Hello again! It's chapter three! YAAAY!
I'm sorry it took so long to update, i've been on holidays and I haven't been bothered to do anything :)
I've also decided to add little stories of District 12's residents when the story slumps a little.
Disclaimer- I don't own The Hunger Games, they belone to Suzanne Collins.
The next two days were spent wondering about Katniss and Kris passed my mind briefly. My bruises from a few days ago were healing nicely. Tonight, when the training scores were released, the betting would increase by an incredible amount. Even though everyone in District 12 loathes the games immensely, betting took their mind off the fact that next year, someone they knew could be chosen in the reaping. Even the very poor put their money on the tributes, but they usually betted with coal, or herbs or whatever they could find. No one in the whole of District 12 could afford to sponsor a tribute, not even the mayor. Training scores could ensure sponsors in some cases, and low scores could definitely not help. I hoped that Katniss would receive a high score, because sponsors were really important. Maybe, if I could raise enough money, I'd be able to send her a gift.
School passed very slowly, and the days dragged on long and boring. Nothing occupied my time besides baking bread and icing cakes, because teachers couldn't give homework while the games were on, because it distracted kids. There was nothing to do when I'd finished my chores, so I read my Harry Potter book in the candlelight. The only time that District 12 was guaranteed electricity was during the broadcast times of the games.
I didn't want to finish the book, because it consumed my time well and honestly, it was the only thing that interested me apart from watching Katniss on the television. Oh, how I wished that magic existed and could save poor, innocent teenagers from the horror of the Hunger Games.
Sometimes, the relatives or loved ones of a tribute would avoid watching the games when necessary to avoid the pain of loss and tried not to pay any attention to any important happenings. They would pretend to be oblivious to the whole subject, but they would be all hollow and empty inside. I knew that I wasn't that type of person to suffer in silence, to pretend everything was all right when it wasn't. I would be planted in front of the television every minute, making sure that Katniss was alive and safe. Of course, that wouldn't help the pain either, watching a loved one be murdered or freeze to death, or die of dehydration.
"Peeta! We're out of sugar! Can you hurry up and run to town to get a bag before the training scores are broadcast in half an hour?" Mother yelled loudly from the bottom of our wonky staircase.
"Yeah." I muttered and placed my book open on the page I was up to on my flat pillow. I honestly couldn't be bothered to run barefoot all the way to town and pick up a ten-kilo bag of sugar, then run back in the short period of half an hour. I had no shoes because Maxim had to deliver trays of bread to the coalminers, and he had lost his shoes on the school roof. We didn't have the money to go around buying shoes every time Maxim threw a shoe on the roof of a classroom, which actually happened quite a lot. The thought made me remember the way that Katniss laughed when he chucked his old Chuck Taylor's on the roof of the school hall.
I skipped steps as I jumped down the creaky staircase and mother slapped some gold coins in my hand.
"Now, don't pay any more than eleven gold coins, because last time you accepted the deal of twelve! You should have known better! We shouldn't run out of sugar so often. I think you put too much in your icing mixes." She babbled on.
"Yeah, alright. Bye." I said, slightly annoyed.
Then, I was off along the dirt road once again, the gold coins jingling in my shallow pocket. I paced myself with the sound. Every day it was the same road, the same stores and the same people.
The streets were almost empty, because everyone was getting ready for the showing of the training scores. Once again, I thought of Katniss and what she was doing that very moment. I knew I was desperate to hear even the tiniest of news from the Capitol on her status. As I ran past the abandoned computer store, I shivered at the memory of the sad story behind the shattered glass windows and dull, grey, crumbling walls of the only ever computer shop in District 12.
I had been told the story many times before, but every time I hear it, it's like a new tale.
***
Many, many years ago there was a brand new store in the uptown part of District 12. It had shiny new computers in the window, with tiny discs and chips, all displayed in the front window. The man who owned the store was originally from District 3, but he travelled on foot to our cruddy district, going against all the rules from the Capitol. He set up a computer shop in a tiny storefront, and he painted the signs on himself.
Of course, no one could afford the amazing technology at the price of one thousand gold coins and up. The only people who bought from him were the Mayor and the town peacekeepers. My eldest brother, Lukus was only a very small boy, but he still remembered the sharp, bright colours flying across the screens. He remembered the man who owned and worked at 'Eldrinn's Computers' with his dirty glasses and shiny shoes.
Everyday, when school children would walk past, they would stare and gasp at the type of technology that was available to the rich. Sometimes even adults would stand in front of the shop window and sadly look at what they couldn't afford. So Eldrinn was a man who was very loved in our district. He always gave the kids tiny lollies, and let them play with cameras and things when he was in a nice mood. He was generous.
Then, one day, the Capitol sent out a broadcast that was necessary to watch. It was strange, because usually, the only thing compulsory to watch was the Hunger Games. It ordered all computers outside of the Capitol and District 3, where they manufactured them, to be destroyed because they were a 'security threat'. Anyone to be found resisting would be killed, or taken as a captive.
That day, Eldrinn sadly piled all of his stock outside his shop and drizzled the tiniest amount of petrol over the top. His face was full of sadness when he lit the pile with a red lighter, and the flames engulfed all of his prized possessions. He didn't even know why he had to destroy them, but he still did it. Quite a crowd had gathered to show their appreciation of his hard work, by holding their three middle fingers out to him as he burned his life's work.
After that, there was just an empty store with signs out the front. Eldrinn slept on the floor, huddled up under a counter trying to keep warm. He didn't earn very much money selling his computers, so he slept without a pillow and only a single thin blanket. Every night he lived in fear of the Capitol finding him because of his runaway status. Maybe they didn't know that he ran away, or maybe they did know, he had no idea, so he lived in fear of being caught.
Weeks after, an official visiting from the Capitol came to assure that all of the computers were gone. He checked in each home, and finally came to the empty computer store. He walked in, gagging at the horrible smell. He slicked back his electric blue hair and kicked Eldrinn awake with his shiny black shoe.
"Do you still own or sell computers here?" The Capitol man said in his funny accent, scowling at the man on the floor.
"No! I don't! Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get some more sleep!" Eldrinn snapped back, taking in the man's appearance. He had pale white skin, silver tattooed eyebrows, deep violet eyes and a white dress shirt with a mauve tie.
"May I have a look around?" The Capitol man replied calmly, ignoring Eldrinn's poor attitude.
He inspected every drawer and cupboard, until he found something of interest. It was Eldrnn's birth certificate.
It clearly stated that he belonged to District 3. The Capitol man immediately realised what was going on, and he reached inside his pocket for his laser gun. Aiming at the unmoving man on the ground, he shot, and Eldrinn screamed out in pain. He jerked and shook, his eyes locked wide open and afraid.
"I'm afraid you'll be coming with me Mr. Luddington." He said cruelly, letting go of the paralysing gun and dragging the unconscious man out of the front door and into the street. "We've been running a tight ship when it comes to runaways." He muttered to himself, and dragged the skinny man to the middle of the dirt road. There were loads of people watching in horror as a silver hovercraft appeared out of no where and took the kind computer man with it.
***
District 12 had many stories like that, and there were reminders of the Capitol's wrath all over. I continued running, and I hadn't even noticed the light rain that was slowly turning the roads to mud. It squelched in between my toes and felt horrible.
Then, I saw the man with the cart I needed packing up across the square. He and his daughter were piling heavy bags onto the unstable cart.
"Sir! Sir!" I panted, running across the main square with my hands raised, signalling him to stop packing. I came to a stop a mere meter in front of them.
"I'm sorry, but we have to hurry home to watch the broadcast, or we'll be punished." The young girl spoke for her mute father.
"Please! I only wish to buy a bag of sugar. Surely you can spare a minute to haggle?" I begged, breathing heavily from my long run.
Her father nodded and used his hands to tell me to offer.
"Nine gold coins." I said. I knew this man liked to haggle from previous experience. The bags were advertised for thirteen coins, but I knew how to deal with the owners of this cart.
He shook his head.
"Ten?" I said.
He shook his head again.
"I'm sorry, but I can't go any higher than eleven." I stated.
I wanted to get home out of the freezing wind and the heavy rain that had just began to pour down from the sky. I looked out across the square, huge puddles were forming, and the ground was slick across the blacktop. The main square was the only place in the whole district to have asphalt. In the distant streets, I saw the wet mud that was a disaster waiting to happen. No one was gathered in the square to watch the broadcast as usual, the weather was too horrendous.
"Well I'm sorry Peeta, we can't afford to be giving away sugar for that price." The daughter spoke. I knew her from school. She was only thirteen but she still worked hard everyday after school.
"Well, how about I come out early and help you set up tomorrow, and you can have eleven coins." I could already see the man considering the option. I knew they had trouble setting up in the mornings, especially with all the heavy bags. I looked from one to another. After a minute of indecision, the man nodded.
"We'll see you tomorrow then, five o'clock, so we can get a good place. Meet us at the gate of the seam." I nodded in agreement.
I didn't really want to have to do labour before school, but I would have to. The girl smiled as I handed over the coins. The man heaved a bag into my wet arms. I stepped out from under the plastic awning they had set up and into the bucketing rain. It burned my skin it was so cold. It was a stupid idea to wear just a t-shirt and jeans that would get extremely heavy when soaked.
I tried to run with the bag bumping up and down in my hands, but the sack gave me a sore rash, and I continued to slip on the mud that was now getting the tiniest bit deeper. The town clock was still visible in the haze created by the pouring rain. I had seven minutes to get home or else my family would be punished.
I tried even harder to run through the rain that was blurring my vision, and my wet hair continuously covered over my eyes. The weight of the bag was nothing compared to the flour I usually had to carry home, but it was still a hindrance. I passed the abandoned computer shop, and I knew I was almost half a kilometre away from home. Five hundred meters was all I needed to run. My chest ached and my sharp breaths came in irregular intervals. My bare feet were completely covered in mud.
I was so relieved when I reached the front door of our house. I was still breathing heavily as I slowly knocked on the door. It was my mother who opened it.
"Peeta Mellark! Do you have any idea what time it is?! If you were one minute later, we'd have been fined, or worse! Get inside now!" She screeched, pushing me inside, disregarding the bag of sugar I'd so kindly got for her. I knew that if she said another word, I'd blow my top. I turned my back to her and walked towards Lukus who was seated on the couch.
"How much change did you get, you silly boy? I bet you were kind or caring or felt sorry for the poor people. Well we're living in poverty too! Just not as bad!" She exclaimed.
I spun around instantly to face Shantay. I briefly saw Lukus shaking his head. Mother looked sightly worried. My facial expression must have frightened her.
"I just ran three kilometres in the rain to get you sugar. I get there and the only way I can get a deal is for eleven coins, and I have to help them early tomorrow morning! Not you, who needed the sugar, but me! So I agree, and I run back in the pouring rain with a ten kilogram bag, soaking wet, with no shoes and with five minutes to get home or else I'd be blamed for our punishment! I did everything you asked me to do, and I get home and you scream at me! I'm sick and tired of your twisted justice, and getting yelled at all the time! You know that Maxim is sick of it too, and I know that Etienne is tired of your nagging!" I almost exploded. Mother's eyes narrowed at Etienne as I continued.
"But I don't blame her! Every single thing any of us do to please you, you end up yelling in or faces! Now, I don't think that is fair!" I dumped the heavy bag on the wood flooring and didn't meet her eyes.
I could imagine her firing up, getting ready to show no mercy and attack me, when I saw that father had placed his large hand on her shoulder and began softly.
"Come on, we have to watch the broadcast now."
This seemed to calm her down just the slightest, and she sat isolated in her antique armchair while I sat next to Etienne on the couch, who looked upset. I ignored everyone else and sat in silence as the seal appeared on our crappy TV screen and the anthem played.
I was highly anticipating seeing Katniss's training score. I had been missing her so much the few days she had been gone. Almost every thought had been related to her, or the games, to be a constant reminder that what was almost certainly lost.
Caesar Flickerman appeared one again in a bright pink leather chair with a huge cup of something on the coffee table besides him. He wore a completely white suit and a bright yellow tie and had a smile plastered across his face. The room her was sitting in had a window displaying all of the lights and wonder of the big city. A single lamp illuminated the room.
"Welcome, welcome to all the residents of Panem! Tonight, as you all know, is one of the most vital things on the lead up to the games. We'll see our tribute's training scores! This year you'll be in for a shock, the scores are scattered across the board, with the lowest a two and highest… I'll leave that up to you to find out." He smiled even wider and winked.
"Alright, lets get underway!" He said as the first tribute's photo appeared on screen. They always started with District 1 and finished with District 12, so I'd be waiting for a long time until Katniss's training score was shown.
I watched carefully, sizing up the rest of the tributes. Everyone else in the living room seemed bored, like they had seen it a million times before. Caesar named the person in each photo, the district they were from, and their training scores. He tried to make it interesting by commenting on their scores in some way.
"Now, we have Kris Ramsay from District 12, who scored a six in training." Caesar said as a horrible headshot of Kris appeared on screen. I was surprised at his score; it was unusually high for a dressmaker's son. I felt good for Kris, but if Katniss would survive, he would have to die.
Then, I held my breath as Katniss's pretty face appeared on screen. I didn't even hear Caesar's comments; all I saw was her score.
Eleven!
The highest of them all! I was overjoyed at the score. Along with her amazing appeal at the opening ceremony, it was almost certain she'd receive sponsors! You wouldn't expect a girl as beautiful as Katniss to receive an Eleven. The gamemakers must have considered her deadly!
I tried to wipe the smile off my face, to show that I didn't care, but I was too happy.
"Wow." Lukus said as he gave a secretive thumbs up from down on the couch. It made me smile even wider. Mother definitely noticed, but she didn't say anything.
"That's awesome! Wouldn't it be cool to actually have a winner this year? I'm totally betting on her!" Maxim exclaimed. Every year he betted on the person with the highest score. I knew that the only thing anyone would be talking about tomorrow would be Katniss's training score.
Maybe she would have a chance to come home after all.
Longest chapter yet! *dances*
Please review, even if you thought it was terrible!
Chopeeh xx