DISCLAIMER:I don't own The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins does. I'm just an obsessed fan.
CHAPTER 2
I climb a cliff about 15 feet above the water. I look at the clear waters below and smile. Cliff diving has always been some kind of sport to me. But if my parents finds out that I cliff dive, they'll never let me go to the ocean again. I stretch my arms up above my head and jump off the cliff. I love this feeling. The feeling of falling and flying at the same time. And within seconds, I collide with the cool waters below. I swim back to shore and start walking towards the cliff again when I heard someone walking behind me. I turn around and recognize the person. It's Pierre, my best friend aside from Rose. He's a few meters away, so I start to walk towards him.
"Pierre!" I shout with a smile.
He starts to run and suddenly I realize what he's planning to do. Before I can get out of the way, he slammed into me and we both fall on the sand. Him on top of me.
"Happy birthday, Mags!" He says enthusiastically then kisses me on the cheek.
"Eeeww, Pierre! You are so gross! Get off of me!" I tell him with a laugh.
He gets up and pulls me to my feet.
"Thanks." I tell him.
"You're cliff diving again?" he asks.
"Of course. It's a routine during my birthday, are you still not used to it?" I tell him.
"Well, Kinda." He replies.
"Wanna come?" I offer. His face lights up and nods. He puts his arm around my shoulders and we walk towards the cliff. Talking and laughing.
At the edge of the cliff, Pierre takes off his shirt. "Look Mags, being a Career paid off" he says, pointing at his abdomen which now has abs.
"Yeah Pierre, they're nice." I say, sounding indifferent.
"Nice? What do you mean nice? They're smoking hot!" he says and striking a very provocative pose.
"Okay, fine. I bet every girl in the District is drooling over you." I tell him. Laughing. He takes my face in his hands and starts examining it.
"What are you doing?" I ask
"Oh nothing. Just checking if you're drooling over my abs" He says and we both laugh hysterically. He takes my hand in his and says "On three" I nod in agreement.
1, 2, 3!
We both jump from the cliff, there's that feeling again. Falling then flying. I could do this forever. Fall, just so I can experience how it feels to fly. We let go just before we hit the waters. I resurface after a couple of seconds, several more past and Pierre still hasn't resurfaced. Panic courses through me and I frantically search the waters for him. I shout his name several times, but there is no answer every time I call. Then suddenly something is biting my leg, hard. I shriek and find myself being pulled down towards the bottom of the ocean. I start kicking what's biting and pulling me down. And as fast as it bit my leg, it releases me. I swam to the surface as fast as I could and propelled myself to the shore. Completely forgetting about Pierre. He shows up at the shore a few minutes later.
"Where were you? I thought you got hurt or dragged down to the bottom of the ocean by some kind of creature!" I yell at him. Frustrated.
"Well, I was biting your leg and pulling you down when you started kicking my head." He says. Matter-of-factly. So it was him who was biting my leg. He deserves the kick I gave him, and maybe a slap. So I slap him across his face before he even knew what hit him. "I hate you, really." I tell him.
His mouth was open, completely shocked at what I just did. Or said.
"I'm so sorry, Mags. I never should have played a prank on you. I know it was wrong. I'm really sorry' I recognize the sincerity in his voice and I forgive him. I can never stay angry at him. He has some weird way to always cheer me up, even though he's the reason why I'm upset, or mad. He was born with a very infectious smile. Whenever I see him smile, I find myself mimicking his.
"Come on, lets get you home" He says. I nod and gather my clothes.
"You're not going to get your shirt?" I say
"I'll get it later, lets eat first. I'm famished" He puts his arms around my shoulders, the way he also does when we talk together, and start walking towards my house.
We arrived just in time for lunch. My father was already home and greeted me a happy birthday. I kissed him on the cheek and thanked him for his gift. A golden necklace with a starfish for a pedant. Pierre ate lunch with us and thanked my mother for a wonderful lunch, then left to prepare for the reaping.
My mother tells me to take a bath and to put on the sleeveless azure dress that we got in exchange for the shark. She helps me clasp the necklace and brush my long red hair. She ties it up in a pony tail with a blue ribbon and hands me a mirror, I stare at myself. The blue ribbon and dress complements my blue eyes. And we leave the house for the reaping.