Chapter 12: Shocking Numbers
"Are you ready?" I ask a grumpy Haymitch, clutching my clipboard. He shoots me a glare and I look down at my red heels, getting the message to be quiet. Silently, we walk down the hallway and into the room where the kids' prep teams are waiting for us. When we walk in, the noise of my heels clacking on the floor still the only noise. The silence is unnerving, and I can understand why.
Today is the first day of the 74th Hunger Games, and little do Katniss and Peeta know, but a lot of planning relies on them. Both of their prep teams, with the absence of Cinna and Portia who are sending the them off, are anxiously watching the TV screen, which is playing a small recap of the scores, interviews, and reapings of every tribute. I glance at Haymitch and see he has buried his head into his hands, no doubt in deep thought. I purse my lips as I think of what to do.
Deciding to make myself useful, I run through the list of sponsors we have on the clipboard in my hand. We've never had more than 1 or 2 sponsors, and those were only out of pity, but this year there are a full 3 pages of them, front and back. Next to each name is an amount of money, representing how much money that person was willing to give. Most sponsors list a specific tribute to give their money to, and not surprisingly, Katniss is the favorite. On a spare sheet of paper, I add up the total amount we have to spend on each, on Peeta alone, and Katniss alone. The numbers shock me.
Katniss alone: $10,450.
Peeta alone: $7,368.
Sponsors who didn't specify: $9,942.
"Haymitch." I say seriously, my eyes wide. I put my hand on his knee, and only then does he lift his head.
"What do you want?"
"Look at these numbers." I say, giving him the clipboard with my other hand. Still clutching his knee, I turn to him and study his expression. I wonder what his reaction will be?
"What is this?" Haymitch asks, squinting at my calculations. I hear people come up behind me, and someone places their hand on my shoulder. With a quick glance, I realize it's Octavia.
"The first is the money we can use on Katniss, and Katniss alone. The second one, we can only use on Peeta. The third is the amount of money we were given all together by sponsors who didn't specify on which of the two to give it to." I say, and almost immediately I see Haymitch's eyes get focused and calculating. His eyes go over the amounts, again and again, so much that I think I crave to know what's going on in his head.
"How much money is it?" a voice asks from behind me. Without looking up, Haymitch replies.
"Enough." I hear a grunt from three different people, and I jump in to specify.
"Katniss gets approximately ten thousand dollars alone. Peeta is close behind with approximately seven thousand. As for the sponsors who didn't specify, it's approximately nine thousand." Octavia's hand grips my shoulder pad as someone lets out a tiny gasp.
"I'm going to need to discuss strategy with Effie for a moment." Haymitch announces, and to the prep team's everlasting obliviousness, everybody just blinks.
"Alone." Haymitch says, annoyed. "Everybody out. Now. Or I'll kick you out." Octavia releases her hold on me as I release my hold on Haymitch. As soon as they shut the door, Haymitch jumps right to the chase.
"Listen, and listen fast, Princess. Are you aware of the strategy Peeta and I have?" I stumble for words, taken aback at his blunt questioning.
"I think so. It's to keep Katniss alive, isn't it?" I finally manage to give out. Haymitch nods slightly and runs his hands through his hair, staring at the ground.
"Good." I watch him anxiously. "We only have about 30 more minutes and the Games begin. When they do, I need everybody on the same plan."
"Which is?" I interject, and he gives me a quick look of annoyance. "I'm not going to go along with this blindly! I'm in charge here, whether you're sober or not."
"Princess, I don't have time for your need to be in charge, those kids' lives are at stake. So do what I say and shut up." he says, and although I don't hate it, I do what I'm told. I figure it's what's best.
"Peeta's going to join the Careers when the Games start–"
"Peeta has no business being with the Careers!" he gives me another look of annoyance, and I look at the ground.
"He's going to try to deter them away from Katniss. She has a high score and is popular with the crowd, so they'll want to take her out. That will by Katniss time for her to do exactly what I told her to do and get settled, and she knows what that is."
"But I thought they were supposed to play up a romance?" I ask, and Haymitch nods a few times while running his hands through his hair again. There's silence for a moment as Haymitch goes deep into thought.
"They're bound to find each other. It's just a matter of how Katniss acts when they do." I purse my lips, and I can't help but feel more worry than I have all my life.
"I'm scared." I say, looking at the ground.
"Yeah?" Haymitch says, getting up to open the door and motion for the prep teams to come back in. "Imagine how they feel. They're about to put all their effort into not dying."
Without any other word from anyone in the room, we all keep ourselves busy with whatever suits us until the Games start. The Capitol seal is presented on the screen, followed by the Anthem. Then, a birds eye view of the arena pops on the screen. Haymitch sighs, and I know he must be relieved with the arena. For all intent and purposes, it seems the ideal place. There's no snow, no desert, no extremely high mountain, no beach, and most importantly, it's spacious.
"Cinna and Portia should be arriving soon. Remember what I told you." Haymitch says in a low voice, and I nod. Underground plates reveal the tributes one by one, and Katniss comes up last. They do a close up of every tribute on the screen. All too soon, the minute they have to steady themselves is up, and everybody takes off running. As soon as they do, Cinna and Portia enter. I tear myself away from the screen to look at them as I hear Haymitch swear under his breath.
"Cinna, Portia, welcome. I imagine Katniss and Peeta were all ready to go?" I say happily, and Cinna peaks over my shoulder to the TV as he smiles. Portia, with tears in her eyes, smiles also.
"Let's discuss the plan somewhere more quiet, shall we?" I say, leading them out the door and into the hallway. Before closing the door behind me, I get a quick glance of Haymitch intensely watching the screen.
"He's more focused on this years Games than any other year I've worked with him." I say smiling, trying to start off lightly.
"He has more reason to be," Cinna says with a smile, "There's a lot more on the line." Portia nods.
After telling them both the plan Haymitch set for Katniss and Peeta as quickly as possible, we all go back into the room to watch with everyone else.
"How did they do?" I ask Haymitch quietly, not even hesitating to clasp my hand over his as cross my legs. I'm a touchy person, I admit, but I enjoyed touching Haymitch far more than a woman of my standards should. I especially love it when he doesn't pull away. I figured that was a secret I could only trust with myself.
"Well, they didn't die. That's all we can ask for right now." he answers, and I agree with him. Clutching his warm hand, we continue to watch the Games in silence. I say a tiny wish for Katniss and Peeta in my head.
