"Katniss! What in the world are you doing?" my mother exclaims.
Prim tries to muffle her giggles, but fails desperately.
"Prim," my mothers tries to say calmly "I think it'd be best if you went upstairs."
She stops chuckling enough to hug Cato and I both good night, then lightly prances off to bed.
"When did you start kissing boys, Katniss?"
I didn't think my mother would react so strongly.
"He's the only boy I've ever kissed, mother."
I glance to Cato and see that his face in bright red.
"Cato, you should go to Haymitch's. You can come back over in the morning."
We don't put up a fight. I walk him to the door and he hugs me tenderly. I wish I could stay in his arms forever, but all too soon Haymitch is ushering him out the door.
"Let's just forget this happened," my mother sighs.
Silently, I turn and walk upstairs. My covers encompass me in warmth. I sleep so well knowing that right now everything is perfect.
I wake up to the sound of singing of birds. It's barely sunrise, but I feel extremely rested. Usually I get breakfast first, but I'm not yet hungry so I decide to get ready for the day. By the time I have showered, changed, and brushed my teeth my stomach is growling. Luckily, the smell of food is looming thick in the air. I only get a few bites down before Haymitch barges through the door.
"Katniss, we have a problem. Come with me."
His voice is serious and sober. I instantly forget about being hungry and follow him.
"What's going on?"
The second he opens the door to his home I don't need him to answer. The smell hits me like a brick wall. I know immediately who is here.
"Ah, Ms. Everdeen, why don't you have a seat?"
The foul odor of roses and blood makes me sick to my stomach. I search the room for Cato and find him standing a few feet away with his arms crossed and rage in his eyes.
"What's this about?"
"Right to the point," he chuckles, "I see you and Cato have become quite close. I don't think I've ever witnessed a relationship with people from two different Districts. Quite rebellious, hm?"
Fear seethes through me when he uses the word rebellious. My palms start to sweat and I become extremely uncomfortable.
"I'm not sure what the people of Panem are going to think of this, but I'm certain we should find out. I'm here to invite you both to a dinner at my mansion in the Capitol."
Cato walks over and puts his hand on my shoulder.
"You know, we'd love to, but we just have so much going on here."
His voice is stern, sterner than I have ever heard it. It's almost scary.
"Oh, but I must insist."
Snow isn't asking us to the dinner, he is telling us we have to go. I know Cato is going to continue fighting with him, so I decide to speak up.
"I guess we will just have to find time," I say as I gently cup Cato's hand in mine.
With a satisfied look on his face, Snow gets up and gracefully walks out of the house. We remain quiet for a minute or two after he leaves, then Haymitch speaks.
"He's up to something."
"Ya think?" Cato spits.
Haymitch flashes him a glare, but moves on.
"Okay, guys, you're going to have to act like the most in love people in the universe when you're there."
This confuses me, so Haymitch explains more.
"Look, obviously something bad is going on. This is a test. You are going to have to make the people of the Capitol fall in love with you."
Now it's all starting to make sense, and this scares me. I start to tremble.
"Katniss," Cato says in a soft tone, "it's going to be ok."
"How do you know that? How do you know everything isn't going to just fall apart? How do you know that everyone isn't going to just see right through us?"
I'm becoming hysterical now. Tears are falling. He lifts my chin up, then speaks again in the same gentle way.
"Because we are actually in love with each other."
He's right. We don't have to act like we're in love, we are actually in love. It shouldn't be hard to prove that to Capitol.
"I know you're thinking it'll be a breeze because you're really in love,"
How can he read my mind like that?
"but it won't be. They will pick apart you're entire relationship, they will tempt you, they will try their damnedest to rip you apart. Are you sure you can handle this?"
Cato and I just stare at each other. Fear coursing through both of our veins, pumping adrenaline through them. We grab hands tightly and speak almost in unison when we agree.
"Alright then, let's get you two Capitol ready. I'll call Effie and your styling teams, you get me a bottle of vodka. It's going to be a long night."
Within a few hours, Haymitch is three bottles in and our teams both arrive along with Effie.
"Oh are you so, so excited to be a guest in the Mansion?"
Effie always talks like this, but I figured she would be less excited knowing we were invited in vain. I am about to speak on it, when I see Cinna shaking his head. Oh no. Effie doesn't know. How does Effie not know? The poor woman is left out of everything.
"Yeah, Eff, totally excited."
She flashes me a big smile, then ushers Cato and I off into different rooms. The regular waxing, bathing, plucking, dying, and trimming commences. I sit patiently and wait for them to finish. Throughout the whole makeover they chat and giggle, but I mostly block it out. I don't really care about anything they have to say. Capitol talk is pretty useless to me. I guess I lose track of time because it only feels like an hour has gone by when they tell me they're done. I turn around towards the mirror and look at myself. I only have a little makeup on, but my hair is completely different. I stand in shock, speechless. Cato appears behind me in the door.
"Wow, Katniss, you look amazing."
I'm still speechless. Prim dances into the room.
"Katniss! You look like me now!"
She's right. I finally look like the rest of my family, but I lost what made me look like my father. Tears well up in my eyes. Before any fall I make my way to the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I hear hushed voices outside the door, but I don't pay attention to them. After a couple minutes of sobbing the door opens. Through tear filled eyes I look up, and see Cato. He doesn't speak a single word, he simply sits down beside me and holds me. I cry for awhile, then when I'm done he makes me face a mirror. To my surprise, none of my makeup has faded. He takes my hair and pulls it behind my head, then covers the top of my head with a towel.
"Look, you're the same Katniss. Hair color doesn't change who you are."
"But my father," I start.
"I know, but your hair color isn't the only thing you got from him. In fact, after meeting your mom, I think you got most of his personality traits. It's just hair, Kat."
He's right. I can't let the color of my hair make me this upset. I wipe my tear soaked cheeks, and leave the bathroom with Cato close behind.
"Ready to get dressed?"
I nod my head.
"Since you will be on a train, we're dressing you comfortably, but since there will be photographers-"
That's where I stop listening. Photographers in District Twelve? That has never happened before, and the people will definitely not like it. If they don't already hate me for having someone from Two here, they will definitely hate me once they see the photographers here for us.
Cinna dresses me in tight, bright red, cloth pants with a dark, orange, flowy top. He's right, I am comfortable. Until he plops a big, black hat on my head.
"Don't even touch it until you're on the train," Cinna says as I reach up to move it.
I bring my hands back down to my side and stare at myself some more. I don't even look like the same person with blonde hair. Maybe that's the point, though. I'm not allowed to be the same person. The Capitol doesn't like the girl who I am, so I have to be someone else. And I will be someone else, for the sake of my family and Cato.
"Photographers are in place! Let's go, go, go!"
Cato kisses me on the cheek, takes my hand, and we make our way to the train station, completely smitten with each other. It's not hard to act in love when you are in love, the hard part is trying to block out all the noise and the flashes and the people.
"Katniss! Smile!"
"Kiss her, Cato!"
"Like the new look, girl on fire!"
Words fly through the air surrounding me in a sea. I'm trying so hard to keep from yelling at them. I hate Snow even more than I already did for forcing us to make our lives so public. I squeeze Cato's hand tighter and tighter until we finally make it onto the train.
"You did fine," Cato says as he kisses my head.
The train lunges forward. Next stop: The Capitol.
Ok guys I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update! For all of you that are still here, I am so thankful. I broke up with my fiance, and things have just been really hectic. I'm going to try and update as soon as I can, just please stick with me. I promise I'm not abandoning you! I love you all so so so much!