Chin up, shoulders back. Don't cry.
"What's your name dear?" asks Gemma Winters, the district escort.
"Shay," I manage to get out. My throat feels tight and I can feel myself shaking; being on this stage in front of my entire district would be nerve-wracking under normal circumstances, but to be here now, volunteering to go into the Hunger Games.. The fear threatens to overwhelm me.
"And your last name, dear?" says Gemma, laughing slightly. I remember what I learned from watching the last 24 Games in training: the Capitol believes us to be stupid, less than human. I can't lose my temper at her, it will do more harm than good. I need to play her game if I want to survive.
"Right, sorry," I smile slightly, feeling my muscles strain immensely with the effort, "Shay Kensington."
"Oh excellent, what a lovely name!" She goes on to talk about how she loves that our names all have something to do with masonry - my name, for example, referring to a type of stone called shale. I keep my breathing as even as possible and though I can still feel myself shaking I am noticeably calmer. It's a game, I tell myself, just a game. Play along.
Gemma is introducing the male tribute now, people are clapping for him, and I look up to see my boyfriend walking toward me. I feel my jaw clench and eyes widen in fear and surprise. I know I shouldn't feel this way, he's the competition after all, but I can't help wishing he'd never been called. The plan was always been for him to volunteer anyway, but maybe once he saw me up here he wouldn't have. Now there's a 100% chance at least one of us will be coming home in a box.
"Mason," I whisper as he takes my hand to shake it. There's a deadened look in his eyes as he stares down into mine and his grip is hard, harder than I'm used to. I bite my lip and squeeze his hand, hoping for some kind of friendly response.
"Well now, it looks like you two know each other already," says Gemma happily, and I realize neither Mason nor I have let go of each other's hand. I look around to our escort, slightly dazed, but my friend beats me to a response.
"Yes, we do," he says, grinning broadly at Gemma. It's a fake smile, but I can tell she buys it. "She's my fiancee."
He puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me close to his side. I'm shocked, but manage to smile a little. Until this point we'd been keeping our relationship a secret, as dating is strictly forbidden between those of us training for the Games, and now not only is he telling all of our district but all of Panem that we're engaged? My head spins in confusion before I realize he's a step ahead of me. Mason is working an angle already, playing their game. Fiancee sounds better than girlfriend, makes for a more tragic love story. He's brilliant, my best friend. Hopefully our escort - and the rest of Panem - think I'm shy or something because I don't say anything at all. I simply rest my head on the side of his chest, the highest bit of him I can reach, and try to listen to what Gemma is saying.
"Oooh, how excellent," she trills in her Capitol accent, clapping her hands together like a child, "and what a year for true love it is, too!" She winks as she pulls out a card from her pocket with a little '25' painted on the front and begins to read. "To remind the citizens of Panem that the Capitol is merciful, in this year's Hunger Games, the first Quarter Quell, there may be two Victors crowned in the arena!"
My stomach turns over and I sink further into Mason. There is a chance, however small, that he and I could both live. From the corner of my eye I see him turn his head to look down at me and he smiles. The crowd of people in the square below us cheers wildly, ecstatic at this turn of good fortune. We do not need the rewards that come with victory, we merely want our people to come home again. I feel my nerves relax a little, I won't be killing my best friend after all. In fact, we can use this to our advantage. Mason and I have been trained for years, both of us specializing in different areas meant to compliment each other. The hope was that one day if we were to end up in the arena we could help each other until the point we were forced to separate. Teamwork is essential in masonry, it is an aspect of our lives that we can't escape no matter where we go in District Two. I pride myself on being able to work well with others, and especially well with Mason. We've been best friends since we were toddlers, nobody knows us better than we know each other. A spark of hope flickers in my stomach; maybe we can win this thing.