The Mentor

9

The next morning, I get up early. I've been unable to sleep pondering interview tactics for Peeta and Katniss. I sit on the couch for a couple hours, staring out over the Capitol, watching the sun rise over the buildings.A rustle behind me makes me turn, and I see Peeta standing, looking half asleep. He sits next to me on the couch as the sun's rays peek through the Capitol."Couldn't sleep?" I ask him. He shakes his head."I was thinking about the interviews and coaching," he said. "I think…it might be better if Katniss and I get coached separately."I turn to face him. "Are you sure?""Yes.""Do you mind if I ask why?""Because…" He trails off. "Because you're going to want to use my feelings, aren't you? In the interview."I slowly nod, and he sighs. "The Capitol loves that kind of thing, Peeta. They'll imagine romance that isn't there already, but if we use that…they'll be much more interested in what you're doing. Is that okay?"He shrugs, but he looks defeated. "Yeah, sure. Whatever you think you need to do."I feel like I'm killing his spirit, but it has to be done. I don't have a choice.When breakfast is served almost an hour later, we're pretty quiet. Haymitch joins us and begins serving himself a mountain of food. When Effie comes back, I lean in."Peeta's asked to be coached separately," I say.Haymitch narrows his eyes. "You're sure?" he asks Peeta, and Peeta nods."She's not going to like that," Haymitch adds, poking at his eggs.Katniss walks in and we keep eating. She sits down to a silent table."So, what's going on? You're coaching us on interviews today, right?" She finally says."That's right," Haymitch says."You don't have to wait until I'm done. I can listen and eat at the same time.""Well, there's been a change of plans. About our current approach.""What's that?" Katniss asked."Peeta wants to be coached separately," I tell her.A mix of emotions cross her face, but she recovers quickly. "Good. So what's the schedule?""You'll each have four hours with Effie for presentation and four with me and Piper for content. You start with Effie, Katniss," Haymitch says.After we're done eating, Haymitch, Peeta, and I go into the sitting room while Effie whisks Katniss away.Haymitch looks at Peeta for so long that he squirms in his chair uncomfortably."Piper told me you're in love with Katniss," he says at last."She told me that we're going to use it," Peeta answers."She's right.""She's right here," I say. "Trust me, Caesar will open it up for you. All you have to do is mention that Katniss is the girl you like.""The Capitol will make you two out to be a couple of star-crossed lovers," Haymitch adds."Will this help Katniss too?" Peeta asks."It'll make her more desirable, that's for sure," Haymitch says. "You still need an angle, though. Something to make you pop.""An angle?" Peeta asks."Like sexy, sweet, ferocious, cocky –" I say. "The list goes on.""What was yours?""I don't remember." The truth is I do. Haymitch essentially told me to be a more vivid version of myself, but I don't feel like that girl anymore. I don't think I can be her without trying."I think yours should be likeable. That should come naturally," Haymitch says. "Just keep talking. Don't be afraid to be eloquent, to play to the crowd. Keep them engaged. Keep them laughing."We spend the next three and a half hours practicing his entrance, how he'll sit in the chair, asking him sample questions. When it's time for lunch, I feel a lot more confident.After lunch, we go off with Katniss. Haymitch frowns at her for a few minutes, and I give her a reassuring smile."What?" She finally asks."I'm trying to figure out what to do with you," he says. "How we're going to present you. Are you going to be charming? Aloof? Fierce? So far, you're shining like a star. You volunteered to save your sister. Cinna made you look unforgettable. You've got the top training score. People are intrigued, but no one knows who you are. The impression you make tomorrow will decide exactly what I can get you in terms of sponsors.""What's Peeta's approach? Or am I not allowed to ask?" Katniss says."Likable," I say. "Which is just how he is naturally.""Whereas when you open your mouth, you come across as more sullen and hostile," Haymitch adds."I do not!""Please. I don't know where you pulled that cheery, wavy girl on the chariot from, but I haven't seen her before or since.""And you've given me so many reasons to be cheery.""This isn't helping," I say. "Look, Katniss, they just want to feel like they know you. Try to be pleasant, winning. Pretend Haymitch is Caesar."Haymitch begins asking her questions, but Katniss just gets angrier and angrier. Finally, he just sighs."All right, enough," he says. "We've got to find another angle. Not only are you hostile, I don't know anything about you. I've asked you fifty questions and still have no sense of your life, your family, what you care about. They want to know about you, Katniss.""But I don't want them to!" Katniss exclaims. "They're already taking my future! They can't have the things that mattered to me in the past!"I straighten up. "Haymitch, can you give us a second?"Haymitch lets out a grunt and leaves. I stand up and pour myself a glass of water as Katniss sits in sullen silence."He means well," I say."How on earth you could stand to live with him for six years –""He saved my life. He stopped me from going to the orphanage or starving on the streets. He's always been good to me. Haymitch just doesn't like very many people," I say with a smile. I sit down next to her and look at her closely. "I think I know where you're coming from. It's not fair that to win you have to pander to them, make them love you. But they already love you, Katniss. You just have to cement it.""I don't know how! You heard Haymitch, I'm hostile!""I don't think you are," I say.I think for a moment, then I say, "Could you consider me a friend?"Katniss looks confused. "Yeah.""Then when you get up there, find me in the audience. Talk to me, not to the Capitol. Like you're telling me about yourself, okay?"Katniss nods. "I think I can do that.""Good," I say. "You're going to have to."Our time is up. I'm already nervous for her. I'm praying this works."Good luck," I say, and she nods before leaving the room.I'll need all the luck I can get tonight.Finnick comes to our floor an hour before the ceremony. Peeta and Katniss are long gone. Haymitch stays back with a grunt. He'll watch from behind the scenes while I assess from the crowd.Finnick and I go downstairs, unable to go anywhere without wading through Capitolians and cameras. Getting to our seats themselves is a struggle. When we get close, a woman sitting beside the pair of chairs fixes her hair and bares her teeth in what I think is supposed to be a winning smile.Finnick's face goes blank. "What is it?" I ask. "I can sit next to her, if you want.""No, Pipes, it's fine," he says, his voice a blank slate. "I have to sit next to her."I realize all too quickly what he means and my stomach revolts. "You didn't tell me you were…""Working tonight?" Finnick's smile is unfamiliar. "It's the price I have to pay."He smiles charmingly at the woman and takes a seat next to her. My stomach is churning, but I sit beside him, trying to block out the sounds of her giggles and the soft sweet nothings he's murmuring in her ear.What would it be like in a world where we didn't have to do this? Where there wasn't a face we put on for the world?We're on the elevated platform. I'm in the second row, right behind the stylists. The woman next to Finnick must've paid a lot of money to be sitting here right now.Then the tributes file out in single file. Katniss appears, looking radiant but nervous. Peeta seems completely calm, but I itch to hold his hand.It's been three years since I sat on that stage, but I still remember every sensation. I wish I didn't. It almost hurts, seeing them up there. I don't miss the bright lights, but it was simpler then. I had resigned myself to death, and now a part of me longs for it.Time is passing me by too quickly. Three years since my Games. Three wasted years. How many more years until something changes?I shake my head at myself. Rebellious thoughts are much easier to have when Peeta's life is on the line.Caesar Flickerman bounces on stage, his lips and hair a baby blue. He tells a few jokes and I fake a couple laughs for the audience. Finnick's hand around the woman is too disturbing for me to try to appreciate this circus.I try to pay attention for Peeta's sake, but I hear the woman giggle again and when I glance over, Finnick's lips are brushing her ear and her cheek. The sight is so sickening I have to choke down bile.Then Katniss is coming up to the stage and I tear my attention away to focus on her. She needs me, and I need something to distract me."So, Katniss, the Capitol must be quite a change from District 12," Caesar begins. "What's impressed you most since you arrived here?"Katniss looks like she's swallowing her tongue. Her eyes find mine, and I smile."The lamb stew," she says, and I grin as the crowd chuckles."The one with the dried plums?" Caesar asks, and she nods. "Oh, I eat it by the bucketful. It doesn't show, does it?" The audience reassures him that it doesn't."Now, Katniss," Caesar continues. "When you came out in the opening ceremonies, my heart actually stopped. What did you think of that costume?"Katniss looks at me again. "You mean after I got over my fear of being burned alive?" She says, and I nod as the audience laughs again."Yes. Start then," Caesar says."I thought Cinna was brilliant and it was the most gorgeous I'd ever seen and I couldn't believe I was wearing it. I can't believe I'm wearing this either. I mean, look at it!"I don't know where she gets it from, but she twirls and the audience oohs."Oh, do that again!" Caesar says, and so she does, letting her arms fly up. The dress looks like it becomes engulfed in flames.She pauses, and he exclaims, "Don't stop!""I have to, I'm dizzy!" Katniss giggles.Caesar holds onto her tightly. "Don't worry, I've got you. Can't have you following in your mentor's footsteps."The camera finds Haymitch, who waves good-naturedly."It's all right," Caesar says to the crowd. "She's safe with me. So, how about that training score. Eleven. Give us a hint what happened in there.""Um…all I can say, is I think it was a first."The Gamemakers are shaking their heads and nodding."You're killing us. Details. Details," Caesar prods."I'm not supposed to talk about it, right?" Katniss asks the Gamemakers."She's not!" One shouts."Thank you, sorry, my lips are sealed.""Let's go back then, to the moment they called your sister's name at the reaping," Caesar says. "And you volunteered. Can you tell us about her?"Katniss desperately finds me again, and I nod slowly, prompting her. "Her name's Prim. She's just twelve. I love her more than anything.""What did she say to you? After the reaping?" Caesar asks."She asked me to try really hard to win.""And what did you say?""I swore I would.""I bet you did," Caesar says. "Just one more question. You are the second person from District 12 to volunteer to take the place of a tribute. Your mentor, Piper Lockly, is the first. And we all love her very much in the Capitol, don't we?"The cameras pan to my face as the crowd goes wild, and I put on a smile, waving to them. I wish Caesar hadn't brought me up at all."Did her success inspire you to volunteer for your sister?"Katniss meets my eyes again. "I think I would've taken Prim's place either way, but…Piper makes me believe I could actually come home. She inspired all of District 12 by doing what she did. She's not the reason I'm here, but she's the reason I have hope."I don't even realize the cameras are on me again until the buzzer goes off."Sorry, we're out of time," Caesar says. "Best of luck, Katniss Everdeen, tribute from District Twelve."I watch intently as she sits and Peeta approaches. He has the crowd in hysterics within seconds, being as charming, as thoughtful, and as hilarious as he can. Caesar loves him. So does the audience. I just wonder if it'll be enough."So, Peeta, I have to ask…is there anyone special waiting for you back home?" Caesar asks. Peeta's eyes flick to me ever so briefly, and he shakes his head unconvincingly."Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl. Come on, what's her name?" Caesar asks.Peeta sighs, looking at me. I can tell he doesn't want to do this. "Well, there is this one girl. I've had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I'm pretty sure she didn't know I was alive until the reaping."The crowd sighs."She have another fellow?" Caesar asks."I don't know, but a lot of boys like her.""So, here's what you do. You win, you go home. She can't turn you down then, eh?""I don't think it's going to work out. Winning…won't help in my case," Peeta says."Why ever not?""Because…" Peeta turns red. "Because…she came here with me."That gets the crowd's attention like a lure to a fish. A few of them let out agonizing cries."Oh, that is a piece of bad luck," Caesar says."It's not good," Peeta says."Well, I don't think any of us can blame you. It'd be hard not to fall for that young lady," Caesar says. "She didn't know?""Not until now."Katniss is white with shock. Her lips have all but disappeared from the force with which she presses them together."Wouldn't you love to pull her back out here and get a response?" Caesar asks. "Sadly, rules are rules, and Katniss Everdeen's time has been spent. Well, best of luck to you, Peeta Mellark, and I think I speak for all of Panem when I say our hearts go with yours."The roar from the crowd is deafening. I'm clapping with the rest when Finnick catches my eye again. His hand is entrenched in the woman's palm.If Peeta wins, President Snow will sell him, and Peeta won't resist like I did.But at least he'll be alive.The ceremonies end and I quickly fight to an elevator."Pipes! Pipes, wait! Piper!"I ignore Finnick. I can't see his face right now, not with that woman in tow. I slip into an elevator all by myself and make my way up to the twelfth floor.When the doors open, it's just in time to see Peeta fall into an ugly vase. It shatters under his hands. In my distracted state, I react without thinking, lunging for Katniss.I press her up against the opposite wall just as the elevator opens again, spitting out Haymitch, Effie, and the stylists."Piper!" Effie shrieks, and Haymitch grabs my shoulders, dragging me off Katniss. She takes a deep breath."What's going on here?" Effie asks."Katniss shoved Peeta," I say, taking a deep breath. I can't explain why I reacted the way I did."This was your idea, wasn't it? Turning me into some kind of fool in front of the entire country?" Katniss shouts at me. "I trusted you!""Peeta gave you the greatest gift he could have under the circumstances," I say back, regaining my cool. Peeta stands and I look at his hands. They're cut and bleeding, so I begin to pick shards of clay out of them. "He made you desirable to the Capitol.""He made me look weak!""Katniss, half of the reason Piper survived her Games is because the Capitol fell in love with her!" Haymitch shouts. "You're all they're talking about. The star-crossed lovers from District Twelve.""But we're not star-crossed lovers!""It's all a show, Katniss," I say. "Put on a show for the Capitol and they'll love. You don't have to be yourself. Just make them like you.""She's right, Katniss," Cinna says."I should have been told, so I didn't look so stupid," Katniss says."No, your reaction was perfect. If you'd known, it wouldn't have read as real," Portia says.""She's just worried about her boyfriend," Peeta says gruffly, tossing away a bloody piece of the urn."I don't have a boyfriend.""Whatever. But I bet he's smart enough to know a bluff when he sees it. Besides you didn't say you loved me. So what does it matter?""After he said he loved me, did you think I could be in love with him, too?" Katniss asks."I did," says Portia. "The way you avoided looking at the cameras, the blush.""You're golden, sweetheart. You're going to have sponsors lined up around the block," Haymitch says.Katniss turns to Peeta. "I'm sorry I shoved you.""Doesn't matter," he shrugs. "Although it's technically illegal.""Are your hands okay?" I ask."They'll be all right," he says.The others begin to go to eat dinner, but I stop Katniss. "I'm sorry I jumped you," I say."It's fine," she says. "But why did you do it?""Instinct," I say. "That's what the Games do to you."I don't miss her look of anxiety before we go eat. We watch the replay, and Peeta leaves to get medical treatment. When he returns, his hands are in bandages.The pair faces us before bed. I realize this could be the last time I see Peeta and my heart breaks."Any final words of advice?" Peeta asks."When the gong sounds, get the hell out of there," Haymitch says. "Neither of you are up to the blood bath at the Cornucopia. Just clear out, put as much distance as you can between yourselves and the others, and find a source of water. Got it?""And after that?" Katniss asks."Stay alive," I say.They nod, and Haymitch and Katniss both leave. I stare at Peeta, desperate for a solution to this impossible problem."I'll be okay, Piper," he says softly, and I rush for him, gripping him hard."Okay," I say, even though I know he's lying. "Okay, Peeta."He turns to leave, and quickly, I say, "I love you."He glances back. "I love you too."I have a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that I'll never see him again, this way, as he is. He'll change, or I'll change, and nothing will be the same.