Chapter Four-

"Mum and dad said that you have to pick up Evangeline today," shouts Matthew as I pick up my bag, aiming, before, to leave the house as soon as possible, to avoid "confrontations".

"Why?" I call back to upstairs from the doorway.

"You know better than me that she was ill for the first two days of school, and we both know Uncle Ash and Aunt Brooke begin working early," he answers.

"Fine." It doesn't actually bother me that I'm going to have to collect my cousin to take her to school with me because she is my best friend. It was simply curiosity that made me wonder why I had to.

"Keep away from the Seam rats, muffin!" shouts James from the kitchen, sticking his head out from behind the door to smirk at me.

"Shut up," I hiss, walking out before he can say anything else, or before mum can get to me.

It shouldn't take too long to walk to the house of one of my many sets of cousins, but I walk at a relaxed pace, so it takes a little longer than usual. I look around at all the shops as I go, watching as they all begin to start their work inside, setting up for what they hope to be a busy day, full of business and customers.

"You took your time, Peeta," a voice calls out of an upstairs window as I arrive in front of the District's flower shop.

I look up to see the cousin that's the same age as me hanging her head out, grinning at me. "We won't be late, Angel," I argue.

"Good. The door's unlocked." She disappears back into her room, shutting the window, before I have the chance to act.

When I do walk through the door, I step into the shop, instantly met by the overwhelming smells of many different types flowers. I smile at my aunt behind the till, before shuffling around to the house of the shop, beginning to make my way upstairs.

"Oi, we're going down, silly, not up," complains Angel as I bump into her, halfway up the stairs.

"Don't be so rude, Evangeline," her older sister scolds from by her bedroom, making Angel mimic her because she can't see her face. "Peeta was merely coming upstairs to make sure you were coming with him to school."

"I definitely am coming," decides Angel, grabbing my hand.

"She's been bouncing off the walls all morning, Pete," Rosabelle warns. "Try and keep a lid on her excitement at school."

"I'll try my best," I promise.

"Come on now," the younger girl moans, headed down the stairs before me and dragging me with her.

"Are you not coming, Rose?" I manage to shout over my shoulder.

"She's coming later," answers Angel, before her sister has the chance. "With her boyfriend."

"She's got a boyfriend?" I question, following my best friend as she leaves their family's shop and house.

"Well, she says they're just friends, but she'd never spoken about him before the weekend and they were awfully close when he came around the other day. He's older than her, too," she adds after a second's thought.

We look at each other for a second, before breaking out into fits of laughter, somehow still managing to walk as we laugh. "I guess this means that you're feeling better," I say once we've recovered, talking about how easily she laughed.

"Yeah, it was just a couple of days' thing," she replies, jumping in front of me and spinning along the street.

As she twirls, her white dress with lilac flowers flies up around her, until she pushes it down with her arms. Her lilac shoes with little bows hardly make a sound as her feet then pound along the street that she runs up and down. When she runs, her long, blonde curly streams out behind her, only her flowery headband keeping it out of her eyes.

I reach the school yard just after her, where I'm met by a pink faced, bright blue eyed girl, a grin lighting up her face. "I'm really excited!" she admits, still bouncing on her toes.

"I can tell," I laugh, taking her hand again as we make our way across to the entrance of the school.

When we get in, other students have also begun to arrive, so it's beginning to become a little crowded. It's especially difficult to try and make our way through a packed corridor when we're just two five year olds against the whole of the rest of the older years. However, we just about manage to make our way to the office after a while, which I lead Angel into because she needs to register.

I wait outside for her, whilst she hands the lady behind a desk the letters she was given by her parents, explaining why she wasn't there for the first couple of days and all the other stuff she needs to explain, as well as the letters that I also had to bring in on my first day. The hallways are beginning to clear when she finally comes out, still smiling, before we make our way to our classroom.

Luckily, I saved a seat next to me on the first two days of school, so there's a spare seat for Angel to sit in when we arrive. We take our seats at the back of the classroom and she's still buzzing with excitement, wriggling in her seat as she waits for the day to start.

"You do realise that it's actually not that exciting," I whisper into her ear, smiling.

"I'm sure you thought it was on the first day," she argues.

"Yeah, I suppose my first day was rather exciting," I agree, finding my gaze wandering over to a particularly beautiful looking Seam girl our age.

"Who's that then?" Angel asks, nudging me.

"No one," I mutter, looking away but blushing none the less.

"Oh, give up, Pete," she moans, trying to look me in the eye. "I can tell that's a lie. There's no way that she's merely just someone you've only looked at once."

"All I know is she's called Katniss Everdeen and she's our age, but from the Seam," I tell her, not meeting my cousin's gaze.

"You liar, Peeta Mellark," she complains. "Those last two facts as are obvious, and you got her name from the register. You know more about her than you say you do, but you're just not saying because we're Townies and she's from the Seam."

"Evangeline! Don't say things like that," I scold, staring at her with a look of surprise on my face.

"It's true," she reasons. "Your mum wouldn't like it, so you're not telling me anything else, in case I relay it back to her."

I don't say anything, resting my head in my hands instead.

However, as the lesson begins and I raise my head up to look at the board, Angel continues to mutter Katniss' surname under her breath, saying something about recognising the name. Over half way through the second lesson, she punches my arm and says quietly, "Uncle wanted to marry a girl from Town, who wasn't your mum. The girl he wanted to marry actually decided to marry a coal miner with the surname Everdeen."

"So what if he did?" I challenge, keeping my voice low and my gaze focussed forward.

"You've fallen in love with his daughter," she decides, grinning triumphantly.

"I have not!" I disagree, frowning slightly.

"Your mum will kill you, Pete," she warns. "Don't let her know."

"If I got the choice, she would never have found out," I admit. "I would have kept it quiet if I had realised how badly she would have reacted."

As soon as I've finished speaking, I feel her hand brush against my swollen cheek, causing me to flinch slightly. "You need it looked at," she complains when I turn around to face her.

"I know, Angel, and I already have," I say. "I've just got to be careful that she's going to make it no worse."

"There must be a healer than can treat it properly-" She's interrupted from further speaking when the bell to signify break goes, calling us all out of our seats.

We all leave our bags in the classroom, just taking what we need into the lunch hall or outside, where many people are headed because of the good weather. Angel and I go towards the lunch hall, buying some lunch of our own, before looking for some empty seats at a table inside, eventually deciding to eat outside.

"Now, why haven't you gone to a proper healer?" she asks, continuing our classroom conversation as she eats her lunch.

"I have," I argue. "I was told that I could go back to her whenever I need to," I add, finishing my lunch at the same time as my eyes focus on the small girl beneath the tree in the courtyard.

The girl beside me sighs, finishing her lunch, too, and looking in the same direction as I am. "Why don't you sit with her, Pete?"

"I don't want her to get hurt," I whisper. "I sat with her for the first two days and it's obvious what happened to me. Any longer and something could happen to her. I don't want to risk it, Angel. Plus, it's not her fault for this, yet she's already blaming herself. The further I distance myself, the less and less she will have to base that judgement upon. Mum won't be able to base it on much, either."

"It still can't just go on like this," she complains. "She needs friends and so do you, other than me. And don't complain about that- I'm your cousin, so you really need to be able to at least talk to me. If you're both waiting for the other to be your friend, neither of you will get anywhere."

"I highly doubt that she's waiting to be my friend," I argue. "The last time I saw her, I think she hated me for being from the Town. She hates that I've got money, so she thinks that I simply pity her family, because they're from the Seam."

Angel sighs again, getting to her feet at the same time as I do, when we see the rest of the school heading back into the building. We follow the crowd, only slowing down when we come to the entrance of the building, to avoid being crushed by the mass of people. "Whatever the case, Pete, you need to talk to other people more."

"Who's saying I can't do that?" I moan.

"I am, and you know it," she decides. "You're choosing not to, at least. If you want to, I can help you find some friends. I need some of my own. You're okay for a while, but you're no more than okay."

I laugh, and she does, too, eventually. "Thanks, Angel."

"It is true, though," she says. "I can't stay with someone as uncool as you forever."

When I punch her arm in complaint, she begins laughing again, and we're still laughing when we return to class, until we have to become quieter when we take our seats. Everyone, including us, removes their books from their bags, before everyone looks up at the board, Angel and I finally resorting to covering our mouths with our hands to stifle our laughter at least a little bit more.

Our laughter stops after time, so, already bored of the lesson, I look towards the window, towards the outside world. On the way there, however, my gaze meets Katniss' and I smile at her, wondering if she was staring at us because of the laughter or glaring at me for giving her mother money when she helped me at the weekend. Either way, she sighs and looks away, without smiling back.

I turn back to the board and rest my better cheek on my hand, watching as the teacher writes information for whatever we're being taught.

"You okay, Pete?" asks Angel, cutting through my thoughts.

"Yeah," I mutter, not really looking at her because, then, for sure, she will know that I'm lying. I'm sure that she saw the little exchange between Katniss and I: the initial glance, my smile, then her glare as she turned away. Really, I only want to know why she's suddenly turned hostile towards me. I didn't realise that I did anything wrong and, if I did, I didn't mean it.

Angel falls silent again, returning her attention to the teacher, so that she can continue to copy out the notes from the board. However, my mind is still elsewhere, not stuck in a classroom with a load of other kids that I do not know and never plan to know, but alone with Katniss, in somewhere special to her, like the woods.

The end of the lesson arrives much later than I would have liked, so I quickly throw all of my things into my bag and leave the classroom as soon as I possibly can, once the final bell has sounded. I'm halfway down the corridor when I realise that I've left without my cousin, but I decide that I will have to wait for outside now. Too, I can see the small and frayed bag of one of my fellow classmates in front of me and, really, I'd like the chance to speak to her alone.

When I appear in the courtyard, my eyes still following the girl, I blink a few times, helping my eyes adjust to sudden light change. As soon as I can see properly, I spot Katniss charging across from the main doors to her father, her warm smile met by an equally happy grin and a tight embrace. She buries her face in his shoulder and I begin to think that now may not be the best time to talk to her.

As if to support my thoughts, Katniss' father sets his daughter on the ground as he kneels in front of her, gently holding her shoulders. He says something quietly to her, briefly looking over her shoulder to me, but she just shakes her head, the smile slowly leaving her face, too. I sigh as she glances back, meeting my gaze, before the father and daughter begin their journey home.

"Hey, mister, you're meant to be looking after me today," complains Angel, walking to my side from behind me and nudging me slightly. "Did you forget me, or something?" she suggests, yawning.

I shake my head now. "Sorry," I mumble, "I just needed to get out of there quickly."

"You left me to fight through it all on my own," she moans. "It's my first day here. I needed someone at least a little experienced in escaping the mass in the corridors."

"I know, I'm horrible," I agree without really thinking, my eyes still following the father and daughter as my cousin and I begin our own journey home.

Angel must follow where my eyes are directed because she slips her arm through mine and asks quietly, "Why her, then, if not for the fact that your dad could have married her mum?"

I look down, studying the dust coated street that we walk along, taking my time to answer. "She sang in our first lesson on the first day. She was the only one who knew the Valley Song, so she was asked to sing for us. It was incredible, Angel, like nothing I'd ever heard before. The birds even stopped to listen. It was beautiful, really. I don't think I'll ever hear anything so enchanting again."

She sighs and softly squeezes my arm. "Did you tell her what you thought about her singing?"

"Yes, and she didn't seem to mind. In fact, she was almost my friend the next day," I explain.

"And why do you think that she hates you today, then?" she continues.

I shrug. "Her dad made me go with him to their house on Saturday because my cheek was bleeding again and my arms weren't great. Katniss' mum is a healer, so she put something on them to make them a bit better. Of course, I gave them money as a thank you. As well, she did me a favour, worked for it and used her things, so I needed to pay for it. Katniss, like I said, thought I just pitied them."

"And you weren't?" she pushes.

"Of course I wasn't, Angel!" I almost shout. "I don't care that she was from the Seam, so had less money than me. No matter who it was that would have done that favour for me, I would have still paid them. I paid them no more than they were due- in fact, I think it was probably less."

My cousin sighs. "Then, don't blame yourself, Pete. It's obviously not your fault. Perhaps she has her own reason for distancing herself from you."

I look down. In all honesty, the reason is probably my mum. She's heard all about her now and has seen all of my beatings. She still thinks she's the reason why I've got them. She must know- because she's not stupid and it's pretty obvious- that my mum hates her. Surely, any chance to beat her, she would take. I'd like to keep Katniss away from her, too.

It takes a gentle tug on my arm for me to brought out of my thinking, when I look up to see Angel staring at me, a worried look on her face. "Are you okay?" she asks, having stopped our walk outside of her house. "You kind of zoned out for a bit, but I didn't want to interrupt you, in case it was important. Sorry that I had to."

I laugh slightly and try to force a smile onto my lips. "I'm fine- don't worry about me, Angel."

She rolls her eyes. "You're crazy, you know?" She pauses, also smiling now, until she says, "Do you want to come into my house to do the homework we got today together? It could be a lot easier, if we did."

I look around for a moment, glancing back in the direction of my house. "Actually, could we do it at mine? That way, we could tell both of our parents that we're home, so we're not late..." I trail off at the end but, from the look on my cousin's face, she understands.

"Good idea." She tries to smile again, but I can see it's forced. "I'll just tell my parents."

I wait outside whilst she goes to tell her parents where she'll be, rubbing my eyes with the palms of my hands whilst I wait. I don't have any work at the Bakery that I need to do, but I probably need to give a decent reason as to why I won't be there. If I were to do my homework at Angel's, my parents wouldn't know, so they could think that I was lying.

As soon as Angel bounces back out of her house, we head towards mine in silence, the first words I speak when we arrive into the shop and I announce that I'm going to tell my parents what I'm doing, my cousin agreeing to come with me. We walk into the actual bakery part and I, luckily, only spot my dad. "Hey, dad, Angel and I are going upstairs to do our homework."

He glances up, and then nods. "Okay. I'll let your mum know when she gets back."

I nod, too, before we head upstairs and to my room. Once we're there, we dump our bags on the floor and get out whichever books we need for this homework. Laying them out on the floor, we quickly get to work separately, deciding that, if we ever have a problem, we will ask each other, and we'll compare answers at the end. This way, hopefully, we'll get it done much faster.

True to our wishes, we are finished within no time, sitting on the floor and leaning back onto my bed. "How was your first day of school, Angel?" I ask.

She shrugs. "Really, nothing special. Nothing in particular happened or caught my attention," she answers. "Plus, I was stuck with the loony that is my cousin."

"Hey, I'm not that bad," I complain, playfully punching her shoulder as I laugh. "And, anyway, you were in no rush to get new friends."

She smiles. "I'm playing with you, Pete," she reasons, even though she knows that I already know what she's saying. "But, saying that, we do need more friends."

I sigh. "Whatever you say, oh all-knowing one."

She laughs. "We have to find other friends. We can still be friends with each other, but we both know that we need to speak to other people, too."

"Fine." I hold my hand out for her to shake. "By the end of the week, we each have to find as many friends as we can that the other can also stand."

Taking my offered hand, she smirks. "Game on, dear cousin. Game on."

Author's Note: And we're back! I know that I said that I wouldn't do a sequel for this, but I've now changed my mind. This fanfiction will be before the Games, but I won't do much when he's five because it's difficult for me to write as a five year old; this will be the last chapter like that, and then I'll do a timeskip to when they're eleven.

OpalStars: I'm glad that you like it! I think I've decided to keep it along the lines of the book, just to make it easier.

BrittneyluvsChrist (chapter 1): It's great that you think so!

BrittneyluvsChrist (chapter 3): The new trailer has possibly made me even more excited!

mellarklover11: I will try to update eventually!

Next chapter: Peeta and Katniss turn eleven years old, just before a mining accident hits some of them hard.

Review please!