Hunger Games - Primrose

ʗɧɑǷƮɛƦ 9 - Ʈɧɛ ՏɛʗƦɛƮ ʗօოɛʂ օųƮ

I woke up late that morning after a pretty restless night's sleep. I turned over in the huge bed to the clock that showed me it just past 11am. Woah, I thought. It's late. I got moving pretty quickly, until I realised this day would be fairly relaxing compared the ones in the past week and the ones after in the future I would have to face. Today was the private scoring sessions day and I had no idea what I was going to do. I could show my skills with berries and leaves and stuff, but I didn't know what I'd do weapon wise. I hadn't form a magical talent like I had hoped and I wasn't even decent in any of the weapons I'd tried. I was definitely going to get a famous District 12 low score.

I clambered into the shower and pressed the seventh button on the tenth row downwards and a disgusting smell came from the showerhead. I knew the smell the second it came out. Coffee. I hate the smell of coffee. I'd smelt it a few times coming from the small café in the town square in District 12 and Effie had cups of coffee every morning at breakfast and every time she finished her dinner. I quickly pressed another button, not paying much attention to which one it was, and the delicious smell of freshly baked bread came out from the showerhead this time. It reminded me of the bakery in District 12 this time. It seemed like every single one of these buttons awoke a memory. I wondered if Peeta had found this button yet. I knew for a fact he would like it. I washed in the yummy scent realising I was in fact very hungry. I'd probably missed breakfast, but I didn't mind all too much. I would just engorge myself at lunch.

After getting out the shower and drying off, I chose a red pair of trousers and a skin tight white t-shirt with a woolly black cardigan and clasped on my token bracelet that Hazelle, Gales mother, had given me. I braided my hair in the same way Katniss could. It had become a nice comfort for me. I wanted to stick simple today, but whatever clothes I picked seemed to look fabulous. All the clothes were fabulous. Trust the Capitol. It may be ever so evil, but it was full of beauty. Even the people who were so over the top with their fashion, still found a way to look beautiful in their own unique style.

I walked down to the dining room to be greeted by Haymich and Peeta. I didn't know where Effie was, but I didn't complain. I wasn't in the mood for Effie right now. Her shrill voice and constant excitement was beginning to wear me out. I sat down and was happy to see breakfast was still on the table. Everybody must have had a lie in bed today. It was the only one that Peeta and I were going to get for a while. Haymich joined me into the conversation the minute I sat down. "Right. We were just talking about the private scoring sessions today, sweetheart." I nodded, listening to him as I poured a piping hot chocolate into a very large mug, grabbing some bread rolls and eating a scrambled egg. I was really going to stuff myself today. I needed the energy – I knew the private sessions were going to take all energy out of me. "What are you planning to do?"

I looked at Peeta and wondered whether he should be here to hear what I was going to do in my private sessions, but then I realised there wasn't much he didn't already know about my lack of skills. "Play with some plants, choose some berries. I haven't really got a clue about the weapon side of it." I admitted.

Haymich sighed. He must have been wishing for a miracle too. No such luck there, Haymich. I thought to myself as I tucked into my eggs. They were light and creamy and warm. It was like my stomach was getting a hug. I added eating scrambled eggs to the list of things I would miss when I'm dead. And drinking hot chocolate with bread rolls. Not that I did much of that anyway. "Well, just do what you can. Just try anything that might get their attention. Think outside the box." He told me. I wasn't really listening at this point. We both knew it was no hope, especially me. Haymich hadn't seen me in the training sessions, but if he did, he would be sure there was no hope at all for me. He must have been reading my mind because he suddenly leaned in over the table to me, very close. I could feel his breath hitting my face, but it was clean of an alcohol stench. That's a first. "Don't give up on yourself, sweetheart. You just need to actually try."

The words cut through me like a knife. What did he mean, actually try? What had I been doing so far? I'd been trying as hard as I could, right? I had been going to all the weapons (apart from the bow and arrow, I still couldn't face that) and trying all the survival skills I could. How dare he think that I don't try… I decided not to dwell on it, there was no point. I needed Haymich for these Games and keeping on a good side of him would be imperative. I continued eating on, topping up my eggs on my plate until I was so full of food I thought I could have been sick. It was very quiet on the table after Haymich made his comment about actually trying. I hated it being so quiet.

I looked over at Peeta for the first time this morning and he didn't meet my gaze. I sighed heavily. I wondered what had changed on him. He used to be smiley to me when we first got here. It changed ever since I wore Katniss' braid. His face changed that night when he looked at me. How he kept looking at me. He seemed almost upset by it. And how he reacted when Haymich mentioned the bow and arrow. Upset. He reacted upset. Upset. Why would he be upset?

For the first time in the past few days, I really felt like thinking hard. I wanted to put these pieces together before the private session. I needed to know what was wrong with Peeta before I went into the sessions else I wouldn't be able to concentrate. It had been the thing that had been niggling at the back of my mind for the past few days now. The thing that's been putting me off from thinking like me. From trying. Trying like Haymich said I needed to try. God damn you, Peeta Mellark!

I ran to my room without even dismissing myself. I began to sprint away from the dining room back to my room. I locked the door and climbed under the covers of my bed. I lay in a ball and began to think. Ok, Prim. Think.

Braid. Bow and arrow. Katniss. Upset.

Braid. Bow and arrow. Katniss. Upset.

Where they friends?

No, they'd never talked.

Braid. Bow and arrow. Katniss. Upset.

Braid. Bow and arrow. Katniss. Upset.

How do you know they'd never talked?

Because she would been fonder of him. She's never been fond of him. She always avoided him. I'd noticed that before. I never took note of it, I just presumed it was coincidence.

Braid. Bow and arrow. Katniss. Upset.

Braid. Bow and arrow. Katniss. Upset.

Why wasn't she fond of him?

I don't know. He must of done something.

Braid. Bow and arrow. Katniss. Upset.

Braid. Bow and arrow. Katniss. Upset.

What could of he done that made her not fond on him? Something nasty?

No. Katniss didn't work like that. If he did do something nasty, she would of told someone.

Braid. Bow and arrow. Katniss. Upset.

Braid. Bow and arrow. Katniss. Upset.

Something nice?

Yes. Katniss worked like that. She didn't like to owe people when they did good deeds for her.

Braid. Bow and arrow. Katniss. Upset.

Braid. Bow and arrow. Katniss. Upset.

What good deed could Peeta of possible done for Katniss?

Helped her in school work, picked up an arrow or a piece of food or clothing she may of dropped somewhere in the district, given her food. Given her food.

I had finally hit a point of understanding - a tiny point, just a guess – when there was a knock on my door. It wasn't the familiar sharp knock that Effie would give, else I would of ignored it, so I went over and opened. Surprisingly enough, Peeta stood at my door looking slightly concerned. It was the first time he'd even looked at me in about three days. "Hey." I said breathlessly. He walked into my room and I closed the door. We sat together on the bed in an awkward quiet until he finally spoke.

"What happened with you?"

"What happened with YOU?" I asked. I just wanted to get down to the point with him now. I didn't want to beat around the bush. There wasn't enough time left in my life to do that.

Peeta didn't look puzzled at all. He must of known it was coming. Maybe that's why he's been ignoring me since he reacted so much to the Katniss references. He didn't want to be asked about it. What had changed now? After a few minutes of quiet he exhaled deeply. "Isn't it obvious?" I shook my head. It wasn't obvious at all. Sure, it may have been if I had been up to thinking as intensely as I did just a few minutes before he entered my room, but it still wasn't obvious to me yet. Another few minutes passed before Peeta spoke again. "I'm in love with her, Prim. I always have been." He looked at me with his big blue orb eyes. They were softening, threating to flood with tears any second. I didn't know what to say. I sat there, my mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. Now he had told me, it was obvious. My mind flashbacked to the times I'd seen them in the same rooms at school. Him, staring at her and daydreaming. Her, avoiding his gaze. Him, looking at her longing whenever he got a glimpse of her. Her, pretending like she didn't know. I began to remember what I had thought of when I clambered into bed after breakfast. Had he done a good deed for her like I had thought? I didn't know how to ask, really, so I just asked him why he loved her and when he started to.

"Well, since I've first met her really. I remember when it was the first day of school and our teacher said 'Who knows the valley song?' and her hand shot straight up," a smile crept on his face. I bet he has dreamt of that day ever since it happened. My heart softened. I could practically feel his love for her myself. "Ever since that day, I watched her watch home from school every day. Every day."

I couldn't believe I'd never realised sooner. Now he had told his secret to me, it was completely and utterly obvious. I remember seeing him when I walked home with Katniss, but I didn't take any notice. I never really did to him. He then continued talking to me about her. "I remember your first day of school too. How you walked together. You looked so different. I thought she was just making friends with the new years at first and I remember thinking about how lovely that was of her." He smirked. I let him talk endless memories, which was ever so comforting, of her until he said "One day, I gave her some bread too. I think about that all the time." Bingo! I thought. The good deed.

"Tell me about it." I said.

He smiled. He liked talking about her so much. I could see how much of a weight was being lifted off his shoulders already. I could see the real Peeta Mellark. The one that I'd seen a few times in the District in the bakery. "Well, it was raining and my mother was screaming at a kid outside, calling them a seam brat. I went outside to see who she was shouting at, I wanted to try and calm her down a little bit, but she was totally freaking out and told me to get back inside. I saw that it was Katniss outside she was screaming at and I decided to do something I would of never done for anybody else…" he continued. "I went inside to the bread ovens and turned the temperature up on purpose. I then shouted to my Mother that it was burning. She may of hit me afterwards, but I saved Katniss from having no dinner that night and that means more to me than anything."

I then flashbacked to the night Katniss brought home that soggy, slightly burnt bread. She told us she'd found it outside behind the bakery in the bins. I remember how Mother was mad at her in some ways because she didn't want her children to be snooping in bins. I remember Katniss arguing with her, saying that if she hadn't of zoned out after Fathers death in the first place, she wouldn't of needed to. It hit me now that she lied about where she got the bread. We all remembered that bread. It saved our lives. We would of starved to death if it wasn't for that bread.

"Peeta…" I began. "It wasn't just no dinner that night. We hadn't eaten for almost a whole month. It was the month our Father died and our Mother couldn't cope with his death. Katniss couldn't hunt because it was winter and we had no money and if it wasn't for you giving us that bread that gave Katniss some hope… we would of all died."

He looked like he had seen a ghost after I told him. The colour had completely drained from his face from the shock of how good his good deed actually was. "She never even… looked at me twice… surely, she would of looked at me twice or said thanks if it was-"

"No," I interrupted. "That's not how Katniss works… She probably felt bad. Like she owed you. She was in your debt and she didn't know how to repay you because you weren't even friends. Trust me… That's how Katniss works." He nodded silently and his tears began to stream. "Oh, Peeta!" I cried. Tears spilled from my eyes as well. All the talk about Katniss made me so sad. I still could feel Peeta's love for Katniss as if I was him. I could feel his heartbreak. I felt so awful and hallow for this boy that sat next to me. I clambered the sobbing mess of a boy into my arms and he didn't hesitate to hug me back.

We kept on hugging and crying for Katniss until there was a knock on my bedroom door, signalling that we had to go because the private scoring sessions with the Gamemakers.

Maybe, just maybe, after finding out the thing that had been holding me back the past few days, I may just be able to find a way to impress the Gamemakers. Or at least, I would try. I would definitely try. Not for me. Not for Rue, my new ally. Not for Peeta, my new friend. But for Katniss, my lovely sister. I wanted her to be proud of me. I wanted to see her again. I needed to.

 

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ʗɧɑǷƮɛƦ 10 - Ʈɧɛ ǷƦɪѵɑƮɛ ƮƦɑɪɴɪɴɠ

A fter cleaning ourselves up a little bit from our ordeal, Peeta and I were taken to the car that would take us back to the training centre where the private scoring sessions would be held. Haymich wasn't allowed to go with us at this point, because that's how private the Gamemakers were attempting to make the sessions. We were led to wait outside the private session room until our name was called on a tanoy. It was awful just waiting and waiting. The minutes ticked by like hours. Each tribute was allowed ten minutes with the Gamemakers to impress them. Peeta and I were waiting for such a long time, as it went in order of districts starting from one. In my opinion, it really sucked for the last couple of Districts. By the time it was our turn to impress them, they were bored and it would be ten times harder to impress them, meaning harder to get higher scores. After what felt like a year, my name was called from the tanoy. My legs began shaking as I walked. "Hey Primrose," Peeta called out just before I was about to enter the private session room. "Do it for Katniss."

It was like Peeta had injected a surge of confidence in me with those four simple words. I nodded back at him, showing that he had helped push off a few of the nerves as I pushed open the door. The private session room didn't look like it had even been rearranged much since the training sessions. In fact, I don't think they've moved anything. I looked around to where the bunch of Gamemakers were sitting. Well, barely any of them were actually sitting. They were all parading around the little room that they would watch us in. They were drinking and probably had been since the first lot of tributes entered. By now, they'd all be as drunk as Haymich would like to be. They were all eating as well, getting excited over some roasted pig that had just been ordered. I cleared my throat and loudly spoke towards them. "Primrose Everdeen. District 12."

They all turned around at this point, some taking a seat, some just stopping where they were to watch me. I began by taking the plants test. I aced it with no mistakes at all. They seemed lightly impressed, but nothing they'd probably not seen before. I then decided I ought to do some weapon work. I headed over to the knifes, which was the weapon I'd been practising the most in training because it's normally the most commonly found in the arena. The first two didn't hit the dummy but the third hit the outskirts of one of its target. We all knew that was just luck. The Gamemakers began to lose the little interest they'd had in me from the start now so I moved on to the swords. I hit the dummy well a couple of times, but the Gamemakers weren't even watching. This was the best I'd done – better than I'd done in training but they didn't even care. The blood in my veins began to boil. They were going to give me such a low score, but they had barely even given me a chance. Think. I told myself. Think, Prim. What would Katniss do?

Without even thinking, I grabbed the bow and arrow from the bow and arrow stand. The metal felt cool in my hands. I slot the arrow in place. I knew what to do because I had watched Katniss many a time when I had braved it out into the forest with her. I began looking at the Gamemakers with the bow and arrow in my hand, wandering what I could do that could grab their attention. I looked at the apple in the pigs mouth. If I shot that, that would really get their attention. But the risk of that would be high. I'd never shot an arrow in my entire life. I'd never even touched a bow before this moment. Katniss had always wanted me to, but I hated anything that could take away a living things life. That all had to change now. I began scanning for other things I could hit that would get the Gamemakers attention. The targets weren't going to grab their attention and they were totally out of the question.

I looked at the timer that showed me how much time I had left to impress the Gamemakers. 2 minutes 32 seconds. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. I reassured myself with calm breathing. What would Katniss do? I asked myself again. My attention then drew to the light bulb that was lighting the Gamemakers section. It was far above their heads, and wouldn't hurt anybody. It was a small target, but if I could hit it, it would grab their attention. I just needed to do something. And quick. 1 minute 39 seconds.

I thought back to all the times that I'd seen Katniss use her bow. I tried to remember all the times she told me about hunting with her bow as I drew the arrow back against the bow string and made my eyes focus in on the bulb. Before I knew it, I had released the arrow. It didn't hit the bulb. It was better than that. It hit the electrical cord that the bulb was hanging from, causing the bulbs light to make the Gamemakers part of the room to go dark and the bulb smash to the floor. I looked at the timer that was their only source of light apart from the few lights that lit my part of the private session room. 1 minute 1 second.

I drew the arrow back again and began to aim for the lights above me in my side of the private session room. It was a perfect hit each time. I liked this bow. I felt powerful in it which was such an unnatural feeling to me, but I felt like Katniss. If she could see me now, she would be so proud, which masked over every other feeling. If Katniss would be proud of me that's all I cared about – even if the Gamemakers gave me a terribly low score for my boldness, Katniss would have been proud. She'd never know though unless I came back home. I wish I could go back home.

I looked back at the timer again. 5 seconds. I waited until the 5 seconds were up before the buzzer went off, telling the Gamemakers and me that my time was over. I put my bow and arrow on the floor, as I could no longer see anything in the room after blowing all the electricity. No Gamemakers dismissed me, so I left on my own accord, shutting the form firmly behind me. I put my back to the door and shoved my head in my hands. What had I just done? I stood there with my head in my hands waiting for a group of Peacekeepers to take me away and punish me for my actions, but no Peacekeepers came, just Peeta. He walked up to me and I realised he must be still waiting for the tanoy to call his name.

"Are you okay?" he stammered. I nodded, even though I wasn't. I lifted my head out of my hands to be greeted by a warm smile from him. "I'm sure it'll be fine." He told me.

The tanoy then went off calling his name. He smiled at me again and opened the door. Before the door closed, I looked into the private session room and saw that the broken lights were nowhere to be seen. There was no glass on the floor, and the Gamemakers just looked as drunk as before. That must have been a very quick clean up. It was as if I'd never even been in there. I stood outside the door before realising that you weren't really supposed to be outside the session room once you're session was over. I sighed and walked away, silently wishing Peeta the best of luck.

After around ten minutes of waiting for Peeta, he finally arrived and we got into the car together to go back to the penthouse. I mouthed over to him "How was it?" because I didn't want the Capitol driver to hear us speaking about our private sessions. That was another thing you weren't supposed to do after the sessions, talk about them to anybody. Not even your mentor. But everybody did talk about their private sessions of course. It was obvious everybody would.

Peeta mouthed back over, "Fine. But the Gamemakers didn't seem happy."

That made my stomach twist. They weren't happy. God knows what they were going to do with me. Not just with my score, but me, once I was in the Games. They'd probably send out a storm to kill just me, making it look like an accident to the audience. I knew what the Gamemakers were planning to do with my score, anyway, so there was no point worrying about what was going to happen with that. Only time would tell what would actually happen. My guess is that the Gamemakers were either going to give me awfully low score, lower than the rest of the tributes, which meant no sponsors and I would look like an easy target or they would give me a very high score, higher than the rest of the tributes, making me the first person that the other high scoring tributes would go after and kill first. Either way, I was screwed.

Back at the penthouse, Haymich, Effie and the team of stylists were waiting for our arrival. They looked at us for some sort of sign about how our sessions went when we entered the room, but neither of us gave a hint. It was a tense few minutes after we sat down because nobody was talking at all. Haymich was the first to speak. "Okay. Cut the crap. Just how bad were you two?"

"I don't know. I think I did okay. I threw a lot of heavy weights about and used the knifes and started a couple of fires, but the Gamemakers didn't seem to really be watching." Peeta told Haymich. I wonder why they didn't really seem to be watching. I thought, knowing exactly why they weren't watching. They were too angry with me and my session. Probably couldn't stop thinking about it.

Haymich turned to me and asked me what happened with me, but I couldn't seem to muster up any words. I felt too ashamed. I knew that Katniss would have been proud of me for what I did in my session, but I knew that the people around me right now would not feel the same as Katniss would. "Come on kid. It can't have been that bad. Start slowly. What did you do in your first five minutes?" he persisted.

I took a deep breath. First five minutes, okay. I thought. That's not too bad. Just the first five. "Well, they were all pretty drunk when I came in. I told them my name and they began to watch to me for a few minutes while I played around with the plants and stuff." I began. "I noticed that they were getting bored so I started throwing some knifes but I didn't even hit the targets. By then, they'd stopped watching so I went to the swords. I was alright with them actually, but they weren't watching at all."

"And then what?" Haymich asked. I suddenly turned mute again. I knew I was going to have to tell them, but I didn't know how they were going to react. I just had to come out with it. I was going to die whatever I had done in that session. I had only another day left until the Games. I should just say it. Katniss would.

"I shot an arrow near the Gamemakers."

The facial expressions on the table turned quickly into ones of curiosity into disbelief. Nobody talked for what felt like a year to me. Peeta was staring at me, his jaw practically falling off the table. Effie's face looked like it was going to explode. I'd never seen Effie angry, and I sure didn't feel like starting now but it was too late for that. Cinna looked shaken, as if he didn't know I had it in me. I didn't know I had it in me, to be fair. The other stylists still looked curious. They'd never understand why I'd do something like that to the Gamemakers. Haymich, on the other hand, had a different face completely to the rest. He looked like he was going to burst into laughter any second.

"Genius!" he said. There was sarcastic in his voice as he had begun laughing, repeating the word genius over and over.

"How odd that you find this funny, Haymich!" Effie snapped. "I don't think you'll find it funny if the Gamemakers decide to take it out-"

"On who? On her? On him? I think they already have. Loosen your corset, have a drink." Haymich interrupted, causing Effie to become more angry. It sounded like Haymich had a little drink today.

"He's right, Effie, I don't think they'll do anything major. It will be okay. It's not too bad." Cinna said, getting involved.

"How about it's just bad manners, Cinna? How about that?" she screeched.

"How about it's bad manners that the Gamemakers were ignoring her in her chance to impress?" Peeta shouted.

Everybody began to erupt in an argument apart from me. Even the other stylists began shouting, even though I'm pretty sure they didn't really know what they were shouting at. "STOP! SHUT UP! IT HAPPENED, END OF! I CAN'T CHANGE IT NOW, REALLY CAN I?" I screamed after having enough. This was my mistake and they were all taking it so seriously. I was the one who was going to suffer from it. Not them.

Quiet spread around the table as soon as I had stopped shouting. Everybody began to calm down, and after a few minutes I spoke out again. "Let's just have dinner and watch the training scores."

"No." Effie said. She looked up at me. Her cheeks were still red from anger and her wig looked slightly at a funny angle on her head. "Let's all go back to our own compartments and eat separately. Give us all a chance to calm down. I'll fetch you and Peeta when the scoring is about to begin." Nobody objected to the idea, and frankly, it was the best idea I've ever heard come out from Effie. Everybody began to leave the table silently and resign to their rooms. I was slightly relieved when Peeta came into my room with me to eat dinner. I didn't feel like being alone after all of the commotion that I had caused.

We looked at the food menu that was placed on a very large panel over the table that sat on the other side of my room. I chose to have something I'd never heard of which was roast leg of lamb in mint gravy with garlic potatoes. Peeta chose pork loin marinated in five spices accompanied with roasted vegetables. It took a literal five seconds for the food to appear as if from nowhere. Was there nothing this place couldn't do? If only food was this easy to get at home.

"So," Peeta said halfway through the meal. "What were their faces like when you shot the arrow?"

"I couldn't see, the lights went out too fast."

This caused him to laugh. I was glad he found my trick on the Gamemakers funny. I began to join in on the laughter, knowing that it would probably be one of the last chances I had to have genuine laughter. It was kind of funny, when you thought about it. Katniss would of laughed at it.

Peeta had seemed to of read my thoughts, as he mentioned Katniss as soon as I mentioned her. "She would have been proud." He said.

I nodded, my smile fading away. "I wish she knew."

"Gale would have been proud too." He said.

"How did you know Gale?" I asked, sort of shocked that he knew Gale's name, let alone that he was a very close friend of our family.

"Well, I am in love with your sister. I have learnt a few things over the years watching her." He told me. It dawned on me how he said he had watched her walk home every day since she was five, meaning that at some point in the many years he'd been watching her, he had seen Gale. He would of heard his name and began to see him more and more with Katniss. They were always together. "Can I ask you something, Prim?"

"Of course."

"Does she love him?"

I stopped eating. I didn't know how to answer, because in all honestly, I didn't know the answer. I looked at him. His big blue eyes were trusting and pleading me for the truth. "I-I don't know, Peeta. I've always thought that she loved him… But she never said she loved him. She never said anything of the like."

He silently looked down back to his food and let a small 'oh'. I wish I could of told him that she didn't love him to try and make him a little bit happier, but I didn't want to give him anything but the truth. He had the right to know what Katniss' feelings were, even if I didn't fully know myself.

"So, do you think they'll end up together?" he asked, still looking down.

"I've never really thought about it before. I just supposed… that they would. They're such close friends and Katniss really trusts him, and she doesn't really trust anybody." I said honestly. "But that doesn't mean she loves him and it doesn't mean they'll end up together. And it definitely doesn't mean that they're meant to be together."

A forced smile came from Peeta's mouth, but before he could reply, there was a sharp knock at the door. It was Effie signalling that the scores were going to be shown soon.

You could tell that Effie's idea had worked well since we left to have dinner in our own rooms as everybody in the living room seemed to be in much better spirits. They weren't in amazing spirits, of course, but they all seemed fairly calm and much happier. I sat on the black sofa in the middle of Peeta and Cinna. I sat closer to Peeta, knowing that he could comfort me if I needed it for my score came on. Nobody talked to me whilst we were waiting for the show to start, but I didn't mind. My brain was racked with too many nervous thoughts and my stomach was turning so much, I thought that if I even opened my mouth to speak, my roast lamb and garlic potatoes would pour out of me in a very Haymich drunk style – which would not please Effie at all, and I needed to stay on the right side of her!

Everybody stopped talking when the capitol seal appeared on the screen and the anthem played. Caesar Flickerman appeared on the screen, welcoming us to the show and telling us what was going to happen. He didn't waste any time getting into the scores. "Now. District 1. Marvel. With a score of…" here comes the dramatic pause. That was going to get on my nerves soon. "10." This was excepted of course. I had seen Marvel in training and he was great at everything he tried. Apart from the plants test. He sucked at that. The other tribute from his district and the pair from District 2 both got 9s and 10s. The tributes from 3, 4 and the boy from 5 all got the 4s and 5s. Not surprising. The girl from 5, whom I'd nicknamed Foxface and had her down as very clever and cunning, got a very respectable 8. I bet 1 and 2 weren't going to be happy with that. I would love an 8. Or a 7. It's a high score, but not 'come get me and kill me as soon as the Games start' sort of score. The next couple of districts were the same. 4s and 5s all round, except one poor girl from District 7, who looked no older than thirteen years old, got a 3. I felt Peeta sigh for her next to me. It was upsetting. We all knew she was the sort of girl who was going to die first. I wonder if that's what all the other tributes thought of me when they saw me. It's still what I think of me now.

Caesar then introduced Tresh from District 11. He got a 9. I smile crept up on my face. Well done Tresh. I thought. I didn't know why I was happy for him, because I bet he would kill me in a heartbeat if I gave him the chance in the arena, but I was. I guessed it was because of Rue. As soon as my thoughts turned to Rue, her face appeared on the screen. Wow, the Capitol have made sure made the picture of her on the screen look very small and weak. How horrible. I knew she wasn't as small and weak as the Gamemakers were making her out to be right now, but the audience they didn't. "Rue." Caesar said. "With a score of… 7."

I took a breath in. I wasn't shocked of such, but in a way I was. I knew Rue was good, but a 7 was amazing for someone who was 12. In fact, I'd never even seen that before in the Games. I wondered what she did in there. Before I knew it, Caesar Flickerman was saying our Districts name. "District 12." He boomed. "Peeta Mellark. With a score of… 8."

Cheering went all around the room. Everybody was patting Peeta on the back, and he certainly looked chuffed. A score of 8 was great. "We can work with that!" Effie told him excitedly.

"Well done," I whispered into his ear. He turned to me and smiled a thanks. Everybody shushed when my name was called out from Caesar.

"Primrose Everdeen."

My sister would be watching this right now. I bet she felt just as sick with nerves as I did right now.

"With a score of…"

My mother would be watching this right now as well. I bet she was going to cry too, like I felt like doing.

"11."