Peeta's Story- The Hunger Games

Chapter 15

The other tributes are already there and we are the last to arrive. They are sitting in a circle, but no one is talking to each other. The atmosphere is like cold custard, and when we walk in to join them, no one acknowledges us. I watch Effie as she goes back upstairs in the elevator, then turn my attention to one of the trainers.

She is athletic, with dark black hair pulled into a tight ponytail. She looks at each and every one of us, sizing us up, before disbanding us to whatever stations we want to go to. As we stand up, she reminds us ominously that whatever we learn here might help us survive.

A tall boy with big muscles and high cheekbones brushes by me rudely and glares. I sneak a look back at him and see that he has the number 1 taped to his shirt. He is from District 1 and undoubtedly a Career Tribute. I gulp nervously as I take in the other tributes. Most of them seem to be my size, but some of them have a formidable look about then. I see a young girl with dark hair glance curiously at me and I smile tentatively. She is the first who has done anything even remotely nice. As I look around, I realize that Katniss and I are the only ones dressed alike and I feel rather foolish.

She clears her throat and I turn my attention back to her. She is standing, awkwardly staying her hands back and forth. "So where should we go?" she asks. I'm no good at any of this, so I shrug. "Let's go tie some knots," she suggests. I tag along, thankful that she has chosen something easy.

The booth is empty besides the trainer, who looks genuinely happy to see us. The rest of the tributes are too busy at other "more important" booths to pay attention to this one. The trainer and Katniss talk about traps while I space out.

I give a start as Katniss nudges my shoulder. "Peeta. Have you been paying attention?"

"Mmmm..." I say, and the trainer rolls his eyes.

Katniss slaps me. "Peeta!"

"Katniss!" I yell back, imitating her. "Of course I was paying attention."

She looks at me incredulously. "Fine. Show me," she says with her hands on her hips.

Uh oh, I didn't count on that. I fumble with the ropes again before looking up in defeat. She smirks and thanks the trainer before dragging me off the the camouflage booth.

Surprisingly, this skill is quite easy for me. I bite back a laugh as I watch Katniss try to mix the different juices. We are supposed to disguise ourselves as trees, but she can't seem to get the mixture to stick onto her skin. I conveniently forget to remind her too add clay and mud to the mix. The trainer tries to help her, but she turns her back to him and insists that she can do it. Finally, she loses her patience and pours the mixture over her head. Now she resembles a glob of green goo. "How's that?" she huffs.

I grin and turn to the trainer. "How's this?" I say innocently. "I don't think I did that well but this was the best I could do." I hold out my arm, which is covered in intricate designs and I realize I really do look like I'm covered in vines. I smile with fake modesty and shyness while smirking at Katniss.

Katniss scoffs at me with her hands crossed across her chest. This is finally something I'm better than her at! She raises her eyebrows and asks "How'd you do that?" enviously.

I shrug. "I frost cakes."

She frowns and says, "What do cakes have to do with it?"

"It's just like painting." She still doesn't get it, so I elaborate. "It's like I'm frosting myself,"

"Whatever," she says, and stalks away.

I follow her. "Is someone mad that little Peeta is actually competent?" I trease. She rolls her eyes, but doesn't say anything as she moves on to the knife throwing.

This station is actually really fun for both me and Katniss. She chooses a short, lightweight knife and aims it at her dummy. Her precision is amazing, and she hits the same spot- the chest of the dummy- every single time. If my goal weren't to keep her alive, I'd definitely be scared for my life.

I also revel in hitting my dummy. With dark rubber skin and a flap of dark "hair," I imagine it's Gale. I can never figure out why I hate him so much because it can't just be jealousy. Just something about his character is off and doesn't seem to right to me. I throw my dagger at the dummy, slicing a hole in its head. "Take that, Gale." I mutter to myself. I can't believe I even thought about killing Gale. This whole Hunger Games situation is really turning me into someone insane.

We head over to the cafeteria for dinner and we are shunned by everyone. We sit alone at our table trying to act as much like lovers as possible. I don't have to pretend to love her, but I can see that for her it's a hard task, and this hurts me inside. The Career tributes are gathered together at the center of the room, laughing and talking loudly with each other. They glare upon the rest of us sitting around the perimeter, next to the buffet carts to try to make us feel inferior. The rest of the tributes are all scattered around, sitting alone and eating their food in silence.

I pick moodily at my food, which has lost its appeal. It is pasta seasoned with tantalizing sauces and a hearty clam chowder, but I somehow don't have an appetite. I look up to see Katniss staring at me, her food also untouched, but when I catch her eye she looks back down at her plate. I am content just staring at her and admiring her forever, but she clears her throat and looks off to the right of me. "Soo..." she begins, then trails off.

I wonder why she won't look directly at me. "How are you?" I say. I realize how lame it sounds after it leaves my mouth, but I can't think of anything else to talk about.

"How do you think I am?" she snaps at me.

All I can think of to say is "Oh..." and she scowls at me. Her gaze softens as it lands upon a young girl walking to get some food. She is the same girl who remotely acknowledged us in the Training Center, and she looks to be about 12 years old. I feel a pang as I realize that she will lose her life at such a young age.

Katniss is still studying the girl interestedly. When she turns around, Katniss's face breaks out into a smile and the girl timidly smiles back. I wonder if they know each other and if so, how.

The next few days pass by in much the same way. Under Haymitch's instructions, Katniss and I don't try anything extraordinary. We pass the archery station without a glance, althought Katniss's fingers look like they are itching to pick up a bow and arrow. I am surprised to find that I'm good at hand to hand combat. Katniss is surprised as well.

"I didn't know you were so good at fighting," she giggles. Haymitch says we need to interact more, so she really has been making an effort to talk more to me.

I shrug, and she teases me. "I thought you were no good at anything!"

"Don't say that!" I say, pretending to be offended. "Don't insult me! Do you want me to hurt you?" I growl, still joking.

She glares at me and narrows her eyes. "I was just kidding!" I say, poking her in the side playfully. She slaps my hand away and doesn't talk to me for the rest of the morning.

We are at the spear throwing station when I notice the little girl from the cafeteria following us around.

"I think we have a shadow," I whisper to Katniss.

I catch her by surprise and she throws the spear in the wrong direction. She looks around and sees the little girl- I think her name is Rue. Her eyes narrow as she surveys the girl, who is looking back at us innocently.

Rue follows us around the rest of the day, silently working with us at the stations. With her dark hair and nimbleness, she reminds me of a younger version of Katniss.

After dinner, we finally head up to our bedrooms to sleep. Tomorrow, we meet the Gamemakers.

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this is one of the boring "filler" chapters I was telling you guys about, but I tried to make it more interesting and longer :)

hope you enjoyed it!