Everlark Week
Day 3: The Wrestling Championship
"Listen here, Peeta."
"Whoa—"
Peeta gasps as he's slammed back against the school lockers. He finds himself looking into Taft's eyes.
"You're gonna let me win this competition. I've got seven girls to impress today and I'm not gonna make a fool of myself in front of them by losing to my little brother."
"I have a girl to impress too, you know," Peeta says. He gasps again as Taft pushes harder against his ribcage.
"I've got seven. Six more than you. I'll be the entire joke of my year if you show me up. You want to impress scum. It doesn't matter if you fail this, Peeta. It matters if I do, however. So, you're gonna let me win this. You don't have a choice here. You beat me today, I'll beat you every day for the rest of your life. We understood here?"
Taft pushes Peeta back one more time before he goes down to the gymnasium. Peeta sighs, slumping down against the lockers to catch his breath. If there's one thing Peeta was looking forward to before he found out his opponent, it was the wrestling championship. He could finally show Katniss he's more than just a baker. He could prove his strength. Then Peeta was told his opponent would be the younger of his older brothers, Taft.
It was only a matter of time before he decided to try and blackmail me into losing on purpose.
Peeta pushes up from the floor and heads down to the locker room. He finds that it's empty. Taft is already warming up in the gym.
How bad can beating him really be? I have the strength to fight back if he tries to attack me…
…
"I know how shy Everdeen is," Taft hisses as he grabs me in a headlock. I backwards kick his leg and send us both flying to the ground.
"I'll tell the whole school you're in love with her if you win this thing, and I'll make sure she knows it could've easily been prevented."
I glare at Taft.
"Fine," I hiss back at him as he pins me down. The referee calls time ten seconds later, and Taft is announced the victor of the championship. He gives me a smirk over his shoulder as his buddies hoist him off to celebrate. My friends can only shake their heads at me. I find Katniss in the crowd. Her eyes meet mine for a fraction of a second before she looks away.