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I remember that day when we were eleven. Katniss was in the woods hunting. She still didn't know about it. I was too shy to tell even Katniss about what went down that day at Rory's house.
I went over to the Hawthornes' to see Rory. I did that a lot when Katniss hunted. We'd known each other since we were eight, and we were closer than I was with any of Rory's siblings, even little Posy, who was barely out of toddlerhood, and I loved little kids. Rory and I played together often, and soon I had developed a crush on him.
Gale was out of the house, hunting with Katniss, and Vick was in the living room, playing with Posy. I greeted both of the little siblings politely, but I was really just there for Rory. I was pretty sure Vick could tell, judging from the smirk I saw on his face, provoking a blush from me. Well, that and the fact that he yelled, " RORY , YOUR GIRLFRIEND'S HERE!" after I said hello to him and Posy.
I was tomato-red at that point, and Rory looked the same as he walked into the room, staring at me. "Vick," he whined, "she's not my girlfriend!" Although the fact that I couldn't keep my eyes off of him probably didn't help his argument.
Vick snorted. "Okay," he said, clearly not believing his brother. Rory blushed even more and motioned for me to follow him into the bedroom that he shared with all of his siblings and his mother.
We sat on a bed, just sitting there awkwardly for a few minutes, staring at the closed door, trying to avoid the elephant in the room. Eventually, Rory tried to make conversation.
"So," he said.
"So," was my reply.
We sat in an awkward silence for a few more seconds until we heard laughter from the other side of the door. "VICK!" we shouted in unison. Rory ran to open the door, me right behind him. He picked the younger boy up and threw him over his shoulder, Vick making a sound that was a mix between laughter and screaming as I giggled.
"Let us have some privacy!" Rory demanded, although he was laughing, so he didn't sound so demanding.
"You and your girlfriend need privacy!" Vick laughed.
Both Rory and me blushed for the fourth time today.
"Rory has a girlfriend!" said Posy.
"No! No no no! Look what you did, Vick!" Rory groaned. The younger boy just continued laughing.
"Rory has a girlfriend!" Posy clapped her hands.
I sighed and picked up the little girl. "I am not Rory's girlfriend," I told her.
"You're totally his girlfriend!" Vick shouted. Rory sighed and dumped him on the couch.
"Primmy's Rory's girlfriend!" Posy exclaimed.
"No! I—we—he—we're not dating!" I blushed furiously.
"Primmy not Rory's girlfriend?" asked Posy.
"No. Primmy is not Rory's girlfriend," I told her, setting her down on the ground again.
Vick smirked from the couch. Rory sighed and walked back into the bedroom. I followed, closing the door.
We ended up—surprise!—sitting on the bed in an awkward silence.
"So…" said Rory. "We're not dating. And you're not my girlfriend. And I'm not your boyfriend…"
"Mm-hmm," I agreed. "We're not dating. You're not my boyfriend. I'm not your girlfr—"
I was cut off by Rory's lips suddenly pressed against mine. I was definitely shocked, but for some reason I decided to kiss him back. After a few seconds, Rory pulled away. We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, but was probably only a few minutes. Then I realized what had just happened and quickly looked away. My shoelaces had become extremely interesting at the moment.
"Um," I said nervously, my eyes flitting up to look at him, "so, I guess that stuff we just said is no longer valid?"
Rory shook his head. "Yeah, we're dating now."
I nodded. "But, can it be, like… secret dating? I don't want to tell anyone."
Rory nodded quickly. "Okay. Secret dating. That's cool. I didn't feel like telling Vick anyways."
Our eyes widened in unison. "VICK!"
Of course Vick was hiding behind the door again! We shouldn't have expected him to stay on the couch.
Rory and I ended up chasing Vick around the house until I had to go home.