Chapter 10
Peeta leads me through the town square to an extremely surprising location, our school. It's deserted right now because we are out on our very short summer break. "Peeta what are we doing here?". He replies in a sing-song voice, "Just trust me," I just roll my eyes at this. We step through the double doors into the dark, dank building. District 12's school is nothing to brag about, just one straight hallway where we spend our days learning about basic math and English, but most importantly coal, because the end game for every citizen of 12 is to work in a coal mine.
We walk down the long, depressing hallway to the very last room, and the smallest of all, the choir room. I look around at the instruments, most of them old as dirt and broken. I honestly can't remember the last time I was in this room. I give Peeta a confused look, "Why did you have to tell me the story in a musty old choir room?". He gestures for me to sit down in one of the super tiny chairs made for little kids, and I do. He continues to walk around the room, admiring it as if it were made of pure gold, "Because, this is the room where I first laid eyes on you,". I stuttered a little, "Wha-a-at do," I swallowed hard to try and erase the lump in my throat, "do you mean?" Peeta just smiles easily, pulls up a chair, and plops down in front of me, "Well, we were probably 6 or 7, you know when they still make you take classes like music. And I didn't notice you until you sang," he laughs a little, "at that time, you were wearing two braids instead of one." He reaches out and gently touches my braid, "You were the only one in that class who could sing a single note." I smile sadly, "I got it from my dad, he was the singer in the family,". Peeta smiles back, but with more warmth, "Ever since I heard you sing that day, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you." "Peeta, I-," But then I hear a piercing scream through the halls of the school, that could only belong to one person, Prim.
I run through the school, powered by pure adrenaline. I keep running until I am busting out of the school's double doors, and looking at the giant screen on the square, where all of the screaming is coming from. People are so crowded around the screen, that I can barely see. So I push them out of the way in a blind, adrenaline-fueled panic, until I can see Prim's face on the screen. She is still wailing, like Buttercup after I poured a bucket of water on him, and running the woods with tree limbs smacking her in the face, and she almost trips on roots that are lying exposed on the forest floor. The camera pans away to the face of her assailants, a pack of Careers armed with menacing-looking weapons. Tears are now streaming down my face, soaking my cheeks. I feel a muscly arm press up against mine, and I look to see Peeta standing beside me and looking up at the screen with an expression of horror on his face. I look back to screen, just in time to see a Career throw a spear straight through Prim's stomach. The camera pans back to her face, her eyes go wide and her face drains of color. She doesn't scream or cry, but I do.
I drop to my knees onto the ground, with tears streaming down my cheeks and onto the red dirt. I can't bear to look up at the screen to see my little sister bleed out while the Careers laugh and point. I feel a pair of strong arms wrap around my middle and give me a slight squeeze. Peeta has sunk down on his knees behind me and rests his chin on my shoulder, and I feel his wispy blonde hairs tickle my ears as he speaks, "Katniss, I know this is the last thing you want to do, but you should really look up at the screen now." I painstakingly tilt my head up towards the screen. What I expect to see is Prim's face crumples and soaked in tears, but that's not what I see at all. Prim's face is bone dry and she looks serious. She is trying to be brave, that's my Prim. I continue to cry enough tears for the both of us, with Peeta's arms still wrapped around me, and he is whispering soothing words in my ears.
The Careers lose interest in Prim as she begins to take her final gasping breaths. As soon as they sprint away to go murder some more children, a tiny figure swings down from a tree and runs to where Prim is laying on the ground. It's Rue, the girl from 11. She kneels down to Prim and puts a hand on her face gently, "Shhh, shhh, its okay, its okay," she coos softly. Prim nods, still not shedding a tear, "I just wanted to make it home to my sister, Rue. I just wanted to make her proud." I make a gasping sound and clap my hand over my mouth, if Prim is being strong I need to be too. On screen, Rue continues to console Prim, "She is proud of you, so proud, Prim,". Prim nods, unable to speak. In her last moments, Prim looks into the camera, her face steely and harsh, and weakly takes three things, brings them to her mouth, kisses them, and turns her three fingers toward the camera. This is a gesture that people in the districts use, it means goodbye. Then, her hands fall back to the ground, and just like that, she is gone. The moment Prim is gone; tears start to fall from Rue's face. She leans over Prim's body, takes her hand and uses it to close Prim's eyes. Then, she goes to leave Prim's body, but she stops in her tracks when she sees some wildflowers. She runs over to the wildflower patch and starts to pluck them from the ground. I look around the square and all the people's facial expression mimic my own, a look of confusion. Rue starts to position the flowers around Prim's body, like a funeral. Once she is done, she also looks at the camera with a steely expression and gives it the same three finger gesture.
Author's Note: I can already hear the terrified gasps, yes I killed Prim. Yes, another bold choice. But what is writing if you don't make the bold choices?
Lots of love,
-Scarlettoharris