A/N: Hello anyone who's still out there, I'm really sorry that it's taken me so long. I've been busy and lazy (mostly lazy, I could easily have made time to write if I tried...). I feel like this story has been getting progressively worse with every chapter, so I've just been uninspired to continue working on it. I really don't like the chapter either, but it's something, and I've just been really sick of editing it, so here you go. I hope it's okay. :)

After school is finally over, I meet up with Winter in the hall where we first talked. I am still the subject of piteous looks, muttered conversations, and awful rumors, so I hurry to leave the school building, with Winter on my heels. We walk towards the meadow to talk. I know that my mother might worry a little bit, but she is used to my not showing up for a while after school, so it should be okay.

When we arrive, Winter asks me where I live.

"In the Seam. I'm assuming that you live in town?" I ask, trying not to make a big deal out of my poor status. I've learned that if you make it clear that you don't care about it, others most likely won't, either.

"Kind of.

My dad signed up for the peacekeepers a couple of years ago. He was hoping that he could make more money for my family, but you aren't allowed to be married when you're a peacekeeper. He had to get a divorce from my mom so that he could sign up. He was going to try to smuggle us some of the money that he made, but he was moved to district five, and we haven't heard from him since."

"I'm sorry!" I gasp, appalled.

"It's okay. I've learned to live with it. My mom is a coal miner, but she is a somewhat higher level one than most. She oversees a lot of mining and such. I don't see much of her, either. What do your parents do?" It's clear that she is trying to change the subject, so I don't make a big deal out of it.

My voice is wistful. "My dad was a coal miner, but he died in an explosion five years ago. My mom fell into depression, and she's never really recovered. So neither of my parents work. My sister finds all of our food in the meadow, and by trading things that she finds." I decide that it's better not to tell Winter that Katniss hunts illegally. Since her father is a peacekeeper, she might be forced to tell him and then Katniss might be arrested. But she did say that she hasn't had any contact with, and she also told me about his attempting to break the law for them...

"Actually, that isn't all true," I admit. "My sister hunted in the woods. She learned to from my father, and ever since he died she has been providing for me and my mother by hunting every day. She trades in the Hob for other things that we need."

"Wow. Do you want to go watch an update at my house? My mom won't be home, so she won't mind." Winter tells me.

I shake my head. "Thanks, but I'd rather go watch at my house. I can check in on Katniss and maybe grab something to eat and then we can meet up here again," I say.

Winter nods in understanding. "How about we meet here, same place, in an hour?"

I grin. "Okay. This is great, giving me something to hold on to, and to look forward to. I have a lot of friends, but I only really half-know any of them, and they all distanced themselves from me as soon as Katniss went to the Capital."

We both head off to our respective homes, hurrying to get everything that we want to done before the hours is up. I run back towards my house, trying to get an update on Katniss as soon as possible. When I arrive, panting, through the door, I find my mother with her face buried in her hands, sobbing.

I collapse on the couch beside her and put my arms around her, my eyes glued to the screen. This can't be good. Katniss must be dying, why else would my mother have gone to pieces like this? I'm desperately searching for any footage of Katniss, but I don't have long to wait. The camera is on Katniss almost full-time. She stumbles along the ground, looking exhausted. I hear Claudius Templesmith's voice talking about dehydration, and I know that Katniss needs water if she is to survive. I think back to previous Games, thinking of all the times that I have watching tributes dehydrate to death, and I know that this is why Katniss is the star of the Games right now. The Capital will be hungrily waiting for the end, waiting for my sister's life to come to an end far too soon.

I sit, paranoid, unable to move, too scared to cry, watching my sister die. I can barely comprehend the fact that she is going to die, but I know she is. As I watch, the camera slows pans out to reveal that Katniss is passing within five hundred yards of a small spring. For an agonizing moment that seems to drag on forever, I think that she won't notice.

But then she stops next to a bush, her face lit up with excitement. Surely she has smelled the water, or the berries that surround it, or something. She has to have. But she's kneeling down, not moving towards the water that she needs so desperately... Her hands reach out to pluck something from the bush in front of her.

"Katniss appears to have found her salvation!" Claudius Templesmith states that the berries in Katniss's hand are edible. I heave a huge sigh of relief and try not to cry as Katniss lifts them to her mouth.

Just as they reach her lips, she pauses, a desperately hungry expression on her face. She looks at them for a second and then breaks one open, revealing a bright red interior. Conflicting emotions cross her face, and it is clear that she is undecided as to whether she should eat them or not.

I'm willing her to take the plunge. She has to know that she'll die without them. Surely she'll be willing to take the risk. Possibly die of poison, or almost certainly die of dehydration. But she must not be thinking clearer because, after an unbearably long pause, she hurls them away into the brush. I give a small squeak and bury my face in my hands. I don't look up for a long time, unwilling to see what is going on.

After what must be fifteen minutes, I look up again. The Games seem to be back to their normal rotation of shots. I jump as I remember that I was supposed to meet up with Winter. How long has it been? Guiltily, I realize that I must be late. I don't want to leave, in case anything happens with Katniss and I miss it, but I think Winter might be able to comfort me, so I whisper to my mom that I'm going to the meadow and then slip out the door, my footsteps heavy and lifeless without any of their usual spring.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it, and please review. It really makes me so much more inspired to continue writing. :)