"I asked Cinna why they let us up here. Surely they can't risk one of their precious tributes to commit suicide." I tell her.
"What did he say to that?" Asks Katniss.
"There is some kind of force field surrounding it which throws you back on the roof if you hit it." I point to the outer side of the railing and press my finger into what seems like thin air. Ouch! i jump back slightly, that hurts more than a wasp sting! Cinna lied, that is more like a tracker jacker sting- just without the crazy venom. Katniss looks concerned for a bit, but realizes that I am okay and goes back to her emotionless face.
The lights of the Capitol reflect in Katniss's beautiful grey eyes. I wish I had the guts to talk to her before all of this, I can't try now, only one of us might come out alive. We will just make things more difficult for ourselves- me. She only trusts a few lucky people, Gale, Madge and of course, Prim. Not the baker's boy, the one who gave her bread on that one day she looked close to death. No one can break that barrier surrounding her heart. Although she broke mine eleven years ago, never has it healed since.
Katniss interrupts my thoughts about her, "Always worried about our safety." She says with sarcasm. Yeah right, worried about our safety until they send us to fight to our deaths!
"Do you think they are watching us?" She asks, trying to sound like she is just wondering. But I translate this as "Will they hear how I know an avox?"
"Here, come see the garden." I say. We walk to the other side of the dome to the garden. I make note of all the flowers they have, natural instinct from designing cookies I guess. Roses, pansies, snowdrops, tulips, lilies, baby breaths. All varying in colors: pink, yellow, white and my favorite sunset orange. I can't help notice how stunning Katniss is in the midst of all these flowers. I wonder if this is what she looks like in the forest outside district twelve. Gorgeous.
I pick a primrose for her, as if to will her on. She smiles quickly and places it in her hair.
She sees me staring, she takes this as expectantly, but I am really just admiring her. She pretends to examine a blossom.
"I was in the forest waiting for game." She says.
"You and your father?" I ask, hoping it wasn't Hawthorne.
"No." She looks down with shiny eyes, "Me and Gale." she answers. Damn. So his name is Gale, Hawthorne suits him better.
"My friend Gale, my hunting partner. We were waiting for game, when suddenly all the birds stopped singing, when it was all silent, one bird created a high-pitched shrill. A moment later we saw two kids, one girl one boy. They were thin and obviously tired." She pauses, "They looked very Capitol. She saw us, her, the Avox. She looked like she was about to ask for help, until a hovercraft flew by above us. It released a spear at the end of a rope, it inserted the boy and pulled him up. The girl screamed his name, she stopped suddenly when the rope grabbed her and pulled her up. Just before the doors closed she looked at me expectantly, but we did not do anything to save her." She finishes with tears starting to form in her eyes.
She pulls away from the blossom suddenly, almost too quietly. "It suddenly just vanished, like nothing happened. I had forgotten it pretty well until today, now the nightmares will be worse than ever."
"Did they see you?" I ask.
"I do not think so. If they did they did not do anything about it." she answers.
"You're shivering." I take my jacket off and zip it around her. She looks hesitant but excepts it anyway. I start to feel the chill, but I try to hide it so she keeps the jacket.
"So you think they are from here." I tell her since she mentioned it previously.
"They did not have any alterations or dyes on them. They just did not look like any of the districts." I fix the final button on her neck.
"Do you know where they were heading from?" I ask.
"I do not know that, or where they were going for that matter." she answers. There is not anything beyond district twelve that we know of, besides the ruins of district thirteen obviously. But they would not be heading there would they?
" I do not know why they would leave here, if they are from here. They would have everything in the Capitol." True. But I would leave such a corrupt place, sending children to die every year and asking us to celebrate the deaths of our friends and relatives.
"I would leave here" I say honestly, I would. Just in case I cover up my intentions, I laugh, "I leave now if they let me. But you got to admit, the food is prime." Nicely done Peeta. Relief flushes on Katniss' face, obviously shocked by my sudden outburst.
"It is getting chilly, we had better go back to our rooms." I suggest, suddenly a question about her 'friend' pops up. "Your friend, Gale, is he the one who took your sister away at the reaping?" I ask, trying hard to hide any jealously for Hawthorne, that there may be in my voice.
"Yes, he was, she is like his little sister. Do you know him?" she asks me.
"Not properly, I have heard of him though. The girls talk about him a lot in the hallways, I thought he was your cousin or relative. Do you favor each other?" I say,
"No. We are not related." she responds quickly. The jealously rages through me. Hawthorne, the hunter boy, verses Peeta, a baker's son. Who would win?
Him of course. He can shoot turkey! I think that automaticaly wins.
I nod, trying to rid of any rage on my face. "Did he come visit you in the Justice building?" I ask. She looks at me curiously.
"Yes." Of course he would, what a stupid question!
"So did your father. He brought me cookies." This, I did not no of. I mean, I know my father cares for Katniss and her sister, but I did not expect him to give away cookies, must of had to sneak them around ma. She hates Seam kids, let alone handing free food to them.
"Really?" I ask, "I know he likes you and Prim. I think he sometimes wishes he had a daughter instead of a houseful of boys." You will not see me dressing up as a girl anytime soon!
"He knew your mother when they were kids." Katniss is shocked by this, did her mother never mention this?
We walk down back to her room, "See you." She says.
"Yeah, see you at breakfast. Nice and early for training!" She does not appreciate the joke.
That went well. I think.
