Chapter 8 – Happenings At The Capitol Part 1

I've only seen one other person in my life with epilepsy. Her name was Irene but I forget her last name. She had dark hair and green eyes. Irene had come to my mother because her case got so bad but and somehow my mother seemed to help her. I haven't seen her around in the past few years and I thought she had died but she didn't. I had seen her a few days ago at the reaping actually. Then it clicked. Irene is Avan's mother.

"Peeta!" I exclaim to him, shaking him hoping he won't be mad I woke him up this early.

"What is it?" He asks not opening his eyes completely.

"Irene is Avan's mother!" I exclaim, a tad bit loudly because I can see him scrunch his nose, "Sorry… it finally made sense." I say as I lie back down next to him. A few hours later, Peeta and I are awakened by a rapid pounding at the door. I can feel the bed move as he gets up quickly before he gets a headache. I look over and see Effie standing there perky and ready to start this treacherous day.

"Morning!" She screeches, "Time for breakfast!" I roll out of bed and go over to a drawer where I pull out a pair of shorts and a blue shirt.

"Kat!" Peeta yells to me from across the room, "We gotta go!" Quickly I throw my hair up into a ponytail and hurry out the door. I can already see Peeta's got some distance on me. He usually waits but he must be hungry because he's already sitting down and stuffing his face by the time I get my food and sit down next to him. The whole group of us sits there in silence until Klarissa and Avan come in, holding hands. Oh god I think to myself and I look over to Peeta meeting his glance. We all must have been thinking the same thing because next thing I know Haymitch is bitterly speaking out.

"What do you two think you're doing?" He demands. They both stand there innocently in front of my eyes so I quickly defend them.

"Haymitch!" I snap, "You might have spoken to me that way, but you will treat my daughter and Avan with respect!" I find myself with fists on the table and I'm staring right at his cold and hurtful eyes.

"Sorry." He says a tad muffled but then continues to eat ignoring us. The kids take their places at the table with us.

"So, did you sleep well?" Peeta asks them both. They turn to each other and turn red then start laughing. Apparently Effie finds nothing funny about this so she excuses herself and then starts to leave.

"Effie!" I call after her as I follow her down the hall, "What was that about?" I ask. Angrily she turns around and stares me down.

"How do you now know why I'm angry?" Effie rages, "You should've had control of your daughter and her… her… her whatever he is!" She screams at me. Again I must be missing something because I have no clue what she's talking about. Just as I turn around and start to walk away Peeta comes running up to me, his face red with fury. I've actually never seen him this angry.

"I was wrong about Avan." He says looking down at his shoes, "He and Klarissa…" Then he trails off. I bring my hand up to stroke his arm and then he just grabs my hand and leads me back towards everyone and where they are eating. I let go of his grasp and I go over to sit by Klarissa and Avan while Peeta follows on my heels.

"Klarissa why is your father so mad with you and Avan?" I ask. She plays with her hair nervously and then finally reaches over and grabs hold of Avan's hand.

"We knew only one would be coming back… and well…" Her voice trails off. I look around and see that Peeta's mood has lightened.

"Time to go get ready for the opening ceremonies!" Effie squeals as she rushes over and grabs both of the kids. "See you later!" She says to the rest of us as the three of them rush out of the door and down the hall.

"So what was that all about?" I ask already partially knowing the answer but asking just to make sure.

"I walked in on them earlier this morning." He answers.

"And?" I respond, hoping to get a quick answer out of him. He looks at me with his big puppy dog eyes. "Was it when you left for breakfast without me?" I ask him. He nods his head and then looks up at me, his eyes finishing the story.

"And they were..." I find myself getting lost in my own words. Again, he nods confirming my suspicions. We sit there in silence until we hear Haymitch speak up and break the awkward barrier. To be completely honest, I forgot that Haymitch was still in the room with us.

"You two both know what they're trying to do." He mumbles as he staggers towards us. I look at him and it clicks.

"Star-crossed lovers." It comes out of my mouth before I can stop it. Haymitch nods in agreement as Peeta pounds his fists down onto the table. I reach over to try and calm him down but he just pulls away.

"Peeta…" I whisper to him but he just glares at me and leaves the room so the seemingly sober Haymitch and I are left alone. I turn back to Haymitch and finally we both know nothing.

"What just happened?" Haymitch asks me, giving me a warning look. I just shrug in response and excuse myself then get up, leaving Haymitch sitting at the table all alone.

PEETA

What did I do? I think to myself as I rip my clothes off and jump into the shower. That talk with Avan made everything worse and definitely backfired on me. "Peeta?" I hear over the running water.

"Yeah?" I respond, as I hear the door open and see a shadow walking towards me.

"What was that whole little fit about back there?" Katniss asks me as she peeks her head from behind the shower curtain. I see her eyeing me up, probably for later.

"Remember when I had that talk with Avan?" I ask her, not opening my eyes afraid of her look.

"Yes." She says carefully. I open my eyes to see her standing in the shower in front of me, her hands trailing my torso.

"Well… I told him about our games and I guess he had an idea…" I finish off. I look down at her sparkling eyes and see that she looks relaxed actually.

"So that's when he got the idea about the star crossed lovers thing?" She asks me. I nod in response. She reaches up and kisses me before getting out of the shower. Well, that went better than I thought.

KATNISS

I throw on some clothes after getting out of the shower and pull my hair into a quick and messy bun. I can't believe Peeta planted the star-crossed lovers idea into their heads, but after all I can't be mad at him. He didn't know the consequences that the talk would bring. I start to crawl into bed thinking that today would be a early night, but then I realize it. The opening ceremonies. Let the fun begin.