Chapter Seven

The next day, I eat breakfast without talking to Finnick. I no longer plan on keeping an eye on Mason, but I do it anyway. For some reason, I can't seem to blame him. He's just trying to stay alive. This was Finnick. This wasn't Mason.

We arrive at the gymnasium exactly at ten, and are instantly flagged down by One and Two. Ceaser tosses me a sword. I bounce it in my hands. It's much heavier than a trident, and it's a lot harder to control. But with Ceaser's assistance, halfway through the day, I'm chopping off dummy heads and hitting them almost directly in the heart. I'm sure it's just because I'm still angry with Finnick, and I imagine his face plastered on each of the dummies.

At lunch, we discuss our plan of attack at the cornucopia. I tell them that I'm quick, and I am. Valarie says the same. Ceaser claims to be quick on his feet, but I've seen him run, and he's actually rather slow. I have seen Rory run, and he's faster than Ceaser by a long shot. I stay silent as Ceaser suggests a plan. All of us need to get to the cornucopia as quick as possible and pick up whatever weapons we can find. Swords, knives, bows and arrows, tridents, and backpacks. I mention that if someone finds an axe, they should grab it just for good measure so that we can get to Birch before Birch can get to us.

After lunch, we race through obstacle courses. I come out first every time. I make sure the only thing they see of me is that I'm quick. When Atala dismisses us at the end of the day, I "miss" the elevators that have taken the other twenty three tributes to their floors. Atala is absent, but the gamemakers are still sitting there, watching.

I decide to give them a show. I pick up a trident for the first time in days, and drag dummies around me in a circle. Checking once more to be sure the room is clear, I begin assault after assault on the five dummies.

I use the base to jab one in the eye before quickly jabbing at the one behind me's heart. Two of them are down.

I knock one in the neck, making him fall, and stabbing him in the heart. Two more to go.

I kick one over with my foot and stab him in the heart before quickly rounding to the last one and stabbing him twice. For good measure.

When I look up, the gamemakers are all staring at me. I smirk, put a finger to my lips, curtsey, place the trident in it's spot, and get in the elevator. I'm utterly proud of myself, but I don't know why I did it. It was gutsy. I wonder if someone's ever done that before. Performing for the gamemakers before our private session where we're meant to.

The smirk on my face is undeniable when I step out of the elevator to see Eudora, Mags, and Finnick talking on the couches. "What's with you, Starfish?"

"Oh, I just performed for the gamemakers." I say causally, sliding on the empty couch across from Finnick and adjacent to Eudora and Mags.

"You did what?!" Eudora asks, shocked and clearly confused. Finnick says nothing, but his eyebrows are stitched together.

I shrug, "I gave them what they wanted. I gave them a show." I retell my questionably illegal presentation to the gamemakers. When I'm finished, they simply sit in silence. "Was it illegal?" I question, now nervous from their silent responses.

"I-I'm not sure. I don't think it's ever happened before," Finnick places his hand on his forehead and looks at Mags. She simply shakes her head. "Well, if it's never happened before, they can't penalize you for it I don't suppose." He attempts to brighten the situation. I may have just sealed myself a death wish in the arena, so I whisper –now frightened- that I'm going to head off to my room to take a shower and clear my head.

Walking into my room and shutting the door, I pull off my clothes and toss them on the floor. I walk to the shower, push a few buttons, and am greeted with warm jets and lilac scent taking away my sweat along with my worries and fears.

I need to calm down. What's the worst they can do? Kill me? They're already planning my death as we speak, so there's no reason to worry about it.

When I come out of the shower and head to the closet to get an outfit in just my underwear, I don't notice Finnick sitting on my bed. Only when I begin to pull on a pair of pants do I see him staring at the ground and knotting some rope. I quickly button the pants and pull on a top before sitting down on the floor in front of him.

Watching him knot the rope calms me, but when he looks up at me, he almost looks distressed. "You know what I said last night wasn't the least bit true, right?" It's strange to see Finnick this way. Right now, he doesn't look like he killed people and won the Hunger Games. He looks like a scared and frightened fourteen year old boy whose name was drawn to compete in the Hunger Games.

"What are you talking about Finnick?" Last night had been a disaster, but why did he want to talk about it. I just want to put it behind me. I'd rather not think about how worthless I am in his eyes. He's silent and begins knotting his rope again. I snatch it from him. "Finnick, what the fuck are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how I don't want you to end up like me. I don't want the Capitol to own you. That's what's going to happen if you win. They're gonna take you and change you and turn you into me." He stands up and begins furiously pacing back and forth across my room. I briefly wonder if he's been drinking because I don't think he would soberly be telling me this.

"And I can't let that happen to anyone else. No. I can't. That's why I said those things last night. I was hoping that me yelling at you and scaring you would shut you down, but it didn't. It didn't dammit! Why didn't you just shut down!? But you went and performed for the gamemakers, and now I don't know what the hell will happen!" His hands are clutching his hair, and he's back on the bed with his elbows on his knees.

Without really meaning to, I find myself beside him on the bed and rubbing my hand across his back. "I know you can win, Capri, but I'm just scared for you."

"I know, Finnick, but I can handle whatever the hell they throw at me." The words are more for his comfort than mine because now I'm scared as hell.

A/N: Once again, I hope you all are enjoying this story. Thank you to everyone who commented, favorite, and followed since the last update. I don't have an excuse for updating so late other than that I forgot and haven't been writing as much as I used to, so I want to space it out a little more and give me a little more time to get ahead.

If you don't like something about my story, I would love to know what it is. Please leave a review about what you do and don't like about what I'm writing so that I can get better. Thank you and have a splendid day!