Chapter 2 - The Arrival in the Capitol
Peeta sits, staring out the window, watching the scenery pass by. He feels a hand on his shoulder. He looks up to see Gale. “Hey, what’s going on?” Peeta asks.
“The girls are in their rooms, Rie is in the other room watching TV and I came to check on you. Are you okay?”
Peeta smiles at the boy who has been like a brother. “I was just thinking about how much my life has changed since the night you saved my life, about how I have a real family that cares about me, and now how the Capitol wants to take that away from me now.”
Gale squeezes Peeta’s shoulder, “We’ll give the Capitol one hell of a show little brother. Come join me and Rie. The other district reaping’s probably on.”
Gale turns and Peeta gets up to follow. The room where the TV is located takes up about a third of the car. There’s a large flat screen TV on one wall. Across from it is a plush black couch that pretty much takes up the whole opposite wall. Rie is sitting with his feet up on a glass top coffee table. Gale takes a seat next to Rie while Peeta sits next to Gale.
“Reaping’s will be on in about 5 minutes. Effie went to get Haymitch and the girls.” Rie says.
Soon Effie walks in with the girl’s following behind her. “Young man, it’s bad manners to put your feet on the table.” She scolds, looking directly at Rie.
He immediately puts his feet down and apologizes to Effie. Delly decides to sit next to Peeta, while Madge sits next to Rie, and Katniss sits by Madge. Effie, seeing there is no more room on the couch, sits down in an armchair that matches the couch. Haymitch comes in and sits in the armchair across from Effie. Suddenly the Reaping for District one is shown. Of the six, only 2 stand out. Glimmer Gleem and Marvel Wright are the only tributes to actually volunteer. Peeta makes a mental note to remember them later as per instructions by Boggs. The District 2 tributes are a little more impressive, all 6 volunteering. But as with District 1, only 2 stand out – Cato Canelos and Clove Felder. They stand away from the others in their district. District 3 is shown but none are noteworthy to Peeta. District 4 comes up. Peeta spots someone in the background he knows, Finnick O’dair. Finnick was Peeta’s first crush. They got close and eventually became lovers. But due to his escort demands from the Capitol, Finnick and Peeta decided to just remain friends. Peeta was looking forward to seeing him again despite everything that had happened. Peeta shook himself mentally and got back to watching for notable tributes. District 5 had a female with fox like features but Peeta didn’t catch her name. He didn’t see anyone else of note until District 11 and their two tributes, Thresh Temper and Rue Burd. There was something about the way they were standing. Then it was District 12’s reapings. It was strange to watch after seeing it firsthand. Then Peeta heard Effie call Rory’s name on the TV then himself volunteering. Then had heard his televised self whisper,” Well, shit!” as he made his way to Rory. He could feel 6 pairs of eyes on him. He turns to them and shrugs. “I didn’t even realize I said anything.” He looks back to the TV to see the 6 of them lined up on the stage. He can’t shake the feeling that it looks familiar. As he points to the TV Gale says, “We look almost like those cocky careers from 2.”
“Do you think anyone from the other districts will notice?” asks Delly.
“Gale noticed almost immediately so I dare say yes, someone is bound to notice,” answers Rie who turns off the TV before turning to Effie, “Is it time to eat Effie? I’m a little hungry.”
Effie thrilled to be spoken to politely, answers, “Yes Rie, it is time to head to the dining car. Shall we go everyone?”
Dinner was a treat to the taste buds. Rich foods that filled their stomachs to the point of making them feel almost sick. Haymitch was quiet throughout the meal. When everyone was done, Haymitch sat back and cleared his throat. “Tomorrow you’re going to meet your prep teams and stylists. With so many tributes, time will be of the essence. Listen to what they tell you and do everything they say – NO arguing! After the parade, we’ll discuss what you should and should not do in the next week in the training area. Also, the decision to make the private sessions with game makers and the interviews split into 2 days each was made before we got on the train. Exactly how the split will happen will be told to us later.” The six teens nod their understanding to Haymitch. “Good, we’ll be arriving early in the morning, so go get some rest. Good night.”
