"Oi. freindly, any chance of a smile? Your scowl is making me feel sad." Snarling, I turn my head to my left, and tense to stand up. But then I sit down again. Standing over me is the 6 ft frame of Chaff Argon. Or 'the one-handed joker', as they refer to him on the television. Its obvious where the one handed bit comes from (He lost his left hand in his Games) and the joker is probably from the endless pranks he pulls on people. In the year before lasts games he put a spider on the Mayors chair at his District's reaping.
"Sorry, but no. I only smile at one person a day and I used it up on an Avox this morning".
"Well there's always tomorrow. Unless that's reserved for someone?" The sofa I am sat on sags as he sits down. Although I harden my scowl, I'm secretly pleased he has come over. The happiness I felt when I arrived got wiped away after lots of painful memories returned after I watched a television show about my games yesterday evening. Plus it had been a rough night - not that this was out of the ordinary. I now just felt lonely, and since Salli was talking to her friends the other side of the room, I had retreated to this sofa in the corner. I had always liked Chaff, ever since he had won the games 6 years ago. The way he just seemed so above the Capitol and its fancy ways made me laugh. But Obviously no one was above the capitol.
"So, enjoying your first year as mentor?"
"No particularly. Its… painful."
"It gets a hell of a lot worse when the Games actually start, trust me. What district are you again?"
"12" I reply.
"I'm 11, so we will be next door to each other in the games."
"Huh?"
"In the games, all the Mentors sit in a big room to watch the Games. The phones to the Game makers are in there and stuff. When it gets down to it, some of the Mentors sleep in there. The 11&12 its are next to each other"
"I see."
"You can really see it if you want. I'll show you." Chaff stood up and beckoned me to do the same, a big grin forming on his face.
"Come on!" he laughed, as I reluctantly got up. "It's a pretty nice room, really."
The room was as I imagined, and Chaff decscribed. It was small, but cosy. There where 12 groups of chairs spread around the room, each with a table and two phones.
"It doesn't stay like this. Everyone pulls the chairs around so they can sit with the same mentors as there tributes allies. If they don't ally or die quickly then we tend to sit with our friends." All of the chairs where facing a big screen, where I guess they showed the Games.
"It splits up, covering each of the tributes in one bit. If there's a big fight sometimes they make it fill the whole thing, but not always." Chaff showed me rest of the building we where in, though there wasn't much to see. A few kitchens, and that was really it. When we returned to the mentors lounge Chaff wandered off to find some food. I sat down and suddenly felt a wave of happiness wash over me. Being with Chaff, was like being home. Then I remembered were I was and felt and the wave retreated, leaving me cold and as miserable as before.
