Chapter 1: Kissed and Proposed To

I wake up in bed that morning feeling more rested than I ever have in my entire life. Our ramshackle house in the Seam is empty now, but it won't be for much longer.

I think it's fairly safe to say that I have never known luck until today, or at least until the hours of late last night. My father died in a mine explosion when I was 11. Four years later, Mother committed suicide, leaving two daughters poor and destitute and alone. I have mostly raised my little sister, Primrose, since then, hunting and trading in the Hob and having us both hide out from the Community Home, where orphans under the age of 18 like us should be.

The string of bad luck for the Everdeen girls only got worse from there.

A few weeks ago, my baby sister was Reaped in her first eligible year for the 74th Annual Hunger Games. I tried to volunteer, was ready to open my mouth and do so, but the look my little sister gave me as she bravely took the stage rendered me silent. Alone in the Justice Building together, we wept and wailed and bemoaned our fate. I told Prim to win for me, even if in my heart of hearts I knew she was almost certainly not going to come back alive.

And yet, somehow, fate intervened. Fate allowed my sister, when she got into the wooded arena, to run, hide, outlast and even at one heart-stopping point kill 23 other tributes - almost all of whom were a lot older and a lot bigger than her. Two and a half weeks later, she emerged as the Victor of the 74th Hunger Games - the younger Victor ever and only the third from District 12. Only one of her predecessors - a drunk by the name of Haymitch Abernathy - remains alive today. I don't know how he managed to mentor her out of there alive, but he did.

And now, my Primrose is coming home today from the Capitol - all pink-faced and warm and alive.

I hear the banging on my door downstairs as I change into my blue Reaping dress -a relic from Mother's days as a Merchant, before she ran off into the Seam to elope with my father. Peacekeepers, probably come to collect the one family member of the Victor. We will be moving into Prim's mansion in the Victor's Village this very afternoon, and even though I am still only 16 years old, the Community Home can't touch us now. Once you are a Victor, you are untouchable, and that protective shield will also extend around me. But when I open the door, I find with great relief that it is my hunting partner and best friend, Gale Hawthorne, come to escort me to the train station.

"Come on, Catnip! Let's go! Glory be, Prim is going to be home by high noon!"

I smile weakly, still unable to believe that this is real. Gale and I became close after our fathers perished in the same mine explosion, and have worked together since to raise and feed our families - nine and later eight people between us. Looping my arm through his, Gale guides me out of the Seam, through Town and to the train station, where an impressive crowd has already gathered. Primrose may have been born Seam, but with her azure eyes and blond hair, she could pass for a Merchant's child. With dark hair, grey eyes and olive skin, I much more favor my father and his Seam bloodline.

Someone perched on a rooftop hollers, "It's rounding the bend!" and a steady chug can be heard. The Capitol locomotive hurtles into view, blasting out one last whistle as the train pulls into the station. The first-class car opens and the whole of the District erupts in cheers upon seeing Primrose and Haymitch. My heart constricts, my eyes pricking with tears, as the full reality of what has been achieved hits me. Glancing to my right, Gale actually appears just as emotional - a startling feat, as he rarely, if ever, betrays his emotions. Our eyes lock, and we look at each other. Moving as one, my best friend and I swoop into each other's arms in relief.

Then, tilting my head and bending me back, Gale kisses me full on the mouth.

I gasp, slightly startled, parting my lips just enough for Gale to lick and wriggle his tongue into my mouth. I feel his strong arms encircle my spine. I have never been kissed before in my life. I don't know what to do, or what this will mean once we break apart. Until now, I have shunned all thoughts of romance, and certainly all public displays of affection. However, in the next instant, I surprise even myself as, draping my arms about Gale's neck, I close my eyes and kiss him back.

My kissing skills are clumsy, to be sure, my mouth sucking on and undulating against Gale's awkwardly. At long last, we dreamily break the kiss, as I wrench my head free with a soft POP!. My grey eyes flutter open. Gale is beaming down at me, hopeful given that I returned his kiss.

"Catnip, will you marry me?"

I gape at him in astonishment, speechless, certain I have misheard. I really shouldn't be so startled. Mother and Mrs. Hawthorne would sometimes gossip about the possibility of their eldest children getting married someday; I never encouraged such views. And besides, the age of consent - to get married and make love - is 16 here in District 12. Most people don't know that, as teenagers often wait until they are 18 - and after surviving their last Reaping - before proposing to their sweethearts. Since becoming free of the Games a few weeks ago, Gale is certainly liable to propose marriage to me or any other woman he wishes. But, though I am now the relative of a Victor, my name still has two more years to go in the Reaping Bowl.

Not only that, Prim and by extension myself are now so filthy rich, it is no longer necessary to marry, even if for no other reason than economic security. Most Merchant couples do that in lieu of romantic love, and even some Seam, because we are so poor.

However, as I absent-mindedly run my fingers through Gale's long locks of hair, I nevertheless seriously consider his proposal. Peering into his eyes, I smile shyly. "Yes, I will. Kiss me."

The order comes out practically, and with no nonsense. Gale beams and takes me in his arms. And as Gale and I embrace and kiss, fireworks whizz and explode in the sunny sky of District 12, in celebration of my sister's Victory.

It is very rare for Seam families to own a wedding dress. We Everdeens are some of the lucky ones, as when she fled from Town, Mother took with her the family wedding dress, our one family heirloom. Adjusting the veil over my head, the morning of my wedding, I will now wear it to marry my best friend. Someday, despite all the odds, Primrose will wear it after me, perhaps passing it down to their children.

For although Gale might want them, no matter how badly he does, I will never bear his babies. Babies grow into children who are sent into arenas to die. I refuse to partake in that sickest of war machines.

Prim holds up my train as we glide down from Victor's Village and through Town to the Justice Building. Gale meets me there, clad in his best-pressed suit, and we stand before the District Clerk, who marries us. Gale and I sign the marriage license. Normally, at this point, we would be assigned a house in the Seam, but since Gale is now related to a Victor by marriage, he and I will start our married life together in Primrose's mansion home.

My sister, husband and I walk happily back to Victor's Village, and upon reaching the Everdeen mansion, Gale sweeps me off my feet and carries me - his bride and new wife - into our house. We stoke up the fire, toasting a bit of bread over the hearth, and share it. The Toasting - the traditional marriage custom in District 12. No one here feels truly married without it.

Tilting my head, my grey orbs dancing in the firelight, I permit my new husband to kiss me, and I kiss him back, with both of us licking the errant bread crumbs off of our mouths...

A year later, Gale rises from the bed we share. Caressing my naked body from where we made passionate love the night before - he and I have had some wild sex in our marriage bed - he rouses me from sleep and I dress, preparing his lunch for when he goes off to work. Kissing me indecently goodbye, my husband leaves for the day.

He never comes home.

Around mid-morning, a deep explosion rocks the district, sending tremors all the way up to Victor's Village, enough to even knock old Haymitch Abernathy out of his chair. My sister and I go running to the mines, Haymitch hot on our heels, and with an anguished wail, I find my husband's lifeless corpse among the bodies.

Just like that, just like my mother before me, I find myself a grieving widow at the tender age of 17.