Alright, here it is!

Haymitch

Chapter 2

"I'm supposed to say that!" Effie mutters.

We make our way through the crowd as people watch us. Katniss and Peeta stand out the most. They mouth, "What are you doing?" over and over again. I mouth back, "It'll be alright." but I couldn't be sure.

The peacekeepers grab our wrists and yank us towards the train. "Ouch!" yells Effie. "Do you have to pull so hard? I'm a lady, not a wild animal!"

"That's a matter of opinion," I mutter lowly. Apparently, she hears that and slaps me in the head. Ouch.

Effie and I walk onto the train. "Ugh, your breath is intolerable. Please lay off the alcohol, and would it kill you to not slouch?" I get to spend the next few days with this person. Hooray for me.

We walk into the dining room and sit down at a wooden table. I look around. This place is oozing with food and décor. A lot's changed since I went to the Hunger Games. The overdressed lady walks over to us. Now that I get a good look at her, I'd say overdressed is putting it lightly. Her skirt is a sparkling blue with crystals sewed into it. Her cobalt top has sparks flying off and hitting the floor. Effie stares at her in jealousy. "Hello, I'm Magdalene, your escort."

"That's my line!" Effie hisses in my ear.

I grab Magdalene's collar. Luckily, the sparks aren't actually flammable. "Explain," I said. "Now."

"Haymitch!" said Effie. I let the woman down. "Manners! You have to ask it like this. Excuse me impersonator, will you please tell us what the heck is happening here before I go insane?"

She tittered happily. Great. Another Capitol woman. Just what I needed. "You pathetic little rebels! You think you can take down the government? We've been plotting our revenge ever since you took us down! This is the reason District 13 was destroyed and the Hunger Games started. To show who's really in power! President Snow may be dead, but we have a new president! The Hunger Games is going to continue as it used to and we'll still rule all of Panem!"

"No you aren't!" I shout at her pathetic, heavily powdered face. "District 13 made nuclear weapons, smart one. We can get them to bomb that little arena in seconds."

She laughed maliciously. "Don't you know what happened to your little friends in District 13? They're all dead! We took every one of their weapons! We've planned this for years, so don't think there's a way you can get out of this. Either you go in the Hunger Games, or we'll bomb every single district. Starting with 12."

I slumped back down in my seat. This wasn't good. It wasn't some sweet, warming nightmare. It was cold, hard reality. And it made sense. Once Katniss executed Coin and Snow started laughing himself to death, we never went back to the Capitol to check for any survivors. Our big mistake.

It's been years since that happened. They've had that much time to rebuild and grow. We've been blind all these years. Now, some middle aged man and slightly younger woman were being shipped to fight to the death in some arena. Then, some annoying person interrupts my thoughts. "Wait," says Effie. "Who's our mentor?"

Magdalene looks at us bewildered as a familiar face walks on board. Peeta. "What?" she says. "You're not allowed on here!"

"Actually, I am," says Peeta. "Haymitch and I are the only male winners of the Hunger Games, and since he's going, I'm your only other choice."

"No! This is not according to plan!"

"Would you rather have Katniss instead?"

Katniss was a skilled archer and more than likely will be a better teacher on how to kill people.

Magdalene sighed. "I'll allow it."

"Thought so."

The doors start closing and I see a dark braid. Katniss and Gale appear outside the window. Katniss waves to Peeta and blows a kiss, while Gale just smirks at him. Ah, young love.

Peeta sits down with me and Effie at the table. An avox starts serving us lunch. "Excuse me," I ask, "Could you bring me a full bottle of brandy?"

Effie glares at me. "What?" I ask while stuffing pieces of bread down my throat.

"Oh nothing," she says, "just watching how much you've changed."

I shrug. It's not like her opinions matter to me. The avox comes back with a full bottle of brandy. I thank her and start sipping from it. I sigh happily. It's been a while since I've had a drink.

Magdalene starts putting make up on while Effie stares at her with a dirty face. "Careful, doll face," I say, "Your face will freeze if you keep it that way."

She gives me a dirty look and starts eating.

"Okay," says Peeta, "I think Haymitch knows what to do, gain sponsors, stay alive, but Effie has absolutely no experience in survival."

"Isn't that a surprise?" I ask sarcastically.

"Cool it Haymitch," says Peeta. "Anyway, Effie, you need to find something you're good at."

"I know!" I say. "Putting on makeup and looking as ridiculous as a clown!"

"Shush," says Effie. "I'll find something I'm good at." She takes a knife from the table and tries throwing it at the wall. It's a good thing the window wasn't fragile, because she threw it right there. The knife bounced off and landed on the floor.

"Okay…" says Peeta. "So throwing knives aren't your strong suit. Maybe we should save it for when you're training."

She nods and blushes. It's quite cute actually, watching her blush instead of blank expressions with strong makeup. We continue eating in silence. By then, the brandy has really gotten to me and I start to feel drunk.

"Haymitch?" Peeta's voice echoes. I start murmuring slurred speeches that made no sense to me.

"Oh, what a pathetic excuse of a human," says Effie…or was it Magdalene. Either way, it didn't hurt me. Did it? I try to make my way to the room, tripping many times in the process. I walk up to a door and watch it open.

I fall onto a bed, breathing in the soft fur. What a good way to start the day. First, the Hunger Games starts all over again and there's no way out of it. Next, I volunteer to save a baby. Now, I'm laying on a bed, knocked out and drunk. Wonderful. The world spins out in a blur and I fall asleep.

When I wake up, the windows are soft orange. I rub my eyes and stand up, expecting to fall over again. It wasn't too bad. I walked to the door, only falling flat on my face once. I manage to make my way down the hall. Effie sat at the table, chatting with Magdalene about fashion tips. I scoffed. Women. Meanwhile, Peeta sat in the corner, drawing something.

I decide to avoid the fashion tips and discuss stuff with Peeta. I look over at his drawing. It's a picture of Katniss with a bow and arrow. She has a mockingjay pin and the sun is setting behind her. He didn't notice me watching him draw with colored pencils behind him. "How sweet," I say.

He jumps and turns around. "What do you want?" he asks.

"You're Effie's and my mentor. Aren't you supposed to give us tips on survival?"

"You don't need mentoring. You've already been through the games."

"Effie hasn't. Care to teach her?"

"Why? Do you care about her or something?"

I start to reject that, but all I could do was stutter.

He sighed and walked over to the table. I followed him and we both sat down.

Peeta clears his throat and the two women stop talking. "Effie, the number one rule of surviving in the Hunger Games is getting sponsors. And to do that, you have to get people to like you."

"That'll happen," I mutter.

"Then why don't you explain Haymitch?" he asks. "You've mentored Katniss and me and we both made it out alive."

I sighed and turned to Effie. "Look doll face,"

"Quit calling me that, you insufferable fool."

"Alright sweetie, I suggest you make a back story."

"Like what?"

"You're an escort-"

Magdalene clears her throat and says, "Used to be an escort."

"-and you've watched many of your tributes been sent to their death. Maybe in the interviews you could talk about how sad it was watching each of them die in the arena. People will definitely sponsor you if you talk about that."

"But what about you Haymitch?" asks Effie. "Don't you need sponsors too?" She sounded very concerned. "You are very un-like-able." I take that back.

"I'll deal with it myself." I growl.

The avox comes by and starts serving us dinner. Tomato soup, full rack of ribs, and blackberry ice cream for dessert. Magdalene and Effie continue to chat away with their fashion tips while Peeta and I start eating. I ask the avox for another bottle of alcohol, but Peeta immediately tells her to cancel it.

"The hell was that for?" I ask.

"You're going into the Hunger Games again," he says. "You need to stop drinking so much or else you'll wind up the first to be killed in the arena."

"Oh yes," interrupts Effie, "We wouldn't want that now would we?"

"You're one to talk," I say harshly. "High heels just slow you down. If the bloodbath at the cornucopia doesn't kill you, I will."

She stops her smirking and frowns, hurt. She gets up from the table and walks slowly to her room.

"Nice going," says Peeta.

"What? It's not like I'm lying."

"Still. Why'd you guys have to volunteer anyway?"

"Well, those peacekeepers wouldn't let you volunteer. Plus, Effie and I discussed it on the way to your house. We decided to let you two have a rest. You've been in enough games."

"And now Effie is starting to rethink of that plan."

I shrug and get up. I walk to my room and lay on my bed. It hurts being sober. I desperately wanted another drink. The train's rocking lulls me to sleep. Well, that and Effie's sobbing from the other room. I tried thinking if it was wrong that it bothered me and made me feel the slightest bit guilty.