A/N: This one's a Primrose one, set during the first book, after Rue's death.
Disclaimer: I do not own and will never own The Hunger Games.
Be Strong
The rustling of paper, the closing of books. The scrabbling of children to get their lunch boxes. The scraping as desks were pushed together, and the chattering as the students swapped what little food they had. That scratchy, static-y noise when the TV was clicked on. Everyone turning their chairs to see. Silencing the voices. So many sounds in the classroom, and Prim noticed all of them.
They played the highlights of the Games so far. Primrose Everdeen waited with wide eyes for the death announcements.
They flew through scene after scene. The Careers running through the trees, the little dark girl lighting fires, the pile of supplies exploding. Cato killed the boy from 3. The girl from 11 died . . . Was murdered . . . Rue. The boy from 1, too.
Katniss was everywhere. She caused the explosion. She ran to Rue. She shot the boy. She sang to little Rue - only the same age as me, thought Prim - as she died. Primrose knew the song. They learned it at school.
There were the flowers. She heard the collective gasp of her classmates.
Prim rubbed at her eyes to erase the evidence of tears, hoping her classmates wouldn't notice. She shouldn't show weakness. It's not what her sister would want. Katniss would say: "Be strong Prim. Don't let them bring you down." Be strong Prim.
With the absence of her sister's support, she ran to Gale later, after the bell rang to release them from class. He picked her up and hugged her tight. Gale and his brother Rory each held one of Prim's hands while they walked home.
Gale left her at the door of the Everdeen house. He patted her on the shoulder. "She'll be okay. She can do it. She's strong. And we all gotta be strong like that."
That night, Prim and her mother huddled together on the couch. They held each other and cried together while the Games warbled on in the background. For Katniss. For the little girl from District 11. For the other children who had already been murdered. For all of the children that had ever been sacrificed for the Capitol's entertainment.
A/N: I would love to read any thoughts you had on this. Whether you liked it, disliked it, hated it. So please take a few seconds and review! Feel free to give me any suggestions, ideas, prompts or characters you would like me to use for a future drabble. :D Thanks.