Chapter 7
Peeta, Haymitch, Effie, Cinna, and Portia sit around the dinner table (though dinner has long since passed) talking about Peeta's angle, sponsors, and how Haymitch thinks Katniss is as interesting as a dead slug, and the like. It all ceases though when then they hear the elevator doors slide open. Katniss comes in from around the corner, not noticing them at the table, absentmindedly curling and uncurling her fingers in the hem of her shirt. Peeta's learned that she does this whenever she's deep in thought.
"Well, look who decided to finally show up." Effie says, irritated. Katniss stops, swiveling her head towards Effie's voice, surprised. "You know dinner was over an hour ago?! You're late and now you've missed the meal!"
"Sorry, I lost track of time."
"That is no excuse for tardiness. You weren't even supposed to leave the floor! Where di-"
"Did you just apologize to her?" Haymitch interrupts, his mouth hanging open. She nods with as much as a roll of the eyes.
"Haymitch! It's very rude to stare at people!" Haymitch just keeps gawking at Katniss like she just grew another head, ignoring Effie completely. Peeta just rolls his eyes at everyone.
Katniss shifts her weight from foot to foot, her hands playing with the bottom of her shirt again, waiting for some else to say something. When no one does she announces that she's going to bed. She sees that everyone is still staring at her. She quickly says a good night and rushes out of the room. Everyone stares in the direction in which she left until they hear the sound of her bedroom door open and close.
Haymitch is the first to speak. "You see that Effie?" He shakes his head, taking a gulp of his liquor. "You've ruined her!" He takes another swig.
"I did no such thing! In fact she's acting much more human now than when she didn't have any manners."
"No one's going to have manners in the games; no one is going to be human anymore in there." They're bickering goes on for a while, but Peeta just ignores them, lost in thought. He knows she was in the training room, she told him when he asked where she was going earlier. Something must have happened down there; talked to someone, did somethings she wasn't supposed to, got in trouble for being in the training room after hours. Whatever happened, it made her only semi-conscious of the world around her—which also probably explains why she was so abnormally polite. He doesn't say any of this to the others, just gets up and excuses himself from the room.
He walks past his room and goes to Katniss'. He knocks twice on the door, but there is no response from the other side of the door.
He knocks again.
"Katniss?" He waits for a moment before continuing. "Can-" He stops when the door starts to open.
"Peeta?" Katniss asks, confused as to why he is here. Peeta's starting to wonder the same thing. "What are you doing here?"
"You looked a little confused out there, just wanted to make sure everything was alright."
"I'm..." Her lips start to form the word 'fine' but it doesn't come out. Instead, she stares at him with debating eyes.
"Have you seen the roof? Cinna showed it to me earlier. There's a lot a wind but the view and all the plants are nice. Kind of gives a peaceful feel. It might help you feel better." She nods, understanding what he means.
"Hold on just a second." She goes back into her room, leaving the door open slightly. He pushes the door open a little farther. Katniss is across the room, wrapping a light green shawl around her shoulder.
They make their way down the hall. They go up about a dozen stairs before they come to a metal door with red paining on that says "ROOF". Peeta pushes it open, the slightly chilly air rushing in at them.
From the corner of his eyes he sees Katniss pull her shawl slightly closer to her body, but her eyes are roaming over the landscape of the roof. On the right is a small greenhouse, plants are scattered all over the place in clusters. They aren't in anyway organized, but it's uniquely beautiful. On the left there is an area where there aren't as many plants. There is a railing there with a force field to keep the tributes 'safe' from falling off the building. The sky is dark; the stars hardly are noticeable from all the lights radiating from all of the buildings in the Capitol.
Katniss walks over to the the edge, looking over the side. People crowd the streets; probably more people are out now than when he was up here earlier. He could basically hear all of their ridiculous sequels of excitement for the games, and all the bets they're making on who they think is going to win this year. Back in District 12, most people would be in their homes, men tired from a long day of work, kids at home working on their homework, mothers making dinner for the family (if they have the food to). But these people, they stay out late without a care in the world. Out like they don't have any have anything better than to chat and make bets on the deaths of innocent children. It makes Peeta sick.
"Cato asked me to be in the careers with him." Her voice is so soft; Peeta has to strain his ears to hear her over the wind. Even though he does hear her, he's not sure he heard her right.
They asked her to do what?!
The careers?
Why?
She can't!
They'll just kill her!
No!
"You can't join them!" Peeta all but yells at her, making her flinch. "It has to be a trick! They don't really want you to join them; they just want to make sure they'll be able to kill you! They-"
"Peeta, calm down! I said no." He stares at her with wide, unbelieving eyes.
"What?" Peeta asks, confused.
"You didn't really think that I wanted to be with a bunch of blood-thirsty murderers, did you?" He doesn't anything, just laughs nervously. Katniss shakes her head at him. "Nice to know you think so highly of me."
"I...I—I didn't—I..." He stutters, trying to make up for his lack of words, but she interrupts with her laughter. Her laugh wasn't dainty at all, but it was still sweet, and Peeta loved it. She always seems bitter and sarcastic; it's nice to finally hear something happy come from her for a change.
"I was joking, Peeta. Chill out." she says, playfully punching his arm.
"Sorry 'bout that." he says embarrassed, rubbing the back of his now flushed neck. She waves his apology off with a flick of her hand before crossing her arms on the railing and looking over at the sight that lies before her.
"What would you do?" she asks softly. "Do you think I made the right choice? With saying no I mean."
Peeta thinks about it carefully, weighing all the pros and cons of being in the alliance, but, truthfully, he has no idea what he would have done in her position. "Do you want to be with them?"
"I just want to win so I can get back to Prim." she answers without hesitation. Peeta nods his head, not really knowing what to say to that.
Peeta stands by the elevator with Haymitch, Portia, and Effie, waiting for Katniss and Cinna to come out. Portia dressed Peeta in a simple black suit with flame accents on the sleeves and the pant legs, still going with the whole fire theme that the stylists made at the opening ceremonies. She is most likely to match him with Katniss again, since after all, she is the girl on fire.
Katniss comes in with Cinna right behind her, looking absolutely striking in her interview dress, another one of Cinna's genius creations. Her dress goes to her ankles, covered from head to toes in red, yellow and white gems, with bits of blue that accent the tips of the flames design. The slightest movement gives the impression that she is engulfed in tongues of fire.
Haymitch taps the bottom of his chin twice, telling him in a low voice that he needs to close his gaping mouth and act normal before a fly flies in. He closes his mouth; only, it's so hard to keep it that way when Katniss is looking that stunning in her outfit. She is not pretty. She is not beautiful. She's so much more than that she doesn't even have a word to describe herself. She is as radiant as the sun. Never in his life has he ever been surer of his feelings for the girl that stands in front of him.
They all get into the elevator and head down to the main level. From the corner of Peeta's eye, he watches Katniss. She nervously wipes her hands on her dress, her hands shaking slightly. Right then, he wanted to hold her hands and calm her nerves and tell her that she has nothing to worry about.
When the elevator opens, the other tributes are being lined up to be taken onto the stage. All of the tributes will sit in a big arc throughout the interviews. Since Peeta is the boy tribute of District 12, he'll be going last. This is good. If he went on before Katniss, she might ruin his whole plan when she goes on.
They all walk single-file onto the side of the stage and sit in their assigned seats. The chairs are white, not all that fancy but more comfortable than the chairs back home in District 12. The chairs are placed where the tributes from the same district chairs are closer together, and a bit more space between each district so that it's easier to identify who is from where.
Beside him, he can hear Katniss' breath is now rapid and shallow, her legs bouncing up and down restlessly. Again, another surge of desire washes over him, he wants to just take her in his arms and comfort her with soft, soothing words, but the latter of the two will have to do for now since it would just be awkward if he all of a sudden hugged her (plus they are on camera now).
"Hey, you'll do great. They already love you." Peeta says, offering a small smile.
"That's what Cinna said." she says back quietly.
Caesar Flickerman, the man who has hosted the interviews and the games itself for more than forty years, basically hops across the stage and stands next to his seat. He wears a midnight blue ceremonial suit, dotted with thousand tiny electric bulbs that twinkle like stars you can't even see in the sky here. His hair is a powder blue along with his eyelids and his lips to match. He tells a few jokes to warm things up the audience but then gets down to business.
Each interview lasts three minutes then the buzzer goes off and the next tribute is up to try and make an impression for the sponsors. Though a lot of them are forgettable, Caesar helps a lot at making everything the tribute say or do seem wonderful. Every tribute has there angle and Caesar helps them bring it out during their three minutes on the stage.
The careers are the ones to get the most cheers as they enter and exit the stage (like always of course). The monstrous boy from District 2, Cato, plays the 'ruthless killing machine' as his angle, and Peeta watches as Katniss gives her full attention to his interview. Even though he knows that she's probably only paying that close of attention to him because she's still trying to make a decision on whether to join him in the careers or not, he can't help the pang of jealousy that now runs through his veins like hot wires of electricity. When he's finished, he leaves with loud cheers from the audience, and as he's about to take his seat, he looks over at them and sees Katniss watching him, so he gives a little wink before sitting down. Since then, her eyes seem to trail over to his figure frequently. She pays attention to the other careers as well, but not as well as she did to Cato's. Making it hard to believe what he said earlier when Cato was on stage.
Soon, Katniss is standing to go to the chair on stage next to Caesar's. She stares at the ground as she walks (probably to make sure she doesn't trip on anything). As she walks past the other tributes, he watches Cato, who is also watching Katniss, a smirk upon his lips. He sees Katniss glance in his direction and sees this also.
As she walks onto the stage an enormous sound comes from the audience. She waves shyly as she makes her way to the chair. Caesar takes her hand in his, kissing it lightly, then helping her into the chair.
"So, Katniss, the Capitol must be quite a change from District 12. What's impressed you the most since you've arrived here?" She opens her mouth slightly, but no words come.
Come on Katniss. They already love you. No need to be nervous.
She looks desperately for someone in the crowd, and then she ends up locking her eyes with Cinna's.
After another moment, she answers. "The lamb stew," she gets out. Caesar laughs along with some a few in the crowd.
"The one with dry plums?" ask Caesar. She nods. "Oh, I eat it by the bucketful." He turns sideways to the audience in horror, hand on his stomach. "It doesn't show, does it?" They Capitolites shout reassurances to him and applaud.
"Now, Katniss," he says confidentially, "When you came out in the opening ceremonies, my heart actually stopped. What did you think of that costume?"
"You mean after I got over my fear of being burned alive?" The audience burst out laughing.
"Yes. Start then," Caesar says.
"I thought Cinna was brilliant and it was the most gorgeous costume I'd ever seen and I couldn't believe I was wearing it. I can't believe I'm wearing this, either." She lifts up her skirt to spread it out. "I mean look at it!" She stands and twirls around a couple of times, flames coming up from the bottom of the dress, up, engulfing her in same flames from their opening ceremony costume. The audience gasps at the beginning, breaks into encouraging cheers.
When she's done, you can tell that she's more at ease with the whole interview.
"So, how about that training score, hmmm? Eleven. Give us a hint what happened in there."
She glances at the gamemakers on the balcony and bites her lip. "Um...I don't think I'm aloud to say anything about that, but what I will say is that I think it was probably a first." The cameras go to the gamemakers, who are chuckling and nodding. The cameras go back to Caesar and Katniss.
"Let's go back then, to the moment they called your sister's name at the reaping," says Caesar, his voice quieter now. "And you volunteered. Can you tell us about her?" Her face falls, her smile gone, her eyes downcast.
Come on Katniss.
"Her name is Prim. She's just twelve. And I love her more than anything." No one makes a sound. In fact, they all seem to be holding their breaths—even the tributes-as she speaks. You could hear a pin drop it's so quiet.
"What did she say to you? After the reaping?"
"She asked me to try really hard to win for her." The audience is frozen, hanging on every word she says.
"And what did you say?
She swallows. "I swore I would."
"I bet you did." The buzzer goes off. "Sorry we're out of time. Best of luck, Katniss Everdeen, tribute of District 12, the girl on fire!" The applause from the crowd is deafening. It's most definitely bigger than any other tribute that was on that stage tonight, and it continues long after she is seated.
Peeta goes up and starts off with a few jokes. He has the entire audience from the get-go. He has the audience laughing and shouting out. He plays up the baker's son thing, comparing the tributes to the breads of their districts, and then shares a few funny stories about the perils of the Capitol shower. "Tell me, do I still smell like roses?" he asks Caesar, and then there's a whole run where they take turns sniffing each other.
"So Peeta, tell me; do you have a girlfriend back home?" Caesar asks. He hesitates, then gives an unconvincing shake of his head. "Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl. Come on, what's her name?" pries Caesar.
He sighs. Well...there is this one girl; I've had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I'm pretty sure she didn't know I was alive until the reaping." The crowd awws.
"Does she have another fellow?"
"I don't know, but a lot of guys like her."
"So, here's what you do. You win, you go home. She can't turn you down then, eh?"
"I don't think it's going to work out. Winning...won't help in my case." He lets out a sad sigh.
"Why not? You would certainly prove yourself by winning to get back to her. No girl would say no to a guy who would do that for the."
"B-because...because...she came here with me." As soon as the words are out, his face heats up. He lowers his eyes to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye he can see that all the cameras are now focused on Katniss now. Her face is beet red, her mouth hanging slightly open. After a moment, she realizes she's projected across the entire country and quickly closes her mouth and looks down, suddenly interested in her shoes.
"Oh, that's some bad luck," says Caesar, and there is a real edge of pain in his voice. The crowd is whispering amongst themselves in agreement.
"It's not good," Peeta agrees.
"Well, I don't think any of us can blame you. It'd be hard not to fall for that young lady." After a moment, he adds, "She didn't know?"
He shakes his head. "Not until now."
"Wouldn't you love to pull her back out here and a response?" Caesar asks the pained audience. Peeta prays that he won't really bring her up on the stage. If she did come up she could ruin everything he just started. The crowd screams assent. "Sadly, rules are rules, and Katniss Everdeen's time has been spent. Well, best of luck to you, Peeta Mellark, and I think I speak for all of Panem when I say out heart go with yours." The crowd roars.
And I thought Katniss' applause was deafening, Peeta thinks to himself as he exits the stage.
When he looks at the tributes they are either glaring with a murderous glint in their eyes that he just stole their sponsors, or giving looks of sympathy.
He gets to his spot, trying his best not to even give a glance in Katniss' direction. No matter how curious he is about her reaction, he's doesn't look (though he's not exactly sure he wants to find out).
Hope you liked the long chapter. I was going to have it be even longer by adding the beginning of the games, but then decided against it, SO that means that the next chapter will be the start of the games along with more Catoniss! *little fangirl* WHOOP, WHOOP! It's what we've all been waiting for. Next chapter should be up soon, don't forget to hit the blue button below that says review.
