The Mentor

8

The three days of training pass by too quickly. I know with every hour, the Games inch closer, and that terrifies me.Haymitch, Effie, and I grill Peeta and Katniss every night about training. Katniss gets surly and impatient quickly, but Peeta answers everything dutifully. We're working as a well-oiled team at last, now that Effie's stopped complaining about Haymitch and he's stopped drinking quite so much. And then in the morning, they're off again.On the third day of training, I spend it pacing around the apartment a nervous wreck."Will you stop?" Haymitch says. "They'll get the scores that they get and we'll handle it.""But what if it's really bad?" I ask, glancing at the clock. They should be coming up any time now. It's nearly dinnertime."It won't be!" Haymitch is scared too, he just reacts differently. As in raising his voice.The elevator doors open, and I rush to greet Peeta, whose face is red."What happened?" I ask him."It was fine, I guess. They were all drunk, they weren't paying attention," Peeta says."Yeah, District 12 gets the short straw in that regard," I say, giving him a tight hug. "But I'm sure you did fine. Go get some rest before dinner. We can talk more later."He gives me a weary nod and I resume watching the elevator, waiting for Katniss to appear.When she finally does, she looks panicked. She brushes past us all before we can react and locks the door to her bedroom.When Effie knocks, she shouts, "Go away!""Katniss, what happened?" Haymitch says."Go away!""Let me try," I say, and Effie and Haymitch retreat back into the living room."Katniss?" I call softly. "Katniss, it's Piper. Please let me in. I promise I won't interrogate you or attack you. I just want to make sure you're okay."I wait for almost a minute before the door opens a crack. "I'm fine," Katniss says, but her eyes are red."Can I come in?" I ask, and she swings the door open.I close it behind me. "What happened?"She instantly bursts into tears, and fear grips me. I stroke her hair as she lies on the bed."I'm sure it's not as bad as you think it is," I say soothingly to the girl next to me. "You didn't kill one of the Gamemakers, did you? Because if you did, I say good riddance."She raises her hand and looks at me. "I shot an arrow at them."I wasn't expecting that, and I think my shock shows a little, because then she says, "I'm going to get arrested, aren't I?""No," I say firmly. "They won't replace you after all this. You're fine, Katniss. And your family, they'll be fine too. Why did you do it?""I just got so angry!" Katniss answers. "They were drunk and there was a roast pig, and so I just shot the apple out of the pig's mouth." She looks at me. "Will I get a bad score?""I don't know," I admit. "They might give you a really low score as revenge. They might admire your guts and give you a high one. They might not care. But I tend to lean towards the high score.""What?""Because I get the Capitol's motives. They like the spirited tributes. Those are the ones that make the Games interesting. So they'll want to keep you alive, which means sponsors, which means a high score."Katniss stares at me, her tears finally subsiding. "How do you get the Capitol so well? You're nothing like any of them.""Oh, they're not all bad. Effie means well, and so do the prep teams," I say, though I know she doesn't believe me. "I know how to play to the crowd. I made them all fall in love with me. But that doesn't mean I turned into a superficial Capitolian. I held onto what I was. That's why I won my Games, Katniss. The Capitol lives in insignificance, so when something real comes along, they snatch it up. That's why they won't punish you. Because you're real."Katniss looks across the room, and I can tell she's processing what I'm saying."What about my family?""They won't hurt them," I say. "I promise. Your sister is safe, Katniss."She looks at me with begrudging gratitude, and I realize I could learn to like her, if I could get her to drop her guard."You know, I've seen you before," I say. Her brow furrows."Your father made me a bow to hunt in the woods like he did," I say. "But I was always a bad shot. I'm better with knives. My parents died in the same explosion that killed him. I remember seeing you and your sister when the Mayor presented us with those Medals of Valor.""I always hated it," Katniss said, and I nod in agreement."That's when you started living with Haymitch," she says, and I nod."I would've died without him. I would've ended up in the orphanage without him. He really isn't all bad," I say. "He's just been through twenty-five years of watching tributes die. He doesn't get his hopes up anymore.""But you and him are trying to get Peeta home," Katniss says, and I look down at my hands."Peeta's like a little brother to me. But no," I look at her, "I'm not trying to get him home over you. I couldn't live with myself if he came home because I sacrificed you. And I know you have a family to get back to.""If I don't make it out, will you take care of Prim?" Katniss asks. "They won't make it without me and –""You have my word. I'll protect them," I say, and that's a promise I can keep.There's a knock on the door. "Katniss? Piper? Dinner's ready." It's Effie.I stand. "Ready?" I ask her. She nods and follows me out to dinner.When we sit down, the stylists are there. The older people begin talking about the weather. Katniss seems calmer, and I feel proud that I was able to get her to open up."Okay, enough small talk, just how bad were you today?" Haymitch finally asks."I don't know that it mattered," Peeta says. "By the time I showed up, no one even bothered to look at me. They were singing some kind of drinking song, I think. So, I threw around some heavy objects until they told me I could go.""And you, sweetheart?" Haymitch says to Katniss."I shot an arrow at the Gamemakers."Effie's horrified expression is enough to make me smile. "You what?""I shot an arrow at them. Not exactly at them. It's like Peeta said, I was shooting and they were ignoring me, and I just…I just lost my head, so I shot an apple out of their stupid roast pig's mouth!""And what did they say?" Cinna asks."Nothing," Katniss says. "Or I don't know. I walked out after that.""Without being dismissed?" Effie gasps, and I grin to myself."I dismissed myself," Katniss says."Well, that's that," Haymitch says, and he begins to butter a roll."Piper, this isn't the time to be happy!" Effie exclaims, and I begin to laugh. I'm so sleep-deprived and stressed that this all seems ridiculous."Sorry, Effie, really," I say, "but the Gamemakers aren't going to punish Katniss. If anything, they'll reward her. So stop worrying."Haymitch begins to chuckle as well. "What were their faces like?""Shocked. Terrified. Uh, ridiculous, some of them," Katniss says, a small smile on her lips. "One man tripped backward into a bowl of punch."Haymitch lets out a loud laugh and I giggle, and then the whole table is laughing, except for Effie, who just smiles."Well, it serves them right," she says. "It's their job to pay attention to you. And just because you're from District 12 is no excuse to ignore you." Her eyes dart around the room. "I'm sorry, but that's just what I think.""Effie, that was downright rebellious of you," I say."I'll get a bad score," Katniss says."Scores only matter if they're very good," Portia says. "No one pays much attention to the bad or mediocre ones. For all they know, you could be hiding your talents to get a low score on purpose. People use that strategy.""I hope that's how people interpret the four I'll probably get," Peeta says. "If that. Really, if there's anything less impressive than watching a person pick up a heavy ball and throw it a couple yards. One almost landed on my foot."Katniss grins and finally begins to eat.After dinner, we head into the living room to watch the televised event of the scores. Each tribute's score is shown next to their photo on the screen. The Career Tributes average an eight to ten, with both of Finnick's tributes getting a nine. I make a note to congratulate him. The rest of the tributes earn about a five. When Peeta's photo comes up with a nine beside it, I grin and grip his shoulders tightly. He's in the running.Katniss's photo appears, and we watch with bated breath. Then a glittering eleven appears.An eleven?Effie squeals and everyone's congratulating Katniss, and she's grinning. I bend down next to her."Told you," I say softly to her, and she grins.The phone rings, and Effie, who's closest, reaches for it and picks it up."Hello?" She asks, and she blushes. "Oh, of course." She reaches out to me. "Piper, it's for you."I take the phone and step away from the others, who are all talking over the scores."Hello?""Long time, no see, Pipes."I grin and turn my back to the group behind me. "How's it going?""An eleven and a nine. I better look out," Finnick says to me jokingly. "Very impressive.""Oh, please. Congratulations on your tributes' scores," I reply."Oh, they don't matter," Finnick says. "I don't want them to win. I want you to."My smile fades. "They're your tributes. You should be fighting for them, not mine.""Pipes, what does it matter? They won't win anyway. Let me help you.""No! It's not right, it just isn't –""Piper, listen to me." Finnick's voice makes me pause. "I don't care about them. But I do care about you. I've seen you in pain. If you lose Peeta, it'll be a thousand times worse than anything you've felt before. For the first time in my life, I think I'm acting completely selflessly. For you. Let me help you bring him home."I'm silent for a few seconds. I hear faint static over the line, but nothing else."You're a better person than you give yourself credit for," I say quietly. "What you do everyday, that's selfless.""You bring out the good in me.""Shut up."Finnick laughs quietly. "I'll see you at the interviews. I haven't seen you in forever.""I know the feeling," I reply."Tell Haymitch hello.""I will."I set down the phone and look back at the group."Who was that?" Peeta asks."Oh, no one, just a friend," I answer. For some reason, telling Peeta that my closest friend is Finnick Odair seems wrong. They live in two completely separate worlds, two different parts of me. So I smile and sit down next to them."Well, I'm going to bed," Peeta says. Katniss follows him with a good night to us."Finnick says hi," I say to Haymitch as he settles beside me on the couch. He grunts in reply.We stare at the skyline as Cinna, Portia, and Effie leave. Once they do, I say, "Peeta's in love with Katniss."Haymitch nods slowly, and I sigh. "We can use that, can't we? Have him say something in the interviews that'll help him. Make it out to be some quest for her.""It'll get him attention," Haymitch says quietly. "Though I'm not sure what to do about the girl.""I'll take care of it," I say, looking at him. "What's bothering you?""I warned you two years ago not to get close to Finnick Odair," Haymitch says, his eyes soft. "I hear your voice when you talk to him. The Games don't matter, the Capitol ceases to exist. And I'm glad that he can do that for you. But if he breaks, if one day he can't take it anymore, it'll end up hurting you more than anyone.""Which is why I'm going to keep him from falling apart," I say. "Haymitch, it's too late now. Like it or not, Finnick's the closest friend I have."