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chapter 4

I guess we fell asleep last night with the lamp on, because I wake up with a shining light in my eyes. Jack is still asleep, so I roll over and whisper in his ear, "Wake up."

He groans and turns away.

"five more minutes, Mother," He mutters, and I do my best to contain my laughter.

"Oh, yes, Jack Odair, you must wake up this instant so you and Tigerlily Everdeen can get breakfast before Hunger Games training starts," I say, doing my best to imitate his mother's voice. His eyes finally flutter open and he says, "Everdeen. That's not what my mother sounds like."

"Does too."

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"Does too. Now come on, we need food before we start the training." 

* * * 

I slather jam on my toast and take a large bite. The jam is sweet and smooth, and melts in my mouth. I take a sip of tea and suddenly feel homesick. I miss Cinna. And Eve. And what scares me even more is the fact that I'm about to see Eve in training. I'm about to talk to Jack when the dining hall door bursts open and Haymitch strolls in. 

"I forgot to tell you this. I won't be mentoring you this year," He says, grabbing some toast and fig jam. 

"Who will mentor us, then?" I ask, and my question is answered when two very familiar people walk into the room. 

"Mother! Father!" I scream, throwing my toast down on the plate and rushing to them. They wrap me in a tight, warm hug and stroke my hair the way Jack had done the night before. 

"Where's Cinna?" I ask once they pull away from me. 

"He's here on this train," my Mother answers. 

"Where? I want to see him!!" I yell at my parents. 

"I'm right here!" a favorite voice of mine squeaks from the doorway. 

"Cinna!" I run through my parents and hug him. 

"Mommy wanted me to say hello before training," He says, then whispers, "I know you'll do great!" 

"Hey, I love family reunions, so where's my family?" Jack asks from the table. 

"Jack, where are you?" a voice says from the hallway. 

"He's here, Annie," my Mother calls. And there is Annie Cresta, racing towards her son so fast, she could have been mistaken for air. She throws her arms around Jack, and with his head uncomfortably placed on her shoulder, he mouths to me, 'Help!'   

I just laugh for the first time since we got on the train. 

* * * 

My mouth goes dry. My legs are moving towards Mandolyn, and I can't stop or slow myself down. Before I know it, I'm hovering over Mandolyn, watching her cake mud onto her arm and carve bark patterns into it. 

"That-that's amazing," I manage to sputter. Mandolyn looks up from her work and is about to say something, but her face drops when she realizes who I am.