HEY GUYS!

So my dumb butt deleted the next chapter to trip to the capitol, so that's being delayed. I can't tell you how mad I am at myself. Updating that maybe next week idk, i'm sad/mad about it.

A YEAR AGO TODAY I POSTED THE NEW GIRL'S FIRE. And this whole Panem school nonsense started! Also IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY! FUN GOOD DAY!

Anons:

Emz: You have mixed emotions girl. Cheerleading uniform ;) Whoa Cashmere and Annie? I don't see it, lol. Gohanna sounds bad too.

HG3: Odesta yay! Cause I'm evil? WHAHAHA, no. They're safe.

ENJOY!

Chapter 11 "Homecoming Game"

Finnick's POV

"It's cold as hell out here!" Johanna exclaims rubbing her hands together.

"Told you to bring a coat," Annie tells her. "But did you listen? No."

I let out a laugh as Annie leans into me and rests her head on my shoulder. I put my head on hers. Her red curls act as a pillow as I snuggle into her.

"Isn't that sweet?"

Annie hits Johanna's leg and she just laughs.

It's finally Friday and the homecoming game starts in an hour. Annie insisted on coming early to get good seats. She wants to be in front so she can spot Gloss and Cashmere clearly. Of course Johanna complained about it, but I didn't mind.

It's only been a day since I asked Annie to homecoming and already we've transformed from just friends to dating. To be honest I thought it would have been difficult to make that kind of transition, but it wasn't. It was the complete opposite. Annie made it so natural. Seeing how Johanna and Gale are fighting I was worried that Annie and I could end up like that, but yesterday I took a chance and I'm glad I did.

Peeta comes from his locker with a blanket in his hand. "Here, Johanna."

"Oh my God, thank you, Peeta." She grabs it and quickly wraps herself in it.

"Aren't you going to share?" I ask.

"You have a coat, don't you?"

Peeta takes a seat next to Johanna and steals some of the covers away from her.

"Don't worry, Fin," says Peeta. "I'm sure Annie will keep you warm."

I can feel Annie smile into my shoulder.

"I can't wait for the cheerleaders to come out," says Johanna. "They're going to freeze their asses off in those tiny skirts."

Johanna would be excited about that. To watch Glimmer and Cashmere suffer in the cold is probably the only reason she came. That reminds me...

"Peeta, I'm sorry about Glimmer." Annie told me about that because…well, she isn't great with secrets. "Sucks she said no."

"She said no?" Johanna asks, not all that sad about it. "Sorry, Peeta."

"You aren't sorry," I say, because, come on, Johanna's so not.

"Okay, maybe I'm not, but I'm not going to say I'm happy about it," Johanna admits. "Don't worry, Peeta. So you'll go alone. Big deal."

"I was going to go alone," Annie says, lifting her head. "But then Finnick asked me—"

"Finally he did," Johanna interrupts. "You two have been dancing around the whole dating thing since you came here Annie. Finnick finally grew a pair."

"Offense!" I shout. "Why did I have to be the one to ask? Annie could have done it. Double standards."

"'Cause they're the girls. It's our job to ask, apparently."

"No," Annie says. "I was going to ask Peeta to go with me since we both were going alone."

"Stupid Finnick stole my date," Peeta jokes.

I laugh. "I'm sorry that I'm not sorry."

"You be nice to her, Finnick. Or I might try and take her away from you." Peeta winks.

Annie snorts. "Yeah, good luck with that, Peeta."

"Just like imagine them going out," Johanna moves in closer to Peeta. "That'd be weird."

Actually, yeah, it would be weird. Sure Peeta and Annie would seem great together on paper, but I don't think there's anything there to hold them together.

"Yeah." I nod. "That would be like you and me dating."

"Just plain awkward."

"Exactly," I agree with Johanna.

"Okay." Annie rises. "While you guys discuss me and Peeta I'll be…going."

"See what you guys did," Peeta says. "Now you've made Annie sad."

"Get over yourself, Peeta." Annie smiles. "I'm just going to go see Cashmere." She goes.

"The only reason I am here is because of Annie and she leaves," Johanna says shivering. "That's just great."

"Oh stop lying to herself Johanna." I move close to Peeta and put my arm around him. "You love spending time with me and this guy. We're the best things that have ever happened to you."

"Keep telling yourself that Finnick. Goddamn, I don't even know anything about football. I'm just going to be bored the entire time."

You and me both Johanna.

"Finnick can keep you company," says Peeta with a grin. "He doesn't know anything either."

"Really?"

I nod. Honestly, I couldn't care less about football. I've tried watching it before and within five minutes I end up sleeping on the couch only to be woken up by my father screaming at the TV. This happens every time, it's not even funny.

"It's a pointless sport," I say, because it fucking is.

"Right! It's just so—" Johanna's cut off by her own coughing. She sounds horrible.

"Are you okay?" Peeta asks, reaching for her hand. "Holy crap! Johanna you're freezing."

"I'm fin—" And she's coughing again.

I sigh and rise. "Alright. I'm going to see one of Annie's friends has a coat we can borrow."

"Hurry, before she dies of frost bite." Peeta takes the blanket off himself and wraps it around Johanna completely. "You should have listened to Annie."

"I should have done a lot of things, Peeta."

As I leave I smile while the two of them start to bicker like an old married couple. Just imagine them dating. That's just asking for disaster.

I go into the school keeping an eye out for Annie. The only people I see are the football players and cheerleaders. Finding Annie is going to be a challenge, and it's not like I can call her. There's music playing in here so loud I can barely hear the people next to me speak. I spot Cashmere talking to some redhead cheerleader with a high ponytail facing her. I go over.

"Hey, Finnick." Cashmere smiles at me. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, I was looking for Annie. Have you seen her?"

Cashmere lets out a laugh. "Have I seen her?" Cashmere turns the redhead around towards me. It's Annie. Red curls up, checks painted with the school colors gray and red, and heavy eye shadow.

"Annie?" I ask very shocked because what the hell?

"Hi Finnick."

"I'll just leave you two alone." Cashmere leaves.

"What's with the—"

"I don't know." Annie cuts me off. "She asked and I couldn't say no."

Oh Annie.

"You're going to freeze out there."

"I know." She mumbles. "But…I'm all for helping out."

That's what she thinks. In reality Annie just has a hard time saying no. She doesn't like to hurt people which is understandable, but yet isn't right. I guess that's part of the reason I was afraid to ask her out. I didn't want her to just say yes to spare my feelings.

I'm not completely positive that she didn't, but I have hope.

"The uniform looks good on you, but I'm sure I would have worn it better."

"Are you offering the view, Finnick?"

"Maybe."

Annie rolls her eyes with amusement and lets out a small laugh.

"I have thirty minutes to learn whatever Cashmere wants me to do so," Annie kisses me on the cheek softy. "I'll see you later."

"Good luck. You're going to need it when you freeze out there."

"Ha. Ha. Thanks." She leaves.

I really hope Annie doesn't catch a cold. Actually, considering the length of those skirts frost bite is the bigger issue. That reminds me, I'm supposed to be getting Johanna a coat. And I was supposed to ask Annie, damn it. Eh, I'm sure Johanna will be fine, and if not, well, she should have brought a coat.

I head over to the exit and prepare for the cold air. I step out and find Clove about to enter. She's wearing blue sweatpants, a black hoodie, a black scarf, and a green coat. She's prepared for the cold. All she's missing is a hat.

"Hey," she breathes out.

"Hey."

Clove bites her lip, like she's trying to think of something to say. Well, so am I. Last time we talked was right before Peeta's match. We were just talking and then comes Cato. The fucking douche acts like I'm not here, stands in front of me, and starts talking to Clove. He asks her to homecoming and she starts telling him off. Clove says something along the lines of "Leave me alone, stop asking me, it's not happening. Get that through that pretty little stupid head of yours. No, no. I'd rather go alone. No, correction, I'd rather not go at all." I could help but let out an amused snort at that last part. Cato got offended, which was totally stupid because I didn't even fucking say anything! We started arguing, and then I kind of mentioned that I asked Clove to homecoming, and Clove got pissed. She yelled at both of us and completely threatened our lives. She made Cato leave. Then Clove called me an idiot among other things and I haven't talked to her since.

"Finnick." Her voice is so sincere that I think she's apologizing. "You're in the way." Or maybe not.

"Oh." I move. "Sorry."

"It's alright."

Clove's about to go in but then I blurt out, "You're a cheerleader?"

That stops her. "What? No. What makes you think that?"

I shrug. "Cashmere and Glimmer are." I point to the door. "You were going inside."

"You were just inside. Does that make you a cheerleader too?"

"No. I was talking to Annie." I can tell by the look on her face that she wonders what Annie is doing in there. "Cashmere is missing a cheerleader."

"Oh. Now that explains a lot. She called me a while ago asking me to rush over. I'm glad I took my time."

"Like you would have said yes."

"True."

"Do you have an extra sweater with you?" I ask, remembering Johanna.

"Why? Is Finnick cold? Can he not handle it?" She asks teasingly.

"I'm fine, thank you. It's for Johanna; her dumbass didn't bring a coat."

Clove shakes her head and begins to take off her coat. She hands it to me.

"I'll just ask Cato for his." She says it like it's nothing.

I'm about to let that go but…I can't.

"You shouldn't be asking a guy who likes you for his coat," I say, because honestly it's true. That's just leading him on.

Clove nods. "Noted. Well lucky for me I keep a spare coat in my locker just in case." She smiles and goes for the door but again I stop her.

"Clove?"

She looks at me and raises an eyebrow.

"Thanks for telling me Cashmere was lying about Gloss and Annie."

"It was nothing. I just don't know why Cashmere's so obsessed with getting them together. Just be careful."

"I will. Say, uh…" I'm not sure if I should ask but I do anyway. "What's with you and Cato?"

Clove looks confused by the question. "What do you mean?"

"Why won't you go with him to Homecoming? Was the first date really that bad?"

She shakes her head. "It was great. Better than I would have thought."

Now I'm confused. "If it was so great why say no now?"

"'Cause he doesn't care about me. He went on a date with three other girls after me and for a week acted like we never went out." Damn. What an ass. "Then suddenly he asks me out again and he expects me to said yes. Like it was no big deal for him to ignore me for a week. Cato doesn't deserve a second date with me."

"He doesn't deserve anything from you."

"Don't I know it." With that she goes into the school and I head back to my seat.

I check my watch as I head back and see it's almost time for the game to start. Hopefully I don't fall asleep, not because I actually want to watch, but because knowing Johanna I'm going to wake up with writing all over my face. A lesson I've learned from the past, don't fall asleep with Johanna near you.

The stands are packed now. There are signs everywhere and people covered in paint. I have a hard time getting to my seat. Gale has joined us and I'm surprised Johanna's still here. I'm even more surprised they are actually talking. I take a seat next to Peeta and fill him in on Annie's situation.

"How the hell is she going to know a five minute routine with only thirty minutes of practice?"

I shrug. "How would I know?"

I look over at Gale and Johanna. They seem to be getting along finally, no more of them fighting.

I give Johanna Clove's coat and say hi to Gale. And it's starting.

…

The crowd starts shouting in angry. I can hear the boos and swear words coming from everywhere.

"Intentional grounding!" Gale shouts. "That crowd!"

Intentional what? God, I have no idea what's going on.

"What's that?" Johanna asks, and I'm glad she did because I didn't want to ask.

"A penalty when the quarterback purposely throws an incomplete pass just to avoid a sack," Peeta says.

"How do you know that?" I ask, surprised he knew.

"What? The baker's son can't enjoy football? Damn."

"Oh shut up, Peeta," Johanna says.

There's a ringing noise that goes through the speakers. I'm assuming it's halftime. The players leaving the field and the cheerleaders moving onto the field confirms my guess.

"There's Annie." Johanna points to the cheerleaders but it's hard to tell which one she's pointing to. "Four one from the left in the second row, also she's the only redhead."

Oh yeah. She is.

"Go Annie!" Gale shouts with Peeta echoing him.

"She looks so cute," Johanna says.

I nod. "Yeah she does."

Looking around I spot Glimmer in the first row, second from the right.

"Hey, Peeta," I say grabbing his attention. "Glimmer's in the first row."

"I know."

Of course he does.

Johanna rolls her eyes. "Shush, Peeta. It's starting."

I don't know much about cheerleading, but I know for sure what Annie was doing I couldn't do in a million years.

When the music starts Annie runs in front with three other girls. They do three cartwheels in a row, in unison. These two guys lift her high in the air. My heart jumps when they left her go. Annie lands on her feet perfectly, relaxing me. Some how she ends up in the back, so I can't see her anymore. My focus shifts to Cashmere. She's in the center leading the, what do you call it? The dance part, I guess? The others are mimicking her. Next thing I know Cashmere's being lifted and Annie's in front with Glimmer. The run towards each other before doing backflips and landing side by side. They are literally only inches a part. They face the crowd and do splits. Damn, I didn't know Annie could do a spilt. That must hurt. Everyone in the stands goes crazy, as that was the ending of the routine.

As the cheerleaders go back to the sidelines I hear Glimmer's name being screamed. I would have thought it was Peeta, but the voice is too girly to be his, I hope. I look over to the other section of stands near me. There's Clove screaming her lungs off for Glimmer. Marvel's screaming with her and Cato just sitting hugging himself. He doesn't have a coat, but Clove does.

"I didn't know Annie could be the flexible," Gale says. "She whines in gym class when we have to stretch."

"Annie's just lazy," Peeta says, and he's right. Annie can be lazy as hell at times.

"You guys are acting like she just ran a marathon." Johanna says somewhat annoyed. "She just ran and did some flips. Psh, I can do that in my sleep."

"I'd like to see you try, Johanna."

"Then why aren't you a cheerleader?" I ask, just to piss her off.

"'Cause I…Shut up, Finnick."

We laugh and Johanna pouts at us. Gale wraps his arms around her and gives her a kiss on the cheek. Johanna is smiling now.

We all turn our attention back to the field when music starts playing. The dance team is on the field now. Whoa, those girls can dance! I'm so amazed how does someone do that? I'd probably break my leg if I tried to do any of that.

"Finnick, you okay?" Johanna asks me.

"I'm fine," I say.

"Than why do you look like you just saw Santa Claus?" Peeta asks, only half joking.

"It's the dancing," I say because duh. "You guys know I can't dance."

"I don't understand how you can't dance," Gale says, and Johanna nods in agreement.

"It's just about moving your hips and feet. It's not that hard."

I'm about to respond until I see Annie coming, with her uniform still on.

"Annie you were amazing!"

"Damn, you're flexible! Did it hurt?"

"Are you a cheerleader now? Please say yes."

Annie sits by me. She snuggles into me once again and I put my arms around her, hugging her.

"Thank you, Johanna. No it did not hurt, Gale. Peeta, I'm not going to be a cheerleader. Even if I was, that doesn't mean somehow you'd see Glimmer more." Annie then looks at me, "What did you think?"

"I thought you were great."

Annie smiles and kisses me on the cheek.

Peeta smiles at us, then turns to Johanna and Gale. "Now can't you guys be that cute?"

"Oh shut up."

"We're cuter."

"Yeah right," I say with a smirk. "You guys can't beat me and Annie."

"You just watch, Odair." Johanna says.

"Yeah whatever," I gesture towards the field. "Can we just focus on the game now?"

…

I'm waiting out the school after the game for Annie to change. We won and everyone went crazy. It's eleven pm and all I want to do is go to bed. Tomorrow is the dance and Annie wants me to come over early so she can show me how to dance. It starts at seven and she wants me there at ten. It's going take a lot more than just eight hours to learn how to dance.

Annie comes out with her coat on, hair down, ready to go home.

"You're mom isn't going to mad you're so late?" I ask.

"Probably." She shrugs. "But she'll be happy when I tell her I was a cheerleader for a day. She was a cheerleader when she was in high school."

We start walking home.

"No wonder you're so flexible."

Annie ignores my comment. "Cashmere told me she had Clove video taping it. She's going to give me a copy. Then I can show my mom."

"Well that's—" I'm cut off by shouting.

Annie's eyes widen. She knows that voice. So do I. It's Johanna.

We run towards the shouting. As we get closer I can hear Gale's voice. There's a third voice. Madge. This can't be good.

We're at the corner of the school when we see them. Annie wants to go over but I stop her. We stay by the building and watch. Gale has a bad temper and so does Johanna. If I go over there there's no doubt Gale's going to try and pick a fight. I just need to stay and make sure nothing bad happens.

"I can't believe you!" Johanna shouts.

"Well what did you expect—"

She cuts Gale off. "To go alone. I don't care if we're fighting. That doesn't give you the right to go to the dance with someone else."

"Johanna," Madge breathes out. "It's not like that, I swe—"

"If you want to keep that pretty face of yours you better be leaving, Madge."

Madge just looks at her, scared.

"Go!" Johanna shouts and Madge runs.

After she leaves the shouting stops. Gale and Johanna are arguing, I can tell by their movements, but they aren't shouting anymore. I'll take that as a good sign.

"Should we go over there?" Annie whispers. "Maybe they'll stop."

"Maybe we should." Johanna pushes Gale away from her and flicks him off. She's shouting again but I can't make out what she's saying. "Or maybe not."

Gale looks like he's had enough. He walks away as Johanna keeps shouting. Once he's completely gone Johanna falls to her knees and buries her head in her hands. She's crying.

Annie and I look at each other.

"She needs us." Annie says.

We're about to go over but freeze when we see Peeta's already there. Where the hell did he come from?

He's on the ground with her, holding her. She has her head buried in his shoulder. He lifts her up and talks. Johanna is nodding along then gives him a hug. They stand there in the middle of the street hugging.

It's amazing how he's here when she needs someone.

"Maybe not."

A bit of a fill in. Homecoming will be a long chapter. Probably 3rd person. Just want to say it's HOMECOMING, NOT PROM.

So, review? Please?