Peeta's Story- The Hunger Games

Chapter 14

I sleep soundly that night and wake up to the sun shining in my face. Groaning, I press a button on the nightstand, and the curtains swish closed. I punch my pillow and try to go back to sleep again. 

After five minutes of tossing and turning, I finally give up and stretch out. I lie in bed, staring at the swirly patterns on the ceiling and groggily dreaming of home. I finally get up when I hear someone banging on the wall and I realize it's probably Haymitch. He has the room next to mine and always makes so much noise in it. I can just imagine him, stumbling around half drunk, banging into the wall. 

I have a slight headache from staying up late the night before, so I head to the bathroom and splash my face with cold water. My head clears up a bit and I look into the mirror, realizing that I look horrendous. I have circles under my eyes and patches on my cheek. I'm hungry, though, so I decide to go down and eat breakfast before cleaning up.  

As I head out the room, I slip on the clothes left out for me- black pants, a burgundy tunic, and leather shoes. I feel foolish as I realize I look like one of those childrens' storybook characters. 

I meet Haymitch on the way to the dining room and greet him. He doesn't seem to be a morning person, as he addresses me with a gruff "Hello." He is wearing a plaid bathrobe, his eyes are red, and he winces when I talk, so I decide to leave him alone.  

When I get down to the dining room, Katniss is already there. We look at each other for a second and she smirks at me with a raised eyebrow as she eyes my bedhead. Then, she takes in what I'm wearing and she frowns. I laugh as I realize we are wearing almost the same thing. I grab a piece of bread and plunk myself down on the chair next to her. I survey her plate piled high with food, and she glares at me, as if challenging me to say something. 

Haymitch slurps his stew loudly while talking to us. "Now, first things first. If you guys don't want to train with each other, now would be a good time to let me know." 

Katniss frowns at her hot chocolate. "Why would you want to train us separately?" 

Haymitch looks at her like she's stupid. "Well, if one of you has a secret talent-" 

He is cut off when Katniss and I exchange a look and burst out laughing. I don't have any skills whatsoever, and we all know that she's a good hunter. Nothing secret here. 

"Peeta, do you have any skills?" he asks me. 

I scoff. "I can bake," I say. "But Katniss, Katniss is amazing at hunting! She can do anything with a bow and arrow." 

She looks at me suspiciously. "Well Peeta is also really good. He's just being modest. He's strong and he almost came in first in our school wrestling competition." She slaps the table as she says this and sneers at me. 

I don't get it why she seems so volatile and hostile right now, "But how will strength help me in the Games? I have to be close enough to use it for it to work!" I realize that I sound frustrated and try to hold back the edge in my voice. 

"Pfft, please," she says, waving an airy hand. She sounds sarcastic. 

I don't know why, but this attitude sets me off. I stand up and glare furiously at her and Haymitch. "You know what? It's just not fair. The Hunger Games aren't fair, and Katniss should stop trying to pass me off as someone who's going to win easily. Because you know what? You want to know what my teacher said when she came and visited me? Instead of comforting me, she said 'At least District 12 might have a winner this year.', but she was talking about YOU, Katniss, you! She said, 'She's a survivor, that girl. She's a survivor.' and do you know how that made me feel?" 

I finish my rant, breathing heavily. Normally I am not like this, but it must be the result of the stress accumulating. Katniss looks at me sadly and shrinks back in her chair. I can feel something sharp pressing against my throat and I know I am about to cry. I swallow the lump and steel myself as I look back at her shrunken figure. 

In a small voice that I can barely hear, she says , "I wouldn't be a survivor if someone hadn't helped me." 

She casts her eyes downward and I know she's remembering a particular day back when we were eleven. I was already under her spell on that cold, winter day when she was out hunting for food to feed her family. She must've been digging in our garbage for scraps when I heard my mother snap at someone. "Go somewhere else and find food before I call the Peacekeepers!" she yelled. Our rations were running out and business wasn't thriving. She was in a horrible mood, and I hurried towards her to make sure she didn't do anything too extreme. I ran up the stairs and tried to comfort my mom, massaging her shoulders until she relaxed slightly. 

I caught a glimpse of Katniss outside our window and my eyes widened. She had a thin layer of clothing on and she was shivering in the cold, her cheeks red. "It's okay, Mom," I turned back to my mother and patted her back. She slowly walked out the room, grumbling to herself and I looked out the window again. Katniss was there, giving me one long, searching glance before stumbling towards our garbage. She looked at me, as if begging me not to tell Mom what she was doing, and although she looked weak and cold, the fire in her eyes never went out. There was something about this girl that just always seemed to bring out the courage in me. As the smell of freshly baked bread wafted up from the first floor, I realized I had to help her. 

I walked downstairs, a plan already forming in my head. I knew I would get in so much trouble, but it'd all be worth it. "Bread's ready!" my mom yelled from somewhere above me, and my dad replied, "I'll get it!" 

"No, Dad, it's fine, I'll get it!" I say, and leisurely made my way downstairs. By the time I got to the ovens, I could smell the bread burning slightly. My mom obviously smelled it, too, because within seconds, I could hear her running downstairs.  

"Stupid, careless, child!" she scolded me, then slapped my cheek as I mumbled an apology. "Go take the bread out and feed it to the pigs. What a waste of supplies!" She dragged me by the ear to the window in front of the trough and crossed her arms. I slowly opened the window and threw tiny pieces of bread on the ground. When I turned around, my mother had left the room, so I opened the window wide and looked around. 

Within seconds, I had located Katniss, crouching low to avoid detection. I quickly threw her the rest of the bread and closed the window, but not before I saw gratitude flash in her eyes. Without the food, she and her family might have died of starvation.

She finally looks up at me, and she seems to be apologizing using her eyes. I shrug and say, "Everyone loves you. They'll be fighting each other to sponsor you." 

"You too." She says back to me. "You're just so charming that they will want to sponsor you right away. They probably like you more than me." 

I smile. Did she just call me charming?  

Haymitch laughs and rolls his eyes at me. "She obviously has no idea the effect she has on people." 

I agree drily. Look what she has done to me, driving me crazy, head over heels for her. She just looks confused, and I shake my head in resignation.  

Haymitch pushes his chair out from the table and stands up, beginning to walk away. He turns around in the doorway and says, "One last thing- In public, I want you by each other's side every minute." 

I open my mouth to protest, and Katniss glares at him, but he says, "No objections," then leaves. 

I turn to look at Katniss, who is looking wistfully at me. Just my luck that I will finally get to know the girl I love when I'm sentenced to death. 

I go upstairs quietly and get ready for our training session.