It's A Jungle Out There

Chapter One

A/N 2.0: Hello guys! Just a quick reminder here now that this series is finished to please refrain from posting spoilers in the comments. I've noticed an increasing trend of important plot points being mentioned in the comment section of each chapter and, where I know it isn't done intentionally, you must remember to keep in mind that there could be new readers checking out the story for the first time and you don't want to ruin the future of the plot for them. Thanks and stay awesome! ;)  

It's a Jungle Out There

Chapter One

First things first, I did not try to kill myself.

I know how it looked, I know how people thought that it looked, but if you understood the circumstances then you'd realize that it all really was just a misunderstanding. A great, big, steaming pile of misunderstanding.

I'll back up a little, to the day before the alleged 'suicide'. It started off as any day does, in Registration Class listening to Mrs. Trinket ramble on and on about the student targets for the day. Every day it's something new. Tidy uniform; get to class on time; respect teachers; no fighting, etc. It's basically just regurgitating the school rules, as if we'd forget what they are.

"And that's why it's important to understand why homework is given, and why it should be handed in on time . . ." Three missed homework's equaled an after school detention, however I never worried about this. To keep up my Grade A average I have never missed a homework. If I want to be accepted into college then I need to keep my grades up. However, I am still teetering precariously on the edge of falling into my third missed homework. All for the one subject: math. Why was math even necessary? I can add, subtract, multiply and divide, isn't that enough?

Glimmer leans over the space between our desks and whispers, "Are you getting any of this?"

"Not a word," I whisper back.

"I suppose it's just as well," Glimmer replies. Her golden hair slips over her shoulders and shielded her face, hiding the fact that she was talking from Mrs. Trinket "Besides, no one listening to Trinket except the nerds."

I snorted. "True."

A paper airplane clips the side of my ear. I yelp in surprise and glance at Mrs. Trinket, who was too busy outlining how homework shapes the successors of tomorrow to notice. I lean over and picked it up of the floor where it landed, unfolding the paper carefully so it doesn't rustle or crinkle too loudly.

U cumin' 2 cheerleading after skul?

~Clove

I close the paper up in my fist and drop my hand below my seat so Clove can see it a few seats behind. I give her a thumbs up, keeping my eyes locked on Mrs. Trinket so she doesn't suspect anything. Her passionate rant was reaching its end, the signs evident by the fact that she was slowly making her way back to her desk to call the role. Most classes have the ten minutes of registration class to chat and catch up. Not us, oh no, not us. We're forced to listen to the daily pile of Horse Shit, supplied by the mouth of Mrs. Trinket. Homework shapes the successors of tomorrow? Please.

"Katniss?"

"Here!" I call. The role call is completely tedious to listen to. I wish we had one of those electronic registers. It would make everything so much simpler. The District is so behind when it comes to technology. The Capitol Grammar School uses ipads instead of books. Ipads! Why can't we have ipads? Oh wait, that's right, Principal Snow spend last year's school fees on curtains for the stage. Curtains. They weren't even the right bloody colour!