When The Canary Sings

Cross My Heart

First Person~Becca Blue

I rubbed my bruise on my cheek, lightly poking at it, knowing that I would be the talk of the Capitol.

I don't have many people to say goodbye to, but I do have my friends, and Grandma too. Rose, Celica, and Prim came first to wish me luck and send me off. Prim even brought me my guitar, and my notebook, filled with songs. All three were crying, but I couldn't bring myself to cry, it was like all the tears had floated out of my body.

When my grandma came in, she pressed a small bag into my hands. My token. It had a few golden coins packed inside. I knew what for. 

"See you soon," was all she said. 

After my three minutes with my friends and my grandma, two Peacekeepers barged in and tore them from the room, and then I was loaded into a car with Picker, and the one and only, Effie Trinket. I laid my guitar out on my lap, but the neck of it rested on Effie's and Picker's. Picker didn't mind, but Effie shifted a bit, but kept her smile on.

"Oh! You two will love it there! Crystal Chandeliers, real food, golden door knobs, marble floors!" Effie said, and then continued to prattle on and on. I know I wasn't listening, and Picker was definitely not. He was just staring straight ahead, his eyes were a bit red, but not a single tear escaped his eye.

Once we exited the car, the entirety of Twelve was following them, but that was over fast when we boarded the train and the doors shut.

"Go ahead," Effie shooed us, urging us to step into the room in front of us. I took a step forward and took in the room in front of me. It was the most luxurious thing I have ever seen, covered in flowers with a table of sweet pastries. Both Picker and I walked straight towards it. We grabbed the powdery pastries and stuffed our faces.

The sugar and flavor exploded in my mouth, I turned towards Picker and saw him stuffing his face as well, I gave him a quick smile and continued stuffing my empty stomach.

After a few minutes of stuffing our faces, Effie had to pry us away from the table, telling us that we shouldn't be spoiling our dinner and things like that. She showed us our rooms and told us to get some rest, and she would wake us for dinner.

I practically melted into the bed. I wrapped myself in the satin sheets, and fell into a quick dreamless sleep.

I was awoken by a light tapping on my door that I assumed to be Effie, but when I called that I'd be there soon, the door opened and in walked Picker. We stared at each other for a moment. He was still dressed in his reaping clothes, which was good cause I didn't plan on changing.

"I'm sorry." He said, looking me straight in the eyes.

"For what?" I asked.

"The reapin', it ain't fair." He said, taking off his cap. "It's your second year, you shouldn't have been picked."

"And it's your last," I said, "you came so close to bein' let off, but now..." My voice ended up trailing off, but he understood.

"In the arena," he started again, "we should ally. It'd help us both, maybe make up a story around it." He said, and I could tell the gears in his head were turning. "We would need Haymitch to help us, but-"

"We need to get him sober first." I said, "but we can manage that, right?" I asked, smiling. Before he could answer, Effie called us for dinner, so we both exited the room and walked towards the dining car.

Effie was sitting at the table with Haymitch at her side, already sipping on a drink. There were two seats for Picker and I, so we took our seats.