The Hunger Games (Peeta's P.O.V.)

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

   Each word of the anthem of Panem echos in my ear. Each word that when you hear it only sounds like justice, but when you really hear it and the words really go to your head, sounds corrupt, unjust, and brutal. It is a perfect anthem. It describes Panem perfectly. Corrupt, unjust, and brutal. I never knew what it was like to live in a different society, but I know the one were living in is wrong.

   Katniss and I are surrounded by peacekeepers then and 'escorted' away. Although that is not my choice word, that's what they call it. I now know how cows feel while being walked to the butcher house. No, scratch that, I envy cows. They die a much less terrifying death and there is so much less terror and pain involved. And what am I forgetting? Oh yeah, their death is not filmed on live television. As they die they aren't haunted with the fact that everyone in the nation including their friends and family is watching them die. Yeah, cows get it easy.

   Once I'm 'escorted' into some stupid, capitol, way to fancy room that makes me want to puke all over it just so some Capitol random will have to clean it up. I realize how childish I'm being. This is not something that I really can fo anything about, getting so upset over it, is incredibly stupid. I will not cry, I will not cry, I will be a man. I think to myself. And its what I have to do. I need to make it obvious who is the better person. Me or Snow.

I then again vow myself not to cry as the door swings open, but who doesn't burst into tears when they are being shipped off to their death and its not their family visiting them; its their friends.

Dresden and EmmaLee come bounding into the room. EmmaLee being the emotional wreck she is throws herself at me and tries to drown me in tears. She crying something that sounds like its maybe something that supposed to be similar to my name, but I cant really tell. Dresden looks a little emotional himself.

"You want honesty?"

I feel the emotion trying to push its way out of me. I swallow hard and nod. He started saying that in the third grade; still says it now.

"I'm gonna miss you, man. Like really, really miss you," He says, trying to keep his manly stance.

I lose mine. I have to take one of my arms off of a still sobbing EmmaLee to cover my face as the tears come out. Dresden comes forward pulling us into some sort of a group hug and he starts to lose it too. The door opens and a head pops in. My vision is blurred, by I can still just make out Mayleece. She pats her dirty blonde curls back into place and bites her lip in question. I shrug my shoulders.

"Feel free to come join the over emotional fest," I say, tring to wedge a smile onto my face.

EmmaLee removes an arm and slaps me but then summons Mayleece into the circle. We stand there and cry for five seconds more before its too much for Dresden. He tries to get back some of his pride and starts a speech about the great times we've all had. And how much they're going to miss me. And as if on clue, Delly comes in. She wraps her arms so tightly around me that I start to have to gasp for air. She unwraps her arms and shakes her head and walks out. I know exactly why. I've known Delly for years. Since we were little. She used to say that she was my sister. And she practically was, and still is.

When I was six, Delly and I gad been playing in the sun, a thing we rarely saw, outside of my house in the sand. There was some sort of large bug thing. I had thrown a rock at it and it had started to die. Delly started gasping for air and got up and ran away, She tripped and fell and when I went to help her she ordered me away. She didn't speak to me for three days after that. Then she told me she would only be friends with me if I didn't kill things because she didn't like death,

"How would you like it if someone just randomly made you cease to exsist? If they just killed you becuase they felt like it? Because they could? Because they had the power?" She said.