Chapter 2

I am standing against the window, looking out onto the faces in the square looking up at me in the justice building. The door swings open from behind me, and to my surprise, my mother is standing there. Her eyes are more filled with emotion than I had ever seen. But it is hatered they were filled with, not for me, but for what is going to happen to me.

"Listen to me, I don't have long." She walks in, grabs me by the wrist and kisses my forehead. "I will get you out of this sweetie," her kindness towards me is new. "You won't have to fight. But in case you do, I want you to try and make as many friends as possible. They'll hesitate to kill you and those seconds could save your life." With that she hugs me as tight as she can. This is the first time she has held me, and I dread to think it could be the last. She smells of lavender and safety, I don't want her to let me go.

"I love you, you know that. I know I haven't show it much but I do." With that she was yanked away from me. It all fell apart then and I began hyperventillating.

"Mommy!" I screamed as they took her away from me. I sounded like a child, but I couldn't help it. I made a dash for the door but they closed it. I dug my fingernails in the wood and sobbed against the door. I didn't want to do this anymore, I didn't want to die.

My eyes fly open from the dream. Its real. I know it is. Because I remember it happening. My cushion is soaked through with tears. My mother won't be mentoring us. She somehow got out of it. Instead I will be mentored by someone else. Duncan will have his own mentor, as district ten has three victors.

I sit up in the bed and hold my knees to my chest. I feel sick. I want to puke, but I can't. I don't want to be here. The reality of the situation is dawning on me. I am being transported to the Capitol, to be preped for my death. There is no doubt in my mind that I will die. Every year we are forced to watch the Hunger Games, and every year I wonder how they manage to survive. I know I won't be able to. My life has been a sheltered one, Duncan has more chance of survival than me.

I look up at the door when I hear it sqeak open. Duncan is standing there.

"You okay? I heard you screaming." He is shirtless, and I can't help but tilt my head to the side to see if I'm seeing this right, he had a very muscly and toned chest. He works in the fields all day with the few plant district 10 grows, rather than with the live stock. But I didn't expect him to be so...

"Fine... I'm mean I'm fine. It was just a nightmare." This is the most we have spoken to each other, normally we exchange more less than three words and that's it.

"If you're sure..."

"I'm sure," I say. He hovers at the door for a moment and stuffs his hands in his pocket.

"How come you're up?" I asks, more to make him feel less awkward than curiousity.

"I...er... Couldn't sleep." He shuffles about nervously, unsure of what to do with himself.

"Come on in," I know his discomfort. He hesistates before walking in and sitting on the foot of the bed. Its hard for me to see him there so I pat the empty bed side next to me to tell him to sit there. He stares reluctantly. The room is farely big, its the same size as my bedroom at home. But the black, silk sheets are richer and less worn out. There is a mahogany chest of drawers on the opposite side of the room, next to the door to the joining bathroom. The door to the bedroom is next to the wall of the bathroom door.

"I don't bite," I laugh. He just smiles and gets up to sit there. The bed jumps a little as he sits next to me. Its now that I realise that I have nothing to talk about.

"What did mum say?" I ask him. My nanny/mum wasn't allowed to come see me off, it was strictly the essential people that only meant my mother. "I mean, nanny." I corrected myself because of the confused look on his face. He has never heard me call his parents 'mum' and 'dad', he's never been around long enough to hear.

"They told me I was an idiot.

I turn my head to him quickly in surprise.

"For volunteering," he grinned as if my surprise was amusing. "But they also said that they had never been more prouder of me than at that moment."

"I'm proud of you too." And its true, I am. He looks surprised at my comment, and it was my turn to smirk at his surprise. "It was a good thing you did. Granted, you are a complete idiot. But I know the boy you saved, and he wouldn't be able to survive in arena."

"And I would?" His voice was a grim, as if he knew he was going to die.

"Yes. Duncan, you could win this thing."

"No, I can't."

"Yes you can. Why else would you have volunteered?"

"To protect you."

"Why?" I demand, still not grasping the root of his actions.

"Because Scarlett," he looked down. But before he answers I know the reply. Its hearing him say it that makes my heart jump. "I'm in love with you. I have been for the past three years."

The words hit me like all the breath has been knocked out of my chest. He... He loves me? "Then why did you always leave to go to your room whenever I was at your house?"

"Because, I felt..." He searches to find a word, "awkward, around you. You have no idea, the effect you have on people."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I'm a little offended. Do I make people feel tense, awkward or shy? Am I that bad a person?

He takes my hand. At first my instinct is to jerk away but I don't. For all the reasons I should, there is only one for why I shouldn't. I like him. I had crush on him, but I never saw it as anything else. Just a mild crush. But either way, I didn't want to let go of his hand.

"I mean-"

His speach is cut off midway by the sound of a shrill and nasal voice.

"You should not be in here!"

It is our escort. I can never remember her name. Her wig has been placed on roughly and she looks completely washed out with no make-up on. "Get out!" She yells at Duncan. He's finding this whole situation rather humouress and as she tugs him up by the arm he looks back at me and, almost as if he wanted to get under our escorts skin, he blew her a kiss.

She gasped and hit his shoulder. His chortle could be heard down the train compartment to his own room.

He was much funny than I had ever thought him to be. But the circumstances were awful. He could be dead in a few months. Our escort stays outside my room for the entire night. When I wake up, get dressed and walk out the room, I am stuck because she is sprawled on the floor snoring. The stool she was sitting on is in tact. I tread over her as nicely as I can and head for breakfast.

Duncan is sitting there already. He is the only one there. He smiles when he sees me walking. I haven't quite sussed him out. He's like an entirely new person. "Hey you're up." He states. Before I sit down he gets up and pulls my chair out for me. Its nothing new. When I would have dinner at his house, though we didn't speak much, he was always a gentleman and pulled out my chair.

"Hali spent the entire night outside your room to make sure I didn't go in there again." He mused as he poured himself some coffee.

I took a sip of my hot chocolate. It took me a few seconds to remember Hali was a nick name for our escort. "I had to jump over her to get out of my room this morning."

"So did you sleep alright then?"

"Yes."

"You're lying." He stated outright.

"How do you know?" I was a little offended. Yes, I was lying but how could he have possibly known that. I have no tell.

"You always become too steady and controlled when you're lying."

I consider what he's saying. Its true. When I lie, I control every part of myself. I become aware if even a finger moves out of place. But how he knows that, I don't know.

"Good morning childeren."

We look up to see a dark skinned man with white hair walk in. He is fairly strong looking and quite scary. Following in behind him is a blonde man with blue eyes. They must be our mentors. A part of me hopes the white haired man is my mentor, because as the other one sits down he keeps his eyes fixed on me, making me very self concious. The white haired one sits down opposite me.

"I am..." he pauses, "Exma."

Its an odd name, but who am I to judge. Exma stares at the blonde haired man, and he leans back in his chair staring at me. Exma kicks him under the table, I know because the cutlery on the table clangs as he does.

"Ouch!" He squeaks. His voice is rough and dry, "I'm Harry."

Exma gives him a dirty look. Duncan extends his hand to Harry and Exma. They both look startled to see him, because up till now they've been paying attention to me.

"So which of you is mentoring each of us?" Duncan asked.

"Ha-" he stops again, "-rry is mentoring Scarlett. And I'm going to mentor you." We each began to eat our food as Exma and Duncan chatted about different stragtergies. I tried making conversation with Harry but he would just grunt answers and allow the conversation to die, all the while he kept observing me like he was waiting to for me to do something.

When Hali makes an appearance I was glad of her chatty nature. Of course, when she first sit down her first oder of business was to scold Duncan.

"Young man, you are not to go into her room again!" Her Capitol accent makes her scolding humouress. But what makes him laugh is her serious tone.

I blush slightly because Exma and Harry must be getting the wrong idea.

"I can't promise anything Hali," he chuckles at her. I must be bright red by this time. We continue eating and making conversation. Looking at us from afar, you would never guess that they are all transporting us to our sure deaths.