Okay so this chapter is quite long but please keep reading because its going to get good! And please comment and get your friends reading the story because not many people have read it :(
His face says it all. This was not meant to happen. As he reads out district 11, congratulates them and hands them the deeds to a victors house to share, as he witnesses them rejoicing, as he watched them leave with the peackeepers to board a train back home, I can see on his face that it was meant to be me and Duncan.
We are all dissmissed in a cermonial fashion. So Snow can figure out how it happened.
"What did you do?" I ask Harry. It is midnight and he is sitting at the table alone drinking. I had another nightmare and Hali was sleeping in front of my door, so I snuck out for a walk. Upon going downstairs I saw Harry sitting down at the table drinking so I seized the opotunity to confirm my suspicions. Harry and Exema had something to do with my name not being in the ball. We haven't seen Exema since the accident he had with the ball.
Harry looks up at me. "I dunno what you're talking about." He is lying. But why? And I realise, as he looks around the apartment, that it is unsafe to talk here. He gives me a look to see if I've understood why he cannot say anything, I nod and leave to go back to my room.
I stand over Hali's snoring body. She clearly isn't as light a sleeper as she thought. I don't want to go back to my room. But I have no where else to go. The only other place that comes to mind is Duncan's room. But he could be asleep.
I quietly open the door to his room.
"Duncan?" I whisper, checking if he is awake. There are a few seconds of silence until he finally whispers back;
"Yeah?"
"Can I stay in here for a while?" I keep whispering in case Hali wakes up. When we were on the train we were quite loud.
"Of course." He says as if I neednt have asked. He props himself up and pats the space next to him.
"I don't bite you know," he mimicks. I laugh quietly and get under the covers beside him.
"I was watching the rerun of the opening ceremony." He begins. "Apparently they had quite a field day when you fell and I caught you."
"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.
"Here, I think its probably still on." He puts the television onto a quiet volume and turns to the reruns. They show the opening ceremony. I see what he means. When I fall and he catches me, the put that into slow motion and start speculating things. Whether he likes me or not. The speculation is not because he caught me, but its because of the few seconds we spent hovering there, it keeps showing the look we gave each other.
I look down at the bed covers and he knows I don't want to see it anymore so he shuts off the television.
"The press make a big deal out of nothing." I mumble.
"Don't let them get to you." He says, after noting my sour expression. "Don't let them influence you in any way. Its up to you what you want to do." I don't get what he means by this.
I'm still not sleepy and neither is Duncan, either that or he is a good liar.
"Do you want to play a game?" He says. Its an odd request, but I'd do anything to go to sleep.
"What game?" I ask.
"Hangman's Gallows."
I smile, because this is a game his mother taught me. From his side drawer he brings out a pencil and paper. Capitol paper is much smoother than the paper we have at home. Playing the game is a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless. Tomorrow will be our first training session and then our interviews. Every year the schedule of events in the games changes. But its still the same old bloodbath.
In the morning I am awoken by the sound of a laugh. I don't open my eyes immediately. Instead I focus on waking up completely. I know I slept in Duncan's room. But as I move my arm through the bed covers I can't feel Duncan anywhere.
"Hey Exma, check this out." I hear Harry call. I'm going to get up and protest but my eyes are so heavy with sleep. I hear Exma's heavy footsteps as he enters the room. He laughs too.
"Remind you of anyone?" Harry laughs. "Well not as gentlmanly." Exma chuckles. I want to open my eyes to see what their laughing at. So I slowly pry my eyes open. "I'll go distract Hali." He says.
"Wakey, wakey kids." Harry chimes. I open my eyes and sit up on the bed. He is leaning against the door frame sipping a mug of something hot, looking down at the floor beside the bed. I lean over groggily to see. Duncan is sleeping on the floor with a cushion and a blanket. He must have slept there last night. He is a gentleman. He always has been. But I can't imagine sleeping on the floor was comfortable.
"Good you're up." Harry says unenthusiatically. "Get up, its your first training session." With that he leaves. I heave myself off the bed to Duncan. I shake him gently.
"Hm?" He murmurs.
"Dunc? Get up its morning." I say. He opens his eyes. A large smile spreads across his face. "So you really are here."
"Where else would I be?"
"I thought I was dreaming." He says. Then a whack a cushion against his chest playfully. "Well you're not. And we have to get to training."
"Keep your heads down. Go to the boring work stations. And whatever you do, stay together."
When the elevator doors open Harry pushed us out. Not even gently, very gruffly, as if he has more important business to attend to.
The first thing I notice are the cameras. They are positioned on the edge of the game makers seating area, probably so they can re-watch the footage incase, in a very likely scenerio, they don't pay attention.
All the tributes are lined up looking at the gamemakers platform. Their expressions hold looks of confusion. As we walk to join them I follow their eyes to see what they are staring so intently at.
President Snow.
He's sitting down at a table, talking and laughing with the other gamemakers. He does not even lift his gaze when when he catches sight of me, instead he continues talking calmly. I never know what he's thinking. I wish I did. Maybe I would hate him a lot less than I do now. I hate him mainly because of his participation in the games.
We stand to attention as the coach walks to us. She explains how the training sessions work. But I'm no longer listening to him babble. My eyes wander to the equiptment laid out. There are three sides. Survival, defense and Weaponry. I guess Duncan and I will have to stay in the Survival side.
"Let me help." Duncan says.
"I can do it..." I try to undo my knot. Somehow, I get my hands stuck in it. With a sigh of defeat I put my hands out for Duncan to undo the knot. He fiddles around with it, trying to undo it. When his fingers faulter, he laughs.
"I can do it, you've done it too tight."
I try wriggling my fingers around. You would think that I would be a little distressed, but I just find the situation amusing.
"Allow me."
I turn around to see a boy with blonde hair and grey eyes. Xavier.
Before I can protest he puts his fingers to work and sets me free of the knot.
"Thank you." I say, then I turn away. I'm am starting to dislike him very much. The way he just turns up out of nowhere.
"Survival," he notes, he's clearly not going to leave, "playing it safe are we?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Duncan attempts to loom over him menacingly but I stand in his way. "Dunc leave it."
Duncan doesn't do anything. He listens to me. I am grateful for his respectful nature. If he did beat Xavier up it would be against the rules and who knows what they would do to him.
"Go." I warn Xavier. He does, not before casting me a sideways glance.
"See you later."
A shiver runs down my spine. "I hate that guy." I need to distract myself. When I talk to him, I feel...dirty. My gaze drifts upwards when Duncan sqeezes my shoulder comfortingly.
"Thanks."
But I need to do something. "Hey Dunc, I'm gonna go look at the other stations." I say.
"Sure."
I wander away from the station. I could look at the rest of the survival stations, but I don't want to. I want to hit something. I don't know why. I just do. Archery. Perfect. I've never done it before in my life, so trying to learn it will be a challenge that will distract me. A blue headed girl is already there. She has a nose ring and blue lips. She must be from District 1. They have the most freedom. Her mouth is moving up and down. She's chewing something. I take a bow and stand in the lane next to her. She pays no attention to me.
"Hi." I say. In an attempt to make friends. I remember what my mother told me to do. Make friends and they will hesistate to kill me.
She looks at me then turns her attention back. "That's not going to work you know. Making friends."
Her abrupt nature shocks me at first. But then again why waste time when you could be dead soon.
"It was worth a shot." I shrug and take up my bow. I use all my effort to aim but I miss. "So what district are you from?" I ask the girl.
She looks me up and down. "Nine."
"I'm from ten."
I reload and aim again. I miss. This is getting aggravating. I can hear the girl from district nine sniggering.
"You're doing it wrong." Xavier is behind me. I don't turn around.
"Well the other thing I can do is to aim it at your head. Come closer at your own peril."
"Ouch," he muses. I scoff at him and turn around, my bow pointed at him.
He puts his hands up playfully, not taking this situation seriously. "Look I'm sorry," I return my attention to my previous surrounding. "Let me help you."
"No."
"No funny business, I promise." He walks up besides me and his promise looks genuine. I need to know how to do this, and he's the only person willing to show me. "Fine."
He walks behind me and put his hands on my waist, immediately I move from his grip. "No funny business!" I remind him.
"I took a promise didn't I?"
I pause, then nod and allow him to grip my waist. He positions me side ways.
"Now hold up the bow." I hold it as I was. He takes my elbow and brings it up so it is at my elbow. "Now draw back the bow." I do as he says and release. It misses, but by less than it did before. He fetches another arrow and places it in the slot, telling me not to move an inch. He moves closer to me. I can feel his breath on my neck, but I do not respond. I pull back and get ready to shoot again.
"Wait," he says and he puts his hands over mine. His head is down on my shoulder so he can see at my level.
"Here's your problem, you need to pull the bow back as far as your mouth and keep its straight." He keeps his hand on mine and navigates it to where it needs to be. "And keep your stomach muscles in." He puts his hand on my stomach I let out a little gasp. He just laughs. "No funny business."
His hands stay on my stomach as I pull back and. It hits the board. Not in the middle, but it hits the board, just a little outside of it.
"I hit it!" I sqeal.
I pivot to face him only to come face to face with his chest.
"Erm thanksss you..." I stutter and clear my throat. "Thank you." I say.
"You're welcome." He replies. "You have a hair just there," with his hand he brushes my hair out of my eyes to the other side of my face where it belongs.
"Thanks I say." Then I walk away before anything else can happen. Duncan is at the camoflauge section. He sees me coming and looks up smiling. "I tried to go for a tree, looks more like a giant poop." He indicates to his painted hand. Duncan. I know he has a crush on me. Its obvious, and I have a crush on him. Liking him is better than liking Xavier. And before I can do anything, my lips are on his. He is startled at first, but then I can feel him kissing me back. When I draw back, he is grinning madly, "what was that for."
"I just wanted to see something."
There is definately an attraction between us. "So what are we doing now?" I ask. He begins talking about the camoflauge and I listen half-heartedly. I'm being stupid. I am being trained to kill 23 people and here I am, contemplating my possible attraction to two people. I guess I'm thankful for the normality though. My eyes fly up to the game maker section when I feel a pair of eyes staring at me. Snow. His eyes meet mine and I know he saw Duncan and I kiss. He doesn't approve. And when he doesn't approve of something, he gets rid of it. I pick up a paintbrush and chat and laugh with Duncan for the next few hours, trying to figure out what to do about the silent message I have just received.
If I pursue anything with Duncan, he's dead.
When the elevator doors open, the first image greeting us is Harry pacing back and forth. Exma is standing against the wall rubbing his eyes with his fingers, he is clearly perplexed. When they first spot us with Hali, the minute the elevator doors open Harry pounces.
"What the hell happened to stay together!" He yells.
"What are you talking about?" I ask. We step out of the elevator. Exma ushers Hali into the apartment and shuts the door before she can object.
He comes back and shows us a newspaper with an enlarged picture of me and Xavier, he's brushing the hair out of my face. The image portrays a wrong image. It makes it seem like there's something between us. There isn't. There must not be.
"That's what I'm talking about." Harry's voice becomes a growl now. He steps towards me menacingly like he is going to hurt me.
"Now listen here I swear if you don't do as I say then-"
"Don't talk to her like that." Duncan steps in front of me.
"Step out of the way. This doesn't concern you."
"If it concerns Scarlett it concerns me."
Harry looks like he's about to explode but instead he turns around to Exma. "Explain it to the girl. I need a drink." He barges past him to the apartment door. But just before he goes in Exma murmurs something to him. I can just about hear it.
"Remember the promise you made to her and your son."
Harry hesistates and turns around back to us, much calmer now.
"I just need you to do as I say. Don't doubt me and just listen. Stay with Duncan." With that he goes back inside.
I want to stay with Duncan, but I know if I do, he could very well end up dead before the games. I know what Snow is capable of.
So when there is a knock on my bedroom door in the middle of the night, and I find my father standing there, it is no surprise. Everyone is sleeping and I am the only one awake.
"Let's take a walk shall we?"