It was no secret that Haymitch and Effie were fighting, he had humiliated her the night before, he'd gotten drunk and done some very stupid things and she (Like always) had to go and fix his mess. So they sat in an awkward, bitter silence at dinner with Peeta and Katniss. "This dinner is shit." Haymitch slurred, and it annoyed Effie, as if he knew anything about good food, being a drunk from district 12. "Is there any point eating it then, you're just going to throw it back up later." She said coldly, she was in no mood for his complaining tonight "So will you, but you don't hear me bitching." He snapped back at her, and that stung, he was a mean drunk, and he knew exactly how to hurt her.
Katniss and Peeta exchanged shocked looks, even they agreed his comment was uncalled for, Effie was hurt by it so she decided to take her leave from the table "If you'll all excuse me, I'm not very hungry." She said standing up "Yeah princess that should be your catchphrase." He said bitterly and she practically ran back to her room.
He could be so insensitive, sometimes she felt he just wanted to hurt people, no matter who it was or how he did it, she tried not to take it personally but this time it was too far, he had crossed a line. She found herself getting more upset the more she thought about it, then she felt an anxiety grip her chest, followed by an urgent need to remove her corset, she unlaced it quickly, her shaky hands fumbling slightly, as soon as it was lose enough she threw it on the floor, shoving on a silk robe and sitting on her bed.
She found herself biting her nails (An incredibly dirty habit) did they all know about her struggles with eating disorders? She had always had issues around food, reverting back to her old ways during the 74th hunger games. She supposed it wouldn't have been hard to guess that she was starving herself, I mean they all knew she was a model, and models in the Capitol had a reputation for not eating, but that was just speculation, she could tell Haymitch knew for certain. This left her wondering why he hadn't ever bothered her about it, why had he only brought it up now to hurt her. He probably hates you, she reminded herself, he's probably happy you're starving yourself, that you're suffering, thoughts like these continued to circle her mind.
Meanwhile back at the dinner table Peeta looked at Haymitch with pure rage in his eyes "How could you say that to her?" He asked and Haymitch shrugged it off "What? I didn't say anything that's not true, tell me you haven't heard her throwing up, haven't seen her take two bites of food then throw the plate away." He defended "It was insensitive of you to joke about it Haymitch." Katniss agreed "What's insensitive? she's a Capitol brat, that's so vein she deprives herself of food, wastes it, how many kids in the district could be fed by the food she throws out, or throws up." He said bitterly this quarter quell was reminding him just how much he hated the Capitol, and she was no different she was one of them.
"You never say things like this about Effie, Haymitch what is wrong with you?" Peeta asked "She's just like the rest of them, she's Capitol, she's the enemy. She's a stuck up model who's not eating just so people compliment her, tell her how beautiful she is, she's just an attention whore. Don't go feeling bad for her." With that Peeta left the table, furious, and knocked on Effie's door.
"Effie, are you okay?" He asked from behind the door. "I'm fine." She lied but he knew better than to trust that "Effie let me in." He said and she obliged, opening her door. "Effie I'm sorry about what Haymitch said, it's the quarter quell, it just brings back bad memories for him." He assured her "I'm not offended at all, what he said isn't true after all." She lied and he looked sceptical "Effie I know what he said is true, but he shouldn't have said it."
"Why would you assume I have an eating disorder?" She asked "Effie come on, you never eat more than a few bites from your plate before throwing it away and I've heard you throwing up in the bathroom." He told her and she shook her head "I had the flu, I swear I'm perfectly healthy." She promised but he still wasn't convinced "Effie It's okay I won't judge you, it's nothing to be ashamed of." Peeta assured her.
"Well I do skip meals sometimes, and I throw up, but I'm just trying to lose weight, I'm too big to be a model as it as." She admitted, her insecurities showing "Effie if anything you are underweight, everyone loves you, they think you're a great model, you're beautiful." She had a few tears in her eyes "I'm just so embarrassed, now you all know, and Haymitch just finds it amusing." Peeta wrapped an arm around her "Shh, Effie, Haymitch didn't mean a single thing he said, he wants to hurt the Capitol and he thought hurting you would accomplish that." She cried a little into his shoulder but composed herself "Look at me I'm crying to you, about something as stupid as food when you're going back into that place, I'm sorry." She said
"It's not stupid Effie, it's really serious, you need help, and you shouldn't feel sorry about the games, you hate them as much as we do, I'll be thinking about you Effie when I'm in the arena." He told her "I won't stop until I find away to get you both back, I won't take my eyes off of the games until you both are back here, I'll do everything I can Peeta, I promise."
"I know you will Effie, I believe in you." He said before standing up "Don't let what Haymitch said get to you, go to sleep and I'm sure he'll apologise in the morning." He said before leaving her alone with her full head and empty stomach.