A little Braver

I posted this story yesterday, but only half of this chapter actually went through so I'm trying again and hopefully it will work! This is my first fan fiction and the next chapter is on the way! I'll post it within the next week, hopefully before school starts. I want to thank my friend Victoria for being my editor and helping me with this story! If you didn't want your name in here, sorry. Anyway as you all know I'm not the brilliant Suzanne Collins and if I was I wouldn't be posting this so… All of the characters belong to her, NOT ME!

Peeta POV

When I wake in the morning I don't need my father to wake me. Today is the first day of school! I turn to my small closet and find they same clothes that my older brothers wore on their first days of school. Barley, being the oldest, wore them first, then Rye, and now me.

As I brush my blonde hair, father comes in to tell me to hurry up and come down stairs. At the table waiting for me is a breakfast consisting of one egg and a stale biscuit. After eating all my food, father walks me to district twelve's only school.

I start to walk off to some of the boys I know from town when father pulls me back.

"See that girl over there?" He asks.

I glance across the yard to see a girl my age from the seam.

"I wanted to marry her mother but she ran off with a coal miner."

I look again and I can see that the girl is wearing a red plaid dress and has her hair done in to braids down her back. She is very pretty. I look up and see a tall man with dark hair and grey eyes just like hers. He must be her father, the coal miner.

"A coal miner? Why would she want a coal miner if she could have had you?" I ask.

"Because when he sings, even the birds stop to listen." He replies.

Later that day we meet our teacher Mrs. Sharp, but I cant stop thinking about that girl.

"Hey Peeta, what are you thinking about?" My best friend Delly asks.

"Oh um, nothing." I answer.

"Peeta, I can tell when you are lying, come on, spill it." She answers.

So I tell her about the girl with the red plaid dress and two braids and what father said.

"Ooh! Peeta has a crush!" She exclaims.

"Shh! I do not!" I yell.

"Whatever Peeta." She says.

Mrs. Sharp tells us that every year there is a music assembly and all of the classes go to it. My brothers talked about them. They always ask for volunteers, but no one ever does. So far, every thing they said is true. The gathered all of us into a room and when I look around I can see all of the other classes here too. A taller man walks up in front of every one and asks in a clear voice.

"Does anyone know the valley song?"

After a moment of hesitation a hand shoots into the air, it's the same girl from this morning!

He sets her onto a stool and she opens her mouth, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Deep in the meadow

Under the willow

A bed of grass

A soft green pillow

Here it's safe

Here it's warm

Here the daisies guard you from every harm

Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true

Here is the place where I love you."

I know after the silence in the room that I am not the only person in awe of that girl's voice. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. She sounded like one of those angels from the old books my mother reads to me sometimes. The second she is off of that stool I run over to her.

"You have a really pretty voice!" I say.

"Oh um, thanks. I'm Katniss." She says as she sticks out her hand.

"I'm Peeta." I reply.

"Like the bread?" she asks.

"Yep. Are you named after anything?"

"Yes actually, a plant." She says.

"Cool! Do you want to have lunch together? There is an old bench that no one uses over there." I say as I gesture over at the bench at the end of the schoolyard.

"Diffidently. I can even give you some uh, food my dad got." She whispers.

"It's okay, I know your dad hunts. I wont tell anyone." I whisper back.

"I can give you a cheese bun."

I wait, and wait, and wait. Time seems to slowly creep by and purposely take forever just to get to lunchtime. When the bell finally rings I run as fast as I can to the bench that I pointed out. I end up running so fast that I have to wait for her to arrive. In those few minutes my palms begin to sweat and my stomach feels like a swarm of bees are flying around in there.

"Hey Peeta, is the ground interesting?" Huh, when did she walk up?

"Oh, hey katniss." I say as I pat the spot next to me. She gladly sits down.

"So I got you some rabbit, and in return I expect a cheese bun." She says.

"Oh, so you expect me to feed you now?" I tease.

"Pretty much." We trade our food and end up talking about our families. Apparently, her mom just had a blonde haired, blue-eyed baby named Primrose.

"So is your whole family named after plants?" I ask.

"Well is your whole family named after bread?" She replies.

"Yes actually."

We continue talking and we end up running late to class and I have to run again.

By the end of the day, I'm exhausted. I walk home with my father and tell him all about katniss and the day we had.

"See, aren't you glad I pointed her out. And you wanted to talk to your friends." He says when I finish.

Immediately my mother puts me to work, frosting the decorations on cakes. My brothers always make fun of me and tease me about being a girl, but mother says that they are just jealous that they don't have the skill that I have. After frosting forty eight cookies and baking a loaf of bread, mother says I'm done for the day so I take a shower then head to the kitchen to eat dinner.

After repeating the story I told father to the rest of the family, mother asks a question.

"So how did you meet this amazing girl Peeta?"

Father suddenly looks nervous, I wonder why?

"Dad pointed her out and said how he wanted to marry her mom." I reply.

At this she yells at Barley to take Rye and I upstairs while sending glares at father.

The walls and floors of this house cannot block out the sound of their yelling, only muffle it. After about an hour I start to head downstairs to see what all of this is about. On the last stair I trip and fall onto a vase that shatters on the floor.

"I'm sorry mom, Ill…" When I look up, I don't see my mother. My mother's eyes are warm and full of love, this woman's eye are cold, full of rage and hate. She raises her hand and a sudden flash of pain spreads its way through my face. I look down and I can see blood from the cut she inflicted from her ring. She continues to hit me until Barley and Rye come down and carries me away. The last thought through my head before the darkness envelops me is that my mother just hit me. Then blank.