Hey Everyone Thanks for reading so far. Please continue to tell me what you think of the chapter, any suggestions are welcomed! In order to pull off a good ending to this chapter, I had to include half of chapter five as well as chapter 4 from the book. Chapter 5 in my story will correspond with the rest of chapter 5 in the book, so it will be fairly short. Please let me know what you think, and look for chapter five coming soon!
Chapter Four -
As I lie in bed in the morning, I feel like I am back home. The sun has just barley began rising up and he morning air is still chilled. I pull the comforters more tightly around me and snuggle down farther in my bed. But wait, something isn't right. The air, the air doesn't smell right. It smells new, like the smell of a new set of clothes or a rich velvet couch. My home smells like a bakery, the sent of cinnamon and sugar swirling the aroma of fresh baked goods It's homey, not like this. It doesn't sound right either. Instead of the song of the birds, I hear a buzzing sound, a soft, slow, and dull buzz. That's when I wake up. I am not at home; I am on a train making my way to the Capital; that meant yesterday was real, too, and I was being sent to the Hunger Games.
I have barley sat up in bed when Effie bursts through the door. "Up, up, up!" she exclaims enthusiastically, "It's going to be a big, big, big day!" Following her orders, I get up and walk over to my dresser, picking out a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans. No need to look formal yet, I will save that for my stylists to do when we reach the capital. Like usual, I reach the dining car a few minuets before Katiness and choose where to sit. Haymitch is already there, his face red and puffy from the previous day's indulgences. As far as I can tell, he has no memory of last night. Effie is there too, sitting directly across from Haymitch, a look of disgust on her face, muttering something under her breath. Haymitch is chuckling, so I guess it's a good sign, maybe he will be ready to start mentoring us today.
As I take my seat next to Haymitch, who is now reaching for a tall red bottle, no doubt some form of liquor. I turn to look at what is on the table, and fill my plate with scrambled eggs, ham, and potatoes. Remembering last night, I take smaller portions of the richest foods. Effie shows me a brown liquid in a pitcher and pours me a cup. Hesitantly, I try it and find it's really good! She laughs" It's called hot chocolate!" after I take a few more sips, I pick up one of the rolls. "You gonna eat those rolls, kid? Hey, you're that baker's son, why don't you go make us some more?" Haymitch told me, laughing. Effie, clearly upset at his rudeness, begins muttering under her breath again. That's when Katiness walks in. What great timing.
"Sit down! Sit down!" Haymitch says, waving her over. I see she has put back on the green outfit from last night, and her hair is still in one long braid down her back. She actually looks quite pretty in the morning light. The moment she sits down, she starts to serve herself until her plate, like mine, is completely filled. I hand her a cup of hot chocolate. She eyes it suspiciously. "They call it hot chocolate," I told her, "It's good." She grabs the cup and cautiously takes a seat. I see a surprised look on her face, and smile. She wouldn't touch anything else until she had finished the whole glass. I finish eating, stuffing myself with as much food as I could hold down. Effie excuses herself and leaves, putting the attention on Haymitch now. He still hasn't touched his food, he's too busy drinking. I feel a sudden anger come on me. No wonder district 12 doesn't stand a chance, even the tributes with good strength and willpower don't stand a chance with a mentor like him. We rarely get sponsors, mostly because of him! No one wants to deal with a drunk like Haymitch, not even me. But were stuck with him.
"So your suppose to give us some advice?" Katiness asks, trying to keep her voice sounding casual. "Here's some advice," Haymitch replied, "Stay alive!" then he burst out laughing. This really pushes me. Katiness exchanges a look, and I meet her eyes, letting my anger at Haymitch show. He is suppose to be our guide and give us tips on how to survive in the arena, and he's cracking jokes like its some sort of game to him! Normally, I act rationally. But not today "That's very funny," I say, lashing out and knocking the glass out of his hand and letting the blood red liquid run across the floor. "Only not to us." I stare him down hard, letting him know I am not fooling around. He considers it for a moment, then punches me in the jaw. The force of his punch knocks me out of my chair and onto the floor. My mouth stings painfully, and my head is spinning, but I can see well enough as Haymitch reaches for the alcohol again. Katiness quickly drives her knife in the table between his hand and the bottle, stopping Haymitch in his tracks
"Well, what's this?" Haymitch exclaims, "Did I actually get a pair of fighters this year?" I get up from the floor and reach for some ice from the table to hold against my aching jaw. "No, don't," Haymitch says interrupting me. "Let the bruise show, the audience will think you've been messing with another tribute before you've even made it to the arena." "But isn't that against the rules?" I ask, slowly setting the ice back under the fruit tray. "Only if they catch you. The bruise will say you've fought and you weren't caught, even better." Haymitch tells me. I watch closely as he turns to Katiness. "Can you hit anything with a knife besides a table?" he asks her. She un-wedges the knife from the table and throws it against the wall across the room; it sticks perfectly.
"Stand over here, both of you" he ordered. I don't hesitate to do as he says. At last we have finally caught his attention. He circles us a few times, looking us over. "Well you're not entirely hopeless. Seem fit. Once your stylists get a hold of you, you'll be attractive enough." Katiness and I don't question this. The best-looking tributes always get the most sponsors. "Alright, I'll make you a deal," Haymitch says finally."You don't interfere with my drinking and I'll stay sober enough to help you. But you have to do exactly as I say." It's not exactly a great deal, but it's better than ten minuets ago when we didn't have any mentor at all. "Fine," I say bitterly. "What's the best strategy at Corniucopia for someone," Kaitness starts, but Haymitch interrupts her."One more thing," he says quickly. "In a few minuets we will be pulling up to the station and you will be put in the hands of your stylists. You're not going to like what they do to you, but don't resist. "But," Katiness tries to say, but Haymitch stops her again. "Nope, no buts, just do it." Then he grabs the bottle of spirits from the table and leaves the car. It gets really dark, and that's when I realize we must be in the tunnel going up to the Capital. Katiness doesn't say a word, and neither do I. We have a mentor now, more or less, so maybe we'll actually stand a chance. The train finally slows down and sunlight pours through our window. I rush over to take a look at my first live view of the Capital. The beauty of it couldn't be captured in camera, it was so much pretty then it had looked on screen. And the Capital people were just as crazy as they had looked; if anything the cameras hadn't quite been able to capture the oddness of these people. People are pointing to us eagerly, so I begin to wave and smile enthusiastically. Maybe that way we can pull in some sponsors.
I only step away from the window when we pull up to the train station. That's when I notice Katiness staring at me with disgust. "Who knows?" I shrug."One of them might be rich." Then I begin to walk off the train before she can say another word. If Haymitch is willing to mentor us, then I am willing to fight. I could team up with Katiness and then when it came down to the last few people, take off and try to kill as many tributes as I could before I died. I just hope someone would kill me before I made it to the final two. I couldn't imagine what would happen if it came down to me and her. Would she turn on me? Would I turn on her? The thoughts were unbearable, so I pushed them away. For now, all I had to worry about was getting through my restyling session; there would be plenty of time later for planning.
As soon as I step off of the train, I am place in the hands of my Prep team. They immediately got to work, scrubbing down my body with a gritty foam to remove all the layers of dirt, and a few layers of my skin as well. They shampoo and condition my hair, chatting away as they scrub. I make conversation with them and do not complain, per Haymitch's instructions. If this is how much pain they cause when they're happy, I'd hate to be on their bad side! Once they are done, I have succeeded not only becoming the cleanest man in the world, but I have completely won over the hearts of my prep team. When they have stopped gushing over me, they dart out of the room and leave me in the hands of my stylist.
As my stylist steps in the room, I see it is a woman. And as far as Capital people go, she looks rather normal. She is in a simple black dress and matching black heels. Her hair seems to be it's natural shade, a sandy brown, pulled to the side in a loose ponytail that fell down to her stomach. The only self-alteration on her seems to be her face makeup, which looks almost completely natural. Her eyes have been outlined in metallic gold eyeliner, and her lashes have been thick end and curled. Her lips were a soft shade of pink, and she had blush applied with light hands to her cheeks, giving her face a rosy glow. I do not recognize her, so I am guessing she is new to the games. I can't help but thinking how rather pretty she looks. "Hello," she greets, her voice sounding almost like someone from District 12, lacking the ridiculous Capital accent of my stylists, "My name is Porshia." She comes in and carefully circles me, nodding in aprovement. "Ok, it seems like we can get you into your outfit now." Here's the part I am dreading. In the Hunger games, each of the districts provides one major export, District 12's being coal. Since coal is not very easy to design outfits for, our tributes usually end up in flimsy coal miners outfits, or naked covered in black coal dust.
"Now, Peeta, Cinna is in with Katiness right now. Our thoughts are to dress you two in matching outfits," Porshia begins, "and as custom, the outfits must match the flavor of your district." Please oh please let us get good costumes this time. "So, I'm guessing we'll be dressed in some coal miners outfits?" I ask her. "Not exactly. You see, Cinna and I think that the miner's thing is way overdone. No one is going to remember you in that, and we want to make you as unforgettable as possible. We are going to focus on the coal instead of the mining itself." I braced my self for the worst." And what do we do with coal? We burn it." I look up and give her a curious stare. This is something I hadn't expected."Peeta, I sure hope you aren't afraid of fireā¦." She said smiling. Then she orders me to close my eyes and my prep team brings in either the most sensational or deadly costume ever seen in the games. They show me a black jumpsuit and matching boots, and the head piece for my head, carefully explaining what will happen. Oh my gosh, I think. Their going to light me on fire.
