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21 " What did Finnick Odair want?” he asks.I turn and put my lips close to Peeta's and drop my eyelids in imitation of Finnick. “He offered me sugar and wanted to know all my secrets,” I say in my best seductive voice.Peeta laughs. “Ugh. Not really.”“Really,” I say. “I'll tell you more when my skin stops crawling. "
― Suzanne Collins , Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
22 " In my mind, President Snow should be viewed in front of marble pillars hung with oversized flags. It's jarring to see him surrounded by the ordinary objects in the room. Like taking the lid off a pot and finding a fanged viper instead of stew. "
23 " I act delighted, but I have zero interest in these Capitol people. They are only distractions from the food. "
24 " We are what no one wants to miss at the party. I act delighted, but I have zero interest in these Capitol people. They are only distractions from the food. "
25 " I look coolly in to the blue eyes of the person who is now my greatest opponent, the person who would keep me alive at his own expense. And I promise myself I will defeat his plan. "
26 " My nightmares are usually about losing you. I'm okay once I realize you're here. "
27 " And it’s all my fault, Gale. Because of what I did in the arena. If I had just killed myself with those berries, none of this would’ve happened. Peeta could have come home and lived, and everyone else would have been safe, too.”“Safe to do what?” he says in a gentler tone. “Starve? Work like slaves? Send their kids to the reaping? You haven’t hurt people – you’ve given them an opportunity. They just have to be brave enough to take it. "
28 " He could have had his choice of any woman in the district. And he chose solitude. Not solitude – that sounds too peaceful. More like solitary confinement. "
29 " I had to do that. At least once. "
30 " I don't know what it is with Finnick and bread, but he seems obsessed with handling it. "
31 " I go back to my room and lie under the covers, trying not to think of Gale and thinking of nothing else. "
32 " And then it happens. Up and down the row, the victors begin to join hands. Some right away, like the morphlings, or Wiress and Beetee. Others unsure but caught up in the demands of those around them, like Brutus and Enobaria. By the time the anthem plays its final strains, all twenty-four of us stand in one unbroken line in what must be the first public show of unity among the districts since the Dark Days. You can see the realization of this as the screens begin to pop into blackness. It's too late, though. In the confusion they didn't cut us off in time. Everyone has seen. "
33 " So what should we do with our last few days?”“I just want to spend every possible minute of the rest of my life with you,” Peete replies.“Come on, then,” I say, pulling him into my room.It feels like a luxury, sleeping with Peeta again. I didn’t realize until now how starved I’ve been for human closeness. For the feel of him beside me in the darkness. "
34 " Gale is mine. I am his. Anything else is unthinkable. Why did it take him being whipped within an inch of his life to see it? "
35 " Because I can count on my fingers the number of sunsets I have left, and I don't want to miss any of them. "
36 " Looking at Prim's face, it's hard to imagine she's the same frail little girl I left behind on reapimg day nine months ago. The combination of that ordeal and all that has followed - the cruelty in the district, the parade of sick and wounded that she often treates herself now if my mother's hands are too full - these things have aged her years. She's grown quite a bit, too; we're practically the same height now, but that isn't what makes her seem so much older. "
37 " And then it hits me. They already have. They have kiled her father in those wretched mines. They have sat by as she almost starved to death. They have chosen her as a tribute, then made her watch her sister fight to the death in the Games. She has been hurt far worse than I had at the age of twelve. And even that pales in comparison with Rue's life. "
38 " In that one slight motion, I see the end of hope, beginning of destruction of everything I hold dear in the world. I can't guess what form my punishment will take, how wide the net will be cast, but when it is finished there most likely be nothing left. So you would think that at this moment, I would be in utter despair. "
39 " I realize only one person will be damaged beyond repair if Peeta dies. Me. "
40 " Really, the combination of the scabs and the ointment looks hideous. I can't help enjoying his distress."Poor Finnick. Is this the first time in your life you haven't looked pretty?" I say."It must be. The sensation's completely new. How have you managed it all these years?" he asks."Just avoid mirrors. You'll forget about it," I say."Not if I keep looking at you," he says. "