post 74th - part 4
katniss’s pov
I wake up to Johanna breathing into my ear.
Although it startles me at first, it’s actually not unpleasant. She’s still asleep, so her breaths are rhythmic and sort of soothing. And she has an arm across my chest, holding me in place, so I basically have no choice but to stay still and listen to her breathe. I wonder what she’s dreaming about.
Actually, I didn’t have any nightmares after she came into my room, and I don’t think she did either. Or if she did, I slept through it. Sleeping through the night. Huh. That’s a rare occurrence for me nowadays.
When I feel Johanna start to stir, I quickly try to make it seem like I haven’t been up listening to her breathe. Yawning, I rub my eyes as Johanna practically jumps away from me, pulling her arm away like she’s been shocked. She groans loudly, glancing at the tiny clock beside my bed.
“Hi,” I say.
“Hi,” she murmurs.
I like the way Johanna looks in the morning. The way her hair’s a mess, her bleary-eyed scowl, and the way she doesn’t seem so tough, like she doesn’t have enough energy to be an asshole. She looked pretty last night, but this is a different kind of pretty, I think. It’s like Johanna’s one of those girls who always looks naturally pretty, whereas I’m decent looking in certain ways. In fact, I probably look like shit right now.
“So…,” I sigh. “Still think I’m innocent?”
“What do you mean?” She blushes a bit and squints at me.
“You said I wouldn’t go home with someone, but—”
“Oh, woah, let’s get one thing fucking straight,” Johanna interrupts as I laugh, “this was totally not ‘going home with someone,’ ok, brainless? I mean, you didn’t even hold my hand, let alone…” The blush on Johanna’s face intensifies significantly, so much that she looks away from me and tries to hide it. “Nice try, but you’re still a prude.”
“And you’re still an asshole,” I chuckle.
“And I’m still hungry, so I’m getting up,” she declares, tossing the sheets off of her.
We sit at the dining table and order some breakfast, but it’s a while before anyone else joins us. Effie emerges first, chattering on and on about last night, and picks at some coffee and eggs until Haymitch arrives. He slept in Effie’s room, apparently, and didn’t bother to hide it. Then Cole walks out of his room, looking thoroughly wrecked. So much for doing better. Though I don’t really blame him, seeing as my own Victory Tour left me feeling like shit too.
“So Johanna,” Haymitch says through a mouthful of waffles, “enjoy yourself last night?”
“You know it,” she answers casually. “What about you and Effie? Sleep alright?”
It could be an innocent question, I guess, but the glint in Johanna’s eye makes her intention all too obvious. Haymitch smirks, but Effie’s eyes widen and she immediately scolds Johanna for being so nosy and improper. Cole hardly reacts, but I have to stifle a laugh to avoid upsetting Effie further.
“Well, I should go,” Johanna announces once she’s done eating. She stretches, stands up, and looks around the table at each of us, nodding slightly at me. “Long train ride, y’know.”
“How long is it?” I ask.
“About a day and a half,” she shrugs. That’s longer than ours, which I didn’t expect. “It’s not too bad. I’ll probably just sleep for most of it.” Johanna finishes off the last of her coffee and her water, then grins at me and Haymitch. “Til next year,” she declares, and then she’s out the door.
“I can’t believe she took the train all that way for a Victory Party,” I mutter once Johanna’s gone.
Haymitch scoffs loudly next to me. “You’re kidding, right?”
“What do you mean?”
Shaking his head with a sigh, Haymitch glances at Effie before looking at me with a mixture of disbelief and amusement. “Look, sweetheart, she didn’t go to that party to celebrate Cole. You really think she gives a shit about him? Sorry kid,” he barks at Cole, who barely shrugs in response, “but she went for…another reason.”
I can tell by the way Haymitch and Effie are looking at me that they’re expecting me to understand what they’re hinting at, but I can’t. Johanna said she came because we were allies. What other reason is there? Maybe she just wanted to have fun, or get away from 7 for a bit.
“Wow,” Haymitch chuckles. “Wow. Well, I’m not gonna spell it out for you.”
“Why not?” I snap. I hate when he does this to me. It’s like he never wants to tell me anything important unless I force him to.
“Because if you haven’t realized it by now, you’re—” Effie whacks Haymitch’s arm, shutting him up before he can say something rude. Scowling at her, Haymitch mutters, “It’s just something you need to figure out yourself.”
“There’s no other reason. You’re full of shit,” I sigh as I head back to my room. We’ve got a few hours before we have to go to the train station, so I might as well try to go back to sleep.
The side of the bed where Johanna slept smells like her. I wish I never noticed it, because now I miss her. I miss her in a way I can’t ignore, and I think this is what finally confirms that we’re definitely more than allies. Johanna’s my friend, someone I care about, someone I won’t see for several more months.
I officially miss Johanna Mason’s presence. It feels so strange to me, but it’s true.