The Girl With The Silver Eyes

Chapter 1

Katniss

"Katniss, why don't you have any friends?" Prim asks as I sit on the bed, braiding her blonde hair for school and tying it in blue ribbons.

"You're my friend, Little Duck," I say.

"I mean real friends Katniss," she says. "People your age you aren't related to. I don't count Gale. He's practically your brother."

"Because I don't need friends. I'm happy alone," I say.

"Can you try this year?" she asks. "I know you say you're happy, but you always need someone. Someone outside your family."

"What? You mean like a boyfriend?" I ask her.

"Well," she starts and I shake my head.

"No," I say. "I am never falling in love, never marrying, and most defiantly never having children."

"Katniss," she pleads. "There is boy out there, waiting to get to treat you like a princess. And children, waiting to be born and held in your arms, singing them to sleep. Can't you see that all the bad we've gone through shows just how much good you're going to have. Please at least promise me you'll try to be friendly this year?"

"Fine," I say. "I'll try. But it won't work Prim. The happiness you speak of doesn't exist." I get up and so does she. I grab her backpack and hand it to her before grabbing my own and taking her hand. We say goodbye to my mother and she just kind of nods. I know she'll never be a real mother again, not after losing my father. But I know that I'd probably do the same thing in her shoes. Which is one of the many reasons I've chosen never to have a children or fall in love.

I get in the old beat up truck that was once my father's, that I have to repair nearly every weekend because its more than twenty years old. Prim climbs in next to me and I drive us the seven miles to school. I park near the back so no one sees me. I don't want to draw attention. I like staying under the radar of all the rich girls. They aren't exactly kind.

"See you after school Prim," I call as she leaves. I start walking towards the school building when I accidentally bump into someone. She turns on her heals and it reveals Glimmer Maraschino. She flips her blonde hair over her shoulder and her friends Clove Roota and Tara Tisdale give me strange looks.

"Aren't you going to say something?" she asks.

"Sorry Glimmer, I wasn't really looking where I was going," I say.

"Watch yourself next time you little Seam Rat," Clove says stepping forward.

"Clove!" Tara says. "It was an accident. Be nice. You ran into a door frame just last week." Glimmer rolls her eyes.

"Both of you shut up!" she says. "I can handle this on my own." She looks me up and down before tilting her head to the side. "She's not worth getting upset about. Just watch yourself next time Everdeen. I might just let Clove off her leash next time. She just found out her boyfriend is cheating on her. She needs to vent her anger."

"I'm not your pet Glimmer!" Clove says.

"Not now," she says before giving me one last glance. "See you around Everdeen. And just a tip. You might actually be pretty if you stopped covering everything up in baggy clothes and started highlighting your face with a little makeup." She turns and leaves as Clove gives me one last glare and the genuinely friendly Tara waves as the walk away.

I know it's strange but I leave them alone, they leave me alone. We don't have any real problems with each other. I keep to myself so it's not like I'm really a treat to her status as the queen bee.

I walk into the school and go to my locker, trying the combination. I pull on the handle but it doesn't open. I try again but it still doesn't budge. I hit it in frustration and lean my head against it.

"Do you need some help?" a boys voice asks behind me. I turn around to have my eyes met with none other than Peeta Mellark. The boy who saved my life. The one who gave me hope when I felt like dying behind that tree. Yet he threw me that bread. I know he took a beating for it, and when I looked away from his bruised face the next day, I saw the dandelion that gave me a new hope and a new lease on life.

"Yeah," I say looking down. "I can't get it."

"I had this locker last year," he says taking my combination from me as he begins working on the lock. "You have to give it an extra twist before you put in the combination. It's funky that way." The door swings open and he gives me a prize winning smile. "There you go."

"Thanks," I say hanging up my backpack and pulling out my pencil and notebook from the front pocket. "It's kinda funny bumping into you. I've been meaning to thank you for years?"

"Thank me?" he asks. "For what?"

"You threw me that bread almost five and a half years ago. I never got to thank you," I say.

"You remember that?" he asks.

"You never forget the person who was your last hope," I say as I start walking towards my first class.

"Katniss, it was nothing," he says.

"I was starving and had given up on living," I say. "You gave me that little push to start trying again when you gave me that bread. And I've always wanted to thank you for that."

"Well your welcome," he says. "But really, it wasn't anything special."

"That's just your opinion," I say stopping in front of my class room.

"I know this might seem blunt, but I wanted to see if maybe you'd like to hang out sometime," he says.

"With you?" I ask him and he nods. "Not like a date or anything, because I don't really do that Peeta."

"No," he says. "Just maybe order a pizza and watch crappy movies one of these nights after school."

At first I think about shooting him down but then I think about what Prim said. About trying to be friendly this year.

"You know what Peeta," I say. "I think that sounds fun."