Next chapter! Yay! Sorry this took a tad longer to write, I've been a little busy and everything in the chapter had to be perfect to lead into my plans for the interviews. Thank you time! Thank you to alexa-heart, LeslieMellark, Katie1985, and BloodtoLoveHer for watching my story! Cheese bread for all of you! Thanks for the reviews too! I love hearing what you guys have to say about this! It means lot :'D JuneBugs74: Thank you, you're too kind 3 Let's pray I get better at this! alexa-heart: Thank you! I hope this next chapter leaves you wanting to read "The Interviews" chapter coming soon! LeslieMellark: Love your name! :D And here's my update! Wings: I think you're going to like the Interviews, I want to give it a good twist! Your comment was very lovely, thank you :) And by the way, your English is very impressive!
Thanks for reading everyone! I know this story isn't 100% possible but knowing you all read it makes me soooo happy to write more and as quickly as I can! And get pumped, because next will be the interviews. :)) Enjoy! (I hope!) XD
Training
My mother woke me up on the first day of training, and I felt nauseous. I'd be one of the few tributes today who had no experience in any of the of the options available. I tried to keep my mind open. Even if I was training for a battle, I'm going to be able to try my hand at weaponry. There were many things for me to be good at: swords, spears, archery, and other things I'm probably unaware of. I need to be ready to show the Careers and Gamemakers that not only do I know how grab everyone's attention but I'm a threat too.
Cinna had an outfit hung on the handle to my door and I examined it carefully. It was a shirt the same color as my green sweater with black pants. The shirt had "District Twelve" in curled handwriting on the front with the district's seal on the back. He left a small note on it that said "I know how much you love the color. Sorry I didn't include boots -Cinna". The outfit and note calmed my nerves and eased my mind enormously. I put it on after I did my braid and walked out to breakfast feeling the nausea pass.
Mom was missing from the table again and I didn't mind. I didn't want her to try and give me tips or interrupt Haymitch as he gave us real advice. My mother likes to think she knows everything. Even with things she has hardly any knowledge on, she tries to act like she could educate me on it for hours. If I have enough irritation, I'll point out where she's wrong and I'll get the "Katniss mind your mother" speech. In other words, she's right because she's my mother, and I'm wrong because I'm younger.
When I sat down at the table this time, I saw that Peeta was dunking bread chunks into his mug of hot chocolate, "What are you doing?"
He shrugged and grinned at me, "You can take the boy away from the bread but you can't take the bread away from the boy." I laughed at his odd joke. Stop it! Too close! I mentally scolded myself. Maybe if I bite the inside of my cheek really hard every time I'm friendly to him, I'll stop.
"Good. You're both in good moods," Haymitch started. I grabbed some bacon and pancakes as he continued, "That brings me to the first thing you two are going to do today. Never leave each other's sides today. Eat together, train together, and act like you are having the time of your lives being together. No matter what." What was Haymitch's plan here? This would make controlling my feelings towards Peeta ten times more difficult than they already were. He was also making us look like a team. Doesn't he know the inevitable? There was only one Victor crown; this makes teams impossible. Even the Careers know this. They may form a strong alliance every year, but they're all still competing for themselves. I need to stop making a friend out of Peeta because just like everyone else that will be in the Arena, he's in this Game to win the only way he could. By himself.
"What else?" Peeta stopped my thoughts.
"I actually want to know what you're good at. Skills, strengths, or special kills?"
I raised my eyebrows at Haymitch, "You know I'm from the Capitol right?"
"Yes I know that," Haymitch grumbled, "But isn't there anything you besides eat and look decent?"
Ok that hurt, it was true, but it still hurt, "In our physical class I was the fastest runner and I climbed our rock wall pretty well."
"That's it?"
I glared at him, "What, did you think I was going to be able to throw knives from ten feet away? If you want to have an idea of what I know how to do, then try to imagine my mother doing it first. If you can't picture it, then chances are I can't do it."
Haymitch appeared thoughtful, getting an image in his head, and laughed to himself, "What about you boy?"
"I don't have much either," Peeta confessed. He must have been lying, or holding back because if he wasn't a miner he couldn't have gotten the muscle tone in his arms from just food and baking bread.
I spoke up, "Then why are your arms so muscular?" Shoot I thought biting my cheek. I winced in pain. Haymitch and Peeta gave me questioning stares, "Don't look at me like that! Look at them yourself. There must be something you do that creates them."
Haymitch unwillingly glanced at Peeta's arms, "Flex them." He did, and like I had said, his muscles were a favorable size, "What did you say you do? Bake?"
"Yes. I'm on the wrestling team too so I guess that helps."
"Wrestling? Were you any good?"
Peeta shrugged modestly and I butted in again, "Don't downplay your skills, Peeta. He needs to know what you're capable of." Bite.
"But what good is wrestling going to get me? How many tributes kill each other without weapons? There's not much I can do if someone shoots an arrow at me from far away."
"It's more than I have! If someone tackles me, my neck will be snapped in a second!" Bite, bite, bite.
"No you won't! Because you'll be hidden away eating gifts from your sponsors!" I didn't notice we started raising our voices at each other until then. Was he trying to drop my guard down again? Or did he really think I was going to win? The boy was so infuriating! I bit my cheek again and my tongue tasted iron. This wasn't working. At this rate, I'm going to bite a hole through my cheek.
"She's right Peeta. Hand-to-hand combat is still a valuable skill, don't take it for granted. Now if all that's all you two have to tell me about your skills then here's your next order: Don't show any of your skills in front of the other tributes. Save it for when you're alone with the Gamemakers."
"What kind of stations should we do first?" Peeta asked.
"There's going to be rope tying, an edible plants test, and a fire class. Take those first and master them today. No weight lifting, no climbing, and no hand-to-combat. Just do those until you excel in them."
"Haymitch I need to study the weapons," I protested.
"This isn't open for discussion, sweetheart. Don't tackle the weapons until tomorrow."
"But I was told on the day I was reaped to master a weapon as quickly as possible!"
"And who told you this, huh? Were they a Victor? A Hunger Games expert? Do you trust them to help you make a life or death decision?"
"I don't know who he was! He said his name was Gale!"
"Gale? Gale Hawthorne? He's the one I told you about last night, the one that brings my family squirrels in exchange for bread."
Haymitch stared at me and then Peeta, most likely wondering when Peeta and were talking about that, he shook his head, "I don't want to know. The point is, learn the essentials first. And stay together. Are we clear?"
"Yes," Peeta and I said together. When my mother gathered us to leave, we both stood up to go to the elevator that would take us below to the training rooms. I finally noticed Peeta was wearing the same outfit as I was. Haymitch must have told everyone last night the plan to make us a team. Somehow he had to have gotten my mother must have settled on his side too. If everyone agreed that making us a team in public was the best idea then it had to be. Right?
When we went into the training center we had to listen to all the rules and guidelines to the stations and classes available to us. During this time, I assessed the other tributes. This is the first time I've been so close to them. The Careers were more tall and menacing in person than I perceived on television. Other than Rue, I may be the shortest girl here. None of them looked alike except for the cloth numbers pinned to their shirts. I guess Peeta and I wouldn't be needing one of those.
Even without the logo shirts I don't think we'd have needed the numbers. Judging by everyone's faces when we walked in last; they remembered us. Some were giving us jealous and unwelcoming (District One girl) stares, and others gave us curious (Rue and District Ten boy) stares. I lifted my head high and smiled to upset the blond girl from District One. When I saw her roll her eyes I smiled even wider.
The Gamemaker finished explaining the rules and Peeta whispered, "Why were you smiling?"
"To upset the District One girl. She doesn't seem to like that we're attracting more attention than her so I figured I'd threaten her just a bit more"
"Nice Capitol manners," Peeta laughed, "Would you like to pick our first station?"
"Yes! I want to start with spear throwing, then I think we should-"
"Katniss," Peeta pressed.
"Fine. The fire class is open. Let's try that."
The fire trainer's eyes lit up when we walked over to his station, "I should have known the fire duo would come here first." My mind flew to panic immediately. Duo? We couldn't be duo! If we became a real duo, if I really trusted Peeta, the end would never be a pretty one. The best case scenario for tributes that kept a tight alliance would be that someone kills one of the tributes and the other tribute of the two would fight to become Victor but they'd forever be haunted by the torturous death their friend went through. The worst case scenario is that both the aligned tributes make it to the final two and are forced to fight to the death.
Not that I would care if Peeta died. I don't care. If he's playing this game like I am then it shouldn't matter to me if he lives or dies. There's still the chance that he could be telling the truth. I doubt it though. No one would be that foolish. No one would risk their life for someone they don't care for that much. And Peeta Mellark couldn't possibly care that much for me. So I don't care for him.
Fire was a lot more difficult to master than it looked, but eventually Peeta and I got the hang of it. I tried to convince him to try the weapons again with no such luck. He had let me pick the last one so to be fair I gave up and walked over to the edible plants test. We both failed miserably but since Haymitch told us to master it we studied it over and over again until we passed it. At least I wouldn't die of starvation quickly.
I gave up on persuading Peeta to let me get a hold of a weapon so I grudgingly walked over to the rope tying class. Like the last two instructors, he was please to have tributes interested in his class. Haymitch apparently made us do the most unpopular classes today. At least we didn't have to be close to the Careers. They were all too busy showing off. Cato and Clove were especially zoned into making sure I noticed their skills. Whatever it was they were trying to do, it wasn't working. Peeta is enough stress for me right now.
We were attempting to tie a knot that would leave a tribute dangling by their leg when Peeta asked me, "Why were you named Katniss?"
That caught me off guard, "What?"
"Your name, it was on the edible plants test. It's not something that most Capitol people would be named after."
No one has ever asked me about my name before, I knew why I was named Katniss, but it still felt strange to explain it, "My mom wanted to name me something 'vintage' and 'sweet'. The Hunger Games year I was born under had a girl who ate nothing but katniss roots as her meal. She died, but without the katniss she wouldn't have lived very long. So my mother told me when I was born she named me Katniss because she too 'wouldn't be able to live without her Katniss'."
He was silent for a moment, "I never would have thought Effie would say something like that."
"Not many would," I half smiled, "She may not see things the way you and Haymitch do but with the right subjects and certain moments, she's not so bad." It was memories like how she named me that I use to remember that she loves me. I use them to also try view my fellow Capitol citizens as people just like me. It's gets hard. But I figure I can't be the only citizen who feels this way. If one Capitol citizen wanted to defy President Snow there surely had to be more. Perhaps like me, Snow is trying to keep them quiet. He can't keep us silent forever though. Like District thirteen, who revolted over seventy four years ago and caused the Hunger Games to take place, I have a feeling that someone is going to cause a revolution.
After we mastered rope tying I was itching to try the weapons but our time was up and I had to wait for the second day of training. The clock was ticking and I wasn't getting any more confident in myself.
It was a small gift that Haymitch and my mom took Peeta and I directly to our rooms that night and stood there for a while. I wouldn't have gone to the roof with Peeta again but in case he tried to tempt me, there was no way we could walk up there.
For our second day of training, Haymitch told me I was allowed to try the weapons but not as soon as I went into the training center, and that of course anything I did Peeta had to do it too. Peeta found the only laid back station we haven't done which was camouflage. It turned out he was really good at it, he was able to mix berries and mud that could make his hand look like a rock under a high sun.
"You're not half bad at this," I commented trying to follow his example. Mine was just a muddy hand.
"I ice the cakes in our bakery."
"You do?"
"Yeah. They may not look as fancy as your Capitol cakes, but I think I do a decent job." I try to imagine him icing the cakes. Using his steady hands to carefully frost the cakes in a perfect pattern. It sounded like a nice life. If only he didn't live in the state that Panem was in.
"Can we try to do weapons now?"
Peeta laughed low, "If you want to we can. I think the only weapon without any other tributes is the archery class though."
That disappointed me a bit, I really wanted to try the spears, but I'll take what I can get, "That's fine by me." The archery trainer showed Peeta and I how to hold the bow and arrow for a few minutes. Then Peeta shot first. The arrow didn't even hit the target. I took a deep breath and pulled back on the bow and I hit the outer most ring. I couldn't hold back a smile. Maybe archery wasn't so bad after all. I kept shooting until I hit the center. It barely took an hour.
Peeta barely was able to hit the target all and he got bored quickly, "Can we go back to the camouflage class?"
I held back a sigh, "I think I'm going to stay here. I want to try and hit the dummy in the heart next." Peeta slumped his shoulders and picked up another arrow, "Why don't you just go over there by yourself?"
"What about what Haymitch said?"
"Peeta, we've been roped to each other's sides for two days now. If we keep it up, everyone will think we're a team."
Peeta's eyebrows furrowed, "What would be wrong with that?"
How was he so good at lying? I softened my voice, "Peeta you know that teams never last forever in the Games. If people like the Careers get the wrong idea then we'll be the first to be killed."
"Ok Katniss. Shoot straight." He smiled slightly and went back to the camouflage class. I regretted letting him leave but pushed the feeling aside. He made his choice. If he really wanted to stay he'd have stayed.
As I shot an arrow a few inches away from the dummy's heart, a masculine voice came up from behind me, "Nice shot. For a Capitol girl." I snapped my body around and saw the District Two boy, Cato, crossing his arms.
"For a Capitol girl," I repeated somewhat to myself.
"It's the first time I've seen you alone. The trash from District Twelve follows you everywhere you go." I controlled my annoyance by clenching my jaw and nodding. As much as I want to put Cato in his place, I know there's no sense in angering the fiercest tribute here. Besides, it's against the rules.
"It's too bad people like him are in the same training center as us. President Snow needs to make separate centers for us. I hate being around messes like them." I gripped the bow and arrow tight, trying not to listen to Cato.
"I've got training to do, Cato. Thanks for the talk though." I released the arrow in my hand and this time I hit the dummy right in the heart. Cato raised his eyebrows and backed away from me with a large grin stretching across his face. I turned around to see what he was doing and saw that he and his fellow tribute, Clove I think her name is, were watching me deviously. I kept my face expressionless and went back to shooting.
Around the time we were going to go back to our district floors soon, Peeta joined me again to shoot an arrow, "Have you been painting yourself all day?"
"Have you been shooting arrows all day?" He winked.
"If only you could kill someone with frosting."
"Don't be so superior. I was able to talk to Rue by the way."
"You were? How?"
"I noticed she was following us through the classes. I asked her if she would like me to show her how to paint and she was more than happy to. She didn't speak much, but she seemed very cute."
"What should we do about her?"
"Nothing to do, I was just trying to make conversation." He patted my arm and we left to the elevator.
Day three of training is the day the Gamemakers bring each tribute in one at a time into another room to judge the tribute on any skill they perform. The order is by district number, boy before girl. I would be last. We had an hour or two before they'd start the judging so I claimed the archery station while Peeta stretched and warmed up his muscles.
When they started taking tributes during lunch, Peeta decided to remain seated and relax. He took a bowl of bread from the lunch cart and laid thirteen rolls out in front of me. I recognized one of the rolls as the Capitol's rolls, a puffy flower shaped bread.
"I'm not too hungry, thank you."
He smiled at me, his eyes lighting up, "It's not to eat. I'm going to teach you all of the district's bread."
"How fascinating! Do you impress everyone with your bread knowledge all of the time?" I joked. I'm just joking with him, I can joke with him and kill him later. Right I confirmed in my head.
"Only the ladies," he paused while I laughed, "You know this one is yours," he pointed at the flower roll and started going down the line of breads. I never knew how much our bread was like our state of living. Like how District Four's (fishing district) has a fish shaped roll with a green tint from the seaweed. District Twelve had a small biscuit shaped roll. According to Peeta, the one's in District Twelve aren't as nice as the one's in the Capitol. I wonder if Snow gave out the different breads for all the districts or if it was just a weird coincidence.
"Did I ever ask you what Cato talked to you about yesterday?" Peeta said nonchalantly after he finished his bread lesson.
"No. I was hoping you wouldn't. He was disgusting."
"What? Did he say anything...you know..."
"No! I mean he was...conceited. He compared all the lower district tributes to trash and acted like he couldn't be in the room with them without getting sick."
"He meant me didn't he?"
"Your name may have come up...it doesn't matter though. He's a horrible person. He included me in his high and mighty group!"
"You're from the Capitol Katniss, you are kind of part of his group. And try to keep your voice down. One of the Gamemakers may hear you."
"But I'm not high and mighty!" I hissed, "I'm no greater than you or anyone else in here. And I wouldn't care if a Gamemaker heard me, one of them is the reason I was even in District Twelve for the reapings."
"What? You never told me that! Tell me what happened." I might as well, I've told him so much about me already.
"A week before the reapings, Snow holds a party for everyone who helps out with the Hunger Games. The Gamemakers, escorts, mentors, you understand. Everyone invited is allowed to bring one guest and my mother always brings me of course. Later in the night I was in a circle of people with a few Gamemakers and Seneca Crane. They started talking about the games. They were making jokes on how tributes would die! One of them then started talking about a special way to kill the tributes this year that would rip them up to pieces and that there wouldn't be anything to send to their families in their district because of the mess their bodies would be in. He was so inhumane. I couldn't control my temper so I threw my glass of punch on him."
"What did anyone say after you threw the punch on him?"
"They all look too shocked to say anything. I wiggled on my heels and said 'oops I'm sorry sir my hand slipped'. Once I said that they seemed to relax and pretend it didn't happen. But after the Gamemaker cleaned himself up, Snow walked over to my mother and I and 'suggested' I go to District Twelve's reaping with my mother to 'better understand how it works'."
"What did he mean by that?"
"I still don't know. I don't know why he let me compete in the Hunger Games either?"
"Do you think he's going to try to...kill you in the Games?"
"I think he's definitely going to try and kill me. It's all the more reason we can't let people think we're a team, Peeta. If Snow thinks we're a team he'll kill you."
Peeta looked like he was going to say something important but he was interrupted by a Gamemaker telling him it was his turn, "Shoot straight."
"Throw heavy weights." When he left I laid my head on the table. Seneca Crane, the head Gamemaker, was going to be in that room. He would be watching me and marking me for any failure. If I don't impress him my score will die. And in the Games, I will die.
Peeta hadn't taken too long in the gymnasium. Maybe that was a good sign. I wanted to know if it went ok but I'd need to worry about him later. Now it was my turn.
I walked in, grabbed a sheath of arrows, and a bow. I knew they were all watching me so I went straight for the dummy and aimed for his heart. I missed. And missed. When I missed the third time I exhaled angrily. I stomped over to the target circle and shot a few more arrows to get the center circle. I looked up at the Gamemakers and a few were nodding, but most of them were focused on talking to each other. I breathed slowly and walked back to the dummy. I shot him three times in the heart. I turned around to see if they were watching me now because they had all gotten silent. They weren't watching me. They were watching a large pig being brought in with an apple in its mouth.
"You may leave now Ms. Trinket," Seneca said to me. He wasn't even looking me. He was smiling and laughing with another Gamemaker. The anger boiled inside of me and before I could stop myself, I shot my last arrow up into the Gamemakers' area.
Glass shattered and someone screamed. My arrow was on the floor in the Gamemakers' . After it had been shot through the Gamemakers' glass bowl of punch. I bowed, "Thank you for your consideration." Their stairs burned my back but I couldn't turn back around. Instead I kept walking to the elevator and punched District Twelve's button.
I stormed out of the elevator and kept my head down, to hide my shame and tears. It didn't stop everyone from following me and asking what happened. I was too fast for them and I slammed the door to my room in their faces.
They were pounding on my door. I heard Cinna's, Haymitch's , and my mom's voice. I think I heard Peeta too. They wouldn't go away so I shouted, "Go! Go away! I don't want to talk about it! Leave me alone!" Eventually they did leave, not long after I yelled at them. I cried harder than I ever have before. I balled my hands into tights fists and smacked them against my too comfortable bed, and I screamed. I'm dead. They're absolutely going to kill me now. Snow and Seneca would be sure of it. I failed Primrose. I let my anger control me and now my life would mean nothing. I'm going to die. And there's nothing I can do about it.
I grabbed the pretty clothes from the dressers and threw them around the room. I sat down on the ground and sobbed again. I looked up at my nightstand and reached for the pitcher of water. I felt like it was mocking me. I was about to smash it into a thousand pieces, when I saw a scared Avox girl cowering quietly on the other side of the room. She was here the whole time? She must have been too frightened to do anything. When our eyes met she looked panicked and she started to pick up my clothes.
"Leave them," I croaked. She still picked up the clothes and I got upset, "I said leave them! Leave them! You don't need to clean up after me!" She stopped picking up the clothes and walked over to sit next to me. She took the pitcher from my hands and poured me a glass of water, "How do you live like this? Every day you do someone else's work. Don't you ever get tired of it?" She shrugged. Of course she tired, but she couldn't say anything.
"I want to help you." She shook her head and pointed to my water glass. I took a few sips, "I don't know your name, where you're from, or how old you are. But you do anything I ask in a heartbeat. Isn't there anything I can do to help you?" She shook her head again, stood up, and held out her hands to help me up. I helped her put the clothes away and when we finished she motioned for me to get into the bed. It was the first time since I got here that fell asleep so easily.
Once I woke up I could smell dinner and knew I was late. I ran out of my room and rushed to the dining room table.
My mother spoke first, "Are you alright, dear? I tried knocking on your door but you never responded."
"I took a nap."
Everyone watched me dig into my food. Cinna was brave enough to talk to me, "Katniss, what happened in there?"
I swallowed hard, "I shot an arrow at the Gamemakers' judging area."
My mother gasped, "Katniss, how could you?"
"They weren't watching me! I hit the target dead on more than five times and they hardly looked up! When Seneca told me I could go I was furious. So I showed them what I could do one more time."
"Did you hurt anyone?" Haymitch asked.
"No. I wasn't trying to. I wanted to hit the large glass of punch on their table. And I did."
Mom looked horrified, "Katniss no! You didn't!" I kept my gaze down on my food and she continued, "You could have gotten hurt! Or worse, you could have hit a Gamemaker! I knew I shouldn't have let Haymitch to let you try out the weapons!"
Haymitch gave my mother an exasperated glare, "That's not the point Effie."
"I know how feel," Peeta said quietly, "When I went in there I couldn't get practically any of them to look at me. So I threw bunch of heavy things around until they let me leave."
I smiled a little at him and mouthed thank you. Haymitch leaned into the table, "What were their faces like after you shot the bowl?"
"Terrified. They looked like they wouldn't come ten feet close to me." Haymitch started laughing and we all started to join him.
My mother was caught smiling too, "Well it serves them right. They're job is to watch you. No one messes with a Trinket." She kissed my temple and said in my ear, "I'm very proud of you, Katniss." I haven't tried to seek approval from my mother since I was little. Now that she said that, I knew in the Games I'd be fighting for her too.
Portia ended our moment, "Come on then! Katniss finish your food quickly. The scores will be revealed soon." I shoved a few more bites of food in my mouth and we all ran to the couches. Peeta sat next to me and studied my face. He held out his hand to squeeze. After what he and I have been through today I figured; why not? I took it and held it tight, smiling gratefully.
Each tribute is given a score from one to twelve, twelve being the best. Most Careers get eights and nines. After what I did, I'd be lucky to get a two. They started with District One. Both received a score of nine. Down the line they went: Cato ten, Clove ten, and Rue pulled a seven. I smiled for her, maybe Peeta taught her camouflage really well.
Peeta's score was next. I felt his hand shaking and tightened my grip on it. He got an eight! We all congratulated him.
"I guess they were watching you closer than you thought," Haymitch told him, patting his back. Now we all waited for my score. Please not a one, please not a one I silently chanted. They showed my number, eleven! I breathed a sigh of relief and I hugged Peeta. He seemed shocked but laughed and hugged me tight too.
"You earned it," he said when he pulled back and looked me in the eyes.
"Thanks. But I don't understand, why would they give me a good score?"
"It's a show sweetheart, they probably liked your temper," Haymitch answered. If that's the case then I'm thankful for my temper. My mom told Peeta we ought to go to bed so we wouldn't look tired for our interviews. I hugged everyone goodnight but one I got to Haymitch he stopped me.
"I need to tell you about your training with me tomorrow."
"What's wrong?" He looked very serious.
"I was planning on training you and Peeta together."
"Oh I don't mind! We'll be fine. Peeta and I are close, we can handle it."
"Let me finish. I was going to train you together but Peeta insisted on training separately." Wait, he what? What could he possibly have to do and say with Haymitch that he couldn't say with me? It could only mean one thing: he was secretly plotting something. He really had been lying all along!
I was being betrayed by the boy with the bread.
