Chapter 7 – Revelations

Katniss closed the bedroom door. Her mind was reeling with the information Peeta had disclosed. She stood in the center of the room, twisting her head around to scan for cameras. She didn't see any obvious holes in the wall. She went into the bathroom to look. She didn't notice anything there either, but she raced through her nightly activities, avoiding the shower.

When she returned to her room, she pulled the nightgown from the dresser drawer and crawled under the bedcovers to change. She turned off the bedside lamp, but it took her a long time to fall asleep.

She woke up to Effie rapping on her door. "Time for breakfast."

Katniss leaped out of bed to catch Effie before she walked away. "There's something wrong with my shower," she said. "Could I use yours?"

A look of surprise crossed Effie's face, but she agreed. Katniss quickly gathered up her clothing and hurried to Effie's bedroom. The bedroom and bath were similar to her own, with one exception. Effie's room had a television mounted on the wall across from the bed.

She suspected Effie's bathroom was free of cameras, but she showered and dressed quickly, in case she was wrong.

"We'll have to get someone in to fix your shower," Effie said as they sat down to a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon.

"Is it broken?" Peeta asked casually, catching Katniss' eye.

"I believe so," she said exchanging the glance.

After breakfast, Katniss followed Peeta into the kitchen for her baking lesson. He handed her an apron to wear.

"I put the recipe for the cheese buns into the pocket," he told her. "I'm sure you'd like to make them some time." He smiled and her cheeks turned pink.

"Thanks," she mumbled, reaching into the pocket and touching the folded sheet of paper. She hadn't asked him for the recipe, but she did like those cheese buns.

He set her to work making cookies. They made three kinds: snickerdoodles, chocolate-chip, and butter cookies. While they baked, Peeta showed her how to make a thin frosting from powdered sugar and milk. Once it was completed and the butter cookies had cooled, they both iced them.

Conversation was kept to a minimum; it mainly focusing on baking instructions. It was as if they had both agreed to bore the viewers. For a moment though, while they were frosting the butter cookies, Katniss forgot about the cameras and asked Peeta which cookie was his favorite. She was surprised to learn that it was snickerdoodles. She'd always associated Peeta with the decorated butter cookies the bakery sold; she had assumed he liked those best.

When he was done speaking, he tilted his head toward the wall behind the stove and she saw what looked like a tiny light in the wall above it. She nodded back at him and stopped her personal questions.

The cooking lesson ended early, and Katniss helped Peeta make sandwiches for lunch. When she removed her apron, Peeta reminded her to be sure to take the recipe. Katniss pulled out the folded sheet and shoved it into the pocket of the pants she was wearing.

After lunch, Peeta returned to the kitchen. As soon as he left the room, Effie leaned in to Katniss. "I see you went up to the roof with Peeta last night."

Katniss narrowed her eyes. How did Effie know that? Was she watching them on the television that hung on the wall in her bedroom?

She wanted to lash out at the woman, tell her she'd never agreed to being spied on, but she didn't because she knew her every word was being televised. Instead she simply explained that Cinna had showed Peeta the garden on the roof and he'd offered to show it to her. "I spend most of my time outside in District 12," Katniss said. "I've been cooped up ever since I got here."

Effie seemed to believe her explanation. "Did you get a little practice in?" she smiled.

Inwardly Katniss groaned. "Effie, I don't think my future husband would appreciate me practicing on Peeta."

Effie chuckled. "Don't be so naïve. Your future husband will have plenty of practice with lots of other girls. Why not have a little fun before you settle down?"

Katniss turned pink, not in embarrassment, but in anger. Did Effie think she was like one of those wanton girls who lured boys to the slagheap?

Effie didn't seem to notice her agitation, however. "Today we're going to talk about kissing. You have been kissed before, right?"

"Of course," Katniss quickly answered. Her family was somewhat affectionate. Her mother had kissed her goodbye when she left for the Capitol. She often kissed Prim on the check as a greeting.

As if reading her mind, Effie qualified her question. "Kissed romantically by a man?"

Katniss didn't answer. Of course she hadn't been kissed by any men. She didn't think Vick Hawthorne kissing her cheek on her birthday would count. But she wasn't going to tell Effie that– blab it to everyone watching.

Fortunately Effie didn't call attention to her non-answer. Instead, she began to explain that there are all kinds of kisses. "Some are perfunctory, a chaste peck to deliver affection. Others are soft and gentle, like a feather grazing your lips. My favorite is fierce and determined."

Effie licked her lips. Her eyes glazed over as she lost herself in thought. After a moment she appeared to remember that Katniss was there and continued speaking.

"But there is a very important etiquette rule regarding kissing. Never kiss and tell."

Katniss snorted. That rule had been broken by most of the girls in District 12 who bragged at school about their activities at the slagheap.

"It's not funny, Katniss," Effie chided her. "You'll have a dozen men wooing you. You don't want to be kissing and telling one about the other. We don't want any fights breaking out."

Katniss almost started laughing over the thought that men would be fighting over her. But then worry took over. She was going to be kissed on television by strange men?

Effie began to talk technique. It was all biting, and sucking, and tongues, and tangling fingers through hair, or cupping hands on cheeks, or running a finger across the lips, or down the side of the neck, or under the jaw line.

Katniss sat with her eyes wide and her mouth agape listening to Effie. The woman's skin took on a rosy glow as she described the delight of a sensational kiss. Katniss imagined that the viewers must be captivated. Surely there were people who needed to step away for a moment to tend a crying child, to turn off a boiling kettle, to answer a knock on the door, but couldn't because they were so enthralled by Effie Trinket's kissing lesson.

"Oh, to be young again," Effie sighed deeply when she had finished speaking.

"Is that all?" Katniss asked, pink-cheeked and desperate to escape.

"Yes, that is it for today. Remember, practice makes perfect," Effie called as Katniss ran from the room.

Katniss hid in her bedroom waiting for Cinna to arrive. As she sat down on her bed, Katniss felt the crinkle in her pocket from the recipe Peeta had given her. She pulled it out of her pocket and slowly unfolded the paper. Immediately she could see that it wasn't a recipe. It was a letter from Peeta with a funny little caricature of Effie at the top of the page and a sketch of the rooftop gardens at the bottom. Between the drawings was a note.

Suddenly Katniss wondered if the camera could see what Peeta had written. She grabbed a pillow, using it to cover the note. She lay down on her bed and using the pillow as a shield she studied the paper. She smiled at Peeta's exaggerated depiction of Effie with her beehive hair, dramatic makeup, and outlandish clothing. Katniss had no idea that Peeta was such a good artist, but then art was not a subject in school in District 12.

The garden he'd drawn at the bottom of the page looked exactly like the one on the roof. He'd even drawn the bench with the two of them sitting on it. It showed Peeta leaning into her side, his mouth close to her ear. Immediately she remembered the moment and a shiver ran down her back.

She turned to the words he'd written.

Dear Katniss,

I've been thinking about the cameras. Even if we destroy them, they'll only be replaced. Maybe if we could locate the ones in your bedroom, you could cover them up in some way for privacy while you're dressing or bathing.

Peeta

Katniss had to admit that Peeta's idea wasn't half bad. While it wouldn't solve the problem of her life being broadcast to the Capitol population, at least it would give her a measure of modesty.

Katniss folded the letter and shoved it into her pocket. She put her pillow back against the headboard of the bed. Cinna was knocking on her door.

The stylist was alone today, but he had a rack filled with clothing. Her eyes widened when he asked her to try on the outfits for him, but she calmed down when he told her to change in the bathroom. "I respect your privacy," he said, and she took that to mean that there were no cameras in the bathroom.

Relieved, she wheeled the rack in with her, closed the door, and immediately set to work modeling the clothing for Cinna. Once he approved of the fit of each garment, he carefully hung it in the large closet in the bedroom.

They didn't speak much as they worked together. It was clear to Katniss that Cinna was also upset about the televising of everything in the penthouse. Just like Peeta this morning, he had decided to bore the audience. Before he left, Cinna tilted his chin in the direction of the

camera that was set in the wall over her bed, and caught Katniss' eye.

"Thanks," she mouthed with her back to the camera.

"Everyone is so quiet today," Effie commented at dinner.

Katniss and Peeta exchanged glances. Katniss guessed Effie had been monitoring their conversations on the television in her room.

After they finished eating Effie excused herself. "I have a meeting tonight," she said. "I'll be back later."

When Effie had left the penthouse and the dishes were placed in the cleaning machine, Peeta turned to Katniss.

"We should make a recipe book."

"What?"

"A book of all the recipes I've showed you," he said. "You could take it with you. I found some colored pencils and paper in my room. I'll get them."

Peeta soon returned and they sat at the dining table as Peeta dictated the baking recipes and Katniss carefully copied them down.

"I'd like the recipe for the lamb stew and that noodle dish you made for lunch, too," Katniss added.

She wrote each recipe on a single sheet of paper. When she was done, Peeta drew a picture of the finished product at the bottom of the page. Katniss watched his hands as he worked making the page bloom with the simple strokes of a colored pencil.

For the first time she noticed his eyelashes that were so long that she wondered how they keep from getting all tangled up when he blinked. Peeta was attractive. She wondered why she'd never noticed it before.

He turned his head to look at her and she nearly startled when he caught her staring at him. But he didn't seem to notice.

"Any more recipes you'd like to have?"

Katniss shook her head. When he was finished, Peeta gathered all the papers together into a pile. "We can add to these later," he said.

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"This is awful," Plutarch shouted at Fulvia as they watched the large television screen that hung on the wall airing the special pay-for-view program only available to residents of the Capitol. It was a live feed from the penthouse showing Katniss and Peeta making the recipe book.

He hit a switch on the t.v. and shut it off. "People are paying good money for the evening edition of the feed, hoping to watch some titillating action. They look like some old married couple."

Plutarch was sitting at the conference table in his office, located only a few blocks from the penthouse. Fulvia, Cressida and Effie sat across from him.

"Our morning ratings are high," Fulvia started. "The cooking show is very popular. Women are drooling over Peeta Mellark. There's a run on flour in the Capitol. And the photo shoot yesterday scored well."

"Where is Cinna by the way?" Cressida asked.

"Couldn't make it," Plutarch said. "Probably embarrassed about his low ratings for that boring segment this afternoon. Why he told her to change in the bathroom when there are no cameras in there is beyond me."

"My romance advice show got some good ratings today," Effie interrupted.

Plutarch snorted. "That's because you practically had an orgasm on camera."

Effie turned red. "Well," she huffed. "I don't have much to work with. Katniss is probably the most unsophisticated girl I've ever met. And Peeta, well he's sweet, but he's shy."

"Remind me why he's even here." Plutarch glared at Fulvia.

"You wanted these extra pay-for-view segments to introduce Katniss to Capitol viewers before The Match Game started," Fulvia said. "She refused all cosmetic and surgical enhancements so we couldn't do any beauty makeover shows. Cooking shows are popular for our morning audience and a really good tie-in for The Match Game, so I brought Peeta along. He could easily fill both the morning and evening slots. He's good looking and…. have you tasted his cookies? And his cheese buns are heavenly."

Effie licked her lips. "Everything he makes is wonderful."

"Isn't it?" Fulvia exclaimed. "He was such a dear he even offered to do all the cooking; he's saving us the cost of a chef."

"Why isn't Peeta the District 12 contestant?" Effie asked.

Fulvia sighed. "If it was my decision, he would have been. It was obvious back in District 12 that he had a huge crush on Katniss. Unfortunately she insisted on someone else. Some friend apparently."

"What's with all the green clothing," Plutarch said. "You're dressing him like a leprechaun."

Fulvia frowned. "Plutarch, it is a scientific fact that people are sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex who wear their favorite color clothing. Katniss' favorite color is green and Peeta's favorite color is orange. That is why Peeta's clothes are green, and Katniss is wearing a lot of orange.

"I was trying to generate a subliminal spark between the two of them, well Katniss really, so maybe there would be some chemistry there for our viewers. Although I told you it would be a mistake to promote the evening segment as," she made air quotes around her words, `too hot to handle.'

"The women from the poorer districts tend to be inhibited," Fulvia added. "What were you expecting from an inexperienced girl? That she'd rip off her clothes and jump him every time Effie left the suite?"

"I expected more than a craft project," Plutarch groaned. "Oh I wish we had used a girl from District 1 for the show. Now those women know how to have fun."

Ignoring the glare of the three women on the other side of the table, Plutarch pursed his lips for a moment, lost in thought. "Fulvia," he said, "if Peeta has such a big crush on Katniss, why would he agree to come to the Capitol and teach her bake if she's planning to marry another man? He may be a dear," he said, mimicking Fulvia's tone of voice, "but I doubt he's a saint, although I'm beginning to wonder about him. Most men in his situation would have made a move by now."

Fulvia's skin turned a deeper shade of pink. "Well, I might have told him we hadn't nailed down the District 12 contestant just yet. I may have hinted that he had a chance. I'm guessing he's holding back to win her trust."

Plutarch slammed his fist on the table. "Damn it, Fulvia. Why would you tell him that? Does this have anything to do with all the free baked goods you've been getting? We don't need a lawsuit from this kid because he thought he was going to be part of the show. You need to tell him that he's not a contestant. It might make him less shy toward her if he knows his time is running out. And that would certainly be good for our night ratings.

Fulvia sat stony-faced as Plutarch continued his rant.

"Besides it would help if she had some experience, especially if we want a decent show when we air the wedding night special. The advertisers are paying a lot for that show. It better be worth it."

"I've been telling her to practice with Peeta," Effie said, in attempt to divert attention from Fulvia, who was looking quite upset. "I was so sure something was going to happen on the roof last night. They looked so cozy on the bench telling secrets. And then when he squeezed her hand at the door… oh, my heart leapt. I was hoping she'd invite him back to her room."

Plutarch shook his head. "What was that all about? The audio was awful. I couldn't hear a single word they were saying. All I could hear was those blasted chimes."

"The roof's not really set up for sound," Cressida explained. "We didn't anticipate filming up there."

Plutarch sighed. "Look, I don't have time for subliminal sparks to catch fire," He glared at Fulvia again. "I need something for the night viewers or we're going to get calls asking for refunds. Maybe Effie, you could give them both some alcohol tomorrow night. Not too much, I don't want them vomiting all over each other and passing out. Just enough to make things interesting."

"I could dim the lights to make it more romantic," Effie suggested. "Will the built-in camera's work with less light?"

"They will," Cressida said.

"Okay, tomorrow night Effie, you pour the wine, dim the lights, and get out of there."

"It sounds like a plan, Plutarch."

"And Fulvia, be sure Peeta knows he is not a contestant on The Match Game."

"All right," she fumed, biting her lower lip.