After her rebirth by Cici

Chapter 12

The storage room was a total dump, and Katniss had had it up to here with it. Unlike Clara, who was all about keeping up appearances, Katniss wasn't scared to wreck stuff if she had to. Juniper was floored when she heard about it. She always knew Katniss was tough, but she had no clue her living situation at The Manners Villa was such a nightmare. It was just too much. There was only one class in the afternoon, and as soon as it was over, Katniss bolted out of there with her backpack. She spotted a food truck by the road, and her eyes lit up like Christmas lights. Her stomach growled like a beast. When she lived at the Manners Villa, the Manners family barely kept her from starving and never gave her a dime. "How can this food only be a buck? It looks so good!" Katniss said, her eyes wide and practically drooling. The owner gave her a warm smile. "Want a hot dog?"

Katniss was tempted. She felt the few bucks in her pocket and hesitated, finally shaking her head. "Nah, I'm not hungry."

The owner saw right through her and said with a hint of pity, "Don't worry, this one's on me."

Katniss felt her eyes get all misty. A stranger cared more about her than her own family. She took the hot dog, tears in her eyes, and thanked the owner, quietly leaving a dollar on the table.

Sure, there are kind people out there, but she couldn't live off free meals forever. While waiting for the bus, she pulled out her phone, habitually looking for part-time gigs.

But her phone was ancient, only good for calls and texts, no internet.

Just then, it rang. She saw the caller ID and hung up right away.

A few seconds later, it rang again. Katniss turned it off, not in the mood for any more crap.

Back home, she pulled out the medicinal powder she bought earlier, ready to make some pills to sell for some cash.

cranked up the heat, then simmered it down, skimming

added the medicinal powder, stirring it into a thick paste, cooking it

started rolling small pills. Her arm ached; it had been a while since she did

the pills were done. She looked at the perfectly sized pills with satisfaction.

pills into little bottles

and had to grab two pieces of

grabbed her wrist. Before she could see who it was, she was

slipped from her hand and hit the ground, and Katniss was

bread and barely

the person, she yelled, "Desmond, are you out of your

"Katniss, you still have the mood to eat

want to deal with this nutjob and tried to walk

Desmond grabbed her wrist tighter, his

you still owe me an answer?" Desmond's sharp eyes bore into her. The pain in her wrist only fueled her anger. She gritted her teeth

feel guilty? You didn't give the spot to Clara but to someone else. What does that mean?" Desmond spat out angrily. Yesterday, Desmond had

almost lost it and wanted to

to him, but their money was undeniable. He heard the Davis family had a good father-daughter relationship, and pissing them off wasn't worth it, but he wanted to settle this score with Katniss

So that's the deal.