I must have been in bath for a while because suddenly my mother was knocking on the door.

"Katniss, are you alright?"

I waited a few moments before replying, "Yes, I'll be out in a moment."

I dried off and put on the robe that was hanging on the door. My mother must have left it. There was no point putting my clothes back on since my prep team would strip me of them anyway.

Once I head downstairs I'm greeted with the flurry of activity that is Cinna and the rest of my team. They exclaim that I've let all my body hair grow back and that they don't know how to they're going to fix me in time for our interviews. My saving grace is that I left my long hair alone. They'd be furious if I cut it they say. I chuckle but otherwise keep silent. For as silly as they are I owe them a lot.

For most of my prepping they talk about the Quarter Quell and what it will entail. No one is certain what will happen. I've never been alive for a Quell, the teachers here never taught much about them except that they happen every twenty-five years and are always "special". Eventually they move on from specifics of the Quell to Haymitch. His own games were during a Quell where the Capitol required twice the number of tributes.

I've never asked about Haymitch's games and I never will most likely. It's a good thing I'm here as a mentor I guess, as Haymitch'll be to drunk to be any help. I ponder over that thought and ignore the world around me. Peeta, for as innocent and kind as he was would have made a great mentor, I'll probably be as useless as Haymitch.

I tune in and out for the rest of the prepping as they've moved on to innocuous topics. After a while they start my makeup telling me that Cinna explained that we're going for childish and girly rather than provocative which is good considering I can't act sexy to save my life according to Haymitch.

With a timid knock my mother comes in and states that she's supposed to show the team how she braided my hair for the Reaping. They all cheer and giggle excitedly to learn a new style. I just appreciate the way they respect my mother and what she knows regardless of where she's from.

Eventually they're finished and I make my way back downstairs to greet Cinna who has been rearranging my living room. He starting calling me a few months ago to work on my "talent". We've talked at least once a week since and discovered that I have zero talent outside of killing animals. Everything I've tried, from flute to drawing to flower arranging has been a failure. Prim however has excelled in all of them.

Cinna throws designing items around the room and hands me some cue cards to read off while the camera shows off "my" handiwork.

"Did I design my outfit?" I ask. It's a soft sweater made of some incomprehensibly expensive material I'm sure. The leather boots are supple and lace almost up to my knees. My pants are black and flowy offsetting my white shirt. Cinna always outdoes himself.

Effie arrives in a tornado of movement and reminds us all that we're on a tight schedule. I move to the kitchen after recording my soundbites to watch Prim's interview. They're going to love her, everyone does.

At the flash of the camera I'm transported back to arena. I don't see Prim anymore but Rue. They're barely similar, but similar enough to cause me shock. I can't help thinking who I'm going to fail this time around, especially if there's a tiny twelve-year-old in the arena for Haymitch and I to mentor this year. I don't think I could handle it.

I feel Cinna putting an impossibly soft coat on my shoulders and flinch at the contact. He doesn't say anything, just helped me with the coat and backs off. Effie is now pushing me out the door where I'll greet Haymitch and we'll pretend to be excited to be mentoring children who will be dead by this time next year.

Haymitch comes out behind his prep team, they used to be Peeta's team but they've been demoted I guess. The rest of the day is spent on photos and getting to the train station for my interviews throughout the Capitol and districts.

Finally, everyone gets ready for bed and Haymitch and I are alone. I need to tell him about my visit from President Snow. He'll know what to do. I push into his cabin before he can lock it and move to sit in the corner.

"What do you want?" he asks with a snap.

"I need to talk to you," I whisper.

He sighs and moves to sit on the bed. "Start talking before I change my mind."

I rustle around a bit, not knowing how to start. "I got a visit from President Snow this afternoon."

He sighs again and waits to exhale. "What in Panem did you do now?"

"Why do I have to do something wrong? That's beside the point." This time I sigh and hold my breath. I can feel the train slowing and tense for a moment thinking that maybe Snow has decided to kill me anyway. I wait another moment and realize that we're just refueling. "It's a bit stuffy in here."

Haymitch takes my comment as intended and leads me outside. Once out the doors and in the snow he turns to face me. "Alright girly, talk."

I tell him everything that Snow and I said to each other, that I have to make the districts hate me without inciting a rebellion. Haymitch laughs and I hit him. Hard.

"Sorry Sweetheart but you've gotta admit that it won't be hard to make them hate you."

"But how do I do it without stirring up more trouble? He threatened my family Haymitch. He threatened Prim."

Haymitch thought for a moment before opening his mouth, "then you can't fail."

"Haymitch please, you have to help me get through the next few months."

"Months? Katniss, you don't understand. This isn't about mere months. In a few months, the cameras will be back for the Reaping. Every year they'll play snippets of your games and Peeta's death. This isn't a few months' worth of effort girl. This is the rest of your life. Do you understand?"

I nodded my head as we boarded the train. This was indeed the rest of my life.