Panem High: Freshman Year

Chapter 8

Trigger Warning: mention of eating disorders and self-harm.

At 11:11 pm after making their wishes and many long hours of gossip, the girls finally began disabling their pillow fort, returning the living room to its previous state and setting up their sleeping arrangements, though there would certainly not be any sleeping for many more hours, if at all. Clove, Katniss and Johanna "made the couches'', tucking the edges of their comforters (Clove's red, Katniss' green and Johanna's navy blue) into the back cushions of their respective couches and each laying a white pillow at the top, Clove's and Katniss' adjacent to one another's.

Delly and Annie worked together to figure out how to attach the pump to the air mattress, since Glimmer told them she didn't know, and finally got the bed pumped up and made it, bottom and top sheets, respective comforters and two pillows.

Finch put a set of twin sheets over her air mattress and laid a yellow comforter and white pillow over top.

Madge helped Glimmer take the mattress off of the box spring on the spare bed. It already had sheets on it, but the quilt and pillows were packed away and besides, Glimmer told Madge, it was a scratchy and ugly quilt anyway, and pillows were thin. So they placed instead two white duvets and pillows.

"Let's get changed, guys," Glimmer said. "If anyone wants to change on their own you can change in the bathroom or spare bedroom or even my craft room, I don't care. Just wait for my mom to bring my stuff down." She walked to the bottom of the stairs. "Momma!" she called.

"What's up, love?"

"Can you please bring down some snacks and stuff? Oh, and my pyjamas!"

"For sure," her mom called back. "Which ones?"

"Doesn't matter."

Amie came downstairs a few minutes later with some PJs, two bowls of chips, a two-litre bottle of Mugs root beer and some red plastic cups, all balanced precariously in her arms. She handed them to Glimmer, Madge and Clove with a nod of thanks.

"Glim, there's some more drinks in the fridge in the storage room," she said.

"Thanks, Momma," Glimmer smiled. Amie kissed her daughter's forehead and returned upstairs. "Okay guys, you can change now."

Annie slipped into the bathroom with an apologetic smile, and Clove into the spare room, but the rest of the girls stayed in the main part of the basement. Madge opened her grey JanSport backpack and pulled out her black and white plaid pyjama bottoms and a white t-shirt. She slid out of her jean shorts re d tank top and into the pants. She stared down at her tiny waist and mostly flat chest and frowned at the way the size XS pants were still too big with the drawstrings pulled all the way, and how her A-cup bra was filled with mainly empty space.

"I wish I had your curves, Dell," she said to Delly, who sent her a tentative smile.

"I wish I had your little legs instead of my thunder thighs," Delly replied sadly.

"I wish I was strong like Katniss," said Annie, coming from the bathroom in a floral shorts-and-tee pyjama set. Madge noticed the toned muscles in Katniss' arms now that they had been mentioned. They were more noticeable now that she was wearing a t-shirt instead of her hoodie. Katniss noticed her staring and awkwardly focused on sliding into her plaid pyjama shorts.

"I wish I was hot like Glimmer," Katniss said with a hint of a smile in her serious voice, and the girls laughed sadly.

"Don't we all," Clove said sourly, emerging from the spare bedroom in black and a red hoodie emblazoned with Panem High Girls Volleyball . She put her hands in her pocket and leaned against the door to Glimmer's craft room.