Cinna Welkins

I look from my lap, back into Portia's eyes as we sit down to dinner. She has tears in her eyes, but she won't cry. She looks down at the empty plate, then at the note that is sitting in front of her. When I saw it, I didn't want to believe what that doctor had scribbled onto that piece of paper. I was only twenty-one… and I couldn't have a child.

I tried to talk to Ledsia about it last week, but her demon of a husband came downstairs. I try to smile at Portia, but she doesn't say anything. "Could be worse," I try, but she only looks at me for a moment, about to burst with tears and anger. Her usual pale face is red, and her eyes are glazed over.

I stand up and kneel in front of her, with my hands on her knees. "What do we do, Cinna?" she asks through streams of tears.

"I don't know."

Primrose Everdeen

I lay down on the floor next to Katniss as the chariots come on to the television. I smile at the sight of District One. They're all done up in glittering outfits, but the girl doesn't smile. When the camera makes a close up on her face, she looks at her partner with big dull green eyes, but shakes her head and turns back to the crowd. I almost feel like she wants to smile and have fun in the Capitol, but she wants to seem strong… or something.

Katniss smirks at the sight of District Two. They're all done up in lab coats, and Kaylee Darkblade has a stunning blue dress underneath. "What?" I ask, turning to Katniss.

"The boy seems a little cocky, huh?" she says, pointing at the boy next to her. I shrug, and turn towards the bedroom where my mother is staying. She didn't want to come out. Dad only died a year ago, but it always seemed that families who had losses because of the mines could pick themselves up pretty quickly. But, maybe it's because mom didn't experience that kind of tragedy growing up like we did.

I get up to go check on her, and Katniss huffs in anger. She's been mad at our mother ever since she came into her depression. I don't think Katniss really understands what our mother is going through, I don't think anyone does. Their love was special.

"Mother?" I say, knocking on the frame of the door as I enter her bedroom. All of the curtains are pulled shut, and all I can see is a lump in the pile of blankets. I sit on the edge of the bed and find her face to pull her blonde hair away. She still has tear stains on her cheeks, and I try to wipe them away with my thumbs as if she were the child instead of the other way around.

"I need him, Prim," she whispers. "You don't even know how much… I…" she gets out before another round of sobs wash over her. I lean down to kiss her cheek, and whisper quietly.

"I'll bring you dinner in an hour."

I let go of her, and walk back out into the main room of the house. Katniss is still perched in front of the TV and glares at me as I pass her. District Eleven is rolling past as I go to sit down next to her. They're in leafy outfits with fruit and flowers. As odd as it may seem, the two of them look stunning next to each other.

"The girl has the most peculiar name," Katniss laughs.

"Trans-dess-a," I say slowly. We both laugh, and finally see District Twelve come out. Katniss rests her head in her hands, and expect another group of coal miners to come out. Katniss's eyes go wide, and she reaches over to cover my eyes. I squirm out of her grip and gasp when I see the pair is completely naked, and covered in coal dust. The camera closes in on their face, and Ian has an extremely uncomfortable smile on his face. The camera starts to go down, and Katniss squeezes her eyes shut, as well as covers mine. I don't understand what the big deal is, but I let her cover them.

When the chariot rides are finally over, Katniss turns the television off. We talk for a moment or two, but just end up sitting on the floor for a while.

"I think I'm going to go into town for a bit," I say, suddenly thinking of mom.

"What do you need there?" Katniss asks.

"Food…?"

"No, no," she says, standing up. "I'll go."

"Are you sure?" I ask. I look outside and the rain is already starting. Not only is Katniss a seam girl, she also looks like a seam girl. I've learned over and over again how the town people don't particularly care for us seam folk.

I don't get an answer as Katniss runs out the front door, and into the rain towards town.

Felix Welkins

I watch Andy carefully as he starts icing the cake. He smiles at his work, but he went the completely wrong direction. I smile back, and he runs to the storeroom, and I chuck the cake in the trash. "Did I just hear perfectly good food being thrown away?" Mrs. Mellark snaps from behind me. I turn on my heel, and she's waiting there with her favorite weapon ready. She taps the wooden spoon against her leg, and waits for me to answer.

Jamie comes from downstairs, and takes out the bread from the ovens. A thud comes from outside, and Mrs. Mellark is in a frenzy. She storms outside yelling at the top of her lungs. Jamie winces at his mother, but he continues to pull out the bread. All I can make out from the mother of the household is that some 'Seam rat is pawing through her trash.'

Peeta looks from around the corner, confused. He tries to look out the back window, but Jamie holds him back.

"No, I wanna see!" he fights, and decides the way he's going is useless. He turns himself the other direction, and gets past his brother. Jamie's eyes go wide, and only then do I notice that Peeta has knocked the pan right into the coals of the oven. The baker's bread is on fire, and Jamie starts hitting the poor thing with a dishrag. Peeta comes in, and Jamie hands the bundle of coal covered loaves to his brother.

Mrs. Mellark follows him in, and Peeta closes his eyes, and waits for the blow. And boy does it come.

"Feed it to the pigs you disgusting creature!" she screams, throwing him back out the door. "No one's going to buy burned bread!" She turns to me, and points one of her long, dragon fingers. "I'll deal with you later."

Once she's gone, I hurry over to the window to watch, and Jamie is right behind me. We watch as Peeta stands at the pigpen tearing of chunks of burned bread until he looks at the seam girl. I smile when I notice who she is.

"Undersee has nothing on her," I mutter.

"Wanna make a bet?" Jamie whispers, and puts two coins down on the windowsill.

"You're on," I smile at him.

Peeta looks at us, and makes a motion with his hand, begging us to go away. He finally looks at Katniss, and throws the bread in her general direction. He sprints inside and up to his room before Katniss can even move.

"I am so gonna win," Jamie laughs.

"Look again," I say, still looking out the window. Katniss's eyes light up, and she hugs the bread to her chest before running back to the Seam.

"Damn."