The Girl With The Silver Eyes

Chapter 14

Katniss

"Hey Katniss!" Glimmer asks as she walks up to me with a brightly colored drink."You wanna play Truth or Dare with us?" I just shrug.

"I don't know," I say. "I don't really know if I'd like it too much." She slides the drink in my hand.

"You need to make it fun for yourself," she says. "What fun is a party if you don't play stupid games?" I take a small sip of the drink and follow her onto the deck and take a seat next to Peeta. I look over at him and roll my eyes.

"They drag you into this too?" I ask him and he laughs.

"Yeah," he says. I take another drink of the concoction Glimmer gave me and he smiles at me. "But I don't think it will be too bad if you're here."

"What do you mean by that?" I ask.

"It should be interesting to see what people cook up for you to do," he says. I shove him playfully and he smiles at me. Glimmer puts all our names in Marvel's Panem High Baseball cap and holds it out to Johanna. She pulls out a slip of paper and laughs as she turns to her twin brother.

"Truth or Dare, Marv?" she says smirking.

"Knowing you, I feel that truth is the option that won't end with me breaking my neck," he says and she shakes her head.

"Did you really try to cop a feel on Glimmer during your first date?" She asks and Glimmer let's out a snort while Marvel turns really red.

"Yeah," he says. "I was a kind of nerdy and she was the first one in our class to blossom wasn't gonna give me the time of day. So when she finally gave me the chance, I went for it. I didn't think I was gonna get another chance."  Everyone laughs and I wink at Peeta. The first time he 'went for it', as Marvel so graciously put it, was kind of a funny story too. Long story short, I had to unhook my own bra the first time he tried. That boy struggled with it for about fifteen minutes. He's gotten much better though.

"Don't you dare tell them about that!" He whispers in my ear, knowing what I'm thinking and I smirk.

"I only will if they ask," I whisper back. The game goes on like that. Peeta ends up having to jump in the pool with his clothes on and when it comes to me, I feel a lump in my throat as the person with my name in her hand glares at me, her coco brown eyes glaring at me.

"Truth or Dare, Everdeen?" Clove asks, her blood red nails tapping on the slip of paper with my name carefully printed on it. I weigh out the options and realize that neither outcome will be good for me. So I decide to take the braver choice."

"Dare," I say and a smile crosses her face that I had thought was permanently frozen in a scowl.

"Fight me," she says.

"What?" I ask.

"I want to fight," she says. "I want to finally wipe that cheery little smile off your stupid Seam Rat face." She stands up and steps forward, stopping in front of me. "So, are you gonna do it, or are you a big, fat, disgustin-" I stand up and push her to the ground.

"Kat," Peeta says nervously. "You don't have to do this. Sometimes it's better to just let things-" he's cut off as Clove shoves me through the chairs and we start rolling through the grass, scratching and pulling at each other's hair. Eventually, Clove pins me to the ground and twists my arm until I squeal. She laughs in my face and I spit at her. She slaps me and I start to notice how people have gathered in a circle around us. She holds me down by my hair and scratches down my face and neck. I don't really fight her right now, but I do slowly move my leg so it's hooked over her's. I put all my weight into flipping her off me and she falls hard on her stomach.

I scramble up and pin her down, my knees digging into her back. I push her face into the grass with my leg and pull her leg up hard. She shrieks in fury, but I feel her weakening. I shift so I can hold her leg beneath me and twist her arm behind her back. I pull up her head.

"You had enough yet?" I ask her. She glares at me.

"You F***ING BITCH!" She caterwauls.

"Just say it and I'll let you go," I hiss in her ear. She spits at me but I dodge it. Blood splatters on the dirt, she must have bit her lip or tongue.

"Uncle," she growls, barely audible enough for me to hear. I pull her head up harder by her hair, not really caring about the pain I'm causing her. Her years of torment have dulled my merciful side.

"So they can here you," I say. "Say it so they all can hear you, Clove."

"Uncle!" She squeals and I let go, slowly moving off her and and standing up. I look around and notice how everyone is looking at me, some in shock, some in horror, some in admiration. Suddenly cheers start and Johanna practically tackles me.

"Who the hell knew that Xena Warrior Princess was hiding beneath that peaceful demeanor," she says. "You just slayed the dreaded She-Devil!" I laugh lightly, feeling relieved that I finally paid her back after all the crap I've taken from her. The crowd moves to the beach and as it thins out, the scratches on my face, neck, and chest start to burn. Peeta walks over to me and he gently cups my cheek.

"You okay?" He asks.

"I don't know," I say. He smiles and takes my hand. "I am feeling so many different things right now, I can't see strait." He laughs and kisses my cheek.

"You finally got her," he says.

"I know," I say. "I feel like the heavyweight champion of the world." I throw my hands up in the air. "I did it. I finally did it!"

"Come on Rocky," he says. "The fights over. Glimmer went to get the first aid kit. Let's get you patched up so we can enjoy the rest of the party without you bleeding all over me." I lay my head on his wet shoulder as we walk up to the beach house.

"Are you mad at me?" I ask. "For fighting?"

"Well, I didn't really like the fact that you went out there and risked getting seriously hurt," he says. "But I'm proud of you, Baby. You stood up for yourself. You really kicked ass Kitten." I kiss his cheek and wrap my arm around his shoulder.

"Thanks," I say. "Now go let's see if Glimmer got me an ice pack too. I think that little parasite got a good blow to my eye."

"Maybe you should give up forensic anthropology and go with ultimate fighting?" He suggests and I shove him.

"Yeah," I say. "And maybe, just maybe, I'll tell everyone what happened in your car three weeks ago."

"You wouldn't," he says. I just give him a smirk.

"I would," I say and I dash up to the house laughing, the boy I've fallen in love with hard on my tail.