Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been ill and school's kicking my ass, and I've only just gotten inspiration for this. I know what I want to happen, but the early chapters are always the hardest for me. Oh and if anyone's wondering, I've turned Panem into a state for this fic. It's somewhere near Florida. I don't own The Hunger Games.
Annie stifled a yawn as scanned a bread loaf and bagged it for the customer, a young man in his twenties.
"So, what brings you here so late at night?" She asked, handing him the bag.
"I'm an insomniac." The man replied with a shrug. "I figure you are too. Why else would you work this shift?"
Annie sighed and checked her watch as the man left the store. It read twelve thirty, which meant there was only a half hour left of her shift.
"No. I'm just crazy." She muttered.
"Oh, cheer up." Katniss rolled her eyes at her co-worker. "You only work two days a week."
"Yeah, and this stupid seven till one shift is the only thing I can fit in around practice! If it wasn't one of Panem's requirements, I wouldn't even be here." Annie sat down in the chair that was slid in behind the counter.
"I work it six days a week. I think you can man up for Friday and Saturday night shift."
"Oh, come on Katniss. Cut her some slack. Rich girls always complain about the workload." Madge laughed.
"You would know." Katniss snapped.
"Kat, come on, be nice." Peeta, the head baker for the in-store bakery, grinned.
"I was kidding." Katniss shrugged, but she'd been right. Annie and Madge both came from rich families, and only worked part time. Madge worked so that her father wouldn't cut her off, and Annie worked because the Panem Allstars wouldn't let her cheer for them if she didn't have a job. Peeta worked because he wanted the experience to set up his own bakery, and Katniss worked to support her mother and sister. How the surprising group of people ended up working the same seven PM to one AM shift at Walmart and eventually becoming friends, no one quite knew.
"So how's the whole NFL cheerleading thing going?" Peeta asked. Annie thought that he was easily the nicest worker at Walmart, like, ever.
"Hasn't it been a month now?" Madge asked, leaning on the counter to file her red nails.
"Yeah. It's going great. Enobaria's been kicking my ass, but Johanna and Marvel have got me flying higher than I ever had before. It's so amazing, cheering at games." Annie gushed.
"Any cute guys?" Madge smirked and waggled her eyebrows.
"It's a football team, Madge. Of course there are cute guys." Annie rolled her eyes.
"I thought the cheerleaders couldn't date the players." Katniss frowned, letting herself out from the cashier space to stack the shelves opposite with cans of baked beans.
"We're not." Annie shrugged, re-ordering the dividers.
"Doesn't mean she can't look." Madge winked at Katniss, who snorted and turned away.
"That's a bad idea."
"Don't be such a stick in the mud, Katniss. Just because you're hung up on Peeta doesn't mean that Annie can't do some 'window shopping'." Madge laughed. Katniss and Peeta both blushed furiously.
"Madge, don't." Peeta insisted, the colour not fading from his face.
"Sorry." She grinned, but the mayor's daughter was anything but apologetic.
…
Annie sighed as she applied red lipstick, watching her hand in the mirror at the training gym bathroom. Wearing full make-up for training was a nightmare, but if it prepared her for the big games then it was something she couldn't avoid.
"Sorry. No whores allowed in the training facility." A male voice sounded from next to the door. Annie spun around, eyes narrowed, only to come face to face with her childhood best friend.
"Parker!" She grinned and launched into his arms.
"Hey, Annie." He laughed, hugging her back.
"Why are you in the ladies' room?" Annie asked suspiciously, pulling back.
"I carried you on my shoulders for six years; do you really care that I'm in your bathroom?" Parker asked, raising a dark eyebrow. He looked exactly the same as Annie remembered from the graduation. His dark hair was spiked and held in place with gel, and his blue eyes twinkled playfully.
"What are you doing here? Like, in Panem. Not the ladies' room." Annie laughed. Parker slung an arm around her shoulders and steered her out of the bathroom.
"I'm studying in Maryland and thought I'd come visit you on your one month anniversary." He shrugged.
"You? Studying? I find that hard to believe." Annie smirked. Parker had been her best friend ever since he pushed down the boy who stole Annie's juice box at aged four. They had gone up to the cheer academy together and when Parker wasn't selected by a squad, Annie hadn't really heard from him.
"Yeah. I'm majoring in cheer. I'm thinking that I'll audition for the Ravens next season and see where that takes me. Hopefully after a season or two I'll find an Allstar team to join." Parker explained, sitting down on one of the soft mats by the wall. Allstar cheerleading was a dream that a lot of the younger cheerleaders for the NFL shared. Annie was happy with Panem Allstars, but for people like Johanna and Clove and now apparently Parker, there wouldn't be enough cheer in their life until they were cheering as a squad in worldwide cheer events as an Allstar squad, not just flipping for touchdowns.
"Allstar is a lot of work." Annie pointed out, sitting down next to him.
"I know, but it'll be worth it. Do you break for lunch soon? I'm hungry." Parker rubbed his stomach thoughtfully.
"It's ten o'clock!" Annie laughed.
"Cresta! Get off the mats and start doing laps!" Enobaria yelled from the other side of the gym, blowing into her whistle for effect.
"We'll talk later." Annie promised, before standing up and stretching out legs. She flashed Parker another grin before starting her laps with the other squad members.
…
"Faster, Odair! Stop working out like the little girl you pretend to be and start pumping iron like the starting quarterback you are!" Brutus screamed at Finnick as he spotted him.
"Sir, yes, sir." Finnick grunted, extending his arms and bringing them down at a faster rate.
"Come on Odair, you're better than this! Do you want to beak the Steelers next week?!" Brutus asked. Finnick didn't reply, he just pumped the weight faster.
"I said do you want to beat the Steelers next week?! Answer me, dammit!"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
"Alright Odair, you're done. Next!" Brutus called for Gloss, his next victim, as Finnick rolled onto the floor.
"Uhh." He groaned into the mats.
"That looked rough, man." Cato pulled him to his feet.
"A half hour doing weights with coach Brutus? Just fucking kill me next time." Finnick sighed, rubbing his hands down his sweaty face. Their gym sessions were brutal, but Finnick normally enjoyed it. Today, though, he just wanted to be out on the field.
"Oh, man up. We all have to go through hell at some point. Anyway, I'm sure Izabelle hates a complainer." Cato grinned, earning himself a punch to the head from his team mate. They walked up to treadmills and upped the speed. This part of the sessions was usually where they ripped muscles trying to outdo each other.
"Trust me, she doesn't." Finnick rolled his eyes, starting out at a gentle jog.
"I don't understand why you stay with her." Cato jogged alongside him.
"I don't need you to understand it; I just need you to accept it. I know what the guys on this team think about her, and I know that dating the owner's daughter is a dangerous game. I don't know man; it's just…When I look at her I see the girls she used to be when I first met her in high school."
"You never told me you met in high school." Cato frowned, running a little faster.
"We used to hang out a bit. She was quiet, she got straight A's. Nobody really expected us to be friends, but she was easy to be around. Everyone was pressuring me about college scholarships and football and grades, but she was just…There. A friend that didn't judge and despite what everyone thought, she was fun and sweet. We got together the summer after senior year. Then when I wanted to drop out of college she knew that I wouldn't be able to play football for a while and she pulled some strings with her dad. They agreed to assess me, and that's how I got drafted early. She basically saved my career." By the time Finnick finished speaking, both he and Cato were sprinting.
"And now you feel like you owe her?" Cato asked between pants.
"Kind of, but that's not why I stay with her. I know that she can be a bitch sometimes, but it's only cause she's stressed so much. I look at her and remember who she used to be, and I hope she becomes like that again." Finnick said, breathing heavily.
"Dude, you're only nineteen. Just because she got you drafted two years early doesn't mean you have to stay with her for the rest of your life. She's obviously changed." Cato managed to gasp the words out.
"I never wanted her to change." Finnick admitted. "I'd also like to point out that you've been drafted early too. Two years early, because I asked her to pull the same strings that got me assessed for you."
"So we're young. That's even more reason for you to not stick with her. You may not see it but she's making you unhappy, Finn." Cato said, punching the emergency stop on his treadmill at the same time Finnick did.
"When she's not stressed she's great to be around." Finnick tried to reassure Cato as they walked to the cafeteria to fill up their bottles.
"You love her?" Cato asked, but Finnick didn't reply.
…
"So, Parker…You come here often?" Cassidy batted her blonde eyelashes at him and pursed her lips as she pushed away her salad sandwich.
"Oh, please." Johanna snorted.
"Try something from this century next time, Cass." Clove rolled her eyes at her fellow flyer.
"I'm confused." Parker frowned.
"She's hitting on you, idiot." Annie slapped him on the chest. Lunch just hadn't come quick enough for her. Fifty push ups, ten minute wall sits, squats and stunt practice after a night shift at Walmart practically killed her.
"Don't feel special." Glimmer cut in. "She'd pounce on a keg if she thought a six-pack had gone into it."
"I'm sensing a pattern here." Marvel narrowed his eyes and nodded to the doors. "That's the third time this week."
"Everyone needs water." Annie shrugged as Cato and Finnick walked by them with empty water bottles, having what seemed to be quite a heated conversation.
"Hey, Odair! Not got a water fountain in your gym?" Johanna snapped. "Stop invading our lunch hour."
"I'm trying to convince Cato that we should invite your for a game of football on your training field. The gym's boring me." Finnick shrugged, sitting down next to Johanna. He picked up her unopened water bottle and replaced it with his empty one.
"And I'm trying to convince Finnick that Brutus will bench us if we try that again. Remember what happened last time?" Cato asked from his standing spot behind them, raising an eyebrow at Finnick.
"What happened?" Annie asked.
"Johanna broke Gale's arm, Clove needed ten stitches, Cassidy kicked a guy in the shin and Brutus made me and Cato scrub all the workout machines in the gym." Finnick shrugged. "But it would so be worth it."
"We're not interested in getting into a stupid game of football with pro players." Clove rolled her eyes at them both.
"Afraid of a little challenge are you, Clo?" Cato mocked, grinning wickedly.
"Hell no." Clove narrowed her eyes at him. "And neither are you. So we'll meet you on the training field, but this time we'll be doing our sport."
When Annie met Johanna, Clove, Cassidy, Glimmer, Marvel, Finnick and Cato on the training field they were already arguing.
"Cheerleading is way harder than playing football!" Cassidy was yelling at Cato.
"We sweat through fake tan, foundation, lipstick, eye shadow and blush whilst freezing our asses off and making it look glamorous!" Glimmer stomped her foot angrily.
"Think we should cut in?" Parker asked, but there was no need.
"Annie's here, we can get started." Johanna tossed pom-poms to Finnick and Cato. "Just copy what we do."
The girls and Marvel lined up, leaving the other three boys to watch them with raised eyebrows. Johanna hoisted Clove onto her shoulders and Marvel took Annie. Glimmer assisted Cassidy with her high jumps and backflips, before tumbling circles around them.
"Hold that V!" Cassidy yelled as Glimmer hoisted her into the air. Being a tumbler meant that she had the muscle to lift Cassidy, who wasn't exactly heavily.
"Dot that I!" Clove yelled.
"Rock that C-T-O-R-Y!" Annie finished.
"The red and black are here to attack!" Glimmer yelled.
"Say it loud!" Johanna cheered.
"And say it proud!" Marvel finished off the cheer, and the three flyers flipped out of their holds before they all entered into a complicated dance routine that made Parker nod and grin in approval.
"Think you can give that a go? We're using it at the game next week." Clove asked, breathing heavily.
"Is that Brutus calling?" Cato asked, raising a hand to his ear.
"You know, I think it is." Finnick nodded his head in exaggerated agreement.
"You know girls, we'd love to stay. Honestly, we would, but Brutus is calling and you know what he's like." Cato apologized as they slowly started to back away.
Then they turned away from the cheerleaders and ran like hell for the safety of the gym.
So I've just realised whilst writing this how confusing I've made it by naming the football team Panem Allstars and then saying that some of the cheerleaders wanted to join Allstar squads. Basically, Panem Allstars is the basic team name and then an Allstars squad is a squad of cheerleaders that basically cheer in competitions pretty much like a dance contest, not attached to a team. Sorry if I confused anyone and sorry if you didn't find it confusing and my explanation was useless. ;)