Hi guys! If you made it to this chapter, I just want to say... THANKS! This chapter is much longer than the other ones because I was working on making everything conclude perfectly!
"Good mor - oh." For once, I was the first one at the breakfast table.
I had to admit, there was a specific reason why I purposely woke up extra early to make myself look good. I couldn't bring myself to think of it, though; it was too embarrassing and in a way, shameful. But the reason was as clear as glass.
An Avox pulled out a chair for me, seeing that I had been standing around doing nothing for a while. I took the seat and thanked him, and he gestured at the food. I nodded and filled my plate with a big stack of waffles, some aloo paratha, a scoop of fruit pudding, two English muffins, and a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. Things that are very pricey in District 12.
I guess I had come down for breakfast too early because I was getting seconds by the time people showed up. Floyd, Cinna, and Vivia trooped over one by one and took their seats around me. Floyd reminded me of me going to my Games by the way he couldn't resist refilling his cup over and over of hot chocolate. Cinna knew what I was thinking; he was looking at me with a humorous spark in his eye. I did the face that one makes when they say "shut up" in a joking way to someone. Although my facial expressions suck, he got the message and smiled slightly.
"So where's Anthul and Effie, Vivia?" I said, avoiding eye contact with Cinna. I've been eating for over half an hour and they still weren't here yet. I didn't even bother asking about Faye, sure that she probably didn't feel like having breakfast. I'd come to the conclusion that the weird changes of her personality were because of mood swings.
"Effie might be working in her bedroom," Vivia responded. "Careful, Katniss. Because of Haymitch's death, she's convinced that you'll be in an unstable condition to be a mentor so she's probably doing as much of your work that she's allowed to do." Then she smiled at me in a smug way, making me surprised. "And why don't you ask Anthul what he's up to yourself?"
My stomach dropped. She knows. I don't know how she read my feelings last night, but I was certain that she knew.
"Uh -"
"His room is the fourth one on the right. Number 13," said Cinna. His face was expressionless, but I was suspicious. No one was to have knowledge of my little excited feeling yesterday, yet... I sighed frustratedly.
"All right," I said firmly, standing up. Cinna raised an eyebrow; I could tell he thought I wasn't going to go to Anthul that easily, but I was, just to prove them wrong of... of whatever they were thinking. I dragged my legs out of the kitchen and to the hallway of rooms.
Number 13. Number 13... oh, there it was. I sucked in some air sharply before knocking on the door. "Anthul?" I called, my voice shaking.
"Come on in!" his deep voice replied.
I shuddered. Should I go in? Well, Cinna and Vivia may never let me hear the end of it if I chickened out. I twisted the doorknob and barged in, nearly falling flat on my face.
"Oh hi, b - Katniss," said Anthul, turning around and clearing his throat. "I, uh, I thought you were someone else."
Oh my god. He doesn't have the Capitol accent. Awesome!
"Care to have a seat?" he asked.
I was gawking at him in his plain black muscle tank and loose gray sweats. Damn!
"Or let's just go have breakfast," he pressed, examining me as if I'd come from another planet.
"Oh." I finally found my voice. "Sure," I said, completely forgetting that I already had breakfast.
"All right then," Anthul said, smiling. He took a loose hold of my arm to lead me out the door, making my heartbeat irregular. I almost passed out.
"Ah. Katniss. It's been a while," Vivia joked. I guessed I'd been gone for a good ten minutes minimum. "What were you guys doing?" she pushed on slyly.
Two could play that game. "None of your business," I replied, trying to sound mischievous. "We were... busy." Oh god, I didn't just say that, did I?
After that I didn't trust my mouth anymore. Throughout the rest of breakfast, even after Faye and Effie arrived, I kept my eyes on my plate and my mouth shut.
"Well then," Effie spoke up at 9:30. "Cinna, Vivia, and Anthul, you guys have an event to plan, don't you?" I groaned inwardly. Haymitch's funeral. "Why don't you go ahead? You guys have a lot on your hands, especially Vivia, Anthul. You need to plan for Faye and Floyd's interviews too."
They nodded and got up to leave. I attempted to make one last eye contact with Anthul before he walked away but failed.
"Floyd and Faye," said Effie, "for three days, you guys have training, starting today. It begins at 10. Then they'll serve you a late lunch, and you come back up here at 6 for dinner with me, Katniss, and the stylists. Remember to -"
"Whoa, hold it, Trinket." I put my hands up. "I'm right here, you know, I can deal with this. It's my job." I turned to face my tributes and picked up from where I interrupted Effie. "Do any of you have a specific strength? Something that might help you when you get to the arena?" I looked directly at Faye; surely Gale taught her something.
"Um, I can sort of do hand-to-hand combat," Floyd said uncertainly, wringing his stick-like arms. Effie made a weird high sound, like a fake cough to cover up a snicker. Floyd looked angry. "Effie Trinket. I have an older brother, an older sister, and a younger brother," he said loudly. "I've gotten into fistfights with each of them more than once."
"Well, if you're good, Floyd, don't show it off to anyone," I said quickly before Effie could say something back. He was pretty skinny though. "And you, Faye?"
She said too fast and too sharply, "Nope. Nothing."
I seriously doubted her but kept quiet. "Okay, then. You both have a lot of stations to cover. I have a couple of rules for you two. One, stay away from the Careers. I mean it." It would be very shameful not to mention dangerous for either one of them, and especially shameful for me. And I couldn't imagine what Gale would think if Faye joined the Careers. "And second, avoid any injuries. It'll only affect you in the Games. That's it. Effie, take 'em away." Our escort got up and lead my tributes to where they would begin their priceless training.
xxx
My daily routine for the next three days were somewhat similar to what I did every year as a mentor. After Effie left with Faye and Floyd, I sort of tried to help the Avoxes clear the table without seeming like I was helping. For example, this year I pretended to put the food that I liked in front of me and "made space" for them by stacking the dirty dishes on one side. That was all it took to clear the table. I knew from experience that the food we didn't eat during that meal was gonna be thrown out so I asked for some fairly large disposable containers and stuffed it with food to secretly mail home to District 12. The trains were so fast that the food would get to Prim's family way before it went bad.
From what I know, only me and Cecelia are the only mentors that can mail things home from the Capitol without it being inspected. Cecelia has kids, and the Capitol has adored Prim since she was reaped. Once I put a tiny camera in a box of clothes I sent back, and from what I saw on the tape, not one person took a second glance at the box. That's how I knew for sure.
This year, I decided to give the clothes I had taken from the train to 12's new orphanage. The orphange was our district's secret. In fact, it's so secretive that less than half of District 12's population knows about its real purpose: to give parent-less children under the age of 14 a place to sleep, eat, and breathe easy. I was one of the three donors to found the fairly wide, two-floored structure with running water and a few hours of electricity a day, knowing that my home's population wouldn't dwindle helplessly as fast with it. More children being taken care of meant more children staying healthy, which leads to more children becoming adults and having kids, so our district wouldn't be so empty. So far, there hasn't been much of an increase in our population since the orphanage isn't even two years old yet, but we're positive it would be worthwhile in the end.
I addressed my fairly large package to Prim's with a short letter in it, explaining what the contents were for. I also readied a second box, a much smaller one, full with food, for Prim's family to eat. Then I just dropped it off in a mailbox, which was right in the Training Center on the first floor. I spent a lot of my three days there, sipping beverages and having chats with other victors. On the second day of the tributes' training, an interaction between me and Finnick was... unusual. It stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
"Hey... Catnip," Finnick jokingly, plopping down next to me on the couch. I walked away in disgust, since being reminded of Gale hardly ever helped matters. "Kitty cat, wait up," Finnick went on. Before I could escape, he grabbed hold of me and dragged me back. The room was empty, so I wasn't embarrassed to try to physically hurt him. Finnick was prepared, though, and kept me at arm's length away. He forced me to lie down on the couch face-up while he hovered over me teasingly.
"What the freak, Odair," I yelled, trying to get away from him. He was making me very, very uncomfortable.
He put a finger on my lips to shush me. I bit it and didn't let loose. After a few seconds he grimaced and said, "Okay, you win. Stop biting me." I didn't though, until he got off of me. However, he didn't let me leave the room yet. He had some interesting questions didn't put me at ease.
"How's your love life, Miss Everdeen?" Finnick asked me in an interview-ish way. I couldn't tell if this was a joke or not; he had a slight smirk on his face but his eyes were very deep and prodding and questioning.
I decided to keep it simple yet mysterious, since Finnick and I were never really best friends but weren't enemies either. "I don't have one. And if I did, it's not really any of your business."
"Oh really?" he responded just as mysteriously, leaning in closer. I made a face and scooted back. "Because Katniss Everdeen, I have a piece of knowledge of your love life." He trailed off quietly, cocking his head to the side a little.
I clenched my jaw. First Vivia, now Finnick. I barely knew Vivia and Finnick has proven over the years that his personality comes with a wide range, so I wasn't sure if the whole Capitol would find out about Anthul by the time the tributes are sent into the arena. I hated the thought.
Finnick nodded and got up. My eyes followed his hand as it reached in his pocket, pulled out a small piece of paper, and swiftly slipped it in my hand. "Whenever you're ready, Kitty."
I made sure I was safely locked in my room on the twelfth floor before reading the note. I've been interested. 555-9353.
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The numbers were a telephone number, that much I knew. In the districts, not too many people had one, but in the Capitol, everyone did. Even portable ones. Their nauseating kids carried them around all the time, proudly flaunting them about. But whose number was this?
My first thought was Finnick, but I quickly eliminated him as the owner of this number. He was Annie's, and Annie was his. He wouldn't leave her just because she died... would he? No. No, I thought fiercely.
Another option was that Mr. Odair was playing with me. It must be amusing for him if he saw the state I was in now, puzzling over the simple, crumpled note. Yes, that was it... wasn't it? My mind boggled.
Before I knew it, I was tiptoeing out of my room to the nearest telephone. As far as I knew, there were at least three of them on our floor alone, one in the kitchen, one in Effie's room, and one in a room called the sitting room. I went directly to the sitting room since it was pretty small and hardly anyone went there anyway.
"Perfect," I muttered, locking the door behind me. No one was in there. I picked up the phone and quickly punched in the numbers. No one could track me down by calling this person, could they?
"Hello?" a deep voice answered after half a ring.
I pinched my nose and said in a squeaky voice, "Odair? This is his - his... friend calling."
"We're all Odairs," the voice said suspiciously. "Which one do you want?"
"Which ones are there?" I responded lamely, hoping it didn't sound like prostitution or anything.
"Uh, well, Finnick's at the Capitol, my dad and older brother are out in the sea, and I'm at home with our little sister, Coral." He kept his family pretty anonymous.
"What's your name?" I blurted, accidentally using my regular voice.
The person stayed silent for a while before giving in. "Kai." Then he demanded, "Who are you and what do you want?"
"Uh - uh - well -" I couldn't think of an excuse so I sighed and mumbled, "Finnick Odair gave me this phone number."
"Finnick GAVE you this - wait, wait, wait," Kai sputtered. "Is... is this... Katniss Everdeen?"
"No!" I yelled too quickly.
"Oh god." I barely heard him say it. "I - Katniss - um -"
I couldn't stand it anymore. This was too stupid and awkward. I hung up.
I tried to forget about that pointless phone call but I couldn't. I'd learned that Finnick had two brothers, a father, and a little sister. What about his mother? And from the way Kai had sounded on the phone, he sounded overly surprised and happy with my call. Was he the one that was "interested"? Probably. But if he looked anything like the beautiful Finnick Odair, why would he be interested in me? I'm plain. I've never cared for fashion or makeup. I'm the furthest thing from feminine.
At the end of the third day of training, Floyd and Faye came back into the room in a distressed manner. Before I even asked, Faye said crossly, "We blew it. I don't even want to talk about it, so every one of you better shut up with your stupid questions." We had just settled down to eat, so dinner was a bit quiet that night.
Despite the tension in the air, everyone gathered in front of the TV to watch the training scores. Districts 1 and 2 did the best so far, all of them scoring a 9 or 10. Districts 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 mostly scored from a 3 to 6. One boy even got a 2, one of the lowest scores in Hunger Games history. The girl from 4 got a 6 and the boy got an 8. Unusually low scores for their district. Both from District 9 did pretty good, each getting a 8. From what I remembered, though, they were 18 and buff. That was probably why. District 10 and 11 got 7s and 8s. Not bad. Then it was time for District 12. Floyd came on first. He clenched his fists and tucked his knees under his chin. 7! He'd gotten a 7!
"What did you do, Floyd?" Effie exclaimed, completely shocked.
"I punched all the dummies down in three seconds and threw some spears around," he replied smugly. "I didn't think it would do much but I guess it did."
"Faye Hawthorne," Ceasar Flickerman said smoothly, smiling into the screen. "A... 9."
"9!" she cried out. "I didn't do anything!"
"What do you mean?" Anthul questioned, his voice creating goosebumps on my skin.
"I just went in, threw a couple of knives in the targets and dummies, and kicked the paint and small weights and other equipment to make a huge mess."
I raised an eyebrow. That got her a 9? It wasn't exactly rebelling but still... that wasn't anything! How did Faye get a 9 and Floyd get a 7? It should've been the other way around.
"Well," Effie said, trying to sound motherly and sweet, "kids, off to bed. Would you like me to tuck you in?"
I gagged. "Seriously?"
"They've had a long three days, Katniss, I'm sure they'd want someone to tuck them in warmly in bed and -"
"I'm fine, thank you," Faye said shortly, dashing off.
I fiddled with my toes, trying not to smirk at Effie. Once I thought everyone was gone, I looked up and made eye contact with...
Anthul.
"Still here?" I choked out.
He nodded. "Katniss..." His eyes swept down and he took a few steps closer to me. "Has anyone told you what a beautiful woman you are?"
My breath hitched. I stared in his gorgeous green, mystical eyes. "No," I whispered. Peeta nor Gale never really said it straight out, and whenever Ceasar Flickerman said it in my interviews, it didn't seem real. Prim said it in an admiringly, sisterly way, my father died before I was even old enough to be called beautiful, and my mother was probably too shy to say it.
"Katniss, can you keep a secret?" Anthul asked hushedly.
The room was dark; Effie probably turned it off on the way out. The only thing I could focus on was this person's magnificent eye color. "Yes."
His hands wrapping me in a tight embrace, Anthul leaned in suddenly and pressed his lips against mine.
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