As Radiant As The Sun

Chapter 8

"Katniss? I didn't know you were coming, I thought you worked everyday after school." Gale looks at me with a shocked expression. I nod and sip my hot chocolate. 

"How long have you been here?" Annie says, with what I'm hoping is curiosity. I look at Peeta and then I look down, without saying anything. 

"Katniss?" Madge says with an edge in her voice. i run a hand trough my short hair, which is now soft, thanks to the hot shower I had last night. "Katniss!" She says so stern it makes me jump. 

"I've been here since last night." I whisper hoping no further questions will be asked. My hopes were crushed. 

"Why?" Finnick says trying to stifle a laugh. This is anything but a laughing matter. 

"Because I-"

"Katniss you don't have to tell them if you don't want to." Peeta pushes. 

"They deserve to know." They all look at me questionably , concern written all over their faces. I look down. 

"I lost my job yesterday."  Gale looks at me weird. 

"Katniss, you can find a new job-" 

"You don't understand." I hiss. "I need a job, and I need a job now." I'm yelling now. Peeta looks up at me with a sad look on his face. There are tears in both our eyes. I look up at everyone else. I take a deep breath. "I live in a tree." 

Annie hands fly to her mouth. 

Madge gasps. 

Finnick's mouth drops open.

Gale becomes wide eyed. 

Peeta's tears spill. 

I begin to sob. I sob and sob and sob, until there are no tears left in me. I take my bag and hot chocolate and run upstairs. 

I just want to be alone. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peeta's Point of view

I look up at them, with a single tear springing  down my face. After five minutes, their still speechless.

"Peeta, how long have you known?" Finnick mumbles with a blank stare on his face.

"Yesterday. I brought her home and let her take a shower and eat. I feel so bad. you know?" They nod and sit down. "I should probably go check on her. You guys can put a movie in if you want." I walk upstairs and push open the door to my room. Katniss is laying on the bed, slowly sipping her hot chocolate. I sit down next to her and smile. "Hey." 

"Hi." She whispers. She opens her mouth like she's ready to talk but no sound comes out. 

"What?" I mumble brushing some hair out of her face. It doesn't stay. Just falls back to the same spot it was before. 

"Do you view me differently?"  

"What?"

"Do you see me any different as you did before you knew I was all alone?" 

"Of course not. You're still my best friend Katniss. I still think you're as kind and as beautiful as I did when I first saw you. None of the fact you live in a tree changes how I see you. I don't think anything will change that." 

"Thank you." I give her a hug and she nuzzles her face into my neck. "You smell good." What? Random!

"I do?" Was that the right way to respond to that? 

"Yeah. You smell like cinnamon." I press my nose to her hair. 

"You smell like the forest." I say. This might be the weirdest conversation I've had in my entire life. 

"I don't think the forest smell will ever come off of me." I smile. 

"I hope not. It suits you." She laughs. 

"Peeta? Whats your favorite color?"

"Orange. Like the sunset."

"Thats a beautiful color." Katniss responds and looks out the window at the orange sunset.

"What's your favorite?" 

"What, color?" She asks turning around. I nod. 

"Green. Like the forest. Which I guess I just learned to love after awhile. I had to look at it for so long." 

"When's your birthday?" I ask her. I can't believe i haven't found out when her birthday is by now. It could be today for all I know.

"May the 8th. Whens yours?" 

"October 21st."

"This turned into a get to know you session with Katniss and Peeta." She laughs. 

"Welcome to the get to know you show with Katniss and Peeta! Where today, Katniss and Peeta will get to know each other, better than before!" Katniss laughs so hard, she starts to snort, which makes me crack up. I'm glad I can make her laugh when she doesn't have a family and is kind of depressed. 

"Hey Peeta, can I ask you something?"She asks once she calms down. 

"Of course." 

"Okay, so I have this book, and um, my dad started making it for me before he died, and never finished. So in the book, we were recording plants, like, which ones are safe to eat, and stuff like that. But that book doesn't help unless you have a picture of it. I can't draw to save my life, so I was wondering if you could do it for me sometime?" 

"I would love to Katniss."

"Thank you." She hugs me and grabs the book allowing me to look through it. She walks into the bathroom. As I look through the book, a picture of a little girl and and a man fall out. They look identical. Katniss and her father. They both look so happy. I've never seen Katniss smile so big in her life. When Katniss returns, I hand her the picture. She smiles and slips the picture into her bag. "Peeta, we forgot about the group." I laugh an get up to join the others, alongside Katniss Everdeen. 

Hey everyone:)

How was your week? 

I gave you all a tiny bit of everlark for a while.

This chapter is fifteen words under my goal. I'm tired. Goodnight everyone!

Thanks so much! love you all!

~Becca