Thanks for your consideration – Katniss/Seneca
Chapter 1 - Distraction
DISCLAIMER - I do not own The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Seneca Crane or anyone else I mention. They all belong to the brilliant mind of Suzanne Collins. I just ship this couple (along with many others) and want to give their love a chance.
Okay, enjoy.
My breath was caught in my throat througout everything. From Prim's name being called out at the reaping, saying goodbye and finally ending up at the Capitol, being trained like animals. That's all we were. Animals for entertainment. Haymitch was less than helpful, drinking and throwing snide comments my way. It felt like he had given up already and I knew that I stood no chance of winning. But that wouldn't stop me from trying. For Prim. For Gale. For me. There was a strange feeling in the air. Like everyone was already picking out their targets, but no matter how I shifted, I couldn't get them to stop looking at me. With a half hearted smile to Cinna, I climbed onto the carriage with Peeta – the other boy from my district – and together we headed out, on fire and glowing. I could feel eyes on me, burning into my flesh. My heart pounded. Had they also worked out that I had no chance? Were they assuming such a thing? The cheers were deafening at first before my ears adjusted to them and I allowed myself a glance around the arena. Attention and cheers were directed at us. At ME. This was astounding. But there were a pair of eyes I met as the carriage pulled to a halt for the President to begin his speech, and I couldn't look away. I had no idea who he was, or why he was staring – the fire had gone out the moment we stopped. Yet he was just watching. It wasn't unnerving, or worrying. It didn't make me feel uneasy. I liked it. The way he looked at me. It was sort of how I had caught Gale looking at me when he thought I wasn't paying attention. My stomach churned, flipped and twisted. But before I could draw my attention away from him, the carriage began to move, causing me to almost fall off, if Peeta hadn't of grabbed my arm, I would have.
The hugs and glares that followed were blurred into one, so I had no idea who was doing which? It didn't matter. My mind was no longer on the game. No longer on winning. If this was part of the game then I had lost. 100%.
A sleepless night followed. Flicking through the window settings before replaying the ceremony again. No zoom. Just my luck. I could see his faint outline, but he just looked blury and small, and it was affecting me. I wanted to see him. Wanted to know if he was actually watching me or if it was all in my head. I had never really bothered with boys. They weren't important to me like my family were. Like surviving was. But this, this was different. And it made my heart pound like never before. For once I felt like the Gazelle instead of the fearless hunter.
In the morning was our first training session. Maybe a bit or archery would snap me back to reality for a while. I need a distraction now.
