"Looks like I got myself a pair of idiots this year." The boy and the girl look uncomfortable. Good. "General rule of thumb is if you don't want to die in the Hunger Games, don't be stupid enough to volunteer for it." Effie signs for them to sit on the armchairs but they stand their ground. They're sizing me up. Like that's going to make a difference.
"Aren't you supposed to give us real advice?" Oh, the boy speaks! I got forty-six dead kids under my belt, and the genius wants advice!
"Here's an advice boy, accept the fact that both of you are already dead."
I'm about to take another sip from my gin when the boy lashes out the glass from my hands. He's fast, but not fast enough to block my fist on his jaw. Effie starts to scream and I hear glass breaking. That woman is such a drama queen. The boy is on the floor, it's over. Then I feel something sharp on my neck and I realize why Effie is screaming. That crazy ass girl has a broken bottle on my throat.
I can not recall the last time I felt my heart beating this fast. The girl's hand is bleeding, but she doesn't move a muscle. We stand at a stalemate, and I take a good look at her. She looks like she's from the Seam, most kids from there have this empty hopeless look in their eyes. Not her. "Don't you dare touch him." This girl's eyes are full of fire. She won't go down without pulling one hell of a fight first.
"Okay, okay," I say, taking a step back.
"Look, you don't have to like us, but it's your job to help us," the boy says getting up.
"Are you okay?" the girl asks, but her eyes are still locked on mine.
"Yeah, better than you. Come on, drop the bottle, you're bleeding," he says. So that's why he volunteered. These kids may be idiots, but they are also fighters.
"Effie, calm down and get something to fix the girl's hand," I say, "If you two aren't ready to die yet, I think I can help you."
While Effie brings a first aid kit and patches up the girl's hand I take a good look at the boy. He's not very tall, but he seems strong and he's not bad looking, that's good, only not good enough. "Alright boy, what's your name and what you can do that is useful?" He takes some time to think.
"Peeta Mellark. I can lift heavy weights and I guess I'm okay at wrestling." He wouldn't stand a chance with the careers, they got 100 pounds on him easily, but I can tell he's not here to win.
"What about you, sweetheart?" She hesitates, they exchange suspicious a look.
"I'm Katniss Everdeen, I'm good with a bow." Holy shit. She's the hunter girl from the Hob.
There isn't a lot of people on 12 with enough guts to enter the woods. Just crossing the fence earns you some kind of punishment. So people who hunt gain a reputation quickly. The twelve-year-old girl who lost her father in the mine explosion and starts hunting to provide for her family drew everybody's attention. And she's smart too, probably figured out that the whole train is tapped by the Capitol and doesn't want to incriminate herself. "Good, go see your rooms. Then we'll watch the recap of the reapings and talk strategy over dinner."
Effie takes the kids and I sit down still feeling the spot where Katniss pressed the broken bottle. They're both tough and seemly good kids, but that won't be enough to get sponsors. Nobody cares about any district that isn't overjoyed to send their kids to the games, especially on 12 that always looks bland, boring and uncooperative. As much as I think that was a mistake, volunteering did made them stand out from the other tributes 12 usually offers. We can only hope that the kids live up to the expectations.
"Mr. Abernathy, may I come in?" A young man stands on the door with cleaning supplies.
"You're going to need more than that to take all this glass off the carpet." He seems unsure, so I gesture saying that he can come in.
"Most have been a nasty accident, I hope Katniss is fine." He probably forgot that we're not supposed to talk, Capitol sends all the trainees to 12 before they can move up to better districts. We get lousy service, but great opportunities.
"So you watched the reaping." He's not allowed to do that either.
"I so sorry, the guys in the kitchen were watching and-" he stutters.
"How did they look like?" I give the kid my best smile to make him feel comfortable, he collects his thoughts for a second, and speaks in almost a whisper.
"Well, the careers are always great, but the anger thing gets boring after a while. Besides, they win almost every year. But Katniss and Peeta," the kid smiles, "they're really cool. Caesar Flickerman calls them the 'star-crossed lovers from District 12'."
Those last words kept repeating in my mind until the young man finishes cleaning. "Can I get you something to drink, Mr. Abernathy?" There's a bar cart full of liquor. If this was like any other year I would spend the night drinking it, but this isn't an ordinary year.
"I'm going to take a shower, have someone send me some coffee." The girl has an actual chance to win this thing.