Hey guys! Well I haven't written the next chapter, so if it isn't up tomorrow, it will be up the day after! Please give me ideas to use and who's POV you want to see it from! I would really love it :) Also, I did update twice yesterday, so remember to go back and see the chapter before this, if you didn't see it yesterday!
axes tridents and snares: Sorry I didn't respond to this last chapter! Well, this is going to be as realistic as possible. Everything in the school is inspired by real life events.
MeaganOneDirection: Aww thanks! Revenge is a dish best served cold... Glad you like it :)
axes tridents and snares: Gale was in on it, but it was Jo's idea. I'm letting her take credit :)
MiaBelles: Mwahahahaha I killed you in the Hunger Games (lol Jk ;) ) I'm glad you liked it and if I add another prank, that will be the one! I love it. Yay Finnick and Annie!
StarBright18: Can I just say, you made my day with this review! I think I screamed with excitement when I read this. Thank you so much! You are so sweet!
MewWinx96: You dead tribute. Me victor. (Lol jk ;) do that in a Tarzan voice, that's kinda how I wrote it, but not really? Lol) I didn't add in that particular scene, but I may add a bonus scene just for that scene as a filler if I don't get any ideas... I'll see what I can do... :) I love Finnick and Annie was loved getting them together! Thanks for the reassurance about the disorder. That makes me happy. The revenge will be fun :) (.v.) mehehehehehehe (Little devil)
Y.O.L.O So do it right: I'm really glad you like it!
TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites: I wouldn't even say they were popular. Popular implies they are well liked by everyone. They are just mean powerful bullies. I am glad you picked up on that. I added that in after I read one of your reviews, the one about how Johanna was too alright. Love Finnick and Annie got together! I'm making Coin an evil version of my 10th Grade English teacher... And we will see a lot more of her.
TARDISRose: They are officially dating! Not boyfriend and girlfriend yet though.
MahoganyMagic12: I'm glad you find this real :) Tbch... I'd be the tribute who probably died at the bloodbath or hid under a bush the entire time. I'd be freaking out about the bugs everywhere.
Fire Kitty 12: Glad to be of service and glad you liked it!
mountain mama: I love truth or dare, but only when it is nice Truth or Dare, like Jo playing truth or dare. Fun and scary, but with good intentions.
Chapter 6- The Tycoon
Peeta
I almost put as much time into getting ready in the morning as Annie does. On Monday, when her and Finnick announced their feelings for one another, it seemed like the end of Annie's self conscious thoughts. I, unfortunately, was wrong. One time I tried to walk over to her and see what took her so long in getting ready, but I was greeted with a locked door and no signs of her coming out soon. I don't get why she is so unconfident.
I love it when people are confident. I think it is the coolest thing ever because it is the opposite of me. I think it is so cool when Finnick is able to shrug off everything and stand on a table and announce to everyone the next foolish thing he is going to do. Those times he does end up on top of the coffee table, he typically ends up shirtless, Katniss and Johanna cat calling, Annie blushing with her head in her hands, trying not to look or giggle and Gale and me exchanging looks with one another. He is so confident with himself.
Jo is just as confident. She walked into the school yesterday carrying two bottles of shampoo and two bottles of conditioner to take to Cato. It looked like they were doing a drug deal or something, but the smirks on their faces suggested something was about to go down. She then continued to walk down the halls carrying a can of silly string she conjured from her backpack. She went up to Cashmere and Gloss and just squirted it all over their faces. It was hilarious. She did that stunt in front of three teachers, but she didn't get in trouble because of her confidence and boldness.
Tuesday, when Gale showed up on the second day of school wearing his sister's bracelets people seriously thought he was gay. When they accused him of being so, he offered to make out with the offender right there. Anyone who witnessed it wouldn't say another word about it for the rest of the day.
Still, the most confident has got to be Katniss. The two of us waltzed into fifth period English and put our stuff down. As soon as Coin started class she did her dare, asking if Coin was a dude or chick. She got an office referral after the entire class laughed. She simply shrugged, grabbed her stuff and went on with her day. She had to spend the rest of the day in detention, but she didn't look bothered or anything. It was amazing.
I will admit I have feelings for Katniss Everdeen, but I will not admit them. That is why I wish I was confident. I could probably admit it to anyone that I like her. I could admit it to the whole world, if I didn't have to look at her while doing so. If she had feelings for me, she could admit them to me. She probably would too. She doesn't have feelings though. She hasn't said she liked anyone. She has never even had a boyfriend. How could I be selfish enough to become her first boyfriend? She could do so much better.
I feel the anger boil up in me and decide the best way to handle this situation would be a little therapy. I need to beat something, and bread is a good thing to beat. I pull out the ingredients, yeast, warm water and warm milk, butter, honey, salt, cinnamon, sugar, eggs, wheat flour, normal flour, raisins, walnuts, another egg, but with just the white and then some cold water.
Katniss likes the Raisin Nut bread a lot. I gave it to her as soon as she entered Graceland because I could see she was starving. Effie was already cooking dinner, but I knew dinner had to wait. I grabbed a loaf I finished baking earlier that day and she wouldn't stop calling me the Boy with the Bread for a year after that encounter.
While doing this, I dissolve the yeast into the warm water and add the milk, butter, honey, salt, cinnamon, sugar, eggs and wheat flour to it. I beat it until it is smooth and add in the normal flour and roll it out on the table. I place the raisins in the tap water and just let them soak while I knead the dough until it is almost elastic. I grease a pan and grab a damp towel. I place the dough in the pan and know to let it sit until it has doubled in size. That is going to take about an hour.
I decide that video games will be a good way to pass the time. I start to head over when I hear the voice of the man Effie called Snow, the man who was here on Monday after school. I stop in my tracks and press my ear to the wall, so I can listen to his conversation without him knowing.
"The house looks great, Coin. I say we dig up something horrible about it and then report it. They will just have to get rid of the kids." There is a pause and a gruff sigh. "I don't care what happens to them. I know for a fact you don't either. If I recall correctly, one of them asked your gender as a complete joke. They'll probably be sent to foster homes across the country. No one wants to take in teenagers. They can go starve for all I care."
I can feel my heart beat in my chest. This man wants to buy this house and kick out kids who have been abused for a large part of their lives, and he is working with Coin. I can feel my hands forming into fists and my breaths becoming shallow, but silent. "I'll find something, and if all else fails, I'll make something up. I'll say Haymitch has gone back to drinking. I'll even pretend to bribe some of the older kids into admitting it. This property is tourist gold. I could make so much money off of it if I could get that idiot, Haymitch Abernathy, to get rid of it. How he became a billionaire, I'll never know. What kind of idiot wastes millions of dollars a year on kids anyway?" There is a slight pause and I can hear the clicking of Effie's heels. "Alma? I've got to go. The sidekick is back."
I am infuriated. I don't easily get mad, but when my friends and the girl I want to be with, all their families and innocent people are at risk, I boil over. Tomorrow is Friday. I'll find some way to tell everyone about this jerk tomorrow after school. For now, I've got some bread to finish.
Katniss *dedicated to TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites for reminding me that not everyone can be strong all the time, not even Jo*
Sometimes, we all just need to cry. Even the strongest of us cry. Even Jo cries. I don't blame her. The combination of her past and the events of Monday, where Gloss smacked her butt, have been eating at her since then. She finally broke today when she saw her father had sent her and Toby a letter, begging them to come back. Jo will get these letters about once a month. She will read them, reply to them and go on with her life. Still, everyone has to break down at some point. Today is just Jo's day.
When Jo does break down, she will only cry to Finnick or me, because she feels like she has to be the strong big sister to Annie and Peeta. They do look up to her, for her strength, loyalty and love. She loves them almost as much as she loves Toby. She sees Finnick and me as her younger siblings too but she sees us as the ones who help her watch the little kids. I almost chuckle at the analogy, since Peeta watches over me far more often than I watch over him. I don't laugh though because silent tears are racking through Johanna's body.
When she is finally able to get words out and get a grip on herself, the words are demeaning and full of hate. "Why am I here, Kat? Why?"
I start to open my mouth to answer. Because you are strong. Because you are brave. Because you got out of there. I don't say any of that though, because I know what she means. It is the same question all of us ask ourselves. Why do we need to be here in the first place?
I didn't trust my mom, even before she left Prim and me to die. I didn't trust her because she would slip away, leaving us to fend for ourselves, ever since Dad died. Why couldn't she see we needed her? Why couldn't she see we were alone and scared? We needed our mother. We had already lost our father. We had already lost the one who protected us from the monsters hiding under the bed. We had lost the one who told us he loved us before he went to work. We lost the one who reminded us we were beautiful and loved every time we seemed upset.
We couldn't lose mother too. We couldn't lose the one who would make our boo-boos disappear with just a kiss. We couldn't lose the one who would weave magical tales about a huntress and a princess to tell us before we went to sleep. We couldn't lose the one who was all we had left to lean on after our daddy went away, but we lost her anyway because she was selfish and never really loved Prim or me.
I stopped trusting mom after she stopped telling Prim the stories about the dark haired Huntress who would hunt the finest wild game to feed to the lovely golden haired Princess and would bring her the most beautiful animals to satisfy her love for the woodland creatures. When mom stopped telling Prim those stories, and I had to sing her lullabies to help her forget, I stopped trusting the woman who dared to call herself our mother.
Why are any of us here in Graceland? That is the question all of us ask ourselves each day. I forgot Jo was there, until she started speaking in a hoarse whisper. "How could my father do that to me?"
"He had no right to." I can't manage to say anything else. Anything else I say will come out choked, or awkward.
Jo looks at me. For the first time, I see fear and longing in her eyes. She is no longer the girl that raised me and inspired me to stay strong. She is suddenly the girl whose father took advantage of her every night. "Katniss?"
"Yeah, Jo?" My voice is strained and ragged, like I had been crying too. I bring my hand up to my cheek and feel it is wet and sticky. I must have let tears roll without even realizing.
"Katniss, what was it like to have a father? One who really loved you and cared for you?"
Her question takes me by surprise, but I don't refuse. I love talking about my dad. He was an amazing man. I decide that is how I'm going to start my story. "My father was an amazing dad. He didn't make too much money, but made enough for us to scrape by. When he did have money, he would spend it on Prim and I, buying us little stuffed bears, or small chocolate bars on his way home from work. He was also an amazing husband. He would often come home with a bouquet of wild flowers for my mother. Sometimes he would come home with purple ones for Prim and white ones for me. Mother never failed to braid them into our hair the next morning for school. When he was at home, which wasn't as often as I liked, he worked hard to make sure Prim, mom and I would have enough to make us happy, he would tell us stories about work or tell us why there weren't any monsters under our beds. He never failed to tuck us in and turn out the light, telling us we were beautiful and loved. He told us we were perfect and we wouldn't change a thing." I pause and look at my hands. "That is what having a father is like."
Johanna wipes the tears away from her brown eyes and smiles for the first time since she pulled me in here to cry with her. "Well, then we better make sure Gale is being a father to his siblings. Besides, he might make a good dad someday." She lets out a wink and starts to get up. I am taken aback.
"Do you have a thing for Gale?" I have never, ever, seen Johanna crush on anyone.
Jo shrugs and shakes her head. "If handsome has a thing for me and asks me out, I won't say no. Besides, he is fine!" She looks back at the letter she is holding in her hand, smiles and throws it away. "He also knows how to be a man."
Again guys, please tell me any ideas and stuff! It would mean a lot. Leave a review too!
Special thanks to all my little dead tributes :) MeaganOneDirection, MiaBelles, Mikey Jacquez, Natura Nature, SecretsandSugarCubes, SibunaChika1227, StarBright18, StayAlways, axes tridents and snares, Anarchy Girl, Catching Fireflies, TARDISRose, Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades, Kyranoel, Fire Kitty 12, MewWinx96, babymcflurry, .krause, cutegirlems, Y.O.L.O So do it right, lole12312, Cinna's Bird, MahoganyMagic12 and Random person in wonderland! Sorry to have killed you all in the games :)
Also, I love all 30 of my followers! Are you all aware this story has the most favoriters and followers out of any story I have written (ever!) Thanks a ton guys!
-Juliet