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Without further ado,
Chapter 3
I intertwine my fingers in his. He's breathing heavily. I lean over to him and whisper, "I love you too."
When I return to my room, I slide right into my bed, thinking about Gale, the Games, and everything else that happened to me today. With Gale on my mind, I fall into a deep sleep. In the morning, Effie comes into my room, awaking me from my dreams. "Today is going to be a big, big, big, day!"
"Give me a minute." I say, trying to concentrate on my dream. Yet, the more I concentrate, more of the dream slips out of my mind. Effie leaves my room, and I shower and dress. I leave my room and quietly walk into the dining room. I take the seat farthest from Haymitch, our mentor. He's gives me the creeps. With long, greasy hair; wild, crazy eyes; and the fact that I can smell alcohol on his breath from across the room, I think he'd give anyone the creeps. I take a seat. We wait for Effie and Gale before we start talking. Again, as usual, dead silence fills the air. Finally, after about ten minutes, they walk into the dining room. Gale takes a seat next to me, and I hold his hand. Effie sits across from Haymitch. We begin our meal by Effie telling us our agenda for the day.
I pick up a piece of fruit and turn my attention to Effie. "Basically what we're going to do today is watch the video from the other districts' reaping's. After that-" Haymitch stood up, interrupting Effie's little speech, and pointed at us. He spoke, "You...You kids. What're your names?" His words were slurred. I said, "Katniss Everdeen." Gale stood, as if challenging Haymitch. He said, "Gale Michael Hawthorne. And what might yours be?" Haymitch seemed to struggle with the question, and I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from laughing. "Haymitch… Abernathy…" He looked at me as if I would confirm it. I nodded. "Yes," he said, "Haymitch Abernathy." Gale sits down, point taken, and winks at me. I smirk. As we finish breakfast, Effie is going on about sponsors and our stylists and the how the Capitol loves the look we're pulling off. In other words, she's telling us the things that Haymitch should be.
The four of us leave the dining area and walk into a dark compartment. Gale and I sit side by side on a small couch, Haymitch leaning against the wall, Effie sitting in a small chair to my right. A screen blares to life, and the Capitol anthem plays. We watch, in order, the reapings of all twelve districts. I notice the burly looking pairs from One and Two. The girl with a crazy look in her eyes from Seven. The twins from Nine. We skip the one from home. Gale and I refused. That horrible thing that got us into this mess, could not, and would not ever be played over again, in our lives. It was too painful. We leave the compartment.
I grab Gale's wrist, and turn to face him. I say, "If we want to win this thing, we need Haymitch to do it. If he stays like this, we have zero chance of getting any gifts from sponsors. We can't let it be his fault if we die in the Games." Gale nods in agreement. We find Haymitch in the dining cabin, a glass of wine in hand. "Haymitch" I say, "Any advice?"
"On what? Oh, you must mean the Games! Here's a real important piece of advice: stay alive." Wow, that could not have been any more obvious. "Find water. That is the most vital thing." He was shaking a finger at us. "You can always hunt for food later on." A bit wiser, but he's still stating the obvious. You can tell that there is no real focus behind it. I want something with some real thought behind it. Back home, I would have called it his drunken words of wisdom. But not now. Not when we really need it. As our mentor, he survived the Games, and some real advice from him would be helpful.
"Uh….Thanks… When do we go into training?" asks Gale.
"Ask Effie." I could tell he did not want to talk to us any longer.
"Hey, Effie?" Gale asks, "When do we start our training?"
"In about three days." She replies.
"Okay." Gale says.
He returns his attention to our drunken mentor. He sits down, facing Haymitch. Time to get down to business. "Haymitch? Katniss and I stand a chance. We need you to hold off on drinking until the Games are over. Once we're in the arena, you're our last chance. We need you to be focused." Haymitch merely waves his hand as if he were dismissing the idea. Gale stood, and I followed suit. "On three," he whispered. "One, two, THREE!"
Gale tackled Haymitch, chair and wineglass in all, to the floor, and pinned him to the ground. I grabbed a shard of broken glass from the floor, and kneeled on Haymitch's chest, holding the small shard under his neck. He cursed at us, and in response, we laughed. I spoke, "We stand a chance. Apparently, you needed to see it for yourself. Pull yourself together, drop the drinking, and you won't find yourself here ever again." Gale released his arms, and I got off his chest. Haymitch staggered to a standing position. I saw hate in his eyes, but he nodded his head. He stalked away, muttering foul things under his breath. Oh well. We'll settle the details later.
Gale and I spent the time until dinner talking about our strategies. Effie peeks into our room, reminding us that dinner is a few minutes away. We get up and walk into the dining room. I'm glad to see that Haymitch isn't here. I spoke too soon. Haymitch waltzed into the room, a manic glint in his eye. I whisper to Gale, "He wants revenge… be careful." He responds, his words barely audible, "I know. He's getting even. Let him." At first, I'm surprised, but soon understand. It's the only way to get him to cooperate with us. I sigh. It's going to be a long night.
Dinner starts with a light garden salad. Gale and I make small talk, while Effie is talking to Haymitch. I take note that he's drinking water. So maybe he did take us seriously, I think. I point this out to Gale, who merely winks in reply. Of course. Haymitch is still trying to get even, put our unspoken part of the deal into play. I put my hand on the table, and Gale takes it. Gale understands what I'm trying to say. We're going to embarrass ourselves with our love. As the main course begins, Haymitch still hasn't touched any drink that's not water. He's keeping to our agreement. It doesn't stop him from pointing out that my hand was intertwined with Gale's; or cooing at us whenever we look at each other. I excuse myself as a Capitol server sets desert on the table. I go to my room, lie in bed, and fall asleep.
