Chapter 11

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Chapter 10

Peeta felt anxious as he waited in waiting room of the police station. He watched his parents make calls with family and friends, hoping that at least one of them knew of Katniss’s whereabouts. Prim sat beside him, clinging onto a brown envelope that contains pictures, identification cards, anything that could aid the police.

A voice calls them over the intercom. A young lady ushers them into the police office and leads them through a maze of desks and workstations. A young man approaches them with a grim look on his face. He takes over and leads them to his desk. “Hello, my name is Detective Hawthorne. You can call me Gale. I’ll be overseeing your case. Please, take a seat.”

“Could you please explain the situation to me?” he asks once they’re seated.

“My sister is missing,” Peeta says rudely. “What’s there to explain?”

“Peeta,” Joshua warns.

“No it’s okay. I was insensitive,” Gale says and pulls out a notepad. “Let’s start with her details. Could you tell me about your sister?”

Peeta covers pretty much everything, his parents stay silent; he described her features, the last thing she was wearing, anything he could think of. Prim then hands him the brown envelope, Gale takes his time to look through the pictures and the birth certificate.

The air is tense; Mary can sense Peeta’s patients running low. “Why don’t you take Prim outside? I think there’s a park close by.” Peeta nods and takes Prim’s hand.

<><><><><><><> 

A soft breeze tickles Peeta’s skin. He watches Prim feed small pieces of bread to the ducks. He sighs and holds his head in his hands. “Where are you Katniss?”

He notices some lavender growing beside his feet. Out of habit, he gathers them in his hands and ties them into a bracelet. “I’ll find you soon sis,” he whispers then stuffs the bracelet into his pocket.

Suddenly, a figure in black clothing whizzes by. Peeta squints at the figure, trying to make out who he is. His disheveled hair looks so familiar, so does his big hands and jagged fingernails. Realization hits him like a ton of bricks; it’s Mr. Everdeen.

He runs to Prim and tells her to get their parents, “What about you?” she asks.

“I’m going after him.”

After promising her to keep his phone close to him, he chases Edward down the park and into a narrow alley. Using the shadow of a wall as a hiding spot, Peeta pulls out his phone to snap a few pictures. If Edward had anything to do with his sister’s disappearance, he would have some proof.

Suddenly his phone starts to buzz, it’s Glimmer. Peeta curses under his breath and silences it before he could attract attention. He looks back up to find Edward has disappeared. He curses once more then walks back towards the police station. On his way back, he calls Glimmer.

“Hello?”

“Hey Glimmer, it’s me. I was doing something earlier, so I couldn’t pick up the phone.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Glimmer says. Peeta can sense the nervousness in her voice. “Are you alright?” he asks.

“Yeah… I just needed to talk to you. Could you meet me at the Starbucks?”

“Sure.”

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Madge and Clove are sitting at the corner of the coffee shop, each have newspapers in their hands. Glimmer sits by the door, twiddling her thumbs. “It’s just a phase, it’s just a phase,” she repeats in her head. She takes a sip of her ice tea to calm herself. The waiter arrives seconds later with Peeta’s drink. Before he could add some sugar, Glimmer stops him. “He doesn’t like sugar in his tea,” she says. The waiter nods then walks away. “Glimmer focus! You shouldn’t care about these things!” But she knew in her heart she does.

Peeta arrives at the store 10 minutes later and gives her his signature smile. Glimmer feels her anxiety grown in her chest. “Just a phase.”

“Hey Peeta,” she says and gives him a kiss.

“Are you okay, you look pale.”

“I’m fine… I just have something to tell you,” she says.

“Okay, shoot.”

From her peripheral vision, she sees her friends giving her thumbs up. Glimmer bites her lip, her eyes dancing to every corner. “Glimmer, are you okay?” Peeta asks. “You should go see a doctor if you aren’t feeling well.”

“Oh Peeta, why do you need to make this so hard?” she thinks. Taking a deep breath, she just lets it out. “I’m breaking up with you.”

“What? Why?”

“I… I can’t explain. It’s really difficult Peeta.”

“Glimmer, you can tell me what’s wrong. You were okay yesterday.”

“Peeta, please… don’t make this so hard.”

“But Glimmer-“

“It was a bet!” she yells. A few customers turn to their direction. Clove and Madge lower their newspapers to get a better view, Clove snickers while Madge looks at her friend with sympathy. Peeta narrows his eyes, “So she was right all along.”

“What are you talking about?” Glimmer asks.

“Katniss, she overheard you and- ugh! Why didn’t I listen! Now she’s missing!”

“Katniss is missing?”

“Yes. And it’s all your fault!” He runs out of the store, a thousand eyes land on Glimmer, they all give her looks of disgust. Clove and Madge put down their newspapers and walk to Glimmer’s table; they don’t say anything for the rest of the day.

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