Chapter 1: I Had To Do That
My friend and hunting partner Gale Hawthorne is Reaped for the 72nd Annual Hunger Games. I go to visit him in the Justice Building, and actually beat him to his holding cell. I am sent in and told to wait there. When Gale, the tribute, walks in, I shrink away from the door at first in surprise, before I fling myself into his arms.
"You have to win," I tell him.
Gale pulls away to look me in the face. "There's 24 of us, Catnip. Only one comes out. But I'll try."
Then, he does something I never expected him to do in our years of friendship. He takes my face in his hands, and kisses me full on the mouth. I let out a surprised squeak into his mouth. I am only fourteen, and this is my first kiss. But I close my eyes and do my best to relax into it, kissing him back. When we break apart, Gale whispers:
"I had to do that. At least once."
And after five minutes, the Peacekeepers come to take me away.