I figured you all deserved a special treat…two chapters in one day! Once again, thanks for your understanding while I took my little hiatus, and I promise to update on a more frequent basis.

Chapter 21

"Coral," I said, the minute I had stepped over the threshold of the dressing room. The tributes had arrived while we were on stage. She was beautiful dressed in white with the hint of pink, reminding me of a pearl. And knowing Lena, that was probably the idea. Her hair was adorned with pearls and her jewelry was pearl, too. She looked…almost virginal. "In here, now," I said, ushering her towards the changing room.

"What? What's going on?" she asked.

"Finnick and I were just announce as 'Panem's Sweethearts.' They've never done that before, but I can guarantee the other mentors will have noticed it. It's a sign that the Gamemakers are pushing for a victor from Four this year," I told her.

"Wait a sec…you mean the victors are…pre-selected?" she asked in shock.

"No. They can't control everything that goes on in the arena, but we discussed this earlier. They can take out tributes pretty much at will to ensure that someone likable wins," I explained.

"So, you being one of 'Panem's Sweethearts' is a good thing…right?" she asked confused.

"Yes and no. It means that so far, the Gamemakers like you, and you're one of their favorites to win. But, it also means that you just became bigger competition," I told her.

"Ok, so what do you want me to do?" she asked. There was an urgent knock on the door.

"Arista! We need Coral in the green room," Chase yelled through the door. I scowled.

"Two minutes!" I yelled.

"Now!" he replied. I turned back to Coral.

"Just be another sweetheart. Make them love you, and all of Four," I said quickly. Chase barged in through the door.

"Coral, now," he said. I watched as he took her away, and then I joined Finnick in the sitting area of the dressing room to watch the interviews. Glimmer and Marvel charmed the audience in a manner traditional to District One. Cato and Clove came off as tough and battle-ready, sure to win them more sponsors. The two kids from District Three were more on the meek side, but not appearing terribly weak. The Coral was up. She played off Caesar Flickerman with a practices ease and likability. She charmed the audience with family togetherness stories that sounded more like my family than hers, with the doting parents and loving siblings. Only she and I seemed to know that it was all fiction. And she talked about her humble beginnings in District Four with a fondness that made even me homesick. She was the sort of girl who could make you want to be her best friend, even if she was unattainable. It was that same, sugary sweet demeanor she had used on me just after the reaping. Only this time, it was working to her advantage. But she got me at the end.

"So, Coral, you were a volunteer for the Games," Caesar began.

"That's right," she said with her perfect smile.

"Tell me, why would you volunteer and risk your life in the Games?" he asked. I narrowed my eyes. She could blow it right here by saying or even eluding to the fact that she had trained her entire life for just this purpose.

"Because, Caesar, my family and my district have given me everything I could have ever dreamed of. To win would bring honor to a place and a people close to my heart. And if l lose, I gave my life so that some other girl could be spared," she said. I might have shed a tear if I had know the entire thing was a load of crap. But, that's what interviews were for: to make them love you, and it was hard not to love the girl from District Four after that.

"How incredibly noble, Coral," Caesar took her hand and together they stood. " Ladies and gentlemen, from District Four, Coral Fisher!" A smirk slid across my face. I couldn't have been happier. Hunter was sweet, but all Hunter really had to do was be himself. Finnick lucked out this year with him. I watched the rest of the interviews, but nothing particularly alarmed me…until we got to District Twelve again. Twelve was really starting to irk me.

Katniss started out awkward and basically unremarkable, but the she talked about being terrified about being burned alive, and intentional or not, she was funny. Humor could win sponsors. Now, this girl not only had an eleven training score, but she was likable. I watched as she pulled a stunt where she twirled, showing off the same flames that adorned her costume the night of the Opening Ceremonies. My eyes narrowed. I didn't like her at all. She was far too dangerous.

If that wasn't bad enough, she was followed by Peeta whose natural charisma was infectious. Well, this wasn't a total loss. If we could get him into our alliance, his charm could be exploited, but that was still a big 'if' at this point. He talked about having a crush on some girl back in District Twelve.

"So here's what you do. You win, you go home. She can't turn you down then, eh?" Caesar says with a knowing nod.

"I don't think it's going to work out. Winning…won't help in my case," Peeta says as a strange sadness crosses his face.

"Why ever not?" Caesar asks. Yeah, Peeta, why not? Every girl is a sucker for a good-looking victor. Peeta's face goes red on the screen.

"Because…because…she came here with me," he says. The studio is deathly silent, and so is my dressing room. Oh, we are so screwed. The audience is going to eat up a torrid romance between the tributes of District Twelve. Fuck.

"Oh, that is a piece of bad luck," Caesar says with genuine sympathy. The interview continues as my head spins. Apparently, Katniss didn't know he liked her. At least Caesar won't let them bring her back on camera for a response. Still, this is bad. The cameras are almost entirely focused on the two from District Twelve. Then the interviews are over, and I know the tributes are being taken back to their rooms in the Training Center. In the chaos, I pull Cashmere, Belladonna, Scar, and Gem aside. I only need a few minutes.

"What the hell was that?" Belladonna exclaimed.

"I know. I saw it too. This entire country is going to fall in love with those two, and we'll never even have a chance," I said.

"Any thoughts?" Gem asked.

"Yeah, actually. We still don't know how she got an eleven, or what she's hiding. Now, the boy's not a threat. He's likeable enough, but we've got him beat in skill. She's still a mystery," I said.

"So we take her down at the Cornucopia. Problem solved," Scar said.

"Well, that's Plan A," I said. "But if that fails, then what were you planning to do, Scar?"

"Arista?" Cashmere said. "What's your Plan B?"

"We bring the boy into our alliance and use him to flush her out. Then, we kill him. Simple," I said.

"You want to ally with Twelve? That's absurd!" Belladonna exclaimed.

"Not ally with them exactly…just keep the boy alive long enough to kill the girl. Then, one of our tributes kills him, but respectfully," I said.

"You mean painlessly," Scar said. I nodded. "Fine, but then we're up to an alliance of eight, once you factor in the boys from Twelve and Three. That's bigger than I'm comfortable with."

"You want to bump someone?" Cashmere asked.

"You got it," Scar said. "Otherwise, Cato and I are out. So, who wants to leave the alliance?" I glanced over at the thinning crowd, and saw Finnick chatting with Haymitch. God, my best friend and my lover.

"Finnick," I said, turning back to my group.

"I beg your pardon?" Scar said.

"Finnick's out. Hunter's no good to us anyway," I said quickly before I could change my mind. Strategically, trading Hunter for Peeta was a good move, but I hated it.

"Just do me a favor…don't tell him," I said. "He'll find out soon enough." The four of them nodded. At least I had earned some respect from them. My stomach was in knots. I had just betrayed the one person I could count on back home to understand exactly what I was going through. My head knew it was the smart thing to do, but my heart didn't understand that.

Oh, God, what had I done?

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