• Athena Spring has spent her entire life carefully curating the perfect image. Perfect grades, a proud family, and the Plinth Prize nearly within her grasp, Athena has it all. However, when her plans are derailed by an unexpected twist of events, s...
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Athena watches with a mixture of envy and disdain as Coriolanus Snow leads his tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, to the front of the cage. The cameras are already rolling, capturing every moment of their arrival at the Capitol Zoo. Lucky Flickerman, the flamboyant host of this year's Hunger Games, waits for them with a microphone and a dazzling smile.
She won't allow Coriolanus to outdo her again. She quickly turns around, eyes meeting with her tribute's. He had already wandered off to sit on a rock beside Lamina and is now staring at Athena as she hastily approaches.
She clenches her teeth as she watches Treech fiddle with a twig he had found on the ground, apparently trying to distract himself from the television crew. She knows they are running out of time. The cameras are rolling and the audience is waiting for some drama, some spark, some reason to care about them. But he's oblivious. He doesn't seem to understand the importance of this moment for Athena, she needs him to show the Capitol that he's a tribute worth watching. He just stares and hums to himself, occasionally glancing between the twig and his mentor's exasperated face. As she walks over, she cannot help but feel an almost hatred towards him, hatred towards his nonchalance that could cost her entire future. Above all, what gnaws at her the most is the fact he's almost making her feel guilty for using him.
Athena decides to take matters into her own hands as she reaches the rock. She grabs his arm and roughly pulls him to his feet (a move that surprises him greatly), glancing at the cameras and urgently whispering in his ear, "I need you to talk to them, come on".
But Treech doesn't cooperate. He pulls away from her with a slightly disgusted expression and shakes his head. He's stunned by her entitlement, she's treating him like a dog meant to respond to her every call.
"And why exactly would I wanna do that?" he hisses quietly, glaring down at her as his temper begins to rise.
"Because this is your chance to get people to like you," Athena replies, frowning at him as if he's stupid, "We might not have an opportunity like this again!"
Treech huffs out an irritated laugh, raising his eyebrows and jeering, "Oh, so there's a we now? What happened to the girl at the train station who was all sweetness to me?"
Athena feels a surge of fury at her tribute calling her out like that. She wants to slap him, to scream at him, to find a way to make him listen. His ignorance has her temper teetering on a precipice.
She glances over to Coriolanus and Lucy Gray who are engaged in an enthusiastic conversation with Lucky. When Athena sees Coriolanus' warm smile and laughter at Lucy Gray, she realises that, as much as it pains her to admit, Coriolanus has the right idea. She can't boss her tribute around like a dog, she can't control him. Perhaps she just needs to maintain that... sweetness.
She takes a deep breath and tries again, making an effort to soften her tone as she carefully pleads, "Treech, please, trust me. I'm your mentor and I really do want to help you," she lies through her teeth, continuing, "I'm sorry I've been so harsh about it, but I mean what I say. Getting these people to root for you could end up saving your life!"
