Chapter-8

Chapter 8

I stay in my compartment for the rest of the afternoon. I skip lunch, not wanting to see Haymitch or Peeta.

Hours go by, and I stay in my room. Effie knocks on my door for dinner, but I stay in my compartment for another five minutes. When I hear her sigh and walk away, I open the door and slowly make my way to the dining car.

Haymitch and Peeta are sitting at the table across from each other, while Effie sits next to Haymitch. I grab a plate and fill it with food, and sit down. I don't look in anyone's direction.

As we eat, Effie goes on about where we'll stay when we get to the Capitol, the kinds of food they have, the costumes we'll be dressed up in. I don't know what excites her about our costumes. District 12 is the coal mining district. We dress up as coal miners every year, which is nothing special.

I pick up a piece of chicken and bite into it, trying to drown out Effie's voice. It doesn't work at all, because when she sees me with the chicken in my hands, she yells at me.

"Katniss! Where are your manners?"

She hands me a fork and knife, but I pretend not to notice them. I lick my fingers and pretend not to notice Effie's look of disturbance etched on her face. I wipe them on the tablecloth, and she looks mortified. She finds me eating with my fingers disturbing, but not children being forced to fight to the death? It takes everything in me not to laugh, but the boys aren't controlling themselves as well as I am. Haymitch laughs in his shirt, and Peeta is laughing so hard he has tears in his eyes.

Effie stands up and walks to her room, excusing herself from the table. Haymitch gets up to follow her, with a wide grin across his face. I'm guessing not many people eat with their fingers in the Capitol.

I finish eating, and excuse myself from the table. Peeta follows me until I reach my room, and slam my door in his face. He knocks on my door lightly, but I ignore him.

"Katniss?" he says.

I open the door and stare at him.

"Can I come in?" I nod. I don't want to say a word to him.

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been talking to Haymitch behind your back. You're my friend, and it's unfair to you that me and Haymitch strategize without you."

"Strategize? Peeta, you asked him to let you die for me! There's no strategy involved!"

"Okay, fine. I'll tell Haymitch nevermind. Why's it such a big deal to you anyway?"

"Because Peeta," how do I say this? I'm not good with words at all. "You saved my life that day, in the rain. Do you remember that day with the bread?" He nods. "You saved me and Prim that day, and now you're asking me to watch you die? That's not fair Peeta. Not fair to you, or your family. You have to try to win too."

"Okay Katniss. I'll try to win," he whispers.

We sit in my room for an hour or two talking quietly. I lay on my bed, while he sits on the floor next to it. I can feel myself getting tired. I can't hear what he is saying anymore, but I can hear his voice. It's soothing, and I feel my eyes close. I fall asleep with no nightmares.

When I wake up, Peeta is gone. It must be early morning, because I haven't heard Effie's knocking on the door for breakfast yet. I change my clothes, shower quickly, and slip out of my room. I wander the halls for a while, looking for nothing in particular. I love the quietness of the train in the morning. It's peaceful and relaxing, but it will come to an end soon.

"Oh there you are Katniss, I've been looking all over for you! Come dear, time for breakfast!" Effie exclaims. Well, there goes the quietness.

Peeta and Haymitch are already sitting, waiting for me. Haymitch already has his flask, but I don't comment on it.

As soon as I sit down, they both get up to get their breakfast. They must've waited for me to start eating.

"Two days! I can't wait! How exciting!" Effie says.

"I can't wait either, Effie. I can't wait to die on live television for my sister to see. How exciting!" I say, mocking her tone. I get up and head to my room. I can't stand the sight of Effie right now. She thinks this is a fun time? Or is she really that blind to the real world?

I hear a knock on my door.

"Go away Haymitch. I'm not apologizing to Effie."

"You don't have to apologize, I feel the same way. My stomach churns when she gets excited and talks about what we have to do before the Games, like this is all a joke. It makes me sick."

I turn to find Peeta standing in the doorway, not Haymitch.

"Sorry, I thought you were Haymitch," I say with a small smile.

Peeta sits next to me and enjoys the silence of the room. He's learned that sometimes, sitting in silence is better than any comforting words he could think of.

"Peeta, did you sleep last night?" I see how tired he looks, like he hasn't slept in days.

"Yeah, for a little bit," he replies. He's lying, I can hear it in his voice. See it in his eyes. But I say nothing.

Eventually, Peeta gets up and tells me to follow him. We look for Haymitch, trying to get as much advice as possible. If either of us are making it out of here alive, we'll need as much help as possible.

We find Haymitch in the bar car, of course. He wasn't hard to find, it was the first place we looked.

"Oh joy, to what do I owe this pleasant surprise?" Haymitch says as he sips his flask. He looks a little more sober than yesterday.

"We need your help Haymitch," I say. He looks at me confused for a second.

"With what?"

"Peeta came up with a plan for sponsors. It might work. Maybe play to the Capitol's feelings and get them to feel bad for us, send us some supplies." I say.

"Alright sweetheart, what's this plan you and the boy came up with?"

"We're in love. I'll announce this during my interview. You know, get the crowd to feel sorry that the girl I'm in love with has to face me in the Games. They see us as allies, and it'll help get us sponsors. I think it's perfect," Peeta says.

When Peeta first said this, I thought he was insane. In love? How can you act in love? But once I thought about it, Peeta's right. This is our best chance at getting sponsors.

"Hmmm, you and Sweetheart in love. I think I could pull that off. The Star-Crossed Lovers. The Star-Crossed Lovers From District 12. It's genius Peeta, if you guys play the role, sponsors will swarm me trying to send you guys supplies," he replies.

"Perfect, thanks Haymitch. I'll announce this during my interview. It'll be the last interview of the night, which means it'll stick in the Capitol people's heads."

We leave, and head our separate ways. I skip dinner, not really wanting to face Effie after mocking her. I feel bad for how I said it, but not what I said. I meant every word.

Peeta doesn't come by my room tonight. I didn't invite him, so I shouldn't be surprised. I sleep better when he's in the room, though, so I was hoping he'd still come. I feel safer, like nothing can hurt me. I feel warmer, like he's a fireplace giving off heat. I feel like he's the only person left in my life that has my back.

I try to sleep, but realize soon enough that I won't be able to. I wander the halls to keep myself occupied. Before I realize it, I'm in front of Peeta's door. I knock, and he answers quickly. I guess he wasn't asleep either.

"Hey Katniss," he says. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I just couldn't sleep. I was hoping maybe I could sleep in here, if that's okay with you?"

"Yeah, of course, come in," he says as he gestures inside his room.

He grabs a spare blanket and pillow and places it on the ground next to the bed. I was going to sleep in the chair next to his bed, but this is better.

Peeta goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth, and I lay down on the bed Peeta made me. As he comes out, he looks confused.

"Katniss, I made that bed for me. You can sleep in the real one," he says with a laugh.

I object to taking his bed from him, but he insists. When I shake my head for the third time, he picks me up and places me in his bed. I laugh and playfully try to get him to stop. He sets me down gently, and goes to the floor.

"Peeta, I feel bad. I came in here and commandeered your bed from you," I say after a couple of minutes.

"It's fine Katniss, I should get used to sleeping on the ground anyway," he says with a laugh. "If I make it to nightfall."

"Don't think like that Peeta, that's not funny."

"Sorry. I'm tired," he says with an exaggerated yawn. "Goodnight Katniss."

"Goodnight Peeta."

Tonight, I have no nightmares. I actually dream, which hasn't happened in years. I dream of Prim and Gale. Gale taking her to the woods and trying to teach her to hunt, but she refuses to kill the animals, so he teaches her to swim in the lake instead. I dream of my mother, helping Prim study for school. Prim wants to be a healer when she grows older, like my mother.

I wake up crying. I'll never see Prim again, never see Gale again. They're going to watch me die, and there's nothing I can do about it. Prim's probably asleep right now, since there's no school during the Games.

I feel strong arms wrap around me, and hold me tight while I cry. Once I stop crying, he pulls away and looks at me.

"Are you alright?" he asks.

"Peeta, how are you dealing with this?" I ask him. How is he staying so strong knowing he'll never see his dad or brothers again?

"With what Katniss?"

"With knowing you'll never see your dad again. With knowing you'll never see your brothers again. How are you dealing with this?"

"You dreamt of Prim," he says as more of a statement than a question. I nod. "You'll see her again Katniss. You'll see her, and never have to worry about feeding her again. She'll be happy, you'll be happy, I promise. Alright? Go back to sleep, I'll tell Effie I don't know where you are."

"Okay," I whisper. I know it isn't true, but the way he says it, the confidence in his voice makes me want to believe it. I go back to sleep, and true to his word, Effie doesn't find me and I'm able to sleep through breakfast.

Haymitch, Peeta and I talk about some of our skills after dinner that could be useful in the arena.

"Katniss is really good with a bow. My dad trades with her for her squirrels all the time. Says she shoots them right in the eye every single time," Peeta says.

"Well Peeta's strong. I've seen him throw bags of flour over his head in the market like they weigh nothing," I say. I know what Peeta's doing. He's making me look like the strongest out of the two of us so when Haymitch decides ultimately which of us to save, I look like the best option.

"You can't kill someone with a flour bag, Katniss," he says.

"Strength can kill though, and you were a wrestler. Second best in the school, only behind your older brother."

"She's right kid, strength is a great thing to have in there," Haymitch says.

"She's great with knives. You've already seen Haymitch. She can hunt too, which will be perfect for the arena if there's animals," Peeta says.

"Perfect. Look, this will be hard, but when you're in the training center, don't show off your strengths. Work on your weaknesses. You don't want the other tributes seeing what you can do. Save it for the Gamemakers," Haymitch says.

We all go to our compartments after our conversation. Tomorrow, we will arrive in the Capitol. We are the last duo to arrive, being from 12, so the others have already settled into the training center.

I barely sleep. I can't stop my nightmares, and wake up sweating and screaming. I want to go to Peeta's room, but he needs his sleep. I decide to wander the train until morning.

A/N: So guys, they arrive in the Capitol tomorrow! I know in the movie they arrive right after their conversation with Haymitch about surviving, but I figured some of you would like to see Peeta and Katniss together before it gets hectic, and District 12 is farthest from the Capitol, so I don't think it makes sense for it to take a couple hours to arrive there. Anyways, enjoy the rest of your day! :)