- Katniss: “Peeta.“You said at the interview you’d had a crush on me forever. When did forever start?”
- Peeta: “Oh, let’s see. I guess the first day of school. We were five. You had on a red plaid dress and your hair . . . it was in two braids instead of one. My father pointed you out when we were waiting to line up,”
- Katniss: “Your father? Why?”
- Peeta: “He said, ‘See that little girl? I wanted to marry her mother, but she ran off with a coal miner,’”
- Katniss: “What? You’re making that up!”.
- Peeta: “No, true story. And I said, ‘A coal miner? Why did she want a coal miner if she could’ve had you?’ And he said, ‘Because when he sings . . . even the birds stop to listen.’”
- Katniss: “That’s true. They do. I mean, they did,”
- Peeta: “So that day, in music assembly, the teacher asked who knew the valley song. Your hand shot right up in the air. She stood you up on a stool and had you sing it for us. And I swear, every bird outside the windows fell silent,”
- Katniss: “Oh, please,”
- Peeta: “No, it happened. And right when your song ended, I knew — just like your mother — I was a goner. Then for the next eleven years, I tried to work up the nerve to talk to you.”
- Katniss: “Without success,”
- Peeta: “Without success. So, in a way, my name being drawn in the reaping was a real piece of luck,”
