Sorry this took so long to post. My mom stole my kindle and refused to give it back until I cleaned under my bed (in fact I still haven't done it and I still don't have it back) and I got braces yesterday. Which hurt like HELL ('scuse me) because the pain meds aren't working. And I'm on a diet of yogurt, applesauce, and ice cream for the next few days because I can't bite down on anything... which SUCKS because I FEEL LIKE I LIVE IN DISTRICT TWELVE SINCE WE RAN OUT OF APPLESAUCE.

So. Anyway.

Oh Lord, Oh Lord, he's somewhere between a hangman's knot, and three mouths to feed. There wasn't a wrong or a right he could choose, he did what he had to do. Oh he did what he had to do...

Devil's Backbone by the Civil Wars

I clench my hands tight around the fabric of the yellow dress, tense with nerves and no small amount of pain. Pain over what he said to me, just before we left our quarters in the training center.

"Prim, we can't go on like this. Pretending that whatever happened between us doesn't exist, that we aren't anything more than good friends."

"It's complicated," I had said back, annoyed. "There's the Games, and Katniss-"

"So you'd give me up because of something your sister said? Prim, this isn't going to work. Either we're together, or we aren't. The decision is yours to make, but I'm not sure if I want to be with you anymore. if it's going to be like this."

We ignored each other for the rest of the ride here.

And I wonder if all of this has changed him. Volunteering for Rory, the Capitol, whatever is going on with me and him.
He doesn't seem like the Gale who hunted in the woods with Katniss, who talked of rebellion when the Capitol wasn't watching.

As the districts slip by, 1, 2, 3, 4, I hum an old, half-remembered song that my sister used to sing to me. She stopped singing around people, long ago, but sometimes I could hear her sing it out back when she thought nobody was listening.

Are you, are you coming to the tree
Where they strung up a man they say murdered three
Strange things did happen here no stranger would it be
if we met up at midnight in the hanging tree

Yes, I think. Yes they did.

And then it's Silk's turn. Poor little Silk who shouldn't have been in the Reaping.

I can't save all of us.

How am I supposed to make the choice?

I don't know, so for a few minutes I sit still and silent, listening to Silk's interview.

She has a little brother named Reed and a little sister named Tess.

Her father is dead, like mine.

She likes to hide, and "can hide well enough so they can't hurt me."

Before I know it, it's my turn, and my hands are shaking as I sit down in the chair next to Caesar.

"So. Primrose, what's it like? Actually having to participate in the Games this year?"

Think, Prim. Think.

"It's kinda scary, actually," I say truthfully. "I don't have very good survival skills, and I'm not sure I can win. But I at least have to try."

Caesar nods. "Yes, that must be very hard for you. But you're not completely hopeless. After all, you have a seven in training. How did you get such a good score?'

I give a slight smile. "Not telling."

"Your sister seems to love you a lot," he says, and even though it's not a question I nod.

"She saved my life. I'm pretty sure if I had gone in last year, I would've died. And I love her too. She's my favorite person in the whole world." Take that, Gale.

"And what did you tell her after you got Reaped?"

"I..." I swallow hard. "I told her that I would try not to die."

The Capitol audience titters, and the buzzer goes off.

"Very well, Primrose. I think our time together is up. Let's give a big hand for our lovely Primrose Everdeen!"

gotta go. Time for more yogurt. Happy hunger games, and may the odds be ever in your favor! (The odds may be in my favor, but my braces aren't. The inside of my lip is almost bleeding)