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AVANI STAYED COOPED UP IN HER ROOM FOR HOURS, CRYING OVER PRODUCTS IN THE BATHROOM FLOOR. Seeing her dad like that for the first time, hopeless... it ruined her. She organized the products by color, then alphabetical, then by color backwards, then by usage, and now she was working on how many times the letter e appeared on the label.
Why her? Of all the girls in the District? Of all the names in the bowl? Why did the Capitol decide they could take her life away? Reduce her father to ashes? Kill her with no consequence? Let's be honest; Avani was not going to survive the Hunger Games. Not with the Careers, not with whatever twist the gamemakers were throwing in for the Quarter Quell. She was going to be nothing more than a statistic, a name on a list, another kid gone before their lives even started.
And her dad would be alone.
Why him? Why them?
She was jolted out of her thoughts by a light knock on her door. She dried her tears and finished putting away the products, rising from the floor and glancing at her woefully red eyes in the mirror. "Yes?"
"Can I come in?"
To her surprise, it was Katniss's voice, not Effie's. After she massaged her under eyes for a moment to at least try and not look like an emotional disaster, she replied:
"Yeah,"
She heard the door slide open with a hiss, so she came out of the bathroom. Katniss had changed into some pajamas now, large pants and a long-sleeve t-shirt, and her hair was un-braided and in long waves down her back. She smiled sheepishly as she closed the door behind her. Avani smiled sheepishly back, and a moment of silence came and went.
"I really like your pin," Katniss commented harmlessly, walking over toward Avani's huge bed and taking a seat on the very bottom edge. Avani glanced down at the gleaming Raven that still sat on her shoulder.
"Thanks. The mayor's son gave it to me. For his sister," Avani supplied, walking over to her bed and sitting down a few feet from Katniss.
The older girl smiled fondly, pulling out the long-sleeve of her t-shirt to reveal the Mockingjay pin on the inside. "What is yours, a crow?"
"Raven," Avani corrected, pulling her legs up into a criss-cross position and covering her lap with her dress. "He said it was the bird of death. That you started something and... I needed to keep it going."
Avani turned to look at her, and their blue gazes met for a few moments.
"I don't think I can do it, Katniss," She admitted quietly, glancing back down at her hands. "I'm not as strong as you are. To fight other kids or... the Capitol."
Katniss's gaze softened, and she looked away. "I didn't think I could do it, either."
Avani glanced over at her. Katniss had a small, warm smile playing on her lips, and she looked back over at Avani, black hair brushing over her shoulders.
