1/17/15

Hi again! Sorry I took so long. School's taking as much time as ever *gags*. Anyways, this chapter feels a little rushed, probably because there's so much dialogue, but it's another of the chapters I rushed through. I would've polished it up, but I feel bad for taking so long to update. I'll try to get the next chapter fixed, though.

Thank you SPARIA89 for favoriting, ArcanineHeritage for following and favoriting, Rachel Chen for following and favoriting, anggelica2018 for following, likethewordish for following, smg55 for following, and thechamberofmahogany for following and favoriting.

Reviews:

Lya200: I can totally picture the victors' lodge being in a constant state of dysfunction. There's so many victors that there's guaranteed to be a clash of personality.

Stellaslomp: Thanks :)

Dcow14: I hope so too, although he hasn't showed up. I'm sure he will soon, though.

SPARIA89: Thanks

ElderVye: To be honest, I'm not really sure. I think I might've came up with it because of another fanfiction I read, only they were enemies in that one, but I don't quite think that's it…

ArcanineHeritage: I can tell by your username that you like Pokémon too :)

Disclaimer- I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention.

….

Chapter 4: Choices We Make

The victory ball is even more extravagant than usual. I swear, the tables are made of solid gold this time. Maybe the floors, too. And, of course, Snow's infamous cashmere curtains are hung oh-so primly over the windows. Gag me.

"Nice party, huh?" a voice asks from behind me.

"Well Bubble, this is the Capitol. Nothing but the best for their two precious victors," I sneer.

The District 1 mentor steps in front of me and lowers her voice. "You know Plutarch Heavensbee?"

"You mean Snow's new lap-dog? Of course I do, who doesn't know him?" I scoff. "Why ask?"

Bubble's eyes flicker around the room nervously. "There's a meeting in the Gamemakers' control room at midnight. Get there as soon as possible, bring your father and Pine. Got it?"

"How do we know we can trust him?" I ask blankly. "What if he's leading us into a trap?"

"He's not," Bubble assures me. "I've gotta go. Keep an eye on Finnick and Cashmere though, will you? We don't need them getting dragged off."

"I think Annie and Gloss have that covered," I say dismissively.

"Think again," Bubble laughs, gesturing to Gloss and Shey who are currently dancing with each other.

"Well, it's about time," I smirk. Noticing the look on Bubble's face, I add, "Don't worry, I'll keep his sister safe."

"Thank you," Bubble sighs in relief. "I'm gonna go tell Angus about this."

"What? Why would you do that? Oh, you mean about the meeting, don't you?" I laugh.

"What makes you think I'd try to break up Shloss?" Bubble grins.

"I dunno," I shrug. "The only reason I can think of is jealousy, and Gloss is a little too young for you."

"You've got that right," Bubble says. "But no, I'm happy for them. Remember what happened to Gloss's girlfriend?"

"Oh yeah, who could forget," I sigh. "The one that cheated on him with Cashmere's boyfriend?"

"Yep, that's the one," Bubble groans.

"Ugh, that was awful. Cash was depressed for months. Speaking of which, I've gotta save a baby bird from the foxes if you know what I mean," I say, gesturing to Cashmere.

"Right, I'll talk to you at the meeting," Bubble nods.

"Yeah, see ya then Bubbly," I say before pushing my way through the crowd.

I eventually make my way over to Cashmere, who's being attacked… erm, I mean, a Capitolite is flirting with her. No, scratch that. It's the same thing, now isn't it?

"Hey, leave her alone," I snap. The man shrinks back in fear when he sees me.

"Johanna Mason?" he trembles. "What are you doing over here?"

"Oh, you know, just keeping an eye on some of the younger victors. It's in the job description of a mentor," I shrug. "By the way, I'm giving you 10 seconds to leave this poor kid alone."

"And if I don't?" he asks just a little too boldly.

"I have a knife in my pocket and I'm not afraid to use it," I smirk. "In fact, both of us do. Right Cash?"

"Mine's a dagger," Cashmere corrects.

"Right, and you've got two of them, don't you?" I ask.

"I can use both of them at the same time, too," Cashmere says.

Cue the man scampering away like a frightened puppy.

"Ha, serves him right," I scoff. "You okay hummingbird?"

"Yeah, I guess. I could've handled myself you know," she says defensively.

"Oh I don't doubt it," I lie. The truth is, Cashmere's probably one of the weakest victors out there. She's in the group of accidental victors. At least she has Ivy, Annie, and more recently Peeta to keep her company. Speaking of which, there he is now.

"Should we pay bread boy a visit?" I ask nonchalantly.

"I thought we were supposed to stay away from them?" Cashmere frowns.

"No, we're supposed to stay away from Katniss. I don't think they meant Peeta," I smirk.

"Ohhh. Okay," Cashmere says, copying my smirk.

"Come on, let's go," I say, tugging on the younger girl's arm.

"Go where?" Blight asks.

"Oh, um… just to talk to someone," I half-lie.

"Okay," Blight says, obviously not buying it.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Meeting in the Gamemaker room at midnight," I whisper, quickly and effectively changing the subject.

"Good to know. I'll go tell Pine," Blight says before leaving.

"Phew, I thought we'd never get rid of him," Cash blurts out.

"Shhh, he could still hear us," I hiss. "Now come on, let's go talk to Peeta."

We're about to walk over to him when Cashmere's phone rings. "I'll be with you in a minute," Cashmere apologizes. "I just really need to take this."

"Okay, hurry up though," I say. I leave before she can respond, and find myself standing next to the cakes. And Peeta Mellark.

"So, how's victor life?" I say casually, trying to keep the scorn from my voice.

Peeta spins around in an instant and gasps in surprise. "Sorry, I didn't know you were there," he says quickly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Johanna Mason," I say, sticking out my hand.

"Peeta Mel-"

"Oh I know who you are," I scoff. "Let's cut to the chase, lover boy. I'm here to warn you."

"Warn me?" Peeta asks.

"Look, President Snow is inevitably going to ask you to do something unpleasantly disgusting. Because let's face it, he always does. I'm guessing for you it was your engagement to Katniss?"

"Well…" Peeta says nervously.

"Oh, sorry. Silly me, you're the one who wanted that. Anyways, you'll have two choices. Bear through the pain, or risk the death of your loved ones. Your choice," I shrug.

"How do you know this?" Peeta asks.

"Let's just say it happens to everyone. I think I like my choices, although at times I regret them. However, this is your choice. And please, for your sake as well as the rest of Panem's, make the right choice."

And with that I'm gone. I disappear into the crowd and try to relocate Cashmere. I finally do find her standing in the garden next to Gloss, paying close attention to President Snow's little speech. Katniss is there as well, standing next to Plutarch. I try to avoid her and squeeze into a spot between the twins.

President Snow takes a drink from his glass, and much to my horror, I can clearly see his drink turn to blood. I wrinkle my nose in disgust. Cashmere and Gloss seem to be holding in a laugh.

"How can you possibly find that funny?" I hiss under my breath.

"No, it's just… that's what me and Gloss were doing when you talked to Peeta," Cashmere snickers.

"Do I even want to know?" I ask.

"We slipped a laxative and sleeping powder into that thing," Gloss laughs.

I sigh. "It figures."

…

District One's *sighs* what are we going to do with them?

(Also, yes that prank was played in one of my sister's stories, but it's kind of a running joke between us. One of us may use it again. Who knows?)

Quote of the day!

"And my tiara will fall off in three, two, one, flop!" –me while watching home videos

Pretty much what happened was that in the video I had on one of those little princess crowns and it kept falling over my eyes. I have very distinct memories of that incident and I'm not sure why. Like, if someone asked me to tell them my clearest memory from when I was 8, this would probably be it.

Anyways, may the odds be ever in your favor,

Spectrobes Princess