Hello everyone! I would like to say thank you for reading this story, I've really enjoyed writing it and I hope you like this chapter. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games.
I'm awoken by my mother shaking my shoulder softly.
"Prim. Wake up Prim. It's time for the tribute parade," she whispers into my ear.
I sit up quickly, "It's happening now?" I ask.
"Yeah, come on, we have to watch Katniss," she says grimly.
Oh yeah. Katniss is in the tribute parade.
"Okay," I say, equally as grim as my mother.
When I walk into the main room the television is already running with Caesar Flickerman talking about the tributes and what he thinks the costumes will be this year. I sit down on the couch and wait for the tributes to come onto the screen because it's all that I want to see.
As I wait I let my mind wander what Katniss might wear. I've always liked clothes more than Katniss, so when we would watch earlier Hunger Games I was always fascinated by the tributes outfits while she would try not to yawn. The tributes are required to wear an outfit that represents their District so most years our tributes wear the same hand-me-down coal miner uniforms. They almost always look huge on District 12's malnourished tributes. Although, one year our tributes went out on the chariot stark naked with a layer of black powder over them. Both kids were from the Seam and had never, for not even one day in their life, had enough to eat and they were so thin you could count each one of their ribs. I really hope Katniss's costume is not the latter of them.
Suddenly my mom is nudging me with her elbow and pointing to the screen where the tributes from District 1 are coming out of the tunnel, spray painted silver and wearing beautiful tunics, glittering with jewels. It's no question District 1 is one of the most favored districts. What with producing the luxury items that the Capitol loves so dearly, it's hard for them to completely despise the District.
I sit with wide eyes just staring at the beautiful costumes that the tributes are wearing and when the time comes for District 11 to come out of the tunnel I'm bouncing in my seat with anticipation to see the costume that Katniss will be wearing. Then when District 12's chariot comes out my heart stops mid-beat.
Katniss and Peeta are on fire.
Katniss is wearing a simple black unitard with her hair braided and tossed over her shoulder, in its usual style. She has on glossy leather boots that lace up to her knees and has on a gorgeous headpiece with streaks of red, orange, and yellow. Her face is relatively clear of any makeup probably to keep her recognizable for when she is in the arena.
Peeta looks pretty much the same as Katniss, sporting a black suit and boots just like hers. His light curls have been slicked back to give him a more sophisticated look and his face is also clear of any makeup.
But the part that makes you forget all the other small details is that they are wearing capes of fire. Actual fire. They have just blown away all the tributes before them. All eyes are focused on them.
"She's on fire," I state to my mother in disbelief.
"I know," she responds with her eyes still glued to the screen like mine.
Katniss looks around in shock at the tens of thousands of Capitol people in the stands that are craning their necks to get a good look at the tributes who are on fire. Then after she gets over her moment of shock she starts to mimic Peeta's smiles and waves that he directs towards the audience. She even blows a few kisses to which a hundred people who think she directed right at them, grab with a sigh. At one point Katniss catches a beautiful rose that someone threw and gives it a delicate sniff. By this point all other tributes are completely forgotten as the crowd chants Katniss and Peeta's names.
I notice Katniss and Peeta exchange a look before lifting their joined hands up in the air which makes the Capitol people go crazy. This is the other way that they are distinguishing themselves from all the other tributes; they are presenting themselves as a team. Every other pair of tributes stand stiffly next to their partner, meanwhile Katniss and Peeta are showing that they are in it together. I mean that's what I'm getting out of it.
When they finally reach the end of the track where President Snow stands to give his customary speech, the crowd is going crazy over the tributes from District 12 for maybe the first time in history. I note that, because of the camera, we are watching way more of Peeta and Katniss than we are of any other tributes. Then after President Snow finishes his speech about how thankful he is for the tribute's sacrifice (yeah right), all the horse lead chariots go into the entrance that leads into the tribute training center, where they will stay for three days of training before the Games.
Caesar Flickerman, who has been narrating the entire parade, signs off and the television goes black. I stare at the blank screen for a moment before my mom says in disbelief, "She might really have a chance."
"Yeah," I respond lamely, not coming up with anything else to say.
Katniss has just made herself unforgettable. Nobody could forget the courageous girl from District 12 who volunteered herself for the Games in her sister's place. Nobody could forget the girl who was on fire at the tribute parade. And nobody could forget the tributes who presented themselves as a team.
I look outside at the pitch black night and judge the time to be around 1 o'clock in the morning.
"You should probably rest before you have to go to school, Prim," my mother tells me.
I let out a sad sigh before answering, "Okay."
I like school but since I haven't been around very many people after Katniss got reaped, I'm nervous. I ask my mom if I can sleep on the couch so I don't have to be alone in my bed, and she tells me that it's okay. As I lay down on the couch my eyelids immediately become heavy and I quickly fall into a dreamless sleep.
I'm up with the sun as it rises from the ground and hits the curtains of our small house in the Seam. I sit up slowly and find Buttercup sitting on the armrest of the couch as if he is watching over me which gives me a sense of comfort.
I know that I have to go to school no matter what so I decide to start getting ready now rather than wait until the last moment. The floorboards creak as I walk into the bedroom to grab some clothes. My mother's soft snores remind me to avoid the creaky floorboards on my way out.
I go into the bathroom where I take off the clothes I slept in and replace them with a faded yellow dress that has buttons down the front and a ribbon that ties around the waist. As I fasten the buttons I hear the floorboards creak from the other room, indicating that my mother is awake. When I finish wrapping the ribbon twice around my waist in order for my dress to stay in place, I grab my brush and head into the main room where my mother is pouring out two cups of goat milk for us to have for breakfast. I tell her good morning and walk over to the table where I sit to brush my hair. While I brush my hair I tell my mom how nervous I am about going back to school.
"You'll be fine Prim, you always are," she tells me as she brings my cup of milk over to me.
I don't correct her by saying that my sister going into the Hunger Games does not make me feel 'fine'. But instead I just say, "I guess so."
I braid my hair back into its normal two braids then drink my cup of milk. After I have finished it I grab my book bag and step outside. My mother yells from the kitchen that I will be okay and I try to believe her.
As I walk down the dirt road that runs from the Seam, into the town where my school is, I think about how I've taken this route so many times yet it feels so different without Katniss. We would usually walk this way hand-in-hand and just enjoy being with each other. Most of the time we wouldn't even talk, we would just walk silently.
As I near the school feelings of dread course through my veins. I almost turn around and run back home but I think back to my last conversation with Katniss and know that I have to do it. Besides it's just school, how hard can it be to just push through it?
Turns out it is. As soon as I walk into the school I'm bombarded by looks of pity and condolences from people I've never talked to in my life. I try to politely accept them all but by the time I'm walking into my fourth class of the day, I'm exhausted from all the attention I've gotten. It's sick that I've gained all of that attention from my sister being a tribute in the Games.
When lunch finally comes around I'm super relieved to be out of class. As soon as I sit down at a table my friends rush over to me and sit down. A few who I have talked to already, know that I don't want any more words of sympathy and all that stuff because it sounds too much like they think Katniss is already dead. I'm relieved when it seems like everyone knows that I want them to act somewhat normal because they all start talking about what they usually talk about. I feel guilty for wanting everything to be normal while my sister is getting ready to be thrown into an arena where she will fight other kids to the death, but my friends just tell me that it's probably just how I'm dealing with the situation.
"Is it okay if we talk about the tribute parade?" my friend Charity asks me, making sure I'm okay with it.
"Yeah, of course," I answer, because this is the one thing I'll talk about that involves my sister.
So we talk about how incredible it was to watch Katniss and Peeta, in their outfits of fire, hold hands and interact with the audience unlike most other tributes did. We talk about this for a while but at one point my friends unintentionally start talking about what might happen in the Games so I stop listening. As my other friends start to talk about other things, one of my closest friends, Rory Hawthorne, asks me how I'm doing.
I have to think about my answer before replying because nobody has really asked me how I am, they usually just tell me how they are sorry for me and say if I need anything they are there for me. "I really don't know," I say with a sigh, "I obviously feel guilty for her volunteering and I'm worried about her too. I don't know what will happen to her which is the scariest part."
"Yeah, that's awful, Prim," he replies, "But if I have learned anything about her, it's that she is so strong and is equally as stubborn. If anything she won't go down without a fight, that I can assure you."
I look him in his gray, almost blue eyes and suddenly want to wrap my arms around him and give him a giant hug for actually cheering me up a bit. But this is a room full of kids who will spread rumors, although that is the least of my worries right now. It seems like Rory is thinking what I was but actually decides to do it. He wraps his somewhat thin but strong arms around me and I hug him back. I hear the whispers coming from my friends but I don't care, I feel safe in his arms. His arms are one of the only arms I've ever felt this safe in other than Katniss's, my father's, and occasionally my mother's. We hug each other for a little longer and when we break apart I whisper, "Thank you."
"It's no problem, Prim," he answers.
"Will you walk home with me?" I ask, not wanting to be alone in my thoughts again.
"Sure," he replies with a small smile.
So I go through school with something to look forward to which helps. But once the teacher for my last class of the day dismisses us, I'm up out of my seat and rushing to the front of the school where Rory and I agreed to meet. Once I reach the front I only have to wait a few moments before Rory comes, his dark hair covering his forehead and almost getting into his eyes. I long to move the hair out of his face, but decide against it. He looks over to me and asks if I'm ready to go and I say, "I think so."
So we walk to the Seam. We talk about lots of things but avoid the big thing that we know both of us are thinking about.
"Thank you for walking with me, Rory. It's really helpful considering that it's been weird not doing this with Katniss," I tell him, bringing up my sister which we both were too afraid to do earlier.
"You would do it for me," he says as we walk up to where his house is, "Bye, Prim."
"Bye, Rory," I call as he walks through the front door of his house.
I walk home and silently congratulate myself for getting through the entire day without losing my mind. When I get home I find my mother flipping through my father's plant book that he had when he was still alive. In it my father had written about different plants, about which ones can be used for healing, and about which ones could kill you as soon as it touches your tongue. He would put pictures of the plant or describe it in great detail, on each page. My mother usually only brings it out when she needs Katniss to get a plant from the woods to help a patient.
I walk over to her and ask why she has the plant book out.
"Gale came over right before you got here. He was wondering if he needed to get anything for us while he's in the woods so I showed him the plants I ran out of today," she answers while closing it.
"Oh, okay," I reply while setting my book bag down on the table.
"How was school?" she asks me.
"Went better than I thought it would," I answer.
"That's good," she replies while getting up to put the book away.
It's now when Christopher knocks on the door. We eat the sandwiches that he brings for us. The talk as we eat is mostly about Katniss and Peeta's capes of fire at the tribute parade. We don't mention how they were holding hands the entire time.
Then Christopher leaves to go back to his family like he did yesterday. I use the time before I go to bed to milk Lady and make some cheese. I add salt into the milk and pour it into our cooking pan. I gently boil the milk and when the milk starts to form small white clumps I stir a little more. Once I think it's ready I gather the curds in my cheesecloth and squeeze to get out the excess water. Then after I finish I put the cheese in the chilling box and head to bed.
Once I'm in bed I let out a sigh of relief. I made it. Then I remember, this is only the beginning.
I hope you liked this chapter and if you can leave a review to let me know what you think, it would be amazing! Stay safe and healthy! :)