The Hunger Games: Peeta's Point Of View

chapter 4

"hello peeta." says ceaser. "whats up!" i say cheerfully. "so peeta how are you liking the capitol?" he asks

"pretty good! the showers are great. ceaser, can i ask you something? do i smell like roses? go ahead smell." ceaser chuckles and sniffs me "oh yes and me?" i sniff "yep you do" the crowd is roaring in laughter. i do more charming and making the crowd laugh. then he asks me something unexpected "so peeta, tell me, is there a special someone back home?" i try not to look surprised. "naah not really." i lie. "oh come on i don't believe it for a second do you?" ceaser asks the crowd. he is answered with lots of "no's" ceaser looks at me "Peeta, tell me" he asks. im shaking." well, there is this one girl" I say. "I tell you, you go out there you win this thing, then when you go home she will have to go out with you." he says exitedly. "no I don't think that'll work" I tell him "not in my case" "why not?" he asks. And I reply, "because she came here with me."

the crowd goes silent and he ends with "oh then the best of luck to you" the buzzer goes off and I walk off the stage. I'm attacked by an angry katniss. she pins me against the wall, and yells "what the heck was that!" "you should thank him he's doing you a favor. sweetheart" haymitch walks in. i thought me and katniss where getting along again. i guess not. "he made me look weak!" she yells."he made you look desirable which at this point you need!" says haymitch. you're about as attractive as a dead slug" he says. he shouldn't have said that. even that made me mad I can't imagine how katniss feels. I can tell she's enraged she turns around and stalks away. he's really done it, I think.

today is the day of the private session with the game makers. im very nervous because I don't know what to do in front of them. I need to do something important because they will be seeing 22 other tributes before me. I don't know if throwing around weights will impress them. I push away my thoughts and I put my clothes on. I walk downstairs to eat breakfast where effie waits for me at the table. I eat breakfast and then go to the glass elevators. all the tributes meet in a room and they are called in by District one by one. District 1 starts, District 12 is very last. one by one each tribute goes in and impresses the game makers. everyone waits for their turn in silence. it goes fast districts one through eight have already gone in. when they call katniss in i say "hey, shoot straight." "okay"she says in a shaky voice. she turns around and takes one last. look at me and then walks into the game maker room. a few minutes later I hear my name said in a computerized voice"peeta mellark" I walk into the game maker room and look up at them as they eat a pig. none of them are paying attention to me. really? I think I grab a medicine ball and start to throw it. when I realize that they are not paying attention to me,I go to the camouflage station and paint a camouflage on my arm. they still don't pay attention to me so I just wait until they say i can leave. I walked out angrily wishing they paid attention to me. i should have done something unforgettable. I just blew my training score. I won't be surprised if I get a 5 or below.

when I get back to floor 12 I find that I am not the only one that messed up my private session with the game makers. I find that katniss arrow at the Apple in the pigs mouth. now she is in for it. "do you understand what this means this can cause great trouble" Effie goes on and on. "they werent paying attention" katniss says weakly. "they really werent. i just threw around some weights and waited untill they told me to leave." i say. then, haymitch walks in with a mischievous smile on his face and gives katniss a thumbs up. "great job sweetheart!" katniss laughs. "i wish i could of been there what did they do when tou shot the arrow?" "they looked surprised" katniss replies. haymitch chuckles. and claps his hands while he says "great job, great job" nobody asked me what i did when i went they were all so exited about katniss. i decide to accept that thats how it will always be. we all go sit on the royal blue couch and wait for the tv to turn on and tell us our training scores. a few minutes later the tv turns on and caesar tells us we all did great and then the scores begin to flash across the screen. all the careers have high scores. not surprised. other districts pass by and they have lower scores. and then comes district 12. peeta mellark- my name and my headshot show up on the screen and then my score. 8! i pulled an 8! i never thought i would get over 5! everyone in the room claps but the excitement is hushed by the headshot of katniss on the screen. even i am surprised by her score katniss got an 11!

the excitement settles down because we all know its the night before the games. by this time tomorrow i could be dead. we eat dinner, my last capitol dinner. we chat and talk everyones still buzzing about katniss's score. after awhile i go to my room, take a shower, and get ready for bed. i get in bed and try to push my thoughts out of my mind. minute by minute my room seems to haunt me with memories and thoughts about what could happen tomorrow. i cant stay anymore i have to get out of here i go to the door and it is locked. the roof! thats better than the living room. i find my way to the roof and sit there and look at the city awhile thinking about my brothers, my father, and my mother. right about now they would be closing up the bakery. how i long to go back home. but, i never will, not now. i hear footsteps, great now a peacekeeper is coming to take me off the roof i think. let them. the footsteps come closer and a figure rounds the corner and i realize that its not a peacekeeper its katniss. "you should be getting some sleep." she says like shes my mother. i shake my head "i couldn't miss the party, its for us you know." i gaze across the city and spot the crazy capitol people partying. she walks up and stands next to me. "are they in costumes?" she asks. "who could tell" i say squinting my eyes. "with all the crazy clothes they wear here, couldn't sleep either?" i ask. "couldn't turn my mind off." she replies thoughtfully. "thinking about your family?" i look at her. "no." she replies guiltily. "all i can do is worry about tomorrow, which i guess is pointless." she says flatly. "I'm sorry for hurting you" she says apologetically "it doesn't matter katniss, I've never been a contender in these games anyway."