The Living Games
A/N Hello people! It's 2017! Ahhh! I swear when the clock changed the wind changed too! I have so many things I want to do this year, and I know I can (be what I wanna be if I work real hard . . . sorry, I couldn't resist the song moment)! With the changing of the Hollywood sign to Hollyweed, you can already tell this year is going to be lit. Enjoy the first chapter of 2017 (I had to change this from 2016 :). This one was a doozie to write, and idk if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Well, enjoy!
Chapter Twenty Four: Dear Mr. Jealous
Aubrey wanted to faceplant. Out of everything the Capital could throw at them, they decided to make her childhood game real?
Andy was nervously running his fingers through his hair, trying desperately to find a solution while Josh was attempting to pretend nothing was happening. He had his eyes closed and was whispering something about "If you can believe it you can do it."
Aubrey was glad they had the sense to leave a bit of space around the tree open so the tree wouldn't sink in the lava and kill them in a boring way. No one wants to die like an average Joe.
"Alright, alright, calm down," Andy said. "We can get out; there's a simple solution to this I'm sure."
Josh was still mumbling with his eyes closed, and Aubrey was looking over the edge of the tree branch.
Aubrey considered jumping into the fire for a second. The others could use her body as a stepping stone to get away.
She dismissed the thought; it was silly. Her body could never hold their weight.
She wasn't sure if she was joking or not.
Hm, stepping stones . . .
Aubrey looked around for moment, trying to spot any open rocks or a sturdy pile of leaves.
She saw a few big sticks lying suspiciously a few feet away from the bottom of the tree, and a pile of small rocks a few feet away from that.
"Guys, I think I found that simple solution."
"Yes, I've found it to."
Aubrey was surprised. He wasn't even looking at the ground.
"You have? Well I guess we're on the same page then."
"We go to the base of the tree, run as fast as we can and try to jump over the lava pit. If we fall in, we die, but if we don't, we're lucky."
Aubrey's mouth was hanging open. That was definitely not her plan.
"No . . . I was going to say we could jump to the sticks and rocks on the ground and keep going from there."
Andy blushed.
"Oh, yeah. That too."
Josh had opened his eyes and was staring at Aubrey, waiting for her to give the command.
"Alright, so you see those rocks? And those sticks?" they nodded. "So we'll climb down the tree and jump onto them. they're a bit far apart but not too far to miss them. After the second jump, we'll be able to jump onto dry land and get away."
Andy peered over the side of the tree. "I don't know, they look kinda far apart . . . I've never been much of a jumper. Any advice?"
"Don't die. That's good enough."
He twitched. "Sure."
They climbed down the tree carefully, making sure to hold on to the trunk tightly.
Once they hit the ground, Aubrey volunteered to go first. If she didn't make it, she was sure they could find another way. She would rather it be her than them.
She closed her eyes for a second and set her sights on the pile of sticks.
Now or never.
She jumped as far as she could, landing smack in the middle of the pile, almost slipping and losing her balance, but she righted herself.
"Well?" she turned around, looking at their shocked faces. "We don't have all day."
Andy shook his head and grinned, jumping next, knocking into Aubrey and making them both fall.
"Oh, great job." Aubrey pulled a leaf out of her mouth and glared at him.
"Uh, too much force?"
She rolled her eyes and stood up, noticing the room running out.
"We should go to the next one before Josh jumps. If we don't, we'll all fall in and die, and that's the one thing I told you not to do."
They quickly jumped to the next pile, their feet pushing a few rocks into the lava. The lava bubbled and shot up into the air all around them, obscuring everything from their view.
Aubrey wasn't sure what happened next. She had closed her eyes and all she heard was screaming (which was definitely not her, haha). She could feel tiny flecks of lava burning into her skin like bullets through paper.
After the shower died down, Aubrey gasped and flew up. Her heart was beating so fast she couldn't breathe.
"What . . . what was that?"
Lava was everywhere, including the pile of sticks that Josh was currently standing on.
"We need to jump now, before the sticks melt away and Josh can't jump!"
Aubrey prepared herself to jump, still burning from the lava.
She just barely made it, her foot skimming the edge of the ground. Andy jumped right after her, but he wasn't so lucky. His foot slipped, and he used his hand instinctively to catch himself, slamming them right down into the lava.
He screamed in agony and pulled himself up, wiping his hands on the ground and breathing hard.
Aubrey scrambled up and ran to him, grabbing his hands to check them out.
They were red and burning, blisters already forming all over. Andy was freaking out, biting his lip so he wouldn't scream.
Aubrey took a big leaf and wiped the little bit of lava left off, letting it go quickly as it disintegrated in front of her.
She hugged Andy, closing her eyes and letting herself breathe for the first time in days.
Josh landed soundly beside them, reaching into the packs for what she assumed was the burn cream from the acid rain.
Aubrey let him go softly, sitting him down gently and grabbing his wrists so she could apply the cream.
Josh handed it to her, and she spread it softly against his burned hands.
He sighed quietly, closing his eyes for a second before opening them and staring at Aubrey.
She was once again reminded of how beautiful they were, in all of their gold glory. She would never get tired of staring into his golden orbs, and she'd never see anything like them again.
She briefly thought of the phonecall with Zane.
"Yes. You and that boy—Sandwich?"
Aubrey sighed. "I know you know his name. It's Andy—Andrew. And why are you talking about us—not that there is an us?"
Zane started to get angry, and Aubrey could hear it in his voice.
"Andy, a nickname? You two seem a little buddy-buddy, don't you?"
It's not like she was attracted to him. He was very handsome, more beautiful and elegant than anything she'd ever seen, but that was just a fact. She could appreciate his beauty like everyone else, but that didn't mean she wanted him. And in a few days, there wouldn't be a them to exist anyway. Just like how there wasn't a Zane and Aubrey after that call.
Aubrey leaned her head on his chest, still holding his hands and sighed. She had been trying to think of the positives instead of the negatives, but there weren't many. She was very glad she had met Andy and Josh, and she wouldn't change it for anything, but it was stressful knowing that in a few days one of them could be dead. And it was worse, knowing that both of them wanted to give their life to save her's. She was just a girl, just a small person in a sea of people. But Andy, he was the shining star. He was everything—handsome, polite, funny, charming, so kind and caring . . . he deserved to go home the most out of all of them. But she knew he wouldn't have it. If there was any chance that he could make it out, she would've done anything to get it. She would march to the Capital and burn it all down to let them all go home. There were so many kind, bright souls in the arena, and it hurt to see them all go to waste.
Andy gently pried her hands away and wrapped his arms around her, reassuring her without words.
Aubrey let herself relax, having a bad feeling that this would be one of the last relaxing moments they had together.
• • •
They spent the rest of the morning walking further into the forest, trying to find a safe place. After waking up to lava, none of them were eager to be caught in another situation like that again.
Hours of slashing through plants and tripping over random weeds, they found a suspiciously empty clearing. There were two trees on opposite ends of the clearing, one of them containing big, fluffy branches, and a thick trunk, almost like someone had bred the tree for someone to sleep on. The other tree was a normal tree, with a few branches that would probably hold their weight.
"Looks like we found our home for the night," Andy said, walking towards the fluffy tree.
Aubrey grabbed his arm, pulling him back.
"Are you insane?! That tree looks like it's on steroids. If we sleep in that, we'll never wake up again."
"What's wrong with it? It's perfect!"
Josh shook his head. "That's the point. A little too perfect. don't you think?" He picked a decent sized rock and threw it at the top of the three. Nothing happened for a few seconds, and Andy snorted.
"See? Nothing wrong at all—"
The sound of a huge roar cut him off, turning his face pale.
Hundreds of excessively large squirrels barreled out of the tree, showing their stuffed, angry faces.
"That's not exactly nothing, wouldn't you say?"
Andy slowly shook his head and headed towards the other tree. "Yep, we'll never sleep comfortably here, I get it. It's fine, I always liked having bark cut into my back at three A.M. and almost falling to my death every three seconds. Totally cool."
Aubrey shook her head at him and touched the tree She didn't see any rabid animals or hidden traps, so that was fortunate.
It was only early afternoon, and they still had lots of time to kill, no pun intended.
They sat in a triangle, debating what to do.
"We could go hunting. We don't have much food left, and it'll be pretty much spoiled by now," Josh pointed out.
While she knew this was true, Aubrey really didn't feel like getting attacked at another stream. "We could just walk around a bit, stretch, practice using our weapons."
Andy's suggestion was the weirdest of them all.
"We could chop down trees and make a huge fort, and just camp out there for the rest of the time here."
". . . Yeah so it's either mine or Aubrey's for sure."
"Unfair," Andy pouted and crossed his arms.
Aubrey laughed and ruffled his hair, content with just lying there all day.
In the end, they decided to do a mix and add in some things. Josh would go hunt to eat in later days, and Andy and Aubrey would go together so Andy could fish and she could collect water. They would wash up there, and Josh would join them later so he could too.
"Alright, same rules apply." Josh picked up his supplies, taking one of Aubrey's knives (this one made for hunting). "Under no circumstances are one of you allowed to die. If you do, I will personally kill you."
"And the logic there is astounding, truly."
Josh rolled his eyes at her and even though he was joking, she could tell he was being partly serious. But with the two of them together, he knew they would be alright.
After walking silently for a few minutes, Andy broke the silence.
"I missed you, you know."
Aubrey looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
"Really? I had thought you were getting along well with the Careers."
He laughed a humorless laugh, shaking his head. "No. They're all idiots, brainwashed killers. All of 'em except Crystal. No one could ever brainwash her, anyway."
"What is the history between you two anyway? I never knew you guys knew each other like that."
He smiled a bit, his eyes glinting with mischief.
"Well, everything she said was true. We both grew up with a Victor parent, being shown off everywhere at every opportunity. The Capital adored us both, naming us the babies of the century. Our parents never really cared about us much though, so we always ended up in a daycare. But no ordinary daycare. A daycare worthy of holding only the finest kids.
"Bullshit, all those kids were insane, well, except Crystal. She was so down to earth that I couldn't not talk to her. We soon became friends, best friends, even, but then we grew up. And we didn't need daycare anymore. We would sit in separate hotels for days, even weeks, bored out of our minds while our parents were out partying and completing tasks. Leaving the building was strictly forbidden, and none of us even tried once we saw the security teams guarding outside. I didn't see her much after that, or that bambo from Two. Then we stopped going to the Capital all together, and it's been a few years. It's been nice rekindling though."
Aubrey smiled a little bit. "You sound like you like her."
He grinned wildly.
"I did, for a long time. But then I saw her make out with this girl at this Capital party, and I knew it'd never happen. I got over it, and now we're like, totally BCFFL's. Best Career friends for life!"
Aubrey laughed, glad he was able to joke about it.
"That's great. I never knew it was legal to take kids from the districts to the Capital."
"Not if they love you. And enough about me, you know you have some explaining to do. You never did tell me how you met Zane, or Josh, and why he acts like your brother. I think it's sweet, but it gets a little weird having to compete to be the mom friend. Spill."
Aubrey laughed, trying to think of a way to put it. She knew talking about Zane would hurt, but it would help.
"Well, it's kind of a long story, so I'll sum it up. So I was having a horrible day, and I uh, bumped into Zane. We talked for a bit and became friends. A little while later, he confessed his love for me and we dated. Actually, it was the day before the Reaping. I met Josh through him, and it was kinda weird. At first, Josh was this serious, sarcastic little shit, but then he became more. He started to become happier, and we could all see. He got really protective of me, and even though he doesn't want to admit it himself, I know he really cares about me. And I care about him."
"You're in love with him? In love with your boyfriend's brother . . . Heard that one before. Had that happen before. It was awkward because they were both really hot and he hated me but—"
"I am not in love with him! He's like . . . my brother. But not my boyfriend's brother, or whatever." She paused for a second. "Did he really hate you?"
"Yes! He had this sweeping brown hair I could die for, and these intense hazel eyes . . . I could go on for days! But he thought I was stuck up because of my childhood so he hated me, and my boyfriend at the time had no idea. There was this one time when I invited them over for dinner and I accidently said "can you pass the salt, babe?" to him instead of my boyfriend . . . yeah, let's just say we didn't last long after that. But it was cool because I discovered he had a sister with these green eyes. . ."
Aubrey cut him off with a laugh.
"What? I'm a sucker for beautiful eyes. That's why I find you so intriguing." She raised an eyebrow at him. "But I'm not attracted to you or anything. I mean, you're very beautiful, but you're more of my crazy friend who encourages me to do bad things when I shouldn't."
She laughed, shaking her head.
"Oh, if only you could convince my boyfriend that. He fully thinks you're in love with me, Mr. Jealous to the max."
"I could see why, we would make a devilishly handsome couple. But he should really be watching out for Crystal. I saw the way she was looking at you earlier."
Aubrey's eyebrows shot up. She was really beautiful. And those legs . . .
"Really? I mean, she is quite the catch, but I'm not really looking for anything right now."
Andy gave her a knowing look. "Alright. But Crystal is a seducer, and she usually gets what she wants. And she wants you. But Aubrey's boyfriend, if you're watching this, man up! Dear Mr. Jealous, you're wasting so much time, because Aubrey is great and she'd never cheat, and she's just a friend to me. Stop being a douche—"
"Okay! That's enough talking to him, I think. Now let's go get this water before the sun goes down."
Andy smiled at her, and she knew even if things were about to come crashing down, these moments were worth it.