Katniss grinned in satisfaction as she clicked the "Purchase" button and shoved an entire Oreo into her mouth. She snorted and sent chocolate crumbs spewing everywhere as she realized how appropriate this was in the present situation. Suddenly, the door opened behind Katniss and she turned to see who it was.
"Sup Kat?" smirked her roommate, Johanna, in the open doorway.
"Sup, Jo?" Katniss called back as Johanna dumped her bag onto a chair and came to join Katniss at the computer.
"Whatcha got there?" she asked, leaning over Katniss's shoulder. Katniss triumphantly leaned back as the "Purchase successful" banner appeared under a picture of the t-shirt she had ordered, set to be delivered that afternoon from a nearby department store. It was a simple green t-shirt, white block letters across the front spelling out the words 'Slut for Oreos.' Johanna laughed and yanked on her roommate's long braid playfully.
"That is so college, but so you," she chuckled.
"Aw, now what's that supposed to mean?" laughed Katniss, raising an eyebrow at Johanna who just smirked right back. Just then, Katniss's text tone caught both girls' attentions. Katniss picked up the phone and read the message from an unknown number.
Hey, Artemis, it's your lovely dreamboat of a boyfriend. Guess who got a new phone? (Hint: me) How about a celebratory coffee/tea? Aka a bit of hot beverage and lots and lots of scones... Your fave ;) 12 pm today. So, you game?
"What's with the Artemis?" asked Johanna, reading the text over Katniss's shoulder nosily- as usual. "I'm guessing it has to do with your knack for ye olde archery, but that's just a... shot in the dark." Katniss groaned at the pun as Johanna tipped her over with a barrage of elbow jabs and maniacal laughter. Johanna had never been interested in archery, calling it a medieval sport. However, she was obscenely obsessed with wrestling, which Katniss was pretty sure was even older. Still, Johanna couldn't claim wrestling fame like Katniss could with archery. Panem University was one of the few colleges with an archery team and Katniss was the best of the best. She didn't like to say it out loud, but it was undisputed across campus that Katniss was archery champ.
"That was awful, but you're right," groaned Katniss. "I told him about the eighth grade scholarship yesterday." At the end of her eighth grade year, Katniss had earned a scholarship check after scoring a 298 at a state middle and high school tournament.
"I'm guessing you're going, then?" asked Johanna, gesturing at the phone.
"Duh," replied Katniss. She glanced at Peeta's dorm across the street, hoping to catch a glimpse of her boyfriend, but instead locked eyes with his roommate, Finnick. He shot her some finger guns, and she smiled as she shot him one back. Katniss peered into the room as he smiled and walked off, but there was no sign of Peeta. He and Katniss had rooms with windows facing each other in each of the two Dorm 12 buildings, one for boys and one for girls. At one point they set up a pulley system for letter delivery between the two windows before Dean Snow made them take it down. Peeta's phone had broken, so the two had communicated by e-mail outside of classes for around a month. Johanna immediately pulled out her phone and started click-clacking away. She could type extremely fast, but all that extra time was respent on the backspace key to fix at least a few of her many typos.
"You texting Finnick?" asked Katniss, swiveling the chair to face Johanna who now wore an evil grin. "Nevermind, that's your evil, plotting face."
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Johanna with mock sweetness, not looking up from her phone. Katniss groaned and flopped onto the couch, shoving her face into the cushions. She had been up late finishing an essay the night before and was going to need a nap to be in any form of a good mood.
"Wake up, nerd!" called Johanna, patting Katniss's cheek to wake her. As Katniss waved her hand and babbled incoherently, Johanna jumped back and threw up her hands. "It lives!" she shouted. "Welcome back to the land of the living. Now you've gotta get ready for your date."
"Date!" Katniss shouted, jolting upright. She glanced at the clock and paused in terror as she saw that it was already 11:20. "I'mgonnabelateI'mgonnabelateI'mgonnabelate-" Katniss rambled before Johanna clamped her hand over her mouth.
"You'll be fine." Johanna tossed her a baggy, green shirt and patterned leggings. "Put these on, I won't look." She obediently turned her back as Katniss threw off her stained tank top and baggy sweatpants, the typical outfit on days with no class. She threw on the outfit Johanna had given her, barely glancing at what she was putting on. She yanked out her sloppy braid and ran her fingers through it, in too much of a hurry to get a brush. She glanced in the mirror and nodded. It almost looked cute, windswept-ish and falling in gentle waves. She nodded at her own reflection and shot out the door. She hopped onto her slightly rusted bike, pushing down the street at breakneck speed. Just the way she liked it. Katniss would bike fast with any excuse and even sometimes without. She loved the wind sucking the air out of her lungs and blowing her hair behind her. The campus was never that busy when she did, though, and she stuck to the smoothest, most well-kept paths. She wasn't stupid. Well, at least she wasn't that stupid. Probably. She squealed to a halt in front of the on-campus coffee shop, almost pitching over the handlebars as she did. She leaped off her bike and barged in the door too see Peeta, sitting calmly with two cups in front of him. She raised a hand in greeting, panting and pushing strands of hair out of her face. Peeta laughed quietly, giving her a quick wave while pushing one of the cups. He wore plain jeans and a t-shirt the same color as Katniss's. She wondered what shirt Johanna had given her and looked down. Katniss groaned and covered her face as the words 'Slut for Oreos' stared back at her. Of course. Peeta didn't seem to care as Katniss sat down and picked up her coffee.
"Let me guess," she said, pointing at Peeta's cup, "Earl Grey, four sugars?"
"You got it, babe," smirked Peeta, voice echoing as he sipped his own cup. This wasn't exactly a difficult guess, as Peeta ordered this combination nearly every time they went out for hot drinks. In his words, 'It's not tea without sugar.' Katniss, on the other hand, always went black coffee with no cream which, judging by the taste, was what Peeta had gotten her.
"You like?" asked Peeta, arms folded on the table in front of his chest. Katniss nodded as she gulped down a few sips. A waitress came over with a plate bearing a stack of five chocolate chip scones.
"Thank you," said the two in unison, the waitress just nodding silently and scurrying away. Katniss stacked three scones on a napkin and Peeta slid the rest of the plate toward him with one hand. That was a sort of unspoken agreement between them, just like splitting the check every time. Couples squabbling for twenty minutes over who paid when seemed unnecessary to the two, so they came to this agreement in about a minute. A lot of time saved, for sure. The two talked like they hadn't seen each other in years, despite just talking the other day. Every date was like that, the two of them so happy in each other's presence they could talk for hours. As the sun travelled into the window and over the rooftops the two just talked and talked, Katniss loud and full of hand gestures, Peeta quiet and still. After a while, Katniss decided to finally head out.
"We both have homework, after all," she explained, mouth dry from hours of conversation. Peeta nodded and began to clean up the table with one hand.
"You head out, I'll be right there," Peeta said, looking at her with a smile like bread fresh from the oven. Warm and soft. Katniss nodded and turned away, desperate to hide her flushing cheeks. A few steps later, Peeta appeared next to her, balancing both cups and the plate in one hand. Katniss tossed the cups into a trash can and Peeta set the plate in the plastic silverware bin before they headed toward the door. As they held quiet conversation, several people looked at the pair and snickered.
"What are they laughing at?" Katniss asked as they reached the door. As Peeta held the door for her, Katniss finally saw the full shirt she was wearing. In the same font and color as the 'Slut for Oreos' print on her shirt, Peeta simply wore the word 'Oreos.' Katniss looked him in his sparkling blue eyes with a suppressed smile.
"Johanna?" she asked.
"Johanna," he chuckled.