The Hunger Games: If They Were Really In Love

Chapter 1

I wake up early in the morning and see that my younger sister Prim is no longer in my bed. I walk to my mother's room and see her snuggled up next to my mother. She probably had another nightmare. Of course she would, this is her first year that she's entered in the reaping. I pull on my hunting boots and my dad's old hunting jacket. He died in a mining explosion a couple of years ago. My mother went into a deep depression and we were lucky if she would get out of bed. I was left to fend for my family, so I have been hunting in the woods illegally. It was either that or starve. I walk across the meadow and slip underneath the fence, surrounding District 12, and go into the woods. I find my bow and arrows hidden in a hollow tree and make my way deeper into the woods to find my best friend Gale. On my way, I spot a medium sized deer that walked in front of a nearby tree. I quietly pulled out an arrow and I was aiming it right at the deer's eye. That's the best way to get more money for it.

"Hey Catnip what are you going to do with a hundred pound deer?" Gale says rather loudly while the deer runs away. Of course my real name isn't Catnip, it's Katniss, but when I first told Gale my name I barely whispered it so he thought I said Catnip.

"It's not funny Gale. It was the first one I've seen all year." We make our way to a little grassy hill where we can see the whole district but no one can see us because there are tall blades of grass concealing us. "How many times is your name entered today?" I ask him.

"42. You know Effie Trinket is always saying, "May the odds be ever on your favor," but how are they in our favor if the poor kids are entered more times because of tesserae? I know that the tesserae helps with food but what's the point in even
saying that? It's obviously not true." Tesserae is what you can sign up for where you get a year's supply of grain and oil for one person. In return your name is entered for the reaping one more time. Gale and I get tesserae for each of our family members. 4 for me and 5 for Gale. My name will be entered 20 times this year.

"I don't know Gale. It's not fair."

Gale and I spend about an hour or so hunting and when we've finished we have 3 rabbits, 4 squirrels, and we also caught 3 fish in the small lake. We split it equally and I go to the Hob, a market place where I do most of my trading, and I get a decent amount of money for the fish and buy some delicacies for tonight. If you don't get picked from the reaping everyone usually has a feast, if you can afford it, to celebrate. Gale and I leave and I make my way to the bakery to find my boyfriend Peeta.

When I walk in I hear the little bells on top of the door ring. "Mellark's Bakery how may I help you?" Peeta asks not looking up from what he was doing. He was facing the opposite direction of me so I decide to sneak up on him. It will at least lighten the mood. I know everyone is a little scared today. Peeta obviously doesn't have to sign up for tesserae because he works at a bakery so his name is only entered 5 times. "I said, how may I help you?" he still doesn't turn around so I tip toe over to him and put my hands over his eyes. I can tell he's a little startled because he jumped a little.

"Guess who?" I say in a high pitch voice so that it's not too obvious who it is.

"Very funny Katniss." he turns around so that we are face to face. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him into a tight hug. He snakes his arms around my waist and pulls me close to him.

"I'm scared Peeta. What if it's me who gets picked? Or you or Gale?" I say as I rest my head against his chest. He gives me a kiss on my head and says, "Don't worry Katniss there are thousands of slips in there it's not very likely."

"I know but there is still a chance."

He lifts my chin so I'm looking at him in the eyes. "Listen Katniss, even if you are chosen, you are strong. You are a fighter, and you can hunt. You could make it out of there. Whereas if I was chosen, I can't do anything but frost cakes. Where would that get me?" he asks.

"Peeta you're strong too. I've seen you lift hundred pound sacks of flour over your head. I don't know a lot of people who can do that."

"Yeah and once again, where is that going to get me? I doubt there would be sacks of flour to throw at people. Here I got you something." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a round pin with mockingjay on it.

"Oh Peeta. It's beautiful, thank you." I pinned it on my shirt and gave him another hug."

"You're welcome. But I have to get back to work or else my mom will kill me. I'll see you in a little while okay Katniss?"

"Okay. I love you Peeta."

"I love you too." He places a gentle kiss on my lips and then I walk out of the bakery.

Hey so this chapter may not be that great but trust me it will get better. I didn't know if I should end it there or not so I just decided I would continue on in the next chapter. If you didn't ready know I am obsessed with THG and any book I write on Wattpad will probably be hunger games related. I just thought you should know that. I also know that Madge gave Katniss the pin in the book and Prim gave it to her in the movie but I figured that could be a part of the cute Katpee moment. Anyways, please vote and comment. I would like to know what you think. You can also check out my other book The High School Games. It would mean a lot to me. Thank you for reading. -brooke331<3