Chapter 2
Prim P.O.V
Edited
It's been a year since Katniss . . . left. Today is the same day a year ago that Katniss took her own life.
My mother's gone back into the depressed state she had been in when my father die. Doctors keep telling me that if she doesn't snap out of it, she will die. Gale had left. After everything calmed down some, he ran away into the woods with his family. I don't even know if he's alive or if he was killed by some animal or found by the Capitol. The only thing I have left is buttercup. Buttercup; who comforts me in whatever way he can, who's there when I wake up screaming for Katniss, who never leaves my side.
I smile down at the cat sleeping on my lap. He's as hideous anymore. Effie had made him get a makeover. He's still not the best looking cat but he is decent looking - people didn't squirm away when they see him anymore – at least people in the districts didn't. I can't say the same for the Capitol.
A yawn escapes my lips as I lay back on the soft couch. The door opens a second later, Effie Trinket's high pitched voice rings throughout the room waking Buttercup from his nap.
"Primrose, let's go." Effie says. She doesn't look at me. I don't think Effie likes being my escort very much. I think she blames me for my sister and Peeta's death – she's not the only one.
I pretend to ignore her displeased expression.
"I'm coming." I say. Buttercup jumps off of my lap and waits at my feet as I stand up and straightened the dress Cinna had designed for me. I pick Buttercup and straighten the little bow that's wrapped around his neck.
"Don't bring it." She said. I scowl.
"Him." I correct. "I'm bringing him, like it or not." For once her face turns to look at me.
"You are as stubborn as your sister. Just great." She says. I feel that same pain in my chest and Buttercup hisses at her. "Fine, bring him." She walks out of the dressing room, me at her heels.
Two days ago I got a call saying that the Capitol wanted to do a few festivities in memory of the Star-Crossed Lovers. They wanted me to do an interview with Caesar Flickerman and talk about my sister. I didn't have a choice in the matter, the next day the Capitol train arrived and Peacekeepers escorted me to the capitol.
Peeta's older brother, Drake Mellark, was brought here too. He's the only one of Peeta's family members who felt comfortable enough talking about his brother.
Effie leads me down a long and dark hallway. We walk past a door and then another one until finally we emerged where Caesar is interviewing Drake. Effie tells me to wait backstage until Drake is finished with his interview.
"Why can't I stay here and watch?" I whisper to her. Effie's about to say something else when Caesar's eyes land on me.
"Please welcome our other special guest: Primrose Everdeen!" I see Effie stiffen as the crowd goes nuts. I feel someone pushing me towards the stage and turn around to realize that it's Effie. I force out a smile as I realize that a spotlight has been placed on me. My eyes lock onto Drake's. He smiles and gestures me towards him. Buttercup trails behind me.
Once I'm seated, Caesar begins talking. "Welcome, Prim – may I call you Prim? That's what Katniss called you isn't it?" I flinch at the sound of her name but otherwise keep up the usual façade. Smile sweetly, nod. Buttercup jumps onto my lap. I see Caesar eye the cat with what I assume is surprise and maybe even disgust. Drake reaches over to pet my little cat.
"Of course you can, Caesar." I smile. "It's nice to be here." I turn to the crowd and smile.
"Who is this little feline friend of yours?" Caesar asks. He reaches a tentative hand and strokes Buttercup behind the ear. To my surprise Buttercup doesn't pull away or hiss.
"His name is Buttercup." I say. Caesar nods and moves onto the reason why we're here after a few more sentences involving Buttercup, of course.
"Let me ask you, have you two heard about the memorial for the star-crossed-lovers?" he asks. "I've seen it and let me tell you, it is simply amazing." He stretches the last work. "I cried when I saw the ending. They had a picture of Katniss and Peeta when they shared their last kiss." He dabbed his silk handkerchief at his eyes wiping away the tear drops. I refuse the urge to run away and hide like I so often do whenever someone brings up my sister. Ever since that day any thought of her would hurt me. If someone said her name I would begin to feel the pain of losing my only sister all over again.
Next to me, I see Drake stiffen. Does he feel the same?
"Yes," I say. "It's quiet lovely isn't it?"
"Yes. Have you seen it?" Caesar asks. I shake my head.
"I haven't had the time." I say, faking a sigh. "But Cinna has showed me pictures."
"I do hope you see it sometime. Now let me ask you, how have you two been?" He asks. "I know that you, prim, have really been suffering. I think I speak for everyone here when I say I hope your mother gets better. It must have been so hard for her to watch her daughter die so young."
"Actually, she didn't see it." I say, my voice was dripping with disgust. "She ran way before it happened." There was silence. I realize my mistake - I sound too mean right now. Not at all like the sweet girl that I must look like in their eyes. I hug buttercup tighter to my chest. "I understand though." I added quickly, stroking his fur. "I didn't want to see either. I mean, it's so terrible. . ." I trailed off pretending I was about to cry. I rested my head in my hands, like I was trying to hide my tears. I heard the crowd break out in sobs. Suckers. Buttercup licks my hand as if to comfort me. He knew I wasn't crying, this cat was a good actor.
Drake patted my back awkwardly. Caesar handed me his handkerchief and I pretended to wipe my eyes. After that they left me alone for a while. Drake answered most of the questions until I had to.
"So, Prim, how did you deal with it all? You father, then your sister, then your cousin" – Gale pretended to be our cousin while she was in the games- "and now possibly your mother. How- how can you deal with it all?"
"The truth is that I can't - not alone anyway. But I have Buttercup here and with him I feel better. Buttercup protects me like a brother. He's very important to me." I say.
"Wonderful. But only animals?" he asks, a frown appearing on his ruby red lips.
"I think Prim prefers Buttercup to humans because he doesn't talk about things that hurt her." Drake mutters. Caesar's silent.
"Drake, you know that's not true." I said. "Buttercup reminds me of how it used to be." Lies. What Drake said is the truth.
"Oh." Caesar said. "Well, um, how are you two doing? I hear you moved into a house on the Victors Village of district 12." He's eager to change the conversation.
"Yes," I said. "I was surprised when they said that they won the games since . . . well, never mind." I stop talking, realizing that I should not insult the capitol. What I wanted to say was that I was surprised because they let them die. If the capitol really wanted them to be the victors then why did they not stop them?
Caesar realized what I was going to say, anyway. He seemed a little surprised by it but didn't allow his surprise to show for more than a second.
"Let's go back to the memorial shall we?" Caesar says. I nod. "Did you know that they have their bodies in a glass case? Might I say they look simply beautiful and in love – even in death." I frown. So that's what they did with Katniss and Peeta's bodies. When Peeta and Katniss died, the capitol refused to give their bodies back preferring to keep them and put them up on display like some kind of jewelry.
Drake and I are silent. He's probably just as mad as I am. I see Caesar wipe away a bead of sweat. He knows the interview isn't going well.
"Let's talk about the reason why we're here." He said. I like Caesar; he knows when it's time to change the subject. He doesn't want anyone to get in trouble. "Katniss and Peeta. The star-crossed lovers." I flinched at the sound of their name. No one notices. "Peeta and Katniss are undeniably the most wonderful and loving couple to ever exist in Panem but all we know about them is what happened during the games. Now if you don't mind, why don't you tell us a little more about them?"
"Peeta loved to bake and decorate the cakes." Drake said. "He had lots of friends and he has loved Katniss all his life. What else is there to know?"
"I, um. . ." Caesar faltered. I feel bad for Caesar now. No doubt he'll get punished for the way the interview is going. But I refuse to say anything about them. Katniss is my sister. The Capitol already took her away from and truth be told I don't want them to take anything else. I refuse to give them any other nice memory I might have of her.
"Katniss was a very good huntress." It hurts me to say that name. "She took care of me like a mother since I was little. She was very . . . serious, she rarely talked to anyone and when she did it was either me or Gale." My voice broke at his name. "She wasn't on the best terms with our mother but she had a good reason. She's very special to me."
"How were they like at home though? Any funny stories? We already know that stuff about them. How about something we haven't heard before?" a man in the audience yells out. I glared at him. Drake clenched his hand into a fist. Buttercup hissed.
"I don't think there is much else to tell. Come, Prim." He reached for my hand and took me backstage ignoring the protests. I willingly went with him.
"Well, I, um, I guess that's all everything. Thank you for watching." Someone yells cut. Effie was at my side in an instant.
"What was that? You were supposed to answer questions about your sister!" she yells.
"There was nothing to tell! And even if there was I wouldn't tell them! They are the reason she -" I was cut off. I pursed my lips and pressed buttercup tighter to my chest. Her expression softened.
"This was the last one right?" I asked. "I'll be heading home now." I walk past her and begin running to the dressing room. I hear someone following me and abruptly stop and turn around, making Drake crash into me.
"Coin wants us." He whispered so low that I can barely hear him. I nod once. I was expecting this. We haven't had a meeting in two months. It's about time.
"Let's hang out tomorrow at six in the afternoon." He says louder. I nod.
"Meet me by the apple tree." I say. He smiled and took off. Our conversation seemed a little odd, right? Coin actually made us speak like this so no one would understand what we were really up to. I had just told him to meet me in the woods at the lake. Then a plane would take us to District 13 undetected. I quickly changed and got my stuff. An hour later I was on the train headed back to District 12.
