Last chapter before the Bloodbath!

Lean on me, when you're not strong

And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on

For it won't be long 'til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on

Please swallow your pride if I have things you need to borrow

For no one can fill those of your needs that you won't let show

Thirty minutes, ten face wipes, and one change of clothes later, I should be asleep.

But I'm not.

I keep pacing around my room. At this point, I'm beyond exhausted. But every single time I lie down to sleep, I just can't I'm too worried. Too anxious. Too scared. The reality of the Games has long since seeped in and I don't know what to do. No amount of training or sponsors will ever make me feel confident enough.

I just don't want to die.

As I flop down onto my bed yet again, I feel the sound of pots and pans being clattered about from the kitchen. Oh well. If I can't sleep, maybe I can go find someone to talk to, to take my mind off everything. I crack open my door as quietly as I can, then slip myself through. It takes to much to quietly tread across the ground, so I give up and walk normally into the kitchen.

"What are you doing here?"
Whyllis looks up from the table. "Well, what are you doing here?"

"I can't sleep."
"That's not my problem."
"Well, why aren't you asleep?"

Whyllis takes a sip form her mug which appears to have water inside. Or maybe it's something else. "Can't you just leave me alone?"

An Avox clad in red hands Whyllis a plate with a grilled cheese sandwich on it. We lock eyes, then he pours he a glass of cold water before turning back to the grill to make a second sandwich. I take a seat across from Whyllis, not wanting to intrude in her personal space.

Like me, she's taken her makeup and interview outfit off, wearing a fuzzy robe instead. Her hair is much more tangled now and I can see some dark bags under her eyes. Despite being in a much more comfortable position then me, the Games clearly haven't been treating Whyllis kindly either.

I just sigh to myself. "It's stupid thinking I had a bit of a crush on you only a few days ago."
"Oh really?"
"I get it. I'm an idiot for thinking that you might feel the same way."

Whyllis cackles. "Well, that actually explains a lot. Not like it would matters anyways. I'm taken."
"You are?"

"Yeah. I've been dating one of my bandmates for a few months now. Dustin."
"My friend thinks he's cute."

Whyllis picks the crust off her grilled cheese. "Yep, he is pretty cute. You're too young for me, by the way. And given the circumstances, no way in hell things would ever work out."

I fake a laugh at this. Right. What stupid, childish world was I living in where I ever assumed I'd have a chance? Whyllis was perfectly fine living her life without me. And right, given that we're both trapped in a game of survival the this point, no relationship could ever survive. We're not like Quincy and Anthony, lovebirds under the guise that they can win together.

Everything I've once taken joy in seems pointless to me now. Music. Writing. Archery. At the end of the day, will it even be enough to save me? Will I become just another dead tribute, another name in the history books? Am I doomed to become forgotten?

I wonder if anyone will even mourn me when I'm gone. My parents and my younger brother, perhaps. Maybe Angie and Jess, the only two people I might even call friends at this time. Rhiannon, or at least until the next Games and she has a new tribute to mentor. But they're all destined to forget me eventually.

Whyllis pulls the two halves of her sandwich apart, leaving a long gooey strand of cheese in the middle. The Avox slides a second plate in front of me, then slips off to wherever Avoxes go when they're not cooking. I just stare at it. I'm not really that hungry.

There's a lot of words on my tongue, things I want to say while I have the chance. My thoughts are all jumbled in my head and I don't know how to say any of it. I just blurt out the first coherent sentence I can string without much attention as to what I actually say.

"I'll never get to live long enough to fall in love like you."

Whyllis chokes on her sandwich. "The hell, VR!? Where did that miserable thought come from!?"
"Give me one good reason not to be miserable tonight."
"You've got a grilled cheese sandwich."

Fair point. I suddenly feel hungry after all, and pull my sandwich apart. It's perfectly toasted and the cheese is all warm and melted. Whyllis wipes the butter off her fingers with a napkin. "Hey, don't mean to pry, but I figure this is the last time we can talk without trying to kill each other. Do you have any friends in 10?"

"What makes you ask that?"
"Well, the fact that you said you had a crush on me, and we've never met before. Obviously, that's very clingy and I see in the way you talk and act. Like, you're always so far away from me, as if you're afraid to be around me."

I roll my eyes. Because Whyllis hasn't exactly been the most welcoming person either.

"Okay, fine. Maybe that's kinda my fault. But it's as if you don't want to be near me because you're afraid of doing something wrong. And the fact that during training, you rarely talked to anyone unless they approached you or spoke to you first. I'm probably wrong, but it's like you'd rather detach and avoid everyone, rather than risk looking like an idiot in front of them."

"How do you know that?" I ask quietly.
"Because I used to do the same shit. Then I got a little more comfortable with my gender and identity and I realized that people's opinions didn't actually matter as much. I didn't have to avoid everyone because one person was a total jerk. I cut contact with all the toxic assholes in my life, especially my parents when they kicked me out, and found people who accepted me for who I am."

I polish off the rest of the sandwich in my hand. "I think your case is a little more extreme than mine. And I don't feel like seeing a therapist right now."
"I'm not a therapist."
"You sound like one."

"Well, if you don't feel like listening to me, then that's my cue to leave." Whyllis pushes an empty plate across the table. "Let's make a truce, okay? Tomorrow and onward, I won't try and kill you if you don't try and kill me. If we see each other, we just move along and nothing happens. Sounds good?"
"Works for me. Goodnight."

Then, I'm left alone.

This will be the last chapter before we finally jump into action with the Games and the Bloodbath! What did you think of Whyllis and VR's conversation? Will either of them uphold their truce in the arena?

I'm just gonna address sponsoring quickly. You can PM me or DM me on Discord to send a sponsor gift to any character you like, similar to the system in PC, but each reader can send only one gift per chapter. Due to the nature of the story, not all sponsors gifts will be explicitly shown, but I will be keeping track of them myself and factoring them in. So, fret not if you don't see a specific tribute with your gift, because they still got it, it just wasn't shown.

Last chance to make Bloodbath predictions! Who do you think will fall? What about VR? Do you think she'll make it out okay?

See you all on Feb 15th!

-Vr