Chapter 11

Petronius awoke before the sun had even come up. A familiarly pretty blond lady, not much older than him, was standing at the foot of his bed, holding a silver tablet. "Time to wake up, Petro," his stylist said in a singsong voice. "Today's the day!"

Petronius mumbled something unintelligible about sleeping in, and then asked, "The day of what?" Juno rolled her eyes and helped him out of bed.

She led him and a sleepy-looking Augusta, also in her pajamas, to the elevator. They rode up and emerged on the roof, where there was a hovercraft waiting to pick them up. Petronius placed his hands and feet on the rungs, and the electric current froze him into place. When he was pulled inside the hovercraft, a woman came and injected a tracker into his arm, then moved on to Augusta. They were released, and Juno led them both into a small dining room. Petronius was strangely calm, and tried to eat as much as he could. Augusta did not eat anything save a pancake and a glass of orange juice.

"Try to eat, Augusta," said Petronius as he stuffed another waffle down his throat, washing it down with a swig of milk.

She didn't meet his eyes. "I'm not hungry."

"This food might save your life in the arena," he said. "See, I'm eating."

"You're always eating."

He realized her valid point and nodded. "True."

"I'm too nervous for food." That was one thing Petronius liked about Augusta. She wasn't afraid to speak what she felt.

"Well," Juno interjected, "who wouldn't be?" Then she cast a meaningful glance at Petronius and added, "No offense."

"None taken," said the boy as he reached for the syrup and another waffle. "I'm a growing boy. I need a lot of food."

Augusta and Juno exchanged a glance. The younger girl shrugged.

After about an hour, the windows blacked out and Juno led Petronius and Augusta to the ladders. Petronius went down first, and sometime during the journey from the underground tube to the Launch Room he realized that Augusta was no longer with him and Juno. His stylist explained that Augusta was going with her own personal stylist, and that the next time Petronius would see her would be in the arena. He did not find this particularly comforting.

In his Launch Room, Juno helped him shower, clean his teeth, and dress. He was slightly uncomfortable at the prospect of being helped bathed by a woman, but they both knew it was protocol during the Hunger Games. When Juno stepped back, she showed him his own reflection in a full length mirror.

Definitely a forest arena, Petronius thought as he examined himself. He was wearing dark brown cargo pants, a black t-shirt, a camouflage jacket, and a leather belt. On his feet were boots that looked fit for either hiking or running.

"You look ready to go," said Juno. "Now all we have to do now is wait."

They waited.

It couldn't have been long enough.

It wasn't.

When the polite voice over the loudspeakers told them that it was time for launch, Petronius immediately stood up. He sat down just as fast, because his legs felt like gelatin. He was literally shaking, partly from the cup of coffee that he had inhaled earlier but mostly from nerves. Seeing his discomfort, Juno knelt in front of him and took his hand.

"Look, I know this is going to be outright terrifying," she said in a low voice, "but you have to go." Petronius only gulped over the lump in his throat and nodded. "Remember what Katniss told you. Run away from the Cornucopia. Find water as fast as you can. Food comes next; maybe you can build a snare. Then you can find weapons."

"Katniss never told me that," Petronius said.

"Well, I'm telling you now," replied Juno determinedly. "They're going to have a sword there. Don't go for it, okay? You'll just be killed."

Petronius nodded, and Juno gave a weak smile. "Hey," she said. "It's okay. You're going to make it out alive. I have faith in you."

He could only nod again. She grasped his hand and helped him up, steadying him on her shoulders as his knees wobbled. "Juno," he said in a small voice, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but… I'm scared."

She tried to smile again. "I know. But you're brave, too. I know you are. You just have to find that courage."

And then, unexpectedly and impulsively, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Good luck. Find a way out, and we might just see each other again."

Petronius could barely breathe as she guided him into the Launch Tube. And it was hardly from fear.

This breathlessness of happiness changed into the breathlessness of uncontrollable terror when the glass doors closed. Frantically, he looked back at Juno. She gave only a small, weak smile, and then hung her head.

Petronius's world, reduced down to a glass cylinder barely large enough to let him move, was then plunged into darkness.

Remember, dear reader, Petronius had many phobias. Claustrophobia was one of them. Not to mention that this small space led to an arena where he might likely die. To prevent the oncoming hysteria, he squeezed his eyes shut and hugged himself in his own arms. He had forgotten completely that this tube would be going outside into the arena, with twenty-three other tributes and dozens of cameras, but he didn't care at the moment.

He knew he was out in the arena when he felt the sunlight on his cheeks, followed by a gust of crisp wind. A millisecond after the realization struck, a loud voice announced over the speakers,

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Capitol, let the Seventy-sixth Hunger Games begin!"

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Moral of the story: REVIEW.