Red's POV

I laughed as Ginger jumped on the tabletop, doing a little dance for the whole canteen. Her bright orange hair whipped around her head, creating a halo. I caught Flo's eye and she raised her eyebrows at me. Ginger was always doing stunts like this: dancing on tables, doing cartwheels etc. The only reason she hadn't been expelled was because her father was in the top ten richest men in Panem. This is also why she is one of the most popular, but she's not dumb. She can tell which friends are in it for the money. That's why she hung round with Flo and I. We were the only two normal looking people in the Capitol, and probably the only two who didn't care much about money. For Flo, this was because she had grown up in District 12 and was used to having a lot less, for me it was because I could see what greed and money had done to people.

Out of the blue I saw Flo gesturing to me to go outside with her. I nodded and we both walked out the big glass doors to the field. For some reason it was covered in a massive glass dome so the weather could be controlled perfectly and the grass was always flawlessly green. Flo pushed me to the side, against the brick building.

'It's the reapings today'.

'I know that'.

'Peeta's gonna go back in'

'I guessed that'

'You have to promise me you'll persuade Plutarch to get him out first. I don't care about Katniss being he figurehead or anything. Peeta can help us more. And he's my best friend'.

'Why can't you ask him?' I admit that I'm a bit jealous of Flo's love for Peeta. She always swears that they're only friends and I believe her. But she still loves him more than any of my friends have ever loved me.

'Plutarch trusts you more. You've been in the rebellion a lot longer than I have.'

I stare into her beautiful green eyes. They weren't just green, they had swirls of brown, gold even slightly orange. One time she told me that people used to tease her with things like 'cat eyes' and 'you have the same colour hair as eyes'. I remember replying that her eyes were beautiful… She raises her eyebrow questioningly at me.

'Sure. I'll ask him. Don't think it'll do much good though'

'Its worth a try'.

Flo's POV

I was on the edge of my seat during the reapings. I gripped the cashmere throw with both hands leaning in toward the TV. Sapphire, Kitty, Ginger and Red were there. They were all eating popcorn, except Red, and Kitty was even painting her nails. I hated the way they treated the Games as well, games. It was a serious, real life thing. I suppose they've never known the horror of someone close to them being reaped. As they started discussing whether Peeta and Katniss would both go back in I balled my fists furiously. I hadn't told them about my connection with Peeta, but they were talking about him as if he was an object. They didn't care about whether he died or not, they just wanted some entertainment.

Red gripped my wrist and gave me a warning look. I sighed and sank back into the pillows. The reaping was a lot more depressing than I expected. Almost everyone was a familiar face from previous Games, either as tributes, mentors or guests. They even let Finnick Odair be reaped. I thought that they would leave out his name or something, because he was so popular with the Capitol women. I had even seen him walking down the streets of the Capitol a couple of times, followed by a mob of rich women. Once he winked at me and flexed his abs. I admit it, he was incredibly attractive but he kind of disgusted me by the way he treated women. Anyway, when he was reaped it was followed by screams of outrage from everywhere including my own living room. No one wanted to see him die.

I saw Peeta for the first time in a year when he came on screen. Sure we wrote to each other all the time but it was different seeing him on screen. It was he and Haymitch in a pen on their own. He looked terrified, but determined. I wished I could just dive through the screen and hug him. Wish him good luck. Red squeezed my hand sympathetically as I watched him volunteer to protect her in the Games.

In letters he had explained that Katniss had practically ignored him for the whole year and had explained to him that she was pretending the entire time during the last Games. I felt so sorry for him, and I sent a silent prayer to Katniss, hoping that this time she would try to protect him for long enough for them to get rescued.

Nancy :)