Thanks for the awesome reviews! They all inspired me to update! Please enjoy this new chapter.
I wake up and stretch my arms. I look at the clock hanging on the wall. It's 6'o clock. Great. Guess I'll be an early bird today. I feel my leather jacket hugging my arms. I take it off and toss it on the unused pillow to my left. Even though it's still early, I decide to take a shower.
The walls of the shower surround me after I've stripped my clothing off. The wall in front of me is covered with plenty of multi-colored buttons. With every button being a different shade, I'm confused and somewhat afraid of what will rain down on me. I press random buttons until I finally get the hang of it. When I'm done I get out and step onto the mat that triggers hot air to dry my hair.
There's a soft velvety folded neatly and hanging on the rack. I grab it and wrap myself. Fortunately for me, the closet contains clothes that fit my taste. If it was filled with clothes that Morraina would wear on a daily basis, I'd rather just wear my reaping clothes repeatedly. The trend of the clothing varies, offering each female in this train something to wear.
A touchpad installed onto the wall of the closet helps me control the closet. The clothes spin in a circular motion at a slow place and the settings of the touchpad allow you to zoom in on a specific blouse, much like a preview. I choose a grey t-shirt with the Panem seal printed on it, and green camo pants to go along. Since the boots my mother got match my outfit, I choose to wear it again.
I tie my hair up and walk out of my room with a plan of exploring the whole train, curious to know what else there is to it.
Axin is sitting on a stool helping himself to champagne in what I'm assuming is the bar car. "What are you doing up this early?" he questions.
"I should be asking you the same thing. Most importantly, why are you drinking in the morning?" I simply just answered his question with a question.
"The alcohol helps wake me up." He says, taking a sip from the elegant glass.
"More like put you to sleep." I mutter. Good thing he doesn't hear me.
"I love the outfit." he gestures to what I'm wearing.
"Thanks. Enjoy your morning champagne" I say and walk out.
I step into the dining car. Avoxes are posted at every corner. Do they ever sleep? If so, I wonder how they do it. I ask one to serve me breakfast. She places a plate full of cinnamon rolls, fruits, sausage, and bread topped with goat cheese in front of me.
The door slides open. Cashmere and Axin step in just as I'm about to pick up the sausage. Axin doesn't look surprised to see me, but Cashmere does.
"Well, someone got an early start." She says cheerily.
I continue to eat until I scrape my plate clean. Gloss comes in while I'm asking a different Avox to put more food with a smaller portion. He obviously still looks tired, and asks the nearest avox for coffee. Beryl arrives and stabs a bite size roll from one of the tureens with her claw and pops it into her mouth. I'm halfway done with my second serving when Evan arrives, and that's when the discussion begins.
"Find any potential allies?" asks Beryl, looking at her claws.
"I want both from 2, and the boy from 4. Not sure about the girl, though." I speak for the two of us.
"Don't make assumptions yet. Wait until training. If she proves that she's worthy of the alliance, team up with her." Gloss replies.
"I agree. We shouldn't underestimate her. Who knows what she is capable of?" Evan says.
A tiny bit of annoyance mixed with anger rushes through me. The fact that he volunteered, and messed up my whole plan of winning causes my blood to boil. Evan is my friend; he knew I wanted to partake in the games. Now that he has volunteered, I don't know what to do. I don't know if I should kill him, or leave it to someone else to do it. I made a promise to his mother that I'll try and keep him safe, but sometimes promises are just meant to be broken.
"I'm not underestimating her. I just think that she doesn't look like the killing type." I snap.
"Good, because in the games, never underestimate nor overestimate your enemies." Axin says in a matter-of-fact tone.
"He's right. In my games, the skinny thirteen year old girl from eight turned out to be lying. In my victory interview, when Caesar played the clip of the games, I saw that she teamed up with most of the tributes just to slit their throats when they were asleep." Cashmere says.
"How did you win?" Evan asked. Idiot. Everyone, except for him, sitting at this table knows what she had to do and Cashmere's answer proves me right.
"Same way they did." She answers, gesturing to the other victors. Evan raises his eyebrows and Cashmere notices.
"Eliminating the others. Killing."
The train stops and Morraina comes in. "Good morning, everyone. We've come to a fuel stop. You may go outside and take a breath of fresh air!" she squeaks. My eyes won't leave her maroon wig. I even watch as it bounces when she walks.
Taking Morraina's suggestion, I go outside. Unaware of where we are, and what kind of wild animals may lie near, I take two butter knives with me before I step out.
From the sight of lush trees, I'm guessing we've stopped on the outskirts of district seven. I hear footsteps behind me and turn to see who it is.
"Nice out here, huh?" Evan says while scanning the area. I feel like lunging at him and ripping his throat out with my hands, but I contain myself.
"Why did you volunteer?" I blurt out.
He looks around again, trying to avoid my question.
"I know you heard me. Answer." I demand harshly.
"Maybe I want to win, too" He looks me in the eyes as he says this.
"You're only seventeen! Why couldn't you just wait until next year! You know I've wanted to volunteer ever since we first met, and you've decided to screw it all up!" I yell.
"You know what Amethine. You're so selfish, you-"
"Selfish! Excuse me? How am I selfish? You know what, I think I'm going to have to break that promise I made to your mother." I spit venomously.
"What promise?" He asks, confusion clearly in his voice.
"About keeping you safe; teaming up with you. But I guess since I'm selfish, I'm not going to. The games are about killing your way to victory, and that's exactly what I'm going to do." I hiss, stomping off back to the train.
"Even if it means killing you." I add. I don't bother seeing his expression, and once I step into the train, my mentors know something is wrong.
"What happened?" the question comes from Gloss.
"Nothing. Nothing happened." I take a seat.
"We know everything, Amethine." Beryl smirks.
"What do you mean?"
"You planned on volunteering your whole life and the fact that one of your close friends volunteered, angers you." Axin says.
"Also, we're good friends with Glen, your spear throwing trainer. He always talks about how you get excited to volunteer and how you threaten other girls who planned on volunteering." Says Gloss.
"Well, I have every right to be mad. Evan knows how much this means to me and he ruined it." I say.
"Wait. Speaking of Evan, where is he?" Cashmere asks.
"He's still outside."
"You're right. You have every right to be angry, but the question is, is it worth it?" Beryl inquires.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"Do you want to spend his last moments being mad at him?" Cashmere asks.
"What do you mean 'his last moments'?" I ask.
"Amethine, this is the games. Only one person can live, and well, we've all decided that it's going to be you." Axin informs me. I look at all their grinning faces and try to replay the whole conversation over again.
Until finally, I realize what they mean. They have favored me over Evan, and I'm the tribute that they're going to help keep alive.
Ooooh, what's this? The mentors chose to help keep Amethine alive when she enters the arena? Let me know what you think in a review. Also, who's your favorite mentor?