Chapter Eight
Today was the last training session. Mason and I spent the first half of the day at plants talking our strategy. If one of us got killed, the other should leave the alliance soon afterward. But if we both felt we've spent too long in the alliance, and I've got my hands on a trident, we split from them. The two of us. Together.
After the stunt I pulled yesterday after the group training session, I know the gamemakers won't be able to resist putting a trident in front of me at the cornucopia.
Finnick told me this morning to show them my speed and my skills with knotting a net and with a trident in my private session. It's at lunch when they begin calling us out one by one. District by district. First the boy, then the girl. It starts with District 1, as always, and makes its way through until it finishes all the tributes, 12 being last.
The room empties person by person, no one returning. I guess we're just supposed to return to our floor when we're finished. Some sessions take longer than others. Ceaser's takes particularly long, while Gem's takes about half his time. I'm lucky to be going eighth, really. I'll still have the gamemaker's attention. Now I know why the outlying districts never get sponsors. The gamemakers can't keep their attention on twenty-four tributes. Unless they're something special.
When they call Mason, I whisper a "good luck" to him as he stands, and I'm left alone in a sea of people. I bring my legs up to my chest and twiddle with my fingers. I can do it. I can impress them. Surely they'll remember me from the stunt I pulled. Maybe doing that was to my advantage. Maybe.
"Capri Covell." Atala calls my name and leads me to the giant gymnasium. It seems so large when it is empty of twenty-three other tributes.
The gamemakers are already looking at me, but I state for them anyway, "Capri Covell, District 4." I start with the obstacle course, as per Finnick's instructions. I quickly run through it, and then grab rope and a trident. I sit in front of them and begin knotting a net, looking up every so often to see that I have their attention. I have it completely.
I set the net up in the camouflage station and capture a dummy. I take a few steps back and toss my trident straight at his chest. I retrieve my trident from the dummy's chest and take the remaining five dummies and place them in a circle around me. I do the same thing as yesterday. To a 'T'.
When the five dummies are splayed around me, I look up at the Gamemakers with a smile, and I curtsey. "Thank you for your time, Miss Covell," the Head Gamemaker speaks.
"No, thank you," I blow them a kiss and leave the room with a bounce in my step. I think I accomplished what I had planned. I feel on top of the world as I go into the elevator and to our floor.
"How'd it go, Starfish?" Finnick shouts from the couch when he hears the elevator ding.
I think for a moment before responding. "I think I accomplished what I meant to accomplish."
"So pretty well?" Finnick asks with a smirk as I sit down next to him on the couch across from Mags, Eudora, and Mason. I nod with a smile. Our scores will be televised live tonight. I'll have to make sure to note each tribute's score down next to their name. Not that it means much, really. Last year, a boy from Five won with a three. And often, the ones with the highest scores are seen as threats and taken out in the bloodbath. I cringe at the thought. In less than 72 hours, I'll probably have killed at least three people.
But the scores give the audience a chance to begin their betting on which tributes will win the Games. The scores range from one, being unexplainably terrible, to twelve, being unattainably perfect. I'm sure Ceaser will receive a ten, at least. Gem, Rory and Valarie will get nines at least. I'd be surprised if they got anything less. From the talk coming from Finnick, Mags, and Mason, he was aiming for a six or seven. Average. Good, but not potentially threatening. I hope that my performance today, mixed with my relatively low-key performances the other two days and this morning, will get me a seven or and eight. I don't really want any higher. Or I'll create suspicion.
For the rest of the day, we're not meant to do anything, per Eudora. But two days from now is the live interview with Ceaser, so –per Mags, and Finnick- we're preparing for our interview. We can't do much until our scores are released. So really, I'm making a fool of myself while attempting to walk back and forth through the living room in heels, per Eudora's direction. Plato apparently told her I'd be wearing ones much like these in the interviews tomorrow, so she figured I should practice. I'd almost rather fall flat on my face in front of the Capitolians and give them a good laugh.
By the fifth time that I've stumbled and fallen on the ground, I let out a groan, cross my arms, and pout, hoping that they won't make me do it again. I hear a roar of laughter coming from Finnick's direction and a huff of disapproval from Eudora's direction. Eudora walks over to me. I have a new respect for her. I have no idea how she walks in these stupid things.
She extends a hand and helps me up from the ground. "You were walking longer that time. It actually wasn't terrible until you fell."
I know she's just trying to look on the positive side. I'm terrible at this, and if I'm able to walk on and off stage tomorrow night, it will be a miracle.
My fingernails are driving into my legs. We've eaten dinner, and now we're waiting to see our scores. Ceaser and Valarie both got tens. Rory and Gem got nines. Three both got sixes. Career Tributes usually fall within the eight-to-ten range, but Mason got a seven, which still is really good. They're congratulating him when a ten flashes on the screen beside my face.
I didn't want a ten. I'm meant to stay low-key. I can't "keep low" with a ten. I try to look on the positive side. I put on a smile as Finnick and Mags and Eudora and Willa and Plato all congratulate me. At least I'll get sponsors with a ten. And my allies will actually think I'm capable of something. That I'm not completely and utterly useless.
I don't want to do this. I can't do this. I can't. All these people think that I can kill people. I can't kill anyone. I can't do it. I can't do what they think I'm capable of. I can't. I can't. I can't. I'm on the roof in seconds. My sobs break through the barrier I had built. I can't kill these people. I can't. They have families and lovers and friends and lives to go back to just as much as I do.
Finnick was right. I can't do this.
My body is lying against the cold, marble ground. My mouth is emitting gaudy noises. I sound like I'm dying. I'm not, but I might as well be. I wish there wasn't a force field.
Gloss was right. It would be easier.
I see the appeal that I've never seen before. I blame it on the fact that I'm scared, but really I'm just a coward. That's all I am. A coward. I can pretend to be strong all day long, but I'm not. I'm weak. I feel arms around me picking me up from the ground and taking me somewhere. Then we're sitting on what, I can only assume, is a bench. I can't tell. I'm still sobbing.
Everyone in Four was wrong. I can't do this. I don't understand why they thought I could do this. Nonetheless win. I never went through the Academy. There are plenty people in Four that do, but I certainly wasn't one of them.
I want to see Henry. I want to see my dad. I want to see Paige. I want to see Sara. I want to go back to Four. I need to go back to Four. I will go back to Four. I will. I have to.
As I'm calming down, I hear my name being called every few moments. Not really called as much as whispered. A whisper that brings me back. It calls me back to where I am. I'm in the Capitol. I'm on the roof of the Training Center. In less than two days, we have interviews with Ceaser Flickerman, and then the next morning we go into the arena. I'm from District Four. I'm Capri Covell. I'm strong, and I can win.
The voice lulls me back to life. It's whispering comforting words in my ears. If I'm already falling apart, I don't want to know what I'll be like after the arena. After the arena. Because I'm going to make it out. I will.
"Capri, c'mon Starfish," silence, "You gotta snap out of it. You can make it, Starfish. You can make it." Silence. "I know you can, but you've got to pull through these last few days." Silence. "You've got to."
I look up and see Finnick's face. I try not to think about what Henry would do if he saw me right now. In the arms of the Capitol's golden boy. "Knew you could do it, Starfish," he whispers and a smile appears on his face. "You wanna talk about it?"
It takes me a moment. I should tell him. He'll be able to help me. But I don't want to. I hate feeling weak. I hate it. And explaining it to others only makes me feel even more so. But I need to talk about it. That's the only way it can ever get better. I don't give his question an answer. Instead, I begin talking about my mom.
"When I was younger, I would get scared at night. I hated being alone in the dark, so my mom would sing to me to help me fall asleep. She would tell me to listen to the ocean outside as she sung to me. It always put me to sleep, right away. I guess it made me think she was there with me even when I was asleep."
"Sing it for me," Finnick instructs me.
Without really thinking, I sing the words I haven't heard sung in years.
"Hear the water flow, never mind the cold
The ship is sound, you're safe here in the hold.
Arctic birds and rain fly overhead,
Rocking boats and oceans for your bed.
"Have you seen the emerald greens and deep dark turquoise
Shimmering weeds swaying in the flow?
Elegant driftwood bones embrace you,
Glimmering fish hook eyes below.
"I promise you I won't ever let you go,
Although the waters rise and the cold winds blow.
Silver shapes that swim circles round your bed
Whisper liquid dreams to your sleepy head."
"C'mon, Starfish," Finnick stands and leads me to the elevator. "You need your rest for tomorrow." I realize how tired I am once I'm back on the fourth floor of the Training Center. Eudora tries to get me to talk about it, but I just walk back to my room. I don't even bother changing. I simply get in bed and pull the sheets around me.
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 because I have been glued to Netflix.
f 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!
The song Capri sings is 'Ocean Lullaby' by Zulya and the Children of the Underground. If you search that, you can go to their website and listen to the song for free. I like it, and it will be used later in the story as well.