Secrets to Sell

Prologue

Katniss wasn't the classic shy girl.

In school, anyone who was trying to hit on her, had to end the thing at the first glare she gave them. She just couldn't give herself the time to date guys, or even talk to them. Actually, she didn't give herself time to talk to anybody. She used to sit alone at the cafeteria, reading books or eating M&Ms because her family wasn't as rich as the others in town. God, even her physical form wasn't normal.

She was too chubby. Too short. Her breasts weren't even near the normal size for her age. Her face too plump, her eyes too big. She used to spend most of her afternoon in front of the mirror, not partecipating at post-school activities. One day she found a pimple and she freaked out, not knowing how could she possibly show up in public the next day. She thrashed around her house, stuff flying in the air. She just couldn't stop screaming.

But in public, she was the exact opposite. And no one knew why she behaved that way.

Her family wasn't what she pretended it to be. Every other family was made of a mother, a father and the children. But no, her life sucked, so also her family had to.

Her father died when she was just seven years old; she didn't remember much, only a few memories of him singing to her to sleep. What sucked was the fact that her mother turned into a zombie, always in bed but with her eyes wide open, staring at the wall. Katniss was too little to take care of herself and her mother, so she was taken by an orphanage, even if her situation wasn't like the other orphans'. That place was like hell. She hated all the kids, mostly her roomate Clove, who threatened to kill her a few times if she would have screamed again during her nightmares. Those were the worst. The director of the orphanage was an old man called Snow because of his long white beard. He could have resembled Santa Claus if it weren't for his bad abits. Often, he beated the children, in particular the ones who didn't talk much. They weren't "normal", so they had to be punished. Snow was also the English and History teacher at the orphanage school. During his lesson he would talk to the kids like they were animals, always yelling at them, threatening them to be punished. But Katniss was strong and had courage, so she stood firm, her hands on the desk as Snow hit them with his black whip. Not even once a tear streamed on her cheek. Not once.

But that day everything changed. The blonde girl named Delly that used to sit next to Katniss in Snow's classes, didn't show up, and the teacher wasn't the evil man, but a strange bearded man. Delly's roomate Johanna, a few years older than her, said she was requested in Snow's office. The class passed quickly, and Katniss could go looking for the girl. Her room was on the third floor while Katniss' was on the second. She walked up the stairs only to find a group of kids reunited in front of Delly and Johanna's room. The missing girl was on the floor, pale and cold. Her corps was covered of bruises and blood.

Johanna, because one of the oldest, called the police. From that day on, the orphanage was closed.

All the orphans were entrusted to families in town. Katniss was one of the latest to find home, but eventually she did. Her home was a lovely white-and-yellow suburban house, like the ones in the movies she watched every Saturday at the orphanage. She liked it. No, she loved it. And her family did, too. Her new parents were Cray and Maysilee Donner, a married couple who couldn't have children. They welcomed her to the neighborhood with a party: Maysilee cooked and Cray took photographs of every happy moment. Finally, her life was beautiful. Every single part was wonderful. She walked to school; she made friends with a chubby girl named Madge Undersee and a tall boy named Gale Hawthorne, two years ahead of them. She sat at lunch with Madge, and in the afternoon she played with Gale on her backporch. She was happy. An always-smiling girl, like Mr. Snow willed her to be.

She was fifteen when everything changed again. She was on the bed, trying to understand algebra, when Cray walked in. He was wearing a squared pullover with black jeans. She remembered that particular because everynight she rewatched that scene in her dreams, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Am I bothering, hun?" he said.

"No, Cray. I just don't understand this," and Katniss pointed to the calc she couldn't resolve.

"Let me take a look". He sat on the bed, next to Katniss. Terribly close to her, but she wasn't paying attention to that. She had known him for five years. She trusted him because he loved her.

He leaned in, close to her face, only a breath separating them. He whispered in her ear in a deep voice that Katniss couldn't recognize, as he let slip his hans under the hem of her shirt.

"Let me take a look, hun".

From that moment on, the only thing Katniss could register was the pain and the hate she was feeling. Her voice was hoarse as she screamed in vain, his clothes on the floor next to hers. Only then she noticed that the door was locked and she was alone with Cray in the house. On that bed.

As he bumbed into her keeping his hand on her mouth, she fainted from the schock and the pain.

Hours later, she woke up feeling dizzy and tired, like she never fell asleep. Her body was sore, covered in bruises that pained at the touch. In that moment, she started to cry remembering Delly's bruised corps. Only, she survived. She wouldn't have wasted that chance.

The next morning, Cray offered to drive her to school, glaring at her with an expression that said "Don't you even try", as Maysilee cooked breakfast. She nodded her head once, starting to walk towards the car.

Suddenly, he blocked her against the car door. He whispered in her ear, like the night before.

Her eyes were wide for the rest of the day, her mouth agape with trembling lips. She was on the verge of tears all over again. She didn't look for Gale or Madge. She skipped all her lessons remaining on the floor of the girls' locker room, her head in her hands, crying and sobbing.

She still could hear him saying "Don't tell anyone or I will kill you."