6/6/14
Hi again! So, this chapter is a bit drabble-y, but to make up for it the next chapter I have planned is really long. Thank you Funnierthanu for following and favoriting, VampDella for following, and hfarrands18 for reviewing.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention.
…..
I nervously fidget in my seat, watching as Lumi exits her private session. She lets out a sigh of relief and messes with her strawberry-blonde hair. Whatever she did must have worn her out.
"Lewis Sinclair," A voice booms. Lewis nervously jumps out of his seat, causing Alexis to roll her eyes. Seeing this, Lumi whispers something into Lewis's ear. Lewis nods his head before scampering into the room.
"Aww, did da big bad Gamemakers scawe you? Is da widdle baby Wumi okay?" Bastion coos mockingly. He must have snuck back into the room after his session.
Lumi keeps walking, avoiding his gaze.
"Oh, look at that. They did scare you. Some Career you are. Just like Luxury. You should be glad I volunteered. He wouldn't have lasted a day," Bastion says with fake sadness.
Lumi's pale eyes are suddenly filled with aggression. She tackles Bastion, slamming him against the wall. Bastion almost seems bored.
"You leave my brother out of this," she growls, digging her fingernails into his skin. At this point, all of us are watching them with sudden interest.
"Why should I?" Bastion yawns. He somewhat reminds me of the bullies at school. Even though I've been raised to think of the Careers as humans, it's nearly impossible with Bastion.
"I- I'll," Lumi stutters, "Just…"
"Aww, you're stuttering. How cute."
"Just shut up!" She screams, throwing him against the wall. Bastion stands up, unhurt and smirking.
"You think you can hurt me, little girl? Two days. That's how long you have left before I kill your pathetic-" word my mother would never approve of. Some of the more naïve Tributes gasp, much to my amusement.
"How are you so sure you'll be the one doing the killing," Lumi growls just as Lewis walks out of the room.
"Um… you guys are kind of blocking the exit…" Lewis says nervously.
Lumi's facial expression instantly changes as she steps to the side. "Oh, sorry. Go ahead."
"Alexis Norris," the intercom booms. Alexis gets up and enters the room.
"I think I'll leave too," Lumi says sassily. She then storms out of the waiting room. Bastion crosses his arms and pushes Zale out of his seat so he can sit with Penelope.
A few minutes after the girl from 3 enters her session, a very ticked off Paris Radiance enters the room and demands that Bastion "get his lazy butt back to the first floor this instant." Only she didn't use the nicest wording for it. Strange, because Blight insists that she's one of the nicest people he's ever met.
After a while, my name finally gets called. I shakily get up and walk into the room. I notice the Gamemakers staring at me. It's very awkward. I don't even have to pretend to be nervous right now.
"Johanna Mason, District 7," I say in a whisper. The obviously drunk Gamemakers nod at me, and I resist the urge to tell them all about the consequences of drug abuse. I am truly my mother's daughter.
I go to knot tying, which I have had absolutely no practice with, and fumble with the knots for a few minutes before the Gamemakers get bored and dismiss me.
There are two exits that you can go through: the one that you enter from, and one that leads to a glass elevator. Of course, I go to the elevator since it seems like the more cowardly action. The boy from 8's name is called just as I leave.
….
"So how did your session go?" Blight asks.
"Okay I guess," I shrug. "I'm just ready to be done pretending. I'm sick of it."
"Good things come to those who wait," Blight says, taking a bite of his "mystery meat."
"Uh huh. How can you even eat that? I don't even think it's edible."
"I don't think they'd serve it to the Tributes if it wasn't," Blight says.
I groan before going back to my cake. I've decided that since nothing looks healthy in the Capitol, I might as well stick to the junk food.
"Okay, score time!" Blight announces, turning on the TV. Unfortunately, we turn it on a bit late.
"Lumi Harper, with a score of 11."
Great, we missed Bastion.
"Lewis Sinclair, with a score of 6."
Not bad tiny, not bad at all.
"Alexis Norris, with a score of 8."
Meh, could be better, could be worse.
3, 5, and 6 get low scores, while Zale and Penelope score 10's. Grover scores a 7.
"Now for the moment of truth," Blight says.
"Johanna Mason, with a score of 2."
"I… I got a 2?" I ask in shock.
"Johanna…" Blight says calmly.
"I got a 2! I can't believe it! I actually got a 2!" I cheer, jumping up and down on my bed.
"This calls for ice cream," Blight says, grinning ear to ear.
….
"I think Ivy has a death wish," I say, tossing a pebble off the roof.
"Oh really? Why's that?" Finnick asks.
"Well, last night Grover's false teeth broke- they were too fragile or something like that. Anyways, she's making him get oral surgery done today," I say, rolling my eyes at "oral surgery".
"Why does he need false teeth?" Finnick asks, "Is he really a 90 year old posing as a teenager?"
"No, why would you think that?" I laugh, "He just got his teeth knocked out in the opening ceremony, that's all."
"Oh," Finnick says. I'm surprised he doesn't push the issue further. "Don't you have coaching?"
"Not right now. Ivy and Blight are waiting for Grover to get out of surgery, Edward could care less," I shrug. Usually if there's an absent mentor the escort will fill in, but Edward thinks I don't stand a chance, so he's been rather passive with me like Grover has. Besides, I don't particularly trust him to be alone with me.
The pebble rebounds into the air and hits me on the forehead. I flinch, grabbing the pebble and tossing it to the side.
"Forcefeild," Finnick explains. "In case a Tribute tries to jump. Or a mentor."
I nod my head, but he's not looking at me so I add, "Makes sense."
"Yeah. Haymitch Abernathy used one to win his Games. The girl from 1 threw an axe at him, but it hit the forcefeild and stabbed her in the heart. We had to study the Quells in training," Finnick explains.
"Oh. That's a nice visual," I say.
"There was blood everywhere. You know my friend Attina? She always laughs when we watch the recaps of it," Finnick says. I notice something in his eyes when he says this, and I can tell he's thinking of home. I haven't missed District 7 that much while I'm here, but Finnick seems to feel differently.
"That sounds like something my friend Maple would do. She started cheering last year when Melina cut off that girl from 9's head. That was your partner's name, right?" I ask.
"No, actually her name was Marina. Caspian is her little brother, so now I have to deal with the guilt of killing her," Finnick says sadly. He shakes his head a little bit, as if he's wondering why he just told me that.
"I'm sorry to hear that," I say, and for the first time I think about what I'll do if I kill someone. I shudder at the thought, even though I'm stronger than that, and I wrap my arms around my legs instinctively.
"The guilt of the arena never really goes away. It kind of stays with you forever," Finnick says.
"I don't want to kill anyone," I say a bit sadly.
"You'll have to if you want to survive," Finnick says.
I lay my head on my knees and let out a sigh. Maybe Finnick is wrong. Maybe I won't have to kill anyone. Still, I know that there's no other way I can win. So for now I simply enjoy the summer breeze and try to forget how messed up my life is right now.
…..
I'll try to update again before Sunday, but no promises. My iPod broke, so that's slightly slowing down my writing since I use it for a bunch of notes and things, but the new screen should be here by Monday so no worries.
Next chapter: Interviews
Quote of the day!
"Oh, I'm gonna get a LOT of mileage out of this one!" –Teen Titans, Raven Roth
Okay, I did not realize I had two Raven quotes in a row (I've been reusing quotes from my old stories), so… yeah. This is awkward.
May the odds be ever in your favor,
Jeena the Spectrobes Princess
