Oh no. Is all I can think. What has she done now.
"Katniss?" Effie asks in a high pitched voice and stands up to follow her a bit.
"Oh great, what the bloody hell is going on." Grumbles Haymitch.
"Katniss wait!" All four adults stand up and start to call, I just stay silent in my seat with my jaw dropped open.
"I'm going to go talk to her." Says Effie determinedly.
"No, you leave her, I'm her mentor, I will go talk to her." Grunts Haymitch with a sigh.
"Guys, I think we should just leave her." I say quietly. "Katniss will want her space for whatever reason it may be."
I know Katniss and she won't want to be near anyone anytime soon until she's sorted herself out. The last thing she will want is a crowd of people bombarding her with questions and accusations, and as much as I want to know myself, if we want to get anything out of that girl we need to give her time.
"What? No that's very rude of her to do that!" Exclaims Effie.
"No, Peeta's right, leave her for a while, ask her once she's calmed down a bit later." Says Cinna calmly, sitting back down and Portia nods in agreement.
But a Effie is already half way down the hall.
"Ugh, I'll go with her. Maybe I can get her to not be so harsh on her." Growls Haymitch as he reluctantly slumps off down the hall.

The remaining three of us sit in shocked silence in the lounge until eventually we all stand up and follow after Haymitch and Effie. Down the hall we are met by an orchestra of yelling.
"Katniss! Come out!" Yells Effie rather frustratedly.
"Katniss, come on, tell us what happened." Huffs Haymitch tiredly while both him and Effie knock on her door repeatedly and quite aggressively.
"No! Go away!" Yells Katniss every once and a while.
This screaming match goes on for a few minutes while the stylist's and I just stand back watching in disbelief, until Portia is surprisingly the one to speak up.
"Hey, come on guys, leave the poor girl alone." She says nervously.
Eventually they do.
"Um, well." Effie coughs and flattens down her poofy dress. "Dinner won't be ready for a few hours so feel free to go have some down time Peeta." Effie instructs regaining her composure.
I take that as my cue to gladly leave.

I shuffle down to my room still able to here Katniss's ragged sobs. Surprisingly, instead of flopping down on my bed like I normally would since I seem to always come into this room feeling frustrated or confused, I go over and curl up on the window seat. I put my back against the cold concrete wall and hug my knees to my chest as I sit on the bouncy, silky cushioning. It is late afternoon so the sun will start to set soon. I stay and watch as the sky transforms through its beautiful array of blues, then oranges and pinks as it gradually gets dimmer, but it is not late enough to be completely dark yet so I examine the rest of the Capitol because there is so much of it that it would take forever and more to explore it all. The cold, smooth concrete against my back is actually very calming and soothing and it helps me think rashly. There is no point in me pondering on what my score may be, I did the best I could, I can't help that the crowd were already too side tracked. It doesn't really matter for me if I get a low score because I'm not planning on winning, however it does matter for Katniss because if I plan on helping her then I need a decent score as well as her. But my score can't be that bad can it? I did nothing wrong and surely at least a few of the Gamemakers must have been watching me. No, none of them were. Don't be stupid Peeta, even if they were watching you, throwing around weights is not that impressive, you will get a low score no matter what. You knew you had no chance right from the start. All the negative thoughts come flooding back into my mind hitting me with a harsh reality, seeing Katniss like that has bumped any hope I had for either of us right out the window. Sadly the way Katniss is carrying on I feel as though all hope may be lost in her getting a good score either and therefore getting her sponsors, which will save her life, I just hope she is over reacting. I was certain she was going to do amazing with her archery skills, even though I've never actually seen her shoot, so what could she have done so seriously wrong?

After a little while I go back out into the dining area to find it as it normally is, with Effie ordering and rushing around after the servants, whom I now automatically think of as poor Avox's, and Haymitch lounging in the sitting room. The only difference tonight is that Cinna and Portia are here as well, but I already knew that. Seeing that Effie clearly has her hands full I head over to join Haymitch and the stylist's.
"Any luck with Katniss?" I ask as I take a seat in an armchair in the corner and fold my legs up underneath me.
"Nope." Says Haymitch, popping the 'p', and the stylist's shake their heads solemnly in agreement.

Katniss's outburst seems to have shaken us all a bit and the happy buzz that was in the air when I first joined everyone earlier has been wiped and replaced with worry and awkwardness. No one is really in the mood to talk or share stories anymore, anything that I may have to say will just have to be repeated at dinner, Cinna and Portia are now focussed on some hushed conversation about what we will wear for our interviews and Haymitch is clearly very bothered by what Katniss could've done, he sits scowling at thin air.
"I hope that girl realises all the effort I've actually put into you guys this year, she better not have screwed up too badly." He grumbles absentmindedly.
"I'm sure it'll be fine Haymitch." Says Portia soothingly.
I do actually feel sorry for him, he has really tried with us this time and if Katniss has just gone and thrown that all away then why on earth would he put effort in again after that? Haymitch doesn't exactly come across as the most motivated person.

After about an hour of sitting there with a lot of nervous finger tapping anticipation Effie totters into the room.
"Dinner is served." She breathes.
Immediately we all jump up and take seats at the table to get away from the silence. Somehow dinner will lead to some kind of conversation, anything to relieve the tension. But then Katniss shows up. I honestly didn't expect to see her here but now is my first chance to get back on her good side. Her face is red and splotchy from all those hours of crying and her eyes are glassy. Everyone watches her curiously as she sits down and not that there was any talking before but now it is completely silent without even the sound of clinking cutlery. There is a moment where she looks disappointed when she sees the stylist's, maybe she didn't want to disappoint them. Then she settles down to eat the fish soup entree and doesn't look up at anyone at all.

Eventually the adults break into a random conversation about the weather, clearly because they can't stand the awkward silence anymore, but the whole time ever since she entered the room I've had my eyes on Katniss, observing her, wanting her to acknowledge me. I really want to know what happened and maybe now that she feels vulnerable and down she might actually let her walls down and let me in. Finally she tentatively looks up to me sitting across from her. I raise my eyebrows, questioning what happened, but she just gives her head a small shake and returns to slurping her soup. Or maybe not. I cast my gaze down to my own fish soup and realise that I better actually have some since I haven't even touched it and the main course is on it's way out.

"Okay, enough small talk - just how bad were you today?" Asks Haymitch just as it arrives, clearly unable to stand waiting any longer.
I don't know if the question was directed to both of us or just Katniss but I interrupt anyway hoping that if I go first maybe that will give Katniss the courage to talk if she sees that my session didn't exactly go to plan either. Although I feel hers must've been worse then mine considering her performance from the moment she entered our level, but it's worth a shot.
"I don't know that it mattered. By the time I showed up, no one even bothered to look at me. They were singing some kind of drinking song, I think. So I threw around some heavy objects until they told me I could go." I say casually, not adding the fact that I wanted to throw the weights at the Gamemakers faces, although I did hint at it.
Haymitch looks slightly unimpressed as he turns to Katniss.
"And you, sweetheart?" He says bitterly.
This nickname seems to tick Katniss off and I can see why, she is anything but a sweetheart in Haymitch's eyes.
"I shot an arrow at the Gamemakers." She blurts out suddenly. I almost spit my mouthful of pork out and everyone else stops eating, Effie drops her fork.
"You what?" She gasps in horror making it clear that this is a very bad thing.
"I shot an arrow at them. Not exactly at them. In their direction. It's like Peeta said, I was shooting and they were ignoring me and I just.... I just lost my head, so I shot an apple out of their stupid roast pig's mouth!" She explains defiantly.
"And what did they say?" Asks Cinna cautiously.
"Nothing. Or I don't know. I walked out after that." Katniss shrugs.
"Without being dismissed?" Exclaims Effie.
"I dismissed myself." She says sassily, but then it suddenly looks like a dark rain cloud has formed over her head like she has just realised what she has done.
You'd think after all that crying she would've figured it out by now.
"Well, that's that." Says Haymitch clearly pissed off as he picks up and begins to butter a roll.

Oh my god, this is far worse then anything I could have imagined her doing. She's truly screwed it for herself, they will score her so low that even if I do get an ok score my help will do nothing. My heart sinks.
"Do you think they'll arrest me?" Katniss asks suddenly.
"Doubt it. Be a pain to replace you at this stage." Says Haymitch sarcastically but obviously still annoyed.
I feel a slight rush of relief  but then remember that where we are going is probably worse.
"What about my family? Will they punish them?" She asks with her eyes full of worry. Trust Katniss to think of them, that's one of the reasons I admire her.
"Don't think so. Wouldn't make much sense. See, they'd have to reveal what happened in the Training Centre for it to have any worthwhile effect on the population. People would need to know what you did. But they can't since it's secret, so it'd be a waste of effort." Haymitch explains tiredly.
Good, I wouldn't want to think of sweet, little, innocent Primrose being harmed either. "More likely they'll make your life hell in the arena."
"Well, they've already promised to do that to us anyway." I point out.
"Very true." Agrees Haymitch,
motioning to me with his knife. 
Katniss actually looks slightly satisfied by this, not so worried and tense anymore. Haymitch picks up his next pork chop with his fingers, causing Effie to frown, and dunks it in his wine. He rips off a hunk of meat with his teeth and starts to chuckle. I can't help but laugh along quietly either. Our whole situation is ridiculous, no matter what way you spin it.
"What were their faces like?" He asks in ammusement.
Katniss's mouth finally starts to break into a smile.
"Shocked. Terrified. Uh, ridiculous some of them." She pauses to think for a second. "One man tripped backwards into a bowl of punch." She smirks.

We all burst out laughing and Haymitch nearly chokes on his meat, except Effie but even she is struggling to suppress a smile. Serves the Gamemakers right. Suddenly Effie mirrors my thoughts, and of all people I'm the most extremely surprised it was her.
"Well, it serves them right. It's their job to pay attention to you. And just because you come from District Twelve is no excuse to ignore you." She blurts out and then her eyes dart around the room as if she said something completely ludicrous, but to be honest she could have said much worse. "Im sorry, but that's what I think." She finishes defensively, not talking to anyone in particular.

"I'll get a very bad score." Katniss stresses and I don't really know what to expect for her now.
"Scores only matter if they're very good; no one pays much attention to the bad or mediocre ones. For all they know, you could be hiding your talents to get a low score on purpose. People use that strategy." Says Portia suddenly.
"I hope that's how people interpret the four I'll get probably get." I huff. "If that. Really, is anything less impressive than watching a person pick up a heavy ball and throw it a couple of metres? One almost landed on my foot." I add, exaggerating a bit to try and cheer up Katniss.
It works because when I glance at her she grins at me, then digs into her meal of pork chops and mashed potatoes.

After dinner we go back into the sitting room to see our scores announced on the television. I maintain my position on the lazy boy in the corner as the tributes pictures and then scores flash across the screen. Being from District Twelve, we automatically go last, and the long wait is agonising waiting to see how low my terrible score will truly be. The careers as usual score around eight to ten while the rest about a five. I'll get the lowest score of all, I think to myself. And suddenly it's my face face on the screen and an eight appears. It takes me a second to register, an eight?! That can't be right, I guess some of them must of been watching me after all but I wouldn't have expected a score that high anyway. That's in the range of the Careers! Was I really that impressive? Maybe I can still help Katniss after all. I giddily except a few thank you's but all attention is still on the screen, waiting for Katniss's score. Before I know it her gorgeous face is there and they're flashing a number eleven on the screen. Wow. Eleven. I knew she was good with a bow but I could never imagine her to be that good. I look to her and she is in complete shock. Effie let's out a high pitched squeal and she is getting slaps on the back and showered with congratulations. I stay where I am smiling at her happily, truly amazed and lost for words by her, but there is also something in the back of my mind screaming a warning. Katniss just looks completely caught off guard by the whole thing.
"There must be some mistake. How.... How could that happen?" She asks Haymitch modestly.
"Guess they liked your temper." Laughs Haymitch. "They've got a show to put on. They need some players with some heat."
"Katniss, the girl who was on fire." Says Cinna triumphantly and embraces her in a hug.
"Just wait until you see your interview dress." He exclaims.
"More flames?" She asks sheepishly. "Of a sort." He smirks mischievously. I hadn't even thought to worry about the interviews yet.

Katniss and I are then told to go to bed and we get a chance to congratulate each other personally. It's an awkward moment, she's eyeing me thoughtfully as if realising that I'm her prey, I'm a target now. For her, us both getting good scores now means we are more if a threat to each other. For me, it means that with my help Katniss has an even higher hope of winning now. We will both be viewed as strong competitors now. However I approach the congratulations cautiously because something doesn't feel right about her getting an eleven. It seems too perfect considering the circumstances, you don't get off that easily in the Capitol. She quickly escapes to her room without a proper goodnight and not waiting for me either. I slink off to my room too and before I even reach the door handle I know what was bugging me. An eleven. That was the highest score out of anyone, even the Careers. Going into the games she is going to be their biggest target right from the start. I feel the heat leave my body in a rush, Katniss's great score will not really be any help at all. Sure the sponsors will be some help, but not in the middle of a hunt with the blood thirsty Career Tributes. That's the way they always work, pick off the strong enemy's first and leave the easy weak ones. Oh no, my job just got a whole lot harder, I think. How on earth can I help her now up against those guys? Stop it Peeta! Have some confidence in yourself, your score was just as good as theirs. You have to stop viewing yourself as weak now, you have to be confident and strong. Then I get a crazy idea. Katniss Everdeen never wanted to ally with me, I knew that right from the start. I always thought that I would just be hiding off to the side, keeping an eye on her and then intervening if she needed help or was in danger. But now I can see that if I'm going to help Katniss, the best way I can do that would be to make some alliances of my own....

I slip into bed in a daze and bury myself under the covers. This is absolutely crazy what I'm thinking, if Katniss sees me she will hate me, people back home in District Twelve will hate me, but hopefully they will actually be able to see my motives and think it's sweet. The people of the Capitol will love this twist to the drama. It might even earn me a few more sponsors which in the long run can help Katniss. My idea is absolutely insane, but it's the only way I have left to protect her. I don't even know how I'd go about it properly, would I kill the Careers in their sleep? I don't know if I could do that, but I guess we will see, in the heat of the moment and the build of adrenaline, anything could happen. Or would I just continuously lead them away from her until they meet some kind of other unfortunate fate? Convincing the Careers will be hard, but I'm sure if I play it right they will believe I'm on their side and I can earn their trust. This is perfect, father wanted me to be me? Well this is how I can do it. District Twelve is never allied with the Careers, but that's not going to stop me from doing what I want to do. I will not allow the Capitol to turn me into some kind of creature that isn't me, whether it be a monster or just a fake, I will go out how I want too. Allying with the Careers is not against the rules for District Twelve, it is just highly frowned apon, but I have my reasons. Saving Katniss Everdeen is my dying wish, and I will get that wish no matter what it takes. I just need a way to seal the deal with the crowd, something that could help us both. My thoughts turn to the interviews, the last chance to impress before it's too late and we are in the arena.

Yes, I definitely need to do something at the interviews. What other chance will I get? How will I approach this, do I make myself likeable? Do I make Katniss appealing? I would hope that naturally I can make myself likeable with my charisma, but it would be a bit strange to go on about Katniss during my interview. So how am I going to do this? I suppose that if I'm going to be protecting her in the arena the audience does need a reason. Then a thought comes to mind.
"They've got a show to put on. They need some players with some heat." Haymitch had said earlier. I guess the heat doesn't need to just come from someone's temper. What if the heat was a bit of drama? A little twist to the plot of their perfect little games. A misfortunate love story. Which this truly is. The girl I love, doesn't even know me, or at least doesn't know how I feel about her, and now I have to go into a competition with her where either one or neither of us will come out alive. Plus I would never have a chance with her anyway, with all the other boys after her at school too. This is crazy! Why am I thinking like this tonight? Is the pressure just getting to me? There must be another way to get help. But truly, I can't see any other way that could be more beneficial then this. The Capitol will absolutely love it. They will feel sorry for me, and adore Katniss even more. Not that they really care, but that small amount of pity should be enough to earn us both at least some sponsors. Oh man, how am I going to have the courage do this? I can hardly talk to Katniss let alone tell her how I feel, let alone tell the whole country on live television. Oh well, it's not like I'm coming out of this alive so I might as well get it out there while I can, she has to know. The only problem is that this will make my whole plan with the Careers more difficult to believe, but I have my ways. What the Careers think and what the audience knows can be two completely different things.

With all of these ideas comes a more critical link to what my father was saying. I know completely understand. There are so many ways that the Capitol could transform me. Into one of their freakish own beings, I could become a crazed monster in the arena going against everything I once knew. I'm not saying I won't kill, you never know what might happen in the arena but that doesn't mean I have to go mental. I could just lie to everyone and be known as someone who I'm not. But by doing what I plan on doing, I am staying as who I am, keeping to my true colours, this is what I want whether the audience likes it or not. I just hope they fall in love with it.

As hyped up with nerves as I now am, the exhaustion of three hard days training and all the stress of this trip eventually takes over and I drift off into a restless sleep.

You know that feeling when you are so worked up about something that you just can't get it out of your mind, even when your asleep? That is me tonight. I wake from visions of all the things that could go wrong so many times throughout the night, I'm sure that I only slept for about an hour. When I wake with a start one last time, it is because I am overcome with the most terrifying realisation and this is not a possibility, it is a certainty. Today Haymitch will be coaching us on how to approach our interviews. No doubt there are other ways I will present myself then just a love sick puppy, but surely I will need to run this idea past Haymitch too, just to make sure that it could work. I'm not telling anyone about the Careers though. But how can I check with Haymitch when Katniss is right there too. As cowardly as it may sound, I just can't tell Katniss to her face. And as much as I would like to somehow someday do so, I will not get that chance. If I want her to survive this I need to do it this way. The people will love the surprise too, especially if it is fresh on Katniss's face. It will make it all the more admirable. But I'm going to be completely honest. As bad as I feel about it, I'm going to need to be coached alone today, I can't tell Haymitch when Katniss is there. Great, just one more way to make Katniss weary of me, change our tactic on the last day.

I leap out of bed realising that I need to tell Haymitch now, get it sorted before the day starts. It is just a grey dawn when I peep out the curtain so he should hopefully be up getting things organised by now. I pull on some comfy grey chinos and a simple white cotton T-shirt. Thank god the Capitol has some normal options, I guess they have learned over the years from all the tributes different fashion senses from the different districts. Without even showering or anything because it is playing on my mind so much. I hurry down to the dining room to thankfully find Haymitch and Effie chatting at the dining table. No doubt about our interviews since the only thing they can talk about without getting at each other's throats is us. I stop abruptly, cough and clear my throat while awkwardly standing in the arch of the hallway, leaning against the wall.
"Oh Peeta!" Exclaims Effie looking up, I swear she always says that. "What are you doing up so early? I wasn't going to come get you up for a few more minutes?" She asks, but Haymitch doesn't look up or seem interested yet as usual, it doesn't appear to be of any concern to him at the moment.
"I want to be coached alone." I croak out. Haymitch then raises his head and eyebrows at me, listening intently.
"Oh." Says Effie her voice dropping a pitch, slightly dully and confused.
"Care to explain?" Says Haymitch amusedly.
"Haymitch wait, take a seat first Peeta." Smiles Effie.
"Thanks." I say quietly.
And pull up a chair while sitting next to Haymitch and across from Effie. Haymitch motions with his hand out in front of him for me to carry on. The nerves form a knot in my stomach.
"Um, not right now, can I please tell you guys once we are in the lessons?" I ask sheepishly, paranoid that Katniss could be up soon and hear us here.
Haymitch leans back in his chair and huffs in exasperation.
"Alright then dear, I better go get Katniss up anyway." Says Effie, a hint of disappointment apparent as she pats my back.
When she is gone Haymitch pulls the silver flask from his pocket and has a long suck on it then slips it back into hiding.
"You better have a good reason for this boy because I was planning to have the afternoon off. We played this whole thing out with you guys sticking together and now you want to change it?" Rants Haymitch, clearly annoyed.
"Trust me, it will help. I just can't talk about it with Katniss around." I admit.
"Oh." Says Haymitch, perking up with a smirk as if he realised or caught onto something.
"She should be out soon I think." Pipes up Effie as she tip toes back into the room on her ridiculously high heels.
"Alright, so I guess we have no choice then, I'll take Peeta in the morning for four hours while you take Katniss, and then we swap for another four." Says Haymitch quietly, more interested now and clearly wanting to know my plan as soon as possible.
"Perfect." Says Effie in a hushed voice. "Peeta are you feeling okay? You look dreadful!" She asks in concern and presses her palm to my forehead, suddenly changing the subject.
"What? Yeah." I say absent mindedly thinking about how I'm going to do this.
"He better be alright." Says Haymitch gruffly. "I haven't put all this work in and busted my gut for a crook boy to be sent into the arena."
I shake my head. "No I'm fine, just really tired, I was up all night worrying." I explain, realising how much such a poor nights sleep has taken its tole on me.
They both look slightly shocked and concerned and just nod a bit.

Just then we notice that Katniss has entered and we all go silent. She looks at us slightly suspiciously but then goes and loads up her plate with breakfast anyway. Feeling like a slight weight has been lifted off my shoulders I realise how hungry I am I follow after her. I pile up a delicious stew on my plate made with chunks of tender, juicy lamb and dried plums laid on a bed of wild rice. I take my seat back next to Haymitch while Katniss sits across from me next to Effie. No one talks, Haymitch and Effie are probably too distracted wondering about my reasoning for wanting to be coached separately, me being too nervous about what I'm about to admit, and Katniss just seems to be enjoying her stew way too much. Eventually she seems to notice the silence and stops eating, takes a big gulp of orange juice and whipes her mouth.
"So, what's going on? You're coaching us on our interviews today, right?" She asks casually and carefree.
"That's right." Says Haymitch, cautiously approaching how to break the news to her.
"You don't have to wait until I'm done. I can listen and eat at the same time." She scoffs.
"Well, there's been a change of plans. About our current approach." He continues carefully.
I avert my eyes guiltily to my stew and toy with my fork tiredly.
"What's that?" She asks confused. "Peeta has asked to be coached separately." Haymitch shrugs.
I glance up at Katniss nervously. If looks could kill.