Chapter 1
Katniss's POV
I must have shown a flicker of fear on my face because Peeta looks at me, worried. "...Katniss?"
I focus on keeping my face free of emotion. "Oh, sorry." I give an unconvincing laugh. He's not convinced.
But he pretends to buy it anyways. "Alright...and I know. Waitings not going to help. Even little Rue is nine now, Prim fourteen. I have no doubt that they'll be able to handle it." He holds out his hand and I take it now without hesitation.
Prim's POV
Our parents walk over, hand in hand. They look upset. I wonder whats going on, but try not to let fear show on my face. Rue's here, and I sense I will just have to be strong.
My Dad gives Mom a sad smile and quietly says, "I think we should go inside."
Me and Rue nod and head inside.
My mom looks as though shes fighting back tears. I make a cup of tea and hand it to her. She takes a small sip and still looks upset, but better.
I look at them expectantly and Dad begins to talk.
Peeta's POV
I look at the girls. Prim, who is sitting on the floor by the fireplace, looks at us waiting for us to talk. I know she senses its not going to be a happy talk because she is focusing on keeping her face emotionless for Rue. Rue doesn't seem to notice the tension and is just drawing in her notebook, waiting for me to start.
"Prim, you already know a little about the Hunger Games, right?"
Her face fell when she realized what I was going to talk about. But she nodded. "Yes, I also know you and Mom were part of them. They just gave us a few details, because they say its something that some parents don't approve of them teaching."
I let out a humorless laugh. "Yes, I see why they may not want that. But you two need to know. Before I tell you, I want you to know that this isn't something to worry about."
The girls nodded.
"First of all, the Hunger Games are a fight to the death. The Capitol used to force each district to send one girl and one boy to the arena, which could be a dry wasteland to a forest. All very deadly. There would be twenty-four tributes, one victor. Your mother's little sister, Prim was chosen to go in the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games. Your mother volunteered to go in her place," I look over at Katniss. She's fighting back tears for the girls. I look at the girls. Rue has cast aside her notebook and is now listening intently. Prim looked surprised and I remember how little they know of their Aunt Prim. I squeeze Katniss's hand and give her a sympathetic look. "I was chosen as the boy tribute. We said our good-byes and left for the Capitol. The first capitol activity is the chariots. Your prep team and stylist choose an outfit for you that represents your district. For District Twelve, that usually meant coal-mining outfits. Not for us though. Cinna and Portia were our stylists. They took into account what you do with coal- burn it. Your mother and I were dressed in black and had flaming headresses and capes. We were unforgettable. Katniss, the girl on fire," I smiled at Katniss and ask, "Would you like to continue?"
She clearly did not. But she sighed and nodded.
Katniss's POV
I picked up where Peeta left off. "Peeta, the boy on fire." We smiled in spite of the situation. "Anyways, we outshone all the other tributes with our fiery debut. The next few days were training. I was decent with bow and arrows," Peeta rolled his eyes. "And Peeta was an expert at camoflauge. He was also pretty good at weight-lifting."
Peeta interrupted, "Your mother was an expert with bow and arrows, she just won't admit it."
I sighed, annoyed. "Anyways, at the end of our training we had a private training session with the Gamemakers. On a scale of one to twelve, one being the worst, twelve the best, your father got an eight and I got an eleven. The night afterwards was the interviews. They went well. I was decent and Peeta was amazing. He confessed his love for me, making us the unforgettable, tragic, star-crossed lovers of District Twelve." Peeta smiled and I gave him a kiss. "The next day was the Games. Our arena..."
Rue's POV
I listened as Peeta and Katniss took turns describing the bad, bad, things that happened to them during their life. When I heard about that little girl, Rue, only a few years older than me...I couldn't imagine what cruel person would take an innocent girl's life.