His Promise
The room I am in looks like a former office. It was dark and cold. No windows, but plenty of mahogany bookshelves covered the walls. I skim through the titles of the books, all containing Panem law and regulation matters. I wait for my mother and father to appear and say good bye. I don't know if my brothers will show up. They weren't the kind of people to say goodbye, I think they got it from my mother. I hear muddled footsteps behind the door. I can't think about the situation I'm in or I might make a scene, so I concentrate on the lines on the floor and start counting them. I find counting soothing when I am stressed out. It distracts me from over thinking.
My dad comes in and hugs me as tightly as he can. I look over my shoulder. Mother stands there with her arms crossed without any compassion or remorse. She's probably happy I'm leaving, she never liked me anyways.
"Peeta, do not give up," he says in my ear, "no matter what they say or how bad your odds are, do not give up."
"Don't give him false hope," my mother says in the background.
Dad ignores her, "Look out for the little girl, Primrose."
My mother's face is full of anger and redness when Prim's name is spoken. Something tells me she is jealous.
I look at him with confused eyes, "What?"
"Just take care of her, okay? Just do it for me," I can tell he is completely serious. I don't question him again.
There is a knock on the door and the men in white suits pull them away. I can tell my father is resisting a little. The door is closed again and I am alone. I wait until the men come for me and push me onto the train. I look at the crack under the door. A shadow covers the light peeking through, then a familiar figure is in the doorway.
She comes in and I have no time to figure out why she is in my room and not her sister's. Katniss is staring at me. For the first time, she is staring at me and not the other way around. She looks angry though and frustrated. I can see the strain in her eyes, but her eyes are not red from crying.
I open my mouth, but she speaks instead, "don't you dare lay a finger on my sister. Don't you dare hurt her." My heart jumps to a quicker pace as I see she is tensing up and becoming angry. I was not expecting her hostility.
"No, I would never," I respond, "who do you think I am?" I am kind of offended that she thinks I'm going to be brutal killer like the rest of the tributes will be. I'm a damn baker. I make bread. I don't kill people. I could never kill Prim, I could never kill anyone. I'm not a monster.
"Can you promise me something?" She seems stressed and nervous. she has one hand against her forehead as if she's thinking about what she is going to say.
"Yes, anything," I quickly say, almost begging for her trust.
"Watch out for her," I can tell she is hesitant on what she's about to say, "don't let her get killed."
"I promise," I respond.
She walks backwards and still looks at me. Her back is against the door and she shivers a little. My body is fighting to get up and embrace her, but my conscience reminds me of the situation I am in right now. Her sister is about to compete in a game where she'll be fighting to the death with twenty-three other children, and one of them is me. Even if I come back alive, I wouldn't have a chance with her. Why would she want me? The boy who lived instead of her sister.
Her stare is broken with the heavy steps behind the door inching toward us, "I'm done," she knocks on the door and the peacekeepers escort her out. She could never cry in front of anyone, but I can tell she was getting close to the edge. The truth is, her sister is going to die soon and she can't do anything about it. After the Capitol was accused of letting trained students volunteer to be tributes, they stopped volunteers to avoid any more uprisings.
I stare at the door. Only seconds ago she was there. She noticed me. She recognized my existence. I never expected this moment to be so melancholy. My odds were not in my favor and neither were hers nor her sisters.
Light hit my face violently when the door was opened and two men came in and informed me of my departure from District Twelve. They said a lot, but I found it hard to concentrate on there words when I could hear screams coming from the room across the hallway. I guessed it was Prim. I peeked behind them to see peacekeepers detaching Prim from Katniss. The two men noticed my distraction and closed the door immediately.
"It's time to leave, Mr. Mellark," one of them says.
They stay on my side and bring me outside to the car where Prim and Effie sit silently.
The crowd doesn't cheer, but they stare.
I'm pushed into the car and I try to adjust to get my face out of Effie's wig. The flashing cameras blind me. I lean over to look at Prim. Her eyes are red and shimmering streaks of tears run down her cheeks.
Her life had so much value and importance compared to mine, to Katniss..to my father.
She was just a little girl. She was my responsibility and my promise.
