The next morning, Haymitch and I make our way out for breakfast. Peeta is already sitting at the table, a mug of hot chocolate in front of him. Haymitch and I pick through the buffet for our food. I place a couple of strawberries on his plate, and he lifts an eyebrow. "You like them." I shrug.
We head to the table, Haymitch adding a chocolate doughnut to my plate, and sit down. "Good morning." I say to Peeta.
"Morning." Peeta mumbles, not looking up from his mug.
"What's wrong?" I ask him.
"What isn't wrong?" Haymitch says.
I quickly elbow Haymitch, making him smirk. "Peeta, talk to us," I encourage.
"There is no way I can make it out, is there?" He asks, eyes snapping up to meet mine.
I look at Haymitch, his sad gaze meets mine before speaking, "no one ever makes it out."
"Look, Katniss has people who rely on her. Put her first. No one will miss me." Peeta is looking directly at me now.
"That's not true." I tell him. Of course, there would be no way for us to get both of them out. And my priority is Forrest's daughter. But, the last thing that I want to do is make a teenage boy feel even worse about his home life than he already does.
"It is," he says, seriously. "And, I see what winning has done to both of you. That life wouldn't be worth it if… if she wasn't around." Peeta drops his gaze.
As Peeta trails off, I look back to Haymitch. He is deep in thought, brows furrowed as he stares at Peeta.
"You love her?" I ask.
Peeta meets my eye, nods once, and looks back to the table.
"Well, isn't that something." Haymitch remarks, "Look at the Games, bringing people together."
"It's been longer than the Games," Peeta mumbles. "Look, just, focus on her. That's all I want."
"We are going to mentor you separately now." I say, making both Haymitch and Peeta look at me.
"Why?" Haymitch asks.
"Peeta will join up with the Careers." Their eyebrows shoot up.
"Is that so?" Haymitch asks.
I smirk and start to explain, "The Career districts are going to be pissed that a girl from Twelve got a higher score than that, and an eleven at that. They are going to want her dead, make a show of it. Peeta will join them, and if he knows her like he says, he will be able to generally keep them away from her. For a while, anyway."
"That is a plan." Haymitch says, approvingly.
"They wouldn't let me near them. And if Katniss knew I wanted to join them, she'd never trust me," Peeta says.
"That's why you will be mentored separately. Katniss will not know your strategy." I tell him.
"They still wouldn't let me near them." Peeta says.
"That's for you to figure out. You can even offer her up. Say you can help find her, then lead them away," Haymitch tells him.
I nod. Peeta nods, agreeing with this new plan. The three of us continue to discuss this, Peeta gets himself a plate of food, and we crowd together, making plans for Peeta.
Katniss comes into the room, looks at us for a moment, then goes and gets a plate. I start talking to Peeta about some funny things Haymitch has done drunk, making the boy laugh and Haymitch try to defend himself. Eventually, I run out of things to talk about and we all quietly finish our food.
"So," Katniss says after she had finished about half her plate, "what's going on? You're coaching us on interviews today, right?"
"That's right," Haymitch tells her.
"You don't have to wait until I'm done. I can listen and eat at the same time," She says, looking between Haymitch and I.
"Well, there's been a change of plans. About our current approach," Haymitch tells her.
What's that?" Katniss asks.
I look at her sympathetically and Haymitch shrugs, "Peeta has asked to be coached separately."
Katniss is silent for a moment, her eyes glancing over the table before looking back up to Haymitch and I, "Good. So what's the schedule?"
"You will each spend time with Effie for presentation, and time with Raven and I for content," Haymitch says.
"You start with Effie, Katniss," I tell her.
We all head our separate ways. Effie takes Katniss to her room, and Haymitch, Peeta and I go to the living room. We all talk about how the interview will go.
"We have to make the audience like Katniss," I say.
"No, not like. Love. They need to be rooting for that girl no matter what," Haymitch says.
"I could say I love her," Peeta says, looking directly at me.
I glance to Haymitch, "It would make her seem desirable."
Haymitch sighs, "She's just going to love that."
"Well, we cant expect her to get them to like her," I tell him. "She got Peeta to like her and doesn't even realize it."
Peeta smirks and Haymitch laughs, "Very true." Haymitch then turns to Peeta, "Are you sure you want to do that? You can't ever take it back."
"I don't want to," Peeta replies.
Lunch goes well. Nothing of consequence is discussed. I tell more stories of Drunk Haymitch, everyone except Effie laughs, although I do pull a few smirks from our Escort. Haymitch retaliates by telling them stories of Drunk Raven. Like the time I busted a window in the basement by falling over the railing of the porch.
We take Katniss into the living room, she sits across from us, and I decide to let Haymitch take the lead with her. She may be my friend, but Haymitch really has a read on her. They are too much alike, really.
After a few minutes of Haymitch staring at her, Katniss finally asks, "What?"
"I'm trying to figure out what to do with you." Haymitch tells her, "How we're going to present you. Are you going to be charming? Aloof? Fierce? So far, you're shining like a star, unforgettable. You've got the top training score. People are intrigued, but no one knows who you are. The impression you make tomorrow will decide exactly what we can get you in terms of sponsors."
The sponsors could really tip the scales in Katniss favor if she plays her cards right. These people need someone to root for, and we need to figure out what she can pull off to bring in the most sponsors.
"What's Peeta's approach? Or am I not allowed to ask?"
"Likeable." I tell her.
"He has a sort of self-depricating humor naturally." Haymitch adds, "Whereas when you open your mouth, you come across more as sullen and hostile."
"I do not!" Katniss argues, making me smirk.
"Please. I don't know where you pulled that cheery, wavy girl on the chariot from, but I haven't seen her before or since," says Haymitch.
"And you've given me so many reasons to be cheery," Katniss counters.
"But you don't have to please us. We aren't going to sponsor you," I say.
Haymitch adds, "So pretend we are the audience. Delight us."
"Fine!" Katniss hisses. Haymitch begins asking her questions, she answers, grumpily.
"All right, enough," Haymitch says, throwing his hands up. "We've got to find another angle. Not only are you hostile, I don't know anything about you. I've asked you fifty questions and still have no sense of your life, your family, what you care about. They want to know about you, Katniss."
"I don't want them to! They are already taking my future! They cant have the things that mattered to me in the past!" Katniss says angrily.
"Then lie!" I tell her, eyes wide, "Make something up!"
"I'm not good at lying," She says.
"Well, you better learn fast. You've got about as much charm as a dead slug," Haymitch says harshly. I dig my elbow sharply into his ribs. He jumps slightly, but his voice is softer when he speaks again, "Here's an idea. Try acting humble."
"Humble," she echoes.
"That you cant believe a litter girl from District Twelve has done this well. The whole thing's been more than you ever could have dreamed of. Talk about Cinna's clothes. How nice the people are. How the city amazes you." Haymitch says.
I lean forward, "If you won't talk about yourself, at least compliment the audience. Just keep turning it back around, all right. Gush."
It doesn't work. We try different tactics. Cocky – disaster. Ferocity – nope. Witty – Haymitch grabbed a bottle and 2 glasses. Funny – Haymitch is filling our glasses again. Sexy – Haymitch wipes my chin after I almost spew the amber whiskey all over from laughing. Mysterious – easily solvable.
I can see how discouraged Katniss is feeling, and Haymitch has gotten snippier with every drink, "I give up, sweetheart. Just answer the questions and try not to let the audience see how openly you despise them."
I pat her hand as we leave, heading to our room. We eat dinner apart from the others, Haymitch too drunk to be amiable, and me sick of being around others so much.
The next morning, Haymitch and I head down to the street, talking up our Tributes. People stop to listen, I see a few of the people I've had to go to before. They talk to me, and I can see Haymitch is tense beside me. I just hold his hand, and in a lull between talking to people, I lean up and whisper, "it's really only you for me."
"I know, Darling. Doesn't make it any easier," he squeezes my hand.
We head up to get ready for the interviews. I wear a long, sleek dress. There is a slit up my thigh, low cut, straps that hang over my shoulders, draping down my arms. Very basic in the Capitol, but elegant in every sense of the word.
"Beautiful," Haymitch says softly once I am dressed. He grabs me by the waist and pulls me to him, planting his lips on mine.
"You look dashing, yourself." I smile at him. I could look at him all day, anyday. But on the rare occasions that he is sober, cleaned up, and in perfectly tailored suits, I can't take my eyes off him.
He gives me a lopsided grin, the same cocky, boyish grin he has always had, and pulls me behind him to the elevators.
We head down to the interview level and get Katniss and Peeta to where they need to be. Haymitch steps up to them, "Remember, you're still a happy pair. So act like it."
Haymitch and I sit in the audience, after again talking to more potential sponsors. Haymitch's hand runs over my hand as we sit, staring at the stage. Katniss comes out. Her interview goes better than anticipated. She gives short answers, but that is just how she is. She is more personable than I had expected her to be. Haymitch nods in approval. Time is called, and Katniss returns to her seat.
I sit up straighter for Peeta's interview. Peeta is immediately personable, laughing and joking with Caesar Flickerman. The audience loves it! I even catch Haymitch smirking from the corner of my eye. They begin sniffing each other, causing the audience to roll with laughter.
Eventually, Caesar stops the funny stuff and gets serious. "Peeta, do you have a girlfriend back home?"
Peeta hesitates, then shakes his head.
"Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl. Come on, what's her name?" Caesar presses.
Peeta sighs, "Well, there is this one girl. I've had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But im pretty sure she didn't even know I was alive until the reaping."
The crowd 'awws' in sympathy and I look to Haymitch. He nods, so he must think Peeta is doing well.
"She have another fellow?" Caesar asks.
"I don't know, but a lot of boys like her," Peeta responds.
"So, here's what you do. You win, you go home. She can't turn you down then, eh?" Caesar smiles at him.
"I don't think its going to work out. Winning…. Wont help in my case," Peeta tells him.
"Why ever not?"
Peeta's face turns bright red and he stammers out, "Because … because … she came here with me."
The crowd murmers, and I watch Katniss. Her face is confused for a moment, and I can see the second that she realizes that he is talking about her.
"Oh," Caesar continues, "that is a piece of bad luck."
"It's not good," Peeta says.
"Well, I don't think any of us can blame you. It'd be hard not to fall for that young lady," Caesar says. "She didn't know?"
Peeta shakes his head, "Not until now."
The camera cuts to Katniss, and her cheeks are tinted red. "At least she is looking the part," Haymitch mutters to me. I smirk at him, understanding exactly what he means. We are lucky that Katniss didn't run across the stage and try to claw her way through that young man.
The interviews come to an end, and I grab Haymitch's hand, "Come on, we need to get up there before she kills him."
He grumbles something behind me, but quickly takes the lead. His grumpy face makes people move out of the way faster than I ever could. We ride the elevators up with Effie, Cinna and Portia.
Once the doors open on our floor, we find Peeta laying in a pile of broken glass, blood flowing from his hands.
"What's going on?" Effie asks, "Did you fall?"
"After she shoved me," Peetay says as Effie and Cinna help him stand.
Haymitch quickly turns to Katniss, "shoved him?"
Katniss rounds on him, "this was your idea, wasn't it? Turning me into some kind of fool in front of the entire country?"
"It was my idea. Haymitch and Raven just helped me with it." Peeta responds.
"Yes, Haymitch is very helpful. To you!" Katniss says to him.
"Katniss, this helped you immensely," I tell her, but she doesn't seem to hear me through her fury.
I stand next to Haymitch as he speaks, "you are a fool. Do you think he hurt you? That boy just gave you something you could never achieve on your own."
He made me look weak!" Katniss responds.
"He made you look desirable!" Haymitch quickly answers. "And let's face it, you can use all the help you can get in that department. You were about as romantic as dirt until he said he wanted you. Now they all do. You're all they're talking about. The star-crossed lovers from District Twelve!"
"But we're not star-crossed lovers!" Katniss says.
I try to grab Haymitch, but I'm not quick enough. He grabs Katniss by the shoulders and puns her to the wall, "Who cares? It's all a big show. It's all how you're perceived. The most I could say about you after your interview was that you were nice enough, although that in itself was a small miracle. Now I can say you're a heartbreaker. Oh, oh, oh, how the boys back home fall longingly at your feet. Which do you think will get you more sponsors?"
Katniss pushes him away and steps aside. I go to Haymitch, laying a hand on his back. His eyes meet mine, his anger at this situation making me smirk, "She is a little hard headed."
"A little?" He grumbles to me.
Cinna puts an arm around Katniss, "He's right, Katniss."
"I should have been told, so I didn't look so stupid." Katniss murmurs.
"No, your reaction was perfect," Portia says. "If you'd known, it wouldn't have read as real."
"She's just worried about her boyfriend," Peeta says gruffly, tossing away a bloody piece of glass.
"I don't have a boyfriend," Katniss says, cheeks reddening again.
"Whatever," says Peeta. "But I bed he's smart enough to know a bluff when he sees it. Besides, you didn't say you loved me. So what does it matter?"
I put a hand on her shoulder, "Your reaction was perfect, you avoided looking at the cameras, you blushed. It was believable. It gave you an edge."
The others chime in, agreeing.
"You're golden, sweetheart. You're going to have sponsors lined up around the block," Haymitch tells her.
Katniss forces her eyes to Peeta, "I'm sorry I shoved you."
"Doesn't matter," He shrugs. "Although, it's technically illegal."
"Are your hands okay?"
"They'll be alright," he tells her.
The commotion has ended, and we settle in for dinner. Portia leads Peeta off for medical attention. After dinner, we watch the recap of the interviews. Once the interviews are done, I know this is when to say goodbye to Katniss. Tomorrow she will be roused early and taken to prepare for the games. Haymitch and I will be sequestered in the Game Headquarters, watching and helping when possible.
Effie goes first, taking both of her Tribute's hands, tears in her eyes, she wishes them well, thanks them for being the best tributes it has been her pleasure to escort. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if I finally get promoted to a decent district next year!" She kisses each of them on the check and hurries out.
Haymitch pulls me next to him, an arm around me, looking at the both of them.
"Any final words of advice?" Peeta asks.
"When the gong sounds, get the hell out of there. You're neither of you up to the blood bath at the Cornucopia. Just clear out, put as much distance as you can between yourselves and the others, and find a source of water, got it?" Haymitch tells them.
"And after that?" Katniss asks.
"Stay alive." He tells them.
They both nod. I grab Katniss' hand, "You are strong. Keep being strong." Then I grab Peeta's hand and squeeze.
They both head to bed after that, Haymitch and I sit together in the living area for a while. "When she does something well, we need to reward her, do something to let her know."
"You've got a better read on her, I'll let you handle that," I tell him.
He smirks at me, "finally admitting that I know what I'm talking about?"
"I never said you didn't! You got me out of there!" I grin at him before pressing my lips to his. "Now, lets get some sleep before tomorrow. It's gonna be a long few days."
"You have no idea, Darling."