Ryder turned out to be surprisingly good with knives. He could even throw them. And I was good at...nothing. Not disguises. Not knives. Not archery. Not knots, despite all Finnick taught me. Although I did know quite a lot about water and the ocean. I always payed attention when he talked about that. I found it fascinating. Especially when I took a trip to district four and he taught me to swim. I just hoped there would be a big source of water in the arena.
"You've gotta be good at something." Ryder said, exasperated.
"I'm not, though." I replied. He looked at me, sizing me up.
"You're pretty small and skinny. I bet you'd be pretty agile and fast."
"Not that small." I said, offended. "Besides, fat lot of good being agile will do me." He shrugged.
"Well, you could probably climb a tree. And I said fast, too. That will make a difference."
"Maybe." I replied, doubtful. He rolled his eyes for the millionth time.
"Would you just try to climb something." I roll my eyes right back at him.
"Okay, fine if it make you feel better," I went over to one of the artificial trees that looked surprisingly real. Before I knew it I was at the top looking out above everyone.
"See, I told you!" Ryder yelled up to me. Ignoring him I closed my eyes. It felt good up there, despite the fact that it wasn't a real tree or anything. I climbed down and when I turned around Ryder was right up in my face, smirking.
"I knew it, I knew you were good at something!"
"Hey!" I said defensively. "I can swim!"
"Well unless you can guarantee that there will be a big water source, that's no use,"
"Well unless you can guarantee there will be trees in the arena, that's no use." I snapped back.
"So, what you're saying is unless we can guarantee what will be in the arena, you're useless," Okay I admit, that stung a bit, but I was not going to lose the argument.
"Fine, if I'm so useless than don't be my partner. You don't have to stay with me in the games!"
"I'm not leaving you, don't worry. I'm just proving a point," He said sincerely. But I wasn't having it. I turned my back to him, arms crossed.
"You'd be better off on your own, anyways." I replied, trying to keep the emotion out of my voice.
"Rosie, enough. I'm not leaving you." He put his hand on my shoulder, and spun me to face him. "I'm never going to leave you, I swear."
I rolled my eyes, and in doing so noticed the clock. It was later than I thought. We had been there all night training.
"We should go back to our rooms." Ryder said. I nodded.
"Alright." When we got to the dining room, Katniss was talking to Peeta. Haymitch was sitting in the corner, drink in hand. And Effie Trinket of all people was sitting there talking to Haymitch. Katniss still hadn't noticed us yet and was still softly murmuring to Peeta. Despite how quiet she was I heard something escape her lips
"She knew Finnick," She sounded upset, like me knowing Finnick was the worst possible thing to her. Luckily Ryder hadn't heard. We walked up the stairs.
"Ryder...will you stay in my room with me for a while?" I asked. He smiled.
"Sure thing, Rosie." We walked into my room, and immediately Ryder jumped onto my bed.
"I was too tired to do this yesterday." He said, laughing. "Come on, it's fun!" I rolled my eyes.
"You are such a child."
"Just do it!" I rolled my eyes, but took a running start and jumped onto the bed. As luck would have it, I landed right next to Ryder. I let out a breathless laugh, painfully aware of the fact that our faces were mere inches apart.
"That was fun." I admitted. He grinned.
"Told you so." I grabbed the pillow behind me and whacked him with it.
"Ha!" I laughed. "You should have seen your face!"
"Oh, this means war!" I frowned.
"War?" The rebellion just ended and any reminder of that was too painful. He saw my expression and quickly dropped his pillow to put his arms around me.
"I'm sorry, Rosie. Wasn't really thinking, I guess." And that's when I got the idea. I grabbed the pillow from behind him and whacked him with it again.
"Hah!" He rolled his eyes, and hit me with the other pillow.
"You are on." A pillow fight ensued. I was totally winning, too. But there was a knock on the door.
"Ryder? Rosalyn?" Effie Trinket's accent was unmistakable. "It's time for the chariot ride," she said not in her usually perky voice.
"We'll be right out!" I yelled. Ryder looked at me.
"Are you ready?" I nodded. "You do know that I have to leave you, right?" I nodded again. I couldn't speak. Ryder and I walked over to the door and he opened it for me.
"Hello, Rosie! I will be your stylist, this year!" Effie said. At least after all that suffering she still gets to do something she loves. Making people look like fools.
"And I will be yours, Ryder," Flavius said. He nodded and Effie and Flavius escorted us away.
A few hours later I was dressed and Effie was doing my make up. Since none of the tributes were from any districts the stylists decided that the tributes would be dressed according to their ancestry. Ryder was dressed like Caesar Flickerman and I was dressed like my grandfather, Snow. I was wearing a white dress that went to my feet and a white roses headband went across my head. Effie gave me the choice of wig but I just told her to pick for me. She ended up braiding my hair, a single braid over my shoulder.
"I couldn't resist!" She said with a laugh.
"I'm not the mockingjay," I replied. She came around to the front of me.
"But you have just as much fire." She said, smiling. She handed me a white rose with blotches of red on the tips of the petals-to represent the blood of my grandfather I presumed. Or maybe they just liked how it looked."Remember to smile." She whispered and then walked out. I met Ryder right outside the room. He saw me, and his jaw dropped open. He looked incredible. His wild hair was combed and swept back to reveal his stunning blue eyes. He was in a green tux, but he really did pull it off. His hair was dyed bright green, this years color, just as his father had every year. It was a nice change from the normal bright blue of his hair. He dyed it that way years ago, and I'd just gotten used to seeing him that way.
"Think I'm going to dye my hair black tonight." He said. "I used to like having my hair this bright, but...now it just reminds me of dad." I hugged him for a brief moment, but then we needed to get on the chariots. We were the last chariot and just before they took off I shoved a sugar cube in my mouth. Finnick always said they were good luck. I grabbed Ryder's hand, and squeezed it tightly. After a moment, he squeezed back. And then we got onto the chariot. . I didn't let go of his hand. We stood there as the crowd screamed. They wanted revenge. Wanted us to die. And then I started seeing the signs.
"Kill his granddaughter first!"
"The spawn of snow deserves to die!" Ryder squeezed my hand.
"Don't pay any attention. Don't look, don't listen. It's alright." I squeezed his hand as confirmation. Is this really how all those tributes felt? Everyone up there screaming for their blood, for their death. No, people rooted for them. At least they weren't hated, but still. I never imagined it like that. Never thought about what the games really meant.
Oh my god. I'm going to die. I am going to die. I'm going to die in that arena just like they always wanted. Like they always intended. I bet they're planning how to kill me right now.
I'm not going to let that happen.
The rest of the night was a blur. We got off the chariot. Effie and Flavius congratulated us. But I stayed silent. Before that night I was oblivious to the fact that one of us was going to die, and thanks to my grandfather it would most likely be me. Who was gonna sponsor the granddaughter of the person who killed thousands upon thousands?
Nobody.