"You can do it," Mike whispers as he pulls away from me, his voice shaky and raspy.

"I can't," I whisper back, tears falling down. Mike doesn't say anything for a few moments.

"When did you fall in love with me?" he asks finally.

"I don't know," I reply, my voice shaking. "I just... did."

"Well, the good news is," Mike starts to say. "I love you, too."

I can see it in his eyes. He's fading away from me.

"No, no, no!" I exclaim. "Stay with me, stay with me!"

He smiles slightly and gently brushes my hair out of my face. I'm shaking uncontrollably. He can't go. Not now! Not ever!

"You can do it," Mike says hoarsely. "You can let me go."

His eyes start to close and his breathing slows.

"Please stay," I whisper.

"I love you," he says in a barely audible voice. His eyes close and his chest stops moving up and down. I quickly put my head on his chest but can't hear a heartbeat.

"No, no, no!" I scream, pounding on his chest to try and restart his heart. "Wake up! Wake up!"

I'm hysterical. Tears are everywhere, anger boils inside me, and I'm pushing so hard on Mike that I'm afraid I'll break one of his bones.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the victor of the first Hunger Games; Seffie Zefrine!" a voice booms. Then a cannon sounds.

"NO!" I howl, clinging to Mike. He's gone. He's really, truly gone.

A hovercraft appears and peacekeepers walk out of it.

"NO! YOU CAN'T TAKE HIM!" I scream, clinging as hard as I can to Mike. "YOU CAN'T TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME!"

But the peacekeepers are much stronger than I am. They easily unhinge my hands from Mike and pull him away from me.

"NO!" I scream. "GIVE HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK!"

They drag me, kicking and screaming, into the hovercraft. I'm still screaming and trying to reach Mike when a needle hits my arm.

"We know it must have been very hard for you," the interviewer says.

"It was," I say, my lip already starting to quiver. How could it not be hard for me? I had to watch children die... and Mike die.

"But at least your District will be more wealthy now," the announcer says, as if that's the best thing in the world. Anger starts boiling inside me; how can he possibly be thinking about money when twenty-three children have died?!

"Yes," I say, gritting my teeth. I don't want to fight anymore. I just want Mike.

"Now, I heard that you've gotten a new eye, is that right?" the interviewer asks.

"Yeah," I say, putting my hand up and touching my glass eye. They weren't able to fix it so they had to add in a fake one so I didn't look like a complete freak.

"That's amazing. So, believe it or not, you've become quite popular in the Capitol," the interviewer says.

"How so?" I ask.

"Your name," the interviewer replies. "Everybody wants to name their child some sort of weird name, like yours!"

Well gee, thanks, I think.

"Cool?" I ask, not sure if that's a good thing or not.

"Definitely," the interviewer says. "Everybody wants a weird name like the victor of the first Hunger Games!"

The interview goes on and I try to say as least words as possible. Once the interview is over, I'm escorted off stage by Oliver.

"You did great," he says to me.

That's when I burst into tears. I didn't do great; not at all. I had to watch Mike die and had to hear screams that still haunt me at night. I'm never going to get rid of the nightmares. I'm never going to be able to forget the screams of innocent children dying or forget Mike laying limp in my arms. I'm never going to forget any of that.

"It'll be okay," Oliver says, giving me a side-hug. I shove him away. He looks hurt at first, but quickly recovers and walks forward without touching me or saying another word. I don't want anything to do with these Capitol people. They're the reasons for the games. They live in luxury and technology and don't have to give up their children while the rest of us Districts have to starve and kill our children. It's revolting.

I'm finally back home. The first thing that happens when I walk through the door is have Beth tackle me in a hug.

"You came home!" she exclaims. "You came home!"

"I said I would, right?" I say, trying to smile..

Beth hugs me for a long time, and I hug her back. Then my mom and dad come over and give me a hug, too. This is my family. This is who I will always be.

But I still can't drop the thought of Mike. What if he had been my family? We surely would have been more than friends if we both had survived.

But I can't think of the "what if's". Right now I have to think about my future, not my past.

And who knows? Maybe somehow they'll figure out in the future how to bring dead people back to life. Maybe then they can bring Mike back to me.