Chapter 61:

Delmar Ulla, District Four, Age 18

Victor of the 136th Hunger Games

There are only three reasons Delmar can think about why he would be called to Iona's office. The first would be that he got caught causing some trouble doing stupid shit with his friends – which, of course, is a good possibility. The second reason would be kicking him out of the training center – which, again, could be possible, but seemed unlikely considering the few numbers left in his year and the even fewer who have stuck around to become trainers. And the third is the most far-fetched of them all: asking him to volunteer.

And considering the volunteers are chosen already and Delmar's ranking is firmly at fourth place, that's definitely not the reason why he's standing outside her office now.

Delmar takes a deep breath before putting on an easy smile and knocking on her door. It takes only a second for Iona to call out to him to come in, and he smiles at her as he opens the door. "Ms. Lamonte, hello, and whatever Milo said, I didn't do it."

"This isn't about Milo," Iona replies, the corners of her mouth twitching a little as she holds back a smile. But it soon fades when she sighs and gestures towards him. "Shut the door and take a seat, please."

"Of course," Delmar says as he does what she asked before slowly sinking down into the chair across from her. He watches her tap her pen on the notepad in front of her for a few seconds, noticing the many crossed off things on it, before she notices and flips to a new page that's indented from the force of her pen on the previous page. "Ma'am, I don't mean to be rude, but why did you call me in here today?"

Iona sets down her pen at that and folds her hands on the desk in front of her as she leans towards him, keeping her gaze fixed on him. He can't help but feel a little nervous at that, knowing that every other time she's looked at him like that, he was getting in trouble for some dumb shit. "I'm surprised you haven't heard yet, honestly. I didn't think Revazi would keep his stupid mouth shut, but I guess Okeanas tearing him a new one would do that."

Delmar just silently raises his eyebrows at that, slowly starting to piece together just what might be going on. But, Revazi was number one in the rankings, and he's number four… "What about Conrad and Pravin?" he asks quietly, slowly sitting back in his chair as he grabs the arms of it, picking at a spot of cracked leather that has revealed the cotton stuffing underneath.

"A bunch of fucking cowards," Iona says quickly, surprising Delmar from her actually swearing in front of him. But, if he's to be a trainer now, maybe things are different. Unless… "Let me just get to the point. I need you to be the volunteer, Delmar."

"Me?" Delmar asks, dumbfounded by that. He always knew for the last few years that he wouldn't be the volunteer when he couldn't break into the top three spots that kept fluctuating each assessment. And he was okay with that, accepting that he could at least have a good paying job when it was all done by sticking in the training center, enough to get his mother off his back about finding something else to do with his life. But this…this is just not what he expected when he was summoned to her office today. "I'm sorry, I'm confused. Why me? Surely there's better options than me."

"At this point, I've considered everyone in the top ten of your year," Iona sighs quietly as she flips back to the original notepad page and turns it around before pushing it towards him. He leans forward to look at it, able to read the names crossed off from it – along with his circled a few times. "And I think – no, I know – you're our best option to get us the win that the others feel we're never going to get at this point. They don't want to be the face of a dying career academy."

"Why are they saying that?" Delmar asks as he takes the notepad off the desk and leans back in the chair, struggling to wrap his head around the fact that they want him to be the volunteer out of everyone in the top ten. Looking at the names, he knows there's trainees with better skills than him, smarter trainees, ones who might actually win. But him…? He just isn't sure… "You really believe I could win?"

"I know you can," Iona says, giving him an encouraging smile that Delmar tentatively returns. "And…they say that because they're right. We haven't had a victor since I won, nearly twenty years ago…while One and Two keeps winning and winning… We've lost hope from a lot of our victors and now the trainees."

"Well not anymore," Delmar says, tossing the notepad back on the desk and sitting up straighter. He always liked Iona – way more than Okeanas, that's for sure. She always seemed to believe in him and gave him way more second – and third – chances than he deserved. And if he could do this for her now, help her gain back the respect she deserves… "I'll do it."

"You will?" Iona asks, her face visibly showing relief at that as she sits back in her chair. "You're not just agreeing now to back out after thinking it through for a week like Revazi did? Because if you are, I'd rather you just say it to my face now and save us both from that like Conrad – or worse, make your parent tell me like Pravin." She shakes her head at that and mutters to herself, but Delmar still hears her and smiles a little. "Spineless bastard."

"Come on, don't you know me better than that after all these years?" Delmar asks, laughing a little bit. "I know I cause trouble, but I'm at least honest to you."

"You are, which is why I ultimately chose you," Iona says, giving him a small smile before pinching her brow in worry. "Whatever any of the others might say…please don't get your hopes down about the Games. I know you can do this, I really do."

If Iona really believes in him that much…then maybe he really can do this. No, he has to do this. "I'm going to win those Games and prove them wrong for doubting you."

I got a long weekend so time to post a Memoirs! And with a very different look at Delmar compared to how he is after his Games, oof. That is what we call Emotional Damage.

Anyways, we'll see about the next update soon (and maybe even touch Renegades again lol). But, next up is my girl from Legacy so I will probably post her chapter soon!