"Trust me," I whisper, pouch of berries in hand. Peeta looks into my eyes, along with the rest of Panem through the camera lenses, as I open it, pouring the nighltlock into his hand, then mine. "On the count of three?"
Peeta kisses me gently. "The count of three," he says.
We turn away to face the cameras. "Hold them out," Peeta says. "I want everyone to see." We hold out the berries in our open hands, and begin to count.
"One," we say. Nothing comes. No voices sound but our own. We watch each other from the corners of our eyes. "Two." We slowly bring the berries closer to our mouths. C'mon, c'mon, lets go, Gamemakers. "Three." The berries are up to our lips now.
Nothing. What, are they just gonna let us die? I do some quick thinking.
I take some berries with my fingers, open my mouth nice and wide, and move my hand as if putting the berries in mouth. It's very clever, really, You see, my hand, and the berries, actually went to the side of my mouth, but from some angles, it looked as if they were going in my mouth. I think better of winking at Peeta as he does the same.
"Mmmmm..." I say, fake-chewing loudly and obviously. "Yum... berries! Nom nom nom..." Are they buying it?
Suddenly, Peeta has turned a sickly pale-green color. My eyes widen as I look down at his hand, where the berries are gone. "Oh, no, Peeta!"
He groans. The berry juice has stained his lips purple but the rest of him is resolutely white.
"Peeta, come on! What are you thinking? Oh, jeez!"
Peeta collapses on the ground. His eyes roll back into his head, and his fingers twitch convulsively. His whimpering groans die down as I watch the pathetic creature. I show his lifeless, drooping eyes the berries I had cleverly concealed in my hand, dropping them down beside him.
"Really, Peeta? Okay, sorry, but no. Sorry not sorry."
A cannon sounds. A big Capitol ship descends on the arena from above me, and a ladder drops down. "Lates," I say, climbing up, shaking my head at his silly antics. Stupid Peeta.