If there is one thing I have learned, it is that I am an individual person, who possesses the power to change my personality so easily. But, some times its not all that easy as it seems.
"Katniss?" Prim wanders in to the room as my greying seam eyes gaze back at me from the surface of the dust mirror on the wall.
"Yes little duck?" I tickled her and she squeals with laughter as she hugs me close to her. Its strange, how so suddenly the cogs start turning in my head for her well being, how quickly she can bring me back to laugh from the land of shadows.
"Theres some one at the door for you"
My heart starts thudding in my chest, and I tuck a stray piece of blonde hair behind her ear distractedly. "Who?" my voice comes out a little higher than I had hoped, and the vowels try to shape themself in to Peetas name against my will.
"Gale" she mumbles and I breathe a sigh of relief, brushing her shoulders and then losening my grip, picking up my satchel from the corner where it has been sleeping since yesterday evenings return. "See you later" I call over my shoulder, as I slide down the banister and grab my lunch of the kitchen work top, before padding over the soft carpets to the door, flinging it open.
Light streams in to my eyes and I am blinded, squinting like a shrew.
"Mornin' " he grins as he continues to throw stones at the tree in the front garden. "Why good morning kind sir" I roll my eyes and speak in my best capitol accent, as I chuckle back at him. He jumps down the stairs and turns back to me as I descend, reciting his Shakespeare.
My stomach already hurts from laughing and it hasnt been that long since me and my family were starving. How can I laugh like this already again so soon? This is me and my best friend Gale, practically family, its been that way since forever, for as long as I can remember.
As his speech comes to a close, I applaud him, whistling as he bows sweeping his hand and resting it around my waist, but I shrug off the contact, and smack his shoulder, and he mocks pain, to which I roll my eyes. He can be such a girl.
"Yeah right Kitty kat as though you could ever hurt me" I glare at him, to which he only holds his hands up, and I laugh. I might not be able to hurt him, but I scare him so easily just with a glance.
I laugh at him again before Im calm enough to speak. "Brilliant, you're so going to beat Eddie Hopkins in the drama performance today"
"Thanks, but I highly doubt that fact" Gale replies with a shrug.
"Gale its not that bad to be good at some thing"
Gale frowns again, "But whats so good about being a part of some thing pointless?" At this question, I can only bite my lip in thought before the words are flowing of their own accord, before I can glue them to the back of my mind and make them stay there.
"Peetas the son of the baker, but he loves to take part in sports, I dont see how that will help him make bread"
Gale glares at me, and throws a stone down at the path. It bounces high in to the air, and I watch it grow smaller as the light zooms in dying its grey complection black. "What does the bakers son have to do with this?" He demands, his voice a narrow growl, but it sounds worried, desperate and I cant figure out why. I brush it aside, gazing down intently at the crumpled paper lunch bag threaded in between my fingers.
"I - I -erm - nothing" I manage to choke out, my eyes wandering any where but his, as they are glued to my face and I wonder what he sees there. The awkward silence hints towards the fact that its probably not some thing he likes to place.
The silence is broken only by the gentle scuffing of shoes on the ground, the crunch of gravel as our feet meet it. Im never good at breaking silences, naturally, they are like obstructions to me too dangerous to even consider approaching. So I speed up, anxious to meet the ever closer school gates.
"Sooo... what do you have for lunch?" His voice is steady and normal. I breathe a sigh of relief, withholding the weak smile I have a feeling is behind my eyes. "Apple and banana sandwiches, but dont worry I can share" I nudge his arm with my elbow and he laughs.
The sound is forced, unnatural, but I dont focus on it, because Im pretending too so there is no real point in commenting. As we pass through the school gates, the sides become apparent.
The yard - a place that is silently coded and organised like a prison. My eyes wander around, brushing over each part: the rich girls to the Left, with the poorer girls and middle class nearby, the other side is the same except for the boys. I hate this system, you have to pretend you like people, when you'd much rather hang out with the friends who are different, because opposites always attract. Sighing I wave goodbye to Gale as he heads over to the "Hi-my-name-is" guys, their muscles practically ripping their shirts. "I'll see ya' later Kat, hunting or some thing" He mutters, before being absorbed in the boring world of motor veichles and watered down beer cans some kid found by the river.
I head in the direction of the lockers, the school buildings are always deserted, so I have a chance to spend a pleasant half hour reading beside my locker before heading to music class.
The door thuds behind me, and I indulge in the rich roaring of the echo, but am broken from my trance when the door slams again behind me. I sigh and peek over my shoulder, only to snap my attention back to the locker in front of me. Its Peeta! What do I do? Oh no, he was supposed to walk me to school today!
He stops beside me. But he doesnt say any thing. Time to do some thing I never do - break the silence.
"Hi Peeta" I suck in my breath and place my hand on the combination lock.
"Hi" I hear him reply, as my fingers turn the key to the different numbers. the lock twists open and the lockers security tightens as the dented blue door creaks to the side.
"Im sorry that I didnt wait up for you this morning, on the way to school" My hands brush across the books there, before taking one on the history of war and monarchy, and my Music book, both of which I stuff in to my satchel, abandoning my lunch in my locker, concealed behind the weak metal hinges.
"Its ok" he mumbles.
"But its not ok, I really wish I had walked with you today and Im sorry that I didnt"
I turn to him and thunder meets rain as our eyes meet. We both look away at the same time.
"Its fine, honest, I understand if you wanted to walk with Gale, Afterall he is your boy friend"
My eyes bug out of my head"Boyfriend? is that what people have been saying about us? he's just my friend, nothing more. Perhaps like a brother but no, I've never seen Gale in that way, ew gross"
Peeta watches me with an amused expression before bursting out laughing.
"I mean not that Gale isnt nice looking and all, but I eurgh!" I manage to say before turning on my heel and marching down the corridor. He keeps my pace perfectly.
"I understand Katniss, its just, you seem to have the same effect on all of us"
I pause "What effect?"
He blushes and look down.
"Never mind, here let me walk you to class" to which he offers me his arm and we walk through the echoing doors together.
