Star girl | 1

• Let The Games Begin •

I groaned and rolled out of the bed when I heard the knocking on the door. I glanced at the window, which had light streaming in from behind the curtains and walked over to the door. I opened it and was greeted with Feather smiling at me.

“Good morning, sweetheart. Time to get up, you have much to do today!” She cheerfully says, beaming at me.

“Oh.” I say quietly, forcing a smile as I nod, and she walks down the hallway. I turn to get Cyrus up and dressed for the day of our funeral.

***

I walk down the hallways with Feather. She hums a soft tune that sounds familiar, though I can't place where I've heard it before. I hum along with the tune as we enter a room and she stops at the door, giving me a sad smile.

“I’m gonna miss you, Feather.” I choke out, my voice barely louder than a whisper. Feather seems to be holding back tears as I hug her.

“Then make it your best effort to be back here at the end of it, Star.” She says quietly before taking something from her pocket and handing it to me.

The small star charm in the middle of the bracelet shines in the sunlight beaming down from above us and I feel tears rolling down my face. I hug her once more and she pulls back after a moment, closing the door.

I turn and walk into the plane, sitting down as they inject my arm with something. I wince slightly and shake my arm off as the back of the plane closes and we take off. I stare at the floor, and not at the other tributes sitting in the plane with me as my mind races with all the things my mentors had told me.

“You’re with the Careers for the first part of the games, okay? We’ll keep Cy safe, Jewel and Rye will keep Cy safe. Focus on gaining their trust, but do not let your guard down.” Feather had said to me the previous night.

“You got an 11, keep in mind that the rest of the tributes might be a tad intimidated by your score. Especially your allies. Use that fear, put on a show. You are the star, Ellie.” Mars added, nudging my arm.

“Run into the cornucopia, watch where Cyrus runs. Get weapons, supplies, food. Throwing knives are the first priority weapon, but if not settle for something light and sharp. Store food somewhere if you can, and water. The careers WILL turn on you. Be prepared to run. We taught Cyrus this melody, if you whistle he should whistle back, and he’ll be teaching the others. You
will find them, they will find you. Have confidence.” Feather had finished before whistling a tune and kissing my forehead, sending me to bed with warm milk.

I looked up as the plane seemed to land, slowly coming to a stop. I was escorted to a room, and smiled when I saw a familiar face in the room. I ran up and wrapped my arms around Prisma, sobbing into her shoulder. She hugged me back, holding me up as i was so shaky I felt my legs
would give out underneath me.

“Ellie, hey. Look at me.” I looked up at my stylist, wiping my face with my sleeve. “I want you to be strong in there. For me, for Cyrus, for your sister at home. Do you hear me? You fight, and you fight hard, Capella. When stars die, they fall inward on themselves. Don’t fall inward until you have to. Don’t fall at all, my star.”

She runs a cool hand through my hair, leaving her hand to rest against my cheek. She smiles and nods, hanging me an all black jacket with a gold-ish colored inside lining.

“You’ll need this, I expect.” She takes a deep breath and blinks away tears, her smiling not fading away. I slip the jacket on and take a step back as I hear a warning over speakers in the ceiling. 30 seconds until I have to go.