Gale can get reaped. It sinks into me slowly. I stand up and try to steady my voice. "Where is the phone?" I ask. Rory points to the kitchen. I sit down on a chair and call Finnick. I let it ring and ring and ring, but nobody picks up. I slam it down loudly on the receiver.

I know exactly why this is happening. Snow's pissed that Finnick refuses to sell himself to both women and men. I don't blame him in the slightest. The realization hits me. They're going to reap Dahlia and maybe even Gale. Even if Snow didn't have it out for me, Gale's name would be in there 84 times. The odds are not in his favor.

Haymitch looks at my sympathetically. He knows how much I care about Gale, even if I care about him in a non-romantic way. He stands up and pats my shoulder. "Look, I know that-"

"No." I shake my head. "This is not going to be okay!" I realize I'm yelling, and that everyone's staring at me. I take a calming breath, and turn to them. "Gale. We need to talk." I point to the door. He nods, and follows me outside.

The first thing I do when I get outside is hug Gale. He seems a little bit too calm, and it worries me. "You need to listen to me very carefully, alright? You're going to get reaped. I'm so, so sorry."

He nods slowly. "How do you know that for sure? I mean the odds aren't exactly in my favor to start, but it's not like they're going to rig it. Right?"

I sigh. "Look, just- please. Would I ever lie to you?" I feel terrible for saying that to Gale. I've lied about a handful of things. But he knows I wouldn't make this up. "As your mentor, it's my job to prepare you. So we're gonna train you like a Career."

Gale looks at me in disbelief. "How?"

"I won the games, I think I know what I'm doing. If I can kill, then you can as well. Try to get a good night's sleep- we start tomorrow at sunrise."

I talk my plan over with Haymitch. He thinks it's a good idea, and offers to help. Even though he's drunk most of the time, Haymitch claims he's pretty good in hand-to-hand combat. I don't doubt him.

The next morning I run Gale through physical training. We start off with a jog around the Seam that lasts about half an hour. Gale knows how to use knives, and bows and arrows. But he needs to work on hand-to-hand combat. Haymitch offers to train with him. "I'll go easy on you." He laughs.
He laughs and swings a punch at Haymitch, who grabs his arm midair, and holds onto it. When Gale tries to kick him, Haymtich grabs his leg with his other hand, and throws Gale onto the ground. I didn't know he was that good.

Haymitch extends his hand to Gale, helping him up. "You can do better than that." They go at it for a few rounds. By ten in the morning, Gale's gotten a lot better.

Then, it's my turn with him. "You're gonna want to go easy on my cause I'm a girl. Don't. Try to see if you can get me." I pick up a few of the fake wooden knifes that I've made. Gale grabs a couple as well. He tries to throw it at my stomach, but I slide out of the way. He's almost as good as Clove. I aim for his eye, but he ducks a little to late and it hits his forehead. Gale takes one of the fake knifes, and hits me in the stomach. Not bad. He's out, and I have two more. He steps back, not really knowing what to do. I step forward. This is almost fun. When I get nose to nose with him, I fake stab him in the stomach. "Boom." I whisper. "You're dead." Gale tilts his head a little, and before I can stop him, he kisses me quickly. I'm too caught off guard to stop him

"Sorry." He mutters. "I had to do that, at least once."

I look at him, bewildered. "That was... inappropriate. I have a boyfriend, and you're my cousin, and I'm trying to save your life!"

"Wait. You actually like him? I thought that whole Odair-and-Katniss was just because Snow wanted it. Besides, the guys a total douche. He's gonna leave you for the next girl that comes around. He just cares about getting a good fuck." I'm tempted to punch him, but Haymitch intercepts.

"Listen to me, and listen to me carefully," Haymitch threatens Gale, "You don't know the first thing about Finnick Odair. Now stop acting like you do. And frankly, you don't know a hell of a lot about Katniss either."

"Listen. Finnick understands me. We've both been through a lot. And there's only about a handful of people who understand what I've been through, and what I'm going through right now. You don't get it. You're no better than Finnick, so stop acting like it. As a matter of fact, you're not even half the man he is." My eyes drift to my reflection in a window of a house. I look lethal. I'm scared of myself right now.

"Oh my god." Gale looks astonished. "You're just like them. You're just Capitol scum. You do have a lot in common with Odair, you're just a filthy slut." Gale storms off into the house. It sounds harsher coming from his mouth.

"Whore." I correct him. "Not a slut." I turn away, and run. I don't even know where I'm going, but I can't stop. When my feet give up, and my legs fall out from under me, I realize where I am. In front of Peeta's old house. I step into the shop tentatively, and see his father is at the counter.

"Could I get a dozen cheese buns, please?" I ask him. There's so much more behind that question. I've been scared to look him in the eyes ever since I came home. I planned to bring Peeta home, and I couldn't. I reach in my pocket and give him the gold coins. He hands me the bag with a small smile.

"Thank you, Katniss." He says to me. "You did your best." I turn, and walk out.

By the time I get home, two hours has passed. When I get there, the house is in complete disorder. Hazelle walks over to me and hugs me. "We have to leave."

At that moment Gale comes down the stairs. "Don't touch her." He tells his mom. She sighs, and kisses my cheek.

"Thats no way to treat Katniss." She shakes her head.

Gale look angry at me. "I can't stand to be in the same house as her."

How am I even in the wrong? I shake my head. "I'll see you in three weeks, then."

"Three weeks?" Prim asks. I didn't even see she was in the room.

"Yeah." Gale nods. "Someone's boyfriend tipped off the President to get me reaped." My fists hits his jaw and he's on the floor.

"Jeez. Can we just stop with the crap for a minute? Finnick doesn't have a problem with you, he actually likes you." I throw my hands in the air. "And you're just jealous because I find it comforting that we're both mentally scarred." I go for the kitchen and get a large knife. I watch as everyone's eyes widen. They must think I'm going to stab him. I twist my knife in the wall, and take out the bug that Johanna found in Annie's wall. I put it on the ground and smash it to pieces it with my foot. "And not that you deserve to know, but the President's reaping you because I care about you, and that doesn't go with his plan." I put the knife down.

Hazelle puts her arm around me and hugs me again. "It's okay. We'll be out by dinner. Just... take it easy." I nod, and storm up the stairs to my room. Prim follows closely behind.

She sits down next to me on my bed. While I was on the victory tour, Prim has grown at least half a foot, and gained a little weight. She was always a bit underfed, but now she looks healthy. The one good thing I've done right after these games is taking care of Prim. No matter what happens, I need to keep her safe.

"Is it true?" She asks me quietly. I look at her, not sure what she's referring to. "You and Finnick Odair?" She sounds so much like Rue.

"I really care about him. But I hate that these kinds of things" I point to downstairs, "have to happen as an effect of it."

She nods understandingly. Before the games, Prim and I never had time to even think about boys. But now, here we are. Talking about my boyfriend. "Gale's worried that he'll hurt you." She whispers. He should be. Before any of us actually knew Finnick, we would make fun of him. Then again, making fun of a celebrity is easy. But when you realize that you're basically the female version of him, you can't do that. But Gale doesn't realize the connection between Finnick and I.

"Enough about me." I smile. "Is there anyone you like?" I smile at Prim, scooting next to her.

She blushes and her cheeks turn dark red. "Well.. can you keep a secret?" I nod, of course. "Rory is kind of cute." She whispers, and I smile.

"I honestly think he likes you." I tell her, grinning. This is kind of fun, just giggling about boys.

Prim shrugs. "I don't know." She looks up at me. I can tell she's going to ask something serious. "Katniss, you said that they were going to reap Gale because you care about him. When they reap a girl, do you think they'll reap me?"

I shake my head. "No, they won't. The Capitol adores you too much. And besides, your name's already been picked. They can't pick it again." Even Snow wouldn't break that rule. It would be too suspicious. Some people actually think he plays by the rules.

Prim looks relieved. "Do you think he'll come back?" She asks me. I can't look her in the eyes.

"I don't know. It depends on who the Careers are. Finnick's stepsister- Dahlia. I met her. She might be reaped as well. I think she'll have some persuasion over them."

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" She asks me. I nod. Of course she can.

Before I know, Reaping Day is here. I don't have to wake up as early because instead of waiting in the crowd, I'll be standing on a stage next to Mayor Undersee, Haymitch and Effie. I put on a tight blue knee-length skirt and a white v-neck shirt.

I show Prim one of the dresses I had Cinna make for her. It's a pink dress, that's tight until it gets to her waist but puffs out after. She looks beautiful. Prim loves it, and my mother sheds a tear. I kiss Prim and my mother on the cheek- I'll see them after the Games, grab my bags, and walk to Haymitch's house to make sure he gets to the Justice Hall on time. He's surprisingly sober.

"I decided not to drink until I see if the odds will be in our favor." Haymitch explains.

"Sounds like a plan to me. Let's go. Effie will kill us if we're not on time." I drag him out of the house.
Effie's wearing a black dress with a purple jacket and purple high heels. Her wig is purple and she has purple eye makeup. She looks toned down for Effie. "Hello, Katniss." She smiles at me, and I give her a small hug.

I sit down in between Haymitch and Mayor Undersee on the stage. The video plays. "Ladies first!" Effie chirps. She puts her long nails in the bowl and pulls out a small white piece of paper. "Alyssa Preston." A tall girl comes up on the stage. She has Seam eyes and skin, but blond hair. She must live in the Merchant's part of 12. I don't recognize her. She must be fifteen, but she's very pretty. Haymitch and I exchange a look. She'll have a fate like mine if she comes out alive. Effie straightens her wig. "And on to the men." She unfolds the slip of paper. "Gale Hawthorne... oh my." She mutters. Effie looks at me. She knows he's my cousin. Gale and Alyssa shake hands. Effie smiles politely. "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor."

We're sent onto the train. Haymitch leads me to the bar car. He pours two glasses. "Here's to killing two innocent kids. And screwing up their families." Haymitch retorts. We touch our cups together, and I drink the bitter alcohol. It burns my throat, but it feels better. The realization hits me. Gale and Alyssa are going to die. And it's my fault. Three glasses later, it doesn't hurt as much.

We wait for the two tributes in the lounge car. I introduce Haymitch. "This is Haymitch. The biggest drunk you'll ever meet."

Haymitch laughs. We're both tipsy. "And this is Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire."

"Better not get too close." I tell him. The two tributes look around awkwardly. I sober up instantly. I nod at Gale, but he doesn't make eye contact with me. "Alyssa." I smile at her. "It's good to meet you. It just would have been better under a different circumstance."

Effie brings us to the dining car. She's very chipper. I can tell she has hope that one of these two will win. I don't know anything about Alyssa, but I know Gale could win easily. "Because you two have two mentors, you get to choose who you want to work with. While sometimes you two will train together, for the most part, it's solo.

"Katniss." Alyssa says, giving me a shy smile.

"Haymitch." Gale says at the same time.

I turn to Haymitch. "I won't bring it up." He tells me. He's talking about my dates, and the fact that I'm one of Gale's soft spots.

I thank him, and bring Alyssa into the lounge with the TV. "Can we see who else was reaped?" She asks me. I nod, and turn on the TV. The tributes from 11, 10, 9, and 8 are fairly forgettable, but Johanna's drunk at District 7's reaping. When she stands up to leave the stage, she falls over, and I laugh. "Do you know her?" Alyssa asks me.
"Yeah. That's Johanna Mason. She's a... friend." I explain. There's a volunteer from District 5, which is a surprise. We get to four, and the first thing I see is Finnick and Mags, looking more depressed than usual.

"Wow. He's pretty cute." Alyssa says of Finnick.

I smile. "Yeah." Maybe I'll have Finnick come to dinner one night to meet her. She'd freak out. The male is a Career volunteer. The girl is Dahlia. "That's Finnick's stepsister." I tell Alyssa. The tributes from 1 and 2 aren't volunteers, but they're pretty muscular and kind of scary. I flip off the TV and turn to Alyssa. "How are you?" I ask her.

She tucks a strand of her blond hair behind her eyes. "Not very good. Honestly. I don't know how I'm going to do this."

I nod. "Do you know any skills that might help you?"

She shrugs. "Well, I can tie knots, and start a fire. I also know how to throw knives. And I'm alright and hand-to-hand combat."

"Wow." I'm pretty impressed. "That's promising. Haymitch is really good at hand-to-hand. I'm a bow-and-arrow kind of girl."

Alyssa smiles weakly at me. "Can I ask you something. And promise you'll answer honestly."

"Go ahead."
"Well," she looks down. "In all honesty, do you wish you had died earlier on?"

Yes. No. I don't know. "Sometimes." I tell her. "But I realized my family would be dead without me, so that's why it's okay that I had to kill. Well it's not okay, but that's how I justify it."

"Sorry that I'm being so personal." Alyssa apologizes. "Do you mind if I ask one more thing?"
I want to hug her. "It's fine, really. It's my job to get you out of there alive. And seriously, ask me anything and everything." The more I know her, the more I want her to live. This could help motivate me to make sure she gets everything she needs in the arena, but it also might end up hurting me if she dies.

"Alright. That's good to know. But feel free to not answer this." Alyssa warns me. "Well. What did the other mentor mean when he said to you that he wouldn't bring something up?"

Out of everything she could have asked me, I was the least prepared for that. "Well," I tell her. "It's a really long story. But basically, some mentors have to spend extra time in the Capitol. And when another victor I was collaborating with screwed up, I got punished. And that punishment was- is Gale getting reaped. So I tried to warn him, and he got really angry at me and said some rude things to me. Some of which were true. And I was planning on telling him some important things about me. But I never got the chance. So if Gale asks, Haymitch promised that he would let me tell Gale." It's the most I can really say.

"Oh. Alright." Alyssa looks relieved. "I thought there was some strategical secret."
I laugh. "No. But I got the best advice last year. Stay alive.

She cracks a smile. I think she's going to say something else, but Effie comes in to bring us to dinner. Gale keeps giving me death stares.

"Dahlia got reaped." I say quietly, in between bites of the goose in an orange sauce.

Haymitch shrugs. He knew her, but I can tell he's trying to act detached. "Thanks for the newsflash, Sweetheart. I never would have expected this."

I throw my butter knife at him. He catches it. "At least you didn't kill another placemat."

Effie squeals. "Manners!"

I call the attendant over and order a vodka soda, Johanna's favorite drink. Gale looks at me. "What? It's not like it's illegal."

Gale mutters something about me being screwed up.

"Hey." I frown at him. "If I were you, I'd lose the attitude. I have the second-most amount of sponsor money to give out. In the history of the Games. And at the moment, most of it won't go to you."

"Let me guess, your boyfriend's number one." Gale retorts. "Lets all take a wild guess why." I look at Haymitch, and he puts his hands up in defense. He didn't tell Gale anything. I graciously take the drink from the attendant and gulp it all down in one sip.

"I'm so confused right now." Alyssa shakes her head.

"Well," Gale stands up. "Katniss over here is a slut. A dirty slut. And that's how she gets sponsors. She hooks up with random capitol men so she can persuade them to give her stuff that she wants."

Effie looks astonished at this accusation. I stand up as well. "That's inaccurate." I say, not the slightest bit fazed. Frankly, I don't care anymore. "Why are you so angry, Gale?"
He doesn't have a response for that. "I um- uh. Shut up!" He sounds like a stubborn child. I roll my eyes, sit down and finish my food. "Lets just have a peaceful meal. Effie," I turn to her, "I'm sorry for that. That was terrible display of bad manners."

Effie smiles at me. "Thank you for apologizing Katniss." When the meals over, I tell Alyssa to knock on my door if she needs me, and I go in my room. I turn on the shower so it's scalding hot, and scrub my skin until it's raw, and some parts bleed. It feels a little bit better. I still feel terrible that Gale's going to suffer because of Finnick and I. But if only he could try to understand that I want to help him...

The water turns cold and I start to shiver. I sit down on the floor of the shower and pull my knees to my chest. I begin to sob quietly. I stand up, and dry myself off. I throw on a random shirt and some underclothes, and try to sleep.

A/N: Don't worry, this gets happier. I'm looking for someone to give me advice on where to go regarding future chapters. PM me if you're interested.

Again, reviews would be awesome! But if you read this story and enjoyed it, then that's good enough for me. xD