The train takes off as soon as we get on it and I sigh. Why did we have to leave? I already want to go back. But I can’t.
“I hope Katniss doesn’t have many nightmares while we are gone. I won’t be there comfort her.” Peeta says to me, looking depressed.
His own family didn’t even come to say good bye to him. He is only worried about Katniss. That just proves how much he loves her. We go to the dining room for lunch, than I leave to my room. I fall asleep as fast as I can because it will take forever to get to District 11. Ugh. I’m afraid to see Rue’s family. She had siblings I’m sure. And her parents are still grieving her. I close my eyes and try to focus on something else. I think of the kiss I shared with Rory before we left. I liked that kiss. It gives me a warm feeling and I fall asleep, thinking of the one I may get when I get home.
I’m woken by Effie. Her voice annoys me.
“Up Prim. We are almost there!” She sounds so happy. I get up and go to the shower. I get re dressed and Cinna comes in to do my make-up. He starts singing a tune that sounds familiar.
“Prim and Rory, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.!” He sings. Ugh!
“Cinna! Shut up!” I say but I’m laughing. He just smiles at me.
“Are you ready for District 11?” He asks me.
“No, I don’t know if I can stand it. I watched Rue die and she trusted me. I don’t know if I can face her family. And Thresh.” I say and think of when Peeta caught Thresh off guard and completely slaughtered him. I know he had to because if he didn’t, I wouldn’t be here. And he wouldn’t either. I just don’t know if I can face his family.
“Don’t worry Prim, just read the speech on the card and avoid eye contact.” Cinna says to me. He picks up a bag and opens it.
“This is what you are wearing there. What do you think?” He asks me. The dress is short and puffy. It’s white and has streaks of very light green. It looks like trees above the a very cloudy white sky. I love it, of course.
“Cinna, it’s amazing. How do you think of these things?” I ask.
“That’s why I’m a stylist. I’m imaginative. Come on, get into it.” He says.
I do get into the dress and he has some green slip on shoes to go with it. He puts a white bow in my hair and the middle of the bow is green. I love the colors. Maybe Katniss will like it to when she sees me on T.V. After Cinna straightens my hair, we walk to the dining hall. Effie, Haymitch, and Peeta are already there. They are sitting around the table talking in hushed voices. They see us and stop talking completely. I’m sure Peeta is just talking about our encounter with Snow. We have to try our best to refer everything to Katniss. Everything and anything we talk about has to be related to her somehow, or we fail. I can imagine now, a full war in our country because we couldn’t fix the problem like Snow said. Everyone I love in the worse possible danger and it’s all because of me. I feel like I’m going to throw up from thinking about it, and Haymitch notices.
“Get this girl some water!” He shouts toward a door I’m guessing has the servants. A man walks out and hands a glass of water to me. The Capitol can make even a glass of water look fancy. I drink it thirstily. The train comes to a stop and I look out the window. We are at the station and a sign reads District 11. I feel light headed now and Peeta notices this time.
“Prim, come on. You’ll be fine. Just read the speech the Capitol gave us and I’ll do the rest.” He tells me. I only nod. We walk off the train and are surrounded by cameras I swear, my eyes are adjusting to all the flashes I’ve been exposed to lately. We walk a bit further and peacekeepers come to get us through the crowd. We walk until we get to the Justice Building and we wait. It’s only about 15 minutes before we hear the anthem outside, but it feels like seconds. Peeta looks at me and gives me a reassuring smile, and we go out. We hear the Mayor talking.
“And please welcome the Victors, of the 74th Annual Hunger Games!” And the crowd goes crazy. I know they are faking it because they have to. They are forced to act happy for us even thought everyone knows they aren’t. We walk out with smiles on our faces and waving to them. The Mayor keeps talking and two little kids bring me and Peeta some flowers and a plague.
“Peeta Mellark and Primrose Everdeen! Welcome to District 11!” He says into the microphone. He looks at us and hands Peeta the microphone.
“Thank you everyone. Thank you. We just want to say how happy we are to be here. We want to thank everyone for being here to see us. I have found your District very delightful from what I’ve seen.” He says, than takes a deep breath. He looks to his right and there is a family. A mom and a dad, than 5 little kids.
We want to say how deeply sorry we are for the loss of Rue. She was an amazing little girl. She fought, but didn’t want to kill. Her death, has been and will be mourned by Prim and I.” He says. He looks to his left and there is an old lady sitting in a wheelchair. There is another girl right next to her, about 20 or so. I’m guessing that’s Thresh’s grandmother and sister. They all look alike.
“Thresh saved Prim’s life when I couldn’t. I will be forever grateful to him. He earned my respect the first day of training. I always think about him and what he did for us. I can’t say thank you to him, but I can to his family.” He says. Thresh’s family doesn’t buy it, I know they don’t. But, they are on camera so they clap along with everyone else. And now, the moment I have been dreading for a long time. Peeta turns around and hands me the microphone. I pull out the index card with the writing on it and start to read.
“Hi, I’m Primrose Everdeen. Most people just call me Prim. Like my family and friends back home. I just won…” I trail off. It doesn’t seem right to say it from the card. It has no meaning it. I put the card away.
“Thanks everyone for being here. I just want to say thank you for being here, it means a lot.” I turn to Rue’s family. “As Peeta says, we both mourn her. She was a friend in the arena. Other than Peeta, I was closest to her while I was there. She was so pretty. Everything beautiful comes to mind when I think of her. She will always be missed.” I say to them. I see her mom starting to cry and three of Rue’s sisters are already crying. I turn to Thresh’s grandmother.
“Thresh, save my life. He saved me from being killed when I was so close. He looked tough on the outside, but was soft on the inside. He had a spot in his heart for kids. I think of him often and I know, without him, I wouldn’t be standing here today. Thank you.” I say and I give the microphone back to the Mayor.
“Ladies and gentleman, the winners from District 12, Peeta Mellark and Primrose Everdeen!” He says. The crowd goes crazy again and I can see tears rolling down Thresh’s sister’s face. His grandmother has a few in her eyes as well.
