Chapter 12

NARRATOR | Evelyn Tan, District 4

I stare at the ceiling of my bedroom, lying flat across my giant mattress. Next to me, Declan continues on one of his tangents. One thing I've learned about my District partner since I met him is that his mind never stops working. That leaves me with two options - force Declan to keep his thoughts to himself and implode, or speak them out to me in a constant stream. I've opted for the second choice - at least I've learned a lot from him in such a short period of time.

With nothing else to do, Declan and I have spent most of our time in the Capitol in each other's rooms, talking about our favorite places on Four or the annoying laugh of Marcella, our Capitol escort. Right now, Declan is rambling about the other tributes.

"Tomorrow will be crucial," he says, adjusting his glasses on his nose. "Everyone trained with their District partners today, pretty much. Tomorrow I'll get a good look at who's sticking together."

"Any ideas about who Safira or Judah could choose?" I ask, turning to Declan. "Griff said they'll probably start approaching people tomorrow."

"It's hard to tell," Declan sighs. "The most likely people are the strongest ones. Corbin, Violet, Vinny. Who knows, though."

We're interrupted by a knock at my door. I hop from the bed, unlocking the door and swinging it open. Standing on the other side is Declan's mentor, Griff.

"There you are," he sighs. "I checked Declan's room and was worried."

I let Griff into the room, jumping back onto the bed.

"The Trainers have started to release statements to the press about training," Griff says, crossing his arms over his chest. "They're saying that this group of tributes is one of the strongest in a while, and they think that this could be the tightest battle we've seen in years."

Declan groans. "That's what I was thinking, everyone is so evenly matched that-"

Griff holds his hand out, silencing Declan. "I'm not done," he says, an amused smile growing on his lips. "Let me get this out, and then I want to hear what you have to say."

Declan nods with an apologetic look on his face.

"I've been mentoring tributes in these Games for a long time," Griff says. "There are two effective strategies that can get tributes far. If the Games only have a few strong tributes, the most effective strategy is to form a small group of tributes - two or three - who can survive together as the strong tributes pick off the weak. That wouldn't be useful in this case, though. You both could be wiped out by the first tributes you meet in the Arena."

"The other strategy is useful in an Arena with many strong tributes. In that case, a tribute should bind together with strong allies who can protect them in the Arena against the others."

"So you want us to get close with one of the stronger tributes," I summarize. Griff nods at my assessment.

"People will be grappling to get into strong alliances tomorrow," he predicts. "I'm not the only one who follows these strategies, so lots of kids will be trying to buddy up with strong tributes. The two of you aren't weak by any means, so it's possible that weaker tributes will even approach you."

I nod; Griff glances at Declan, giving him permission to speak.

"The odds are not good for us," Declan says, "but I think we just have to think about all of our options and make the right choice. I don't know if Evelyn and I can survive on our own, so we'll have to work tomorrow to bond with some of the others."

"It's much harder to kill people you like," Griff shrugs. "Just a thought. Talk it over tonight, maybe. I just wanted to pass that on to you if you want a better chance of survival in the Games."

"Thanks, Griff," I say. "How's Georgina doing?"

"She's holding up," Griff says with a curt nod. "She's going through a lot, you know. It's hard enough to come back here as a mentor, but with all of this stuff from her past Games coming back up, she's struggling. The Capitol is dragging her history back into the spotlight, and I think she would like it to be left in the past."

I understand what Griff's saying, but I still can't quite forgive Georgina for the position she's put me in. She's supposed to be my mentor, just like how Griff is Declan's. Ever since the Reaping, though, she's been a total trainwreck. I guess Violet's brother was in the same Games as her, and so was Safira's sister. Still, she has a commitment to me as her tribute, and she's failed me so far. Griff has been forced to mentor both Declan and me; that's been fine so far since we've mostly stuck together as a pair, but who knows if I'll need Georgina down the line.

"Okay," I sigh. "Hopefully she'll feel better soon."

Griff nods, bidding us goodnight and slipping out of the room.

"Alliances, huh," I say, turning to Declan. "I'm sure you have thoughts on that."

"So many variables have to come into play," Declan says, squinting a bit as he focuses on his train of thought. "Who do we get along with, and who can protect us in the Arena? Also, who wouldn't betray us later on?"

"Give me your number one," I tell him. I already know what I'm thinking, but I want to hear my partner's feelings before I share them.

"You know it's Violet," Declan sighs. "She's the only one we trained with today. We already have a bond. But still... something about it doesn't feel right. She volunteered herself to be here just to kill someone. What if we get on her bad side and she goes crazy on us?"

"If she'll act that way against people who cross her, the best thing is for us to stay close to her," I argue. "We have no reason to betray her in any way, and she can keep us alive until the end of the Games. She was alone for most of the day - we were the only ones she even talked to. We're her best options, and she's the most likely to stay loyal to us in the Arena."

"I don't know," Declan mumbles. "I mean, it's your choice. I get my lines tangled sometimes, so maybe I'm just overthinking it. If you feel like we can trust her, I'll follow you."

"I believe it," I assure my partner. "We had fun with her in training today, right? I thought we got along great."

"You have similar personalities," Declan notes carefully, "but that shouldn't be our deciding factor. I guess you're right, though. We already have a bond with Violet. If that's enough to take us far in the Games, it's worth a shot."

"Good," I sigh. "That's decided. I'll talk to Violet tomorrow."

"Just remember," Declan says. "Violet wants to win. She's hungry for it, and I think she'll do whatever it takes to get there."

I just nod. I know this is our best chance - if we don't do this, we'll be screwed. Violet is our only hope. Eventually, even Declan will see that.