Hello there, I'm so happy my favorite part of the book is coming up and I can't wait to write it out. Anyway, here is another chapter.
Katniss leaves to bed early that night, so does Effie and Portia. Cinna leaves to work on his designs. Haymitch leans forward to grab his drink, but I get to it first.
"I need to speak to you, before you get drunk."
"What do you want?" he says leaning back in his chair.
"I can't keep this up anymore. It's becoming harder for me not to tell her." I say. He stays silent. "She doesn't trust me and it hurts knowing it."
"You're better off if she doesn't trust you." says Haymitch.
"How so?" I ask.
"She views you as a threat along with the other tributes. That's helpful in a way. If she trusts you then…" he stops there. I understand what he means.
"What do I do?"
"How about I coach you separately?" he asks taking the bottle from my hand. There is an up and down side with this offer. I do need to speak with Haymitch more on how to be in the arena, but then Katniss would think that I was jealous that she got a higher training score or something like that.
"Deal." I say. I go back to my room and get under the covers without even changing. I fall asleep instantly.
I dream of her. Running through the woods with her braid flapping in the wind. She has her bow in her hand and her sheath over her shoulder. She suddenly stops and loads her bow in one swift motion of her hand. She aims it towards something in the trees. I don't see anything, but she does.
Suddenly, out of a bush behind her, a creature I have never seen before, jumps out and bites at her neck bringing her down with it. She lies on the ground screaming and trying to push the thing off of her. It's some sort of almost hairless large squirrel dog that has razor sharp teeth. It's biting all over her upper body and scratching the rest of her. It finally gets off and runs off on its hind legs. Now, I know what the thing was. It's a Capitol created mutt.
I can't move my body. My eyes and mouth are the only things that move. I scream for her to get up … to be okay. Tears roll down my face. She rolls over facing me. We lock eyes. She draws her last breath and her eyelids slowly close forever.
I awaken in my bed drenched in sweat. I try to sit up, but I can't. I just lay there, stunned. After a few minutes, I'm able to sit up. I look over to the clock. 4:26 a.m. I take my shirt off and walk over to the sink. I turn the faucet on and splash my face with the running water.
Katniss is alive. It was just a nightmare. I repeat this to myself over and over again until I've convinced myself. I lay back down on my bed. There's no point in trying to go back to sleep. I remain awake until I hear someone knocking on my door. I rise and open it to see Effie.
"Good morning Peeta. Meet us for breakfast in 10 minutes." she says. I nod and close the door when she leaves. I take a quick shower and get dressed in about 5 minutes. I walk down to the table to see Haymitch and Effie are already seated. They stop talking when I walk in. I sit down at the far end beside Effie.
"You ready for this, boy?" Haymitch asks me quietly. I hesitantly nod.
"This normally happens by now, Peeta. You don't have to be nervous." Effie reassures me. Katniss walks in and we turn our heads to her. She takes a seat by Haymitch. We eat our meals in silence. Katniss is the last one to finish eating.
"So, what's going on? You're coaching us on interviews today, right?" she asks Haymitch.
"Well, there's been a change of plans. About our current approach," he answers twirling the bottle in his hands.
"What's that?"
"Peeta has asked to be coached separately."
The first thing that registers on her face is hurt, but it's quickly replaced with confidence.
"Good. So what's the schedule?" she says. I try to keep a straight, but I would have excepted her to be a little ballistic.
"You'll each have four hours with Effie for presentation and four with me for content. You start with Effie, Katniss." says Haymitch. Katniss follows Effie to another room. Haymitch walks over to the sitting room and I follow him. He sits down and puts his feet on the table. I sit down on the other chair beside the sofa he's sitting on.
He stares at me with a deep-in-thought stare.
"Do you know who the Careers are?" he finally asks.
"Yeah. Districts 1, 2, and 4." I respond.
"Do you know who they are targeting right now?" he asks. My eyes dart down to the floor. "Who is the one that outshined them at the opening ceremonies? Who was the one who beat their training score and got the highest out of all the tributes? Who is the one that has all the attention right now?"
"Katniss…" I say quietly.
"Exactly." says Haymitch.
"So, what now?"
"You join their alliance."
"What?"
"Yes. By joining them, you are guaranteed a longer life in the arena. You know until they decide to kill you." I take time to think this over. Maybe he's right.
"Alright I'll do it, but why would they even let me in their alliance?"
"They would let you in if they knew that you would lead them to her. You would help them find her and kill her. Then they can kill you afterward. " he says.
"I would never." I quickly respond.
"By teaming up with them, you would ensure that they wouldn't kill her. As long as you're with them." he says. I guess he's right … in a way.
"How would I get in?" I ask. He takes a while to respond, as if thinking it through.
"Reveal yourself."
"Reveal myself?" I repeat.
"Yes. In your interview tell the country how you feel."
"About Katniss?" I ask with horror written all over my face. His nods his head slowly. "No. I won't. I can't even tell her if I tried. Do you think I can tell the whole country?"
"You would if you want to her to live. We both know she won't survive this interview on her own." I nod my head.
"Tell me what to do." I say. We start rehearsing different ways to confess. Haymitch is the interviewer. He asks me many questions and I try my best to spin them around. By the end of my multiple interviews, I have Haymitch laughing his head off. Although, the jokes I'm saying aren't that funny. I trade off with Katniss after we eat lunch. I wonder what Effie has to teach me.
"Peeta when you sit, you don't sit like you're uncomfortable." Effie says scolding me. I've been in here for an hour and a half. So far, we've only covered walking and sitting. I would have mastered these things if she didn't make everything uncomfortable. The shoes I had to walk in had rock hard soles and the chair was also like sitting on glass.
"I'm sorry Effie. I'm trying. I really am." I tell her.
"Well, I can tell you that you are doing much better than Katniss." she tries to reassure me. After I master it she makes me practice smiling. I master this to excellence within a half hour. She releases me early. I walk to my room and order food. After I'm done I lay down on my bed. The Avox girl walks in my room and picks up the plates and places it on the tray. She walks out and closes the door behind her.
I hear loud noises coming from the hallway, but I don't move. I lay there staring at the ceiling. My eyelid gets heavy and I doze off. I dream of the Careers capturing Katniss. They tie her hands behind her back and push her on her knees in front of me.
"Kill her." says the District 2 boy. He hands me a sharp sword. "Through the heart." I grip the sword in my hands and just stare at it. I look Katniss in the eye. She wants me to do it. I can't … I won't. She looks deeper into my eyes. It's as if I can hear her saying 'do it asshole' but I won't.
"If you won't then I will." says the same boy. He takes the sword away from me and cuts her throat. She collapses to the ground. I take out the knife from my belt and charge at him. He drives the sword through my heart. Everything goes dark.
I open my eyes and look around the room. Once I realize where I am, I sit up. I don't know how long I sit there, but I don't move until Portia opens the door and walks in.
"Hey, I see you're up. Come in guys." she says. The prep team walks in and sets up some sort of mini station. While they do that, I take a quick shower. I press the wrong button and I am engulfed in a floral scent liquid. When I'm done, I dry off and get dressed in comfortable clothing. They sit me down on a chair and start working on my hair. They brush it out and blow dry it. They coat it with some sort of gel and then they style it with a comb. After that they put light make up touches here and there.
"Peeta, here is tonight's outfit. Try it on." says Portia handing me a suit on a hanger. I change and they have me sit in it and stretch my arms about to make sure everything's comfortable. They adjust minor details and we walk out to the elevator where Haymitch and Effie are waiting. Shortly after I arrive, Katniss arrives. She is more than just beautiful … she is absolutely stunning. On the elevator, I keep side glancing at her. Haymitch sees me doing this and tries not to laugh. I stop and stare at my shiny shoes until the elevator doors open.
We step out and see the other tributes lining up. We position our selves behind District 11 and are startled when Haymitch comes up behind us.
"Remember, you're still a happy pair. So act like it." he growls. Katniss gives him an annoyed look and averts her eyes back to the stage. Soon enough we walk out on the stage and sit down in the chairs they set out for us.
Caesar Flickerman bounces on stage and gives a brief introduction. I try my best to avoid looking at him because I'm sure I would burst out laughing. He looks like a blind person put blue makeup on his face. I watch the tributes give their interviews. Each tribute has a different angle to play. Each of them vary from sexy to shy to ruthlessness. Katniss is up before I know it.
She walks swiftly onto the stage and shakes Caesar's hand. They take their seats on the white interview chairs.
"So, Katniss, the Capitol must be quite a change from District Twelve. What's impressed you most since you arrived here?" Caesar asks Katniss. She looks through the crowd.
"The lamb stew," says Katniss. Caesar laughs and so does the audience.
"The one with the dried plums?" he asks. She nods. "Oh, I eat it by the bucketful." He turns sideways to the audience in horror, hand on his stomach. "It doesn't show, does it?" They shout things at him and then applaud.
"Now, Katniss. When you came out in the opening ceremonies, my heart actually stopped. What did you think of that costume?"
"You mean after I got over my fear of being burned alive?" she asks. I smile to myself. She's doing better than I thought. I hear the audience laugh. Maybe she can get through this by herself.
"Yes. Start then," says Caesar. Katniss briefly tells the audience that the costume was gorgeous and Cinna is brilliant. She also adds that she can't believe she's also wearing her current dress. She spreads it out for the audience to see.
"I mean, look at it!" she says excitedly. She stands up and spins in a circle. The crowd is ecstatic. Caesar asks her to do it again and she does. She spins around and around. The dress flies out around her as if she is being engulfed in flames. She stops and grips Caesar's arm.
"Don't stop!" he says chuckling.
"I have to, I'm dizzy!" she says giggling. He wraps an arm around her.
"Don't worry, I've got you. Can't have you following in your mentor's footsteps." I actually let out a laugh, but stop when some of the other tributes look at me weird. "It's all right. She's safe with me. So, how about that training score. E-le-ven. Give us a hint what happened in there."
"Um … all I can say, is I think it was a first." she says watching the Gamemakers' balcony.
"You're killing us. Details. Details." A smile appears on my face again.
"I'm not supposed to talk about it, right?" she asks the balcony. They shout something at her.
"Thank you. Sorry. My lips are sealed." says Katniss. The mood in the room shifts to seriousness when Caesar asks about Prim.
"She asked me to try really hard to win."
"And what did you say?"
"I swore I would." she says. I look over to the Careers, they look pissed off.
"I bet you did. Sorry we're out of time. Best of luck, Katniss Everdeen, tribute from District Twelve." says Caesar. Katniss stands up and walks back to her seat next to me while the audience applauds.
I hear my name being called and I stand up and walk onto the stage. Here I go.
Sorry, I have to cut it off right there. Review please. I would also like to thank you for taking your time to read my story. It means a lot to see people reading my stories.