The 5 times Primrose Everdeen lied
By SparkOfEverlark
Chapter 1
She knew what tesserae was. Even though a year supply of grain and oil is promised, she knew that one sack could only last a family for the entire night and she knew what the risks were, but she couldn't resist… Not when she saw Posy Hawthorne. The way the outline of her bones could be made out through her paling olive skin or the way her lifeless grey eyes would contrast her toothless smile. She knew what Posy was feeling, despite the fact the child was only around 4 years old. She knew the feeling of being the light despite all the darkness, smiling even though she should be frowning. After all, that's been her life since her father died.
"Hey Prim… What's wrong?" a voice suddenly asked. She looked around and she suddenly realized, she was still walking home from school with Katniss. Her temporary state of distraction must have caught her sister's eye.
"Oh… Nothing really. It's just…" she tries to say, fidgeting with the ends of her blouse. Silence overtakes them for a moment, only the sound of the gravel they walk on and the gaze of Katniss looking down on her seems to be in the environment.
"Seriously Prim… What's the matter? I know that look."
"It's just…" she stops walking and looks up to her big sister, "The reaping is in two days… and I know that there's extra grain involved when you-"
"No." Katniss says and kneels down on the soil, not caring if the ends of her skirt drenches with mud, "You're name isn't going there any more than once, okay? Promise me you won't get tesserae for us. Promise me Prim." She clutches Prim's shoulders, forcing her to look into her grey eyes.
Prim looks up at her sister and nods. They continue home, not another word is spoken.
The next day, as Katniss leaves for trading in the morning, Prim leaves for her own errands. She grabs an old coat from the closet and pulls the hood over her head, making sure Katniss doesn't spot her to send her home. As she goes to The Hob to ask Greasy Sae for some soup in trade for a scarf she made for the winter, she sees Posy once more… Her small bony hand cling to her mother's while her eyes follow a small butterfly flying around her, a small smile playing along her lips.
"But that's all I have!" says a frantic voice which she recognizes as Hazel Hawthorne, the only living parent of the Hawthorne family. She moves closer to the woman, clutching her basket in her arms. She sees one of the owners of the stalls violently shaking her head at Hazel, who is almost in tears.
"I'm sorry Hazel but this isn't even enough for a pound of anything I have. You'll have to look somewhere else." She says, not even bothering to look up from the meat on the chopping board.
"Please Rooba! We've run out of food and…" she pleads as she glances down at her daughter who is currently more focused on the flying creature in front of them, "…my children! How will I feed all 4 of them! Gale has already used his tesserae weeks ago and we've already consumed it, after all you know how small those portions are…"
"Then ask your other boy… What's his name? Rory? Ask him to bet his name on tesserae." Rooba says as if it were the simplest thing. Hazel gasps.
"Oh no! Please no! H-He's only a boy and… and I-I couldn't possibly do that. Plus Gale has entered his name too many times, I'm afraid they would just decide to stamp his name on the bowl…" Hazel cries, but Rooba wasn't moved. Hazel leaves in tears and an empty basket with only a handful of small coins clutched in her hand, Posy trailing behind her.
"I could give them some of our tesserae grain but Katniss would notice something missing right away. Gale could bring them game, I guess, but it's Reaping week and I doubt either of them would take the risk to go in the woods, at least not till the day of the reaping itself, after the Peacekeepers have done a full scan of the area." She thinks to herself, "And I promised Katniss I wouldn't get any tesserae… For us." She dashes away, her feet leading her to the Justice Hall. She catches a glimpse of her sister, who was too busy talking with Sae to notice anything.
"Excuse me!"
"Move it!"
"Watch your step!"
Dozens of people were moving around the Town Square in preparation for the Reaping tomorrow. Crowds were formed in each corner while Peacekeepers patrolled from their watch towers. She squeezed through the group of men, who were carrying around two big glass bowls. Upon getting through the crowd of peacekeepers and workers, Prim climbed the steps of the Justice Building and went through the tall, wooden doors.
"Wow" she said in astonishment as her eyes scanned the room. Compared to the loud and busy clusters outside, this room was quiet and dull. The walls were painted grey while several chairs and tables were scattered around each room. There was no sign of anyone except for an old lady sitting behind a desk, her eyes buried deep in mountains of paper. Prim slowly approached the lady and slowly sat in the chair in front of her.
"Hello" she said. The old woman's eyes shot up and a look of confusion danced across her face.
"Green eyes…" Prim thought, "She must be from another district…"
"What can I do for you?" The woman asked, folding her arms across her desk.
"I-I…" Prim tried, but she couldn't find the will to say it. The lady behind the desk raised her eyebrows, a questioning look in her eyes.
"I would like to avail for… tesserae please."
The lady looked shocked at this request, "Alright but… Why would a merchant avail for tesserae?"
"I'm not a merchant." Prim answered confidently. She wasn't ashamed that she was from the Seam. She never was and she never will be.
"Alright then?" The lady asked, a cocked eyebrow still plastered on her face, "Name?" she asked, her fingers tying along the keyboard of the computer. A computer… It's been awhile since she saw one so close.
"Primrose Everdeen."
"Age?"
"Um… twelve."
The lady looked up again, "Twelve? Honey, are you sure you want to-"
"Yes." Prim interrupted, "I'm sure."
"Okay then… Well, it seems you are the only Primrose Everdeen here anyways so we're done. I'll just notify your parents to-"
"NO!" Prim yelped, nearly bouncing off her chair, the lady jumped in surprise, "I mean, no it's alright. That won't be necessary. My mother is mentally ill actually. She won't be able to… well, talk to anyone about anything." Which is true because since her father died, Prim's mother has been spending the rest of her days staring at the wall or sitting on her rocking chair.
"Alright. You have two entries for the 74th reaping for tomorrow. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor." The lady says and reaches down to pull out a sack. It's about half Prim's size but surprisingly, it's not heavy at all.
"Thank you." Prim says. The lady gives her a sad smile and continues back to her work. As Prim carries the sack outside, she notices that the sun has started to set. She begins to run towards the Hawthorne house when suddenly she bumps into someone, a man in fact.
"Please don't be Gale! Please don't be Gale! Please don't be Gale!" she repeats over and over in her head. She looks up clutching the sack in her arms protectively only to see Rye Mellark, the middle Mellark brother.
"Oh sorry there! Hey! Primrose right?" he says. Prim offers him a small smile, involuntarily clutching the sack even tighter. Rye looks down and his eyes go wide, a small gasp escaping his lips.
"Oh Prim… Why-"
"Please don't tell!" Prim said. Rye is not only a trickster but also a blabber mouth. Worry suddenly floods her. Rye looks down and catches her blue eyes welling with tears, while her blonde twin braids have gotten so loose from running around all day.
His eyes soften, "I won't." he says, then offers a sad smile.
Prim offers a small 'thank you' and runs away… disappearing down the road towards the Seam.
That was the one and only secret Rye Mellark never let anyone find out.
"Hazel!" Prim frantically knocked on the chipping wooden door of the Hawthorne house, "Hazel! It's me! Prim!"
The door flew right open and there stood Hazel Hawthone, her sleeves rolled up her arms and apron soaked with water. Her grey eyes were lined with eye bags while her cheek bones protruded from her skin, showing that she too, was malnourished.
"Is Gale home?!" Prim said almost immediately. The last thing she wanted was for Gale to discover the sack clutched in her arms. A sack he is all too familiar with.
"No, he's still at the Hob with Rory. I'm so sorry it took me awhile to answer the door, Primrose. I was putting Posy to bed, while I was doing some laundry to make some extra money and she wouldn't go to bed because she kept complaining that she was hungry." Hazel said as she eyed the sack Prim was holding. Her eyes suddenly widened with realization.
"Please don't tell anyone! Especially Katniss!" Prim said before Hazel could utter a word. The shocked woman just nodded her head, her widened eyes never leaving its gaze on the sack.
"I was at the Hob today a-and I saw you talking to Rooba a-and…" Prim stutters out. Hazel looks up and meets her gaze with Prim.
"Oh Primrose… No, please I-"
"Please Hazel. I-It's for you and your kids. At least it will last all of you for the night and till Gale or Katniss hunts again tomorrow." She says and hands the sack to Hazel.
"Primrose… I couldn't even begin to-"
"It's alright Hazel…" Prim says, a genuine smile tugging at her lips. Hazel's eyes begin to water as she mouths a simple 'thank you' towards the young girl.
"Wake up Vick and Posy. Tell Gale and Rory you found some extra grain in the cupboard or something, but please… Don't tell anyone." Prim says before leaving.
"I won't tell, I promise." Hazel says as Prim runs home contented, knowing for a fact that Hazel Hawthorne has never broken a promise.
"PRIM! WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?! I WAS ABOUT TO CALL THE FUCKING PEACEKEEPERS ON YOU!" Katniss scolds as Primrose joins her sister and mother for dinner.
"I was… out." Prim says, as she serves herself a bowl of soup.
"Prim, the reaping is tomorrow! You could have been arrested or worse!" Katniss says, eyeing her sister from across the table while their mother just silently finishes the rest of her meal.
"I'm sorry…" Prim says, looking up at Katniss. Her sister only shakes her head and continues to eat.
Later that night, while Prim is just about to drift to sleep, Katniss asks a question.
"Prim… Where were you today?"
Prim turns around to face her sister, who is currently wide awake, "I was… out"
"Out? Out where exactly?" Katniss asks. Prim looks around anywhere but her sister, the tears forming in her eyes. She stays silent.
"Prim… Did you avail for tesserae?" Katniss asks. Prim is once again silent. Katniss sits up and looks down at her sister, tears threatening to spill.
"Primrose Everdeen… Did you or did you not avail for tesserae?" Katniss closes her eyes and wishes for the answer to be anything but yes.
Prim inhales a deep breath, "No"
"N-No?" Katniss asks, opening her eyes only to see her little sister clutching a pillow towards her chest, "Then where were you?"
"I was…" Prim says trying to sit up, "At the slag heap… today… with a boy… from school." She lies, her eyes never looking up to meet her sister's. She would be blushing furiously right now if it weren't for the fact that where she went was actually 10 times worse than 1000 slag heaps put together. But the last thing she wanted was for her older sister to assume she went to the ultimate make out point of district 12…
"The… Slag Heap?" Katniss asks, raising her eyebrows. Prim nods.
"But… um… don't worry. I-I um… left before he could try anything stupid." Prim lies, silently chewing at her lip and fidgeting with her hands.
"The slag heap… I assume I won't have to send Gale to threaten any boys, but you shouldn't have left like that Prim! You should have told me where you were going but either way I sure as hell wouldn't have allowed you there in the first place!" Katniss says, her voice rising slowly.
"I'm sorry…" Prim mutters, a single tear drops down her face. Katniss looks at her sister and envelops her into a hug, bringing her back to lie down on their bed.
"I'm s-so sorry K-Katniss… S-So sorry… I'm so sorry…" Prim mutters over and over again, the tears freely falling from her eyes. The double meaning of this never occurs to Katniss.
"It's okay Prim. It's okay."
A nightmare filled with reaping bowls and arenas fill her dreams that night. The slip of paper containing her name being chosen from the glass bowl and the different ways on how she is killed in the arena.
"NO! NOOOO!" Prim screams, bolting straight up from her nightmare. She can see the sunlight streaming from across the room. Reaping Day is today.
"Prim! Prim? It's okay… it was only a dream. Your name is only in there once. " Katniss says, clutching her sister close. Prim wraps her arms around her sister, ignoring the last thing she said.
"It was me…" she whispers, staining Katniss's nightshirt with her tears.
"They're not going to pick you, your name is only in there once." Katniss says, causing Prim to shudder in response, "You want me to sing for you?" Prim nods then lies back down
"Deep in the meadow, under the willow…" As Katniss sings, Prim's fears of walking up that stage slowly vanish, her eyes drooping as she falls back to sleep with one last thought in mind:
"There are a hundred names in that bowl, mine is only on two small slips of paper. What are the odds that it would be me?"