A/N: Thank you for my first four reviews! Hope you like this chapter!

Katniss' POV

Finally it was the end of the day, and I packed my bag ready to catch the bus home. When I rounded the corner into my street, I was relived to finally see a familiar face. Gale was sitting on the curb again, wearing work overalls and covered in a fine layer of dust. At eighteen years old, he left school two years ago to start a building apprentiship. It was good work for Gale, who was strong and had steady hands, plus, he would make enough money to better support his mother's Laundromat business a block down from our apartment.

"Hey Catnip." Gale smiled, "How was your first day? In love with a guy with a trust fund yet?" He was joking, but was there a hint of fear in his eyes?

"Actually, it wasn't that bad…apart from the fact everyone turned up in limousines and had pencil cases that cost more than my rent."

Gale laughed, "Wanna hang out tonight, you can tell me all about it."

"I've gotta work…" I checked my watch, "In about, 20 minutes- I'll see you soon, though?"

"Yeah, soon." Gale sighed.

I started working at the pizza place down the road as soon as I was old enough. The pay wasn't great, and the people I encountered weren't either, but it was the best that I could do to bring some more money in. With our mother calling in sick from her work as a nurse so often, I had to do all I could to support Prim and I, but still, we struggled. It's not like either of us really wanted anything in particular, but it would be nice to buy Prim new clothes once in a while, seeing as most were hand me downs. It made me more determined to stick it out at The Capitol School, so I could get a good job and give Prim the security she needed after the death of our father left us both feeling so unstable.

When I returned home from my shift, Prim was sitting at the dining table working on her homework. I watched her for a moment, as she was completely oblivious to the world outside of the equation she was solving. She had cooked her and our mother dinner by the looks of the dishes drying by the sink. It seemed like only yesterday she was a child, but since our father's death she had to grow up so quickly.

"Hey, Prim." I said, crossing to her and taking a seat beside her. "How was school?"

"It was ok." Prim shrugged, "Rory and I are in the same class."

I was relieved. Rory, Gale's younger brother, was Prim's closest friend. She would be fine if they were together. "That's great."

"How was your first day?" She asked eagerly.

"It was interesting…" I said.

"Interesting?" Prim questioned, "Did you make any friends?"

"Yeah, one girl- Johanna Mason. She's from the Upper East Side but hates it more than I do."

"Wow, that's a lot then!" Prim joked. "What about any boys?" she asked in a cheeky tone.

"Well one, Peeta, helped me to class. But he's just like the rest of them." I said more bitterly than I intended to.

"Is he cute?" she smiled.

"Since when does my baby sister ask about cute boys?" I replied. She really was growing up.

"Well, is he?" she persisted, grinning more widely.

I laughed but stood up from the table. There was no way I was telling her the truth, she would never stop talking about it. "I'm having a shower." I told her instead, "I smell like cheese!"

Prim laughed, "He so is, then."

I sighed. There was no getting passed Prim, she knew me better than anyone.

Apart from two unfortunate encounters with the most vicious members of The Capitol School population, my first week of school went by well.

The first encounter I experienced took place before school had even begun. Cashmere and her followers were sitting together on the main steps of the school building when I arrived in the morning.

"Katniss, hi." Cashmere flashed me a fake smile.

"Cashmere." I replied, trying to move passed her.

"Sit for a moment?" she continued.

I stopped, but remained standing. "What is it?"

"I just wanted to know how you were finding The Capitol School, it must be pretty different from your old school."

"That's for sure." I replied, uninterested.

"Seen any boys you think are cute?" she asked.

"No, why?" I answered quickly.

"Good." Her eyes narrowed, "Because if you were to find any of them cute I suggest that you change your mind, or I might have to start a rumour that just may ruin your chance at a good college." She spoke so sweetly, despite the threat she was apparently making.

"Ok?" I replied, confused by the direction the conversation had taken, "I'll remember that." As I walked off, I heard them snickering again. I sighed.

The second encounter occured a day later, before Johanna joined me for lunch. Peeta and his friends were in their usual lunch spot, when I saw Gloss approach me, a smirk on his face. I tried to escape him, but he reached me before I had a chance to stand up.

"So Katniss, I've heard a lot about you." he said, sitting down next to me, too close for my liking. "Scholarship, right?"

"Yes." I replied, trying to disengage.

"Listen, you're new, and I thought you'd like to better get to know how things work around here." He moved closer to me, so I could feel his breath on my neck, "What do you say you come over to my place tonight for a little initiation into this world. It would be sure to up your social status from the bottom with Johanna, and might just get my sister off your case."

"No thanks, I'm fine." I said coldly. I knew exactly what he was implying, but was he serious?

"Think about it, alright?" He winked, "I know a couple of the guys have their eye on you."

I rolled my eyes as he walked away, but my skin was shivering uncomfortably. Gloss was seriously creepy, and there was no way I wanted to be alone with him ever again. Thankfully, Johanna arrived to change the unpleasant course lunch had taken. When I told her about what Gloss had said, she didn't seem surprised.

"Is he always like that?" I asked.

"Look, things can get a bit boring around here when there isn't anything scandalous taking place, you know- affairs, stinks in rehab, unexpected pregnancies..." She sighed, "You're new, exciting, a challenge."

"A challenge?" I inquired.

"Yeah. It happens in every year level, the guys compete to see who can sleep with the new girl first. It's sick."

"Ugh." I rolled my eyes, "This place is so messed up."

"You're telling me." She replied glumly.

The more I found out about this world, the less and less I liked it. From Cashmere's threats to the games Gloss and his friends seemed to be playing, I wondered if I was going to make it out of this school alive.

Another odd thing I noticed was that each day, as I closed my locker door, I saw Peeta staring at me, only for him to quickly look away, his cheeks turning a faint shade of red. He never said a word to me, despite his stares, and it was different from the leers I had received from others in the hallways as I made my way to class. On Friday morning, however, I closed my locker door to find Finnick Odair's sea green eyes intently watching me instead.

"Hey Katniss." he said casually, moving closer as if we really hadn't just met.

"Hi, Finnick." I stepped back, trying to put some more distance between us.

"I realised I haven't properly introduced myself. Finnick Odair, maybe you've heard of me." His voice was smooth and a little smug.

"Unfortunately." I replied, flatly.

"Pretty, but feisty." he said slowly, "Well I do like a challenge."

Ugh. "I'm not interested." I told him, turning away.

"Come on Katniss, a girl like you is lucky to even have my attention."

"Well a money obsessed guy like you is lucky to have my attention." I shot back.

"Oh, I couldn't care less about money," he said, still laying on the charm, "But I do love secrets…How about you and I take a walk after school?" He leant in close and whispered, "I'm sure you have plenty of secrets worth my time."

I had to hand it to him- he was good. It was easy to see how he could win someone over with his charm, and I found myself almost blushing as I felt his breath on my neck. I realised I didn't have a comeback for him, but before I could say anything, Peeta was standing by his side.

"Hey, go easy on her Finnick," Peeta said, "Something tells me Katniss won't fall so easily for your…undeniable charm." He said sarcastically.

"Katniss and I were merely acquainting ourselves with one another." Finnick winked, "The offer's still there." He turned and walked away.

"Listen, don't worry about Finnick, he's an idiot." Peeta said to me.

"Yeah, I figured." I started to walk away, when he followed.

"We have psychology next, I guess we could walk together." he said.

"Right, ok." I shrugged.

We walked to class in an awkward silence, and I hoped to avoid him once we arrived. However, our class teacher, Miss Trinket, had other ideas.

"Come come now, settle down." She said in a ridiculously high pitched voice. "I have a big big big class planned for you today! We are starting a new assignment, which you shall be working on in groups. Isn't that wonderful?"

The class was silent, apparently not sharing her enthusiasm. Internally, I groaned when I looked at which group I had been assigned to- Peeta, and two girls I hadn't met, Delly and Madge. It seemed like the odds were never in my favour when it came to avoiding Peeta Mellark.

"We meet again." Peeta smiled as I sat down with him and the two other girls.

"Hi, I'm Madge," said the girl with long, blonde hair and kind blue eyes.

"I'm Delly," said the smiling girl beside her.

I had heard of Madge before, the principle's daughter who spent most of her time in the library with Delly, her best friend. Maybe the group wouldn't be too bad, except of course, Peeta was there. I expected him not to do any of the work, but surprisingly he was happy to help. When I looked across at the group beside us, I saw Gloss sitting back, staring at the ceiling while his poor group was reading together. I rolled my eyes, it must be so lovely not to have to worry about school, or college, or work because money would always be available.

"Katniss?" Peeta's voice cut through my thoughts.

"Sorry, what?" I asked.

"We decided to split the work in two- maybe you and I could do half and Delly and Madge do the other half?"

"Oh, I could work with you, Peeta." Delly said quickly, then blushed. I realised that she must have a crush on him.

"Yeah, I'll work with Madge." I gave her a smile.

"Well you girls live right next door to each other, it would be easier for you to work together." Peeta continued. Why was he being so persistent?

Delly looked defeated, "Yeah ok, that makes sense."

"Great," Peeta gave me an incredibly sweet smile, "Looks like we'll be working together."

That smile, that sweet, kind smile. It wasn't like Finnick's charming smile, that aimed to get me into bed with him, and it wasn't like Gloss's either, which only creeped me out. That was the first genuine smile I had received from someone other that Johanna, and it caught me by surprise.