"Mr. Odair." She beckons me to the front of the room.
Even though we're all only 12 years old, they call us 'mister' and 'miss' as if we're... Well, we're old enough to die in the Capitol's Games - so I guess it's a sign of respect. But it always felt odd; too formal to be sincere.
It's my turn to give my "4 Facts" presentation to the class. The facts could be about anything related to our District - as long as you don't say anything bad about Four. Which is not difficult for me; I love it here. Not that I know anything different. But that doesn't matter.
I start out with a given as my number one - the most incontrovertible truth I could muster:
"I love the ocean more than anything else in Panem."
Number two: "I am not afraid of anything when I'm in the water."
Then, number three, I go on to detail this hidden back-water cove that only I know about, where you can find so many Spiny-Claws, like hundreds of them - though I don't tell my classmates how you get to it. You never give away all your secrets.
And then... I can't remember my final fact now; Mrs. Westmote stops me before I can finish.
She tells me that I didn't understand the assignment, that the other students did, and didn't I hear their examples? About District 4's largest source of income being fishing and fish-related products, or that the traditional bread of our district gets its color from the seaweed it contains... Things that can be proven, she says.
I plead, green eyes grown wide with panic, I can tell her exactly where the Spiny-Claws live. I can even take her there. I can prove it.
"No, Mr. Odair." She thanks me and asks me to sit down, and everyone can see she marks me 'incomplete' with her red dye ink from District 8.
And this is the moment when I realize that you can get punished even when you haven't done anything wrong, even when you're trying your hardest to do the right thing - and I realize that I hate that fact more than anything else in the world.
I think of this moment as the world disintegrates around me. I think about how 'facts' can change:
Like how there is something now - someone, actually - that I love even more than the ocean.
Number two is still true, though. If I try my hardest right now, I can... I can imagine myself floating - not in this burning chaos that surrounds me, but in the beautiful salty sea - and I am not afraid.
As far as the Spiny-Claws are concerned... Well, I can't say if they're still there or if that cove is still a secret that only I know. But, I do know that they call them "lobsters" in the Capitol. But this is a fact I didn't know when I was 12. I didn't learn it until I was reaped at 14. A very long time ago.
Lastly, I still hate it when anyone is hurt, punished, shamed or insulted for doing the right thing.
These are my '4 Facts', Mrs. Westmote. You old sea cow.
And I can still prove each and every one of them.