Catching Fire (Katniss loves Peeta)

Chapter 2

All rights belong to the Amazing Suzanne Collins!!

un-cringe pt. 2

Chapter 2

President Snow reminds me of a snake. He has large puffy lips and almost no nose. His lips look too puffy. Too much botox. "I think we'll make this situation a lot simpler by agreeing not to lie to each other," he says. "What do you think?"

I think my tongue has frozen, making speech impossible, so I surprise myself by answering back in a steady voice, "Yes, I think that would save time."

"My advisors were concerned you would be difficult, but you are not planning on being difficult, are you?" he asks.

"No," at least, not at the moment. A half-truth.

"That's what I told them. I said that any girl who goes to such lengths to preserve her life isn't going to be interested in throwing it away with both hands. And then there's her family to think of; Her mother, her sister, and all those... cousins. Not to mention the newfound love of her life." I can tell by the way he lingers on the word "cousins" he knows Gale and I don't share a family tree. But even more, the mention of Peeta causes me to sit up straighter, on even higher alert.

"I have a problem Ms. Everdeen," President Snow says. "A problem that began the moment you pulled out those poisonous berries in the arena." The moment when I realized that I loved Peeta and couldn't live without him.

"If the Head Gamemaker, Seneca Crane had any brains, he'd have blown you to dust right then. But he had an unfortunate sentimental streak. So here you are. Can you guess where he is?" he asks.

I nod because, by the way he says it, it is clear that Seneca Crane is no longer with us.

"Not everyone in the districts believes you love Peeta. The people in the Capitol were quite convinced, though." He catches me off guard, and I'm sure my face registers it because he addresses it.

"This, of course, you don't know. You have no information about the mood in other districts. In several of them, however. People viewed your little trick as an act of defiance, not an act of love. And if a girl from District 12 of all places can defy the Capitol and walk away unharmed, what is to stop them from doing the same?" He says.

"What is to prevent, say, an uprising?" It takes a moment for his last sentence to sink in.

"There have been uprisings?" I am both chilled and somewhat elated by the possibility. Freedom is such an odd concept but a welcome one at that.

"Not yet. But the other Districts will follow if circumstances don't change. And uprisings have been known to lead to revolution." He says with a tone of disgust. Yes, A does tend to be followed by B. My annoyance must read on my face.

"Do you have any idea what that would mean? How many people would die? What conditions would those left have to face? Whatever problems you may have with the Capitol, believe me when I say that if it released its grip on the districts for even a short time, the entire system would collapse."

I'm surprised by the directness and even sincerity of his speech. I am calm and almost as cold as he sounds on TV when I speak. "It must be very fragile if a hand full of berries can bring it down."

He examines me and then says, "it is fragile but not in the way you suppose."

There's a knock at the door, and the Capitol man sticks his head in the door. "Her mother wants to know if you want tea."

"I would. I would like tea." Says the president.

My mother comes in with her wedding china, the only finery of our past. "Place it right here." President Snow says, tapping a place on the desk with a book.