Linking Arms

Chapter 3

Peeta

"Hey, Peeta," Ryan nudges me in my sleep. "wake up."

I yawn in response, eyes half-open.

"Get up if you don't want to be beaten by Mom." He said sternly.

I sit up, rubbing the sleep from my face. "She awake?"

"No, but if you don't get your ass up, she will be soon."

I groan as I step off from my mattress on the floor.

I curl my mouth into a small smile. "Thanks, Ryan."

He shrugs and exits my room, the basement. Yes, I sleep in the basement. My mom said that we don't have any more room in the rest of the house. But I know that she just doesn't want me sleeping on the same level as her. God, she makes me feel completely worthless; saying that I'm unworthy of any given love whatsoever.

I start to ponder if I should dress more thoughtfully. Would Katniss like it? Does she care about looks and all that trash? I certainly don't, but I'm willing to dress for Katniss.

After a solid five minutes of thinking, I choose a white t-shirt with my dad's old black leather jacket. I pull on some denim jeans and grab some shades.

Dear god, let this work.

I dash upstairs to the bathroom and hope to god that the witch hasn't awoken yet. Relieved that she hasn't, I continue to get ready. I style my ashen blond hair with some of Ryan's hair gel in the cabinet.

I don't care what anyone thinks of me. I just want Katniss to love me.

I brush my teeth and tiptoe down to the kitchen, where I steal a croissant. I swiftly exit the front door without a sound.

Maybe today will be good to me.

+++

As I walk inside of school, I get immediate stares from everyone. Specifically the girls'. I meekly smile at them, trying not to send the wrong message.

Are they seriously buying this?

I head to my locker, waiting for Katniss's arrival. As I deposit my bag in my locker, Katniss comes strutting in with Clove and Glimmer beside her. I try to not to stare, continuing my business. As I shut my locker, Katniss passes by me, rolling her eyes. Glimmer chortles beside her and Clove gives me a tentative smile.

I sigh.

Maybe today is just not my day. . .

Katniss

Ugh.

Poor little boy doesn't know what the hell he's doing. . . and doesn't know how to dress properly.

I turn the corridor with Clove and Glimmer, whose chortling about Peeta.

"Did you see his little outfit?" Glimmer laughed and brushed off a tear of laughter from her eye.

Clove exclaims,"It's like a little 'Grease' costume!"

We stop at our lockers, collecting our books for our upcoming class.

Clove leans on her locker and says,"He could definitely use a fashion miracle."

Glimmer flips her golden locks and nods. "I agree, for someone who looks decent for your average outcast, he needs to change his style."

"I would help him," I suggest,"But I wouldn't want Gale thinking I like someone like him."

Glimmer stares at me with her big, emerald eyes. "That's perfect!"

"What?" Clove and I ask in unison.

"You could help Peeta with his style and make Gale think that you have a thing for Peeta!"

Clove furrows her eyebrows as she folds her arms together. "But Katniss would like someone like Peeta."

"Exactly!" Glimmer detonates. "She can make Gale jealous so he'll ask her out and help Peeta with his little persona, all at the same time! So everyone's happy!"

I widen my eyes. "I don't know Glim'."

"Just think about it, Katniss! If you do this, you could be with Gale sooner than you think."

Gale. I could do this for Gale. And help that boy.

"O-Okay."

Clove recoils. "What?!"

"I mean, it seems pretty full-proof to me. I help the boy, make Gale jealous so he'll ask me out... It's pretty perfect." I grab my history books and drop them into my bag.

Clove scoffs. "But a lot could go wrong! Gale might take you seriously and if anything, Peeta might think you like him!"

Glimmer rolls her eyes. "Clove, please. Just stick with us on this one!"

Glimmer steps side-by-side with me. "Pleaaasseeeee?"

We beg on our knees in front of Clove. "Fine."

Glimmer and I squeal and high-five each other. "Just get your asses off the ground, will you?"

We get up, dusting off our skirts. We grab the rest of our things and head over to history, talking about how we're gonna set up our little plan.

We decide to name it Project: Linking Arms.

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Hey guys, so I'm gonna start putting these at the end of my stories, I feel like I never talk to any of you! Anyway, you kinda see what I did there with the whole 'Linking Arms' thing?

Please leave suggestions!

Love you all,

Chloe 🐋