Under the Willow

Chapter 14

   I've never seen myself smile the brightest when Katniss was truly at home with us. After the Victory Tour, Katniss mostly wanted to be by herself, which is understandable because of the pain she went through. I even drew a picture of Rue, the girl that died in Katniss's arms. As for me, I've never worn two braids again. Rory and I walked through the Meadow all the time. Our new homes in Victor's Village are amazing. We can now buy more favorable goods like hot cakes for breakfast, a verity of soup flavors, grilled chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, you name it. Now that we can afford things at the bakery, I buy  their vanilla bean scones, cupcakes, and of course-
bread. Peeta brings in a box of scones for free. I saw Rory practicing  how to fill a shot with a vaccine.
" Don't keep your finger near the needle, it could poke yourself," I said in a doctorly voice.
He smirked back. " Aye miss nurse."
" Doctor." I said, correcting him mockingly.
We both smiled and hugged. " Wanna come for dinner tonight?" I asked.
" I dunno..." He said scratching his head.
" Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee."
" Fine. "
" I'll keep you to it."

  I slowly crept into the house we had, my brown boots scuffing against the green grass of Summer. As I approached I saw my beloved cat, Buttercup. His nose was scrunched up as usually, the cut in his right ear uglier as ever. But when he caught the sight of me, he purred and curled around my legs. I smiled and scooped him up. " Hey Mom, I'm home!"
Once when my mother saw me through the doorway, she stopped folding laundry. " Hi honey!" She said, and kissed my cheek." I have a surprise for you."
" Mom you di-"
" I insist."
She handed me a lightish darkish yellow sweater that was stitched perfectly, a tan skirt, a floral pink top, and a dark green long sleeve shirt that was extremely soft. " Mom, you shouldn't have done this."   Mom walked over and stroked a golden lock of hair behind my ear. " Honey, I know that the only piece of clothing you brought with you from our old house was your Reaping clothes. And you said you wanted to keep that for your child when they go into the Reaping. "
" I just hope we won't have to do that anymore."
Mother just sadly nodded. We all knew that even though Katniss won the Hunger Games, I could still be reaped. I took the clothes and walked up the stairs leading to the second floor, and walked to the last room on the right, my bedroom. It was a dusty dark blue colored, with a bed against a window overlooking the forest. I changed into a dusty colored orange sweater with white triangle things near my neck and the new tan skirt. I slowly pulled up my new beautifully laced white socks so they wouldn't rip. Suddenly, I turned around when I herd a small sound escape from the doorway. I scooped up the ginger cat and slipped into my dark brown leather shoes. Trudging down the stairs, I plopped down on the couch next to Katniss. Today, we would here what to do for the Quarter Quell. Then, the unexpected happened.