Chapter 9

I Want To Hold Your Hand

Yeah you've got that something

I think you'll understand

When I'll feel that something

I wanna hold your hand

To say that I'm intimidated is an understatement.

My heart stutters and then speeds up.

I'm pretty sure that I'm not late. I'm supposed to be here at 9:00.

I look at the clock on the wall- 9:01.

Seriously? They need to get the stick out of their asses, I'm only one minute late!

I look back at Haymitch and he smiles at me encouragingly.

I try to return it but it feels more like grimace, and turn back to the room full of tributes that awaits me.

I don't see any mentors, only the station managers, trainers, and assistants.

The tributes are huddled in a group, and thankfully turn their attention away from me and Eli and back to a woman who is standing before them. We walk up silently and join them, me still holding Eli's hand.

My cheeks are red in embarrassment of being late and everyone's eyes on me.

I have that warm feeling, which I now recognize as Cato's gaze.

I look for him, and see him looking at me with a pained expression, which in turn, pains me.

Why does he look so upset? I take a step towards him, making a move to hug him. But then I remember what he said about wanting to protect me. It is a really sweet thing for him to do, but I just want to comfort him.

I guess that if they knew we were friends, the careers would kick him out of the alliance. Which is a good form of protection for him. Not that he can't take care of himself, but they will have supplies and food and shelter.

I want to protect him, so I stop moving towards him, smile apologetically and look down.

I feel his gaze leave me, so I look up at the woman speaking.

She introduces herself as Atala. She is a nice woman, and proceeds to tell us the rules about the training. No fighting other tributes. No injuring other tributes. Save it for the arena.

She let's us go, and I release my grip on Eli's hand.

"I think that we should meet up at every other station. That way, we will be together half the time and separate the other half."

He nods.

We go throughout the day, meeting and separating. We go to survival stations for several hours at a time. At lunch, we sit together and we separate to different stations.

"I'm going to the knots. I'll meet you... At the swimming pool!" I say excitedly, having just spotted it. My father taught me how to swim before I can remember, and Katniss takes me to a lake every once in a while.

Not many people know how to swim, except district four.

"Prim, I can't swim." He says, eyes wide with something akin to fear.

I smile, "I assumed that. That's why we're going there, silly. I'm going to teach you. We have to be prepared for all climates and situations in the arena. We can swim for our last station before our big finale." I say.

He nods, still looking nervous and terrified.

I squeeze his shoulder reassuringly and head over to the knot station.

I'm pretty good with knots, since I'm good with snares and it's a similar concept.

The station manager is happy about my previous knowledge and my quick learning. We are heading into advanced learning when I see Eli come up behind me.

"Hey Prim. You ready?" He asks as nervously as Eli can be (which is barely any). I see a look of hope in his eyes and I know why.

"Yes. And don't look so hopeful that I'll say no." I laugh.

I take his hand and walk towards the pool. The station manager is sitting with his feet in the pool, looking bored.

"Hello, sir? My partner and me would like to use this station. Are there swimsuits or swimwear we can borrow?" I ask as we come up to him.

He turns to me and still looks bored, nodding his head, "Mhmm."

He walks over to a box on the other side of the pool and opens it, pulling out black swim trunks and a black one piece suit.

"Great. Thank you so much."

I reply. I walk towards the ladies changing rooms, and Eli the men's.

I change quickly, and look in the full length body mirror on the wall. I've never worn anything so revealing before.

Now, I'm wearing it in front of a group full of people.

I suddenly get nervous and self-conscious, and scan myself for anything unusual.

Nothing.

I do, however, see how skinny I am. That's not new. The black just makes it more noticeable. However, my slightly toned muscles make up for it.

I can see the indents of my hip bones, and my collar bones. They are a little less prominent with the Capitol food though. My toned arms look impressive, though. Bonus.

My nutrition, or lack thereof, has caused me to be a little underdeveloped. So I have the body of a little girl.

A seventeen-year-old child.

My bony legs are pale, and completely uncovered.

I walk out the door, trying to ignore the fact that I'm wearing a revealing piece of clothing to a group of enemies. Well, some of them are enemies.

I peek out before anyone can see, and see Eli waiting for my by the pool, sitting with his feet in.

I straighten my posture, lift my chin, and appear confident.

It's fake.

I walk over to Eli and he smiles at me. I smile mischievously, and instead of showing off with a graceful dive, I run to the pool, and jump, cannonball style.

I curl my knees to my chin, and duck my feet tight to my body. I feel the splash and the cold water against my skin. The tingly sensation of me hitting the water is still there.

I stay underwater until my lungs are hurting for oxygen. I kick my legs and shimmy my body, gliding through the water until I break through.

I spot Eli and see him laughing.

"Maybe you shouldn't jump in. Start with steps in, and work your way into the water."

He nods, and gets up to walk to the rail that has the steps leading into the water.

I swim over to him.

I feel Cato's gaze on me, and try to ignore it. But it's distracting and I feel a blush run up my neck to my cheeks so I dunk underwater.

Once I reach Eli, he takes the first step into the water, his muscles tensing.

I get out of the pool completely to guide him through it.

"Once the steps end, it just goes deeper and deeper. It ends at about probably ten feet." I say, as he takes the third step, which starts to cover his torso.

I feel multiple pairs of eyes on us now, and ignore them all. I focus on the lesson that I'm teaching.

I am now wrapping my arm around his waist, and his arm is around my shoulder. We go deeper and deeper, until the water touches his chin. I can't stand, so I'm floating around him. I motion for him to follow me to the shallow end. And he does, walking through the water slowly. We walk over until I can stand, and the water reaches my belly button. I proceed to teach him to float on his back, then he does it on his own, then he kicks around, and then he is swimming.

I guess I'm a better teacher than I thought.

Apparently, so good of a teacher that I have another student.

I'm swimming laps with Eli, and am underwater, when I feel something hit the back of my head. It was really soft, but it startled me. I stopped swimming, and pulled myself out of the water.

I'm so glad I did.

Standing before me, in his black trunks and... Fuchsia floaties around his arms and waist... Is marvel.

First I'm not sure if I'm hallucinating. So I stand with my mouth open for a few seconds. But then I bust up laughing at the sight. Marvel has on fuchsia floaties! Floaties!

I'm not even trying to be quiet, because I just can't even care right now.

How he found floaties in the first place is beyond me... But fuchsia?

My laughter is echoing throughout the training room, and Eli must be able to hear it underwater because he stops his laps.

All eyes are on me: my body shaking with laughter.

I can't stop laughing.

He's just stand there grinning like a fool!

He hit me with a fuchsia floatie.

"So I hear that you're giving out lessons, and I'd like to take a class." He says, still grinning. Completely unfazed by my laughter.

"Of course. Would you like the adult... Or toddler class? You certainly look the part." I joke. I hear Eli snicker behind me.

"Eli, this is Marvel from district one. Marvel, this is my partner Eli."

I say. Introducing them. They nod to each other.

I still feel everyone watching me. Why are they always watching me?

"Have you ever swam before?" I ask Marvel, getting out of the pool to the steps.

Marvel meets me there, shaking his head no.

I feel Cato's gaze on me as I guide Marvel through the water.

Marvel is shaking in fear as I teach him what I taught Eli. Eli assists me when I need it, but otherwise swims laps.

Twenty minutes later, Marvel is swimming laps. He is still a little shaky, but can swim on his own. He can only do simple strokes though. I told him that tomorrow we can work on it some more.

I make my way out of the pool, feeling Cato's gaze on me once again.

I find him, and see him smile at me. I blush and return it.

I look around for the station manager to thank him, but I see that he's missing.

I turn and walk towards the locker room, leaving Marvel to practice his strokes.

When I reach the doorframe, I hear a loud scream, coming from the direction I just walked away from.

It's one of those noises you never want to hear. It makes you cringe just thinking about it. Like nails on a chalkboard, a fork scraping against a plate, or this person's scream.

The scream came from a boy, I can tell by its voice. The scream is cut off by a horrible gurgling noise.

I turn, and run in the direction of the source.

I don't know who screamed, but I want to help whoever it was.

It came from the pool, and when I come into view, I don't see anything.

The only person near the area is a boy, who is sneering, I think he's from District 8. He's tall and buff and incredibly creepy.

I search for the source of the noise, but I see nothing.

A crowd has gathered around the pool, and I see Eli searching, too.

That's when I see it.

At the bottom of the pool, is Marvel. I can see his face, eyes wide with fear, mouth open and I'm willing to bet that he's screaming.

On his stomach, holding him down is a weight. A 120 pound weight that he is struggling to get free of.

I search for the station manager, who is still missing.

I don't think twice, I dive into the water. I swim as fast as I can to the bottom. He can't have much time left before he dies without oxygen.

I swim back up, take a deep breath, and swim down.

I look at Marvel, take his face in my hands and press my lips to his.

He seems to stop struggling and freeze.

I force the air in my lungs into his.

Then I get to work on the weight. The amount the weight shifts is minimal.

I feel the water shift, and see Eli appear next to me. He begins helping me lift the weight off of Marvel's abdomen.

My lungs burn for oxygen, so I tap Eli and motion above us, so he knows what I'm about to do.

I swim to the top, take a deep breath, and then greedily take another before returning to the bottom.

Between the two of us, we manage to lift the weight off of Marvel, and drag his body to the surface.

We swim to the edge, where hands help us up and lay him on the ground. I shove them out of my way, panting.

"Marvel!" I shout, when I see his blue face, and his chest still. He's unconscious and has no pulse.

I begin CPR, something my mother taught me long ago.

I begin compressions, and breathe through his mouth. Tears are silently streaming down my face, invisible because of the water dripping too, but I continue compressions and manually breathing for him.

I see the crowd in my peripheral vision and hear the gasps and the whispers behind me.

A small figure comes up beside me: Rue. She has a bottle in her hand, and begins to put whatever liquid is inside in Marvel's mouth.

"It's for his lungs. It's an herb that decreases the tension in them, so they can move better." She says quietly, in a melodic voice.

I nod my head, continuing compressions for a few more minutes.

When nothing happens, I grow angry.

I begin pounding at his heart with my fist, "Marvel! Wake up!" while sobbing.

Marvel is one of my friends here.

He made me laugh with his ridiculous outfits. He's still wearing his floaties now.

I don't know what I'd do if I lost him.

I know exactly who did this to him.

The sneering boy from district 8.

Who puts a 120-pound weight on a boy who is probably that size?

I'm pounding on his chest, when he coughs, and water drips from his mouth.

"Marvel?" I say quietly.

He opens his eyes, looking around. His eyes focus on my face and I wrap him in a hug, tears still falling down my face.

I immediately feel angry with the person who almost took my somewhat friend away.

I loosen my grip on Marvel, and turn around. I scan the faces around me.

Most of them are the same: shock, confusion, and pity.

I then see him. Standing all the way across the room opposite me.

I stomp over to him with a scowl on my face.

He's smirking. He's incredibly buff and tall, so it's probably unwise of me to do this.

He takes a step back and I pin him against the wall, my forearm against his jugular.

"What the hell was that 8? I know it was you! I saw you! He didn't do anything to you! What was tha-" I shout at him, immediately cut off when the roles are reversed.

He manages to swipe my arm away, and I lose my balance.

He pushes me to the ground, and is now on top of me.

Why are there never any peacekeepers when you actually need them?

Why hasn't anyone come to help me? Where is Eli?

His knees are resting on the floor on either side of my hips, and his hands are holding my wrists above my head.

He leans in close to my ear, his breath fanning my face, while I'm silently struggling and glaring icily, "You are going to regret that. You have no idea what I can do. Your filthy little district partner will not be able to save you from me. He won't be there for you in the arena, just like he's not here now."

I manage to get my wrist free while he's speaking and slap him hard across the face.

The force of the slap causes him to turn his face away, but when he looks at me his eyes are full of rage.

He punches me, hitting my eye perfectly. I have heard a theory that you see stars. I don't see them, but I see black spots in my right eye, where he hit.

I bite my lip so I don't scream out in pain. Then he grabs my neck and squeezes tightly.

Why hasn't anyone come to help me?

I guess that it all happened so fast. Less than two minutes has passed.

I hear shouting, and my vision fills with black spots as my lungs scream for oxygen.

I lose consciousness to the sound of heavy footsteps.