We cleaned up after the party, and we're all in the living room. Prim and Luke went for a walk.
We don't have the TV on, we're just talking.
"I still remember that summer," Rye says. "Every one of us went to Disney."
"Oh man! That was so fun!" Annie says.
"Remember we got stuck at the top of Thunder Mountain?" I ask Peeta.
He nods.
"I still have the pictures. I have all of the pictures we ever took" Mrs. Mellark says. "If someone wants to go get them…" she trails off.
"I will. Where are they?"
"In a box in the basement, under the bathroom sink. It says pictures on it."
I nod and go down to the basement, and then I gasp.
Prim and Luke didn't go for a walk.
No, Prim is in her underwear only and Luke is in his boxers. They're making out. They spring apart, and start scrambling for their clothes. Prim is dressed in under thirty seconds.
"Daddy's gonna kill you guys!" I yell at them. "What the fuck!"
"No, because he isn't going to find out!" Prim yells.
"Wanna bet?" I yell back at her.
I grab the box and run.
She chases after me, and I put the box on the coffee table. She slaps me , and I punch her, and pushes me down, covering my mouth. I flip, and pin her to the floor by the arms and legs.
"Knock it off!" Mama says, shoving us apart. "Dammit! What the hell happened?"
"If I went down there a minute later, they'd have been having sex!" I say, breathless.
Daddy's silent. "Primrose, is this true?" he stands up.
"No!" she lies. Daddy looks at me.
I put my hands up in defense. "I swear I'm telling the truth."
Luke comes in the house.
"God Luke, you're such a dog!" Annie says. "You don't need sex! Hell, I'm a virgin!"
"That's because you can't get a boyfriend!" Luke snaps. "You and Katniss are just jealous!"
Like I said, we're all like one giant family. There's two sets of parents and four kids.
"We're not jealous!" I snap. "I'm happy I didn't get sixteen and pregnant!"
"I'm not going to get pregnant!" Prim yells, and she hits me again, and Annie, and I hit her back, and her nose starts gushing with blood. Annie and I both start fighting her.
"Hey!" Mr. Cresta yells. "Knock it off!" I shove Prim away from me.
"I'm really sorry." Mama apologizes to Mrs. Mellark. "We'll take tis outs-"
Mrs. Mellark starts shaking her head. "It's okay. Trust me, four boys and one girl causes many fights. I completely understand."
Mrs. Cresta sighs. "All four of you, outside. Now."
"What the fuck did I do?" I demand.
"Did I say only for you to go outside?" she asks. "No, I didn't. Now go."
I groan and stomp out of the house. Annie follows me, letting the door slam behind her. Prim comes out, and Luke, and then all our parents.
"I can't believe you fucking told them!" she yells at me.
"You're sixteen!" Annie yells back, defending me. This is how it's always been. Annie and I stick up for each other, and Prim and Luke fend for themselves.
"Just because you guys haven't had sex yet doesn't mean that I can't!" Prim sneers.
Annie and I attack her again, and Daddy pulls me and Annie away.
"Alright!" Mr. Cresta yells when the four of us start screaming at each other. "You girls are twnenty four years old and you're acting like teenagers! Prim, stop saying shit to piss them off! You're just asking for it! You know they have tempers. Luke, you're not having sex, okay? You're fucking sixteen years old! Now, I want all of you to hug and make up. You're not going back inside until you do."
I cross my arms. "I'm not touching them."
"Yeah, I don't even want to look at her!" Prim says.
"Prim, you're grounded." Mama says.
"What!" she yells.
"ENOUGH!" Daddy yells. He's had enough. "You're grounded. Stop yelling. Give me your phone."
She's pissed. She slams her phone into her hand, and goes storming down the street.
"Luke, you're grounded too." Mr. Cresta says.
Luke rolls his eyes, shoves his phone at his father and goes storming into the opposite direction as Prim.
Annie and I sit down on the porch when our parents go inside.
"They're such dumbasses." She mutters. I nod in agreement.
Peeta, Finnick, and Johanna comes outside.
"Your phone has rang six times." Peeta hands me my phone.
"So has yours." Finn hands Annie her phone. I check the number and sigh. I'm the main owner. Annie said she wanted me to be.
I call back the store.
"Katniss." Adrian sighs.
"What's wrong?"
"All the bills came in, and some guy, and he was asking for you..."
"Okay…" I hesitate.
"He…he said if he didn't see you in twenty four hours, he'd come back and kill everyone. He left an hour ago…"
I sigh. "His name is Gale." Everyone looks at me. "I'll come home." I run my fingers through my hair. "I'll take care of it." I say, and I hang up.
…..a…..
I went home, and we're all back at our houses. I called the police, and Gale has a warrant out for his arrest. My cop guy is coming into the store all day and he'll act like a costumer. I'm supposed to come into work. Peeta doesn't want me to go, and Annie isn't allowed to. I won't let her, insisting that I'd rather something to happen to me than to her.
It's storming outside, and I'm sitting in the living room. The only sound in the house is the clock ticking is the rain hitting the roof, and the thunder. Annie's asleep. It's three in the morning, and I can't sleep, because I'm scared.
Thunder claps, and I fall asleep.
…..a…..
The cop was here before I got here. Adrian is here. I'm wearing a white dress that goes seven inches above my knee, my hair is down, and I have white sunglasses on my head. The black of the dress is open, and I have on a jean jacket that has sleeves like a vest. My shoes are black flats, and they have spikes on them.
I ring someone up for their puppy food, and Gale comes in.
The cop is watching secretly.
I sigh.
"Katniss." Gale says curtly. "Come outside."
"No Gale. You need to leave." I say. I'm scared shitless, but I'm masking my emotions big time, and I'm masking the tears dying to form.
He reaches into his pants pocket and points the gun right at me, and he cocks it. All he has to do is pull the trigger and I'll be dead.
"Come outside. You have five sec-"
"Stop!" the guy says. "Put your hands were I can see them! You're under arrest for stealing, for physical abuse, and for domestic abuse. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law."
He cuffs Gale, and takes his gun.
I wait till they're gone, and then I slump against the counter. Adrian puts her hand on my back. "You can leave-"
"Let's just close up for the day." I say quietly. "Go home Adrian, and thank you."
She walks out, and I close up the shop and arm the alarm, and then I get in my truck and I go flying home.
Everyone's over. The TV is off, and the tension is thick.
"Get in your bathing suits." I say, and I walk into my room, slamming my door.
I put on a white bathing suit top, and my pink bottoms, and a pair of short shorts, and a really lose white half shirt that falls off of one shoulder. I tie my hair up in a messy bun, and I put on flip flops, and then I walk out of my room. They changed already.
"Katniss," Annie starts.
"I don't want to talk about it yet." I say, and I go outside. She sighs, but doesn't press. I get the boat ready, and we work together to get it out on the water.
I sit at the bow alone, and let Peeta drive.
We drive for a really long time, and finally, in the middle of just water, Peeta stops the boat and tosses the anchor. We all cast our lines, and I sit there. They're whispering about me, and I don't even care. The only sound is them whispering, and the water splashing softly against the boat, and the occasional noise of Nugget's paws as she walks around.
Finally, I speak up. "He was gonna kill me." I say, staring out at the water. "If Adrian hadn't warned me…he'd have killed me, or raped me…" I rest my head on the bar. "He put the gun to my head."
Nobody says anything, and honestly, I don't want them to.
"I'm promoting Adrian to assistant manager." Annie says.
I take off my shirt and shorts, and then I stand up. It's deep. I can tell, because at the great lakes, the water isn't very cloudy. I can't see the bottom. I pull my line in, and stand up on the railing. I gain my balance, and then I dive into the water.