Note: I changed it to present tense because past tense is hard. Bear with me.
I wake up on the couch again, and my guardian Maria is in the kitchen, stirring tea. "Finally, you're home," I say. "You missed the reapings."
"I'm sorry. Who was reaped?"
"Eh, a few stood out. My money's on the boy from Twelve, surprisingly. He looks strong enough." I walk to the fridge and open the door, taking out a yogurt and opening it. "I can spare some change for him."
"Hopefully you've got enough," Maria says, taking some honey from the cupboard and passing it to me. I smile. She knows me too well from all the years she's been mine and Prim's carer. Ever since our parents died. But I'd prefer not to think about that, and think of Maria as our new mother.
"Nope. No more shoes for me. At least not so much," I say with a laugh, putting some honey over the top of the yogurt. "It's gonna be tough."
"Mmm," Maria says, and ties her hair back with a ribbon. "Where's Prim? Have you taken good care of her? Did she eat all her tea last night?"
"Yeah, yeah, she's fine." I giggle at the urgency in Maria's voice. She obsesses over Prim, ever since she received the chance to be our guardian. Prim is one of the cutest little girls you could ever see in the Capitol. She reminds me so much of our mother, it almost hurts to see her face in the mornings, after terrible nightmares about them.
"Hey, Katniss. Hi, Maria," Prim says sleepily as she walks to the fridge, just like me, but she pulls out the milk and pours herself some cereal. "Sleep well?"
"Very well. Another night on the couch," I say with a light laugh. "I never seem to be able to make it to my bed at night anymore."
Prim scoops up some cereal with a spoon and pops it in her mouth. There's a small silence.
"So, District Twelve," Maria says. "Must be very good to win your heart." They both laugh at the blush that creeps up on my cheeks.
"We'll see. I hope he's good with the cameras, because then I won't be his only sponsor. Perhaps as a team of sponsors, we can bring him out of that arena as a victor," I say. "The girl, Madge, I don't think she stands a chance. She looked so shocked at the reaping, even decided to shed a tear or two. I wonder if that's her angle. Her strategy, to make people overlook her."
"Could be," Maria says. "Are you going out today?"
I frown at the sudden change of subject, but Prim breaks the awkward silence. "It's the first day back at school tomorrow!"
"Oh, yes," I say. "You'll be happy to see your friends again after so long, won't you?"
She nods excitedly. "Especially Carla, my new friend!"
I laugh. Prim has a new friend every week, but I don't question this. She's a pretty, bubbly, outgoing girl, so I don't see why I should even think about questioning it. I go to get dressed, because today I'm hitting the town with my friends from school. School is quite boring, because we just learn about boring stuff like the history of Panem and stuff we all learned five years ago. The social life is pretty good though, so I accept school.
I put on a summer dress and my sandals, put a flower headband in my hair, and leave out the door after a goodbye to Prim and Maria.