My heart is threatening to leave my chest. I can hear my own pulse. I'm afraid that Peeta can hear it, too.
"Are you alright?" he asks.
I nod because, if I open my mouth, I might throw up.
"We practiced this. We are going to do it, and we are going to be awesome. If we go first, no one will remember how we did."
That's easy to say now. A series of "what if" statements course through my brain. The bell rings, marking the beginning of first period.
"Alrighty. First day of presentations," says Mr. Abernathy. "Who's goin' first?"
Everyone in the room is afraid to make eye contact with Mr. Abernathy, except for Peeta. He raises his hand with confidence.
"Alright, Mellark and Everdeen. Come on up."
Peeta stands up immediately and looks to me. I look up at him, horrified. "It's okay, come on," he mouths. I stand up on shaky legs. I walk down the center aisle of desks, avoiding eye contact with everyone until I am front and center with Peeta to my left.
"Hi, everyone. I'm Peeta. This is Katniss. We chose to do our report on psoriasis." He says this while setting up the PowerPoint presentation. "We have several pictures to show you and would like to warn you that some of these pictures can be unpleasant."
Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that causes raised, red, scaly patches on the skin. These patches can appear anywhere on the body, but they commonly appear on the elbows, knees, and scalp. People report that psoriasis can be painful." Peeta continues on about symptoms and the level of severity and then says, "Let me show you the five different types. Plaque psoriasis is the most common." He clicks the keyboard to change the slide.
The class erupts in a chorus of groans. "Oh god…" I hear someone say.
"Guttate."
The class groans again, "Uuugggh."
"Inverse."
"Ooooh."
"Pustular."
"Ewwwwww!"
"And last but not least, Erythrodermic."
"UUUUGGH!"
I can't help but chuckle at this. "Erythrodermic is the most rare form of psoriasis, but it is life threatening. Okay, I've tortured you enough. Katniss?"
My breath catches in my throat. I remain silent, and, by doing so, ruin the momentum. With a dry mouth, I say, "Like P-Peeta said, psoriasis is an autoimmune disease. That means that, basically, your immune system overcompensates and not only does it attack the bad things, but it, uh, attacks the good things, too. In the case of psoriasis, the white blood cells in the immune system attack the skin which causes it to overgrow." I continue to explain the genetics behind the disease. Peeta should have gone second. I think that I'm starting to lose them, and it is increasing my anxiety.
"Anyways…um," I start playing with my braid.
"Yo, can we hurry this up, please?" A blonde boy sitting in the middle of the room is tapping his foot and waving his hands around to indicate that he wants things to speed up. I look to Peeta, and he gives me an encouraging look.
"Shut it, boy," says Mr. Abernathy.
"This is just boring as hell."
Mr. Abernathy shoots him a warning glance. I look back to Peeta, and he looks pissed as well. When he looks back at me his eyes soften and try to encourage me further. I find the strength to continue,"People that have psoriasis can develop many other issues. They can develop psoriatic arthritis, which is very similar to rheumatoid arthritis. Since it's, um…an autoimmune disease, their immune systems don't work very well; they get sick very easily. Also, psoriasis is chronic, so they will have it for the rest of their lives."
The class stares at me with blank faces. There is a tension in the room. Mr. Abernathy interrupts the silence with a slow clap.
"Very nice. Any questions?"
I look over to Peeta, and he gives me a thumbs up and a small smile.
"Yeah, I've got a question."
"Yes, Cato," Peeta says with a tinge of annoyance.
"Where'd you get that shiner, Mellark?"
I look to Peeta nervously; he seems unfazed. Peeta smirks and says, "Wouldn't you like to know."
"Did Everdeen give it to you? I heard she's like a total prude. She won't even give it up to Hawthorne. Go get her, Loverboy!" he shouts and then barks like a dog.
My face is red. My rage passes description. I don't know what I'm doing. I walk up to this "Cato" boy and punch him in the face so hard that I hurt myself. I start shaking my hand, as if I can cool it somehow.
I am breathing heavily. Cato is holding his face. "Fuck you!" he yells.
Blood is dripping on the floor. I look around the room. Mouths are agape, Peeta's eyes are wide, and Mr. Abernathy is laughing. I lower my hand and realize that some of the blood not the floor is my own. My knuckles are bleeding.
I look to Mr. Abernathy, "I…I'm sorry I.."
He gives me a thumbs up. "Nice job, sweetheart," Mr. Abernathy says through a snort.
I've never been in trouble at school before. Initially, I thought that I would be the only one in trouble, but Mr. Abernathy made sure that Cato also received punishment. We were both given four days of suspension, which I didn't mind. That meant an extended winter break. My mom, however, was going to see things differently.
When my mother came to pick me up, Mr. Abernathy came to speak with her. Somehow, he convinced my mother that I was actually the victim in the situation. All she said was, "I don't think that hitting people is a good solution, but I understand why you were angry. Even though you are suspended, you have to get up with your sister and put her on the bus. You will also pick her up at the bus stop at the end of the school day. Is that understood?"
I nodded. We never spoke about it again. I think I felt respect for her in that moment.
"Hey, Rocky, how's the hand?" Gale assumes a boxing stance and takes a few swings at the air. I smirk at him and show him the damage. A few of my knuckles are split and a bruise is forming between my ring finger any my pinky.
Naturally, the news that I had punched Cato in the face travelled around the school like wildfire. "Not that I think you needed an excuse to punch him, but what did he do?"
I told him about mine and Peeta's presentation, and that I was already stressed out and him adding to it made me snap. "I shouldn't have reacted so quickly. I was just…I didn't like the way he spoke to Peeta either."
"AHA! You felt he was threatening someone you care about. Oh, Everdeen, you're a hopeless romantic."
I sputtered trying to find a comeback and to tell him that he was wrong. All that came out was, "No!"
He laughed. "Have you told him yet?"
I shake my head. "We are, at least, talking now. I've tried a few times but other things have always gotten in the way."
Gale nods and then looks me directly in the eyes. "I have an idea, and you aren't going to like it, but you should trust me." I don't like where this is going, but I nod. "Finnick Odair is having his annual Christmas party on Friday night…"
I groan.
"…and I know, for a fact, that Mellark will be there."
"Gale, how would going to that party help at all? There are going to be hundreds of people there. I've heard about those parties; crazy shit always happens. I'm not going to be able to talk to him alone."
"Who says you have to stay?" He winks at me and gets up to leave. "I recall that someone didn't want to go to the bonfire either. Look how that turned out. If you want a ride, let me know." He exits the room.
It's amazing. I've spent my entire high school life avoiding social functions, and in the span of four months, Gale has convinced me to go to two. I'm turning into a social butterfly. I feel determined. Friday. Peeta Mellark will know how I feel about him.
A/N: A huge thanks to everlarkcheesebuns for being my beta! If you guys want something new to read, she is working on a story of her own. It's called Something's Gotta Give. Go read it right now.
Major props to Katniss for punching some face. I know a lot of you are probably thinking that Ms. Everdeen was WAY to easy on Katniss and that your mom would have destroyed you, but hey. Things will be more fun this way. Also, I got the psoriasis info from psoriasis. org (Psoriasis really sucks, guys).
Thank you so much for reading/reviewing/favoriting! An update will be on it's way soon!