Chapter 2

A/N YAY! Chapter 2 is here! I do not own any part of The Hunger Games Trilogy by the way. :-) Special thanks to my friends Carrie, Em, and Haley for making me laugh and my friends sdragp7 and 14DomitM for being awesome and loving kettle corn. (Did you see the trailer teaser?)

Names=Aristos means best and Shako means mint.

(Marigold)

A hush falls over the yard as my mom says a name who's owner remains unknown to me: Prim. Sure, I have heard my mom call out the name Prim when she has her nightmares, but I have learned that anything that comes from my mom's nightmares isn't something to discuss.

"Who's Prim?" I ask slowly, breaking the awkward silence that has consumed us.

"Mari, I don't think we should talk about right now," my dad starts gently as he raps his arm around my mom's shoulders.

"When is a good time Dad?" I ask, my face suddenly burning with anger. "When will it be he perfect time to reveal all the secrets that you and Mom have been keeping from us?" My mom now has tears in her eyes, but I can somehow tell it has nothing to do with me screaming at her and my dad.

"Peeta? She looks like Prim." Okay, that's clue one about who this Prim person is; she looks just like me.

"Up next we will have Aristos present his piece, 'Hunting, a way of life, or a crime against nature.'" As Aristos slowly walks to the front of the classroom, I can't help but scowl at him. Surely his piece was meant to anger me. I mean, he knows that my mom has been hunting ever since she was little and that I am learning to hunt as well. Sure I knew he was mad that I was, but to go so far as to write a paper about it is just messed up.

"Hunting," he begins after taking a long deep breath and flipping his hair (which almost makes half the girls in my class faint), "is a topic people have fought over for years." I can tell every girl in the room (besides me and my only friend Shako) is eating up everything he is saying. "Some people think it is a way of living. Others, think it is a crime to kill innocent animals. I for one, think it is cruel to think any form of hunting is okay." I role my eyes and lean back in my blue, plastic school chair, trying to drown out his nonsense.

Today at school is our final test for our speech class. Not many people take speech class, you only get for one of two reasons. One, they think you are to smart for the English class and have nothing better to do, or two, they think you are going to be important in some way, shape, or form, so they need you to be a great speaker. I was stunned when they asked me to be in the class and even more surprised when I saw Shako got in too. We aren't actually that good of students-we just do the bare minimum- and I seriously doubt that we are going to be important someday.

Suddenly I feel something land on my lap and I look down to see a small folded piece of paper with the words 'OPEN NOW' written on the outside. Slowly, I lean forward over my desk-so you wouldn't be able to see what I was doing from the front of the room- and open the note.

What do you think of Aristos' piece? ~Shako. Quickly, I write back a respone and slide the note to the desk on my left, the desk Shako sits in.

Brilliant, the best piece I have ever heard. YEAH RIGHT! ~Mari. I watch her as she reads the note. Her brown bangs cover up her eyes until she pushes them away, revealing her soft green eyes. I am suprised she doesn't have a boyfriend, she is pretty enough. She says that I should have a boyfriend, but really, I don't want one. I think going out with someone you will probably never marry is a waste of my time.

Once she finishes responding, she slides the note back to me and I quietly unfold it.

Do you think he made his piece about hunting because you turned down his offer to go on a date? He is so stupid, I can see why you said no. ~Shako.

Without thinking, I start to laugh, and suddenly I can feel that all eyes are turned on me. " is there something you wish to share with the class?" my teacher asks, his face set in a permanent frown. I stop laughing immediately and sit up in my chair, shoving the note into the pocket of my pants.

"No ."

The rest of the class blows by fast and soon I am walking on a stone path towards my house.

"Mari wait up!" I hear someone call behind me. I turn to see Trevor, one of the boys I was talking with last night. As I slow down to wait for him, I think about asking him who he thinks the Prim person is. It has been bugging me all day.

"Trevor, what are you doing by this part of town?"

"I came to talk to you."

"I already told you, there is nothing wrong with having pet spiders!"

"What? No," he starts, looking at me as we continue to walk, "I need to talk to you about something really important." Honestly the last thing I want to do right now is get into some thing with him about his latest girlfriend or something like that so all I say is,

"Trevor I dont think,"

"Mari," he stops walking and grabs my arm, "It's about Prim."

A/N: Chapter 2 is done! Sorry it is so short, I just needed to have this out before the next chapter because if I didn't it would be rushed.

~Sophia