Chapter 12

Gale Hawthorne POV

Katniss and I's interview is today, we're riding together. I'm really optimistic about this, it seems like Mr. Mellark at least liked me.

"I met with Mr. Mellark a couple days ago," Katniss says as we're driving over. "I took a bus and talked with him a little bit."

"Oh," I say. "Why did you do that?"

"I wanted him to talk with me in person so he knew I actually cared about this job," she says. "I wanted to show initiative."

"That's good," I say. "It shows that you're not just showing up because I am and because I recommended you, but that you actually want this job."

We pull up to the bakery and walk inside. There are already customers there, so we get in line since we aren't really sure what to do and we don't want to interrupt anything.

"Gale? Katniss?" Mr. Mellark says after the line subsides. "It's good to see you again."

"You too, Mr. Mellark," Katniss says, shaking his hand. "I'm really glad we could come by for an interview." She's so professional, I really didn't expect this from her.

"Why don't we go talk in the back?" Mr. Mellark says. "My wife will go ahead and work the front counter."

We just nod and head to the back, Mr. Mellark asks Peeta's mother to watch up front. This elicits a groan from her, but she goes up to the front anyway.

"So this is our back kitchen," Mr. Mellark says. There's someone in there doing some baking. "We have a couple of kitchen staff members that work with us, but it's mostly a family business."

"Would we be doing any baking?" Katniss asks.

"Most likely not," Mr. Mellark says. "If we needed to train you to do that, we might if you're open to it. We get most of the baking done ourselves, though. The recipes can be tricky."

"I'd be open to learning," Katniss says. "I'm sure Gale would, too." It surprises me that she said that, she may just be trying to get me to talk since I haven't been talking much.

"Oh, sure," I say. "Yeah, I'd be open to learning about that, too."

"You guys would mostly be setting up before we open on weekends," Mr. Mellark says. "Maybe running the front for a little bit if we're really busy. I know you guys are in high school, so I wouldn't want to take away your time from schooling."

"Sounds good," I say. "When were you thinking we'd start?"

Mr. Mellark thinks for a bit. "You could start tomorrow if you bring the paperwork back then, if that's okay with you."

"Absolutely," Katniss quickly says. "That sounds great."

Mr. Mellark gives us some paperwork for our parents to sign since we're still minors and sends us on our way. That went surprisingly well, I'm really glad Katniss and I have found a way to make some money during the school year to help our families out.

We really needed the opportunity, and it's great that it doesn't conflict with our school schedule. Mr. Mellark was so nice, I'm really happy this worked out and he was so understanding.

Katniss Everdeen POV

Gale and I get back in the car after talking with Mr. Mellark. I'm really glad that interview went well, I didn't expect him to say we could start so soon and immediately give us paperwork.

"That went much better than I expected," I say. "Thank you so much for talking to him and getting us this job."

"He seems more excited to hire you than he does to hire me," Gale says. "You've been way more on top of it than I have."

"I need to if I want to get this job, or get any other job. My dad always taught me to be headstrong and take initiative, so I'm definitely carrying that over for work and college."

"You definitely take after him," Gale says.

I really do still miss my dad, and I know Gale misses his. We were both much closer to our dads than we are to our moms. I do take after my dad, and Prim takes after our mom which is probably why she's so much closer to our mom.

I get home and Prim and my mom are sitting at the table together. Prim is reading a book and my mom is kind of just sitting there.

"Katniss, you're back," my mom says. "We didn't expect you to be gone this early in the morning."

"I had a job interview," I say. "Gale set it up for us last week. Sorry, I forgot to mention it."

"What job?" My mom asks as I sit next to her at the table.

"At the bakery," I say. Prim immediately looks up from her book. "Mr. and Mrs. Mellark need someone to help set up and maybe work the counter on weekend mornings."

"Did you get it?" Prim asks.

"I did," I say. "They want me to start tomorrow, but I need you to help me fill out this paperwork before I start." I hand my mom the paperwork, and she briefly looks over it.

"Okay," my mom says. "Can I do it tonight? I'm really tired right now."

"Promise me you will?" I ask.

"I promise," she says. "This'll be great for you." I know she means good for us with the extra money I'll be making.

"And for me," Prim says. "You better bring me stuff every time you work."

"I'll see what I can do," I say. "I don't want to immediately just start taking stuff, that won't exactly make a good first impression."

Prim just smiles at me, I will try to bring her stuff whenever I can.

Later in the night, my mom does eventually help me fill out the paperwork.

"Why didn't you tell me you were trying to get a job?" My mom says as we're looking over the paperwork.

"I didn't want to jinx it," I say. "And I thought you'd tell me not to because you'd want me to focus on school."

"I do," she says. "You're right about that."

"Mom, this is a good thing," I say. "We need the extra money." I know she can't argue with that, and she doesn't try to.

I finally feel like I can take some charge in my life by helping out, maybe this will also help me get on my own two feet after high school. I really need to have a plan so I'm not stuck here in this town forever.

Finnick Odair POV

I can't believe I actually asked Annie to the Homecoming dance. I meant it when I said that maybe the other cheerleaders would leave her alone if they thought I liked her, I just hope no one thinks I'm hooking up with her.

They'll definitely think that no matter what I do. It's times like this that I wish I hadn't gained the reputation that I have, I sometimes feel like that's all I've been reduced to even though I try to be a good guy.

I'm hanging out with Cato and Marvel tonight, we're just chilling in Cato's backyard and smoking weed. Peeta was invited, but he needed to catch up om homework after working at the bakery.

"Are you guys excited for the Homecoming dance?" Marvel asks.

"No," Cato says. "I'm only going because I asked Clove and I'm hoping to get into her pants after. I'm more excited for the game."

"Me too," I say. "But I think the dance will be fun, people are expecting us to go so we might as well."

"Who are you hoping to hook up with after?" Cato asks me. It sucks that he just automatically expects that of me, even though I've earned the reputation I have through my own actions.

"No one," I say. "I actually have a date, kind of. At least I think I do."

"Whoa, what?" Marvel asks. "How come you didn't tell us?"

"Well, it's not really a date," I say. "I just asked the new cheerleader Annie to go with me since some of the girls on the cheer team have been bothering her."

"What does that have to do with you?" Marvel asks.

"I thought maybe if Clove and Glimmer knew that I hang out with Annie, they'll leave her alone."

"They're just going to think you guys are hooking up," Cato says. "That might make things worse for her, especially with Glimmer."

Shit, maybe he's right. I can't back out now, but I really didn't think about that.

"Maybe if you told your girl to leave Annie alone, that would fix things," I say to Cato. "I know Clove likes you, she might listen to you."

"I don't get involved in girl drama," Cato says. "And you shouldn't either. It isn't our concern, even if they were fighting over us."

"I know Johanna wanted Annie to come to the dance," I say. "I thought it would make her want to go more if I went with her."

"Does Johanna have a date?" Marvel asks.

"I don't think so," I say. "Why?"

"Are you trying to get with Johanna by appeasing her friend?" Cato asks. "Is that what this is about? You're trying not to be too obvious about what you actually want."

"What? No," I say. "God, will you shut up? I'm just trying to be a nice guy."

He scoffs at me, I don't like the way he thinks and the way he talks about the popular girls. I may have hooked up with a lot of girls, but I'm not some kind of pig who just treats them like objects. I hope Cato is wrong when he says me taking Annie to the dance will make things worse for her, I'll just have to see how it goes.