Chapter Six:
Cedric tried to get me to forgive him. He said sorry countless times, but I ignored him. Sure, it was mean. I should've forgiven him. I ignored my Dad's wishes at staying together. I avoided Cedric at the center. I tried harder to do good at training. I wasn't going to let Cedric think that he had hurt me. He could go be with his precious 'Ari'.
I became good friends with the District 8 tributes. As my first impression, they turned out to be intelligent, resourceful, and kind. The boy was called Ronan, and the girl was called Faren.
One day at lunch, the District 8 boy asked to be allies. He said cautiously, "I know, it's against the rules to become allies now, but I was thinking, since we get along so well...you know, we'd make a good team."
I turned to Ronan with a friendly smile. "I think so too."
Ronan and Faren exchanged happy looks. I could tell by now that there was something special between them.
"Um," Faren said, smiling a little. "Will your, ah, boyfriend be joining too?"
Uh oh. There went my smile. Trying to be strong and not discouraged, I replied, "No. He was invited by the Careers. His precious 'Ari' needs him."
Faren laughed. "Nice try, Laurel. He is obsessed with you."
"No he isn't," I snapped.
My snapping didn't bother these two tributes. Ronan smiled, rolling his eyes. "Yeah right. You miss him lots."
"I'm not ready to forgive him yet. He's not being sincere."
Faren put her hand on my shoulder. "It will be okay, Laurel. He loves you."
"Why is it always easier for someone else to help with romantic stuff than it is to help yourself?" I asked, partly to myself, partly to Faren.
Faren smiled. "I don't know. I feel the same way."
Ronan looked surprised, jumping to his feet. When he shocked the both of us, he sat down. Once he was able to swallow his food without choking, he said, "You didn't have a boyfriend back in District 8."
Faren giggled. "Funny, Ronan. No, I mean the guy I fell in love with is...well, not in love with me."
"I think he is," I said slyly.
Ronan and Faren both blushed, causing me to laugh. I couldn't believe how much like Hearth I sounded when I said, "You two love each other."
"How'd you know?" they said at the exact same time.
They exchanged glances, and Faren said, "You love me?"
"You love me?" Ronan asked too. "Yes, I love you."
I scowled at them, knowing that my scowl probably matched Haymitch's perfectly.
Ha, we're about to be sent to our deaths, and we all pick the perfect time to fall in love. See how smart I am? I'm just like my mom and dad. Ugh, and I still like Cedric. I can't believe myself sometimes.
On the third evening when Cedric and I got to the room, Effie told us about our private training inspections later tonight. We ate dinner, and I went to my room to prepare. I pulled my hair back in to a ponytail and put on comfortable sweat pants and a long sleeved warm up shirt. My mom came to see me quickly before all the tributes gathering outside the training center.
"Don't do anything stupid," my mom said, mentioning her stories of the two times she displeased the Gamemakers.
I started laughing at the stories. "No worries, mom."
Cedric and I walked down to the center and waited. Since we are District 12, it would take us a much longer wait.
Cedric was about to go first, but I stopped him. "Wait," I said. He turned back, looking at me hopefully. "Good luck."
He smiled a little, sadly, and walked in to the training center. It took a long time. Most of the tributes hadn't taken so long. I fidgeted, waiting for them to retrieve me.
When at last I walked in, the Gamemakers weren't even paying attention. I shot some arrows, threw some spears(which probably looked pretty depressing), and painted a camoflage image. They still weren't watching.
I armed my bow again, and looked at the Gamemakers. They were behind a forcefield. I could see the chink in the armor my mom had told me about. I let my arrow fly, and it hit the chink perfectly. There was a huge explosion which sent me flying backwards. I jumped up quickly. Not much had happened except the Gamemakers faces were shocked and black with soot. I could just barely see the apple sticking out of the pig's mouth, and copying my mother's actions, I took aim and hit the apple.
"Thank you for your time," I said coldly, leaving without permission.
I started to get nervous as we ate dinner. The results were going to be on television soon.
"Okay," Haymitch growled. "I know those expressions. What happened?"
I glanced at Cedric, who looked down, looking ashamed. "I'm sorry, Haymitch," Cedric said apologetically. "I think I ruined everything."
"No, I think I ruined everything," I said. "But, you can go first."
Cedric said softly, "I um, painted a picture."
"But-" I began, starting to mention that he was horrible with paints.
"Of what?" asked my father, stopping me.
Cedric started to blush. "A picture of...of Laurel."
I stuttered in shock. "Wh-how does that ruin everything?"
He looked away, fiddling with his hands. "Um, defying the Capitol. I put a message too."
My mom exchanged a glance with my dad and then she said, "You said something about how they can't control your loving her."
I flushed, and said in a small voice, "I suppose this would be a bad time to tell you I exploded the forcefield and shot the apple out of the pig's mouth."
My mom frowned at me.
"You did what?" gasped Effie.
"I suppose you shouldn't've told her about that," Dad said, grinning at my mom.
My mom didn't smile. "What have you two done?" She stood up and walked away, looking sad.
"Katniss is right," Haymitch growled. They all walked in to the other room.
"We should find out what we got," Cedric said.
"Cedric?"
"Yeah?"
I smiled at him weakly. "Thank you."
Together, we walked in to the other room. Effie turned on the television. Predictably high scores for the Careers, along the lines of 9s through 11s. Ronan got a 10 and Faren got an 8.
"Was it a pretty picture?" I interrupted suddenly.
"Yes. You were beautiful. As usual."
His comment made me blush, and I turned back to the television as Cedric's picture flashed across it, soon followed by his results. A 12. I was about to gasp, but my picture came up quickly, followed by an 11.
"Wh-why did we get high scores?" I asked.
Haymitch growled, "So all the other tributes will go after you. Get out of my sight." Haymitch turned and left.
My parents didn't smile. My dad gave me a hug and Cedric one too. My mom, still frowning, left the room without a goodnight. Effie gave us hugs, looking tearful as she walked in to the other room.
"What did we do?" I asked Cedric.
"I don't know, Laurel." He sighed sadly. "Your parents don't seem to be very confident with us."
"Cedric-"
"No, Laurel. I'm sorry." He started to turn away, but I ran over to him, hugging him tightly. I hid my face in his shoulder, trying not to cry. He patted my back gently and smoothed my hair.
"I forgive you," I whispered tearfully against his chest.
He kissed my forehead lightly.
Interviews tomorrow. I wasn't sure what was going to happen. Hearth...I had to win for him. But what about Cedric? We both could not win together. My mom and dad, they were special. I need serious mental help. This is driving me crazy.