The Hunger Games has been proven to test everyone's virtue, not just the young and unfortunate kids plucked from their districts and thrown into the arena. Venus Hummingstill has never cracked under pressure. Regardless of everything being stripped...
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The following day would prove to be more stressful than Venus or Coriolanus imagined.
The girl had awoken that morning early, suffering no sleep as she stared at the stars. Whenever she felt guilt, she could never rest long, or eat for that matter. She thought it was her body's way of punishing her for what she was doing. The fact that she only participated in this year's Games because Dr. Gaul forced her.
Everything she was doing for Dill, every piece of food, medicine, it was all to save herself.
As much as she tried to convince herself she was doing the right thing, her insomnia would remind her that her spirit was unsettled.
The mentors were responsible for conducting interviews with their tributes this day. Learning more about their family lives, jobs, schooling, and anything else that might make the Capitol want to care about them prior to entering the Arena. Venus took a stand in the audience of the lecture hall. Her stomach so in knots that she chose not to eat this morning, not even the breakfast the Academy served.
She stared down at her hands, so desperately craving to chew on her nails in her time of anxiousness. The room was steady filling with voices, students arriving in from breakfast and chatting amongst themselves. Venus questioned how everyone could be so careless about the Games. Laughing and chatting as if they wouldn't be interviewing kids who would be slaughtered before the week was over.
They were District, so no one saw them as anything worth saving.
"Good Morning, Venus."
She heard the voice behind her, deep and assertive. It was like he lived to taunt her. After his actions last night he simply strides in the room like everything was normal? Like he did nothing wrong? Venus wasn't sure what game he was playing with her but he could go play it anywhere else, she didn't tolerate it.
"Coriolanus." She said, not looking in his direction. She glanced straight ahead at anything but him.
The boy lingered around, his mind racing as he tried to find something else to say before deciding against it. He nodded to himself, confused as to why Venus was being colder than normal. Firmly, he stood in his place next to her while surveying the layout of the space below them. The main floor had been converted to a space secure enough to house everyone's tribute. A marble table spaced evenly for everyone to sit with their mentor.
Too distracted in examining the room, Venus cut her eyes at Coryo. A look of intensity so jarring that even her blink might be able to kill him on impact. His mere presence, the scent of those god awful roses he smelled like, everything about him sent her into a blinding rage.
And why was he standing next to her? Didn't he know that she was upset with him? Didn't he care that he had made her feel less than? Unimportant?!
Of course not, she thought. He only cares about her.
