The Same Mistakes

Chapter 3

Annie weaved through the tables, refilling the condiment bottles as Johanna sat at the register, arranging the money in front of her.

Johanna's hair, short, wavy and black was piled on her head in a messy ponytail, a pencil sticking out from behind her ear. Right behind her left earlobe, Katniss could make out a faint tattoo. It was black and small, almost hidden. Katniss squinted her eyes for only a second as Johanna cocked her head to look at Annie and then Katniss sizing her up with a glare as she forced her eyes back to her money.

The tattoo was of a dark heart, some sort of vines going around it. And there were words, numbers maybe outlining the heart in curvy, bolded writing though she couldn't quite make it out from where she was and Katniss silently wondered who that was meant for, what it signified.

"We could use the help is all I'm saying, Jo." Annie said, her green eyes flicking between Johanna and Katniss before turning back to the red bottle of ketchup in her hand, her fingers twisting the lid open.

"I think we're fine." Johanna replied, the pencil from her hair now held securely in her fingers, dancing across a piece of paper.

"But at the moment it's just you, me, Peeta, Brick and Sae. Lucy won't be coming back from Tennessee until the end of August and we've got a long way to go until then. And if we have another day like today, we're screwed. We couldn't have made it without Katniss answering the phone and getting the sodas."

Annie threw a smile her way, her green eyes bright and assuring and Katniss managed a smile back, feeble and awkward.

Johanna sighed from where she was sitting loudly, swiveling in her seat to look at Katniss. She gauged her, probably judging her clothes, her ordinary braid and face.

Katniss stared back at Johanna, realizing that the girl in front of her was far from ordinary. Her hair was short and dark, too dark to be natural. And her eyes were brown, but were rimmed with blue make-up, making the brown stand out on her pale skin. Her face was small, heart-shaped. But her eyes were large and wide, her lips a bit swollen, forming a pout on her face. She looked like someone Katniss would ordinarily ignore. Or avoid.

"How old are you?" Johanna snapped at her, her hand falling to her hip.

"Seventeen."

Johanna sighed loudly, exaggeratedly. "Fine. But we can't offer you much. Just minimum wage and tips. Which, by the way, tends to suck because most of our customers are either broke or still in high school."

She looked down at a piece of paper, her eyes skimming it for a quick second before they stared at Katniss again, hard and cold. "We open at seven, close at ten. Except for Fridays and Saturdays, we close at eleven. You'd probably working afternoons, meaning you'll have to close. Which is a bit of work, if you can tell." She said, her hands flying in the air, gesturing towards the room that looked like it needed a good scrubbing.

"It's not a fun job. It's not easy. If I were you, I would think long and hard before just accepting it." Johanna concluded, drawing her eyes back to the paper in front of her, the pencil in her fingers moving quickly again.

Katniss looked at Annie, her eyes unsure. Annie beamed back at her, clearly victorious. "I think you should take the job, Katniss. It'll be loads of fun â€" It's really not as bad as Jo's making it sound, she's just bitter."

She rolled her eyes good humoredly at Johanna, who ignored her.

Katniss saw a head of blonde fly over the counter, an easy, warm smile coming into view. "For what it's worth, I also think that you should take the job, Katniss." Peeta said, leaning over the cement buffer that divided the kitchen and the seating area.