I stumble down the corridor. There's several doors, each one looking identical. I follow the voices to the the last door that's slightly ajar. All I can see through it is a little of Nook's head. Karo must be standing close by so I don't dare to get much closer. Through their hushed conversation I can only pick up little bits.
"... Just want to survive."
"... And besides your sister..."
"I know but I want to try to get..."
"The rules can't be broken for more reasons than one."
"... But I think that if I-"
"Won't work." There's a short pause and then an irritated sigh. There's more speaking that I miss and can't keep up with. I lean a little closer and press my ear to the door. The voices stop dead and I realize I've moved the door forward ever so slightly. And before I know what I'm doing, I'm running silently back to my room. I end up banging my foot on the door frame as I leave the corridor and curse beneath my breath.
In my room I flop on to the double bed and scramble under the blankets. If I pretend I'm sleeping then maybe...?
I steady my breathing but the sound of hard footsteps against the wooden floors coming closer makes my stomach twist. I bury my head into the pillow and hope for the best.
The door squeaks open and I feel someone standing over the bed, watching me. I have a sudden urge to laugh. I've never been good at this sort of stuff. When we were younger, Nook could always find me in hide and seek but only because I couldn't keep quiet.
The person leaves and I breathe again. I sit up, rub my head and then yawn slightly.
That's when I hear a cough and see the bedroom door is still open and Nook is leaning against the door frame smirking at me.
I can't stop the look of surprise on my face but cover it immediately with a large yawn, stretching my arms wide into the space around me.
"What are you doing here?" I ask. It's hard keeping my voice level so I yawn again mid sentence. I'm certain Nook's figured me out. I probably need to stop yawning so much.
"Oh, y'know," He says lazily. I don't expect him to continue so when he does I'm surprised. "I'm just looking for a little spy that happened to be eavesdropping on a very important conversation."
I feign a look of surprise. This isn't going well.
"A spy?" I pause then laugh. It comes out too nervous and there's a look of triumph in Nook's eyes. "Well Tizzy certainly loves to gossip and-"
"Oh come on Avia," Nook interrupts. "I'm no idiot and neither are you."
"Well..."
The smirk falls from his face. I can feel a lecture coming on. I bite my lips and stare at my hands. He comes and sits at the edge of my bed and trys speaking. No words come out though and he shuts his mouth. I'm not sure how long we're left sitting in silence but it feels like hours. I rummage through my brain to try and find something to say. There's a lot I want to ask him but I don't think this is the time.
"Allies?"
I look up, startled. I almost forgot he was there weirdly enough. "Allies?" He repeats again.
"What do you mean 'allies'?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.
"Do you want to be my ally in the arena? Y'know for the games..."
"I thought we already were. Did you really have to ask?" I say, raising an eyebrow.
"Well no, but I wanted to make sure you wouldn't just leave me stranded at the Cornucopia by running off screaming into the woods." He answers, grinning.
I laugh and try to imagine it. Would I do that when the time came? Hopefully I won't lose that much sense to fear.
"It wouldn't win us many sponsors, would it?" I resort. It seems strange talking about the games like this.
"Who needs sponsors anyway? Not me and that's for sure." He laughs again and flexes his muscles. I hit him playfully on the arm but start laughing too.
"You may not need sponsors but Avia does and that is for sure." A voice says. We stop laughing and look to the door. Karo is standing there, strict and stern as ever.
"You're weak and people will go for you. Won't last twenty minutes even if you do survive the Cornucopia." He tells me and my face falls. He's right, of course, but I never really thought about it and hearing it out loud crushes any hope I had left.
"That's not true-" I start to protest but stop myself. My voice sounds feeble and pathetic, even to me.
He turns to Nook as if I had never spoken. "You have a plan Nook. Possibly a winning plan. Remember what your goal is." Karo turns on his heels and leaves just like that. Nook and I share a look before he leaves too.
It's only laying in bed at night, playing the day over when it all comes together.
Nook intends to win the Hunger Games.
And there can only be one victor.