I Am The Mockingjay.

Chapter Three

Gale
  
   People crowd the small car as we inch towards the train station. If I didn't know any better I'd think the whole District came to see me off. But I know not everyone did. Not the people I care about anyway. They wouldn't want to see this.
   Cameras swarm my vision as Effie shoos Dawn and I out of the car and on the the station platform. I set my jaw for the millionth time today and make myself look devoid of emotion. No one else in the damn country needs to know what I'm thinking. I steal a glance at my fellow tribute and she seems to be doing the same thing. At least I'm not with an over emotional wreck to lessen my chances at survival.
   After what seems like hours of just standing there listening to people shout all kinds of things at us, we finally get on the train. The metal doors slide open and I'm left in awe.
   Everything is so pristine. Like if I touched anything I would immediately ruin it with my "District" hands. I immediately feel disgusted and amazed at the same time.
   Wooden counters and furniture lie neatly around the train car, polished to perfection. Light is given off by electric bulbs and crystal chandeliers. Platters of delicacies I couldn't even name, lie on every shelf. Glass bottles of strange looking drinks stand sophisticatedly in almost every corner of the room. I wonder what the rest of the train looks like.
   For a moment Dawn and I look at each other with the same bewildered look on our face. How can this much wealth exist amongst so much poverty in District twelve?
"Well once you two stop gawking I could show you your rooms!" Effie trills somewhat annoyedly.
"I mean seriously have you never seen polished furniture before?" She asks offensively. I narrow my eyes at her but before I can speak, Dawn beats me to it.
"Actually no. We haven't." She snaps with ferocity. Her dark green eyes pierce into Effie's.
"I would watch your manners Miss!" Effie scolds. Dawn rolls her eyes. I scoff, "Why? You're sending us to our deaths."
  Effie looks taken aback by my comment and tries to say something back. All she ends up doing is sputtering fragments of sentences and running off in her heels, occasionally making noises of complete indignation. I roll my eyes, Capitol people.
    "It's too bad. We lost our tour guide." I turn around from watching Effie leave when Dawn says this, looking at me with a sarcastic smirk. I run my fingers through my hair and smirk back,"I think I'll be able to find my way. The question is will you?"
She rolls her and turns on her heel.
"I don't need help from you pretty boy." She mumbles. I chuckle and follow her down the hall.
   Eventually I find my room and I find it to be even more glamorous then the living room car. There's a large bed with more pillows then I've ever seen in my life. The carpet seems to be made of fur, which honestly is a little weird. There's a large TV across from the bed that sits on a dresser filled with more clothes than my whole family could ever want. And I haven't even gotten to the bathroom yet.
   Honestly the more time I spend in the wealth the more angry and sick of it I get. I LIKE living simple. I like hunting in the woods and getting dirty and sweaty. I actually enjoy coming home with mud under my finger nails and scratches on my limbs from climbing trees. How do these people STAND being so...clean.
   I frustratedly sit down on the floor against the back wall. Refusing to touch anything Capitol made for the moment. I start examining my hands. Scars from years of hunting and surviving mark my tan skin. They each leave a memory of how I got them. This one from a slip with a knife, that one from scraping it on tree bark, and the list goes on.
   Most of them I got whilst hunting for my family. With Katniss. I sigh unhappily and run my hand down my face. I wonder if I'll ever get to tell her how I feel about her. Or if my life will end before she knows how much I love her. Guess the odds aren't exactly in my favor.
   "Dinner!!" Effie trills. Knocking on my door. I groan quietly before getting up and following her and Dawn to where dinner has been set up.
   Little conversation is exchanged between any of us. Despite Effie's attempts at ending the silence. Mainly because Dawn and I are too distracted with all the food we're given.
   When they set the table I front of me I thought the waiters were kidding. I couldn't possibly eat all of this. I blinked twice because I had to be dreaming. I'd never had this much food in front of me in my life. 18 years.
   Eventually I convinced myself this was real and started eating. Might as well put on a couple pounds before entering the games.
   Dark meats with hearty potatoes, vegetables seasoned and buttered to perfection, thick rolls of bread, pasta with creamy red sauce, and to top it all off a large bowl of something Effie called Ice Cream. Cold, creamy, deliciousness.
   For the first time in my life I feel full. And it's weird. And then suddenly I feel a little nauseous. The food is too rich. Across the table Dawn takes deep breaths and closes her eyes for a moment to keep her own dinner down. The movement of the train isn't really helping either.
   "Well at least you have proper table manners, you should've seen the last two..." Effie mumbles as she adds on more pink lipstick, gazing into a handheld mirror.
   Dawn and I exchange glares across the table. The last two hadn't had a full meal a day in they're life. They scavenged for food they're entire life and didn't know how to hunt.
   I clench my fingers and growl quietly with my mouth closed. Dawn gives Effie a pointed look.
"The boy last year was my brother." She snaps. Rage blazes in Dawn's eyes and I can see her knuckles turn white as she holds a knife and fork in her hand.
   Effie opens her mouth to say something but then closes it. She looks down at her hands for the rest of the meal. As she does I silently protest her accusation by eating with my fingers, then wiping them on the clean white table cloth. Effie glares at me, but doesn't say anything.
   After dinner we all sit down to watch the Reapings. The two from District one are the usual, volunteering to take the others place and flaunting themselves as they stand on  stage. District two has two intense looking tributes. If looks could kill everyone in the country watching would be six feet under. The rest of the districts pass by rather quickly and I only notice a few. I girl with flaming red hair, a boy with a crippled leg, and a monstrous looking guy from Eleven along with a twelve year old girl. Who, besides the dark skin and eyes, looks hauntingly like Prim.
   And then finally, there's Dawn being called. And then Rory is called. Then there's me, volunteering in his place. I watch myself indifferently walk up to the stage and shake hands with the girl sitting next to me. We both strangely appear bored.
   As the screen clicks off, a door on the other side of the car slides open and Haymitch, our mentor, stumbles in drunk off his ass.
"D'I miss dinner?" He slurs, leaning on to a table for support. Dawn and I both scoff whilst Effie looks like she's about to have a heart attack. Haymitch smiles goofily at Dawn before stumbling over towards her.
"Well you're a pretty one aren't you?" He guffaws, twirling a piece of her hair between his fingers. The hair on the back of my neck rises. But Dawn gives him a big smile before standing up, her body inches from his. He smirks down at her and my fist start to clench.
"And I-" Dawn starts to say, before kneeing him hard in the gut, "am under age." As Haymitch falls the ground in agony, moaning as he does so, Dawn glares down at him and saunters off to her room without once looking back.
   I chuckle at the show that just happened before me. I start to follow her out the door before Effie yells from her perch on the couch.
"Aren't you going to help me with this?!" She exclaims in disgust.
"Not my problem." I simply state, I give her a shrug before exiting the car and finding my room.
   I take a deep breath as the door slides shut behind me.
"No turning back now."