Chapter 3: 12
School. Something that Katniss perceived as a HUGE waste of precious time that can be spent helping her mother run the bakery on a good day and/or making up for lost time on a bad day.
The only reason why Katniss was even bothering was that her mother had told her it was either spend 6 hours in school or 6 hours in the closet.
Katniss chose the lesser of the two evils. Even though most of the material was so goddamn inconsequential. Here are some examples:
History: the same annoying stuff about how the 13 Districts were like rebellious children who didn't know what was best for them and had tried to defy the Capitol, the guardian, and deserved the Hunger Games as their punishment. Reaping speech rehash.
Science: always something about coal and its properties. She was a baker though and icing cakes and kneading dough did not apply any of the knowledge from science class. Don't need it.
English: Stories and plays about heroes from the Capitol. Then you have to write an essay about it with the same prompt. No surprise there. Don't care.
Math: the only thing that she even found mildly interesting that wasn't tampered to favor the Capitol. But she won't really have to solve equations, find the area of random shapes, or find the derivative of bread in the future.
In conclusion, school=boring propaganda. And vocations were pretty much solidified at birth. Merchants will always be merchants, miners will always be miners. Nothing can change that.
The worst part was that she STILL had to pay attention and get decent enough grades. 1) To keep her image in the school. She was still the known as the patient tutor who can explain the material better than the teachers yet few people asked her for aid now 2) To not instill her mother's wrath. One B- on an English assignment had earned her 2 nights in the cage. On a school night too.
Madge seemed to be the only reason why she wasn't going insane in school. She was the only person she dared to tell about her mother. At first, Madge was silent and didn't really say anything about it, but Katniss knew she was listening. In return, Madge had told her about her own mother who still had not gotten over Aunt Maysilee's death.
Madge also supplied Katniss with some extra food when her mother deprived her of it and even a few vials of morphing which Katniss used to give her mother a few days of freedom from the pain and grief of life.
Madge really was a good friend, Katniss decided. The two of them had more in common than she had originally thought. Unfortunately, they didn't share any periods except for lunch.
Now, Katniss found herself in history class. It was time for the midyear group project in which the teacher assigned everyone to work in groups to study significant elements of the first rebellion. And just with her luck, she had gotten assigned to work with the Tate Grovelsfield and two other way too talkative town girls who thought the world would end if someone called them "bitch" behind their backs.
Now, here's some background information, Tate was the undertaker's son and one of the biggest scumbags in their school. The majority of the school made sure to steer clear of him anywhere they walked. But he still somehow had his circle of friends who were just as obnoxious. Katniss disliked Mr. Grovelsfield for charging her family extra to bury her father since their entire family were intolerant bigots that called her Dad a Seam-lover. Rumor had it that his father had paid several Seam girls to slip into his bed when he was a teen. As for Tate, Katniss's description of him in words would be….preferable not to say as it would be filled with an infinite number of expletives.
All of the desks were pushed into small tables of 4 for each group so that was why she found herself at her desk with Tate across from her, Beady on her right, and Pigtails on her left. (That was what she decided to nickname the two girls) The three of them were engaging in a conversation Katniss didn't care about so she tuned them out and just worked on the history project on Jabberjays.
For a Capitol-made curriculum, the decision to include in Jabberjays was counterintuitive. But Katniss wasn't complaining.
That was the main reason why she was interested in this and why she decided to do the other's work. It wasn't like her group members were any helpful.
She was busy writing down facts about how they were genetically engineered when she heard Tate's voracious and brutish voice.
"My Daddy told me about the Seam sluts! He said they go dress in dirty clothing and dirty themselves for money! Isn't that gross?"
"I know right!" said Beady. "How low they would stoop is honestly disgusting!"
Pigtails chimed in. "Yeah! All of them should just starve! It's their own fault they are poor!"
Katniss realized what they were talking about and bit her lip. It was winter. The time of the year when a larger than average flock of starving girls would line up at Cray's doorstep. Katniss had recently found out the reason why: Cray would give a girl a few coins if she slips into his bed.
She was willing to bet that even a few merchants did this too.
After getting over her initial disgust toward the Seam girls that used this method, she felt like a horrible person for thinking that way. Luckily she hadn't blurted this out to her mother. That might end up earning her a year in the cage.
Her mother…
Katniss never knew what her mother's life was like before marrying into the Mellark family. The first and last time she had asked her mother what living in the Seam was like, her mother's eyes had glazed over and she had to retreat into her room, abandoning the half kneaded dough she had been working on.
Innocent 8-year-old Katniss had not known what she had done to upset her mother. Her father had just told her in a gentle voice to not talk about the past since "It makes your mother sad."
"Tate," Katniss addressed him, forcing herself to make eye contact. The other three jumped at the sound of her voice, obviously surprised that quiet antisocial Katniss was chiming into their conversation. "You should consider people's circumstances before you start to judge them." Gosh, Katniss could feel her heart pounding. She wasn't used to saying her true thoughts out loud.
Tate was the first to break out of his surprised stupor. "Katniss!" he sounded phonily cheerful. "You've finally joined in our conversation!"
Katniss decided to play his game. She gave him a sickly sweet smile. "Yes, I just happened to hear you talking about the Seam."
"Why yes!" he raised his voice. "The girls are sluts, and the boys are all black and dirty!" Yes, he shouted that last part. Heads turned in their direction. Where was the teacher when you needed her?
"Yeah!" said Beady. "By the way Katniss, even though you may look like a Seam slut, it doesn't mean you are one."
Pigtails giggled. "We wouldn't be talking to you if you weren't the baker's daughter."
Katniss's shoulders began to shake. She pinched her knees to prevent herself from losing her composure. The shaking increased in frequency until she started…. laughing?
Yep, she was laughing now and making no effort to suppress it. It wasn't the kind of genuine lighthearted laughter. Her laughter passed onto the other three and soon they were laughing too.
Finally, Katniss took some deep breaths and finally stopped. "All right guys, can you tell me why you were laughing?"
"That's obvious!" piped up Tate. "Because you were!"
Katniss spoke again. "Okay, you don't know why," her face turned serious. "You know, it's foolish to laugh when you don't even KNOW what's funny in the first place."
"Oh yeah?" said Tate. "Then what is YOUR reason?" He challenged her.
"I'm laughing because you guys have your heads stuck up SOOO far up your butts. You would go so far to assume that any girl with black hair is 'a black and dirty slut.'!" she shook her head to add effect. "You know, you shouldn't use that word. It's bad for health."
Tate widened his eyes imperceptibly, obviously surprised that humble and meek Katniss Mellark was speaking up for herself. Beady and Pigtails just stared at her. Yep.
"Well, someone must've taken a confidence pill! And I'm only talking about the sluts! Not you!"
"Sure! I'll heed your wishes and talk about the Seam girls. For them, it's either go sleep with a merchant for a night, or starve to death."
"Then they SHOULD starve to death!", Pigtails said, joining the discussion.
Katniss struggled to keep her face neutral as her blood boiled. "Ok, you probably think I'm going to say 'How would you feel if you were a desperate Seam kid?', but no. They shouldn't starve to death because it will potentially be bad for the merchants too."
Tate raised his eyebrow. "Oh really? How the heck can those poor lazy asses be useful to us? They're the scums of society! Just touching one would make me puke!"
Katniss decided to play the logical card. "That's where you're wrong. The Seam people are the ones who mine the coal, which is the stuff that the Capitol actually wants! If they don't mine coal, then WE have to. And I seriously doubt that you would want to GET KILLED IN AN EXPLOSION." By the time she had finished talking, she realized that her voice was getting louder. She noticed that everyone had turned their attention on the two of them. Blondie and Pigtails had backed away from the conflict.
Tate, who was living up to his reputation of a giant scumbag, stood up, and said something that made everyone, merchants and Seam alike, recoil in disgust. It was just a low blow.
"YOU'RE JUST SALTY BECAUSE YOUR DAD DIED WHEN HE WASN'T A MINER!"
Katniss's already boiling blood finally boiled over and she stood up to look him directly in the eyes. She felt no fear because she was so angry. "LEAVE MY DAD OUT OF THIS!"
"I THINK YOU SHOULD GO BACK TO YOUR PLACE! SHUT UP!"
"I THINK YOU SHOULD DIE WITH THE PEOPLE THAT YOU BURY!"
The two of them continued to go back in forth, eventually getting into a huge shouting match. They got into each other's faces and tossed words around with the raw intention to maim, to hurt, and humiliate. All of the students shared panicked looks, yet none of them could muster up the courage to intervene. And seeing the usual quiet Katniss Everdeen, the girl who you would ask for academic questions, angry and worked up was quite the spectacle.
"I THINK THE SAYING IS TRUE! LIKE MOTHER LIKE DAUGHTER! YOU BOTH ARE SLUTS!"
"YOUR FATHER PAID SEAM GIRLS TO SLEEP WITH HIM WHEN HE WAS A TEEN!" Katniss countered. "SO WITH THAT LOGIC, LIKE FATHER LIKE SON! YOU'RE A JOHN!"
Tate's eyes widened and everyone gasped. Some people out of surprise that Katniss had shouted the Grovelsfields' "secret", and the rest of them from hearing this revelation.
Katniss lowered her voice. "The Seam people are NOT the ones at fault here."
She noticed Tate trying to regain his composure after she had just revealed his family's skeleton in the closet. Yep, she had definitely hit a nerve, but she pushed the feeling of guilt back when she remembered what, and who she was fighting for.
Tate finally looked up at her with his eyes narrowed. He was definitely trying to return the favor. "You're a Seam-loving half breed, I think you're just trying to protect Everdeen there cause you want to get him. I think Daddy Everdeen was gonna die but your Daddy died-"
Katniss felt her throat dry up. It was a good thing he wasn't speaking loud enough for the rest of the class-God forbid Peat- to hear. But she still managed to interrupt him and say her next sentence and effectively convey her hatred in her blue eyes. "I think you should go into the mines and burn in hell when it explodes on you." referencing their previous conversation that transpired before their shouting match.
He said the next part loud enough for the entire class to hear, "It's honestly beyond me why you like those good-for-nothings. Everdeens are selfish filthy half breeds who break the law for their own benefit and-"
That statement was the last straw.
"BOYS! GET UP AND LINE UP THIS INSTANT!", the teacher finally returned from her exodus to see the aftermath of the Mellark-Grovelsfield shouting match. Yet the clueless teacher did not know who got into the conflict with Tate.
The boys, save for Tate who, with bruises all over his body and tear-stained face, was curled up in fetal position on the floor, obliged and stood against the wall shoulder-to-shoulder. Katniss and the rest of the girls stayed in their seats and held their breaths. Her knuckles throbbed, her right middle finger throbbed, a cut above her right eye stung, and the area around her left eye hurt.
"Hold out all of your hands." They all did so willingly and some had their gazes focused on Katniss. She ignored them.
The teacher examined all of their spotless hands and looked completely confused as it seemed like no one had inflicted the serious injuries on Tate. It couldn't have been a paranormal force, could it?
The teacher narrowed her eyes, "All right now boys, if you tell me this was the work of a paranormal force, I will give you all detention and 0's for your projects!" the teacher sternly said this.
"You won't have to."
"Mellark, I was talking to the boys, not you-" she stopped and gasped when she saw Katniss's outstretched blood-stained hands.
Katniss didn't know how bad her hands looked until she had shown them to the teacher. Her right middle finger was bent at an odd angle, her palms were covered with dried blood (Tate's blood), two of her fingernails were scratched, and the joints between fingers and hands were bruised. These injuries were child's play compared to Tate's. Lugging around flour sacks and sustaining beatings did have it's benefits after all.
"Both of you, go to the Principal's office, now!"
It was 10 at night and Katniss was home, lying on the floor inside the cage, AGAIN. Her forehead was bandaged, bruises covered her knuckles, her finger was put in a splint, and her left eye was covered by a warm cloth. Her mother had been nice enough to pay for treatment but not nice enough to not shout at her and throw her into the cage when she got home with a warning.
Katniss was let off the hook with a formal warning from while Tate had gotten a 3-day suspension. Yet her mother still punished her for hurting another student since she had won the fight. At the same time, she was surprised that she was actually able to beat him down to the point he could barely talk or move.
Staying in the cage was boring, so this was where she often let her thoughts take control. It was the only way to distract herself from the gnawing in her stomach. This time, she began to ponder about her family's statement.
"It was better to be hurt yourself and help others, rather than hurting others for your own benefit."
You would think that after a year of enduring abuse and negligence from her mother, she would have questioned this statement.
But no.
It was the fight with Tate and her punishment afterward that got her to ponder this.
Was it really a good thing to live by?
She began to think of the hours she had spent in the cage and closet. Was her mother helping her?
She thought about how her mother had thrown her out of the bakery for a night after she burned the bread she gave to Peat.
She thought about her father.
"It was better to be hurt yourself and help others, rather than hurting others for your own benefit."
That's why her father was dead.
His death caused her relationship with mother to sour.
That's why everything was messed up. That thing her parents lived by…
Just caused misery.
Her fight with Tate just proved that the statement didn't apply in some scenarios. Some people deserve to be hurt.
Maybe she did too...
Man, that was dark, and kind of angsty. I kind of wanted to show Katniss's personality changes and I think I did a decent job. It's gonna get even MORE angsty! LOL XD
Sparky She-Demon: Yeah! I'll definitely get to the 74th! Probably in 5 chapters as this beginning part is essential to the plot since this deviates from the canon.
WWHPmockingjayLILI: Here's an update for you!
hgfanaticeverlark: Aww, thank you!
FantabulousUnicorn88: Hi again! Funny thing is that I kind of thought of this idea after I finished watching Future Diaries! HG and Mirai Nikki actually do have a lot of parallels since they both have games where all the contestants have to kill each other AND both of them have love affairs! And FYI, Peeta is Peat because I wanted to make it sound more Seam-like.
PS: It might be a while for a new update to come since school has started and it's gonna gradually get worse! See you guys next time!
-Gardenia88
