Hey y'all! I'm sorry for the long delay in updating, I've been pretty busy lately but I'll work on getting my updates out faster.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games
I can't really comprehend the words until I see all the kids around me turning to look at me. How is it possible? My name was only in there once! But it doesn't matter, all that matters is the fact that I'm headed to my almost-certain death.
I stiffly make my way up to the stairs while my head is running in all different directions, What is going on? Why me? All these thoughts run around the big one, Who's coming with me? But I don't get to figure it out because once I reach the stairs someone is calling my name. I turn to see who is making all the noise and I see my sister. She runs up and pushes me behind her before shouting, "I volunteer!"
My heart stops mid-beat and I can only focus on one thing, Katniss just volunteered herself to go into the games in my place.
"No you can't go!" I scream at her, but she just surprisingly calmly tells me to go to our mother.
But I can't. I can't let her leave. She is what keeps the family alive, without her we will die!
I cling to her waist and scream my heart out but someone just picks me up and carries me over to my mother who has tears streaming down her face. This can't be happening! It wasn't supposed to be her! My tears aren't stopping but I don't care, she wasn't supposed to go.
I look over to see who picked me up and spot Gale. He has only a few stray tears that have dripped down his cheeks and I think that he is trying to hold in his pain.
I manage to stop my sobbing enough to hear Effie tell the crowd to applaud for District 12's very first volunteer in her silly Capital accent, but then something amazing happens, not one person claps. The whole square stays silent which means that we don't agree. Then to make things even more unusual someone towards the front touches their three middle fingers on their left hand and holds it out to my sister. This old and rarely used gesture means saying goodbye to someone you love, usually used at funerals.
Soon the whole District is doing it and tears are streaming down my face as I hold up my hand to Katniss. I have no idea what Katniss is thinking about all this but I do notice her eyes to have that hint of fear that I think only I would be able to see. And maybe Gale too.
Haymitch chooses this time to go and throw an arm around Katniss's shoulders and congratulate her. "I like her," He says and my body tenses as I wonder what he is going to do. "Lots of...spunk!" He says and starts to point at different people saying, "More than you and you," he repeats until he points at a camera as if he is addressing the Capital itself. He seems to lose his footing and headives off the stage. As some people carry him off on a stretcher I notice Katniss let her emotions show for just a second before she puts on a straight face and stares off into the distance.
I cling to my mother as I watch Effie Trinket trot over to the boys bowl and pluck a slip of paper. Katniss looks over to Gale and is probably thinking about the odds that he will be going with her. But when she reads the name I'm relieved that it is not Gale but when I process the name fully I realize that this is not good at all.
This name belongs to the boy, Peeta Mellark.
It was a cold and rainy night when Katniss left our house to try and sell some old baby clothes. Our father had died three months earlier and the money the government gave our family had long since run out. They gave us just enough to last a month and during this time my mother was expected to get a job to provide for the family. The problem is, she didn't. She just sat staring at the wall not doing anything at all. This terrified me. Katniss and I tried desperately to get her back but our sobs wouldn't do a thing. All the food we had left was some tea leaves and they wouldn't satisfy a bit of our hunger.
I had sat on the floor staring at my mom until my sister came home. When she came in she had a huge smile on her face, one that I hadn't seen since my father's death. Before I could ask what she was smiling about she reached under her jacket to grab two freshly baked loaves of bread. I was so shocked. That was the most food I had seen in a long time. I didn't ask any questions because I had just assumed she traded the clothes at the bakery. Besides why would I need to know where they came from when all I could think about was the fact that there are two loaves of bread sitting right in front of me.
Katniss made me wait until she had sat my mother down at the table. My mom seemed to snap out it enough to slice the bread but then she sat down again looking confused. That bread was so good and filling that I could've eaten both loaves in one go. But Katniss said we have to save them so we have food tomorrow.
The next day after school I went to meet Katniss at our usual spot and on my way I saw her staring at something in the field. I looked to see what she was looking at and I saw the baker's boy. At this point everything started to click into place but once she mouthed a 'thank you' I pretty much knew everything.
I didn't tell Katniss because I knew that if she wanted me to know she would have told me in the first place. But I would always try to bring them together somehow, most of the time it was stopping by the bakery to admire the cakes. I always noticed Katniss searching for him through the window but whenever he would come into her view she would quickly grab my arm to take me to the shops. Sometimes on the rare occasion that she would stay at the window and act like she didn't see him I would notice him staring at her. One time I had caught him looking sadly at Katniss and Gale when they had brought Rory, Vick, Posy, and I to look at the cakes. This is about when I decided that he definitely had a crush on her based off of how he looked at her from across the schoolyard and pretty much anywhere else they ran into each other.
To make matters even worse I think Katniss remembers that day in the rain too judging from the worried look in her eyes. Somehow she immediately spots him in the large crowd and her eyes follow him all the way up to the stage. His bright blue eyes show his fear very clearly.
I look over to see Gale looking very conflicted. He's probably wanting to volunteer like Katniss in order to help protect her. I can't let that happen, I would never live with myself if I let my sister's best friend go into the arena with her. I reach up and tap his shoulder before shaking my head and then looking back to the stage. He seems to resign to the fact that she would never forgive him for going in there with her and sighs.
Effie Trinket then has the two tributes shake hands before they are ushered into the Justice building by peacekeepers. I watch my sister look back and her face relax a little after she sees me, then the doors close behind her.
She has always been protective of me from when I was five and scratched my knee to when I was eleven and some kids at school we're making fun of me. She was always there. Katniss has always wanted me to be safe, so when she saw me safe in the crowd and not headed straight to my almost certain death, she was probably thinking she had succeeded in keeping me safe and is thankful for it.
After the tributes have been taken away everyone in the square is directed to go home unless they are going to visit the tributes. We will then be directed to the Justice Building where we will sit until our turn to speak with the tribute.
My mother takes my hand as we walk up to the building with Gale. He has this hard glare that I can only assume is directed at the Capital for doing this to him, taking his best friend into an arena to fight to the death. I'm also upset at the Capital for doing this because no matter what things are going to be different after the games. If Katniss wins then we will move to one of the huge homes in Victor's Village and Katniss herself will be different. And if she doesn't win? Well I can't bring myself to think about that possibility.
Inside we are told to sit down in this waiting area until we are led to the tribute's room to talk to them. Around me sits Gale, my mother, the mayor's daughter, the baker and his wife, two of their sons, and some other kids who look like they're probably Peeta's friends. My anxiety levels rise as I look at the Mellark family because I know that in order for my sister to win their son will have to die. They're probably thinking the same thing as they look everywhere except where my mother and I sit.
Soon enough the peacekeepers come and lead my mother and I down one hallway while the Mellark's are led the opposite way. I squeeze my mother's hand because I know that these next moments are going to be rough for all of us.
As soon as the door opens I rush over to Katniss and climb into her lap like I used to as a toddler. Our mother sits beside Katniss on the couch and wraps her arms around both of us. For a few moments we just sit there quietly, soaking in each other's presence. Then Katniss starts telling us things to do while she is away.
I'm not to take any tesserae. She tells us that we can live by selling my goat's milk and cheese and off my mother's small apothecary business she runs for the people in the Seam. Gale will be able to get the herbs that my mother can't get herself, but she has to describe them very clearly because he doesn't know as much as Katniss does about plants. She says that he will also bring us game - something they decided on a while back - and that we should thank him with some sort of trade, like medicine or milk.
All the information I'm being told is overwhelming. One of the worst parts is having to listen to my sister talk to us like she is already dead. In those moments it was extremely hard to not cry. But I know that if I cry it'll probably make things even worse for Katniss.
"You're strong, maybe you can win," I tell her at the brink of tears.
"Maybe I can, I am smart you know," she replies with a tight smile.
I look into her deep gray eyes and somehow manage to get out a quiet, "You have to win."
Her smile quickly disappears and is replaced by a serious look and she replies, "I'll try," before pulling me into a hug.
"Promise?" I ask into her hair.
"I promise," she responds, squeezing me even more.
She pulls away to walk over to my mother who is standing next to the couch. Her gaze grows hard as she looks at my mom. Oh no. I knew it was coming but I didn't want it to.
"You can't leave again," Katniss says, well more like demands.
"I won't," my mom replies.
"You have to promise me, you can't leave Prim on her own again. I won't be there anymore to protect her," she says, taking my mother's arms into her hands.
"I promise!" my mother snaps taking her hands from Katniss's grasp "Besides I wouldn't have gotten sick if I had the medicine I have now."
"Then take it!" Katniss hisses.
Then all of a sudden the peacekeepers barge in saying that our time is up and that we have to leave. Katniss rushes over to me and holds me close while we say 'I love you' over and over again until the peacekeepers grab me and my mother and lead us out of the room. After they slam the door behind us and demand we go back to the waiting room is when the tears start to fall again. It hits me hard that that may have been the last time I have seen my sister in person. My mother has to practically carry me down the hall because my legs felt like they have turned into mush.
When I sit down in the stiff chair that faces the wall in the waiting room it feels like I'm a statue. I can't move anything and I'm just stuck with my thoughts. My mom sits next to me but doesn't say anything. I mean what is there to say? Gale's name is called and he gives me a pat on the back before heading to Katniss's room.
I sit staring at the wall for god knows how long, just wondering about what I did wrong. Nothing came to mind because the fact that Katniss was going into the arena was all her own fault. She was the one who is leaving us. Knowing this still didn't make me feel any less guilty about her volunteering in my place.
The mayor's daughter, Madge, gets up and sits in the chair next to mine. She wraps her arm across my shoulders and I lean into her, thankful for the quiet comfort. She reminds me of Katniss in this way, quiet and nurturing.
We sit like this until I hear Gale yelling from down the hallway, "I won't I promise. Katniss remember-" he's interrupted by a door slamming shut, "I love you!"
Hope y'all are liking it so far and it would be awesome if you'd let me know what you think. :)