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𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦 : 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵'𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳

harriet 'hattie' fire stood in her bedroom with the news streaming on in the background as she stuffed her duffel bag full of clothes and necessities. rounds of applauses would spontaneously fill hattie's ears as she tried to shove her favorite combat boots tightly beside some of her socks. "i swear to god—" she mumbled to herself, before finally pushing the boots into the tight spot and successfully zipping up the bag.

"and the baker boy." hattie had finally looked up at her screen and saw peeta mellark walk out of his home. he glanced to the camera with a grateful smile, and went to hug katniss everdeen, throwing in an obvious motion to make them fall onto the ground. "oh ! trouble in paradise." caesar commentated.

katniss everdeen and peeta mellark. the first duel victors to ever come out of the hunger games. and, apparently, star-written lovers.

hattie didn't buy it.

katniss was tough and blunt, and peeta was thoughtful and a team player, from what hattie had watched the previous year. though she could be wrong, she had a knack for reading past TV personalities and going for the jugular. which also lead hattie to believe that peeta and katniss weren't in love. crazy theory. but completely believable. hattie was most likely the only person in the whole capitol, besides her father, to think that their love was false.

but, it wasn't her business. for now, at least. "so taciturn all of a sudden, peeta, give me some— !" hattie pointed the remote to the TV and it immediately shut off. she did not need to see that. she did not want to see that. she looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath, her stomach starting to churn. she tried to tell it to shut up.

hattie was an abnormally beautiful girl. in her country, she didn't meet the beauty standards, she was the standard. her curly hair reached the bottom of her shoulder blades, and her height reached up to a storming 5'0. her skin was a warm brown, never needing any makeup other than the occasional mascara. hattie was kind and reliable, and tried her best to be optimistic every waking moment. even if it didn't always work.

"which one..." hattie tapped her chin, looking between the two machetes laying on her bed, both in sheathes. "don't fix what's not broken." she eventually picked up her dark pink-sheathed sword and packed it in the front pocket of her bag. the bedside phone started to ring, and she quickly picked it up.

"hello?" "hey, kid, it's just me." hattie had immediately recognized the voice as haymitch. like a second father, personally first father, as she saw it, to her. drunk father, but better dad than her biological father had ever been. "oh, hey, 'mitch. what's up?" "wanted to know if you saw katniss' and peeta's interview. check if it was any good." "it was alright. the push to the floor peeta pulled was kind of obvious but otherwise, it was okay." "just okay?" he asked. "as far as i watched it. i turned it off right before caesar even asked a question." she rolled her eyes, tapping her foot. "of course you did. well, just thought i'd check. oh, also wanted to remind you i'm picking you up the afternoon after the reaping to get on the train." "alright. tell the victors i say hi. or don't." a laugh from the other line rung through the phone, before it went dead.

the presidents daughter as a hunger games mentor. never heard of, and never wanted. but, hattie had her personal reasons, and she planned to keep them personal for as long as she could. she had done 13 years of fencing and 6 years of combat and knife training. she could've been a mentor years ago if she had wanted to.

the girl dropped the phone and looked out the window, where city buildings rose high near the height of where her bedroom stood, a body of water off in the distance. she wished she lived in nature. where it surrounded her, instead of futuristic land. where flowers grew instead of office buildings, and where stars were their street lights.

hattie fell back onto her bed, thinking about what it would've been like if she lived in a district. sure, she would have the chance to live her worst nightmare annually and have to kill others to survive, but she knew that they had nature surrounding them. agriculture, water, fire. she wanted that. to have the natural ability to hunt. to swim. to fish. to do anything outside of being portrayed like an arrogant daughter of the president. she was nothing like that.

the curly-haired girl must've been daydreaming for a while, because when the phone started to ring again, she picked it up and heard haymitch say : "someone died." hattie's eyebrows pushed together. "what? already?" "peeta and katniss went off of the cards, and a citizen from district 11 did the salute. he got shot in the head right after." when she heard the district number, she lightly gasped and put a hand over her heart. "no." "unfortunately." "what... what did he look like?" "i don't know. i didn't look." he hastily responded, "just... be prepared, okay? as much as you can be." hattie nodded although she knew he couldn't see her. she knew he heard it. "got it. love you."

then, it hung up.

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again, and again, she got the same call. throughout the next coming days, haymitch would call her with the same news. the three-fingered salute. at least one person per district visit. a way to show rebellion, of the revolution. a new way of life. a life hattie wanted to live.

but, there she sat at the table with her father, eating her breakfast with no words coming from her mouth as her mind raced faster than any train she had ridden on. "your hair looks lovely, darling. when did you start wearing it like that?" he had asked her. she looked up, slowing her thoughts to a stop so she could respond. "just wanted to try something new." her curly hair was braided into two neat dutch braids that had obviously just been done that morning. she dropped her fork and wiped her mouth with her napkin.

"i'm going to my room." then, she got up and left the table. she quickly ran upstairs and flew onto her bed, and though she didn't want to, she turned the TV on. "just when you thought things couldn't get more exciting going into a very special Quarter Quell, our lethal lovers... my favorite expression... from district 12 have surprised us with a new twist in their love affair."

hattie's eye grew as wide as her eyelids could open, "don't tell me they're.." "let's take a look." on a hologram behind caesar showed peeta kneeling on one knee in front of katniss and her looking awestruck. "no !" hattie whined, slapping her hands over her eyes, "that's so gross !" it was evident to her that the two were not in love, and now they were going to another level. "a fairy tale ending for two star-crossed lovers. that's beautiful. beautiful. and then tonight, the tour that—" she couldn't bare it anymore, she turned it off.

"oh, my eyes !" she fanned her eyes dramatically, and automatically reached for the phone. she dialed the number, and held it up to her ear. "hello?" hattie heard haymitch answer wearily. "is it true? it can't be." "it's true, but as fake as your talent to pack lightly." she fell back on her bed and groaned, "they're making themselves miserable." she hung up before saying anything else. she was scared she would accidentally cuss the two out without even meeting them.

just then, a knock came to her door. "come in !" she sighed. cypress, the house helper and hattie's best friend, walked in with a garment bag in hand. "for the big day !" "ooh, lemme see !" he quickly hung the garment bag before stepping out of the way. hattie lifted herself off the bed and walked towards the bag, unzipping it down the middle and finding her dress. the dramatically pink and blue iridescent material was see-through, but under the dress hung a white bikini.

"cute. a hooker with a see-through robe over." cypress' eyes widened at the girl's comment with his hands in his pockets, "yeah, in a... classy kinda way." she tilted her head and hesitated before nodding.

"yeah, sure."

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hattie looked at herself in the mirror and observed way the dress fabric didn't accentuate anything. so, she grabbed the bottom of the dress, and ripped the bottom line off. she tied the strip around her waist and left the ends in an unfinished knot, and spun around. "this will do." just then, cypress opened the door and walked in without a warning. he wore a ridiculous-looking party hat and a small nutella crepe cake with his hands surrounding the candles to preserve the light. "happy birthday to you ! happy birthday to you ! happy birthday to my best friend ! happy birthday to you !" "you remembered?" hattie's mouth melted into an upside-down smile. "that's what a best friend is for ! blow out the candles, blow out the candles ! make a wish !" she closed her eyes and thought of a wish for a moment, before blowing out the candles. "yay !"

he finally looked her up and down, letting out a nod of approval. "birthday girl's looking hot." the girl looked up to the ceiling and let out a laugh. "hah ! if only i could get everyone to think that without showing them." "hey, you'll get to meet the engaged couple." she groaned at the boy's statement. "i wish you could come with me." "i know. but, hey, you can tell me all about what they did, and what they looked like, just like you always do." hattie turned and looked up at him. "have fun." he smiled, and she just reached up and kissed his cheek. "doubt that."

once she arrived downstairs, she saw her father in the same fancy attire he was always in, and lended her an arm to cross hers with. "you look spectacular, darling." she looked at his arm, and purposely walked past it. "thanks." she responded. the moment she opened the door, interviewers stood all around her. "harriet ! who is your dress?" "cinna." hattie politely smiled, trying to walk away without seeming too abrupt. "do you have any suitors at the moment? how do you feel about the victors?" "i do not, and i think that they did what they had to." she answered, before breaking away from the cameras.

as the orchestra swelled, hattie and the president walked out into their balcony with drinks in hand. hattie looked as bored as a child sitting at the adult table, but president snow just smiled. "tonight, on this, the last day of their tour, i want to welcome our two victors. two young people who embody our ideals of strength and valor." hattie looked down to the ground, taking a deep breath as she tried to stop herself from tearing up. she would've wanted hattie to be happy. but she deserved to be here, and she couldn't. not when she was up in heaven, playing hopscotch and watching over her. hattie looked back up. "your love has inspired us. and i know it will go on inspiring us every day for as long as you may live." hattie scoffed lightly, but quickly realized it had caught everyone's attention. "sorry. clearing my throat."

the president lifted his glass, and as the fireworks started, peeta looked up at the girl standing on the balcony. he noticed from afar that she had tears running down her cheeks, but her face was blank as she drank her glass as a shot, before turning her heel and walking back in.

she saw the holograms as she raced through the halls of the fires and the protests happening throughout the districts, and she couldn't help but feel happy for them. but she knew the more the district's think they have, the more her father would take away. the reaping was soon, and now that it got closer, she wasn't so sure on leaving.

what would the district 12 tributes think of her? being the president's daughter? they would look down on her. she couldn't blame them. maybe they wouldn't understand that she hated her father more than anyone could hate another. maybe they wouldn't think she wanted to help them, that she was just an inside spy. they wouldn't care that she legally changed her last name to fire just so she could verbally show that she could melt him one day. they wouldn't care nor understand. but none of those things were their fault. nor were there hers.

it was president snow's.

FIRST CHAPTER ! vote and comment please 🙏🏽
xoxo,
mel 💋