Disclaimer: Remember, I just write this for fun. I don't own any rights what so ever; the hunger games and all its characters are property of Suzanne Collins. Also, the idea of an exclusive high school with a gang of four boys ruling it, is from the manga Boys over Flowers, or Hana Yori Dango.

'Argh…' Getting herself comfortable for the seventeenth time this night, her eyes flew to the red digital numbers of her alarm clock on her nightstand. Six o'clock already; just one hour before she had to get up and get ready for school. Although still tired, Katniss pushed herself up from the mattress. It was no use trying to get some sleep now. She'd better get up and take a cool shower or something. Maybe that would clear her head a bit.

Throwing the thin summer blankets aside, she climbed out off bed. As she sluggishly gathered her stuff for her early morning ritual – toothbrush, towels, her make-up –, her troubled thoughts went back to the fight she had with Gale the other day. She wondered if she had been too harsh on him. After all, he only did what he had thought was best for them, what was best for the band. It was an opportunity of a lifetime, and who was she to reject such a generous offer?

She sighed, thinking about Gale's agitated words before they parted. You don't have to decide right away. I just want you to think for a minute and realise what you are saying no to…then, if you decide that's really what you want, I just tell him we'll decline, ok? But please, take it at least in consideration.

Turning on the shower, she stepped into the bathtub, letting her skin absorb the cold as the water soaked her within seconds. Quickly, she began to shampoo her hair, letting the foam cover her hands and scalp as she washed the filth out of the long ebony black strands. When she was finally finished, she wrapped a towel around her body and head and stepped onto the white marble tiles, looking at herself in the damped mirror.

She never was very enthusiastic when seeing her own reflection; the brown almond shaped eyes, the long shaped face, the olive colour tan…not that she found herself ugly or anything, just average. She liked the soft curves of her body though, but even with that she just couldn't compete with the likes of Beyonce or Rianah. Not that she wanted to, oh no heaven forbid, but she knew she had to in order to seriously make it in the music business. All the famous artists these days were or incredibly beautiful…or just really goofy. And she was just not up for either category yet.

Drying her hair as she walked trough the corridor to her room, she heard her cell phone going off. Shit. Hurrying herself towards it, she almost bumped into Prim, who just came from her room, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. 'What's with the rush? It's not even half past six,' her younger sister said, before she stepped into the bathroom herself, locking the door behind her. Katniss quickly grabbed her phone from her nightstand and saw she had a text from Madge. Quickly, she opened it. Sorry about last night. Hope you and Gale make up soon. He was right you know. See you today at school. Nervous? Madge.

For a moment, she only blinked at the message. Nervous? Why would she be nervous? There weren't any tests scheduled for today, now were there? Then she remembered her little run into Cato. O hell, how could she have forgotten? Yesterday, it had been all she could have think of, but her quarrel with Gale had somehow put it all into the background.

The memory of the spike haired blonde alone made her wish she had an excuse to skip class today. But that would only prove her being a weakling, and she didn't want that.

As she peered into her closet, searching through her wardrobe for the usual knee-length skirt and blouse - she hated the dull outfit, but school protocol insisted on wearing them - her eyes fell on the worn out jeans she kept for practicing with the band.

A wicked smile crept upon her face. She could already see the shocked faces of her classmates if she ever dared to walk into class dressed in it. With a bit of hesitation she took it from the shelf. Why not? If she was going to be a pariah, why not wear what she liked?

Stop. You don't know that for sure, a tiny voice within her spoke. Who knows, maybe that Cato guy will not take revenge at all. Why not wait, before you turn all rebellious and risk all you have build up this last few years?

She bit her lip for a minute, staring at the jeans in her hands as she battled with herself what to do. Oh, screw it.

Fifteen minutes later, she hurried down the stairs, walking into the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. Her mother was already sitting at the kitchen table, reading her morning newspaper with a cup of coffee in reach.

'Good morning.' Katniss greeted her, opening the fridge to take some eggs and a pack of milk from the door. 'Is Prim not down yet?'

She heard the newspaper rustle as he mother flipped it to the next page. 'No, I haven't seen her y…' Her mother voice died down and Katniss could just feel her glance, examining her from head to toe. 'Katniss, what on earth are you-'

'Do you also want an egg mother?' Katniss interrupted her sweetly before she could finish her sentence, already knowing what she was about to say. 'I can bake one for you if you want.'

Her mother stayed quiet for a while, and Katniss almost feared she would continue her protest, but in the end she just answered: 'That will be nice dear. Thank you,' and turned back to her newspaper.

Relieved she had avoided the argument, Katniss took the frying pan from the cupboard and put it on the stove. She didn't want to have another squabble with her mother. Not now, when things finally got better between them. After her father died four years ago, all they could do was bicker with each other. Katniss blamed her mother for going up in her work as a real estate manager, leaving her with the upbringing of Prim. Her mother on the other hand blamed her for not having any understanding for her position. She had two kids to feed and a mortgage to pay off; how would she be able to do that, if not by hard labour?

'Mmm, eggs! Can I have some too Katniss? Please, can I?' Prim asked hungrily as she joined them a minute later, wearing a summer dress of blue cotton, her long blonde hair nicely dressed up into two neat braids.

'Of course little duck. How do you want your eggs?'

'Scrambled!' she answered immediately, taking a seat beside their mother. Then, her eyes suddenly widen. 'Wow,' she said, revering to Katniss unusual outfit. 'Are you going to see Gale today?'

Katniss just shrugged in respond. 'Not that I know…maybe I'll drop by later…why?'

'Well, you look so cool today.' Prim sighed, letting her chin rest slightly on the palm of her hand. 'I wish I could look like that. So beautiful.'

'Don't be silly. Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror? Such a pretty little thing.'

The smile Katniss send her little sister was warm and genuine as she brought the frying pan to her plate. 'Here you go. One scrambled egg for milady.'

'Thanks.' As Prim dug in to her meal, Katniss turned to the furnace again, putting the pan back on the stove as she reached for another egg to crack.

'Katniss?'

'Yes Prim?'

'Are you by any chance seeing someone?'

'What?' Knitting her eyebrows in surprise, Katniss looked over her shoulder at Prim. 'No, of course not. What's making you say that?'

'Well, someone called for you the other day. Said his name was Peeta?'

'Shit!' Suddenly having butterfingers, she hurriedly balanced the egg between her hands in the hope not to drop it on the floor. Of course it was a lost case. As the egg fell into a slimy mush at her feet, Katniss turned her burning cheeks towards her sister. 'Who did you say has called?'

Startled by the somewhat extreme reaction of her sister, Prim didn't answer right away. 'Eh… Peeta…Peeta something, I don't remember his last name.'

'Did…did he leave a message?'

Prim shook her head. 'When I told him you weren't there, he just hung up.'

Their mother was also looking up from her paper, observing her eldest daughter with concern in her eyes. 'Why Katniss, you seem shocked. Is something the matter?'

'No. I….I just wasn't expecting a call from him, that's all.' As she began to clean up the mess she'd made, her mind was working on full speed. How the hell did he get our home-number? And what's with all the mystery? If he had wanted to talk to me, at least he could have asked Prim if I could call him back later.

'So, this Peeta guy…is he a friend of yours from school,' her mother informed casually, taking a sip from her coffee. Katniss rolled her eyes. Argh…

'Actually, he is. Kind off. He's ok.' After throwing the tissue with raw egg into the trash bin she washed her hands and took an apple and a sandwich from the fridge, stuffing it all into her backpack. Then she leaned in to her mother to give her a peck on the cheek. 'Well, I will be off then.'

Her mom nodded. 'Just be careful, ok?'

'You know I always will momma. See you two tonight. Oh, and I'm taking the car today, ok? Thanks.' Before her mother could protest, she walked into the hallway and through the garage door. Two minutes later, she drove off with screaming tires, on her way to school.

'Oh, come on…Not another one.' Sighing, she hit the brake to stop for the red light. While she waited impatiently for it to turn green again, she reached forward, pushing the play button of the CD player. In a second, Men at Work's 'Down Under' filled the car.

'Oh yeah.' Setting the speakers on full volume, she began to sing along with the lyrics and made a left turn. Checking her rear view mirror, she saw a blue station wagon making the same turn. Hmm…she could have sworn that she had seen it before. Strange.

Not making much of a fuss of it though, she continued her way…until, ten minutes later, it was still three cars behind her, while she had made a couple of turns already. Not feeling very comfortable with this, she took another left turn to see what it would do…Without hesitation, it followed.

Ok, this was more than weird. She speeded up a little; at the next lights, she switched lines at the last minute, forcing the other car to give up. Or at least she thought. When she looked back into the mirror again, it was still there; it was even closing in on her now. She might have seen who her stalker was, if it weren't for the dark coloured windows.

Stepping on the gas, she made one last turn, racing to school in the hope she could get him of her trail. Ignoring the traffic lights turning into red, she sped over the high way crossing, missing the crossing truck by nearly an inch. It earned her a lot of angry honks, but she didn't care much…at least she got rid of her stalker.

By the time she drove up on Raydale's driveway, her hands were all shaky from the adrenaline. She couldn't believe what had just happened.

What was going on? First that stupid call from Peeta, and now this…Ok Everdeen, don't get all messed up about this. It was probably just some fucked up teenager who thinks it's funny to scare the living shit out of people. Better stay focused. Remember, you are above all this.

She shook her head as she parked her yellow Citroën 2CV not too far from the building; it was still early, so there was plenty of room. Pushing the gear leverfrom D into P, she took hold of the key and turned the engine off. When she felt the car still moving, she pulled up the brake as well. Damn, she always forgot that one.

Taking hold of the steering wheel, she sighed, staring at the building in front of her. Closing her eyes, she silently started to count till ten. Ok, here goes nothing.

Opening her door, she stepped onto the concrete in the most casual way she could, ignoring the stares that were already her part. Yeah, have a good look, she thought rebelliously. This is what a normal teenage girl looks like. Acting like everything was perfectly normal, she slammed the door behind her and, after locking everything up, headed towards the school entrance. With her army boots, her tight jeans and the short sleeve black t-shirt, she totally fell out of tune in comparison to the other girls. She even had braided her long hair were most girls wore their hair in buns. But she didn't care. For the first time in months, she actually felt like her old self again. With every step she took, she felt stronger then ever. That was, until Principal Crane stopped her in her tracks.

'So, Ms. Everdeen. Where are we going today?'

'Eh…to class,' she answered, rolling her eyes at the stupidity of the question. Crane just shook his head, stern as ever as his eyes scanned her haughty from top to bottom. 'Not in this outfit. You and I both know this school has a strict protocol concerning our daily garment. No exceptions. So I suggest you go back home and change into some more appropriate clothing.'

'Well, no offence of course, but the ones I wear at the moment are more then proper for me,' Katniss backfired without shame. It took the presumptuous smile right off his face.

'I'm not going to repeat myself Ms. Everdeen. So, please, do as I told you and go home to change.' He'd already turned his back to her, when she snapped: 'Say whatever you want. I'm not going to.'

He sighed deeply. 'Do you rather have me to suspend you? Because if you decide to continue this difficult behaviour, I see no other option.'

'Any problems Seneca?'

Crane, startled by the sudden interruption, looked up from their conversation. When he saw who had been so bold, the smile was back on his face. 'Not at all, Mr. Mellark. I was just reminding this girl here of our school protocols.'

Mellark? O no. Straightening her back as she met his blue eyes, she ignored the upcoming need to flee.

'Glimmer?' The blue orbs widen when he recognised her, and widen even more when they took in her cool rock chick appearance. Soon, an appreciative smile made his lips curl. 'Well, you're looking very different today.'

'Actually, it's Katniss,' she corrected him coolly, praying she would not blush. Why had she been such a dork to give him the wrong name in the first place?

His smile only widened. 'I heard. Marvel already told me.'

His turned to Crane, who was still standing close, and nodded. 'It's alright. I will take it from here.'

'As you wish,' Crane only said, giving her one last glare before he retreated to the cafeteria. That was also one of the other privileges the Richies had; they had no restrictions. Because of the money and influence of their families, even the teachers and the members of the board had to humour them in their wishes.

She snorted. 'Pompous old geezer. '

'Don't you mind him. He's just one of the old school, that's all.' Peeta couldn't help but whistle as he looked her over once more. 'Well I must say you surely have some guts to show up at school like this.'

'What, does a girl in jeans shock you?' she teased, already a little warming up to him.

He shook his head at that, running his hand through his hair as he regarded her with an impish smile. 'Well I have to admit, it did at first. But I like your outfit very much...it suits you.'

'You do huh?' She could help but smile; it made her grey eyes sparkle with life as they met his. For a moment he held his pace, taken by the beauty she was broadcasting. Noticing this, she suddenly became nervous. 'Well, I think I better get going. I don't want to be late for class.'

He nodded, but just before she could walk away, he gently grabbed her wrist to stop her. 'Wait. Will I see you later, in the cafeteria? I would like to talk to you a bit more.'

She seemed to hesitate for a moment and then nodded in agreement. 'Ok. Sure. Why not?'

'Great. I'll see you then. You know where we dine, don't you?'

'Eh...sure?' O no, what had she agreed on? As he started his way back to the cafateria, she remembered something. 'Oh, before I forget… Why did you call me yesterday? Was there something you wanted to talk about?'

'Huh?' He turned towards her again, blinking his eyes in wonder. 'Call you?'

'Yes. My sister told me you had tried to reach me? I was at a friends, so I-'

'Katniss,' he interrupted her as a frown darkened his features. 'It wasn't me. I didn't call you yesterday.'

a/n: Thank you all for reading this. When I first began to write this chapter, I wanted to focus more on the drama at school, but instead ended up with this. Not that I'm complaining; I'm happy with this chapter, and all the idea's I orginally had for this chapter will be transported to the next.

Please, if you liked this, review; it works very stimulating. Already 8 fav's and 18 alerts. Yeah!