Camp Panem
Chapter X:
Peeta's POV:
I didn't know exactly who Rory Hawthorne was, but I had a feeling he was Gale Hawthorne's brother. And that couldn't be good. I mean, the guy hates me, and he's well over six feet. I didn't want to take my chances with him. Sure, I could probably stand a chance in a fight, but me being the sensitive guy I am, I wouldn't have the guts to punch him. He never did anything to me, so why cause him agony?
Katniss seemed a little shell-shocked at what Effie said over the cabin speaker. I don't know what the problem was, but after all…Katniss's words sliced through my mind.
You know what, I don't even know you. I don't know who you are. I just know your name and I just found out you freaking existed yesterday. I don't get what's with you. You think we can be friends. You think you know me. But big surprise, Peeta, you don't. You don't know me. Because nobody does. Nobody knows who I am. And nobody ever will!
Yeah, that's what she said. But I held on to my confidence, because, well, I had three seasons to get to know her. I hoped I wouldn't screw anything up. I bet I would, but hopefully nothing too major. My left stump started to itch, and that wasn't good. I learned the hard way that if I left it like that it would start to throb, and I'd have to go to Dr. Aurelius, the Majesty doctor that amputated it in the first place. I owe him everything. To keep from feeling that pain I have to take the leg off, so I wanted to take my artificial leg off. Like I said, I had it amputated in an accident long ago. I really don't like thinking about it. Every time I do it plays in my head all over again, every single detail.
President Cliff's army of officers from Majesty started to storm into every single county. I don't know why. All I knew was that I didn't like these people. He sent a huge wave to our county, almost as if there was a purpose. I bet he wished that Market County would be wiped off of the map. The people so weak, the government so feeble. I started to recognize everything about them to protect myself; the sound of their Majesty boots grinding into the floor, the thump of all of their equipment, weaponry, and armor moving as they took each step, the buzzing of their radios, and of course, what they looked like. They wore white uniforms with lots of bulky armor underneath, specialized officer combat boots, helmets, goggles tinted black, a radio attached to the shoulder, and multiple guns, knives, and explosives on them. The officers started destructing our buildings and executing mere suspects of breaking the law. I was worried for Katniss. The officers might go far as looking for weapons.
And they did. They broke into homes and stole everything that could have been a weapon. I would hear windows breaking, metal clanging, screaming, and it actually came down to gunshots. It was terrible. One big, loud, BOOM echoing through the whole county, signifying a useless, pointless death. That was when I was sure that God's heaven was overflowing, and people could start falling from the sky any minute, kicked out of heaven.
The soup kitchen lady was hung for her possession of a metal beam. She only had it because she did not have a proper ladle for stirring her pots full of what fed the whole county. Now we had barely any food at all, and we mourned the loss of the nice old lady with the wrinkly, warm grin. The officers would usually whip or stab men. The officers stormed through the forest to make sure no poaching was happening, and guess what?
They found Katniss's bow and arrows.
They gathered us all up and threatened to drop a bomb on all of us if whoever owned the bow didn't admit it. The one officer wearing a different uniform not decorated with weapons but embroidery, patches, pins, golden buttons, and badges, a rich navy blue instead of white, came up to us and presented a box full of dynamite. "Tell us. Or we will start hiding these everywhere. We will bomb you, one house at a time, until there is no Market County. Show yourself, and save your friends."
Nobody said anything. '"SHOW YOURSELF!'" the head officer bellowed, some of the medals shaking, making a pretty tinkling sound. Not pleased with the silence that followed, he hurled one of the terrible lit sticks at the butcher's shop. It burst into flames. I had to do something. Everyone was about to die.
"I didn't do it," I said. "But I will take the punishment." The man in navy looked at me with an odd look. I bet this kind of thing was not even dreamed about in Majesty. He looked at me as if he was almost feeling bad for me. After I said that, I guess some of the old people couldn't bear for a young man to die.
"I will take half of the boy's punishment."
We will split it into thirds. I will take a third."
This went on and on, until everyone got one slice or stab of a knife. The day came, and they stabbed my leg so bad that it wouldn't stop bleeding. Katniss's mother had a full house of bleeding residents, and my leg had to be amputated. She couldn't do that, it was something that had to be done in Majesty. Mayor Undersee was so kind to get a doctor from Majesty, Dr. Aurelius, to fix a robotic leg on me. I've worn long pants ever since.
But even though my stump was itching like crazy, I couldn't take the leg off because Katniss pop through the door any second now. And then she strode into the room, a bounce in her step.
"Prim is coming!" she exclaimed. I left the confused look on my face. She was smiling.
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you! Well Gale forced me to come here in the middle of the blizzard and had to leave Prim! So I didn't know if she was alive but she is and she's coming in the summer!" Katniss shouted, bubbly. I laughed a little. That explained all of the depressed stuff.
"Well…Thank God," I said, not really knowing what to do.
"I'm going to go to, uh, Finnick's thing by the lake. See you there … if you're going," I pointed to the door.
"I'll be there," Katniss smiled. I made my way towards the lake, which was actually pretty beautiful at night.
Katniss was in a good mood and she was coming to a party. Perfect.
It was time for me to make a move.
Since my leg was really bothering me, I kind of hobbled the way to the lake. I hoped there would be something to sit on. A bonfire came into view, but the logs around it were occupied by girls. Whatever. I'd be standing tonight. I looked at the group I immediately titled the Bitches. They wore fashionable jackets with super-short shorts. The regular girls by the bonfire all wore coats and sweats, like the guys.
"Heyyyyy, Peeta. What's up?" Finnick walked up and patted me on the shoulder. He wasn't drunk yet, but I could tell he was heading towards that road. Cato and Gale were both looking at me in uncomfortable ways.
"Someone get me a drink," I sighed. I wanted to punch Cato, but I didn't want to do it. Maybe a little shot would help…
"Ooh, Peeta, getting all tough. C'mon," Finnick guided me to a bunch of bottles embedded into the sand by the lake. I have actually never tried beer before. Finnick looked around and pulled a green bottle out of the sand and dusted it off. He pulled a shining knife out of nowhere and stabbed the cap. It popped off into the sand somewhere. Abernathy's White Liquor. He handed it to me. "Try this one."
I took a sip and almost spat it out. Abernathy's White Liqour tasted terrible, but if it would make me do things that I didn't have the guts to do, I was going to down that whole bottle. Currently, the girls and boys were keeping to themselves, so I started a conversation with a nice boy named Thresh. Thresh was huge but had a soft personality. He was from Garden County and had a little sister, Rue, coming in the summer. He seemed to really care about her. When Annie started talking to Finnick, the gender barrier broke.
I advanced towards Katniss.
"Katniss," I smiled.
"That's too strong for you," Katniss knocked the bottle of Abernathy's out of my hands and it shattered against a wall of rock. Well, at least I wouldn't be in danger of doing something extremely stupid.
"Well, hello to you too," I said, with a tsk, still wanting a drink.
"You know, do you play any sports?" Katniss asked me. This girl really didn't stick to the conversation line. And I didn't and I couldn't play sports because of my leg.
"Uh…" If I was going to devote myself to this girl, I had to be honest. But of course, there was that dilemma where I wanted to lie really, really bad, but thankfully, my good side is larger than the bad.
"No, actually, I don't," I admitted.
"Oh," Katniss mumbled, disappointed. "I was going to ask if, um, we could, uh…" Katniss played with the tail of her braid and looked down at the white sand. "Never…never mind."
"No, tell me," I still stared into her eyes.
"Um, if we could go shooting some time, that's all," Katniss blurted quickly. I was surprised, of course I was. Katniss tried to ask me out, and I just blew it up when I said I didn't do sports.
"You could teach me," I said just as quickly. "You're really good, after all." Katniss turned pink.
"Um . . . sure. When can you stop by?"
Now I was really surprised. My heart skipped a beat and I felt me whole body getting hot at a rapid pace. I was almost over two hundred percent sure that my face was redder than a tomato.
"Maybe tomorrow after I clean out the art unit," I smiled a small grin, trying not to look to overwhelmed.
"Cool. See you tomorrow," Katniss spoke easier, relieved that I said yes to the meeting. Just as Katniss turned to talk to Finnick's girlfriend, Finnick came staggering up to me. His head bobbed in awkward directions and he started to heave with laughter, rolling on the floor. A second later he was bawling on the floor. I just stared. Now I was thankful that Katniss disposed of my alcohol. Then again he was back to normal.
"Peeta," Finnick panted. Then he walked away. I wondered why I was friends with him again. Because he's a sex god, I thought. He was damn handsome, that's for sure. I glanced at Cato, in a group of boys which I recognized as Marvel and Gloss. I didn't want to get on Cato's bad side, so I walked over to him, hoping to get off on a good start.
"Hey, man," I greeted coolly. Cato had one hand in his pocket and the other holding a beer. Now I wished Katniss had NOT disposed of my drink.
"'eyyyyyy, Peeta," Cato raised his bottle a little smile. "Not drinkin' 'night?"
"Yeah, gotta be sober for the girls," I smirked. The three guys all chuckled.
"Hey, Peeta, you're not too bad, you know." Cato leaned in closer. "Speaking of girls, see anyone you like?"
"Nah, not really. Just a little joke," I said quickly. "I think Glimmer has something for you, though."
"Well, I don't really like her. I like that girl with the arrows, you know? Glimmer knows she's hot. Katniss doesn't know she's beautiful. She plays that whole hard-to-get shit, but it just…I don't know. It just makes me want her even more. I know she wants me, and she's just teasing. I mean, she threatened to shoot me! I was a bit scared then, but still. She's goddamn pretty," Cato stared at Katniss. I shrugged.
"I guess she's pretty," I muttered. I was pretty mad, but Katniss's date dampened the flames.
"Mmm," Cato kept staring at Katniss, his gaze directed at her behind. I tried to keep my calm. "So, Peeta," Cato snapped back up to look at me. "Play any sports? I'd be proud to put you in one of my units, but you signed up for baking and art. I see that you're trying to get the ladies coming," Cato assumed, misreading my meaning of signing up.
"Nah, I'm just trying something new for a change. My dad's a baker," I explained, half-lying.
"But you do play sports, right? I mean, you look strong," Marvel spoke up. Now they had me in a headlock.
"I can't do many sports with my legs, but I do weights. I have, uh, a condition with my legs," I said. I was saved by Gloss when he tapped Marvel.
"Look!" Gloss pointed at Finnick and Annie at the edge of the lake. Finnick was throwing Annie into the lake, him following, shirtless, performing a flawless dive. Soon everyone was peeling out of their jackets as they ran towards the water. Glimmer, being the bitch she probably is, was only wearing a tight lacy tank top ending above her navel.
Honestly, I didn't know how to swim. I bet I could learn, but I never bothered to. Another problem was my scumbag stump. I saw everyone out there freezing cold but laughing, because that's what high school and college kids do, I guess. Have fun being stupid.
Then I saw Gale picking Katniss up and throwing her in. And then everyone was splashing ans swimming and laughing in one big, wet mess.
I just watched as Glimmer and her posse started swiveling their hips, waving their bottles in the air in the water and club dancing like they weren't chest-deep in zero degree water without music at a summer camp. It was one of the dumbest things I had ever seen. Instead of talking and swimming, they were dancing mutely with only the music of the water moving around their waists.
The guys splashed at the girls that they were interested in. Most girls were wearing tanks and some guys even had their shirts off.
And then it was all ruined by that drunkard Mr. Haymitch.
"You darn kids...You know you're not supposed to be here! You're all going to be sick! Now get out of there and in to your beds!" Haymitch yelled. Finnick got out of the water and picked up a familiar green bottle from the sand, and handed it to Haymitch.
"Oh, a drink. Thanks, boy. Effie's been forcing me to be sober. Hey, this is my favorite! Anyways, I just want to tell you guys that I had to say that because Effie told me to! I think you guys should keep being fucking retards at two AM catching hypothermia, by the way! I'm okay with y'all having fun, but seriously, get in your beds. If you're lucky you'll wake up alive." Haymitch presented a knife out of nowhere and popped the cap open. I guess everyone around here had knives. Haymitch took a large swig.
"Now go! GO!"
Haymitch walked away. Everyone, to my surprise, actually got out of the lake. I think it was the shock of how stupid they noticed they were being, 'being fucking retards at 2 AM catching hypothermia.' Katniss climbed out and ran out to me, shivering.
"Peeta, let's go. I'm cold," Katniss chattered, talking to me like we were siblings. I draped my coat out on her shoulders. "Thanks," Katniss smiled. "And remind me to punch Gale tomorrow when I wake up...if I wake up alive," Katniss rolled her eyes, imitating Haymitch.
Now I hated Gale more.
Why?
Because he made Katniss sick.
Well, probably gonna be sick.
And if she's sick tomorrow, we can't have a date.
But of course, I still like repeating the fact that Katniss asked me out in my head.
I mean, it's Katniss. If I get to be her boyfriend...
I shouldn't be thinking that far, should I?
Well, fuck that, I'm at Camp Panem.
And you know what that means.