Forbidden Fruit Ch 2
The next morning, I wake up to a light gray sky.
I don't usually sleep in, but I purposely tried to today. I hoped that somehow when I woke up I wouldn't have to face seeing 23 soon to be dead children.
I pulled myself out of bed, brushed my hair a little to stall and then drifted into the living room. I took a seat next to Peeta, the last empty seat.
The interviews start as they usually are. The quiet tributes come and go, the excited tributes come and go, the scared tributes come and go, the charismatic tributes come and go. Things are fairly normal until the girl from 12 speaks. You see her face and hear the interviewer's voice asking her what her strategy is. She shakes her head and says, "Well if I were you, I would wait sitting down to see me try to kill someone."
The interviewer explains the difficulty in winning that way but all she does is shake her head and repeat, "I don't want to kill anyone." Caesar Flickerman changes the subject and soon the interviews are over.
"It's a shame." I hear Peeta mumble to himself.
XXX XXX XXX
It's raining. The harsh rain drops attack my skin, seeping through my clothes. There is lightening somewhere off in the distance, followed by booming thunder. Somebody stands before me, facing away, facing towards something else, something unknown. The person looks up at the sky and I realize that I hear a voice. I can't entirely decipher what it is saying, but I know it's there.
Suddenly the person turns around and I see that he is a young boy. No. He is more than a young boy. Those familiar blue eyes. The dirty blonde hair, plastered to his forehead by the rain. The cutting jaw, set on me. He raises his weapon, raises it towards me.
"Katniss." He says, his eyes turning cold. My eyes trail the weapon he is still lifting. Instinctively, I reach for my weapon. My bow is up and aimed at him before another drop of rain reaches my skin. An arrow flies before I can even think of what I've just done.
His weapon drops to the ground, the blade sticking into the grass.
I wake up in the middle of the night screaming. I hadn't had such a nightmare since my father died. I was breathing heavy as I lay back down on my bed.
"Katniss?" I heard a soft knock and my name whispered through the door. Peeta. Of all people.
"Come in." I choke out.
His face is worried as he rushes to the side of the bed. "What's wrong?"
"Just a nightmare..."
"D'you wanna talk about it? I remember when I was little, I would have nightmares...and when I talked about them, they sounded less scary." I could see him blushing even in the dark.
"Um. Okay..." I sat up a little and he got up and sat on the edge of the bed, facing me. "Well...I was in the Hunger Games. And you were there too. And we were the last two. And we had to kill each other. And, and you pulled out a knife and you tossed it away in surrender. I think. But before you could finish...I thought you were trying to kill me, so I killed you..." I felt so uncomfortable telling him that I had dreamt about him.
"Well it was just a dream. But for the record, I would never hurt you like that. And I'm sure you wouldn't either. It was just a dream. I nod and look into his deep blue eyes. I feel like I'm getting lost in them when he shakes his head softly and closes his eyes. Opening them again, he mutters, "We should...get back to sleep..."
"Yeah."
"Well...night." He leaves, but I don't go back to sleep.
XXX XXX XXX
The next morning, I hear a knock on the door, answered by footsteps and a male voice greeting who I instantly recognize as Gale. I go downstairs and greet him with a wave.
"Katniss, Hey. It's been a while, you wanna go hunting?" He sounds a bit strange but I nod and go back upstairs to search for my hunting jacket. I can never go hunting without it. And just thinking about hunting again gets me excited. I find that I miss it. It was more than a way to keep our family fed. It was an escape from everything. Especially the district. I can hear Peeta and Gale talking in the front room.
"So you're Gale, huh? Haven't heard much about you..."
"Well you should have, after all, I'm her oldest friend."
"Ah. Well I'm sure we'll get around to talking about you now that we spend so much time together."
"Yeah, but it'll take a while for you to spend enough time to match years of friendship."
"Well I'm not you...maybe I don't need years."
I jog downstairs with my jacket to interrupt whatever is going on.
"Kay, I'm ready."
"Kay, Catnip, let's go." He says it to me, but is for some reason still looking at Peeta. When we're outside he talks again.
"I don't like him."
"Who, Peeta?"
"Yeah. He's kind of...rude."
"It didn't sound like it..."
"Whatever."
We hunt and I come home with two rabbits that I give to Peeta, who turns out to be an amazing cook. We eat dinner and then retire to the living room. I'm next to Peeta again and I prepare myself for the worst of the Hunger Games. The first day.
As the timer counts down, I watch the tributes from district 12. They look at each other and nod, some mutual agreement being made with just their eyes. They take in their surroundings and the guy nods again, as if reassuring the girl that it will be okay.
Peeta sits on the edge of the couch. "D'you think they have an alliance?"
"Looks like it."
"I can't tell if it's a good thing or not."
Prim pipes in. "It's good, 'cause they'll need someone to help them survive."
Peeta and I look at each other and we both know that we're thinking the same thing. If they are the last ones, one will have to kill the other.
10...9...8...7...6...5...4...
The tributes take deep breaths and brace themselves.
3...2...1...
As the Games begin, I focus on the District 12 tributes. While everyone runs to the cornucopia, they book it in the opposite direction. Halfway to the forest, where they'll be better hidden, the tribute boy reaches over and grabs the tribute girl's hand as they run. Suddenly the film switches to scenes of another alliance. The careers, killing everyone in their paths.
Peeta's eyebrows are furrowed as he focuses on what he just saw. I've started to think of that look as adorable, because quite frankly, it is.
"We weren't supposed to see that." He says.
"What?"
"Someone told me once that when you aren't supposed to see something on the Games, they switch the scenes as fast as they can. I don't think we were supposed to see that."
"Huh. What do you think it was?"
"Well they we're holding hands...that's more than an alliance."
"What do you mean?"
"They look like they're...y'know, together."
"Oh." The understanding flooded in with the pity. "That's awful..."
Peeta just nodded, stood from the couch, and left.
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