We Have Nothing to Envy
"Why is Panem a great nation?" says Peeta.
He's holding his history book close to his chest so she can't cheat. They sit on Peetas bed with a plate with a burned cookie between them. They are going to share it after they're done practicing for the test. "Because we all live in safety, peace, and prosperity. And we are very lucky to live in a country that can provide for its citizen like Panem do." Delly says. She feels really confident about that answer. "Yeah, that's correct" says Peeta but he doesn't sound so certain. He looks down at the small cookie. She's not sure what he's thinking, she wonders for a moment if she should say anything about that girl in their year, Katniss, who looks like she's going to drop dead any moment, about that boy in first grade who actually did. But she doesn't, nothing good comes from thinking like that. You got to have a positive attitude. Instead she says "ask me something difficult".
He looks down in his book searching for something on the worn pages, before settling on something that seems to meet the criteria. "Explain what The Downfall was". That's not too difficult; it's all their teachers have talked about this week. But then again, nothing is really that difficult in school, you're just supposed to learn what the book says and repeat it.
"Our ancestors were weak and afraid because they didn't have a strong leader like we do." She starts."The seas where rising, they used up all the oil, and there were no fenced of districts like we have, to keep everyone where they are supposed to be. People believed in made up gods and attacked each other. They would rather follow their gods, even though they aren't real, than their leaders. "Delly's not sure how she's supposed to explain the part about the gods. The teacher never really mentions what gods are exactly, and the book only explains the concept in vague terms. She's pretty sure she won't get questions about it anyways, so it probably best to just ignore it.
"Only a few countries had food, and clean water, and people tried to get to those countries. But then some of the leaders went to war and they used atomic bombs, even though they knew they shouldn't. It ruined those countries, and killed everyone who had tried to escape the hunger. It all fell apart, and without someone to lead people just drifted around. They lived in horror and fear, without cities and laws, and without peacekeepers to keep them safe." Peeta is reading in the book to make sure she gets it right. "That's correct" he says with a smile. "But you forgot something: it wouldn't have helped if they followed their leaders instead of their gods, since their leaders were so weak and war hungry." She has to agree with that, but they're not completely sure if their teachers will. Their teacher always hates it when they write their own theories on questions like that.
On her first test Delly made the mistake of pointing out that even though their book says that all the districts are equally important, it's obvious that the Capitol favors 1 and 2. She got detention and a slap for that. Her parents had to come and talk to the teacher and a peacekeeper were there to write down their answers. She'll never make that mistake ever again. Both she and Peeta agree that it's always best to go with what the book says, even when the answer don't actually make sense. That last part goes unspoken. They are friends, but they don't talk about everything. No one in district twelve talks about everything.
The bakery ovens downstairs makes Peetas room too hot and stuffy. That's why he always have his window open, even when it rains, the smell of wet dirt mixing with the smell of freshly baked bread. "I wonder what it was like," Peeta says. "You know, living in the wilderness after the cities were bombed." He rolls up the sleeves of his school uniform; there are faint bruises on his right arm. Delly really don't like to think about The Downfall or The Dark Days, why would anyone want you delve on that?
"Do you think there were cannibals, like Tito in the games?" She kicks him lightly on the leg "Really Peeta? You have to bring that up? You know I couldn't sleep for a week after the 69th Games". She had worked so long on trying to get those images out of here head. That boy, taking bites out of an arm like a wild animal, the girl still screaming and gurgling on her own blood. She remembered Penny throwing up when they were watching together at the square. The rest of the crowd groaning and turning away from the screen, or covering their eyes before the gamemakers made sure to cut to Caesar in the studio talking frantically about the special features of the arena. Peeta have the decency to look a bit ashamed. "Sorry, we can eat the cookie now, if you want?" He breaks the burned cookie in two equal halves. "Apology accepted." She smiles and holds out her hand to take her prize. It tastes like nuts and honey under the black burned bits.
This is my first fanfic, and to make matters worse English is my second language and I'm dyslectic. So I apologize for any potential mistakes.
I wrote this about a year ago when I was thinking about what sort of propaganda the Capitol would teach in schools, and how they would portray history. I just wrote it for myself but I got so excited about cf that I decided to share it :)