I can still do this

chapter 13

Haymitch is waiting in the dining car with Effie, slamming down shots in quick succession. "Had your goodbyes?" he asks grumpily.

I sit down at the table with him and snag a puffy roll. "Yeah. So how long is it going to be until we're home?"

"About six hours, should be home in time for dinner at your new house," Effie says cheerily.

Right, because by this time, Prim and my mother are going to be set up in our new house in the Victor's Village. "Do you know if we're going to be near you?" I ask Haymitch.

"Next door," he nods, adding in a mumble, "God only knows why you'd want that."

I don't say a thing, taking a large bite of my bread. Effie makes a face at my manners, looking disgusted with me, and I ignore her. Manners aren't going to matter in a few hours. No need to keep them up now.

Even I can't eat for six hours solid, so eventually, I end up in front of the train's television. "What could you possibly still want to see?" Haymitch demands skeptically, looking at the television with deep distrust.

"I don't know," I say cagily, frowning at him. "That's what I'm trying to find out."

I'm definitely not looking for footage of Cato, but I find a lot of it, and a lot of stuff about me, too, which I'm less interested in. You can't get one without the other, though, apparently, so eventually I pick something that's mostly truthful and put up with the rest.

I wouldn't even have to watch this crap if everything from the Capitol wasn't so ridiculously stupid and boring. Effie seems to like it, though, so maybe it's just another thing us citizens in twelve don't understand. I don't want to understand it, though. I'll never think this is even remotely entertaining.

Somehow, though, I manage to watch a few hours of it, curled up on the couch in my new, soft blazer. I guess it can have a somewhat addictive quality. And it's not that terrible to hear a bunch of people telling everyone how awesome I am, if we're going to be completely honest here.

After a few hours, Haymitch ends up stretched out on the couch next to me, reluctantly watching with me. "This is bullshit," he observes.

"Hey. I'm offended." I'm not offended.

"Don't be an idiot," he says loudly to the me on the screen. "What do you think you're doing there? Stupid."

At that moment, I'm cutting the branch with the tracker jacker nest on it, sawing through it faster because they're starting to get irritated. "How is that stupid? It got the Careers away from me," I say defensively.

"Yeah, but at what cost? You didn't think that through. Peeta was there, too," he points out.

"But at that point, Peeta was on their side. I didn't know-"

He stops me with a look. "Are you kidding me? Everyone with a brain could tell that he was doing that for you. You honestly expect me to believe that you somehow missed his obvious affection for you?"

I don't answer that; I'll just sound like more of an idiot, because I didn't notice, not even a little bit, not until it was way too late.

He leaves me alone after that, thankfully. We pass through the other districts into our home district, and finally, the landscape shooting by at high speeds look more familiar. I'm excited about this, but it just seems to depress Haymitch. I don't care about that, though, because I'm at the window and stare out at the woods.

Then the train's in the station, and I'm running for the train door, tripping over ornate furniture to get to it. And then, I'm at the door, wrenching it open to the dusky light. The district's train station is more beautiful than I've ever thought it to be before, and even better, my family is waiting there for me.