28.

I walk into the apartment as carefully and cautious as I can. Brutus, Enebry, Carlyne, Lasandra and Viola are in the living room, talking and watching something, maybe a series or another movie. The dining room is empty, meaning eight people are in their rooms. If I managed to leave earlier being unnoticed with everyone in the room except Ryle, I can walk in without being seen as well, there are less people.

I close the door really slow so no one can hear, the show they are watching on the screen helps me too. I bend down and hide behind the vase I hid earlier, I really hope this doesn't get into a habit.

I decide the best way to go to the dining room and then into the hallway that leads to the bedrooms is crawling. I take a deep breath, get on all four and start to crawl. I turn to look to my left, and see Viola, Lasandra and Enebry talking among themselves, probably about fashion and clothes, they are also watching the screen every now and then. Brutus is really into that show, and doesn't even blink. Carlyne is next to him, he looks from the screen to the girls and back to the screen, I keep going. I'm almost out of their sight when Carlyne catches me again, his lips turn into a smile showing his white teeth, and he winks at me. He nods at me then, like in a way to tell me to keep going so I do.

Once I'm on the dining room, only the avoxes can see me and they give me strange looks, but they can't really talk and it's not like they care about me. I keep going, crawling to the hallway, this time a bit faster. I don't really care if I make noises now, I'm already inside. Half-way into the hallway, I stand up and start to walk normally.

I reach my room, and when I'm opening the door, Ryle walks out of his room, which is right in front of mine.

"More training?" He asks me, I hear him right behind me.

"None of your business." I say in a harsh tone, I only turn to glare at him for a second before looking at my room's direction again.

"I guess." I hear him whisper and sighing.

"Aren't you going to leave?" I ask, without looking at him.

"Fine, be this way!" He says getting angry.

He shakes his head in annoyance at me, and leaves quickly. I sigh when I can't hear his footsteps anymore. I walk into my room and close the door quickly.

This time I wash my body and hair, it's not like I will train again today, and I have already sweated a lot, I need a shower as soon as possible. Again I leave my wet and dirty clothes on the bathroom floor, this time I take longer on the shower, it's not like I have to do something later, I have the rest of the day to rest and do nothing.

When I'm done, I walk to my room with a towel wrapped around my body and another on my head. I don't really want to wear anything more than my usual shorts and shirt, but Enebry would scold me for sure. I find a beautiful light blue dress in my wardrobe, the fabric is light and it feels nice, I'm not such a fan of dresses but I think it's better than a tight pair of weird-coloured trousers and an extravagant shirt. So I take it out of the wardrobe and put it on, the dress just reaches a bit above my knees and part of my back is exposed. I also find a pair of nice flat yellowish sandals that match the dress, but I won't put them on until I have to leave my room.

I dry my hair with the towel a bit, when I'm done I leave the two towels on the floor next to my bed. Then I lie down and grab a pillow and hug it, it feels pretty nice. This whole place may be awful but the bed is the most comfortable one I have used in my life.

The next think I know is that someone is banging on my door and yelling at me to wake up, this is not a nice way to be awaken, and instantly I get really irritated. I haven't even opened my eyes but I want to murder the person behind that door, whoever it is.

"Come on, Danie! Wake up! It's time for lunch!" I can tell it's Ryle and he doesn't give up, he keeps on yelling and banging.

"Ryle!" I hear Enebry squeak a bit further than Ryle, but the click of her heels gets louder and louder meaning she is getting closer. "I told you to call Danieka, not to bring the door down and scream at the top of your lungs."

"But she is not coming out." Ryle whines.

"She might be sleeping." Enebry says. "But I doubt she is now with all this noise."

I give a really deep breath before practically jumping out of bed and take a few strides towards the door and open it really fast, when I do I find Enebry scolding Ryle and Ryle glaring at her.

"What the hell Ryle!?" I scream at Ryle, interrupting whatever Enebry was saying.

"Danieka! Language!" Enebry squeaks.

"I was sleeping, you twat!"

"Training tires you up much?" Ryle says in a pretty low tone, I'm sure Enebry didn't hear.

"You bet!" I say and keep on glaring at him the whole time. "Next time try to be gentler!"

"Next time Enebry or Brutus will come for you, not me."

"Better them than you." I say and storm away from Ryle and Enebry.

I go to the dining room where everybody has already started eating. I sit on my usual seat and just stay there with my arms crossed. Ryle and Enebry joins us a minute later, Ryle keeps avoiding me during the whole meal.

I may be seem as a drama queen but if someone wakes you up that way you will be upset too, right? At home my family knew better than to wake me up especially in a bad way, I'd be annoyed and irritated the whole day.

I just sit there and watch everybody eat, I'm too upset to eat. Enebry makes a comment about me finally dressing properly and that I look good wearing a dress and that I should wear that kind of clothes more often, while Brutus keeps telling me to make an alliance, he keeps pushing it. I try to keep my cool, but he is just making me more irritated. I tell him I don't want allies over and over again.

"Can I be excused?" I ask Enebry. "Please?"

"You haven't eaten."

"I will eat later I promise."

"Fine, you can go."

I waste no time on getting out of there and going back to my room. I try to go back to sleep because I'm still tired but it doesn't really work. I stay in my room doing nothing for about two hours.

I finally get hungry and go out of my room, only Viola, Enebry and Trenk are on the living room, everybody must have gone to their rooms. I sit at the table and soon a male avox brings me a plate with food.

I start with the fish, taking about forty-five minutes to almost eat it completely. It is still hard but the gagging is almost gone, and I do it faster and faster every time. Then I eat some of the boiled vegetables and the rice.

About twenty minutes after I have gone back into my room, I hear a gentle knock on my door, the person doesn't wait for my answer and opens the door and walks in. Enebry looks at me with a huge smile on her face fully covered in make-up.

"Now that you have eaten we can work on your presentation for tomorrow." Enebry says in a cheerful tone. I stare at her in disbelief, all I want is to have some peace but it seems that's too much to ask for.

Enebry makes me put on a big fancy dress and high heels, she makes me walk all around my room, and even walk back and forth in the hallway.

"Danieka!" Enebry squeaks, making me jump at her high-pitched voice. "I have told you several times you have to smile!"

I smile my biggest fake smile at her and she seemed satisfied instead of annoyed by it, maybe she can't see the difference between fake and real. For a long time, Enebry keeps telling to not hunch, to walk straight, to look up at the crowd, to smile, to be polite to Caesar. It's really annoying and tiring, walking in heels for hours is hell, I rather train all day with Finnick than do all of this.

Then we go back to my room and Enebry moves on to talk me about manners and how I have to act in front of the crowd. I smile and nod at her but I'm not really listening to her, I'm once again on my own little world and she doesn't really notices, which is good because otherwise she would have scolded me for another hour or so.

Three hours and a bit more have passed and she finally leaves me, I'm really exhausted for all I did with Enebry. It was the most boring three hours of my entire life I think. Unfortunately I can't rest or anything because as soon as she leaves my room, Lyme comes to tell me dinner's ready.

For dinner I eat really light, I ate not so long ago so I'm not hungry but I know I have to eat. I will go into the arena in less than forty-eight hours and it will be hard to get food, I need the strength if I want to win, or at least not die as fast.

I go back to my room, change into more comfortable clothes and get in bed. It takes me a while to fall asleep but I eventually do, unfortunately I have not so nice dreams tonight.

The next morning I wake up quite early to say the truth, I always wake up about fifteen minutes before 5:00, but today I wake up more than forty minutes before that time. I want to stay a few more minutes in bed but I decide that isn't such a good idea, I could fall asleep again and miss my training session with Finnick.

I go out of my room and go to the kitchen to grab a banana, I'm not really hungry but I'm training for two hours in a row instead of one today, so I need some more energy. I force myself to eat, and when I'm done I leave the peel on the dining table and go back to my room.

Once there I go to the bathroom, wash my face and my teeth, I still look sleepy. I put my hair in a high ponytail, which makes me look only a bit better and less sleepy. I walk back into my room and put on some shoes and leave just like that.

This time I don't have to hide from anyone, not even the avoxes are awake, or if they are, they are in the kitchen cooking or something. It feels nice to leave without worrying to get caught.

I go to the gymnasium and as always there is no one on my way there, I turn on the lights and look at the clock on the wall, I'm five minutes earlier. I start to feel a bit cold, the walls of the gymnasium make the place chilly but when you start to train the cold is gone pretty fast, it would be hell if the gymnasium weren't like that, it actually helps. And as I rub my arms on my body to warm up I realize I didn't change even when I had time to do it, I just forgot, as always.

I decide to start stretching to help warm up and I have found stretching helps me to not end up as sore at the end of the trainings. While I'm on the floor, with my legs straight on the floor and me touching my toes, I see Finnick walking in, I smile as he has no chance of scaring me today.

"Good morning." I say to him.

"Morning." He says smiling at me. "Slept well?"

"Yeah, except for a couple of nightmares." I tell him. "But I feel well rested. What are we going to do?"

"A bit of everything." Finnick says. "We'll start with you running away from me, and if I catch you, you have to try to escape. Ready?"

"Ready?"

Once again, I run away from Finnick in different scenarios, the same from the previous time. The treeless savannah like scenario, a jungle scenario, the one I hate the most which is running up a hill, and a few more. We just don't do the one in the water, because he doesn't want me to get wet when we have more than an hour to go.

He catches me half of the times, and I escape only on three occasions. He catches me on the hill again, and I don't succeed on escaping. He finally allows me to rest and drink some water. I'm already sweating no stop and my feet hurt, probably because of the heels Enebry made me use yesterday.

"Now what?" I ask Finnick.

Finnick makes me do the same as yesterday but not as long, I shoot some arrows at moving targets, and then throw knives, sickles or stab them with a sword or kill the holograms with an axe. I'm getting really tired by now, and even though I rather do things with Finnick than being locked in a room killing holograms I don't complain, I just do as Finnick tells me.

Finnick grants me another rest of five minutes, I sit on the floor and drink some more water, while Finnick just stays on the same place looking at me, which makes me a bit self-conscious, so I stand up quickly and ask him what else are we going to do.

"Now I will pin you against the floor and you will have to break free." Finnick tells me and as soon as he finishes the sentences I'm tackled down to the ground.

It's pretty much the same from what we did first, except I don't have to run, I'm grateful for that, I don't want to run anymore. Then Finnick grabs me roughly, my back is against his stomach and his arm is by my neck almost chocking me. We haven't done this since the first or second day here, but I remember what I have to do. I bring my leg forward and do as I'm going to kick him on his knee with the ball of my foot, I don't really do it because I remember him telling me it's pretty easy to break a knee that way.

He lets go of me for a bit before grabbing me again, but this time my feet are not touching the ground. I can do the same thing with this, so I repeat what I did before but my foot doesn't touch his knee in a gentle way, instead my foot ends up in a higher area and in not such a gentle way.

Finnick lets a small groan slip from his lips as he instantly lets go of me and I fall to the floor with an ugly thud. I stand up quickly though and look at Finnick, who is still on the ground with his hands down there. Oops.

"I'm sorry." I say, feeling truly ashamed.

"It's fine." Finnick says, groaning a bit. "If a boy does that to you in the arena, you better do that."

Finnick stays on the floor clenching his private parts for a few more minutes, I feel really sorry about it but Finnick keeps telling me not to worry about it.

"Alright, finally we will do what I think you enjoy the most." Finnick says once he is on his feet.

Finnick walks to the centre of the room, I follow him close behind. He grabs two swords, one for me and one for himself. I smile at this, maybe he is right, fighting with the sword is my favourite thing to do. I don't know why, but it is.

I start attacking him this time, but he has no problem blocking my attacks. I'm really, really tired but the adrenaline or the excitement keeps me going. Unfortunately that's not enough because Finnick ends up winning by pointing his sword against my neck when I'm completely defenceless.

He allows me to drink some water before I can go for my sword and start a new round. I move quickly dodging his attacks and even smile at him which makes him smirk and attack me more often and faster. I almost got him, but he manages to recover and win.

"I think we are done now." Finnick says as he lies down on the floor, his sword right beside him.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted." I say, sitting next to him.

"Don't be nervous about tonight." Finnick says. "It will be over before you know it. And you will only have three minutes, which is truly nothing."

"I'll try, but being in front of people, so many people, makes me nervous."

"Don't even think about it, like I said, pretend they are not there. It's just you and Caesar." Finnick says. "Besides you will look so beautiful people won't even care about what you say."

I smile at the ground and blush, my cheeks are already pretty red from all the exercising and running I've done in these two hours so there's not really a big difference, thankfully.

"Thanks." I say.

"We better go, those wet clothes will make you cold soon and I don't want you to get sick." Finnick says, standing up. "I've told you to bring the jacket I gave you or another shirt to change."

"I forget." I say as I take his hand to help me up.

We do the same as always, Finnick puts an arm around me, he turns off the lights, we walk back to the lift making small talk as we wait for the lift to come. It's always the same, I have gotten used to this, and a sudden feel of sadness rushes over me. This will be the last time we do all of this. There will be no more waking up early, or sneaking out at night, skipping lunch with all the other tributes so I can spend that hour training with Finnick, all of that is over.

"Is something wrong?" Finnick asks as we walk inside the lift.

"No." I lie.
"I know you are lying, you know?"

"I was just thinking that this will be the last training, the last… Everything." I say shrugging.

"Yeah it is." Finnick says sadly, I can tell he's avoiding talking about the games.

"Will I see you later?" I ask him.

"I will be in the audience, and you will see me tomorrow."

"Will I?"

"Of course, I can't let you go without saying good-bye and giving you last time tips." He says as the doors open on my floor.

"That would be good, thanks Finnick."

"It has been my pleasure." He says with a small smile. "I have something for you."

Finnick searches for something inside the front pockets of his trousers, when he finds whatever he is looking for, he tells me to open my hand and he puts some kind of vial on the palm of my hand.

"Thanks but what is it?"

"People will be celebrating later tonight and there will be a lot of noise." Finnick says. "That plus the nerves won't let you sleep, so drink the whole thing once you are already in bed, ready to sleep and you will be fast asleep in less than five minutes."

"Wow, thanks Finnick." I say, looking at the little vial with curiosity as I finally walk out of the lift.

"No problem." He says. "I'm sure you'll need it." He says just before the doors close.

As I'm left watching only the metal doors, I know that will be the last time I see him on that lift, that was our last ride together on it.

What do you think will be the arena? :P