I don't own the hunger games trilogy
Tom was the first one to notice him. He nudged me. Do that girl thingy and look over there. I raised an eyebrow. WHAT girl thing? He sighed. That thing where you look without turning your head! I rolled my eyes. You mean look but don't look! Okay. I peeked through the corner of my eye, and turned white.
The Game maker was crouching behind a bush, with what looked like an oversized heat gun in his hands. I looked back at Tom. It's because of what I said, isn't it? He nodded. I grabbed his hand. He rolled his eyes. I squeezed. We have to act like we can't see him! And we have to make sure he's happy so he forgets what we said! Tom knew what that meant. It meant drama, gossip, and scandal. I took a deep breath. "Hey it's really dark!" He took a deep breath. Fine! Whatever, I'll play along, but you're paying for it... "Yeah... Isn't it nice?" I swallowed hard. "I-I'm scared." I squeezed myself closer to him, putting a hand on his biceps. He caught on. "Don't be scared!" He let go of my hand, and put an arm around my shoulders. "I'll protect you from the big bad monsters lurking in the dark!" I giggled, a little too high-pitched. "Okay! I feel safe now." He squeezed. "Forever and ever, baby." You owe me... Big time. I giggled again, like a pathetic love-struck schoolgirl. It was all I could do not to vomit. "You promise?" He nodded, "yeah," then paused for a second, and buried his face in my hair, whispering in my ear, loud enough for the Game maker to hear, but quiet enough to look legitimate. "I love you, babe." Then he kissed the top of my head. I giggled. "I love you too, Tomtom!" We started to walk again, keeping a leisurely pace, just like a love-struck couple would. The whole time, he held me close. It felt pretty weird.
When the sun started to rise, we sat by the tree trunk, and watched it, my head on his shoulder. When I peeked at the bush, the Game maker was there, watching. He wasn't sure whether he bought our little act or not. I swallowed hard. He doesn't quite believe it... Tom tensed up slightly. Are you F#$% kidding? He took a deep breath. "You know, this sunrise is almost as beautiful as you are!" I smiled. "You're just saying that!" He looked down at me. "No, I'm not." I looked at him. His face had a loving expression, as did mine, but our eyes showed a different story; We weren't in love, we were in survival mode. He smiled. "You're so beautiful," he muttered. I blushed, thanking the gods that I can blush on demand, and smiled, looking down at our interlaced fingers. I frowned slightly at my filthy and broken fingernails, and dirt-caked hands.
Normally, back at home in district 4, I had long, beautiful nails, that I decorated with the craziest designs, and my hands were so soft and pretty, and my fingers would be adorned with sparkly rings. That day, though, my fingernails were cracked and bleeding messes, that will probably never be the same, and my hands were dirty, and bleeding. Tom looked down at my hands. What's wrong?" I took a very deep breath. "I-I know this feels super shallow, but... My nails... They're ruined!" He squeezed my hand. "I think they're beautiful." I sniffed. "No! They're cracked, and ugly." He smiled. "I think they look better now." I looked at him, confused. He continued. "Now, they show how strong and courageous you are, and finally, everything that you've hidden underneath is showing." I sighed, "but I don't want all of that to show! It's hidden because it's hideous!" He laughed to himself. "Well, I think it's beautiful, and amazing, like you." I smiled, and looked into his eyes. He was such a good actor, I had to remind myself we were just putting on a show for the game maker. "You really think so?" He looked deep into my eyes. "I do." He leaned in a bit closer.
My heart started beating a bit harder. What was he going to do? He paused a second, inches away from my face. Caro, quick question... Do you trust me? I swallowed. Yes. He smiled slightly. Good. I was confused for a split second, when he closed the distance between us, and he was kissing me. I felt a huge wave of mixed emotions. In my head, I was thinking that this was wrong, and weird, and just no, but something told me it was okay. I had never really kissed anyone before, so this whole thing was new to me. I hesitantly put my arms around his neck, and he held me. I closed my eyes.
After a little while, though, he pulled away. We just looked at each other for a bit, then he kissed me again, muttering something about morning. I blinked, and realized that we were lying down, arms and legs slightly tangled up. I unraveled myself from Tom, and stood up. I felt all funny; My lips were still tingling, I was blushing deeply, and I had butterflies in my stomach. I peeked over at the bush, and saw the Game maker. He had lowered his heat gun, and was watching us. He finally believed our act.
Tom and I got up, and walked, hand in hand, to the tent to wake the others. As soon as we got in the tent, we let go of each other's hands, and acted like nothing happened. Rel stretched and got up as we got in. "So, what did I miss?" I blushed, silently cursing my cheeks for being so betraying. Tom stepped forward, shaking Rick awake. "Hey. It's morning. Time to get up." Then he turned back to Rel. "Not much, but there's a Game maker outside, with what looks like a heat gun, so we gotta be careful." I nodded. "He's hiding in the blueberry bush." I woke up Abby. "Hey. Wake up, it's morning!" she groaned, and rolled over, mumbling. "Mom... Is saturday. I don't school day. Lemme mo' shleep..." With that, she passed out again. I paused, then shook her. "Abby! It's morning. Get up!" She sat up, eyes glassy. "Whu's goin' on?" Then she shook her head. "Oh... This is real?" We all nodded. She pointed to Rick, who was stretching, wearing no shirt, and Rel, who was in the middle of changing his shirt, so he was also bare-chested. "And... And they're real too?" I laughed. "Yes, they're real too." She blushed. "Oh. I thought it was all a dream... And I would wake up, on reaping day morning, and someone else'll be picked, and my life would be normal..." She sniffed.
We walked out of the tent, and I climbed the tree to meet Chris, who was sitting on the net, staring at something. I plopped down beside him. "Hey! What's up?" He shook his head. "Why didn't you tell me?" I cocked my head to a side. "Tell you what?" He sighed. "About Tom! If you would have told me you were together, I wouldn't have done the stuff I did... Man I'm sorry if I made stuff awkward, I didn't know!" He turned around to face me. "Can we just be friends?" I smiled. "Yeah! And there's something you have to know..." I whispered the whole story between Tom and I and the Game maker in his ear.
After I was done, he looked at me, trying to decide on what to say. Finally, he just said, "okay... But can we still just be friends?" I nodded. "For sure!" He grinned. "Great! So what are we going to do now?" I shrugged. "For a start, we'll go down to talk to the others..." He nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
The next 5 days were quite uneventful, and daily life was almost routine: The game maker remained in the bushes, watching on, as Tom and I pretended to be lovers, and I pretended to be cheating on Tom with Rel, all to keep the game makers happy. Tom and Rick would go fishing at least once a day, and Abby and I would go searching for edible plants, while Rel would hunt for small animals. Chris would guard camp from above, and the rest of us would take turns sleeping and guarding. We would take turns going to the oasis for water and berries, and to bathe, and, of course, Fil kept food and supplies abundant. on the occasional night, though, we watched a light show in the sky, featuring people that weren't as lucky as us. We calculated, and there were exactly 27 children left in the arena.
This was the point where people would go against their alliance. That meant that time was running out. If I was going to do anything, it was at this point, 10 days in, where it had to be done. In the midst of collecting water, I raised my face to the sky, and began to sing a song I once heard my mom singing when she thought she was alone.
Are you, are you,
Coming to the tree?
Where they strung up a man they say murdered three.
Strange things did happen here.
No stranger would it be,
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where the dead man called out for his love to flee.
Strange things did happen here.
No stranger would it be,
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where I told you to run so we'd both be free.
Strange things did happen here.
No stranger would it be,
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.
Strange things did happen here.
No stranger would it be,
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.
I had hummed it when I was a child, but I was told it was a forbidden song, and to find something better to hum. This time, however, I sang it loud and clear, for everyone to hear. When I had finished, the mockingjays were already singing the melody, sweet and solemn, and the jabberjays were singing the whole song, every word more compelling than the last. Soon, other tributes joined in, and the whole arena was filled with the hypnotic melody of the forbidden song, playing over, and over again. I laughed, and headed back to camp, partially burdened by the water I was carrying. The rebellion has begun.
As soon as I got back, Tom, Rick, Rel, Abby, and Chris were all waiting for me, fully armed. Tom tossed me my bow, a full quiver of my arrows, some knives and daggers, and some rope contraption (apparently it turns a bow and arrow into a grappling hook and launcher...). Without a word, we walked into the tent, the forbidden song still ringing throughout the arena.
I quickly devised a plan: Rick, Rel, Tom, and Chris would stand in different positions on the beach encircling the arena. Abby and I would then swim out to the starting platforms. The boys would make sure no game makers passed the beach. Then I would shoot the one defect in the top of the arena with my arrow, and it'll close right away, so Abby'll start climbing the rope, and the boys and I will round up any other tributes, and bring them too. Abby would keep watch from above, while the rest of us find a way out. It was foolproof.
Suddenly, something moved in the bushes. It was a game maker. He raised his heat gun.