A/N: This story is for Prompts in Panem Day 3 modern locations. I choose the football stadium. I am a graduate from Texas A&M (whoop!) so this fluffy one-shot describes some Aggie traditions. Enjoy!
Peeta's POV
I'm sitting in a huge lecture hall with about 300 other students . I'm assuming most of us are freshman since biology is one of the mandatory core classes. I just want to get it out of the way and move on to my business classes. If I plan to one day take over my family's bakery, I have to know how to run it.
It's a sea of maroon. We're all decked out in school colors. For the next four years I cannot be seen in my favorite color orange. Orange is the color of our rival school.
I thumb through my overpriced textbook until I remember that I have no interest what so ever in biology. A game of Words with Friends sounds much better and I'm happy see my friend Finnick is logged in. I don't get very far with my game when the prof walks in and gets the attention of the class. He begins going over the syllabus and I'm dreading the class more and more until I see her. She's wearing a green tank top which automatically makes her stands out. Her long brown hair is in a single braid over one shoulder. Her cheeks are red and she looks hot and sweaty but so beautiful. Maybe this class won't be so bad after all.
Katniss' POV
I'm late. I don't do late but it's not my fault. It's my first day of class on a large campus and I couldn't find anywhere to park. Maybe living on campus would have been easier, but I decided to go ahead and live off campus with Madge. Her dad was charging me a considerably cheaper rent since he knew my family's history.
As I walk into the room, I feel myself blush when all eyes turn to me as the door clanks shut. The professor continues talking as I quickly try to find a seat. There's one about ten steps up. All I have to do is climb over the boy sitting on the end.
I swear the boy hasn't blinked since I walked in. I get it, I was late and loud at that, but stop staring. At least climbing over him was easy. He must be short.
"I'm sorry," I say to him but don't really know why I'm apologizing.
"Don't worry about it. At least you made it here safe." He must be a glass half full guy, my favorite.
I try to ignore the sweat that's dripping down my chest. He has a hard time ignoring it too but quickly averts his eyes when I turn to look at him.
I notice that everyone has a sheet of paper but me. Did I forget my first assignment? He notices me looking around.
"Here, we can share mine," he offers. I offer him a quiet nod and try to tune in to what the professor's saying but it's really hard. All of a sudden, I'm looking at the blonde hair covering my elbow mate's arms. It's a golden blonde and I wonder what it looks like in the sun. The next sense I'm overcome with is smell. He smells good, like something sweet.
When class ends we all stand at the same time. We quickly shuffle out the door. No one wants to be the one that holds up the entire row.
As I exit the building, I'm blasted by the Texas heat. Sometimes, August can be even worse than July. I reach into my sack to take a drink from my water bottle when I drop it and it rolls across the sidewalk. How embarrassing.
Peeta's POV
Something hits the back of my foot and I look down to find a bottle. I reach for it and immediately see who it belongs to, the girl from class.
"Sorry about that."
"Two apologies in one day. Should we be friends or enemies?" She looks away and I can see her cheeks light up. Maybe I need to go slower with her. "I'm just kidding, you know."
"I know, it's just been a crazy day. Thanks." She reaches for the bottle before I've handed it to her and our fingers touch. Her eyes meet mine for a second and I wonder if she can feel the electricity, too. Before I know it, she's gone. I follow the top of her head until I lose her in the crowd. Not all hope is gone. At least, I'll see her in class.
Two days later, I make my way back to the biology building for my lab. I have an equally expensive workbook to go along with my textbook I probably won't use. I enter the room and take my seat amongst twenty other students. The desks are set up in a U shape and I pick one against the wall by the window. I literally gasp when she walks through the door and I hope it wasn't too loud. She's directly opposite from me and I can't take my eyes off of her. She must feel my stare because next thing I know her eyes are on me and I quickly look away.
The graduate student teaching our section begins calling out our names. I wait and wait to hear her speak up until finally it happens.
"Katniss Everdeen."
"Here," she says raspy. Katniss. I wonder what it would sound like from my lips. I'm so tempted to say it just to see how it would feel off the tip of my tongue but I can't in here. A few more names are called until I hear mine.
"Peeta Mellark."
"Here," I say in a clear voice. I let my eyes roam to her's and am pleasantly surprised when I see her looking at me.
Katniss' POV
Peeta. What kind of name is Peeta? I guess I can't judge but now I'm even more intrigued by him. I feel like he was flirting with me the other day but I can't be for certain. Not a whole lot of guys have flirted with me before. The teacher begins asking questions and no one volunteers to answer, until he does. I'm thankful he spoke up otherwise this class would have really drug on.
When lab is over, I'm the first to walk out the door since I was the closest to it. I turn right as I exit the building only to remember that I needed to go left. I curse myself then turn the correct direction. I bump into someone and she knocks my water bottle from my hand.
"Here you are," Peeta say. Again! Really! I let out a huff of air and shake my head. "Have you been drinking too much? What's really in this bottle?" he jokes.
"I swear it's just water. I feel like a chicken with my head cut off. I never know where I'm going around here."
"We're all lost, don't worry. Use the stadium as your guide."
"That's a good idea," I tell him because really it is. Kyle Field is a towering mass off in the distant.
"Can I walk you to your next class? Where are you heading?"
"Music." He cocks an eye brow at me. "It's my fine arts credit. There's not a big music program here. What about you?"
"Oh, I have a two hour break before my next class. I'll just grab something to eat. So your name is Katniss?" He says my name funny, but it makes me smile.
"Yeah, and you're Peeta."
"Don't you just love our parents?"
"I do but my dad's dead." What the hell is wrong with me! Did I really just say that?
"I'm sorry! Oh gosh, I'm really sorry," he stammers.
"Don't worry about it. It was years ago. He was an Aggie, too."
"So were my parents. They met here. I didn't really have a choice about where I was going."
"That's sucks."
"I don't mean that literally, but you know what I mean. It would have been tough on them had I gone somewhere else. I love it here though. I think it's amazing. Everyone is so nice. Have you ridden the bus? Every guy will stand and let the girls sit. Where else in the world does that still happen? Chivalry isn't dead here."
"Yeah, I guess if you're into that sort of thing. What's your major?"
"Business. You?"
"Undecided." Typical of me. No real direction in my life.
"Well, you've got some time." He tries to give me hope and I actually don't mind.
"This is my building."
"It was nice meeting you. I guess I'll see you in class."
Peeta's POV
"Fin, you ready yet?" I ask my roommate. Finnick is from South Padre. He brought his leisure laidback I live by the beach attitude with him to college.
"Almost bro, just finishing my hair." Finnick is tall. I'll look like a shrimp next to him but who doesn't dwarf me.
"I bet it will be crowded tonight since it's the first Midnight Yell." Midnight Yell is an Aggie tradition sort of like a pep rally. On Friday, everyone heads to the stadium. We don't have cheerleaders but have male Yell Leaders instead. They lead us in some chants and the coach usually speaks. Johnny Football will probably speak too, given he's the Heisman winner.
"Got your lighter?" Finnick asked. I forgot to mention, everyone kisses at midnight. The lights in the stadium go out and you kiss your date. If you have no date, you hold up a lighter and kiss the first single girl you can find, if she's willing that is.
"Yeah, I got mine." Immediately, Katniss' face flashes through my mind. What if she's there? What if she had a date? What if she doesn't? I smile at the last thought. It's my favorite.
Fin and I make the trek across campus from our dorm to the stadium. We find a place in the stands and wait for the rally to start. The Yell Leader give us hand signals to let us know which cheer to yell first. The upper classmen shout out "Hump it Ags!" They don't literally mean to hump it, it's more of a stance where your hands rest on your knees and your back is humped over.
"God, I love humping it!" Finnick says loud and proud, getting the attention of the blonde, brunette, and red head standing in front of us.
The coach speaks next followed by Jonny Manziel. The crowd starts to quiet down as we all anticipate what's coming next.
Katniss' POV
I can't believe I'm here. I was forced out of my room by Madge, Annie, and Jo even though I tried to tell them I had homework to do. Obviously, they didn't believe me since it's only the first week of class. I love being here and all, but I'm not into every tradition this school has, especially ones that require me to kiss a stranger. Madge is the only one with a date, her high school sweet heart Thom. Jo is chomping at the bits to kiss anyone. Annie is shy so I doubt she'll even lift her lighter. I didn't even bother bringing one.
The lights around the stadium are starting to go out one by one. The flicker from lighters start to pop up here and there, and then I see him, Peeta. He's two rows up and he clearly sees me. He holds up his lighter and shrugs his shoulders wondering if I'm free. I'm free alright, and if I have to kiss someone, then I'm happy it's him. I lift up the only light I have, my cell phone, and I don't think either one of us could smile any bigger.
Without saying a word, he walks down to me and gives me an earth shattering kiss. It's good. So good I feel a shiver runs down my spine. I place my hands on his board shoulders because I've been dying to see what he feels like in my arms. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about him multiple times this week. His hands wrap around my waist and we both open our mouths at the same time inviting each other in. The stadium lights turning back on finally get our attention as we begin to separate. Much to my shock, I see Annie kissing someone. They are still going at it despite the fact that everyone should have stopped by now.
"Finnick, let her breathe. I think you made your point," Peeta says to tall boy with sea green eyes. His friend and Annie stop but don't take their eyes off of one another.
"So, you wanna go to the game with us tomorrow?" Peeta asks me. "We have two extra tickets. Our friends bailed on us."
"Sure," Annie replies before I get the chance to. She's still staring at Finnick.
"This wouldn't be a ploy to kiss me more would it?" I ask Peeta who begins to blush. Another Aggie tradition is that you kiss your date every time the Aggies score during a football game.
"I'd like to think I can kiss you anytime I want to," he says. His words make me gasp and I have no time to catch my breath before he goes in for another kiss.
The next day, the Aggies win their game but I couldn't tell you the score. All I know, is I kissed Peeta 12 times.
A/N: Hope you liked the story! I know the water bottle incident was corny but that's truly the way I met my college boyfriend. Take a moment to check out my other stories. Curious Kat will be updated next week after Promts in Panem is over. It's mature, so avoid it if that's not your thing.