Hello again. I was having some problems with Microsoft, so I haven't been able to update. Sorry :*( but I'm here now! I haven't been giving a good enough part of my story to Katniss and Peeta lately, so this chapter will be very Katniss x Peeta(after the scores are given of course). I have appreciated the amount of reviews you have been giving me a lot, it really makes me want to update as soon as I can. So I give you chapter 10!
Chapter 10:
Katniss's POV
I sit clutching Peeta's hand to the point that I'm pretty sure that his circulation is being cut off. I can't help it though; we are about to see just how well our tributes did in training. We sit huddled in the media room of the train. The twins clutch Leevy and the three of them have their eyes set on the screen even though the program hasn't aired yet. Gene and Stephaney have their hands locked in the same way Peeta and I do. My head has just settled into the crook of Peeta's neck when Panem's anthem starts playing. I ignore the program until District One's scores show up.
The read-headed girl, Shine, with no other tributes helping her, scored a twelve! I can feel the shock in the room. Oak points out how she never seemed very amazing in training. We can't fathom how such a small girl, with no apparent talents, could have scored so well. This score is not only high, it has never been achieved before! We don't have time to think it over though, because the male tribute's family picture has appeared on screen. Glide and Tin score a six. I can imagine Glide's displeasure at the score, but he was being scored with his scrawny brother. I'm sure that this had an influence on their score.
District two's The female tribute's family scores an eight, an average score for career districts that doesn't surprise anybody. Marco scores a nine, not a surprising score from a giant. We don't see anything odd about the scores from district two, so no comments are made.
The scores are all as expected from the other districts, we just sit and watch. Now, district twelve is flashing on screen. Leevy, Oak, and Eliot together score a nine. So far this is the first "lower-district" to earn I high score. Leevy and the twins break into grins at the score. Now Gene and Stephaney are up on screen. They receive another nine. We all reach a state of ecstasy now. The tributes all embrace their siblings, then go as far as to start embracing each other, Gene has an obvious blush when Leevy wraps her arms around his neck in a hug. Then the tributes start hugging some of us! Haymitch doesn't know how to respond when the twins both hug him, so he awkwardly pats them on the head. I whisper a "good job" in Leevy's ear when she hugs me. Now the only major stepping-stone to getting sponsors is their interview tomorrow.
That night, Peeta and I stand on the roof of the training center. "Do you remember the last time we were here?" I ask him.
"Yah." he says "before our last games. That was probably our last moment before the capitol took over our lives." I turn away from the balcony to face him.
"No." I say "Our last moment of freedom was right before we stepped onto that stage back home." He still faces the horizon.
"Have you thought at all about…you know…" he doesn't know how to say it in any other way then just saying it. "…having kids?" I just look at him for a second. Then my gaze travels towards the ground. He senses my hesitation. "I'm sorry Katniss."
"It's fine." is all I say. Then, something in my mind surfaces. A distant memory, it probably means nothing, but it's hard to ignore. It was back when the tour had started. I had been talking to Haymitch.
"If you could just help me get through this trip," I had started. Then Haymitch interrupted me.
"No, Katniss, it's not just this trip," he had said.
"What do you mean?" I said
"Even if you pull it off, they'll be back in another few months to take us all to the games. You and Peeta, You'll be mentors now, every year from here on out. And every year they'll revisit the romance and broadcast the details of your private life, and you'll never, ever be able to do anything but live happily ever after with that boy." he had explained
At the time, he had been referring to our marriage, but now…they'll be expecting more.
"Peeta," I say "They'll be expecting, no, demanding it."
"What?" he says, completely oblivious to what I'm implying. His eyes widen as he realizes it. "Oh, Katniss, they wouldn't do that." you can see by the look on his face, that he doesn't even believe his words. Much less believe that I do.
"Yes they will Peeta…do you think that we should do it now?" I know that he won't agree to this due to circumstances, but I feel that I should get the thoughts out in the open. I feel his arms wrap around me.
"Oh, Katniss…no, no, no." he says "We can't let them push us into this."
"But," I start, but my words are stopped mid-sentence by Peeta's kiss. This kiss isn't like those dragged out ones we shared in the capitol, this is a kiss that is like those few special times, in the arena, in the school yard. I try a few times to get my thoughts out anyway, but after a few tries, I kiss him back. I'm reminded of our first kiss. Peeta had been trying to tell me what should happen if he should die, and I had stopped him with a kiss. We cling to each other, and when we stop, it's only because I'm sure that if we kept going we'd surely pass out. My forehead rests just under his chin and he whispers against the top of my hair.
"Katniss, we're just seventeen." he says "It was a long shot for them to get us married so early; there's no way that they can get us to do that so soon. All those times when I asked you about it, I didn't mean now, I meant in the future, when we're home. I knew that you wouldn't want them, but I couldn't help asking. Even I know that having them is a bad idea, what with the way things are. It was just a whim. I'm sorry."
I'm so moved by what Peeta has said that my eyes start to tear up. He must feel a tear land on him, because he lifts my chin so that I look into his eyes. I saw my father do this so many times with my mother. This time it's me who leans in, but this time, just as our lips touch, I hear a whimper. Peeta must hear it to, because we break way at the same moment. Eliot stands by the door, wiping his nose on the too long sleeve of his oversized pajamas.
"K-Katniss." he says "I-I can't sleep, I h-had a nightmare." it breaks my normally guarded heart to see such a small boy in a state like this. To my surprise, Peeta walks over to him and takes his hand, leading him over to me. When they are there, Peeta gets on one knee and puts his hands on Eliot's shoulders.
"What was it about?" Peeta asks in a calm voice, as if he didn't already know.
"The games." Eliot says, his voice still trembling "I-I watched Oak and Leevy die." the little boy starts crying now and Peeta lets him sob into his shoulder. A capitol attendant has appeared in the doorway with a sad look on his face.
"Could you bring him a glass of milk?" I ask the attendant. He nods and hurries down the hall. I turn back to Peeta and Eliot. Eliot has stopped crying now and Peeta has stood up. He really is good with kids. The attendant reappears with the milk and leads Eliot back to his room.
"Hearing him talk about his dream," Peeta starts "it made me realize something." somehow, I already know what he'll say, and I say it before he can.
"We have to chose a family."
Again, I'm so sorry about taking a while to update, but Microsoft Word was acting up on me. It's all good now though, so updates should be about two or three times a week again. So please review and give me your ideas. Anyone else getting the hints I'm putting out about two of the tributes? If not I wont spoil what I'm planning, and I won't tell you if your right. So I hope you enjoyed chapter 10.