~Katniss~

"Wake up, you're alright, wake up," I groaned as I was shaken awake by my mentor, Haymitch. I lived with him since I came home because Mommy wants nothing to do with me anymore and Daddy's up in heaven. It isn't horrible. Haymitch looks after Prim and I, he lets Madge and Gale sleep over whenever we want, and he helps scare away my nightmares. He's not perfect, especially when he drinks his beer, but he's better than Mommy.

"Do you feel better now, Sweetheart?" He asked. I nodded my head as he continued to fuss over me. "Is Prim up?" I asked. He nodded his head, "I sent her to school with Gale and Rory," he answered. "What about me?" I asked. "I've decided to homeschool you for the rest of this year," Haymitch said, "just until you're caught up with everyone else." I shrugged and followed him downstairs. "Haymitch?" I asked as the man rustled around the kitchen. "Yes, Little Lamb?" He asked. I giggled at the nickname. These victors sure are silly. "Why won't Mama speak?" I asked. Haymitch sighed, motioning for me to come closer. "Your Mother loves you very much, Kat, she's just sad right now," he explained. "Sad how?" I asked. "Really sad," he answered. "Because of Daddy?" I asked. He nodded, moving my hair out of my face. "She'll come to her senses soon enough," he explained.

I bit my lip as he placed a plate of food in front of me. Ever since my tour ended Haymitch has been trying to make me eat more. He says that the people in The Capitol are worried about me. "They think you're adorable and want you to be happy and healthy," He explained when I last asked why. He frowned when he explained it, but I didn't ask why. Being liked is a good thing. Right? Of course it was, everyone wants to be liked. "Mitchie?" I asked. "Yes, Princess?" He smiled. "Why was I in the reaping when I wasn't twelve?" I asked. "I'm not sure," he whispered. "Why did Daddy die?" I asked. "He did a bad thing," Haymitch answered, his eyes told me he didn't believe that, but I know better than to point that out. He won't answer me if I did. "Gale said it's because Snow is a power hungry dickwad," I informed him. Haymitch paled, almost dropping his mug as he turned towards me. His eyes moved around the room as if expecting someone to reveal themselves right then and scare him. Finally he placed a hand on my shoulder and shot me a scary look. "Don't you ever repeat things like that again," he said sternly. "But Gale said-" "-Katniss Jade Everdeen!" He shouted. "But Gale says it all the time, he says The Capitol is full of rich arrogant bastards who killed Daddy just because they could!" I argued. "Katniss Jade Everdeen!" Haymitch shouted again. "But what's wrong with it if it's true?" I asked. "Because it's not true," Haymitch said, "and even if it was, that's not something you can just go around shouting whenever you feel like it, it's mean, and foolish, and crude, do you understand?" I nodded my head. "I want a verbal answer, Katniss," He said. "I understand, Haymitch, I won't say it again," I said. "That's a good girl," he said, his voice was strained and there were tears in his eyes. Still I stayed silent. This was my fault for being a bad girl.

Breakfast continued almost silently after that. Haymitch was reading a letter from someone from the capital and I was trying to figure out how to hide the uneaten food from him. I was full and didn't want to upset him. "Finish it," Haymitch said, looking at his letter. "But-" "-Just finish it, you need to eat more," he says. I frowned as I forced the last bites down my throat. "Good," he praised. "So, Gale asked if I could go hunting with him tomorrow," I started. "I know, I was there, and I said no," Haymitch said with a tiny smirk. "Why?" I whined. "You're a victor now, Princess, you're being heavily scrutinized by everyone," he explained. "What's that mean?" I asked. "Watched, it means people are looking to see everything you do," he explained. "That's silly," I choked. "It is, but-""-Why are they watching me, don't they have their own kids to watch?" I interrupted. "Katniss, what did we learn about talking?" Haymitch asked. "I have to wait my turn," I mumbled. "Why?" He asked. "Because if I talk during someone else's turn that's being mean to them or it just sound like BLAHMALALALAMAH!" I answered. "Good girl," he laughed, "besides, we need to catch you up on your schoolwork! Now your teacher was kind enough to send all of your missed assignments including...," I groaned and followed Mitchie to his office.

Mitchie's office was way different than Madge's Dad's or President Snow's offices. Their offices were boring and filled with paper, writing sticks called pencils, and books-lots of books. Mitchie's office had a chalk board, a bunch of brown boxes, a weirdly thick table with a hole in the middle, and paper-lots of paper. "Welcome to your new classroom," he announced. "What's this?" I asked. "A desk," he answered. "And that?" I asked pointing to the chair. "You don't know what that is?" He asked in mock disappointment. "No," I laughed. "Really?" He asked. I laughed even harder as he made a silly face. "Is something funny?" He asked. "Is something funny!" I asked in my "Haymitch voice." "Cute," he scoffed. "Cute," I mocked. "Oh, that's it, come're!" He growled. "Oh, that's it, come're-AHHH!" I squealed, running up the stairs as Mitchie chased me. "I'm going to get you!" He shouted. I giggled madly as he finally caught and tickled me. "Do you surrender?" He asked. "No!" I giggled, "I don't know what that means!" He tossed me before saying, "How about now?" I squealed as he kept tossing and catching me. "What's render?" I asked. "Surrender means you stop mocking me and I stop tickling you," he answered as he kept tickling. "I that, I do that!" I squealed, panting when he finally put me down. "You okay?" He asked. I nodded, coughing just a bit from all the laughter. "Alright, let's get some water in you, Princess," he chuckled as he led me to the kitchen.