer finger. Katniss stuck her tongue into her cheek to prevent herself from either scowling or smiling at Johanna's tease.
The pair walked through town, Johanna attempting to point out any areas of note. Their school had a large football field, and directly behind it, a recreation center for the entire town to use. "Mostly it's just used for school-sponsored mixers. Which translates to borefests where the preppy girls where as little clothes and possible and the rest of us take turns throwing up." Johanna sighed and ran her fingers through her tousled hair. "Speaking of, my 'friend' Finnick that you met earlier?" Katniss nodded, trying to be nonchalant about how Johanna had referred to Finnick as her friend. Did that mean he wasn't her boyfriend? "Well Saturday night he's throwing is annual 'School is Back' party at his house on Fourth."
"Sounds cool," Katniss replied noncommittally.
Johanna rolled her eyes in exasperation at the ineptitude of the brunette walking next to her. "I'm inviting you, brainless." Finally the blush that had been hiding beneath Katniss's blouse emerged on to her neck and spread like poison ivy up to her cheeks. Luckily for her they were outside Johanna's job so the darker-haired girl couldn't embarrass her anymore. "It's at eight p.m. on Saturday night. His house is the big bright blue one. It'll be pretty obvious because inevitably some idiots will be out on the lawn doing a kegstand."
"If it's going to be full of idiots, why are you going?"
Johanna shrugged her shoulders. "It's Finnick's thing and I always DJ. And it's like, the only event all year that everyone, regardless of clique attends and has a good time. Finnick is funny that way. The cheerleaders, the jocks, the nerds, the weird kids who like to smell paint, everyone comes. And then on Monday we all go back to hating each other." Johanna smirked. "It's kind of a tradition."
"Wow, way to sell it to me." Johanna scowled at Katniss who gave her a toothy grin in answer. "I'll come. Should I bring anything?"
Johanna squished her lips together, twisting them into a thoughtful expression. "Nah, just be prepared to dance. I'm a pretty fucking awesome DJ."
Katniss quirked one of her eyebrows, meeting Johanna's arrogant glare with a challenging expression. "Don't you dance?"
Johanna backed into the door, setting off the chime above her head as she backpedaled into the store. "Come on Saturday and find out." She tilted her head to the side and winked with a confidence she did not have, letting the door close on Katniss.
Music: "A Better Son/Daughter" by Rilo Kiley.