Panem High School {COMPLETED}

Chapter 38 - Katniss

(I am now holding a weekly writing contest! To enter, check out the book about it on my profile.)

(Katniss's POV)

"What are your thoughts on the matter?" Johanna holds the fork out to Glimmer. Glimmer glares at it, then turns and stomps away. We watch her for a few moments, then everyone turns back to Johanna. Except me. I keep watching as Glimmer walks away, headed backstage. Just as she reaches the door, her veneer cracks. Her shoulders slump, and she reaches up to wipe a tear away as she pushes the door open.

I glance at the group, all focused on Ms. Cressida. Before I know what I'm doing, I quickly walk to the door and push it open.

"Glimmer?" I call. She didn't turn the light on, so the only light comes filtering in from onstage. In the dusky gloom, the piles of props and sets are nearly indistinguishable from one another. I slowly walk forward. "Glimmer?"

I hear her quietly crying, and I head in the direction that sound is coming from."Glimmer?" I step around a large set piece and almost step on her.

She's curled up on a beanbag. I can't tell what color it is, but it's big. I slowly sit down on the edge farthest from Glimmer.

She frowns at me. "What do you want?"

I study her a minute. "You really liked him, didn't you?"

Glimmer frowns at me, probably decided if she should trust me or not. Finally, she sighs. "Yes. I did. It's not fair."

That brings about a new round of crying. I scoot closer and put my arm around her.

After a minute, Glimmer frowns at me again. "Don't you hate me too? I know all your friends do."

I shake my head. "No, I prefer not to judge someone until I've talked to them."

Glimmer eyes me warily. "I've been so terrible to Clove, though." Wow, I didn't know Glimmer realized she was being a jerk.

I shrug. "Clove doesn't like me, either."

"Really?" Glimmer smiles a bit. "Why? Weren't you guys friends in middle school or something?"

"Well, I mean, we knew each other. But we weren't exactly friends. She's still upset with me, I think."

"Oh." Glimmer sighs. After a few minutes, she asks, "How is this fair?"

It takes me a minute to realize she's talking about Cato again. "It's not," I say, before I know what I'm saying.

Glimmer wipes a tear away. "It's all my fault."

"No, I'm sure it's not-"

"Yes it is," Glimmer cuts me off. "I've lost my closest friend and my boyfriend because I was stupid."

I blink. "Clove was your closest friend?" That's a shocking revelation. I didn't think she cared about Clove, really, the way she dropped her like a filthy rag.

She nods. "I don't hate her anymore, either, but I've kind of ruined our friendship forever." She sighs again. "Why am I such an idiot?"

"You aren't. You just got upset. It's ok."

"I can't fix this," she says.

"Maybe you can't put things back the way they were, but you can fix it."

Glimmer frowns at me. "How?"

I pause. How? What am I trying to do? Be Dr. Phil? "Well, you could start by apologizing to Clove. And Cato." Where on earth is this advice coming from?

Glimmer acts like "apologize" is a foreign concept. She frowns as she considers it, but finally nods. "That's what I'd have to do, I guess." She sighs. "I wish everything wasn't so complicated."

"Doesn't everyone?" I say.

Glimmer stands up, then offers me her hand and pulls me up to standing. "Thanks, Katniss." She smiles a bit, then we go back to the auditorium.

~~~~

In English, I tell Madge what happened, leaving out the bit where I followed Glimmer backstage. I honestly don't know how Madge would react to that. I know she strongly dislikes her. I would say hate, but honestly, I don't think Madge is capable of hate.

After school, I wait outside for Prim. She takes longer than usual today, and when she does arrive, she walks out with Rue and George, another 6th grader who's in drama, in tow.

Prim runs up to me. "Can I go over to Rue's house?"

I shrug. "I don't care. Why not? Ask Mom, though." I hand her my phone so she can call Mom.

As she's talking, Rue smiles mischievously as me. "Prim's in love," she says, then makes a kissing face at George, who acts like he's puking and scoots away.

I raise my eyebrows. "Who's the lucky guy?"

Rue furtively glances over at Prim, who's engrossed in her conversation. Then, she whispers, "Rory Hawthorne."

Oh, Gale's brother. "Cool."

"Don't tell her I told you!" Rue giggles.

George acts like she's crazy, twirling his finger around next to his head. "Girls are weird."

"We certainly are." I laugh as Rue tries to clobber him for that.

Prim comes back just in time to break up the fight. "Mom says I can go! Let's go!" I wave as they take off for the elementary building.

(The first part of this chapter, with Katniss and Glimmer, has a moral. Yes, I know, a big, bad, scary moral. I won't do this often, just let me run with it this time and bear with me. The moral is: People are not one-dimensional. Sure, someone might be a jerk to you, but you don't know what they're going through. Their being a jerk does not justify your being a jerk. They might not even realize they're acting that way. The best thing you can do is be nice to them. Trust me, if you do it long enough, you'll see some changes. Ok, moral done. Carry on with your day.)