Chapter 3

Overnight, a light layer of snow had turned Virginia into a charming winter landscape, and millions of precious snow crystals were glittering in the sun. Two men were standing on the driveway in front of a small Victorian house on University ground. Neither of them had eyes for the mesmerizing scenery around them.

"Haymitch, please!" Said an insistent voice. "Rethink my offer."

"No, Chaff." Haymitch answered briefly.

"Anything is better than spending Christmas alone." Chaff didn't give up.

Determined, Haymitch kept on packing his old suitcase and travel bags into the trunk of his car.

"A short trip to Bermuda will distract you. What do you think you will be doing all that time, alone in your house in the middle of nowhere?" Chaff ran his hand over his eyes and played his last remaining card. "Haymitch, please, how much longer do you want to grieve for?"

Forever.

Haymitch Abernathy paused for a moment and gazed over the glittering snow. Deep inside, he knew that his only remaining friend was right. How many times had Chaff found him, passed out on the floor, totally drunk? He didn't know it. Nevertheless, he had stayed with him when all others had turned away. Haymitch sighed sadly and run his hand through his shaggy hair, without a drink he was not ready for that kind of conversation.

"Chaff, I am sorry. I cannot, maybe next year…" He added lamely.

"You won't even try!" Chaff pointed out, he feared that the day was no longer far away, when Haymitch wouldn't wake up from one of his drunken nights.

"Listen, my friend." Chaff walked toward Haymitch, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Try to fall in love, it could work miracles."

Haymitch snorted, trying his best not to roll his eyes, he couldn't believe in a fairy tale happy ending anymore.

"Have fun in Bermuda, write a postcard!" Haymitch forced a thin smile on his face and got into his Mercedes.

Chaff raised his hand in greeting and watched as the old car slowly rolled down the driveway. Worriedly, he shook his head.

…

Katniss Everdeen stood next to the main road, her gloved hands holding up her cardboard sign. Despite her lined winter jacket and the bobble hat her sister had knitted her, she was freezing tremendously. So far, luck wasn't on her side.

It was the day before Christmas Eve, and no one seemed interested in giving a poor-looking hitcher a free ride home. Katniss sighed, she had to believe in her luck, and unfortunately, that wasn't her strongest quality.

The young woman gazed at her worn-out travel bags on the snow. She had spent all her hard-earned money on Christmas presents; a beautifully written and hand-illustrated plant book for her mother and a rare vinyl record for Prim. Again, no money had been left for a bus ticket home or even a can of pepper spray.

Pepper spray.

Katniss rolled her eyes, as she remembered that evening, when her professor had given her that advice. For a while she had considered asking him if she could travel home with him. In the end she had dismissed it as a stupid idea. She certainly didn't want to be in his debt.

Or rather, she didn't want to be in anyone's debt. Katniss hadn't even dared to ask her best friend to drive over and pick her up. Either way, she would be damned if she showed up at home without any presents for her loved ones. She had sworn to be responsible for a proper Christmas this year, one which would include presents, a decorated tree and stuffed turkey.

She just had to get home.

Haymitch spotted her from a distance. Fashion was definitely not his specialty, but such a ridiculous rainbow-colored bobble hat as his student was wearing was put on for only one reason; love. True love. Probably she had received this ugly cap from her boyfriend as a gift on their first anniversary. At least Katniss could not be overlooked in the icy winter landscape.

He had certainly not planned on taking anyone along with him on his way home, but perhaps this could be his good deed for the upcoming year. If he gave her a free ride home he could act like a jerk to everybody for a year. Haymitch's lips twisted into a bitter smile; it could be worse.

Patiently, he was waiting for the traffic lights to change to green, as he saw a white truck come to a stop next to the young woman. To Haymitch's great astonishment, and much greater horror, Katniss took her travel backs and climbed into the truck without any hesitation.

The flash of red tail lights, was the last think he saw, before the truck disappeared into the twilight.

The darkness crawled slowly over the dull landscape and Haymitch tried his best to free himself from his joyless thoughts. He asked himself how good the chances were of arriving safely home as a female hitcher. According to his best guess they were about one percent.

Haymitch sighed and cursed himself for thinking about her. He was not responsible for her careless behaviour. There was no relationship between them, they were no relatives, no friends. Nothing.

If he repeated this over and over again as a mantra, he would start believing it.

Maybe.

As he turned the radio on, his gaze fell on the car in front of him. It was the same white truck into which Katniss had disappeared hours ago.

As far as he knew, he wasn't suited to be a hero. Surely he would not dare to do something stupid like force the truck to stop. He knew how such things ended. Usually fatally. The best solution for the moment was to drive behind. If the driver didn't turn toward Lynch, he could still contact the police. This was rational thinking, worthy of a university professor.

But, what if there were more than one driver in the truck? Maybe two or three? The young woman would be absolutely helpless...

Before Haymitch knew what he was doing, he stepped with full force on the accelerator and overtook the white truck on the left lane and, with squealing tires, came to a stop before the van. The truck driver slammed on the brake pedal and the truck came to a stop a few meters behind Haymitch's rusted Mercedes. Jumping out of the car, he ran to the truck's door and tore it open.

Two pairs of eyes stared back at him. A pair of cool, dark, that he already knew, and pair of older blue, which glared at him. Both women had raised their hands in terror, prepared to be assassinated by a madman at any moment.

Both women?

What did the statistics say about the ratio of female truck drivers? Certainly the chance of meeting one stood at minus one percent. This minus one percent was glowering at Haymitch so furiously, he felt like she was ready to split his skull with an axe at any moment.

"Professor Abernathy?" Katniss's voice swung between horror and bewilderment.

"I am gonna kill you! We almost died! Are you stoned?"

It is a very special moment when you realize that you have made a complete and utter fool of yourself. Haymitch knew that this matchless moment, here on the highway between Virginia and Kentucky, would never be bested in his whole life. As if in slow motion, his thoughts went to Chaff, who was now in Bermuda with a cocktail in his hand.

A voice brought him back to the unhappy present. "Professor Abernathy?"

"You know him? Fuck you! Fuck you both! Piss off right now, or I will kill you!"

In a single movement, the angry truck driver tossed Katniss's bags out of the driver's window.

And before she knew what was happening, Katniss Everdeen stood in absolute darkness on the highway number 81, starring in disbelief at her university professor.

"What…why did you do that?" Her voice revealed her strongly suppressed anger.

Running his hands over his burning eyes, he searched desperately for the right words.

"Listen, I saw you climbing into the truck, sure that wasn't the best idea, and then..."

"... and then you thought it would be a good idea to – what? Save me?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Haymitch took a deep breath, he had shown concern and compassion. Two things he thought he didn't possess anymore. And this was the result; scorn and anger.

"You know what?" His voice could cut glass. "Go to hell!" He spat, turning on his heels and marched to his car.

Slightly embarrassed, she threw a glance after him. What did she know about her Professor? Nothing. She rarely met him on campus, and when she saw him, his gaze was mostly stoically fixed on the ground. Not unlike herself. It was still the best way to avoid talking to other people.

There was a rumour around that he had a drinking problem. Though Katniss had no interest in any kind of gossip, it was obvious; his movements were usually unfocused, distracted, and a light smell of alcohol surrounded him. Usually late at night, when he pulled up, weary and slightly drunk at the drive-through at the fast food restaurant she worked at, she pressed always the same order into his hands; burger, soft drink, French fries. It never changed.

She didn't know anything about him. And he didn't know anything about her either. Nevertheless, he had done something remarkable for her. He had saved her.

Katniss Everdeen said two words which she used so seldom that it sounded strange to her own ears.

"Thank you."