"WIRESS!" Julie and Melissa burst through the door of the small reception room in the Justice Building before burying Wiress in a group hug.
"I kept on thinking about our pact, but I wanted to volunteer." Melissa sobbed. "It should've been me, Wiress – I'm – I'm so sorry."
"No, Melissa. I would've been here even if your name got called." Wiress admitted. Julie sobbed and held her friends closer. "I'll never ever forget you guys."
"You HAVE to come home!" Julie wailed. "The academy won't be the same without you! You will come home, Wiress!" She said determinedly. "You – Someone who loves you will make sure of it."
"I – Thanks, Julie." Wiress said smiling. "Tell you what, I'll let you tease me for a month after I get back if you're right."
"Thanks – thanks for being the best friend ever." Melissa said smiling.
"Thanks for being there for me too, girls." Wiress whispered. They hugged each other again.
"Wiress, we're going to go so you have a lot of time with your grandma." Julie said. "Listen – whatever happens, be true to yourself, ok?"
"Ok." Wiress said. She smiled and waved as her friends left the room with their arms around each other's shoulders.
"Oh my little live-wire!" Wiress hugged her grandmother as she was wrapped in a vice-like hug. She felt a wet kiss on each of her cheeks. "Honey – you'll be the smartest one there." She smiled. "You've done so much here with your work. I'm so proud of you, no matter what happens, ok?"
"Grandma –" Wiress began. "Thanks – for everything." They sat with their arms around each other until they heard a knock at the door.
"Oh – you don't have to leave yet Mrs. Carpenter." Mr. Jones from the Engineering Academy said. "Hi, Wiress." He said smiling. "I had to say – I had to come and see the top scoring junior." He said choosing his words carefully.
"I – I wish I could have finished my certification." Wiress said sadly.
"You still can." Mr. Jones said. "You'll get help from another engineer that went to the Capital and then came back to complete his schooling. This is just another complex problem that you'll be solving with that phenomenal brain." He smiled. "You'll go far. Trust me." He smiled. "We'll be watching from the academy. Your friends, us faculty, and your grandmother."
"Thank you." Wiress said.
"It's been such an honor to teach you, Wiress." Mr. Jones said. A peacekeeper knocked on the door. Wiress let go of her grandmother and teacher. Wordlessly they gave each other the district hand sign as the door closed.
Wiress sat in her room in the train watching the scenery fly by. Beetee was talking with Terrance in his room. She looked through the drawers on her bedside table and found a small pad of paper and a pen. Pulling up a chair to the table she began brainstorming. Training. She thought about what she would need to know. Survival. Traps. Weapons. She thought and under traps wrote Electricity. She flipped the page and wrote: Traps – improvisational tools. Branches, rope, rocks… "There you are." She looked up from her work. Beetee was at the door looking in on her. He smiled, but his eyes were filled with sadness.
"Hi, Beetee." She said turning around on her chair.
"What's this?" Beetee asked looking at her paper.
"Just thinking." Beetee put the pad back down on the table and took her hands in his. "I'm thinking about how we can solve this."
"This was a problem I never wanted to solve – you being here." Beetee whispered.
"I know." Wiress said softly. "What did you do on the train?"
"Punched a hole in the wall." Beetee said chuckling darkly. "I showed Terrance. He's resting. He was up partying with his friends last night. Good kid. Good ally." He said. Wiress nodded. "You're spot on with your paper there. Take it with you to the Training Center and we'll talk about it before you go to training."
"I will." Wiress said smiling before noticing Beetee looking longingly at the bed. "Do the mentors have quarters on the train?" Beetee nodded. He failed to mention that he hardly ever spent time there. She saw a flash of pain cross his face. "You hate them." It wasn't a question.
"I hate coming back to them – on an empty train back to Three." Beetee's hand twitched in Wiress'. "Sorry." he whispered not wanting to appear weak in front of his tributes.
"Lay down. You look tired. I'll wake you up if someone comes in." Wiress said. Beetee nodded and lay on the soft bed. Wiress gently took his glasses off his face and kissed his forehead.
"I should be taking care of you, Wiress." Beetee murmured.
"You are." Wiress said before laying down and snuggling against Beetee.
After an hour nap, Beetee opened his eyes to find Wiress sleeping peacefully next to him. "I need to get back to my mentoring duties." He whispered in her ear before kissing her. "I'll wake you when we get to the Capital." He walked into the living room car to find Terrance enthusiastically eating a six-inch long ham and cheese sandwich.
"Where were you, man?" Terrance asked before swallowing. "Eustacia finally stopped screeching my ear off about her stupid parties and went to plaster make-up on her face."
"I was talking with Wiress your district partner." Beetee said smiling at the sixteen year-old tribute. "Oh, and I took a nap."
"Glad you're up, man. Eustacia told me how to order food, but other than that she's sorta useless. You know what I mean?"
"I thought that when I was reaped. But she can be useful in her own way. I'd still do what she says."
"Holy mother of Panem's President!" Terrance exclaimed. "How old is she? Dang? She was at your reaping?" Beetee blushed. "Oh – sorry man – No disrespect, but I guess since you mentored my sister three years ago, you seem old." He pushed a plate of fries toward Beetee.
"I feel old sometimes." Beetee admitted. Terrance laughed. "Hanging around you teenagers makes me feel young." He blatantly lied.
"Seriously?" Terrance asked. "I thought seeing so much cannon fodder would make you feel a million years old." He finished off his sandwich. "Don't worry, man. I plan on keeping everyone's spirits up for the next few days. I guess that's how I want to be remembered."
"Why not be remembered as a victor?" Beetee asked concerned.
"I dunno." Terrance said soberly. "I guess I'd walk out of there wondering, 'Why me, and not my sister?' That would haunt me a lot. As in, I don't know if I want to have that hanging over me. You even told us that she trained really hard. She made herself learn everything. She wasn't in the academy, but she was smart. But she was still taken down by those stupid mutts and the Career pack. I know my parents would say that they would be proud of me, but they would wonder – why me and not her – ya know?"
"Imagine if the roles were reversed." Beetee said softly. "Imagine if she won."
"HECK YEAH! Oh – sorry."
"And imagine if you got reaped. And you didn't make it."
"Oh – Oh shoot. I guess it would be worse for her. Because she'd mentor like you. But – ok. yeah." Terrance said. "I did tell the parents I'd try."
"Will you try?"
"Yeah." Terrance said. "Of course. In the meantime, I'm going to kick back, not let the Capital get me down, and eat food." Beetee chuckled and ordered them some cheesecake. Wiress came out and joined them just as the train attendant set the dessert on the table.
"Here you go." Beetee said cutting his slice in half. Wiress smiled as he pushed their plate toward her.
"Don't you want your own slice so you're not mooching off our mentor?" Terrance asked.
"I – I'll start with this for now." Wiress said smiling and blushing. Terrance gave her a thumbs-up as he had taken a large bite of cake. He continued to shovel down his cake so he wouldn't say something about his district partner and mentor discretely holding hands under the table.
"Well, here we go!" Terrance said as he and Wiress walked to their respective rooms in the training center where they would meet their prep teams. "You just let me know if I smudge my," He struck a ridiculous pose, "Hawt red lipstick!" He finished in a high-pitched Capital accent.
"I will." Wiress said giggling. "I'm sure you'll look awesome." She felt apprehensive about the prepping process. She was satisfied with the way she was now: simple and known for her intellect. She loathed the idea that the Capital would strip her down and put something ridiculous on her because looks were everything to them. Some tributes gave the prep team a hard time, but she was quiet and let them do their thing.
"I seriously look like I could power a factory back home with all this!" Terrance yelped looking at his costume covered with illuminated fiber-optics several hours later. He and Wiress were standing on their chariot waiting for the opening ceremonies to begin.
"Actually, I think the fibers are connected to a standard nine or twelve-volt battery." Wiress said. Their costumes were an adapted suit and skirt that looked like metal plates covered with wires.
"Thanks my engineering district partner. You look nice by the way." Terrance said looking at Wiress' dark hair that was curled and put up in an up-do with more fiber optics woven through her hair. Wiress nodded her thanks and refrained from rubbing the make-up that felt caked to her face. "Oh – and by the way, I think I really am wearing lipstick." Terrance said blushing.
"Lip gloss." Wiress partially lied looking at the glittery lipstick that was on Terrance's lips. "It's just to keep them from drying out." They held hands and waved enthusiastically to the crowd. "Let's give our sign. To everyone back home." Wiress whispered. When Ceasar Flickerman called out their names, they both raised their right hands in their district sign before going back to the smiling and waving routine. They knew the act of being sullen would indicate the Capital had taken away their hope and spirits even before they had set foot in the arena.