We were shoved into separate rooms in the Justice Building. I was given only a few moments to say goodbye to everyone I cared for. My sister cried in my arms and my mother was silent. My friend Madge gave me a pin with a mockingjay on it and wished me luck. Even Greasy Sae came in and told me that Prim would be fed.
After Greasy Sae left I thought I was through with visitors. I stared out the window in silence. My head snapped around when the door opened again and Peeta stepped into the room.
"What are you doing here?" I ask, my voice questioning but not harsh.
"I came to say goodbye," he stated quietly. "I just… I just needed you to know that Prim will be fed. And…"
I watched him try to gather himself so I say, "Just don't get caught this time, please."
His eyes flick to mine. "You remember."
I nod.
He sighs. "I'm botching this. I just wanted you to know that when these games are over that you'll have someone to come home to."
I stand and hold out my hand. "Thank you."
He grabs my hand but pulls me in to hug him. I don't pull away.
"See you later," he says as he leaves.
The peacekeepers come for me and lead me out of the building. Lights and cameras attack my vision as soon as I step out the door and I almost trip into Gale. He catches me and we both work our way through the reporters with peacekeepers ahead and behind us.
We're lead into a car where Effie waits for us. We get in on either side of her and sit quietly as she chatters. The district passes by us to quickly and we're at the train station where we're herded aboard.
As we're shoved into the train I twist my torso in a strained attempt to reach the window, so that I can have one more glance at home before it's gone forever.
Gale comes up beside me and lays his hand on my opposite shoulder. We stand in silence as we watch our home trail far behind us, and being forced to accept the knowledge that at least one of us would never return.
"Well," Effie squeaks in her ridicules accent, "why don't I show you to your rooms. Dinner is in two hours so you have to get settle." Gale chuckled humorlessly under his breath. I raise my eyebrow and look at him, but seeing my confused expression only makes him smile.
Effie drops Gale off at his room then takes me to mine. I close the door so that I can explore my room in peace.
The walls are a simple white and the carpet and curtains covering the window are a dark blood red. There is a dark oak dresser and a large bed colored with the same white and red as the rest of the room. There is a door leading to a sparkling clean, white bathroom. The sink is large with a faucet that looks like it is made of gold. The shower was big and had so many buttons I couldn't decide what all of them could possibly be used for.
Dinner wasn't for an hour anyway and I was hot and sweaty so I figured it was as good of a time as any to figure out how to use the shower. I stripped off my clothes and left them in my room, walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I turned on the shower and the spray that hit me was so hot that I let out a short cry and cursed.
After I got the shower to a more tolerable temperature, I figured out how to have the machine wash my hair and blow dry it. At home our bath tub was small and we rarely got hot water. It disgust me how they spend so much on lavish things like this when all but one of us will be dead soon, and thousands of people are starving.
I walked out to discover my clothes were gone. I looked in the dresser and found a pair of dark pants and a form-fitting, simple, black, button-up shirt.
I walked back down the hall toward the window that Gale and I had looked through. I paused at the edge of the room and just stared. Gale's wearing black pants like mine and a white t-shirt that fit him perfectly. Every muscle on his torso is outlined perfectly, the years of hunting prominent on his body. He's leaning on the wall as he looks out the window, his left arm above his head to support him. His face looks troubled but is still incredibly gorgeous with the sun reflecting off his features in the perfect way. When I see him like this I understand why everyone calls Gale a stud. He really is very handsome. I just have never been attracted to him.
My next step alerts Gale to my presence and his head turns to meet me. He smiles and gives me a quick one-over and says, "You look good, Catnip."
I smile and reply, "You're not too bad yourself." He grins again.
We walk to the dining car and see that dinner is just being served. Effie is already sitting and we join her. Effie starts to say something when a still drunk Haymitch walks in the door. He sits and takes another long swig from the bottle. My temper gets the best of me. "Stop it," I snap.
He smiles a drunken smile. "Or what?" He says sarcastically and reaches for the bottle. Gale and I both react at the same time. Gale grabs the bottle and throws it so hard it goes straight through the window, while my knife stabs the table less than an inch from Haymitch's hand.
"That's enough." Gale said harshly.
"You're going to be the one to kill us if you don't sober up," I retort in the same tone as Gale's voice.
Haymitch looked at us for a long moment. He smiled slightly. "Well," he said, "seems like I got a pair of fighters this year." He gestured to Gale. "I can tell already you're strong. That will be useful in hand to hand combat. But you," he pointed at me, "what can you do?"
I wrenched the knife from the table and threw it at the wall. It land right in between boards, making me look better than I really am.
Haymitch nodded his approval. "Good, good. What else?"
"Katniss is a great shot with a bow," Gale stated.
"So are you," I shot back.
"You're better than me."
"You set better snares than I do."
"You're better at climbing trees."
"You weigh more."
"It doesn't matter."
"You have fifty pounds on me and it's all muscle."
"Regardless," Gale grinned, "You swim faster."
"Yeah right," I laugh, "Two of my strokes match one of yours."
Gale and I both scowled at one another, clearly frustrated with our stalemate, but both of us are smiling. "Enough." Haymitch said. "Clearly both of you are skilled. And I'm going to guess you to want to be trained together, correct?"
Gale and I nod.
"Good. Tomorrow you will meet your stylists. Don't object to anything they might do. They know what they're doing. And when you're waiting to board the chariots, don't agitate the other tributes. That fact that you two will be a team will already draw attention to you."
Dinner was served with lavish dishes. Lamb stew, creamy sauces, chocolate covered strawberries; the one good thing about the Capital is that the food is fantastic.
"At least you two know how to use utensils." Effie says. "Last year's tributes ate like animals."
My eyes dart to Gale, who looks like he's about punch Effie. I'm angry too but I have to figure out how to prevent Gale from knocking our escort out cold. So I drop my silverware and begin to eat the juicy steak in front of me with my hands. Gale joins me a moment later. We laugh at Effie's disgusted expression.
We leave dinner and go to the sitting area to watch the recap of the other Reapings. The tributes from one and two look intimidating as always, but the tall blonde boy from District 2 worries me the most. His confident stance and stocky build along with the dark look in his eye gives him an intimidating look, and already I know that he is going to be one of the main tributes to beat.
The rest weren't really noteworthy except the from District 11 there was a really tall boy who had as much muscle as the boy from District 2, and the little twelve year old girl that reminded me of Prim.
Then our Reaping was next. Already our District is something to remember with first me, then Gale volunteering. But what really made us stand out was when we held our hands in the air, presenting ourselves as a team.
"Alright," Haymitch said, "go to bed. "You have a long day tomorrow."
We walked down the hallway toward our rooms. My room is before Gale's. "Night, Gale."
"Good night, Katniss." Gale says, but as a close my door I swear he slows his stride and frowns at my door.