The Hunger Games Through Peeta's Eyes

Chapter one P.P.O.V.

I gasp as I wake up, paralyzed with fear from the nightmares I suffered through all night. Of course I would have nightmares. It’s the day of the reaping. You become eligible for the reaping at age twelve. That year, your name is entered into the drawing once. At thirteen twice, and so on until you reach eighteen, the final year of eligibility. But if you are poor and starving, you can opt to add your name in more times in exchange for tesserae. Each is worth a meager supply of grain and oil for one person for one year. You can do this for each of your family members as well. I have never had to do this of course, being a bakers son and all, but just about everyone else does. I only have, at the age of sixteen, five entries. But the girl I love, Katniss, has twenty. She has a good chance of being chosen. But others, like her boyfriend, Gale, have more. I think he has forty two this year. I sigh because I could never compete with him. He is eighteen. So this is his final year until he has to go join all the other men working the coal mines of our district. He and Katniss go hunting outside the district every morning. I’m sure they’ve kissed. Plenty of times too. I admit my jealousy is what makes me hate him. And he knows it. He tries to rub it in as best he can just to torture me. Oh, how I loathe him. Its funny actually, all the girls at school like him, yet he only has eyes for her. And all the other boys at school like her, though she only has eyes for him. She doesn’t even know that I exist. I wonder if she even still remembers that day in the rain. . . It was about five years ago. I was eleven at the time, helping my father bake the bread. Then when my father left for his room for the night, I heard my mother screaming at someone and heard the click trashcan lid being closed. Bewildered, I peeked around my mother, and saw Katniss. She looked starving and I knew her father had just been killed in a mining accident. I knew they had little to nothing to eat too. My mother called her scum and, well, I did the only rational thing to do. I burned the bread. My mother saw what I had done, and I braced myself for the beating that would follow. She really is an awful woman, no accident passes by her without punishment. She grabbed the pan we use for baking cakes and menacingly came towards me. I was only beat once this time, over the head. I had escaped the second and third beatings by ducking under the table after the first blow had knocked me to my knees. Then she handed me the bread I had burned the edges of and told me to go feed it to the pig. I sloshed through the mud outside and carelessly ripped off the burnt pieces and threw them to the pig, waiting until my mother had left. Thankfully, the bell rang and my mother disappeared from the window to help the customer. So I threw both loaves to Katniss, lying bewildered and starving in the mud. Then I had quickly sloshed back to the house and, after being absolutely sure my mother was busy, crept up the stairs to my bedroom. I had closed the door and slept for hours. . .

Hi. This is Lauren. I hope you guys are liking my stories. I know I havent been on in a while. But ive been writing The Hunger Games in Peeta's point of view. im still a Team Gale fan. And im going to add more to his story too. but for now I have a few chapters coming for Peeta. Stay tuned and please comment and give me some feedback!! I need to know how you guys like it!! Stay tuned!!