Hellooo! x
So I can honestly say you guys will be happy with the next couple of chapters. And I think it will make up for the pregnancy test cliffhangers so that you guys won't have to hate me anymore! :P This chapter is more fluffy though than anything else. Enjoy!
I chip at the wood on my desk as Madge stares at me. The ice that I got from the nurse for my foot is already melting and dripping all over my hand, but I can't really throw it out since it is helping the pain. I have already told Madge about the ordeal that led to this injury, but now it seems that she has nothing to say in response. She probably thinks that anything she could say would set me off, so I look up at her to show her that she can talk. Before she can say anything, I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look to my right as Peeta leans down next to our desks.
"Hey, what happened?" He pushes my hair behind my ear as I look at his concerned eyes. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I mutter. "I just stubbed my toe."
"Are you sure that's all that happened?" He raises an eyebrow.
"I don't want to talk about this right now, Peeta." He stands up straight again as the bell rings. "Later. Meet me by my car."
He nods and squeezes my shoulder gently before returning to his desk. Madge gives me one last reassuring look before turning around to look at the teacher. Of course today consists of another rant about the "foolish" lovers- as she calls them. Unfortunately, she ends sooner than usual to tell us that we must complete a project before we take a final test for the entire book. The entire class groans as she starts handing out project sheets to everyone. When I get mine, I look down at it and read the instructions.
"You'll notice that you have quite a few options," she tells us. "And I- being as generous as I am- will allow you and your partner to complete only one of the choices for your project."
A few of the students snicker at the word "generous", but the word that gets my attention is "partner". Madge and I always choose each other, but sometimes I wish I could choose Peeta just so I would actually have a reason to spend some time with him outside of school. The teacher tells all of us to stand up, and we do. I look at Madge like I always do, but this time she smiles at me for a second before looking around the room. Since she won't look at me or talk to me, I let my eyes wander as well. My eyes find Peeta across the room, and he stares back at me until she starts talking again.
"Okay." She claps her hands together to get our attention. "Let's start over here." She points at the desk in front and closest to the door. "Marvel, pick your partner."
"Umm..." The brown-haired boy looks around for a minute before grinning at someone in the back of the room. "Catooo!"
"What's good, Marvel?!"
I roll my eyes as they yell to each other across the room until the teacher finally tells them to- in her own polite way- shut up. She writes it down quickly and tells them to sit down.
"Peeta." I look down as she approaches him in the second seat behind Marvel. "Your partner?"
"Katniss."
I look up, trying not to seem as shocked as I am. He gives me a small smile like he's not really sure if he just did the right thing, and I can't even react to tell him if he was right or wrong. Of course by this point, none of the students are really paying much attention since they're just waiting to tell her who their partner is. So we both sit down in our chairs before we unintentionally make a big deal of this. I look up to give Madge an apologetic look, and she smiles to tell me it's okay. I sigh and look down at my paper as she goes around asking for everybody's partner. Madge partners with a girl named Fiora. She sits in the back corner of the room. When I turn to look at her, it surprises me how much she resembles a fox with her red hair and thin face.
"Good!" She returns to the front of the room and puts the paper down on her desk. "I'll expect these projects done in one week. You'll each present in front of the class, and you will be graded for your performance and assessment."
She goes on to explain each choice to us, but I end up zoning out since each one is pretty self-explanatory. Instead of listening, I stare at my paper or the window and try to pretend that Peeta isn't staring at me from across the room. I sigh as I realize that the ice I am holding to my foot has become pretty much a bag of cold water, but I'm not really sure of my ability to reach the garbage can near the door.
"What do you think you're gonna do?" Madge asks when the teacher finally retires to her desk.
"No idea. None of these seem very fun." I shrug. "Then again, this stupid project is the least of my worries right now."
I fake a smile, and she giggles at me before looking at my foot again.
"Is that feeling any better?"
"A little." I sigh as I look down at it. "Except not really."
"Maybe you should have your mom look at it."
"Yeah right!" I roll my eyes. "Even if my foot was hanging off of my leg by a thread, she would yell at me and give me a nice long lecture before helping me."
"A lecture about your foot or..." She glances to the side to make sure nobody is listening. "You know who?"
"Take a guess." She giggles. "I don't know how long she's going to drag this out. I wish she would just accept that he's different."
"Maybe she will one day," Madge says hopefully. "Maybe when she realizes that he's actually like the nicest person in town."
She chuckles as I shrug my shoulders. When the bell rings, I shoot a glance at Peeta as he walks toward the door. Madge helps me as I slowly stand up and limp to the door in front of her. I drop the bag of water in the garbage before walking into the hallway.
"If I find out that this is broken..." I mutter as I look down at my foot. "Never mind. I don't even know what I'll do."
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure it's okay." She smiles. "Listen. Gale's picking me up today. Do you want me to help you to your car before you leave?"
"I'm okay," I say as we walk through the front door. "Go ahead and find your beloved Gale."
She giggles happily as she says goodbye to me. I watch as she hurries away in search of Gale's car. I continue to limp slowly as I head for my own car. My foot is aching more and more with each step that I take, but I bite my lip and keep walking anyway. The parking lot is only half full now since most of the students take off as soon as class ends. Most seniors have one less class than us, so all of their cars have cleared out already. The remaining students are hanging around with their friends in front of their cars. And then I spot Peeta leaning against my old beaten-up car, patiently waiting. When he sees me, he smiles but then frowns again when he realizes that I'm in pain. He runs to meet me and puts his arm around me so that I can lean on him.
"Are you okay?" he asks. "I'm sorry. I should have realized you would need help."
"I don't need help." I smile at how nervous he is now. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it."
"Funny that you would say I don't need help while you're clinging to me and limping around!"
"Oh shut up."
He chuckles but says nothing more. When we reach my car, I pull out my key and wince as I realize that my right foot is hurt. And I drive with my right foot. I curse under my breath.
"How am I gonna do this?" I mutter to myself.
"Here." I look up at Peeta, and he holds out his free hand for me. "I can drive."
"No. No, I can-"
"Katniss, you're obviously in pain," he says seriously. "I promise I won't crash your car or anything. I'll take you straight home and then I'll just walk to the bakery."
He looks so hopeful that after looking at him for only a few seconds, I sigh and drop my head.
"Fine." I groan. "But you better be careful."
"Yeah." He pokes at the rusted side-view mirror with a crack in it. "Wouldn't want to break anything. This car looks mad expensive."
I turn to glare at him and he chuckles for a second before helping me into the passenger seat. He shuts the door behind me and walks around the car leisurely to get to the driver's seat. I put on my seat belt and sit back, waiting, but he doesn't turn the car on. Instead he pushes the key in and then turns to look at me.
"Okay. Well, there's nobody watching us anymore. There's no cameras in here." He smiles for a moment before looking at me seriously. "Can you tell me what's going on now?"
"I can try."
He finds my hand and squeezes it comfortingly as I start to tell him everything that happened after I left the cafeteria. He furrows his eyebrows and looks down uncomfortably when I tell him what that brunette girl said about me. As soon as I finish, he looks at me and smiles weakly.
"You really have to start controlling your anger before you kill yourself." I look down and he leans into me. "Look. I know you're upset that so many people are suddenly watching you and talking about you. But you know what?"
"What?" I look up at him when he doesn't answer for a while.
"Screw them. All of them. I mean not literally." I snort as he smiles at me. "None of them matter. It doesn't matter what they say. You're beautiful and smart and everything that they wish they could be. If they could see you the way I do, they would never bother you again. They would be in love with you... That would be a lot of competition for me though."
"No way." I smile at my lap as his words make a blush appear on my cheeks. "You don't have competition anywhere."
"Oh really?"
When I look up, I realize that he has been leaning toward me this whole time and now his face is inches from mine. He smiles as I look at his lips and lean closer to him. He rests his forehead against mine and moves in until I can feel his warm breath against my own lips.
"Really."
I barely have time to get the word out before our lips are connected. Peeta sighs in what I can only guess is relief and rests his hands on my arms. I run my fingers over the short, thin hairs on the back of his neck as I wish that I could stay here with him forever. I wish we never had to leave this car or deal with any of these people. I wish we could stay here together- kissing and talking to each other whenever we want to- forever. When he pulls away and stares at me for a moment, I think that he might be thinking the same thing.
"We should probably get you home," he says reluctantly.
As soon as he lets go of me and pulls away, it feels like every area that he was covering suddenly becomes cold. I already miss the feeling of his warm, strong hands on me and his lips on mine, but I don't stop him because I know my mother will be waiting for me to get home. The entire ride is mostly quiet, but I don't really mind. Since there aren't many turns on the way home, Peeta chooses to drive with one hand and hold mine with his other hand. Each time my mind wanders, I try to remind myself to focus on the feeling of my hand in his. And it is enough until he pulls up next to my house. I sigh and look up at the house, wishing I didn't have to go in just yet. And that's when I see one of the curtains move in the front window.
"Everything okay?" Peeta asks as he turns the car off.
"No," I say quietly without looking at him.
Before I can think of a way to get him out of here, my mother is storming out of the front door and towards my car. I curse under my breath as I throw open the door and push myself onto my feet with difficulty. Peeta follows my lead and hurries around the front of the car to meet me.
"What the hell do you think you're doing with my daughter?" My mother yells at Peeta before returning her attention to me. "Katniss, what did I tell you?"
"Mom, it's nothing!" I stand in front of Peeta, hoping that she'll focus on me instead. "I got hurt and I couldn't drive, so Peeta-"
"I don't want to hear it," she snaps. "You could have gotten anyone to drive you, Katniss. You could have asked Madge, Gale, you could have called me. But instead you went and did exactly what I told you not to do."
"Ms. Everdeen-"
"Peeta, don't," I warn him quietly.
"I just wanted to say," he interrupts despite my order, "that it was my idea. If anyone is to blame, it's me. Not Katniss."
"Well, you should have known better." She glares at him and then looks at me. "You should have known better."
"But-"
"I may not be friends with your parents, young man, but I have no problem telling them about this if you don't get out of here in ten seconds."
"Mom!"
"I'm really very sorry," Peeta says.
"One."
Peeta says something else, but I don't really hear it since I'm too busy trying to get my mother's attention. But it doesn't matter since Peeta starts to walk away anyway. My mother stops counting as I watch after him, but he doesn't even look back once. When he turns the corner, angry tears form in my eyes. I turn around to glare at her for only a second before I brush past her and run inside, trying to ignore the horrible pain in my foot. She yells after me, but I don't stop for her. In the living room, Effie and Haymitch turn to look at us as we pass by, but I don't even look at them. She follows me all the way up the stairs, but I slam my bedroom door shut and lock it before she can follow me in.
"Katniss!" She bangs on the door. "Open the door!"
"Go away!" I yell, probably loud enough for the neighbors to hear before collapsing on my bed. "Leave me alone!"
But she keeps yelling anyway. She starts yelling about how disappointed she is and how I am grounded for god-knows-how-long. I don't even listen to her, and she seems to realize this since she finally storms back downstairs. The silence is such a relief to me that I finally get to take a good breath. Still lying on my stomach, I lift my head to look at the picture of my father on my bedside table. He smiles back at me, his face tired but still young and his eyes caring and happy. I reach out to pick up the frame and bring it closer to me.
"I wish you were here, Dad," I whisper to him. "You would have liked him. You wouldn't let this happen. You would have helped me through this. I wish she could see this the way you would. But she's never understood me like you do... I miss you so much." I peck the frame and place it on the table again. "I love you, Dad."
I bury my face in my pillow and let it absorb my tears. I try to remember Peeta's words, that it doesn't matter what anyone says or thinks. But how am I supposed to believe that when it's so easy for my mother to keep us apart because that's what she considers right?
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