Dinner is delicious, Jerry and Emily are annoying, and Mr. Ray does not like me. I think of all these things and more as I walk to the front door of Rebecca's house. "I'm sorry about my dad, he's usually not like that." she says.
"It's okay. Dinner was delicious."
"Thank you, I'll tell my mother that and I'm also sorry about my siblings. They can be really...annoying sometimes."
"What are you talking about, they're not annoying." I lie. We talk a bit more then I wish her goodbye and walk to the hotel. I walk into the room and come face to face with my father sitting on the bed, kissing some woman.
"WHAT is going on here!" I yell.
"Peeta, nothing, it's not what it looks like."
"Sure looks like it to me!"
"We were just..."
I turn to the woman and say, "do you know that right now you are kissing the lips of a married man with three sons?" She gasps then slaps my father across the face.
"You dirty liar!" she huffs then storms out of the room. My father stares ahead with a sad look in his eye and falls back onto his bed.
"I'm sorry Peeta." he says so quietly I almost don't here.
"Was this whole trip just some hoax so you could get away from Mom and find someone else to have a little fun with?"
"No! I never meant to hurt Helen, I just..." he trails of not even able to finish what he has to say.
"You just wanted to find someone new?" I say while grabbing my bags and shoving my things into it.
"Peeta, wait..." I am already out the door, not wanting to hear what he has to say. I walk out the hotel and to the streets. I find a bench to sit on and ponder what to do. I could go back and apologize or I could find somewhere else to stay. I pick the second option and walk to Rebecca's house so she can help me find somewhere to go.
She is just closing the gate when I reach Victor's Village. "Peeta, what's up?"
"My father cheated on my mom. I need someplace to stay. Could you help me find somewhere?"
"Why don't you stay with me? We have an extra bedroom and my parents wouldn't mind."
"Well if it's okay with your parents."
"Let me go ask them." she leaves me by the gate to go ask . She soon comes back with an answer.
"They said it's okay with them." She leads me inside her house and shows me to the extra bedroom. I drop my things on the ground and open the letter I grabbed before I ran out of the hotel. I read it then sit on the bed thinking about what to write next.
Dear Katniss,
Today I found my father kissing another woman in the hotel. I don't know what to say to my mother. I fled the hotel and am now staying with my friend. She has graciously taken me in and I am thankful for that. I will be home in about two days and I will see you soon! I cannot wait to see you and your beautiful face. I am very sorry to hear about what happened to your mother and I'm glad that the man was caught. I hope you are safe from now on. So how are you doing anyways? How is my mother and my brother? Are they and the bakery faring well? Hope to see you soon and I love you darling.
Love always,
Peeta
P.S. Please send the letter to the new address on the front as I am not at the hotel any longer.
I drop the letter into the mail chute upstairs and start to unpack my things.
It is almost dinner and a delicious smell is coming from downstairs. It smells almost like...mm-mm, roast beef, green beans, and is that...cherry drop soup! I am overjoyed to smell the delicious scent of my favorite Capitol food.
I am so overjoyed that I almost rush down the stairs like a little kid on Christmas. I control myself and walk down into the kitchen. There Mrs. Ray is cooking a lovely meal for dinner. As not to be rude I walk into the living room where Jerry and Emily are playing. Fortunately Mr. Ray is nowhere to be found. I lay on the floor next to the kids and ask if I can play with them.
They nod and go back to playing The Hunger Games, a popular board game made after the real event. I wait until they finish their first game then grab a pawn and join in. We clash and battle until Mrs. Ray announces that dinner is ready. I take the kids and we sit down at a nicely set table like last night. Rebecca is already sitting down and then Mr. Ray strides in with a book in his hand.
Mrs. Ray sets dinner on the table and we serve ourselves. I get a load of roast beef, a scoop of green beans, and a large serving of cherry drop soup. Everyone is alive with chatter except for Mr. Ray who sits reading his book. Finally he clears his throat and the table falls silent. "So Peeta, why are you staying here again. I don't think I heard."
"Robert." Mrs. Ray warns him.
"No it's okay Mrs. Ray. I am here because my father...I found him in our hotel room with a woman...who is not my mother."
"Figures." Mr. Ray says.
"Robert!" Mrs. Ray exclaims.
"Excuse me Mr. Ray?"
"Peeta, don't." Rebecca warns.
"I'm just saying that it figures with your family."
"What do you mean by that." I challenge ignoring Rebecca's pleas.
"I mean that I was in love with your mother and she went off to go marry that oaf of a father!"
"That wasn't her fault, she didn't know that you loved her!" I yell.
"Well it doesn't matter anymore because now she is married and has three incompetent kids who don't know when they're not wanted." he says.
"Excuse me Mrs. Ray, Jerry, Emily, Rebecca." I say as I get up from the table. I run up the stairs and lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. I hear a knock at the door and see Rebecca standing in the door way.
"Peeta, he didn't mean-"
"Leave me alone Rebecca, I don't want company right now." She shuts the door and bury my face in the pillow as tears fall slowly down my face.
