Chapter 27

Katniss

I wake up in the morning, processing what happened last night. I've started doing that every morning. Ruth. I open my eyes, expecting her to be laying beside me. She isn't. I sit up quickly. She is standing in the corner, brushing her hair. "Sorry. I didn't want to wake you," she says.

"It's fine." I reply, beginning to calm down.

"Did you have any nightmares last night?" she asks, setting her comb down.

"Did I started randomly screaming in the middle of the night?" I reply, swinging my legs over the bed.

"No," she giggles. I can't believe how much she reminds me of Prim and Rue. I just hope that her fate is entirely different than theirs.

"Did you?" I ask. She shakes her head, grinning.

"We should get to breakfast." she says. I nod and pull on a clean black shirt. I didn't change into different pants. They are all the same anyway. Stretchy and black. Then I remember what Plutarch promised me. I see Peeta after breakfast. A smile begins to creep up on my face. I didn't even realize I was doing it until Ruth said something. "What?"

"Nothing," I reply, lacing up my boots. She sits beside me on the bed, and nudges my arm.

"Tell me," she says.

"It's nothing, really," I say. I started plaiting my hair into it's usual braid. 

"It's that boy isn't it?" she whispers. It's like she can read my mind. "Peeta, right? The one your in love with." I laugh at her expression. She's smiling but it's more of a sneaky grin. A happy one.

"I'm just going to try and help him. Get better," I say.

"Ok," she says, not buying it. It's the truth though. "Well, we better get to breakfast than. Peeta awaits." I laugh again.

We walk out of the room together, in silence. I finally speak. "Why is Annie never in our room?" I ask. She shrugs.

"She does that a lot. She cries and screams in her sleep. She doesn't like waking me, and now you." she says. That's what I was thinking I would do when I was first assigned to our room.

"Where does she go?" I ask. Ruth shrugs again.

"Closets I think. The laundry room sometimes. Away from people," she says casually, as if it was just as important as dirt. I can relate with Annie more than I thought. During the war, I used to sleep in supply closets and the laundry room. I prefer to not think about that though.

We arrive at the dining hall. It's almost completely full. There aren't even very many people, it's just a small room. Ruth and I manage to find a spot. I suddenly wonder where Johanna went after Coin was killed. Or should I say, after I killed Coin. Maybe she went back to 7. I remember seeing her at that meeting, to decide about the Capitol's Hunger Games. We both voted yes. Then I remember. The 76th Hunger Games. It's going to be in a year, less than that. I think the announcement for it is in just a month.

"Katniss?" Ruth asks, waving her hand in front of my face. I jump back a touch, but put on a fake smile. "Were you think about Peeta?" Ruth jokes. She is so innocent, and carefree. I can't believe it, after all she's been through at such a young age. I can't believe that Prim was still like that before the bombing. She went through even more, I think. She was forced to grow up so fast.

"No, I wasn't," I say. My smile turns real in just a few seconds. I finish my granola and bread and gulp  down my milk. I wish I hadn't. I am still hungry. I guess it isn't very smart to refuse to eat. Ruth slips half of her bread to me under the table. I shake my head, passing it back.

"It's fine, I'm not hungry. You need it." she says. I can tell, saying she wasn't hungry is a lie. I cave in anyway, this time savoring the bread.

"I should go. See you tonight?" I say. She nods happily and we both stand to put our trays in the compartment in the corner. "Goodbye." 

"Bye!" Ruth says. She walks down the hall to our room. I wonder what she does during the day.

I walk down the hallway going the opposite direction. My feet shuffle on the dirty, pale floor.

I find Haymitch's room and knock. He doesn't answer. I push open the unlocked door. He is laying unconscious on his bed. There is an empty bottle peeking out from under the bed. I wonder how he got his hands on it. Although, he certainly didn't do a very good job at hiding it. 

"Haymitch!" I say. I shake his shoulder. "Haymitch! Up!" He must not have been that drunk last night because he lifts his head without me having to poor something on him.

"What do you want?" he growls.

"You promised me I could see Peeta. Where's Plutarch?" I ask, getting an annoyed scowl in return. 

"How should I know?"

"Where's Peeta?" I ask, forgetting Plutarch. He sighs.

"He's been asking for you," He mumbles. I think my heart skips a beat. I get butterflies in my stomach. It's never happened before. Besides the time when Peeta and I kissed in the cave and on the beach. The feeling is similar.

"Where is he?" I repeat. He grabs a pen and paper and scribbles something down. He hands it to me. I think it's a permission slip. His room must be guarded again.

"Room 176. Floor above us. You'll find it," he says, shooing me out. I nod and exit the room. There is a clatter in the room but I ignore it, clutching the yellow piece of paper in my hand.

I slowly walk towards the elevator. It isn't very high tech or fancy or anything. It looks like it could fit one person, two if they're small enough. It doesn't look very promising but I step in anyway. At least I wasn't going down. Coming from District 12, I've always had a fear of elevators.

The ride doesn't last long though. I'm only going up one floor. There are three halls in front of me. I walk straight across, down the middle one. I guess my hunch is right because I find room 176 almost instantly.

I don't get the chance to knock on the door. Plutarch opens it right in time. He gives me a fake smile and a curt nod. "He's all yours. Besides the guards watching you of course. We'll also be watching you through this two way mirror." Plutarch says, motioning towards the mirror. I nod, and push open the door slowly.

Peeta tenses up when he saw me, but doesn't start yelling like last time. This therapy seems to help. "Hi." I say. He nods hello.

"Do you remember last time I came and saw you?" I ask..

"You tried to help me. Real or not real?" he asks.

"Real," I reply. "And I did."

"But why do I need help?" he asks. His voice is so innocent, so broken.

"Because of the Capitol," I say.

"This happened before. Real or not real?"

"Real."

"And I healed. I was normal again?" he asks.

"Real." I reply. I see the guards nod to me, telling me that I need to start that whole "telling him what's real" strategy. I decide to start off slow. I take a few more steps towards him. He backs away into the pillow on his bed a slightly, but stops when he realizes I'm not going to do anything.

"So why did you come here?" he asks. I think he means to be rude. The feeling of hate comes back. I remember that feeling from before.

"To try and help you," I reply, bitterly. I think one of the guards glares at me, but I brush him off.

"I don't need help," he yells, trying to sit. The restraints pull him back down though. I sense yelling about to begin.

"Look, Peeta. This isn't you. I wish I could show you what is. But I can't," I say.

"I've seen videos of us. The Quarter Quell," he says, practically ignoring what I said.

"What about it?" I ask.

"When I hit that forcefield, you were scared? Real or not real?" he asked. I hesitate for a moment, trying to decide what to say.

"Real. Very real," I say.

"Why?"

"Because you were dead," I retort.

"So?"

"So, you just died in front of me. Why wouldn't I be scared?"

"If that whole star-crossed lovers from District 12 thing was an act, why did you care? Just another ally to get rid of. You could have been the victor."

"Maybe it wasn't an act." I yell. I don't care anymore. Anger is bubbling up inside me. I scowl at him and the guards and storm out of there.