"I don't understand why you're taking so long. It's a house party, not a wedding."
Katniss stood in front of her mirror in her bathroom with her curling iron in her hand. Her freshly make-up-applied eyes rolled at the impatience in her cousin's tone. Men would never understand the labor-intensive process that involves looking like you threw yourself together last minute. The painstaking process of getting your hair to look tousled as you woke up that way.
"Just give me a sec," Katniss called from within the bathroom. She wanted an honest appraisal of how she looked and Gale was not going to provide that necessary feedback. "Prim!" Her blonde little sister bounded into the bathroom, stopping short when she took in Katniss's outfit. Katniss fidgeted nervously beneath her sister's scrutinizing gaze. She had chosen a tight pair of dark wash jeans, her smallest but thinnest black high-heels, and a low-cut emerald green tank top. "How do I look?"
"A little bit much for a party at someone's house but definitely pretty." Prim smiled her toothy grin at her older sister and gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up.
"Thanks Little Duck." With her sister's approval Katniss went back into her bedroom to retrieve her earrings and she tried to ignore Gale's disapproving stare from the edge of her bed. She already knew his reaction: he'd think she looked too revealing because he was super over-protective of Katniss. But her outfit tonight was not for him obviously; it was for Johanna. Katniss possessed a deep reserve of the need for the other girl's approval. She couldn't quite place the reason why but smart money would be on the inexplicable warmth she felt in Johanna's presence.
Without waiting for a word from her cousin Katniss led the two of them downstairs and passed her cooking mother on their way out the door. The duo walked leisurely down the long block toward Fourth Street. Katniss hadn't seen much of the interim blocks in between Gale's (now her) street and the main drag. Each street looked very different from the one before it. Eleventh Street had several large apartments on it and two-family homes with more satelittle dishes than Katniss thought was necessary. She saw a group of small kids playing stickball in the street like some sort of 1940's New York City tableau. Seventh Street was backed into a large thicket of tall oaks that stretched the entire length of the block. As they approached Fourth Street Katniss saw a fairly active river that coursed behind the homes there. From her vantage point before they turned down the street Katniss saw that many of the homes had built decks right on the river's edge.
Johanna was right that finding Finnick Odair's house was as easy as spotting a cardinal in a tree. Several Varsity-jacket clad men were sitting outside on the lawn chugging beer straight from the keg spout. A few of them greeted Gale as they walked up the lit cement pathway toward the door. Just as they approached the sky blue door it swung open and revealed Finnick and a red haired girl Katniss didn't recognize.
"You came!" Finnick exclaimed, draping his arm around the redhead next to him. Katniss could smell the alcohol on his breath from where she stood and she didn't hide her grimace. "Johanna is going to be thrilled. Oh!" Finnick stepped backward and held his hands out toward the timid redhead he was previously attached to. "Katniss Everdeen, this is Annie Cresta. My one and only. The sun in my sky. The waves to my shore." Annie blushed deeply, coloring her face a pretty crimson.
"Nice to meet you, Annie," Katniss greeted politely, shaking the shy girl's hand. Inwardly Katniss was relieved to know this handsome man was not Johanna's boyfriend. Once the formalities were over Finnick reattached himself to his girlfriend and let them in. He directed them toward the bar area and explained where the bathrooms were (which was upstairs next to the bedrooms).
Katniss didn't exactly want to mingle but Gale insisted she at least get familiar with some of the kids from alcohol. So instead of finding Johanna like she wanted, Katniss met with a bunch of the kids from Panem High School. Two nearly identical blonde sisters named Cashmere and Glimmer and their large brother Gloss. A small ginger-haired girl with a small face and pointed nose named Meredith but Katniss referred to her as Foxface to Gale who was quietly amused. He introduced her to a friend of his from the lacrosse team, Cato.
Katniss finally lost Gale about an hour (and several "take a shot with me!" drinks) later and she began searching for Johanna. The brunette found her black-haired friend out by Finnick's large pool behind a makeshift DJ booth. It was simply a white plastic folding table with a MacBook, a pile of CDs, and a stereo flanked by two large speakers. Johanna was hunched over the table staring down at her computer, her body lightly bumping up and down to the music. Katniss took the time before she made her presence known to drink in Johanna's appearance. Her bangs fell loosely over her forehead, the rest of her black-and-red hair pulled back into a loose ponytail held up with a clip. Her eyes were their usual heavily lined selves, a faint hint of green at the edge of her onyx eyeshadow. Her pale frame was clad in a Morrissey concert t-shirt that it looked like she had intentionally ripped in several places, including right on her neckline, dipping down between her breasts. The exposed skin was glistening with sweat. A studded belt held up a pair of black jeans that clung to Johanna's slim hips tightly.
Johanna looked beautiful in a guarded, dark, enigmatic way. Her attractiveness was not in the dark clothes she wore or the charcoal make-up she applied like an Amazonian war paint. It was what was beneath that hard shell that drew Katniss in; she glimpsed pieces of Johanna's inner workings in their encounters and it always left her wanting more.
I know that we are upside down. So hold your tongue and hear me out.
The song changed and Johanna finally looked up from her stare at her computer screen to finally notice Katniss across the yard. When she looked at Katniss, Johanna thought that she was the type of girl composers dreamed of when they wrote beautiful fugues and ballads. The type of girl who breaks the heart of great authors and inspires their masterpieces. She just radiated a kindness that was edged in a mysterious aura of sexuality; it made Johanna uncharacteristically uncomfortable. She wasn't confused by beauty, but Katniss looked like something otherworldly.
The dance song's powerful bass dropped and Johanna busied herself for a moment queuing up another few songs before she downed the rest of her beer and walked around the table toward the brunette.
"You look hot," Johanna commented with a smirk. "And this time I mean it. You clean up well, Everdeen."
Katniss gave her outfit a once-over and graciously took the compliment. "Thanks." Her gray eyes traveled the length of Johanna's body from her roughed up Doc Martens to her windswept bangs. Aggressive confidence began percolating in her veins. "You going to offer me that dance you promised?"
Johanna let out a short, impressed laugh. "I thought you'd forgotten." She extended her hand out in an outlandishly formal gesture. "Care to dance?"
Katniss chuckled and nodded her head. Johanna's smirk widened into an all-out grin as she led Katniss on to the "dance area" of Finnick's backyard, which was simply the pool's large deck. It was already packed with clumsy, inebriated teenagers bumping and grinding to Johanna's infectious mix.
Now that she was actually there on the dance floor facing her, Katniss was glad for the alcohol the others had provided. The way Johanna was gazing into her eyes; they were almost completely black like a large cat's. It shook Katniss from the goosebumps on her arms to the warm coiling sensation in the pit of her stomach.
Johanna's left hand draped over Katniss's neck, her fingernails slowly rotating against her skin. Her right hand grasped Katniss's waist as she curled one finger around the belt loop of her jeans and pulled her closer. Now that their bodies were touching Katniss felt like she finally understood the song that was playing.
I am a fire, you're gasoline. Come pour yourself all over me.
The brunette suddenly felt like she was on fire and Johanna's existence was the gasoline igniting inside her. Not that she had any practice but Katniss tried to keep up, gripping fistfuls of Johanna's shirt on each of her sides and moving her body in rhythm. She had about an inch or so of height in her favor so Katniss used her leverage on Johanna's sides to spin the other girl around so her butt was flush against Katniss's groin. Katniss couldn't hear her but she felt the rumble in Johanna's chest as she said or growled something. Johanna leaned back and rested her head on Katniss's shoulder; her lips were perilously and achingly close to Katniss's.
Johanna felt like a race car on autopilot. Every engine inside her was pulsating on all cylinders and she was running on pure adrenaline. She hadn't expected Katniss to be so forward but she was more than willing to oblige. Her hands reached behind her and on to Katniss's hips to guide her rhythm. Mostly though, she was just hanging on for dear life. Katniss's hands splayed across Johanna's hips and they came to rest on Johanna's stomach, just above the top of her jeans.
She felt her hair come loose when Katniss's hands vacated their spot on her abdomen. She peered over her shoulder to see Katniss toss her clip on the ground; her fingers snaked into Johanna's hair and shook it free. She felt Katniss lean her face into her hair, the heat of her breath soaking through her hair and coating her skin.
Without a pause the next song came on and the two girls continued their game of cat and mouse. Each of them touching more skin, holding the other closer until they practically moved as one. Neither girl was aware that anyone was looking at them. Not a lot of people were looking at them, but the heat of their eyes bounced of the girls' skin like it was nothing. Johanna turned around to face the brunette once more. She wanted desperately to stare into those lust-filled gray eyes as her own moves made the other girl roll her eyes back in pleasure or let out small gasps.
Two more songs in and Johanna couldn't take it anymore. All points on her skin felt tight and anxious, teeming with desire. When she spoke to Katniss - a hoarse whisper directly in the other girl's ear - her meaning was unmistakeable.
"Do you wanna go upstairs?" Katniss shuddered hard as Johanna's words floated in her buzzing brain until they rested on the meaning. She nodded. There was nothing in that moment that she wanted more than to "go upstairs" with Johanna. She wasn't sure exactly what that meant but it was a promised laced with desire and just a hint of tenderness and Katniss was sold.
The raven-haired girl took her by the hand and began weaving them through the choked crowd. They bumped against other bodies as they maneuvered through the students until they finally got to the foot of the stairs.
Leaning against the wall was a blond boy who Johanna had known all her life. Peeta Mellark - the nicest boy ever to walk the planet. His parents owned the bakery and deli across the street from her general store and she and her mother went there often for lunch. She tried to avoid his eye as she stepped passed him and the girl he was chatting amiably with.
"Katniss?" Johanna's head nearly fell off as it whipped to the side in surprise. "Hey you're Katniss right? Gale Hawthorne's cousin?"
Katniss looked briefly, desperately, toward Johanna who still had her hand in a sweaty death grip. "Yes?"
Peeta smiled widely. "It's Peeta Mellark! I live next door to Gale. I used to play with you guys sometimes when we were kids." He was genuinely flabbergasted to see Katniss at one of Finnick Odair's famous mixers. "Wow what are you doing here?"
Aside from intruding on a very near-intimate moment, Peeta seemed oblivious to the hurried and horny looks on both girls' faces. "I moved here a few days ago," Katniss explained politely. Johanna dropped her hand to avoid awkwardness but continued to stand on the landing.
"No way! You took over the old place of the Grange's. We're practically neighbors!" His exuberance made Johanna want to smash his mouth in. Something about the friendly way he spoke to her irked Johanna. To be fair, Peeta was nice to everyone. But Johanna could sense something else lingering beneath all this feel good nostalgia. Something she did not like or appreciate.
"That's great," Katniss replied in the most passive tone she could make without sounding outright rude. She vaguely remembered this small boy from her childhood. Gale didn't seem to like him that much so they often avoided him. He was always very bright and very friendly in the times they had played together, and she could see now that he had grown to be pretty handsome.
"How have you been? Oh, Delly this is Katniss Everdeen. Katniss, this is Delly Cartwright. She lives down the block from me. From us," he corrected with a good-natured chuckle.
Johanna could practically feel the steam rushing out of her ears. Peeta Mellark had unknowingly stopped her from finally getting to feel Katniss. She did not take kindly to people interrupting her conquests. Though truth be told, that's not what it felt like. Looking into Katniss's eyes on the dance floor she felt overwhelmed with the desire to take her, but not in the same sports-like way she usually dealt with girls. This felt more passionate, more real. And now, it was completely gone to smoke. "I'll let you guys catch up," Johanna muttered, annoyed, and pushed through them and made her way back toward the yard.
Fucking Peeta Mellark. The heat between she and Katniss has fizzled almost comically fast when he struck up a conversation. Johanna made herself a strong drink and ingested it quickly, gritting her teeth as the heat of the liquor seared the lining of her throat.
The night wore on slowly until only about thirty or forty people were still present. Johanna had set up her laptop to mix off a playlist as she dedicated the rest of the night to drinking. She didn't want to be bothered making a perfect mix for the party; nobody was listening to the music anymore anyway.
Katniss found herself practically arrested by Peeta who eagerly soaked up all the information on Katniss's life that she was willing to share. They talked at length about her home before Panem, reminisced a little about their childhood during the summers when they were small. Peeta seemed to remember a remarkable amount of information about Katniss that she had forgotten. It was incredibly sweet but sadly could not distract Katniss from thinking about Johanna and where she was. An hour or so later she hadn't even seen so much as Johanna's shadow
Finding an appropriate moment to excuse herself, Katniss left Peeta in search of the restroom. She ascended the carpeted stairs and began easing her way down the hall. Just as she was getting to the ajar door with the nautical bathroom sign on it, Katniss heard noises coming from another nearby room. Years of hunting with Gale had heightened her senses and she picked up the small noises like she would the movement of a rabbit through fallen leaves.
She leaned a little closer to the door until she was almost startled over the railing as the noise of someone thumping against the wooden entrance echoed in her ears. The sharp gasps of the girl behind the door became louder, the words "baby," and "faster," and "ohmygod" being chanted over and over in a high-pitched whine. Katniss rolled her eyes and twisted her mouth in disgust. Who would have sex in someone else's bedroom?
Granted she would have had things with Johanna escalated like she thought they would. She was ripped from her thoughts as another word spilled from the mysterious girl behind the door's mouth. A name that almost made the alcohol in her stomach rise to her throat. "Oh, Johanna! Don't stop!"
Nauseated, Katniss hurried back down the steps. She brushed passed Peeta and searched for Gale. Once she found him she jerked on his sleeve to get his attention. Her own gray eyes lifted up to his. "Can we go? I'm not feeling well."
Gale narrowed his eyes in concern. Katniss's eyes were welled with tears, the whites dotted in a red tint. He quickly said his goodbye to one of his friends and escorted Katniss out the door. Katniss practically ran down the yard and back toward Twelfth Street. Gale called after her but she kept up her pace. She didn't want to talk to Gale. She didn't want to admit how hurt she was over something that technically shouldn't affect her. It wasn't her business if Johanna was having sex with some other girl. They weren't dating; hell, they had only known each other a few days.
In those short few days Katniss had grown fond of her. Apparently the fondness was one-sided because since Johanna didn't get lucky with her, she was quickly replaced by some idiot girl with a high-pitched voice. The alcohol in her system was not reacting kindly to the additional cocktail of anger, sadness and embarrassment.
She got to her house before Gale could catch up and she quickly made her way up the stairs and into her bedroom. She flung herself across her bed and buried her face in her comforter. The tears that had waited patiently inside her eyelids came pouring out on to the fabric, dyeing the light blue blanket a deep navy. She fell asleep that way, curled in her sadness, until nearly ten in the morning the following day.
Johanna's head throbbed when she awoke the next day; the residual effect of how heavily she had drank. Normally she paced herself when she drank because her mother was adamant against her imbibing any liquor at all so she had to be careful to avoid hangovers. Today was not going to be one of those days. She hauled herself into her shower and blasted the cold water over herself. Her body shuddered as she threw up on to the basin of the tub, splattering the white porcelain with red and brown.
After thirty solid minutes of a cold shower Johanna begrudgingly dressed herself in sweats and trundled down her stairs toward the kitchen. She couldn't even think about putting food in her mouth but coffee would be extremely helpful. Her mother was out, which was her usual routine on a Sunday morning. Polly took extra work on the weekends when she could, especially on nice days during the summer.
When she opened the cabinet she nearly screamed when she saw that they were out of coffee. The yellow-and-red tin was missing from the cupboard. Johanna almost cried as she stared into the cabinet, hoping the coffee would just materialize like something from episode of Star Trek. Resigned to her fate she pulled on a pair of sneakers and brushed her hair. Looking far from presentable but at least human, she ventured into the ridiculously harsh sunlight of the midday.
Johanna made her way to the Mellark Bakery, eager to get a solid cup of coffee in her system. Hopefully they'd have some extra beans they'd be willing to sell as well. She was greeted by the warm smell of freshly baked bread and the heavenly scent of coffee as she opened the glass door of the bakery. Eyeing the cake display she waited behind two people in line for her coffee.
She approached the counter and frowned when she saw the familiar face of Peeta beaming at her in his apron, a small smear of flour on his cheek. "Good morning, Johanna! Wow you look terrible. Are you sick?"
Johanna rolled her eyes and slapped three dollar bills on the counter. "Coffee. Large. Black. No sugar. Now. Please." Peeta shrugged and turned around, pouring a fresh cup of large coffee into the cup for Johanna. He capped the lid and handed it to her. "Do you have any beans I can buy by the pound? We're all out and the grocery store is closed."
"Yeah, I bet we do. Just one pound?" Johanna nodded and Peeta went to work digging up the unground coffee beans and weighing them out for her. After a few minutes of watching Peeta get the weight perfect Johanna began drinking the piping hot beverage. The caffeine felt amazing as it began working through her stomach. He handed her the small paper bag and began to ring her up. "I can't believe Katniss moved here," he said conversationally as he rung her through.
Johanna looked at the total and peeled more bills from her pocket. "Yeah, small world."
Peeta nodded and smiled. "I know, right? I wanted to talk to her more but toward the end of the night she just stormed out." Johanna blinked in apparent confusion. Peeta shrugged. "She looked pretty upset. I don't know what happened. She went upstairs to use the bathroom and then just came right back down, crazy upset. It was weird."
He handed Johanna her coins which she slid into the tip jar next to the register. Katniss left the party upset? Johanna hadn't even seen Katniss leave the party. She had been a little preoccupied of course, so that was probably the reason why. Johanna took her coffee beans and her drink and left the store without saying goodbye, pushing out the glass door with her shoulder and back into the unbearable sun. Why did it have to be so bright?
Johanna pulled her sunglasses over her face and began back toward her house. School was starting tomorrow and she hadn't at all finished her report on A Farewell to Arms so she knew she was in for a day of reading and typing at her computer. That was not how she enjoyed to spend her Sunday afternoons, but she knew her English Honors class was going to be a doozy.
She sat her coffee next to her laptop. She perused her iTunes library for a good twenty minutes until she settled on Richard Wagner's Lohengrin and began to type away at her essay. Her mind wandered to Katniss as it usually did in recent days. She wondered why the girl had gotten so upset. She looked like she was having a nice time getting caught up with Peeta so Johanna had excused herself. They had come so close, so frustratingly close to sleeping together. But Johanna was glad they didn't. Something about the way Katniss moved inside her made Johanna want to take her time. Quick and dirty sex was okay for the dumb girls at school, but it wasn't right for Katniss. She deserved something special. She deserved to be loved.
What if she had heard? Johanna thought in horror. What if Katniss had gone upstairs and somehow heard her in the bedroom? Would that have upset her? It's possible, considering how deeply turned on Katniss was when they left the pool deck in favor of the bedrooms upstairs. If that was the case then Johanna had a lot of explaining to do tomorrow morning at school.
It was not a conversation she was looking forward to.
Author's Note: Muchas gracias for all the continued feedback and new followers to the story. As I said in my other fanfic I'm trying to be as consistent as possible with my intensive work schedule. I actually wrote this entire chapter on the train on my phone, hah.