by RueLivesOn » Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:55 pm
Here you go! Sorry about the wait! Keep reviewing!
I wake up to pale gray light streaming through a crack in the curtains. I listened to the slight rumble of the train and in the distance, I can hear Effie outrageously tall high heels approaching my door. I hear a quick rap at the door and a chirping voice signaling that it is time to awake.
“Up,up,up! It’s going to be a big,big,big day!” I slowly ease myself out of bed and pad my way over to my dresser. With one fluent sweep, the dresser drawer opens easily revealing my choices of clothes for today. I slip on a shirt at random and open the door leading to the hallway. I follow the smell of cooking food and the sound of clanging dishes until I reach the dinning cart. I take a seat next to Haymitch who doesn’t even seem embarrassed about the previous night’s events. Or maybe he didn’t even remember throwing up and me having to undress him? The only marks that show the indulgences of last night are the puffiness of his eyes and small red blotches that scatter his face. Haymitch looked over just in time to catch staring at him as Katniss walked into the room. A low chuckle rumbled through his chest as I felt my cheeks flame a dark shade of red.
“Sit down, sit down!” Haymitch said to Katniss as she took a seat across from me. I decided that now would be a good time to put my full attention into picking at a roll in my hand.
I wasn’t in much of a mood to eat so I just ate small pieces off of my roll and dipped them into the steaming cup of hot chocolate. I wasn’t quite sure what it was but the creamy and warm liquid felt amazing as it slid down my throat. Once Katniss got her own cup of hot chocolate a small frown crossed her face and her brow wrinkled in confusion.
“They call it hot chocolate. It’s good.” I said while making a show of drinking my own hot chocolate. Katniss looks up at me with her big, gray eyes and back down at the brown liquid suspiciously. She tentatively takes a sip and when she realizes it’s good, she mirrors my actions and starts to dip the roll in the liquid too. My hunger starts to build up and I soon find myself reaching for seconds and speeding up my food intake. I notice Katniss does the same. Haymitch on the other hand hasn’t touched a bit of his food, but was being very generous with his intake of spirits. He had downed at least three glasses of red liquid that he kept thinning with a clear liquid that made me wrinkle my nose at the smell. My emotions feel the persistent thrum of annoyance I always feel when looking at Haymitch drink. Katniss must be thinking the same thing because she suddenly opens her mouth to speak.
“So, you’re supposed to give us advice,”Katniss says calmly. It’s not a question.
Haymitch measures his words, looks around the room, and finally seems to come up with an answer to his liking. “Here’s some advice. Stay alive,” Haymitch throws his head back in laughter and his cheeks turn red from lack of air.
The anger I’d been holding in erupts inside me. It’s like a storm. It thrashed through my mind destroying any rational thought my mind could hold. As if someone else was controlling my hand, it whipped out and sent the glass of spirits flying across the room.
“That’s very funny, only not to us.” I said. I had never heard my voice so cold. It didn’t sound like me, it sounded like another person.
Haymitch takes in the scene before. He looks to me, to the spirits, to Katniss, and back to me and before I knew it, his hand was punching me in the jaw. With a loud thud I landed on the floor. Slowly, I got back up ready to fight off another blow. Instead, I see Haymitch reaching for the bottle of spirits and Katniss sending a knife between his hand and the bottle.
“Well what’s this?” Haymitch says raising an eyebrow, “Did I finally get a pair of fighters this year?”
Something about the way that he said it gives me hope. Maybe, just maybe, one of District 12’s tributes could win. I know that my chances are very slim, but Katniss? She’s a fighter.