Peeta's Story- The Hunger Games

Chapter 8

I drift off lazily as Katniss sings a beautiful song. She is truly amazing, with a fiesty personality, good looks, and a voice of an angel. She seems to forget that I am in the room, as she crouches over her desk doing who-knows-what. In her presence, with her voice surrounding me, I feel totally at ease and at peace with the world.  

Too quickly, it seems, that peace is shattered as Effie's piercing voice announces that it is time for lunch. Katniss stands up, stretching like a cat, and turns around. She is about to walk out the door when she sees me and jumps backwards, startled. "Why were you listening to me, you creeper?" she asks. I'm not quite sure if she's teasing me or if she's genuinely mad so I apologize quickly and follow her out the door. 

Once we're in the hallway, an uncomfortable silence lingers. I grin and say, "Besides, you're the one who let me in, don't you remember?" 

She ignores this comment and walks faster, while I hurry to catch up with her. As we walk into the dining room, we almost collide with Effie, who is walking out the room talking rapidly on the phone. 

To my surprise, Haymitch is sitting at the head of the table. I avoid looking up because I can feel his gaze boring holes into my back. In my haste to rush over to my seat, I accidentally trip over another chair and land on the ground. Haymitch guffaws and Katniss grins, breaking the tense silence. 

I stand up, blushing and pull out my seat, then tumble to the ground yet again. I have somehow managed to sit on empty air, which causes Haymitch to laugh hysterically. Katniss is quiet and looks down at her food, but I swear I see the corners of her lips twitch into a smile. Brushing myself off, I hastily sit down- ON the chair this time- and begin eating quickly. 

The food is delicious, as usual, but Katniss doesn't seem to enjoy it much. Normally, she stuffs her face right when she sits down, but right now her face is contorted into a twisted expression. I wonder what she is thinking. She glares up at Haymitch, who is still laughing drunkenly, and I realize what's making her mad.  

He continues guffawing while downing mouthful after mouthful of beer, until she slams her fork down and says, "So you're supposed to help us." The insolence in her voice shows plainly, but Haymitch doesn't seem to be bothered by it. He studies her quietly and then takes another drink. "Well?" she demands. "How about some advice?" 

He takes a deep breath and his face becomes serious, and I lean in to catch his words. He clears his throat, about to same something important. "Here's some advice," he says, "Stay alive." With that, his serious expression breaks and he begins laughing. I feel a wave of resentment towards him, and secretly curse my luck for having the worst mentor possible. I catch Katniss's eye, and she gives me a knowing look. 

Haymitch keeps on laughing, and suddenly I am very annoyed. This is a matter of life and death, and he's treating it like some game. Before I know it, I strike the bottle out of his hand and it cracks, spilling its contents all over the floor. 

He frowns at me uncertainly, then punches my left cheek. I prepare to lash back, but before I can, a knife lands on the table, inches from his hands. Katniss's doing, of course. 

He frowns and reaches for another bottle of beer. "Would you look at that? I actually got a pair of fighters this year." Before I can blink, something whizzes through the air and knocks the alcohol out of his hand. He curses under his breath. 

I look over at Katniss and she is breathing hard, resentment radiating from her eyes. "You. Will. Not. Treat. This. Lightly," she says, punctuating every word. "Other people might have put up with you being drunk and refusing to help, but not us."  

He surveys us warily over his fingertips, sizing us up. His eyes are still watery and red, but now they look more focused. 

He sighs and addresses Katniss, "Can you throw that accurately all the time?"  

Instead of answering, she picks up a knife and aims it at the wall. It flies directly into the seam between two panels. How did she do that? I look at her curiously, but she's too busy smirking at Haymitch to look my way. He looks impressed and nods approvingly. 

"Get over here," he says, gesturing to me. I get up to join them and he scrutinizes both of us. I feel rather uncomfortable and Katniss probably does too, judging by her tense posture. 

Haymitch looks up at us. "You guys seem pretty fit. With some fixing up, you might just look good enough." 

"Gee, thanks." I try to keep the sarcasm out of my voice because what he says is true. We have to look nice enough that people want to help and sponsor us. 

Everything is silent as all three of us look at each other. "I'll make you guys a deal," Haymitch says suddenly. "If you don't try to restrict my drinking, I'll make sure to stay sober enough to help you." 

I figure it's the best deal we're going to get, and obviously Katniss thinks so too because she nods her head curtly.  

"You're going to have to do anything I say, even if you don't like it." Haymitch reminds us. 

He looks me in the eye, and I turn away quickly. Somehow, the fact that he's helping me actually makes me more nervous. It's like I'm finally fully understanding the severity of my situation. 

Katniss looks at him thoughtfully, then says, "Okay, you promised to help us. So when we get to the Cornucopia-" she falters as everything goes dark.

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