Panem Academy

Chapter Eight

  When us girls arrived at the school, we were greeted by boys who were waiting for us.
"Hey! Who's ready for the first day of school?" Asked Cato.
"Not us!" Us girls exclaimed and we howled with laughter.
Cato eyes landed on Glimmer. "Wow Glimmer, even in your school uniform, you look fantastic."
Glimmer blushed. "Why thank you Cato. You still look pretty handsome even in your school uniform."
I saw Clove reach for one of her knives in her belt sheath, but then Johanna grabbed her arm, shaking her head warningly.
"What was it like in your dorms?" Asked Johanna, clearly changing the subject.
Gale laughed. "Dude, you should see our 'House Father', his name is Flavius and he dyes his hair in crazier colours! He might as well become the next Caesar Flickerman!"
Everyone laughed.
At first, it was quiet then Peeta asked, "so Katniss, you brought your bow and arrows?"
I nodded.
Peeta smiled. "When the beginning of term Trials come, I hope you shoot straight."
Now it was my turn to blush. But not for long.
"Hey! Finnick!"
Annie ran towards our group with her backpack flying in midair as she ran towards her boyfriend.
As Annie and Finnick greeted each other I checked my watch, almost nine.
"I can't wait to see our new homeroom teacher Mr. Heavensbee." I said.
"You're lucky you get a new homeroom teacher." Said Johanna, "I'm stuck with that kook, Professor Wiress."
Annie rolled her eyes. "Oh, c'mon Jo, Professor Wiress is a good teacher, weird, but good."
The bell rang, and we all knew what that meant, the beginning of school.

*******

I went inside the school and went to the Third Year Locker Bay section. That is where all the Third Year lockers are. My locker is next to Glimmers' and Cloves'.
"Is it just me, or are we always stuck together wherever we go?" Asked Clove. "First we're rooming together, now our lockers are next together."
Glimmer sighed sympathetically. "Oh Clove, you're not just not to togetherness."
All three of us went to homeroom class and saw little name tags on desks.
We sit in alphabetical order by last name, and I sit next to Gale in the very front row. I like him as a desk partner, he is pretty smart and he makes funny jokes, but he knows when to shut up in time when the teacher is in the room.
Beside me on my left are Annie and Marvel.
Annie is quiet but smart, and Marvel is basically the class clown in our class. He makes even funnier jokes than Gale, but he never knows when it's the right time to shut up when the teacher is in the room.
Cato and Clove are lucky, their last names both start with a S and they sit together. It was a match made in heaven.
To my right, Glimmer and Autumn sit together.
I looked behind me and saw Peeta sitting next Finnick. Both of them were joking around.
The bell rang and our new homeroom teacher entered the classroom.
I recognized the teacher. Mr. Heavensbee was the Tech Ed teacher. He was possibly the best teacher in the school.
"Good morning students, you had a good morning."
We all nodded.
Mr. Heavensbee put his briefcase on the desk. "Some of you might recognize me from last year. I was the Tech Ed teacher. Mr. Crane and I swapped jobs, you will have him for Tech Ed."
Mr. Heavensbee pulled out an attendance folder. "I'll do a quick attendance before your classes start. Okay, so Annie Cresta?"
Annie put her hand up shyly. "Here."
"Marvel Collins?"
"Here reporting for duty sir!"
Everybody laughed.
Mr. Heavensbee smiled briefly and then returned to the attendance. "Katniss Everdeen?"
I put my hand up. "Here."
Mr. Heavensbee finished the attendance just before the bell rang.
"Okay, take out your math textbooks,"
When everyone did, Mr. Heavensbee, as any other teacher would do, started to drone on about something I had no clue about.
Then, Mr. Heavensbee gave us a worksheet about trigonometry. While we were working, Mr. Heavensbee left to the photocopy room and the whole class went berserk.
"I was gonna die in the silence!" Exclaimed Clove.
Glimmer whipped her compact mirror and started applying some makeup on.
Eventually, the whole class was out of their seats talking to their classmates.
Finnick and Thresh were thumb wrestling and Autumn was making origami out of blank sheets of paper.
Peeta and Annie beckoned me over to Marvel's seat.
"We need your help with something." Said Peeta.
"Lemme guess," I said, "it doesn't have to do with the math assignment."
Annie laughed, "of course not." She handed me a piece of paper.
It read: hi, I'm stupid, what's your name?
I grinned, "who are you gonna give this to?"
"That's where you come in." Said Peeta. "We need you to put this on Marvel's back without him noticing that there is something on his back. I taped it on the back."
I took the note, "I'll be happy to do it."
"Guys! He's coming!" Called Autumn, who was making a paper crane while watching the door.
Everybody sat down quickly and quietly just when Mr. Heavensbee came back in the classroom.
I still had the note in my hand, but Marvel was next to me, so it will be hard to put the note on his back without him noticing me.
About five minutes later, I had an idea. I dropped my pencil and "accidently" kicked it across the room and under Annie's desk.
If I was new to this school, I would consider this embarrassing, but hey, it's worth getting up and picking it up.
I got up and when I ducked under Annie's desk to get pencil, I ever so gently pasted the note on Marvel's back.
I got back to my desk and opened my binder that I brought in to class and saw a note inside.
You are special too.
I smiled at Gale. "Thanks."
He looked at me. "For what?"
I elbowed him and showed him the note.
"I didn't write that." Said Gale, frowning.
I looked at the writing of the note and his writing on the worksheet. He was right. This wasn't his writing.
Then, I grinned.
I knew who sent the note.