Susan Berwald District Ten
I can't believe it. I just can't believe it at all. I'm in a freaking train heading for the freaking Capitol where I'll be shipped off to my freaking death!
Let's look on the bright side: at least Tino is going with me.
Wait. Tino is going with me. Tino is going to die. I'm going to die.
Don't think like that! I'm going to keep Tino alive. I've loved him all my life. I always watch out for him at school. He's the nervous type, always a little fidgety, and always seems a little scared. He seems a little scared of me.
He might have a point to being afraid of me. I do look pretty unapproachable, being super tall and having an angry-looking face. My hair is blonde just like his and I wear glasses. Tino is nervous, I am calm. We are made for each other. He just doesn't know it yet.
Tino and I go way back to when we were little. I was the only kid about his age on our block, so our parents would set up playdates for us. I was happy about that. I had a little-kid crush on Tino at the time. We played the most awesome games together. I came up with the idea of playing runaways, carrying sticks with hankies tied to the ends of them. I called the game "Runnin' away with Su," and it was so much fun. We made hideouts from tree branches, and ate our dinners outside together.
I doubt that the Hunger Games will be anything like playing runaways.
I wish I weren't so shy. I try to talk to Tino, but I always end up mumbling. I think I'll attempt to make some conversation with him. I want to be able to talk to him without him running away. Luckily, you can't really run away when you're on a train.
I'm going to clear things up, make sure Tino isn't afraid of me. I'm not scary at all; I'm just a girl who watches over the things she holds dear very carefully. And Tino is very dear to me, too. I'm going to make Tino fall in love with me as soon as possible.
It's not like I have much time.
Tino Finn, District Ten
She's staring at me, all right. That girl, Susan, is staring at me. She's really tall and looks sort of like she's gonna bite me or something. It makes me a bit uncomfortable.
"Ms. Susan, p-please stop staring at me," I say, in my over-polite manner. It's the best thing I can do in this situation, being polite. I don't think it will help me in the Hunger Games, but for now, my manners are the only thing keeping me from sounding stupid.
"'k," she says. "I j'st th'nk y'r cute," she mumbles. Susan goes pink in the face and turns away.
I think she said "I think you're cute," Nobody has said that to me before without a joking or sarcastic tone. Even though she's kind of scary looking, she seems nice…ish.
Maybe I like her, just a little bit. I bet I could fall in love with her. Nobody's ever been in love with me before and I'd like to have a little romance before I die.
We get called in for dinner. I am amazed with the selection of food there is. These capitol chefs really know how to cook! We have meatballs of some sort, I'm not good with names. They taste better than any food that I've ever eaten. Why can't the Districts get food like this? That just isn't fair. At least we get to have some now. Susan seems to be enjoying her food, too. She turns to me.
"T'no," Susan mumbles, "H'w's 't g'ng?"
"Aside from being reaped for the Hunger Games, my day has been absolutely swell," I say.
Susan giggles. She's super tall and super scary, but her laugh is kind of cute.
"I hope you do well in the Hunger Games," I say. There isn't much else to talk about. Somehow, discussing stories we read for school seems rather pointless.
"You, too," she says, seriously. She must be pretty darn serious if she didn't mumble to me. Susan's face turns red again, and she goes back to her meatballs. A few moments later, she speaks again.
"If someone tried to hurt you, I'd kill them," She really is serious.
"Really?" I ask.
"R'lly." Susan says, mumbling again.
Man, I really hope I can make the train ride without feeling a little scared of her. I really want to love Susan. I bet I can.
I really hope I can fall in love with her.
