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Partnered projects being a tradition in high school was something Katniss had understood in her second week of freshman year when she was paired up with a malicious girl (‘How can she be malicious if the entire grade likes her, Katnip?’ Gale had asked her at lunch that day. She had glared at him as she shoved carrot sticks into her mouth) called Glimmer to try explain the effects of global warming to a class of fourteen year olds who genuinely did not care. What she did not understand was why she always ended up being paired up with someone she disliked. It wasn’t that Katniss was difficult to befriend, she would just rather be around people she was already familiar with, namely Gale and Madge. Gale, she had known since they were both in diapers, and Madge had appeared in her life in fifth grade when they were assigned the same reading group. The three of them had stuck with each other ever since.
To put it simply, Katniss Everdeen hates group projects slightly more than she hates her younger sister’s cat. So you can imagine her disdain when her English teacher comes into class, grey hair mussed up and tie almost undone, and announces with a rather large smile on his broad face that the entire class is going to have to split up into pairs and write an essay on the impact of Shakespeare on the youth of today. He then passes out a hat to one half of the class, and Katniss gingerly picks out a small crinkled piece of paper, silently praying that she finally has a decent partner for a project, before slowly unfolding it.
Peeta Mellark. That’s what her paper has scribbled on it. When she looks up at the boy, she is slightly surprised to find him looking right back at her. He quickly looks away, turning back to a girl with fiery red hair who seems to follow him around wherever he goes. Her name is Delly, Katniss thinks although she can’t be sure.
Katniss doesn’t dislike Peeta, per se. But he does hang out with people she can’t stand, spoilt kids from the richer side of town who think they are entitled to everything because their parents pay their way out of trouble. In all honesty, she doesn’t really know anything about Peeta other than the fact that his father owns the biggest bakery in town. Prim, her younger sister, would spend hours admiring the artwork on various cakes although almost everything was too expensive to buy. Her thoughts are cut short when her English teacher clears his throat loudly, before gesturing for them to pair up. Katniss reluctantly grabs her bag and moves towards Peeta’s table, where he’s in an animated conversation with Delly. When Delly notices her approaching them, she grins even bigger (Katniss doesn’t know that’s possible) before nudging Peeta. Peeta turns to look at what she’s gesturing to, and when he notices Katniss standing by his table, his eyes widen almost comically. If Katniss wasn’t preoccupied being disgruntled about having to partner up for a project she didn’t really care all that much about, she would have found his reaction amusing if not slightly surprising.
“We’re partners,” she says, her voice coming out louder than usual. Delly is still grinning at the two of them, her eyes moving from Peeta to Katniss and then back again. Katniss is slightly confused.
She watches as Peeta slowly swallows, rearranging his face into a less ‘what the hell are you doing here’ look and into a more ‘this is fairly surprising but I am going to try my very best to look friendly’ facial expression. She doesn’t know if she is supposed to be amused or offended at how conflicted Peeta seems.
Before he can say anything, Delly gets out of her seat adjusting her sundress before smiling at Katniss, and then looking at the blonde boy who still seems slightly in shock.
“I think Thom is calling me over. He’s probably my partner; I’ll see you two later.”
And with that she’s gone, her bright red hair trailing behind her. Peeta clears his throat, smiling at Katniss more warmly now. He gestures for her to take Delly’s seat but she can’t help narrow her eyes at him.
“I’m sorry,” he begins as he adjusts the books on his table, making more room for Katniss. “I didn’t expect to see you here. That’s probably why I looked like a cat had just got my tongue.”
“I am in your English class, it can’t be that much of a shock,” Katniss replies, her eyes narrowing even further. Peeta begins to turn red and Katniss feels slightly awful for making him this uncomfortable. She remembers what Gale had once told her, about how she had to make a greater effort to not seem closed off. At the time she had been offended, and she may have ignored him for a week until Madge had forced the two of them to stop acting like five year olds. She guesses she understands what he means now. Peeta opens his mouth to explain but she cuts him off, putting on what she hopes is a decent smile.
“We should get to work, figure out what we need to write and stuff,” she quickly says and Peeta seems relieved that he doesn’t have to explain himself.
“I’m Peeta,” he says and Katniss can’t help but snort. She looks at him, and he seems to realize what he’s said. “But you know that already. Since it was on that piece of paper. Christ, I’m sorry. I’m not usually this awful at making conversation.”
He looks embarrassed but he’s got a smile on his face. Katniss is slightly (only slightly) endeared.
“I also know that because we’ve gone to school together since kindergarten,” she adds. Peeta nods sheepishly before opening his notebook. They get their introduction done by the time the bell rings, and although conversation is awkward and maybe a little forced, it isn’t uncomfortable. Peeta is a pretty friendly person Katniss realizes, but then she also remembers how he hangs around Glimmer and Cato and all the other wealthy children who treat people who don’t drive first hand convertibles like vermin.
“We could work on it today afternoon, if you’re free,” he suggests as they gather their books for their next lesson.
“I can’t, I have to pick my sister up. What about tomorrow?” Katniss asks.
He nods. “I can do tomorrow. 3 pm at the library downtown?”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll see you there,” she says and lifts up her hand in a short wave before heading to biology.
*****
“Peeta? As in Peeta Mellark?” Gales asks her as they make their way across the cafeteria. He seems almost as displeased as Katniss was when she found out about the English project. She sits down next to Madge, Gale taking a seat opposite them. His nose is wrinkled and his mouth is set in a slight frown.
“What crawled up your butt?” Madge asks him when she notices his facial expression. Katniss snorts as she takes a bite of the sandwich Prim had packed her that morning.
“Katniss has been partnered with Peeta Mellark for an English project,” Gale says as Katniss swallows another bite of her sandwich. He says Peeta’s name like it’s a disease.
“Peeta’s lovely! He’s in my math class,” Madge exclaims and Gale’s frown deepens.
“I’m sure you’d think that,” he grumbles as he opens a bottle of water. Madge begins to blush, an apologetic look on her face and Katniss honestly cannot fathom how the two people in front of her haven’t realized how they feel about each other. She doesn’t say that out loud though.
“Trust me Katniss; you’re lucky you’re with Peeta. He’s probably the nicest up-towner in the entire year,” Madge reassures.
“He’s still a townie,” Katniss retorts.
“He’s nice,” Madge reminds her. Katniss nods, finishing off her sandwich. Gale still looks like slightly on edge although he seems more reassured too. Madge smiles at him warmly and his shoulders immediately relax. Katniss tries her best not to snort at the twosome, she really does. But that’s to no avail and lunch ends with the two of them red in the face, and avoiding looking at each other. Katniss is amused, to say the least.
*****
The next day rolls by rather quickly and before she knows it, it’s three pm and Katniss is standing at the doors of the library, adjusting her backpack. She enters, waving at Effie; the eccentric librarian who probably spends more time fixing her bright pink hair than she does actually organizing the library. But she’s a nice lady and always let’s Katniss take out three books instead of just two. She maneuvers her way through the shelves until she reaches the back of the library, where all the desks are. Peeta is already there, his books spread out over an oak table and a pair of large, thick framed glasses perched on his nose. He looks like he’s deep in concentration, so Katniss clears her throat.
He looks up and when he realizes who it is, he grins. His blonde hair is messy; his fringe hanging over his forehead rather than gelled to the side like it usually is at school.
“I didn’t mean to start without you but I had to put down what I came up with,” he says, looking sheepish.
Katniss merely shrugs. “I’m not that good at English anyways.”
“You don’t like English?” he asks.
“I prefer science. Biology is pretty interesting,” she responds as she moves into the seat opposite him. Peeta nods.
They stay silent after that, Peeta working on the actual body of the essay while Katniss searches up the themes behind Shakespeare’s work. As she waits for a webpage to load she observes Peeta. It’s the first time she’s been around an up-towner since freshman year with Glimmer. Her thoughts are cut short when she finds Peeta looking at her curiously and she realizes she’s been staring. She also realizes how creepy she seems at this very moment.
Before she can say anything he gestures to his notebook. “Do you wanna go over what I’ve written and see if it’s okay?”
Katniss nods her head jerkily, taking the notebook from his outstretched hand and going over everything he’s written. His work is quite literally flawless, and when Katniss tells him this, he smiles the brightest she’s ever seen. She offers to write the next few paragraphs of the essay, feeling guilty for not doing much and he happily nods and excuses himself to go check out a book.
Ten minutes later and he still hasn’t come back and Katniss’ hatred of Shakespeare has increased tenfold. Firstly, she doesn’t understand what he means and secondly, she highly doubts the ‘youth’ of today are particularly swayed by the tragically magical tale of Romeo and Juliette. She would never put that in their essay though; it would most likely cost them a decent grade and their English teacher who practically worshipped Shakespeare would most likely hate them for the rest of the year. She continues stringing together words she hopes sounds like a sophisticated, well-read opinion on Shakespeare even though she fell asleep thrice while trying to get through Romeo and Juliette. Peeta comes back fifteen minutes later carrying a huge book with him. Katniss raises an eyebrow at him and he shrugs.
“I’ve always wanted to learn about French pastry making and since Christmas break is coming, I figured it would be the perfect time to do some light reading,” he explains gesturing to the gigantic book in front of him.
“Light reading?” Katniss asks incredulously.
Peeta shrugs again, looking boyish. “I’m not going to read the entire thing. Just the important stuff.”
Katniss resists the urge to snort and instead finds herself asking him, “So you bake a lot?”
Peeta nods enthusiastically. “I’m in charge of a lot of the baking at my dad’s bakery actually. My cheese buns are pretty popular.”
“My sister likes your cakes and stuff. She says the way you guys ice them is nice,” Katniss says.
“Prim, right? She stops by the bakery sometimes. She’s very nice,” Peeta replies, rubbing his neck. Katniss smiles in response, not knowing what to say.
“Can I ask you a question?” Peeta questions when he realizes Katniss isn’t going to verbally respond. She nods, feeling a bit nervous. She had always disliked that question. “Do you not like me?”
Katniss nearly chokes on her own spit, her eyes widening. All this time she had thought that she was being friendly to Peeta, or at least slightly amicable. She guesses she thought wrong. Peeta’s eyes widen at her reaction too, and he quickly sits up straighter.
“I mean,” he says before continuing, “I know you don’t like some of the people I hang around with. So I was just wondering if you felt the same way about me.”
Katniss shakes her head. “I don’t uh, particularly like some of your friends. But you’re nice, Peeta.” She hopes she doesn’t offend him although that ship has probably sailed.
“Nice,” he repeats, his eyes crinkling a bit. Katniss nods. He smiles and she breathes easier.
“Can I tell you a secret?” he asks and Katniss nods, again. “I don’t like them much either. The only person I can stand is Delly. And Thom.”
Katniss puzzles, and is about to ask Peeta why but, as if he reads her mind, he launches into an explanation.
“My mom, she’s uh, she doesn’t really like people who aren’t from the richer parts of town. So she’d rather I spend my time with up-towners. So I just go with it. She can be a bit difficult.”
There’s a pregnant pause and Katniss is at a loss of words, which is rare because she’s usually purposely quiet or knows exactly what to say. She feels something heavy settle in her stomach, guilt she thinks, but it could be sympathy. Or maybe it’s a mixture of both. She’s heard rumors about Peeta’s mother, about how she could get angry or even violent sometimes, although she was very young and it was almost as if it went through one ear and came out through the other.
Again, it’s as if Peeta can read her mind. Or maybe her facial expression gives it away because he grins at her reassuringly.
“It’s okay now, though. She’s not awful anymore. I just hang with those guys because I’ve known them most of my life. It’d be weird to ditch them out of the blue,” he says.
Katniss is in disbelief of Peeta. And maybe in awe. Mostly in awe, actually. Because even now, when he’s just told her about his terrible mother and how he doesn’t truly enjoy the company of his friends, Peeta Mellark is trying to reassure her. As if Katniss is the one who needs to feel better. And she understands what Madge truly meant when she said Peeta was nice. It’s as if everything he does, he only does to make sure the people around him are happy. And Katniss is in awe of that, because sure, she’s met great people before, but she’s never come across someone as genuine as Peeta.
She clears her throat, and smiles at him. “Yeah, no I get what you mean. And uh, I’m sorry about your mother.”
Peeta shrugs, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Like I said, she’s better now. She keeps to herself mostly, but that’s okay.”
They stay silent mostly after that, but it’s like a tension she didn’t know existed, has broken between them. Peeta glances at her as they work on the paper, smiling each time and Katniss tries her hardest to return each grin with an enthusiastic one of her own but she rarely smiles this much so it’s slightly difficult. She remembers Gale and Madge once badgering her about how she would never get any wrinkles if she always had such a stoic expression (‘I can’t be the only one with a wrinkled face, Katniss!’ Madge had said while Gale snorted).
About an hour later they’re done with their paper. Peeta had even made her proofread it a second time and when she had agreed that they were no errors, he had looked pleased. She begins to put her things into her bag and Peeta follows suit, although he opts to carry the book he checked out from the library. They exit the library together, Effie waving at the two of them on their way out. Her nails are painted a bright orange, matching the skirt she wears and her eyeshadow. Katniss is impressed at her dedication towards fashion mostly because Katniss couldn’t care less how she looks. When they reach the gates of the library, she turns to fully face Peeta.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then, at school?” she asks.
“Yeah. We need to hand this in,” he answers gesturing the folder she’s holding that has their essay in it. She nods and waves at him before turning away and walking towards the bus stop.
“Katniss!” Peeta yells and she turns around to see him jogging towards her, a slight limp to his step and she reminds herself to ask him about that later on.
“Uh, maybe we could meet up again?” he questions, uncertainty clear in his voice.
Before she can answer, he’s speaking again. “Or never mind. That was probably a stupid idea. I’ll just, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“It’s not stupid,” Katniss blurts out before she can stop herself. He looks at her, eyebrows raised in surprise and Katniss is pretty sure she has the exact same expression on her face but it’s like her mouth is refusing to listen to her brain and she keeps on babbling. “Us meeting up again, that is. It’s not stupid. I wouldn’t mind.”
And really, she would punch herself in the face because not only is she not shutting up, she’s also apparently lost her ability to be eloquent. Peeta however, lights up at what she says, and he’s smiling at her and he looks so genuine and Katniss is only slightly endeared. Only slightly. Or a whole lot.
“Really?” he asks and she nods because she doesn’t trust what comes out of her mouth anymore. He smiles even brighter and Katniss is impressed because she didn’t think that was possible.
“What about Friday? We could go watch a movie or something,” he suggests.
Katniss nods, again. “Friday’s fine,” she answers.
“I would pick you up but I don’t really know where you live?” the second half of his sentence sounds more like a question.
“We could just meet up here and walk to the cinemas,” Katniss offers and Peeta ponders the option before nodding enthusiastically.
“That sounds great,” he says and Katniss smiles at him.
“I’ll see you then,” she responds and lifts her hand up in a wave.
“And tomorrow.”
Katniss raises her eyebrows at him and he lets out a laugh before saying, “We have class tomorrow, Katniss. The Shakespeare essay.”
“Oh right. Forgot about that,” she says, sheepishly. “I do have to get home now though, before Prim starts to worry.”
“Of course! I’ll see you tomorrow Katniss,” Peeta says, still grinning although his glasses have slipped down his nose. Katniss smiles back (this is probably the most smiling she’s done in her entire life) and waves at him before she turns around again, and walks to the station.
She thinks about how Gale and Madge will react when she tells them. Madge will most likely squeal and Gale will most likely sulk because he dislikes up-towners almost as much as Katniss (except maybe, she doesn’t dislike Peeta anymore) and then light up like a light bulb once Madge tells him to cheer up since he’s been gone for her since fifth grade. Katniss continues thinking about all of this until her bus arrives, mostly about Peeta though, and she supposes that she owes a lot to Shakespeare. Obviously it’s no Romeo and Juliette, but it’s definitely something.