Chapter 3
Four or so months ago
It's the day before my sixteenth birthday. I'm sitting in the meadow watching Prim make a crown out of a yellow flower. Dandelions. "Tomorrow this will be your crown." She smiles.
"Crown?" I laugh. "Why would I need a crown?"
"Because you will be the birthday princess!" she smiles. I laugh. My little sister is the sweetest person in the world. She's the only person I'm sure that I love.
"Hey Catnip." Gale says. He's walking towards me and Prim. "So I hear tomorrow is a special day." I roll my eyes.
"Hardly." I say. Prim frowns.
"Hey Kat!" Madge calls. Kat. It's the nickname she's been calling me for a while.
"Madge." I say. "What are you doing here?" Just two weeks ago she was in her bed crying her eyes out over that idiot that hurt her.
"I came to see you." She says. "Tomorrow is your birthday after all and I was wondering if you wanted to help me pick out a cake."
"A cake?" Gale asks. He and Madge aren't really friends but he puts up with her. It's not that Gale hates Madge specifically it's just that he hates the towns people. He thinks they look down on us, which they do. Seam and Merchant don't get along.
"A cake." She confirms.
"For who?" I ask. I don't recall their being any special celebrations coming up. Prim and Madge both roll their eyes at me.
"You, silly." Prim says. I sigh and stand up.
"You know we can't afford a cake, Prim." I say. I brush the grass from my pants.
"But you're not buying it." Madge says. At this I freeze.
"Madge-" I start but she lifts her hand up as a way to tell me to stop talking.
"This is what friends do, Katniss." Madge says. "If you want you can repay me with strawberries?" she smiles. I purse my lips.
"Oh come on, Katniss." Prim says. "Just a small one?" I look to Gale for help. He shakes his head and takes a step back telling me he's going to stay out of it. I sigh.
"Strawberries it is." I sigh. Madge and Prim high five each other.
"Perfect!" Madge says. "Come on let's go pick one out! I'll keep it at my house until tomorrow." She and Prim take my hand and lead me to town. I can hear Gale laughing at my expression of horror.
"Aren't you coming Gale?" Prim asks. He shakes his head.
"I'm going home to help with dinner." He says. "See you later." I glare at him. It's two in the afternoon and we both know he doesn't eat dinner until at least six. He just doesn't want to come to the bakery with us.
I let Prim and Madge drag me to the bakery. Prim runs toward the bakery almost as soon as it's in sight. She presses her nose to the bakery window.
"This one has roses! Oh and look at this one!" she points to various cakes.
"Let's go inside." Madge says. I haven't been in the bakery since my father was alive. Gale and I always use the back door whenever we trade with the baker and it's usually my mother who comes in and buys bread.
We are engulfed in the sweet smell of bread, cookies, and other bakery goods as soon as the door opens.
"Hello, Peeta." Madge says. I gasp as Peeta Mellark turns around. The memory of the day when he saved me from starvation appears once again.
"Hey, what can I help you with?" Peeta asks. He smiles at us while whipping his flour covered hands on his apron.
"We want a cake." Madge says. "It's Katniss birthday tomorrow."
"Oh?" Peeta's blue eyes lock on me. There's a hint of recognition there.
"Are these the only cakes available?" Madge asks as she points to the ones displayed on the window.
"Those aren't for sale." Peeta says. Prim's smile fades. "Those are pre-ordered. We just put them on the window for a few hours before the customers come and get them." Prim nods understandingly.
"We can have a cake made by tomorrow if you want." Peeta says. He looks at me again.
"Okay." Madge says.
"Can it have some Katniss flowers and Primroses on it?" Prim asks. Peeta smiles.
"Of course." He says. "Katniss flowers are my specialty." My eyes lock on his. Is that just a coincidence? It can't be, can it? "Along with roses and Primroses." He adds quickly. He looks down, a blush covering his cheeks. I look away too.
"You decorate the cakes?" Prim gasps. Peeta nods.
"I'm very good with icing." He explains with a sweet smile.
"I can tell." She says. "The cakes are always so pretty."
"Prim loves to look at them whenever we pass by." I add. Peeta looks up at me, smiling.
"Do you like them?" he asks. Out of the corner of my eyes I see Madge smile widely.
"Yes." I say. "I do." Peeta's smile becomes brighter and happier than I would have thought possible.
"I'll make sure your cake is the best of them all then." He says. We all smile.
The next day Prim, Madge, Gale, his brother, sister, and our parents all enjoy the delicious cake that Peeta had made. It's in the shape of a circle with all kinds of flowers around it. There are mainly Primroses and Katniss flowers but you can see roses and other pretty flowers too. The mixture of colors is amazing. I think that cake was one of the prettiest cakes he had done. On top, in the middle of all the flowers were the letters 'Happy Birthday Katniss' in careful handwriting. The cake had also come with a gift. A cookie in the shape of a Katniss flower.
That day was the first day I talked to Peeta Mellark.
Modern day.
I stay in the shower, crying, for an hour. Effie comes and gets me for dinner as I'm drying off. But I don't want to go to dinner. I want to stay in my room and cry. I put on a green outfit and pin Madge's Mockingjay pin to it. I'm glad I have it. It reminds me of home. It helps me calm down.
Peeta is already sitting down when I get there. The car is empty of other life.
"Hi." I say. Peeta looks up from his plate. He looks tired and years older.
"Hi." He says. His eyes linger on me. I know it's obvious I've been crying. My eyes are puffy from the tears and my eyes are still red. "Are you okay?" he asks. I shake my head and turn away. I bite my lip as I focus on watching the trees out the train window. I sneak a quick look at Peeta. He's quiet and I see he has that look on his face that says he's unsure about what to do next.
He sighs. A second later I hear him get up and walk to me. I feel him wrap his arms around me from behind. I don't push him away like I should. The feel of his gentle yet strong arms around me soothes me. It takes the fear and sadness away. I twist so that I wrap my arms around him too. I lean against him, using him for support.
"Kat. . ." he sighs into my hair. My arms tighten. I know this isn't right. I know that I broke his heart just a week ago. I know I told him that I didn't care about him. I know this isn't right. I know he's probably suffering more than I am but I'm selfish. I need him.
"I'm sorry." I say. He doesn't say anything. "Peeta -" I start but he interrupts me. My arms refuse to let go of him.
"We can't. We're both supposed to be enemies – we can't – " he starts pulls away.
"I know." I don't let go of him. More tears make their way down my cheek. "I'm sorry."
"Tell me something, Kat, were you lying that day?" he asks. I look up at him, confused. "Or did you change your mind?" I open my mouth but nothing comes out. I should just tell him the truth. Tell him that I did love him but that I was scared. But how can i? It's just going to be even more painful when we have to kill each other in the arena.
"Peeta. . . ."
"Well, well, well," someone slurs. I pull away from Peeta and take a step away. I bite my lip as my face turns a scarlet red.
There stands Haymitch Abernathy. Our mentor. District twelve's past victor. "So you two are Katniss and Peeta. I've heard a lot about you." My mouth falls open with a pop. Even this drunk victor has heard about us.
"Heard what?" Effie asks as she enters. She sits down at the table and starts filling her plate with all types of food. Peeta and I both sit down quickly as hunger takes over.
"Oh nothing." Haymitch says. "Just that these two are in love." He chuckles. Peeta looks down at his plate.
"Just one, actually." he whispers. I bite my lip and look down too.
"That's not fair, Peeta." I whisper.
"It's the truth." He shrugs. But it's not, I want to say.
"Oh, you poor things." Effie sighs. "Star-crossed lovers." Peeta's eyes lock on me.
"Hardly." He says coldly. I want to cry. It's not fair, Peeta. I do care about you. But I don't dare say anything. It will just make things harder.
We eat the rest of the exquisite meal in silence.
"You're our mentor!" Peeta hisses. "You're supposed to give us tips on how to stay alive!" Haymitch ignored him as he continues to thin a red liquid with alcohol.
"It's no use." I tell Peeta. We've been trying all morning to get Haymitch to tell us how to survive the Hunger Games. In anger Peeta slaps the glass away from Haymitch's hand. It falls on the green carpet. It's the first time I've seen Peeta lose his temper. It's shocking.
Haymitch takes a moment to realize what happened then his face reddens in anger. He lashes out and punches Peeta across the jaw. My eyes widen. The knife I had been using to cut my food is suddenly flying across the table landing just a few centimeters from Haymitch's shoulder. It sticks solidly to the chair. I braise myself for the blow that's sure to come.
"Well, well, did I actually get a pair of fighters this year?" Haymitch chuckles. Peeta and I exchange expressions. "You want some tips?" We nod slowly, unsure of where this is going.
"Tell us where the safest place to go is after the cornucopia bloodbath-" Peeta starts.
"Now wait a minute, before that you have to meet your stylist. Now you're not going to like what they do to you both don't resist. Got it?" Haymitch says. Peeta and I exchange looks once again.
"Fine." I say. Haymitch stands and reaches for the liquor bottle at the middle of the table.
"And don't ever interfere with my drinking." He gulps down some of the white stuff in the bottle before leaving.
"And what do we do with coal?" Cinna, my stylist asks. "We light it on fire." Now this is when I begin to think that Cinna's calm demeanor masks a complete madman. What person on their right mind would think of lighting to people on fire?
"Are you sure this is safe?" I ask. Cinna gives a hesitant nod. He excuses himself to consult with the other stylist whose name I think is Portia.
It's the opening ceremonies, when the tributes are first presented to the Capitol. Each tribute gets a stylist and that stylist has the job to come up with an outfit describing his or her tribute District main industry. District 12 main industry is coal. Usually the tributes wear ugly, loose, coal miners outfits or stand naked while covered in coal dust. But Cinna has the idea of lighting us up on fire just like you light coal on fire.
"What do you think of all this?" Peeta asks later when we're standing next to our chariot.
"I don't know." I say. I look around nervously at the other tributes. Most of the guys are a head taller than me. The girls are my size but most of them have been trained their whole lives for this. They probably know of a hundred different ways to kill someone with a sharp stick.
"What better way to represent our Districts main industry than going out into the crowd looking like charred peace's of human coal." he chuckles darkly.
"True." I mutter. There is no sign that things are going to begin anytime soon so Peeta and I wander off. We steer clear of the other tributes though.
"What are we doing Katniss?" Peeta asks. I pet the coal black horse and feed it a sugar cube.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"You said you didn't want to see me anymore." He whispers. I bite my lip. I did say that. "You never answered me the other day, you know." I look up at him. At his clear blue eyes. The blue eyes that I fell in love with.
"I lied." I whisper. The words come out without my permission. I instantly begin to regret ever speaking. This will no doubt be the death of me.
Peeta doesn't have time to respond because Cinna is next to us once again. He tells us that it's time. Then before I know it, I am lit on fire. I braise myself for the burning pain but it never comes. I only feel a faint warm sensation.
"It works." Cinna smiles. "Remember, heads high, smile. They are going to love you." And we're moving.
So, here's the new chapter. Oh, and I've been looking for a Beta Reader because sometimes i miss things and i don't notice until i've already published the chapter. So, please, if you're interested just PM me. :) thanks. And tell me what you think about this chapter! :D
