A/N: Yeah, I changed the title. I couldn't resist the pun ;) Enjoy, and review please! ^^
Chapter Two
Iris
I jump as I hear the knock at the door. I didn't expect anyone to come. I don't have any friends, and the only family I've ever known was taken from me last year. And since I volunteered, no one's going to visit me out of pity. I think briefly of the people at the community home, but dismiss that thought quickly. The Peacekeepers that run the place couldn't care less about me, and I've never really socialised with the other children. I think they think I'm weird.
"Come in," I say, as my curiosity gets the better of me.
A boy with tanned skin and a haze of thick black hair pops his head around the door and enters, nervously.
"Storm? What are you doing here?" I demand, genuinely surprised. I've only spoken to Storm once, years ago, and I didn't think I'd made that much of an impression on him. If our roles were reversed, I wouldn't have come. I would've tried to forget that I knew him, that we shared that one memory…
"Why did you do it?" He asks flatly, his expression a mask, but his dark grey eyes staring intently into mine. I won't lie to him. I owe him more than that.
"There's nothing left for me here," I say, turning away so I don't have to meet his gaze. "The Capitol took everything from me. They deserve to pay for what they did. They deserve to be made accountable for my sister's death. Because when it comes down to it, they killed a child. An innocent child. I should've volunteered for her, but I froze up. Instead I let my mentally handicapped sister die. That was unforgivable. But this ends here. There will be no more Hunger Games. It's cruel, it's barbaric, and it will not continue."
His voice drops to a whisper, as if terrified we're being overheard. "Iris… You can't say things like that… They'll kill you."
I laugh, bitterly. "Do you think I don't know that? I would've killed myself if I didn't know there was something I needed to do first! Think of Neil, in the room next to this one. He's twelve years old! You think he's ever going to see his family again? How can they possibly justify this? It's wrong, Storm, and I'm going to stop it. I know I'll die trying, there's no way to avoid it, but I will die a martyr. It's time for change; I know it!"
"But why you?" He begs, and I can hear the pain in his voice. He doesn't know me; why is he acting like this?
"Because I'm the only one who can!" I exclaim, losing my temper. "I have nothing left to live for. I have no one I love left that they can torture. And best of all, no one will miss me."
"That's not true," he whispers. All the anger and hurt has left his face, and been left with pity. I don't like it. What right has he got to pity me?
"It is. What would you know? You don't know me! I spoke to you once, Storm; get over it. Leave. Forget about me. I'm never coming back and you can't make me change my mind."
I glare at him, furiously. He's just a boy.And my mind is made up. He'll never see me again, except for on TV, so he may as well give it up. It's dangerous for him to care about me.
Storm opens his mouth to say something, but lets out a sigh and looks down.
"Then I guess this is goodbye… I'll miss you, Iris." As he looks up, I see his eyes glisten.
"No, you won't. If you wanted to, you could've said hi to me anytime in the past ten years, while we've been in the same class. But you didn't. I was worth one afternoon of your time, but that was it. Then everything returned to normal. You went back to your normal friends, and I went back to being nobody. I didn't see at all last year, as I was watching my sister get ripped apart in the arena. So, I've got to ask, why the fuck do you care now?"
"I always cared, Iris. I just didn't know what to say… You found out more about me in that one afternoon then my best friend has in all the years we've hung out, and I have to admit, I was scared, and I was stupid. And by the time I got over my shyness, too much time had gone by and I thought you'd forgotten about me. I'm sorry. I really am."
"Well, you shouldn't care anymore. I'm not worth it."
"Time's up!" the Peacekeeper calls through the door.
"I couldn't agree less," he says, softly. "Goodbye, and please don't die."