Chapter Text
“Come on, Katniss,” Madge said, pushing the shot glass into Katniss's hand.
Katniss sniffed Ripper’s infamous white liquor and grimaced. She couldn’t believe Gale and Madge had united fronts to make her come to what she could only describe as a free-for-all, waste-of-time. “No.”
“Come on, Katniss, you’ve got to get into the spirit of things,” Madge said, downing her drink in one shot.
Katniss scowled. It was now only getting dark, and the party was barely getting started, and Katniss had huge reservations about being here. She would rather be home in her warm socks, thinking about hunting.
One of their classmates came by and gave Madge another drink. Madge giggled and winked at him, taking the shot glass. Madge was already buzzed. Her shy friend never giggled or openly flirted with anyone.
“Madge, we should slow down.” Katniss tried to take the drink away from Madge’s hands. Madge artfully avoided her maneuvers.
“We’ve aged out of the reaping. This is our graduation into the real world,” Madge said, knocking back the drink.
Katniss looked around at the unforgivable sight of Seam and Merchant intermingling. The Canary party, as it was called, was a tradition in District Twelve, held as a survival celebration. No one knew who began the tradition or why it was named the canary party. All she knew was that her father told her about it when she was a child.
There was once a time she wanted to experience it, back then, when the world was filled with wonder, and her Pa was alive. Now it was useless and careless. The Peacekeepers could catch them, though she doubted Darius would do anything. If anything, he’d join them.
Either way, Katniss had refused to come, but Madge somehow convinced her. She felt guilty for celebrating when two poor kids were heading to their deaths. Not to mention, she had to worry about her sister for another four years without the ability to volunteer in her place.
“It’s a rite of passage, besides,” Madge said, looking at a point behind Katniss. “When are we going to get a chance to INTER-MINGLE!”
Madge turned her around and pointed to the one boy with whom Katniss had an unshakable bond. Her eyes popped out of their sockets when she caught Peeta Mellark staring at her. Quickly turning around, Katniss made a choking sound.
“Don’t worry, he’s not coming this way.”
Katniss was mortified that HE was here. “Madge…” she said, in a strangled voice. There weren’t too many people in the district that could turn her innards into mush.
“Oh, please, Katniss, it’s not a secret.”
“How?” Katniss asked, incredulously. She’d never spoken about Peeta. She had never spoken to him or approached him. Hell, she never really spoke to anyone other than Madge.
“I’ve been sitting with you at lunch since we were kids.” Madge grinned and discreetly pulled out her flask and drank deeply. Encouraged by the alcohol in her system, Madge decided to do something about Katniss’s secret obsession. “I’ve seen you watch him.”
Madge was not wrong; she did keep track of Peeta, but only occasionally. Truth be told, Katniss could never forget the person who was her hope. She was eleven when the unthinkable happened: her Pa died in a mining accident. She and her family were left bereft. Everything in her world collapsed. The light in her mother's eyes had dimmed. Katniss tried to keep it together; she had sold everything to put food on the table.
Then, one night, when she thought she was going to become another statistic in District Twelve, Peeta tossed her those precious loaves of burned bread. It was the tether that she needed to hang on to this world. He was her boy with the bread, and he had sated more than just her hunger. He fed a flame within her; her faith and hope had been restored. His kindness reminded Katniss that there was good in the world. That she couldn’t give up. From then on, her life changed.
Later on, she found out his mother hurt Peeta for his rebellious actions. And it led her to keep tabs on Peeta Mellark throughout the years. Until this moment, Katniss thought she’d been clever about keeping her small obsession with him secret. She could feel the heat climbing her neck and reaching her face.
“You’ve made cow eyes at Peeta since the age of twelve.”
“I have not,” Katniss hissed. She researched her memories for any instances where she could have possibly made a fool of herself by letting her careful mask of indifference fall and allowing Madge to see her keeping track of Peeta.
“Yes, you have,” Madge giggled. “Why don’t you go speak to him?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Liar,” Madge said before taking another sip from her flask.
Katniss was a horrid liar.
“Katniss, tonight is your night to go say something to him. You might not get another chance…” Madge's voice drifted off. “Oh, damn, too late,” she whispered.
Katniss turned around and saw Athena Marsden talking to him. She leaned in and put her hand on his shoulder. Katniss’s lips thinned at the sight of the slender blonde girl with the heart-shaped face. Athena hated anything and anyone from the Seam. Last year, she maliciously spread a rumor that Arlean Chance would sleep with anyone for a coin. Arlean was in her last year; the poor girl was tortured by Athena's vicious lies and name-calling.
Athena was a bully, and it didn’t matter if you were male or female. If you were from the Seam, you were an automatic target. She monikered Lester Wren, Bird-face boy. She had no sympathy for any of the reaped kids. When Abe Knute died in the Hunger Games, she walked up to his mother and said she was tired of seeing a good-for-nothing Seam brat in the games. According to Athena, Abe’s death was boring and a waste of airtime. Abe came to a horrid end; he was sliced in two by a weapon that was parachuted to a career. Katniss had put her hand over Prim’s eyes and had closed her own when she realized what was about to happen.
Katniss disliked Athena immensely, but stayed clear because her focus was on feeding her family. Survival was predominant in her mind. It was why she never frequented fruitless events such as these. But Madge and Gale got together and harassed her to go, as this party was some beloved rite of passage. Gale, who never wanted to speak to anyone from town, crossed lines just to harass her into going into town.
“Sorry, Katniss,” Madge whispered.
“It’s okay,” Katniss shrugged, hardening her face. “She can have him. If I were interested in marriage,” she made a point of folding her arms and trying not to notice how handsome Peeta looked. “…Which I’m not. I wouldn’t be into anyone who is into Athena Marsden.”
“What?” Madge paused mid-drink.
“Don’t you know, I’m never getting married?”
“No, not that. That I knew. Why don’t you like Athena? She's totally sweet. She’s one of the nicest girls in school.”
Katniss rolled her eyes at Madge’s description. Athena showed a sweet, defenseless girl to the Merchants and a ruthless side to the Seam. She reminded Katniss of Victor Johanna Mason, who fooled everyone into thinking she was a weak, sniveling girl and incapable of harming a fly, but turned out to be a vicious killer during her Hunger Games.
“I’ve never seen you react so viscerally to anyone.” Madge drank from her flask. “Normally, you have a mask of indifference or your scowl. Are you jealous of her? Is that why you don’t like her?”
Katniss sighed and shifted her hands to her hips. Why was it that anytime women disagreed, someone brought in the jealousy thing? “I’m not jealous of Athena. There is a real reason I don’t like her.”
“And,” Madge prompted.
It was clear Madge wasn’t going to let go. Madge could be single-minded when she had a goal in mind. “She doesn’t like kids or people from the Seam. And it’s deeper than the entire Merchant-Seam rift. Athena goes out of her way to be mean to us.” Madge frowned as if in disbelief. “She bullies the kids from the Seam. Do you remember when Arlean Chance passed out in the girls’ bathroom?”
“Yeah, I remember. She stayed out of school for two weeks. I thought she had the flu?”
“It wasn’t the flu, it was Athena. She spread a rumor that Arlean had sold herself to Cray and liked it so much that she was selling herself for only one coin. Some kids followed Arlean into the girls’ bathroom, flashing her coins. When they saw I was in there with Leevy, they backed out and left. Leevy knew her parents and convinced my mom to say she had the flu, so that Arlean could get the break she needed.”
Madge was quiet.
“Athena even tried some crap with Leevy. But since Leevy has a few cousins that wouldn’t mind slapping the silly out of her, she dropped it.” Katniss turned back to look at Peeta, and her lips thinned. Peeta was good and was most likely like Madge, who didn’t know the viper that was in his midst. “To you guys, she’s all lightness and sugary sweet, but to us in the Seam, she’s a bully.”
“Okay, enough said,” Madge said, looking in the direction of Athena. Not totally convinced, but at the same time, Katniss kept to herself and never gossiped. “So if you’re not going to talk to Mellark, you’re going to have to drink.” Madge pointedly looked at the shot glass in Katniss's hands. “Gale said I was to show you a good time.”
Katniss spilled the drink on the ground, “Oopsie.”
Madge rolled her eyes. “Do you think that’s going to stop me?” She handed Katniss her flask. “Here, drink from this.”
Katniss brought the foul-smelling liquor to her lips and drank. She was determined to erase Peeta and Athena Marsden from her memory. Taking Madge’s flask, Katniss drank the liquorish-tasting liquid. It burned as it slipped down through her throat and warmed her belly. She grimaced, “What’s in this?’
Madge laughed, “Absinthe, be careful, too much, and you’ll fly. My mom loves this stuff.”
Flying is what Katniss wanted, handing the flask back to Madge.
“Canary!” Delly Cartwright shouted.
Those gathered roared and took shots as they heard the drinking salute. From across the way, Peeta was searching the crowd. He’d lost her again. Peeta himself drank from his cup. His friends were all in high spirits with youthful exuberance. He watched one of his friends kiss a girl from the Seam. She was beautiful, but not as beautiful as the girl he liked.
Normally, such intermixing was frowned upon, but tonight everyone in the district turned a blind eye. Tonight, Peeta had one goal: to talk to the girl whom he was crazy about. The crowds parted, and she appeared wearing her light blue reaping dress, and her hair was braided in an updo. She looked lovely. Then all at once she was gone, disappeared in the crowd.
“Hey Peet, we did it,” his friend James said.
“Yeah,” Peeta nodded, though he found the celebration odd. He aged out, but tonight on a train headed to the Capitol were two unlucky souls.
“Canary,” James said in salute.
“Canary,” Peeta said back, taking a gulp from his cup. He was trying to pace himself; he wasn’t much of a drinker. He stayed away from parties and refrained from drinking alcohol. Tonight, he came hoping he could find the courage to speak to Katniss.
“Hey Peeta,” Athena said, sliding up to him. She handed him another drink. “I thought you could use a refill.”
Peeta took the drink and smiled tightly when Athena’s hand crept up his arm. He caught sight of Katniss as she spoke to Madge. He nodded politely at Athena as he watched Perry Langston ask Madge to dance, leaving Katniss on the fringes of the party. A boy from the Seam that he didn’t know asked her to dance. Katniss shook her head no, but she accepted the drink the boy offered her.
“Canary!” Someone else shouted.
Peeta took a drink from the cup Athena gave him. He frowned because the brew was strong and he was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. He watched Katniss walk to the drinks table and slam back shot after shot of the white liquor Ripper made. Katniss was small in stature, and Ripper’s alcohol was stronger than the tesserae grain stuff he was drinking.
“What are you going to do now?”
“I’m sorry, what?” Peeta said. He wasn’t really listening to Athena.
“I am going to wake up tomorrow with a headache,” Peeta said, drinking the contents of his cup in one long slurp.
“Wow,” Athena said.
“I’ll be back. I’m going to,” Peeta could feel his words slurring as he spoke. He left Athena and headed toward Katniss.
She was swaying to the music; he could hear her humming softly as she swayed. The moonlight fell over her shoulders, making her dress look like a bridal dress, and it created a halo over her dark tresses, and she looked ethereal to Peeta.
“You wanna dance with me?” He asked, not sure if it sounded correct.
Katniss turned around, her silvery eyes as big as the moon, and her head bobbed up and down slowly before shyly stepping up to him. She sighed the moment Peeta held her. There wasn’t any music momentarily, but it didn’t matter; their bodies moved as if their souls were cast from the same celestial mold. Somewhere in the distance, the music began, and a lone fiddle played a woeful song.
“Want a sip?” She offered the flask to Peeta.
“Yeah,” he said. He took a long swig, and it tasted funny to him, but it was warm going all the way down.
He handed back the flask. As they continued dancing to the music, their world shrank to only include them. A girl began singing, her voice carried by the wind, which brought the festivities to a stop.
“It’s the Valley Song,” Peeta muttered.
Katniss nodded. It was an appropriate song to commiserate all the lost children and the ones that had been shipped to their death. She buried her face in his neck, holding on. His hands gripped her closer. Anchored by the rich scent of cinnamon and dill, Katniss felt safe and secure. His arms became a safe haven against the train that today took two unlucky souls to the Capitol. Peeta held tightly to her as memories whirled around them of the past, of the loved ones they had lost. The Capitol was their jailers. Both knew they weren’t free; none of them were. They were pieces used by the Capitol.
The music changed once more to a quicker-paced song, but Katniss' small hands gripped him tighter. The music got louder, they drank and danced, until the dancing space became crowded. Katniss and Peeta stepped to the side.
He grinned at her, feeling hazy.
“I can’t believe I got the first date, let alone a year.” Katniss slurred.
“You are so beautiful.” He handed her the bottle.
Katniss laughed and brushed up against his body, “No, you’re beautiful.”
Peeta watched her drink, his mind fuzzy at this point.
“I want to put you somewhere safe, never go from me.” Her eyes opened wide. “Come on.”
“Where?’ Her hand tugged his, and he followed her.
“I have an idea,” she laughed joyfully.
Peeta grabbed a bottle from the table as they passed and drank from it. Smiling, they drank together as they walked away. It was a night of celebration and of new beginnings. Hand in hand, they strolled away.
The moon and the night sky were the witnesses to the revelry that occurred that night. The dawn came quietly. All over the district, hungover former reaping candidates woke up to a new world without worry of their name being called. They also woke up to the consequences of their actions.
Katniss slowly opened her eyes. She groaned as her entire body hurt. Her mouth tasted sour, and the light entering through her eyes felt like that time she was running from a bear and ran right into a low-lying branch.
Her head swam, and her head hurt. Katniss vowed she was never going to drink again. A low masculine groan, however, startled her. Sitting up, she gasped. There before her, wearing nothing but his under shorts, was Peeta Mellark. Looking down, she discovered she was naked.