Chapter Two

Oh no. No, no, no! I can't protect her! I bake bread all day... What can I do? I'm so overwhelmed and confused. How can it be me? This has to be a mistake. My name was only in five times! I walk up to the stage and glance up at Katniss. She is staring at me with a wide-eyed look. Does she remember me? I take my place on stage next to Effie. She asks for volunteers, but nobody speaks up. Like I said, nobody volunteers in District 12. Except for Katniss.

Standing on the stage, there are two things I am sure of: I am going to die in that arena and I'm going to protect Katniss to the best of my ability before I do.

The mayor reads the Treaty of Treason but I don't hear a word he's saying. I glance over to see if I can read Katniss' facial expression. Does she remember what I did? Is she happy or sad I was chosen? What's going through her head? I turn away and look straight ahead, trying not to show the emotions that I'm feeling. Fear, sadness, anxiety... I'm sure I'm not doing a very good job. Not many people care that I'm up there. Maybe a few friends and my family. But everyone knew Katniss. I'm sure they'll be rooting for her. I'm rooting for her.

After the mayor reads the Treaty of Treason, he tells us to shake hands. When our hands meet, it warms my heart a bit. I gently squeeze her hand, to let her know she's going to be okay. I'm going to make sure of it. She locks her gaze on me, those grey eyes staring at me, trying to figure out what I'm thinking. She lets go and we face District 12 and the cameras as the anthem plays. After the anthem is over, we are both escorted off the stage.

Peacekeepers, the soldiers for the Capitol, take us into the Justice Building and then lead us each to our own rooms so people can come and say goodbye to us. The first visitors are my mother and brothers. I vaguely wonder where my father is, but I'm sidetracked when I see my brothers. They're both crying, which is completely out of character for them. They sit on either side of me while my mother stands in front of us. She's never been one to be sentimental.

"Nobody is going to look at you twice since you're from District 12. Just lay low, act weak, and don't let them ever think of you as a threat. Then come out swinging when the time is right. Like that Johanna Mason girl from District 5 did one year," my oldest brother, Blaze, said.

"Yeah, just don't get killed or anything... That would be really bad and um.. yeah..." Cole said, frowning.

"Okay. I'll do my best," I say. I don't have the heart to tell them I'm not planning on coming back alive. Katniss is going to survive, not me. I look up at my mother to see if she's going to say anything. She looks deep in thought, her brow furrowed.

"You know, District 12 might finally have a winner this year. She's a survivor, that one..." she says quietly.

It doesn't surprise me that she isn't showing any sadness that her youngest son is going into the Games. What surprises me is that she's saying that about Katniss. I thought she disliked her. Hated her, even. But apparently even she has noticed how hard Katniss has been working to provide for her starving family.

I just clear my throat and we sit in silence until they are taken away so my next visitor can come say goodbye, but I'm surprised at who walks through the door. When the door opens, Gale walks into the room with a look of desperation on his face.

"You have to help her. She's strong, so strong. But people are going to notice that. They're going to go after her. You have to convince her to lay low and stay quiet. She hates the Capitol. She's not going to keep her mouth shut about how depraved they are. You tell her that she has to come back for her family. I know she thinks she has no chance, but I know that you've noticed her. You've noticed her fire. Don't let it burn out, Peeta," Gale pleads.

The peacekeeper comes in and motions for Gale to leave.

"I'll keep her safe, Gale," I tell him. "I promise."

Gale nods grimly and leaves the room. A few moments later, my father walks into the room and sits down next to me.

"Listen, Peeta. I'm sure you're thinking about helping the girl. Anyone with eyes can see how you feel about her. I know you're the kind of person who can't be talked out of something. You take after me on that. It's not going to be easy for me to tell you to do what you want to do, because that means losing my youngest son, and that's not something I'll ever be okay with. As your father, I want you to fight until the very end. Whether that is for her or for yourself, I can't tell you. I love you and I always will. Don't lose yourself in all of this madness, you understand? You do your very best and you will be a winner to me, regardless of what happens."

All of the emotions I've been holding in since they called Prim's name just pour out. I start crying and I hug my father for probably the last time. I've never seen him so emotional and I know it's because he knows me better than everyone. He knows how I feel about Katniss. He knows that I'm going to die to save her.

The peacekeepers come in to escort him out. I tell him I love him one last time and the door closes. Nobody comes in to get me right away, so I get a few minutes to myself. I try to calm down and focus on my strategy.

Okay, okay... I have to look weak. I have to look like I'll be one of the ones who will die off on his own from being incapable of doing anything to survive. I'll leave here crying. I'll leave here defeated. But in reality, when the Games start, I'll put everything I have into protecting her. I'll do anything.

Peacekeepers come in to escort me to the train that will take us to the Capitol. I stand up, take a deep breath, and walk out with them. I'm led to the train where Katniss and I have to stand side-by-side so cameras can get more footage of us. I make sure to cry the entire time, trying to express a defeated attitude. I can see Katniss glancing over at me periodically, confused. She has the same nonchalant look on her face as earlier. She's trying to seem superior, maybe even bored. She wants to intimidate everyone.

We board the train, and even as the doors close, people are desperately trying to get footage of us.

The train begins to move, fast. Beyond any speed I could have imagined. I've never been on anything like this. Not only is it incredibly fast, it's so elegant. So clean and the pleasant smells are such a nice change from the smell of coal.

Effie shows Katniss and I to our rooms, which are across from each other. I walk into my room and I am blown away. I've never been in such a nice room before. In District 12, my home was considered one of the nicer homes in the district, besides the mayor's house. But my house is nothing compared to this room. The bedroom is so lavish with a bed the size of my whole bedroom back home, with soft sheets made of a material I've never even seen before.

I explore the rest of my quarters, finding a dressing area and a bathroom. The dressing area is filled with exquisitely made clothes and shoes that look downright uncomfortable, but very fancy; much fancier than the scruffy brown leather boots I wear every day.

The bathroom is so clean and bright that I have to wait a second for my eyes to adjust. The lighting in District 12 is always dim, and sometimes the electricity doesn't work at all. After my eyes adjust to the harsh brightness, I take in my surroundings of the overly-large bathroom.

The shower is far beyond my knowledge. There are so many dials and levers, I get dizzy trying to figure it all out. I decide to take a shower, and I strip my clothes off and get in. I have hot water back home, but it only lasts a few minutes and I, being the youngest, always get the last shower of the night, which always results in the water being freezing cold.

I get in and try to figure out the shower buttons. I choose an apple-scented shampoo and body wash because it reminds me of my tree back home. I would sit in the backyard and watch the sunlight shine through its branches. I probably sketched that tree hundreds of times at different angles, different times of the year, and different times of the day. We don't have many things to do for entertainment in District 12, so I always turn to drawing.

I finish my shower and put on black pants and a grey sweater. As I leave my room, I run into Haymitch in the hallway, who is practically incoherent. He mumbles something about taking a nap so I step aside and let him stumble to his room. I walk around and find the dining room; the smells emanating from this room makes my mouth water.

I was never starving back home, but I never got to eat anything lavish. Sometimes we would trade bread for some meat at the butcher's shop, which definitely livened up the daily meals of bread.

I sit down, almost unable to contain my hunger. I sit down at the table and patiently wait for everyone else to join us. A few moments later, Effie and Katniss walk into the dining room. Katniss always looks so beautiful. She walks in wearing a dark green shirt and pants. The outfit reminds me of the woods she is always sneaking into.

Effie and Katniss sit down at the table, and surprisingly, Katniss sits next to me. She looks over at me quickly but then turns her focus back to Effie.

"Where's Haymitch?" Effie chirps in her weird Capitol accent.

"Last time I saw him, he said he was going to take a nap," I tell her.

"Well, it's been an exhausting day," Effie replies with a hint of relief in her voice. She's probably not too upset about his absence.

The food is finally brought in once the three of us take our seats. After we finish one dish, another one is brought in. It seems never-ending, and honestly I don't want it to end. The food is beyond amazing. It makes the bread and meat I eat at home seem like dirt. We have carrot soup, salad, lamb chops, potatoes, cheese, fruit and cake. I'm so full, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep it all down, which wouldn't be good because the last thing I need to be doing is vomiting right before going into an arena where I need to be strong and fed.

Effie eats her supper very formally. She eats tiny little spoonfuls at a time, carefully wiping her mouth with a napkin after each bite. Katniss and I look like animals compared to her but apparently she doesn't see it that way.

"At least, you two have decent manners. The pair last year ate everything with their hands like a couple of savages. It completely upset my digestion," she comments.

I look over at Katniss who is fuming at Effie's comment. Then, in a very Katniss-like fashion, she eats the rest of her food with her hands and even wipes her hands on the fancy white tablecloth.

Katniss and I both get up and I can tell she's feeling as sick as I feel. I hope she can hold the food down too because she needs to gain weight more than I do. Even though she solved her family's hunger problem, she's still far too skinny. Seeing how skinny she is gives me a pang of guilt that I didn't try to sneak her more food.

After supper, we go to another compartment in the train to watch the recap of the reapings from the districts. Communication between the districts isn't allowed unless it's business-related so we don't know anyone from the other districts or what happened at the other reapings. We watch as the reapings are replayed, and I'm making note of all of the tributes.

The two tributes from District 1 are Cato and Clove. They look strong, healthy, and downright scary. I look over at Katniss, but she seems unphased. In District 2, the boy, Marvel, volunteers rather excitedly. Glimmer, the girl tribute from 2, seems fairly dangerous, but also wants to have a "sexy" factor.

Districts 3 and 4 don't really stand out to me, but I still make a mental note to watch them to make sure I'm not underestimating them, because they could just be using the same strategy that I'm using. District 5 reaps a frail-looking girl with bright red hair, but she seems eerily calm when she takes the stage, so I make a note to watch out for her.

District 11's tributes stick out the most of them all. The boy, whose name is Thresh, has to be close to 7 feet tall. He is monstrous and has a deadly look on his face. The girl tribute is an 11-year-old fragile-looking girl named Rue. Nobody ever wants to see their people reaped, but it's especially hurtful when it's an 11-year-old. They are so little, so innocent. They never win because they are never as big and strong as the older contestants. The tributes from 1, 2, and 4 are usually 18 because they wait until they come of age and then volunteer to go in.

District 12's reaping is the last to show. I see Prim being called and Katniss running out and volunteering. Gale taking Prim away. Katniss walking to the stage, looking intimidating and determined. It shows Haymitch falling off the stage in his usual drunken stupor, which adds a comic relief to the tension of Katniss volunteering because they have to air every dramatic detail to make for a good show. My name is called and I watch myself go onto the stage. I see myself look over at Katniss, but for the most part I stay stone-faced. It shows us shake hands and then they play the anthem.

Effie says something about her wig and we can tell she's angry at Haymitch for making her look slightly less "perfect" than she wanted to look on television.

"Your mentor has a lot to learn about presentation. A lot about televised behavior," she snaps.

I laugh because I feel like she should know him by now. She's the escort for District 12 every year and Haymitch is the mentor. Effie's job is to present us to the sponsors and Haymitch's job is to oversee the sponsors' donations. The more money that is bet on us, the better gifts we can receive in the arena. If one of us is starving and we have a sponsor, Haymitch can use the money to send us food, for example. So sponsors are pretty important. Which means it isn't good that Haymitch is in charge of all that when he can't even be in charge of taking a shower.

"He was drunk. He's drunk every year," I say.

"Every day," Katniss adds. She smiles a little at me, which makes me so happy. She never smiles.

"Yes. How odd you two find it amusing. You know your mentor is your lifeline to the world in these Games. The one who advises you, lines up your sponsors, and dictates the presentation of any gifts. Haymitch can well be the difference between your life and your death!" she says.

I mean, that is true. But it's so hard to take Effie seriously when she dresses and talks so ridiculously.

Then Haymitch stumbles in. He's across the room but I can still smell the alcohol on him. His hair is matted and dirty and his clothes are soaked in sweat and vomit.

"I miss supper?" he drunkenly asks. Then he burps and vomits all over the fancy-looking carpet. Then, as a finale of his grand entrance, he passes out and, of course, falls straight into the vomit on the floor.

"So laugh away!" Effie shrills. Then she stands, hops around Haymitch and the impressive amount of vomit and goes down the hallway. How am I supposed to protect Katniss when our lifeline in the Games can't even stay sober long enough to remember to eat?