Deep In The Meadow

Chapter 10

"Oh Peeta! Wait until Haymitch sees you, he'll be so relieved that you're alright. Now what have you been up to?" Effie took me to the cafeteria and we ate lunch and talked about what had happened since the Games.
"So Madge is having a baby?" She eyes seemed to glow with pleasure.
"Yeah, we're not sure on the sex yet."
"Oh you'll be a wonderful father, Peeta." something in her voice seemed disappointed, like she knew something I didn't.
"What about that River girl?"
"What about her?"
Effie looked at me.
"Do you know anything about her?"
"Well, no-"
She cut me off. "Peeta I wouldn't trust her if I were you," she pulled out a mirror and fixed her scarf wrapped around her head. "she's a trouble maker you know, every time she comes here she makes some kind of fuss. Like just last week, she pulled an alarm and everyone had to be evacuated, just for fun. Can you believe that? Not to mention she's the rudest-"
"Effie, as much as I love gossiping, what's your point?" Effie continued to look in her mirror.
"She's always up to something, like she's making distractions."
Distractions? I find that hard to believe, thought I've only known River for a few days she seems pretty loyal to the district, why would she be trying to distract them?
Before Effie can continue to complain about the boring clothes and lack of makeup Haymitch sits next to us.
"Oh Haymitch! I'm sorry I must've gotten carried away in our conversation, I was going to bring Peeta by to say hello-"
"Do you have a drink?" Haymitch looks at me. His beard is a bit longer, his face has thinned, making his cropped blonde hair carve his face out.
"No, I don't."
He slapped his hand on the table.
"What do you have to do to get a damn drink around here?" He shouted. Everyone looked but continued to chat and eat. Haymitch hunched over.
"I haven't had a single drink since I got here, I need one bad."
Same old Haymitch.
"Haymitch honestly, I never understood why you drink. Look at you! You've gotten thinner and you look much healthier. Don't you think you ought to just forget about alcohol?"
He grunted.
"It relaxes me."
Effie rolled her eyes and started to file her nails. It felt good to be by my old friends again, it's nice to know they haven't changed like I have. I've missed them. I haven't seen them since before the Games. I thought Snow had killed them, along with everyone else I love. Then I think about Madge.
What will Snow do to her? To the baby?
I know I should feel guilty leaving them there like that. Leaving them to die.
But I don't.
I hate myself for it.